Appaloosa [1] hasn't really been on my radar since the casting news was first announced [2] over a year ago, which I find odd, especially since it stars some pretty big names, is directed by Ed Harris, and looks all Western epic-y. By contrast, we've had to see every new photo [3] and poster [4] and trailer [5] for Australia [6] as that film has been in production — and that one's coming out two months after this one. So, I find the lack of Appaloosa awareness to be strange.

Then again, the trailer's not totally fascinating. It's a dusty, dramatic Western. There are manly men (Viggo Mortensen, Ed Harris, Jeremy Irons) and guns and a brief flash or two of a woman's face (Renee Zellweger). The plot description [7] states, "Two friends hired to police a small town that is suffering under the rule of a rancher find their job complicated by the arrival of a young widow."

My favorite thing is the tagline on the movie's official website: "Feelings get you killed."

Is the fact that we haven't heard much about this a bad thing? Not necessarily. But I'm still a little puzzled. Appaloosa opens in limited release Sept. 17 before its wide release Oct. 3. To check out the trailer, .

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. [8]