Review: The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada

I was excited about this film after catching Tommy Lee Jones on Conan talking about this, his directorial debut. Jones is a rancher whose friend, Melquiades Estrada, is killed by a border patrolman. After a complicated series of flash-backs and flash-forwards, the story becomes one about keeping a promise to return Melquiades to his final resting place in Coahuila. I never grow tired of seeing the hard pastures of west Texas in movies. If you are a Tommy Lee Jones fan, you'll love this movie which is tailor-made for his weathered character. Barry Pepper and Dwight Yoakam are stellar as the patrolman and the indifferent sheriff. If you have trouble following movies that cut backwards and forwards in time, you might want to read a plot synopsis before seeing it.

On a go/no-go scale, I rate it a "go".

No Loafing in Racing

For those that are tired of early- and mid-season games featuring NBA players leisurely sauntering up and down the court and MLB players who need to be awakened with smelling salts when they're up to bat, check out the story of last night's International Race of Champions (IROC) at Daytona. While this race has a good purse, there are no points awarded and it's on the eve of the biggest race of the season. Nonetheless, these guys raced each other as hard as they would have on the final lap of Sunday's 500. Racers still race for the plastic trophies - awesome.