Add Thunderheart to Your Netflix Queue NOW!


HDNet Movies/HBO HD is probably the best way to watch movies at home since it's the only way I will get full 1080p HD quality (nope, I haven't made the plunge into Blu-Ray/HD DVD).

While HBO's slate of movies on their HD channel leaves a lot to be desired, HDNet Movies is a good place to get some oldies-but-goodies (The Hunter for Red October; The Silence of the Lambs; Bottle Rocket; Police Academy 3: Back in Training; etc...).

I had ended up TiVo-ing Thunderheart when I saw it pop up on HDNet Movies, mostly because I am a huge Val Kilmer fan and I had heard some vague things about the movie being "not bad."

Anyways, I was talking to my USC classmate Dave "Marmageddon" Marmor (who had made the trek all the way down to Hermosa for my birthday - which was very nice of him) about how much I loved the great cinematographer Roger Deakins. Dave was in agreement about Deakins's greatness and he used his very fancy Treo to look him up on IMDB so we could see when I had heard of him for the first time (it was apparently when he did Fargo). And what turned up on that list...why Thunderheart of course!

So, last night I convinced The Better Half to watch it with me, and she agreed even though she had seen it before.

It was great!

It's one of those little movies that kinda come and go, and then years later it pops up on some cable channel somewhere, and you realize, "Hey, this is pretty good. I wonder why I'd never heard of it before?"

Okay, full disclosure. Val and the incredible cinematography would have been enough for me to have loved it. The actual plot mechanics are admittedly a little weak. and it's definitely not the kind of movie that holds to up excessive after-the-fact scrutiny. On the other hand, the expert acting from the supporting cast (Sam Shepard; Graham Greene; Sheila Tousey; etc.); the understated directing (man, Michael Apted's career trajectory has really suffered of late, hasn't it?); the mystical elements; the two elderly characters (played to perfection by Chief Ted Thin Elk and Sarah Brave) all added to a very satisfying experience.

It was a little melancholic to see how most of the cast and crew involved (with the notable exception of Roger Deakins) never managed to sustain their careers after the film.

In any case, if you're looking for an enjoyable evening spent in front of the television then add this film to your Netflix queue, NOW!