abacus24

I must have been in a cave when this movie came out. Actually, I was; Kuwait City, Kuwait, right after the second Iraq War. The movie had great actors (Duvall, Kostner, Bening and more), a tight plot, outstanding photography and superb story line. Westerns have gone out of favor recently. Mostly doomed to be specials on TV. Too bad. Ten years ago, this might have been the a very highly touted movie. There were areas in the movie that kind of dragged (when are they going to kick some ass, anyway) but that being said, it was a great movie. I haven't seen too many movies that caught my attention as well as this. When I saw this on AMC, I was ready to go outside to my patio and smoke my pipe and drink my scotch, but from the beginning of the movie to the end, I couldn't leave! Believe me; my pipe and scotch are part of my daily routine, but it played second fiddle (I recall the sheriff in this flick was playing his fiddle just before he was put into his on jail cell). Well done!

Finally got to see one of my favorite BBC series of the 70s, Anne of Avonlea, with Kim Braden! I did find it to be not quite as I remembered it, but, it was still a good watch. For most of the movie, it had the feeling of being filmed in a studio. There were some outdoor scenes just to add some atmosphere, but overall the staging effect didn't take away from the series. Some of the actors were a little rough around the edges (i.e. Anne's fiancé and the young "American" kid with the horrible British accent). Kim Braden and her best buddy, Jan Francis were great together! Both were really fun to watch. I think Kim Braden added a believable level of naiveness to her role. I remember falling in love with her back in 1978, when I saw it as a rerun on BBC. I now can see why. The series was maybe not as well produced (spell that well funded) as the Megan Follows version, but it held its own if you watch it for what it is; an overall well directed and well acted little period piece. I'm glad they finally came out with the DVD on this BBC classic. I can't understand why Kim Braden and Jan Francis never became brighter international stars. They did go on to do several projects after that but nothing really memorable. Time well spent. Thanks Kim.

When I was in the Air Force, I was stationed in Germany, the U.K. and France. Why is it that we seem to be the only country that produces these type of mindless, shock-flicks? Seems like we (forget the Spangdahlem address, I'm American) are a nation that thrives on this type of brutal violence. I've lived in the aforementioned countries for over 5 years, and I can't recall seeing anything like this produced by the host country in their theaters or television networks. Maybe it is a funding issue, but maybe the mindless zombies that all countries seem to possess can wait until the go old U.S. movie studios will punch several out. This is an indication that we are really a very violent nation, even though we are a "Christian Nation". Hmmmmm....I get tired of hearing how righteous we are as a nation. Why do we keep putting this type of crap out?