True Grit

Next week will be the DVD release of my favorite film of last year, True Grit.  Luckily for me I recently “acquired” an, ehem, “advanced copy” of the DVD, in Blu-ray no less (Got to love the internet!).  As such I have the pleasure of seeing the film once again, and perhaps convincing you to purchase it, and in doing so support my favorite eccentric writer-director brother duo, the Coen Brothers, makers of such amazing films as No Country for Old Men, Fargo, and The Big Lebowski.

True Grit is a remake of a classic western movie, starring John Wayne, and based on a book of the same name.  Having seen the original as well, I can assure you that this no simple remake and I have also read that it adheres more closely to the book.  It is, at its simplest form, a story of revenge as a young girl named Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) hires an old, seemingly washed up U.S. Marshal by the name of Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) to hunt down the man who murdered her father.  She of course naturally tags along to make sure he upholds his bargain and they also team up with a bumbling Texas Ranger who calls himself LaBoeuf (Matt Damon).

The greatest things about this movie, as all Cohen brothers’ films, are the characters and the amazing dialogue between them.  Hailee Steinfeld’s performance as the daughter of a murdered father is perhaps, as even the Cohen brothers themselves put it, “too good to be true.”  For such a smart guy, Matt Damon sure seems to play an idiot all too well, and this is probably his best performance as one.  While Jeff Bridges is Jeff Bridges.

This is a film that I feel represents the changing way in which we tell stories, and the differences between this film and the original I believe encapsulates that.  Perhaps no one else represents this changing style better than the Cohens and the touch they put on the Western Genre here is so eloquent and poetic.  The merger of the Cohen brother’s style with that of western is very hard to picture until you see the film and I believe Nicole LaPorte captures it perfectly in her article for “The Daily Beast”

But it’s hard not to sense a new direction, or perhaps maturation, with True Grit, which is the closest the writer-directors, who have been steadily churning out films since the mid-1980’s, have come to making a straight, i.e., non-ironic film. Rest assured, there is plenty of Coen-style absurdity throughout, mostly in the script’s dialogue, which is a blend of King James Bible verse and showy cowboy talk (Matt Damon as a Texas Ranger is particularly amusing), but there are many points at which the film plays like a straight Western. The violence is, for the most part, not funny. And the film’s heroine—played by newcomer Hailee Steinfeld—is a much fuller, more flesh-and-blood character than, say, the more outlandish caricature that was The Dude.

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I do not want to really delve too deeply into the plot, as I feel it is such a great experience viewing it, not knowing what to expect.  I will say this though, while not a western in the iconic, classic sense, I believe this film gets closer to depicting the real Old West, in all it expansive glory, than John Wayne ever could.  If you have not already seen this film, and are looking for perhaps the final chapter in the Western genre than look no further than True Grit.

This Smart Ass gives it…

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

The Pirates of the Caribbean series has always been a blockbuster franchise, consistently cranking out huge box office numbers.  However, are four movies too much? Especially considering that the entire premise is based on a theme park ride.  Some would argue yes, and while I think the fourth installment, On Stranger Tides, is still a good “Pirates” movie, it is also the first that shows the aging of the series.

As usual, Johnny Depp is still the most perfect pirate that ever graced the screen, and just about everything about his character I still find hilarious.  His witty comments, the way he carries himself as if one night he became permanently intoxicated, and his trickster antics are all well represented in the film.  So if you’re going to the movie just too see some more Jack Spar… sorry, CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow, just like probably 9/10 people, than you most likely won’t be disappointed.

On Stranger Tides, follows Captain Sparrow as he goes on a search for the fabled Fountain of Youth.  After meeting a woman from his past, Isabella, played by Penelope Cruz, he becomes a member of the crew of the famous pirate Blackbeard.  As they journey to find the fountain, they race both the British Navy and the Spanish to be the first to claim its immortal waters.

The plot though, is the weakest of the series thus far, and you can sometimes really feel the controversial absence of Orlando Bloom’s and Kiera Knightley’s characters.  There are now for more scenes without Depp that seem to drag on somewhat, and in the previous films, the substance the two of them provided to the story carefully balanced Depp’s.  With this film you start to hope for the next scene with Sparrow as soon as possible.  I got the feeling that the filmmakers felt the same way, and as the essence of Sparrows character does not allow for a very serious relationship with Isabella, they added a romance between a preacher and a mermaid, and no, I didn’t make that up.  It feels very forced, tacked on and clichéd, but then again, that’s about how it goes for romances in an action movie.

This is a film that I feel rather conflicted on, and one that makes me feel odd being that I criticized the critics for being too harsh on it.  Now seeing the film I can see some of their points, except the one about noisy action sequences of course.  As a “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie it meets your expectations, providing the comedy and action you wanted to see.  However, as just a regular film it just feels too ordinary and rather bland sometimes.  My conflicted feelings show in my score, and I half to make use of the dreaded cop out: the “half star.”

This smart ass gives it…

Have film critics lost touch?

The new Pirates of the Caribbean movie opened last week to rather poor critical reviews, and currently holds a “33% Rotten” rating on RottenTomatoes.com.  You would not necessarily be able to tell the movie was so poor based on its $90,000,000 opening weekend.  Ordinary people do not go see a Pirates of the Caribbean movie because they are expecting to see an Oscar contender, they go to watch Johnny Depp walk around in a dreadlock wig for two hours and generally act like a hilarious, drunken, smart ass pirate.

Constantly there are movies released that most of us find vastly entertaining or hilarious, but a well cultured film critic will assign it with a mediocre or poor rating.  I am sure that many people picture film critics sitting around, drinking expensive lattes, and getting paid to say movies suck.  This is where I feel that professional film critics have lost touch with the general public, and I believe others share the same opinion.  The critics seem to forget that not every film is intending to be a contender at Cannes.

Film is definitely an art form, of that there is no doubt, and most assuredly the education professional critics receive on film is focused heavily on the artistic side.  I think that this is where the disconnect begins, because at this point they seem to forget that the intention of the vast majority of movies is simply to entertain the audience, and of course to make a nice profit.  I saw one review complain about “the non-stop barrage of noisy action sequences.”  Really?  Noisy action sequences are a problem in a summer blockbuster?  I had no idea!  I will try to keep this in mind during my reviews.

As stated earlier, not every movie is trying to win a Best Picture award, the film’s intentions are much more grounded.  It is with this idea in mind that I will attempt to set my opinions apart from more professional and technical film critics.  I will focus my reviews on how well a film achieves its intended goals and not just on its technical merits, and of course with as many smart ass comments as I can muster.

Also I will be going to see the new "Pirates" movie later this evening and I will let you all know about how noisy those action sequences really are in my first review.

Initial Ramblings

I wonder why people still go see new romantic comedies.  As soon as all the characters are introduced I know exactly how it will end.  Maybe that's the point.


They are going to make a SIXTH Fast & Furious movie.  I like the series but I worry that Hollywood is running out of ideas.


I wish more people knew how many recent great 'American' movies, like Inception, have taken their premise from Asian films.


Hollywood is making reboots of Franchises not even five years after the last film.  I really worry that they are out of ideas.


I really want to see Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Aniston in a movie together, I think it might make more money than Avatar.


Hollywood is now making sequels of prequels.  They are out of ideas.


These initial ramblings are perhaps too cynical.  I still love movies and there are still great films that are made every year.  I like to think of myself as a movie aficionado, but really there is so much more I could learn about films.  As I write this blog I hope to inform you about the movies I watch and give my opinion of them, hopefully I will learn more about the art of film along the way.