We arrived at the theater to pick up our tickets and happily learned that the seats were reserved, which meant we did not need to scurry inside at once. They'd constructed a tall partition, covered with Yuma posters, that ran the length of the red carpet and blocked the view from the street. The chauffeured cars and limos flipped a U-turn and stopped at the far end of the carpet. We had a prime watching spot – an unobstructed view as the stars arrived. (Thank you Marcy!!) Russell's black SUV pulled up about 7:15. He stuck his face in the window and grinned and people began cheering and calling his name. He helped Dani out of the car and they walked to the edge of the carpet. The press was calling and the fans were calling and I was so tickled when he looked up in the midst of all that and waved to us. Dani was beautiful as always. He spent about 40 minutes on that carpet doing interviews. Needless to say, the film started late!

We loitered among the industry people, seeing how many we could identify, as long as possible before we took our seats.  It seemed to me that a majority of women wore dresses - some quite fancy, or at minimum dressy pants outfits, while most of the men were in sport coats and slacks. Most of the cast from the film were there, as you've seen in the photos. Kevin Durand really knows how to work a room! 

As to the movie, I cannot wait to see it again. I won't review it except to say I loved it. Each actor is given his or her moment to really cut loose or shine. Ben Foster received so much good advance press that I wanted him to have to work for it, but he won me over in his first scene – just stunning. Christian was terrific as well. I loved the bad man and felt empathy for the good man. Every one of the actors contributed to a terrific ensemble piece. The movie is a hell of a lot of fun. Loved the hang me in the morning song sequence. The premiere crowd reacted wonderfully to some of the better lines, laughing and hooting by turns. The humor works very well. One of my favorite things about Russell's work is his ability to convey a complex series of rapidly shifting thoughts and emotions without uttering a single word of dialogue. There are a few scenes in Yuma that exploit that talent beautifully. He's created a Ben so malevolent, yet so charming, that his more heated glances seem as deadly as The Hand of God that he wears on his hip. 

Tamara