thrillhouse678

I want you to read this carefully and I want you to let it sink in: This was the worst movie I have EVER seen. I say this without exaggeration, and after carefully considering the film and just how horrible it was. Now think about that, of all the movies I have ever seen, I have found this to be the worst. I have never seen a single film that even comes close on the crap-o-meter to this movie. I hate musicals, on film and on stage. I find them-for lack of a better word-silly. It's actually sort of frustrating because I find myself enjoying the story and suddenly the whole world has burst into synchronized song and dance. This film has the same problem with one exception: The stuff between the music is blisteringly boring. It is so dull that at one point in I eventually burst out laughing. Nothing had happened that was legitimately funny at that point to make me laugh(nothing funny happened in the movie period), and there wasn't a stupid line or anything like that. It was just Kevin Kline and Ashley Judd walking around and I suddenly started laughing hysterically. When a friend asked why I was laughing my response was "It's just so bad." The sheer lousiness of the movie took an overwhelming toll on me and I just couldn't take it anymore, I cracked. And here's the kicker, this all happened within the first half hour of the movie, because we all walked out after that. I spent $9.25 on this movie and I don't want you to make the same mistake. I know the critics seem to have liked the film, forget the critics. This movie just plain sucked. See it if you're a moron.

"Open Range" may not revive westerns or Costners career, but it should. That's the way one reviewer put it, and I completely agree. Open Range is a spectacular looking western directed by the man who knows them better than anyone actively directing today, Kevin Costner. Costner hit his highest peak of success with "Dances With Wolves" and now after a string of failures returns to form with his best film since that oscar winner. Open Range tells the story of Charley (Costner), a Civil War veteran who learned to kill in the war and made it into a career. He has a perpencity for violence but has been kept calm for 10 years by his boss, Boss Spearman (Robert Duvall). Charley works for Boss helping him drive cattle on the *open range* of Montana, hence the title. One day, Boss sends one of his other employees into town to fetch some supplies, when the man doesn't return, Boss and Charley go looking for him. They find out their friend got into a fight and was beaten by the marshall and put into jail. Charley and Boss find out about all this from Baxter, a rancher who runs the town, who also informs the two that he and the rest of the town "don't take kindly to freegrazers". Charley and Boss collect their man and take him to the town doctor, where Charley is struck with what can best be described as love at first site with the doctor's sister Sue (Annette Benning). Boss and Charley head back to the heard where they are confronted-in a manner of speaking-by four hooded men who presumably work for Baxter, and from there the story builds.

"Open Range" is not imperfect, I thought it dragged on too long towards the end, but found everything before then to be so enjoyable that it made up for the length. Costner knows westerns, and he knows how to film the landscape. If Open Range doesn't win for best cinematography come Oscar time, I will lose what little faith I have in the ceremony. But the real high point of the film is Duvall, in an Oscar worthy performance as a grizzled old man who has a hidden past of his own. The whole performance consists of back to back oscar clips, and there isn't a moment that he isn't fantastic. All in all,Open Range is a great western that fans of the genre will love, and all others can enjoy also.

***1/2 out of ****

I bought this game yesterday for $30...the only money I've had for awhile. My computer has every requriment the game needs to work properly, in fact it has about 10 times what's necessarry. I spend 15 minutes installing it and the game doesn't work. The problem is both in gameplay and graphics. You can't see the guy u control, people are invisible except for shadows, and when u look at cars all u see is the steering wheels and the tires. Beware.