Cowgirls, Aliens

A fact that you probably already guessed: I start a lot more blog posts than I finish. In recent years, this has happened to a degree that is no less than tragic. Back when Cowboys & Aliens was still a newly released movie, I wrote 90% of a scathing critique of its shortcomings; a spiritual successor to my piece on Avatar. Then I stalled out on finding a good way to wrap it all up, life got in the way, and I never finished. The piece was consigned to a virtual basement crawl space with only virtual dust bunnies for company.

Fast forward to several months ago, when I connected with an awesome new website called Dilettante Army (go read their explanation of the name, it's great). Not only did they like my piece, they even paid me for it! Never before have I been compensated for the effort I put into expressing opinions on the Internet.

You should check out their whole site. But most of all, you should check out my article on Cowboys & Aliens.

It was the summer blockbuster boasting such a talented roster that we dared to hope it would transcend the cheesy premise. It didn’t. Still, if you only viewed it as a shallow and forgettable action flick, you missed out. It’s also a treasure trove of scriptwriting ignominy; a guided historical tour through Hollywood’s various failures of imagination.

Cowboys and Aliens 'takes the high ground' (Dilettante Army)

Fun bonus fact: While gathering images for the article, I realized I could very easily compile an entire photo album on the theme "Ella gazing at Jake". Run with that as you will.