3:10 to Hush

I watched 3:10 to Yuma last night. I thought it was a good movie. It was no Sergio Leone classic, but it was worth sitting through. I think a happier ending would have been better ending, but that's life.

I think I like Russel Crowe as a bad guy more than a good guy. He wasn't a crazed over the top bad guy, just a criminal capable of doing really bad things. Christian Bale as the innocent bystander trying to do right was fine. I sensed bits of Quinn from Reign of Fire and Bruce Wayne The Batman in the character, but that could be me reading into things.

However, the two castings in the movie that I thought were absolutely brilliant were Alan Tudyk of Firefly and Peter Fonda! of everything. Alan did a great job as city folk trying to help out and Peter Fonda was brilliant as the old curmudgeony, bounty hunter type.

Gretchen Mol was nice to look at, as always. Logan Lerman was great as Bale's son. The kid reminds me a lot of Christian Slater in the face.

I noticed during the credits that it was based on a book. Can anyone recommend good Western novels? I don't even know where to begin and I'm not sure I'll ever find one I like. Most of my love for Western cinema is due to camera angles and bad-ass actors. Surely there's an author out there that can accomplish that?


Next up, I read Hush, the Batman graphic novel.

Wow! What a well written, well art worked comic series. I've been hoping to find a really good Batman graphic novel and this was it! I read it between 3:10 to Yuma, sleep, and dinner this evening. I need to go back and reread it, watching for artwork nuances I may have missed the first time. This comic brought a lot to the plate, with action, secrets revealed, romance, trust issues, and all the usual darkness that can come with The Batman (you must say it like, The Ohio State).

Before I do that, though, I'll be reading Brad Metzler's graphic novel Identity Crisis, another big seller for DC Comics.