Welcome back, The Western

Movie Review: 3:10 To Yuma
starring Christian Bale, Russel Crowe, Ben Foster

It's being touted as 'the best Western since Unforgiven.' Since that Eastwood gem was a lifetime ago (1992), it's about darn time we had a good Western. If there's been a decent Western since, it slipped under my radar, so please enlighten me. (i don't really think Brokeback counts) This Fall will see the release of two more Westerns, The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, and No Country For Old Men. Hollywood is a bit cyclical, so after this batch we'll probably see another 15 year period where The Western slumbers whilst superheros or aliens or the like dominate box offices.

But for now, with Yuma at the helm, The Western is back in all it's bad-ass glory. Sloughing off the glitz of Hollywood and managing to simply be a good movie for good movie's sake without parading around screaming 'LOOK! IT'S A BIG COMEBACK! NOTICE MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!' That is a dangerous parade to marshal, my friends, just ask Britney. Ewwwww....i mentioned HER in a discussion about a really cool Western movie! i'm ashamed.

How about i just talk about the darn movie? It's REALLY good. You've got Russell Crowe as the black hat baddie, Ben Wade, who as the movie opens is completing his 22 robbery of a particular railroad company. Crowe has that great deep voice and tough guy solidity without wearing either like it's his best feature/identity/etc (see: The Rock) but rather as tools to complete a task. Ben Wade is the-bad-guy-with-a-soft-or-philosophical-side, which often gets campy and two-dimensional in lesser hero vs villain movies, but Crowe doesn't get distracted by this part of the character, merely enjoys it in its moments and moves on. I'm not usually a big Crowe fan, but i think this movie made me turn a corner in our relationship.

On the other side of the law is 'white hat' Dan Evans, played by Christain Bale, who apparently likes choosing incredibly punishing roles. "Let's see, dashing leading man covered in money and beautiful women? no thanks, i'd rather play the leperous bulemic parapalegic addicted to S&M!" This time he's a civil war amputee turned rancher and family man. Financial woes cause Dan to join a posse taking the captured criminal (Wade) to the 3:10 train to Yuma prison. It's more than the $200 that drives Dan to take the dangerous job though, as he tells his wife he's sick of the way his son looks at him and sick of the way she doesn't. Also, not to be base, but he's a good guy who doesn't like bad guys. This is a Western, after all. Sometimes it really is that simple.

Wade finds himself fascinated by Dan on their journey and Dan's son is boyishly intruiged by Wade, testing the limits of his father's pride. There is a series of 'twists', but i hestitate to call them that, because that connotes definite shifts in loyalties or surprises, and this movie is more subtle and complex than that. At times it gets a bit too 'talk-y' for its genre, but with quality actors like Crowe and Bale you can't really complain when it's a battle of wits and steely stares.

Rounding it all out is Ben Foster as Wade's #1 guy, Charlie. Charlie is a bit maniacal in his loyalty to Wade and at times it's almost like a man-crush (so this IS Brokeback!) but Foster makes you want to watch him, which is saying alot when your costars are Christian Bale and Russell Crowe.

Very fine performances making a solid movie and a commendable return to the genre Robert Duvall recently declared 'uniquely American.' ....except it starred an Aussie and a Brit, but whatever. America's the melting pot, right?

Go see it.

Labor? hardly.

For Labor Day wknd we decided to get out of the heat and cross a few things off my 'Before 30' to-do list, so we went to Patrick's Point Sate Park. As the Labor Day holiday is the most popular camping weekend of the year and also P. Point's last open weekend of the season, the campground was booked solid. Advance planning had allowed for us to get a spot on Friday night, but the rest of the weekend was undetermined. We went anyway, figuring a site might open up or we could get a hotel room or camp illegally somewhere. We left after work, squished Peter into the back seat, and wiggled our way through the mountains and bizarro mountain towns, all the while watching the temperature click down little by little.


