{"id":1877,"date":"2011-08-02T12:07:06","date_gmt":"2011-08-02T19:07:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hotnerdgirl.wordpress.com\/?p=1877"},"modified":"2024-02-27T09:48:58","modified_gmt":"2024-02-27T09:48:58","slug":"guest-review-cowboys-aliens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hotnerdgirl.com\/index.php\/2011\/08\/02\/guest-review-cowboys-aliens\/","title":{"rendered":"Guest Review! Cowboys & Aliens!"},"content":{"rendered":"

As y’all know (I may have mentioned it once or thrice) I’m in the process of\u00a0moving to San Diego and my life is in limbo while I finish up my work in Los Angeles.\u00a0 Therefore, my BNF (Best Nerd Friend) Hayden and his lovely\u00a0girlfriend, fellow HNG Melanie, were kind enough to go see Cowboys & Aliens<\/em> this weekend and write not one but TWO reviews of it as guest bloggers.\u00a0 H&M…I heart you.<\/p>\n

Enjoy!<\/p>\n

\n

Aliens.\u00a0 Why’d it have to be Aliens?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hayden Gilbert:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Let me start by saying there is no way I will be able to fill the shoes \u2013 or brazier \u2013 of the now legendary Hot Nerd Girl (although my fellow co-guest blogger Melanie definitely has a better shot in both departments).\u00a0 However, while I don\u2019t consider myself hot (in my own eyes), nor a girl (hopefully in anyone\u2019s eyes), I can certifiably attest to being a nerd.<\/p>\n

I can also say without hesitation that I\u2019m quite an avid western lover and a huge fan of anything involving visitors from another world (the cast of Jersey Shore<\/em> being the exception).\u00a0 Taking all that into account, I would have been first in line to see any movie with the title \u201cCowboys & Aliens<\/em>\u201d trailer unseen.<\/p>\n

As my very attractive co-blogger mentions as well, everything about this movie has a simple theme to it.\u00a0 From the title itself to the premise of good ol\u2019 fashion gunslingers taking on technologically superior creatures, Cowboys & Aliens<\/em> succeeds in that it doesn\u2019t try to be more than what it is:\u00a0 A good old fashion shootout at the O.K. Corral with 10 foot tall slimy monsters that make the aliens from the Predator<\/em> movies look like runway models.\u00a0 Hell, what\u2019s not to like about aliens who also lasso their victims!\u00a0 Great stuff I tells ya.<\/p>\n

[youtube:http:\/\/youtu.be\/UdmupNxobP0]<\/p>\n

While the acting overall was not quite award caliber, I actually liked the lack of over-the-top dramatics when it dealt with the reactions of humans to their unknown invaders.\u00a0 Think about it, people during this time didn\u2019t have clue one about space people or flying saucers as this takes place during a time when horses were the main source of transport and showing ankle was considered scantily clad.<\/p>\n

Hot girl with a six shooter? Yes please.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Speaking of, seeing Olivia Wilde completely wrapped up in a piece of wallpaper\u00a0during the whole\u00a0movie was a waste of her, uh, talents.\u00a0 The nude scene of her would have made up for it had they actually showed anything of value.\u00a0 Did I mention I was a male nerd?<\/p>\n

As can be imagined, Harrison Ford stole the show in this one.\u00a0 Be it a quick line or a familiar facial reaction, your attention is always drawn to his screen presence.\u00a0 Daniel Craig served his purpose of bad ass alien annihilator (say that 10 times fast after 10 shots of whiskey), albeit his character wasn\u2019t given any major Shakespearean dialogue to work with.\u00a0 I also enjoyed the 2 \u2013 maybe more? \u2013 nods given to Indian Jones<\/em> in the flick.\u00a0 Can you spot them?\u00a0 (Hint:\u00a0 It\u2019s 007 that summons the spirit of Indy twice)<\/p>\n

Overall, C&A<\/em> was a fun and unique ride on the combination of two classic genres.\u00a0 Add a pinch of 007 and a dash of Indy with a kick-ass final scene that would make any western-lover happy and you have a flick that is almost sure to satisfy.\u00a0 Just remember to check your 6-shooter and expectations at the door.<\/p>\n

