Cowboys & Aliens
Okay, I'll admit it. The first time I saw the trailer for this film I was in love with it. When the trailer ran before last week's showing of Captain America I may have said something along the lines of "I want to marry this movie and have its babies." Absurd exaggerations aside, Cowboys & Aliens is the film I have been the very most excited to see (Sucker Punch was a close second).
It's a rare film that will survive that amount of hype. For me, Cowboys & Aliens not only survived, it thrived. I had a great time at the movies, and this film is now my #2 favorite for the year.
Okay, sure, there were moments where I thought to myself "oh, right... cowboy movie. Gotta ride around on horses and talk a little bit, develop the characters some. Don't worry, Howard, the alien arm-gun will light up again any minute now." During those moments, however, I was not bored. I was filled with anticipation. It's a clever cinematographer who can pull that off. Yes, yes, the character development bits were important and fulfilling in their own right, but I don't know that I ever got past the giddy, anticipatory, get-the-wrapping-paper-off-this-thing sense of edge-of-my-seat, use-too-many-hyphens-in-the-review joy.
If you like this film just half so much as I did I'm going to feel really stupid, because I can't imagine anybody not liking this movie at least 75% as much as me, and I kind of pride myself in the scope of what I'm able to imagine.
Still giddy. Yup.
Giddyup!