where: AMC BAY STREET 16 in Emeryville, CA
when: Wednesday ( Free Popcorn Day with a movie rewards card ), December 22nd, 2010
show: 8:00 p.m.
costs: $11.00 Ticket + $0.00 small Popcorn + $4.25 small Zero Coke = $15.25
auditorium: 12
seat: 1st row, 6th column
synopsis/overview: A doggedly determined young girl, Mattie Ross ( Hailee Steinfeld ), tags along as a US Marshal, Rooster Cogburn ( Jeff Bridges ), and a Texas Ranger, Mr. LaBoeuf ( Matt Damon ), go on the hunt for the girl's father's killer, bad guy Tom Chaney ( Josh Brolin ).
prediction: This movie is a strong contender for Oscar Nominations in the Best Actor and Best Actress categories.
noteworthy scenes: 1.) Funeral home; 2.) The three hanged men; 3.) Outhouse; 4.) Coffin; 5.) Haggling with a horse trader; 6.) Trial; 7.) Bedroom; 8.) "Trading again"; 9.) Employer; 10.) Letter; 11.) River; 12.) Spanking; 13.) Campfire chat; 14.) "I'll have my way"; 15.) Indian kids; 16.) Hanged man; 17.) "Medical attention"; 18.) Chimney; 19.) Confession; 20.) "That didn't pan out"; 21.) Drunk rider; 22.) Target shooting; 23.) "I misjudged you"; 24.) The bad guy; 25.) Hostage; 26.) Crazy bad guy; 27.) Plan; 28.) Shoot-out; 29.) Pit; 30.) "Never doubt a Texas Ranger"; 31.) Race against time; 32.) "I'm grown old"; 33.) Side show; and 34.) Gravesite.
audience reaction: The audience really enjoyed this Western movie and gave it a "Hands Clapper" ending.
recommendation: I liked this movie, too. Go see it.
spoiler alert! It doesn't make sense to use Proverbs 28:1 ( "The wicked flee though no one pursues ..." [ NIV, 2010 ] ) to start-off this movie. They were supposed to be in hostile Indian country but I only saw three Indians, two of which were the physically-abused kids. Why didn't Rooster start shooting as soon as he had a clear shot before LaBeouf got in harm's way? With a gunshot wound to the shoulder like that, I don't think LaBoeuf could use his wounded arm to lean himself against a boulder, use it to prop-up his rifle and/or pull on a rope with it. When Rooster took Mattie to the doctor, why didn't he take another horse along with them, since he had ridden horses for years and knew what was bound to happen if he rode a horse hard, fast and for a long time? The narration was done twenty-five years after the events of this story, but the adult Mattie made a miscalculation that LaBeouf would be in his mid-70s or early 80s even though he was just about 40 years old or even younger when they met each other at the start of the story ( It's a simple 40 + 25 = 65 calculation )--of course, I haven't read the book and therefore don't know how old LaBeouf was at the start.
fyi: The expression, "Well hung," comes from the fact that a hanged man will get an erection because blood flow to the head is cut-off, forcing the blood to go to the other "head". ( In other words, that Vulture was perched on the wrong spot. Ha, ha, ha--snort! )
word of advice: "You can run but you can't hide." ( American boxer Joe Louis )
tidbits: At work earlier today, I was helping a co-worker find something out on the sales floor when a white lady walked by with a baby in her cart and her little son on a leash. I turned to my co-worker, C., and whispered in her ear, That's one weird-looking dog: It looks like a little boy. LOL!
On my way home from work ( to switch clothes and cars ) before going to see this movie, I followed a pick-up truck with a rear license plate holder that reads, "My son died so you could have your freedom." I've read of some local folks here in town who've lost their loved ones in Iraq and Afghanistan. But this is the first time that I've come close to personally knowing a parent of a K.I.A. soldier. I felt sorry for that parent especially with this Christmas holiday coming up.