(P.S. For those Nerdboys like myself that need an additional fixen of Western Sci-Fi, be sure to check out Brisco Country Jr<\/em> on DVD\u2026 best show \u2018cancelled-too-soon\u2019 ever!\u00a0 Has Bruce Campbell ever done anything bad?)<\/p>\n

Melanie Critser:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Brace yourself.\u00a0 There are cowboys AND aliens in this movie!\u00a0 And a cast of hot men and women that only get hotter when plastered in dirt.\u00a0 Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig together at last…with Craig getting more ass shots in one movie than JLo has gotten in her entire career.\u00a0 And don’t worry, men, Olivia Wilde doesn’t disappoint\u2014especially as she emerges from fire…naked.\u00a0 But this movie isn’t all fun and games\u2014oh wait, yeah it is!<\/p>\n

Cowboys\u00a0& Aliens<\/em> is everything the title promises.\u00a0 The story is simple.\u00a0 Our planet has an element the aliens want.\u00a0 They are here to scout out the planet and give the \u201cmother-ship\u201d the thumbs up to \u201ccome on down.\u201d\u00a0 It’s all up to the Cowboys and Indians to stop them…seriously, was anyone expecting an Oscar nominee?\u00a0 It makes no apologies for its campiness!\u00a0 There were moments that had heart and moments that almost made me cheer.<\/p>\n

What? No speedo's in the Old West?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I wasn’t crazy about the aliens themselves, but I suppose that was the point.\u00a0 They had creepy little extra hands that unfold out of their bellies, all slimy and shaky–yuck!\u00a0 Also, where was the steamy love scene?\u00a0 I felt a bit cheated in this area.\u00a0 I can’t imagine what possessed them to leave that out\u2014in the words of Flight of the Conchords<\/em>, conditions were perfect for \u201cBusiness Time.\u201d\u00a0 To no avail…<\/p>\n

Daniel Craig was sporting his 007 seriousness, just substitute a clean shave and tux for dried blood and cowboy gear.\u00a0 The bad-ass side of Daniel Craig hits the spot, no one wants to watch him skipping through a flower field\u2014bring on the guns!<\/p>\n

Harrison Ford’s role was the most intriguing.\u00a0 Is he a bad guy?\u00a0 Is he a good guy?\u00a0 Regardless, he can still deliver those hilarious one liners.\u00a0 And you may struggle with whether he’s The Good or The Bad..but he’s never The Ugly.\u00a0 He clearly hasn’t lost his charm on screen and he’s giving Sean Connery a run for his money in the \u201cBetter with Age\u201d department.<\/p>\n

Overall, I don’t expect this movie to be on any top 10 (or 100) lists, but I truly enjoyed it.\u00a0 Perhaps my expectations were right where they needed to be–I jumped in my seat and laughed at the cheesiness.\u00a0 It was just the boost my summer needed!<\/p>\n

You can read Hayden’s online dating advice (it worked for him!) at Examiner.com<\/a>.\u00a0 Melanie doesn’t have a blog so you’ll just have to hope she guest\u00a0writes for\u00a0HNG\u00a0again.\u00a0 Like what they wrote?\u00a0 Let them know in the comments!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As y’all know (I may have mentioned it once or thrice) I’m in the process of\u00a0moving to San Diego and my life is in limbo while I finish up my work in Los Angeles.\u00a0 Therefore, my BNF (Best Nerd Friend) Hayden and his lovely\u00a0girlfriend, fellow HNG Melanie, were kind enough to go see Cowboys & […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[28,11,1],"tags":[29,220,234,403,461,516,716,821],"class_list":["post-1877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movie","category-reviews","category-uncategorized","tag-29","tag-cowboys-and-aliens","tag-daniel-craig","tag-harrison-ford","tag-indiana-jones","tag-jon-favreau","tag-olivia-wilde","tag-sam-rockwell"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hotnerdgirl.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hotnerdgirl.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hotnerdgirl.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hotnerdgirl.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hotnerdgirl.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1877"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.hotnerdgirl.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1877\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hotnerdgirl.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hotnerdgirl.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hotnerdgirl.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}