DVD I've been catching up with some movies on DVD that I missed on the big screen for one reason or another. The only one I now wish that I'd gone to see is Open Range. It's the first thing in a while that made me laugh out loud. Robert Duvall has some seriously funny lines: Me and my friend got a cravin' for Switzerland chocolate and Cuban cigars And the scene at the grave where he tells Costner he'll stand hat in hand but refuses to talk to "that son of a bitch" who'd allow such a thing to happen is priceless. That Costner finishes his prayer with the same sentiment is the kicker. This movie is really well written. I know there is a Zane novel with the same name but I don't think they are related. It plays out a little like an Anthony Mann movie with Costner carrying the James Stewart role off perfectly. Can't fault him for turning down Kill Bill for this. By the time the big gunfight is about to happen I was tense because I cared about these two guys facing off against the bad guys and I wasn't sure they weren't going to get themselves killed. I need to watch it a few more times as I still find the romance element a little forced but I think I may grow to like this even more than Unforgiven. Costner and Duvall don't have the Western mythology to fall back on that Eastwood did and the movie feels a little fresher for it. Unforgiven is claustrophobic where as Open Range is all about invisible boundaries. If you haven't seen it already you should. I'll get Starsky & Hutch out of the way. It was fine - exactly what I expected from Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson and made me smile but I'm bored with ironic takes on old TV shows. I loved this show when I was a kid and in all honesty I'd rather have had David Soul and Paul Michael Glaser behind the wheel of the Gran Torino. I also finally got to see American Splendor. I was supposed to go to a preview of this just before the cinema release and for one reason or another ended up going to something else. Since then I've ignored the movie mostly out of spite but it was (probably) worth the wait. It plays out as a cross between Crumb and Ghost World with the occasional comic frames and thought bubbles seeming a little forced. Harvey Pekar is an interesting subject for a comic book and even a good documentary would be welcome but the movie is a little flat. Gave me another reason never to go Cleveland. Tonight we are watching The Quatermass Xperiment which I haven't seen since I was a kid. I'm all nostalgic for old movies at the moment. I'm just getting bored with all this new crap. Mike is blogging to: Johnny Cash