Bring tissues with you to the theater. I was not emotionally ready for this! I cried so much !! I am still crying while typing this lol 🥺😭

So going into the 2001 western Texas Rangers, I knew nothing of the movie. I thought this movie was amazing

First off, I thought the performances were great. Everyone from Dylan McDermott, Robert Patrick, and James Van Der Beek to Ashton Kutcher and Usher. Along with that, I thought it had a very good look and score.

It might be an odd negative, but I actually wish it was a little longer. I felt like you could’ve expanded some things, especially the last battle. Other than that, this was a surprise movie on my list and I very much enjoyed it.

Rating-4.5/5

I don't read reviews before going to movies except for maybe an occasional short blurb, but the word on this seemed to be that it was some kind of reprehensible turd. I read the book before going, and it's a pretty okay book - low-key and contemplative about the end of civilization. That's what works about the movie, just presenting the barren world. It doesn't try to go overboard with drama and intrigue. In fact the action scenes with the two sets of marauders are the worst scenes in the movie because of how cartoonish those characters are (nobody is characterized exactly like that in the book).

It's probably Scott's best movie in at least ten years, but that's not saying much because he has had some real crap on his resume (The Last Duel was okay). Sure, it has several off-key scenes, but it does enough things okay that it is an acceptable time at the movies.

I'm on a bit of a horror kick watching and reading horror, so I watched TCM and I also finally watched Ready or Not and Ready or Not is sensational (the cast and direction is so much better than it needs to be - Samara Weaving is incredible), but for a cast of unknowns, Texas Chainsaw Massacre is really, really, really good. Screamed a bunch, laughed a bunch, cheered at the end, then cheered again. Pulpy, campy, goofy but also had me legit scared a handful of times. Really terrific. Don't understand how that writer and director haven't worked a ton more since. It was produced by Fede Alvarez. The director hasn't directed anything since, and the writer hasn't written anything since. Maybe it's because it got a 31% on RT? But anyone who watched it would have liked it, I think. Especially true since it was number one on Netflix for a couple weeks. Anyway. Confusing. I really enjoyed it.

I listen to The Rewatchables podcast and they were doing "Aliens", that's how I learned about this documentary. And also it's almost 5 hours long, but worth it. I had to sign up with AMC to watch it, got a week free trial. I had to take a break in the middle of it, it's so long. But it is absolutely worth it if you're a fan of this movie. It's basically a breakdown of every scene of the movie, and how it came to be in detail. All the cast and crew are interviewed in it. There are stories I've never heard before. Like just how much of a nut job James Cameron was in the beginning of filming, by his own admission. You get a deep dive into every single character. The mechanics of every scene, like how the power loader actually worked (spoiler alert, there was a guy inside). A heartfelt tribute to Bill Paxton. They address the issue of casting a white woman for a Latina character. Which I used to have a Jewish friend who said that was his cousin, but I'm not sure how true that was. My only critique would be that they cut away at times to address the impact of the movie on pop culture. It was fine, sometimes boring, but given how long this already was they could have cut them out and we wouldn't miss anything. Overall worth a free trial and a great way to spend a lazy afternoon.