Showing posts with label Movies Seen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Movies Seen. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

The state of Missouri has several favorite sons: Mark Twain, Harry S Truman, Walt Disney, Jesse James and Brad Pit. Last year Brad Pitt starred in the movie, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Well, Jack and I went to see the movie last year because the previous year we had visited both the home of Jesse James where he was shot and killed by Robert Ford and the farm where Jesse lived with his mother, Zeralda Amanda James, for a time.
The movie was not the usual shoot 'em up cowboy western but more of a psychological study of the main players in the historic event. The movie focused as much time on the killer as the killed party. We liked the movie though it was a tad long and slow going in parts. What struck us as unusual was that many of the indoor scenes were filmed in shades of black, white and grey. For instance, the room where Jesse was shot was in black and white and not bright red. This photography scheme gave the entire movie a very dreamlike quality. The first four pictures here show views of the farm of Jesse's mother. Jesse James was buried next to his mother's grave and a tall tombstone was erected over his grave. So many Jesse James admirers came to this grave site and chipped away a piece of the tombstone that the over six foot tall tombstone was reduced to just two feet! The remaining monument had to be moved.
Did you get to see this movie? We think Casey Afleck deserved to be nominated for an oscar for his supporting role in this movie. And if you want to visit these historic places you want to point your car in the direction of St. Joseph, Missouri.












Thursday, January 31, 2008

A Movie Review

National Treasure 2 is a movie that is worth going to see. Jack and I were anxious to see it because we came across the filming of the movie at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota on our cross country trip last spring. (See these attached photos.) In addition I had learned at book club Friday that George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate is offering this winter tours of the celler passageways that are also featured in this movie. The movie is like a cross between two movies: The Da Vinci Code and Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. The plot moves thru a lot of codes that have some historical background to them. And the movie has a good cast of actors: Helen Mirren, John Voight, Nicholas Cage, Ed Harris and Diane Kruger. In addition a scene at Mount Vernon features Randy Travis as Randy Travis. Other locations featured in this adventure film are Buckingham Palace, Library of Congress, the campus of the University of Maryland and the Statue of Liberty in Paris France. Yes, that's right---the one in Paris near the Eiffel Tower. By the way did you know that there are three Statues of Liberty in the world?