When we arrived the good Rostens had erected our tent 'neath the trees and we got settled into vacationing. The brown-clad folk at the park entrance told us that, no, no spots had opened up for Saturday night yet, but to check back in the morning. Got the fire going and discussed weighty and light matters, then attempted sleep. (the ground had the audacity to be hard) Saturday morning Josh made pancakes like a champ and we checked with the rangers again: no spots. Went for a walk through the moss and trees and general Ewok-y land. Saw Wedding Rock, decided to have future weddings there. Came back for lunch and to break camp because we had to be out by noon, decided to check again for any spots, promising the Rangers cookies if they hooked us up. Turns out a lady who should never have been camping in the first place decided that her beachside campsite in Northern California at the onset of the rainy season was too damp. (again, mother nature and her audacity) Believe it or not, this 'camper' had a poodle with her. Rangers moved her to shut her up and gave us her spot. Yay! Rather than take down our tents and put them back up again, we emptied them and tossed them on top of our cars, held on out the windows, and drove through the trees (and cheers from other campers) to our new home at site #112.

Joined up with s'Moores and went down to Agate Beach for lunch and general treasure hunting. i chose driftwood, Josh chose agates. (We still don't know what agates look like, but we hunted 'em.) We saw a seal playing in the surf. i think it was playing Freeze Tag. Or Kick the Can. Then, shopping and dinner at the Lost Coast Brewery in Eureka and a trip to Target for an air mattress. What? We never said we were hardcore. That firenight included the ever-daunting 'Name Your Top 5 Movies Ever' and a shifty raccoon who tried to supplement his own coony fiesta by stealing our Chex Party Mix. How do i know he was shifty? He was WEARING A MASK. We slept much better that night, what with the mattress and it NOT being damp. At all. Whatsoever. Foreverandeveramen.

Sunday we subscribed to the Emily Dickinson Liturgical System and got our Sabbath on with walks through the redwoods and fern canyon, aka Creeptastic Alley, or The Land That Time Forgot Except To Build The Occasional Stairway Or Erect Educational Podiums. Seriously folks, there's no better place on earth if you want to feel Small and Awesome. i think that whole 'He leadeth me beside still waters' was written for this part of the globe. Speaking of waters, on the way to Le Canyon we had to drive over raging rivers in our SUVs. Some would call them mere streams, or elongated puddles, but as my car has rarely done anything remotely resembling 'off-road', i prefer to revel in the validation that it drove through the trees and forged waterways.

On the way back to wherever we were going, we saw a pod/herd/school/pride/clique of whales breaching, flashing heads/tails/fins/toes and spewing. Again, feelings of Small and Awesome.
Next Josh and i packed up our share of the campsite because i had to work Monday, Jesse, Lyn and Pete handed over GingerCat cookies (for humans) to the Ranger to ensure another night of campsitedness and we headed to That One Nameless Beach for dinner and sunset. Apple saursages and bell peppers: good for your soul. Josh carved his everlasting declaration of love for me in the sand. Let's just say that by the time he got to the "KM" the "I" was already a blurry victim of the tide. Permanency is overrated anyway. i fell and scraped my hand in the tidepools and was therefore convinced my body would be overtaken by barnacles in my sleep and i'd look like that one guy/thing in Pirates II. As of yet, i don't. Keep watch, though. When the sun set, we left. To say we did so reluctantly would be like saying...i don't know, something dumb or outrageous.

Ah yes, and i am able to cross 2 things off my list: i introduced someone (Josh) to Patrick's Point, and i successfully skipped stones. 18 more to go.

If you're thinking 'Wow, some of these pictures are downright amazing!' it's because i poached Jesse and Lyn's when necessary. Check 'em out, especially if you've never been to The Point.

There are few perfect weekends. This was one.

i've still got it

It's a good thing i curled my eyelashes this morning!

Pulled in to Dutch Bros. this morning all excited because i had a full punch card and therefore, a free drink due me. When it was my turn at the window the Coffee Boy said "Hello, sweetheart", to which i replied "i get a free one this morning!" proudly displaying my full punch card like an A+ spelling test. "That's right," he said, "you get THIS free one!" and held up another full punch card. i was confused. i communicated my confusion, probably through a blank look or something equally glamorous, and he said that the man in the car front of me had told him that i could have HIS free drink. Now, i'm not sure i believe Coffee Boy, because he seemed like a flirtatious liar, but i decided that it was a win-win situation for me. Either a stranger bought me a drink or an unscrupulous barista bought me a drink. All's well that ends well, right?

In hindsight, i realize that i should have handed my own full punch card over to Coffee Boy and told him to apply it to the person in line behind ME, thereby 'paying it forward', but i was all a-flutter and not thinking clearly.

Next time, karma, i promise.