STARTING FROM SCRATCH

You might think that being trapped inside during the first big snow storm of the season without the benefit of any Netflix is a recipe for disaster, or at least being reduced to the month's umpteenth rerun of "Hellboy." Well, thank God for Encore Westerns, which treated us to a prime-time screening of LONE STAR last night. In my book, there are many things to recommend this film: John Sayles, its writer/director, is an all-time favorite of mine, and with the venerable Chris Cooper in the leading role, well, come on. What more do you need? It's a cleverly-structured story of a father-son relationship, mixed with a little murder mystery and a VERY unusual love story. I know a lot of people like to take shots at John Sayles for his occasional heavy-handedness, particularly when it comes to social and political commentary. But when it gets right down to it, in my book, he is a master story-teller and a brilliant writer of dialogue. Not to mention that he always captures brilliant, unflashy performances from his regular troop of actors. (Check out particularly creepy turns from Kris Kristofferson and Frances McDormand.)