| Author | Message | ||
     Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
Sorry, Prof, this deserves its own thread:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uco41pOKeJg | ||
| Tom_alaerts (Tom_alaerts) Username: Tom_alaerts Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.78.35.185 |
The book was written by Charles Portis. I didn't read True Grit, but another one: "The Dog of the South" which was absolutely wonderful and witty - it could easily be a Coen movie as well. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.177.115.63 |
I love most of the output from these guys, but really didn't like THE LADYKILLERS. Hopefully this remake will be better. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
Mick - yep, it was like watching a movie by guys with the same name only. I'm sure if I were to sit down and take a good look at the LK remake again, I'd see lot of their tropes, BUT, it was pretty bad. Maybe they were hoping to catch some of the magic of Raising Arizona, as it treads the same water as that movie. Who knows! I have a good feeling about this remake of True Grit. | ||
| Thomasb (Thomasb) Username: Thomasb Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 69.236.166.130 |
Not me, I'm afraid. The Coens can be great, but sometimes they can be just Pomo sneery and snarky, which my intuition says this will be. Maybe the original "True Grit" wasn't Greatest Movie Ever--even for John Wayne--but to me, it hardly needs a remake. Yes, an excellent book, BTW. Just read it the first time a couple of years ago. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.252.126 |
I'm genuinely flabbergasted at this news! 'True Grit' is one of those "classic westerns" that I was never particularly fond of and I can't for the life of me understand why the Coens have chosen to remake it!? The original, overrated though it is, is synonymous with John Wayne's iconic performance as Rooster Cogburn. They, and Jeff Bridges in particular, are on a hiding to nothing with this one. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.253.77 |
I disagree, Stevie-lad. Although the original is a very good film, John Wayne was as wooden as a post in everything he ever did. Yes, his Rooster Cogburn is iconic ("Fill your hands, you son of a bitch"), but this is one of those films I'm looking forward to seeing remade by talented people with a proper actor in the lead role. I'm pretty excited by it, to be honest. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.252.126 |
Don't get me started defending John Wayne. I know the guy could be a right-wing shit but he was undeniably brilliant in several of my all-time favourite movies. He could act when he needed to and had charisma and star presence to burn. Even if he'd only appeared in; 'Stagecoach', 'Red River', 'The Searchers', 'The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance' & 'The Shootist' he would still be a Hollywood legend imo - while the man lit up plenty more genuine classics than that. I think the Coen Bros have bitten off more than they can chew again, as with 'The Ladykillers' - another long established classic, with iconic performances that are too enshrined in people's memory to avoid disgruntled comparison. I mean, what next, a remake of 'The Great Escape'?!?! | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
I disagree, mate. The Coen Brothers are without doubt in my mind, two of the most original, brilliant and inventive film-makers we'll ever see in our lifetime. They are truly inspirational. Whereas Tarantino quite rightly flaunts his techniques, his influences, his talent openly, as Hitchcock did before him, and where many have therefore thought it easy to imitate, and failed, the Coen Brothers inhabit a stratospheric like world all of their own making, where imitation is nigh on impossible. I believe I have sidetracked myself once more. I truly believe in the wonderment these guys can produce. BUT, I am unfortunately not a fan of Wayne in the slightest. Aside from his politics, I thought he was the Arnie of his day, a man stuck inside his own real life screen persona writ bold up on the silver screen. Sorry, mate. Just my humble opinion, but I'm sure you've heard plenty of negative things about Wayne before. He's one of those actors that divides opinion straight down the line: you either love him or hate him. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.252.126 |
Frank, I love the Coen Brothers too. They are immensely talented filmmakers, but I find myself frequently frustrated by their choice of projects, in much the same way Tim Burton frustrates me. Here's my view of their filmography: 'Blood Simple' (1983) - one of the greatest debuts in cinema history imo, a perfect modern noir suspense thriller that Hitchcock couldn't have done any better! 'Raising Arizona' (1987) - thoroughly entertaining zany crime comedy mish-mash that batters any attempt at serious critical analysis into submission by its sheer verve and fizzing originality. 'Miller's Crossing' (1990) - another flawless crime masterpiece that successfully unites the grim realism of their debut with the dazzling visual pyrotechnics of its follow-up. 'Barton Fink' (1991) - a brilliant and incredibly original surreal fantasy satire on the Faustian bargaining it takes to make it big in the Hollywood machine. 'The Hudsucker Proxy' (1994) - their first misstep imo, this attempt at old-fashioned screwball comedy with a Capraesque message looks wonderful, due to the inspired direction and sumptuous production design, but simply doesn't work due to the heavy-handed gurning nature of the humour. 'Fargo' (1996) - yet another crime/suspense masterpiece lovingly laced with macabre black humour and full of cherishable characters and peerless performances. 'The Big Lebowski' (1998) - their most successful comedy and one of their most loveable films imo, an instant cult classic spoof of every Californian film noir detective thriller ever made, with the inspired device of having the weirdest bunch of nerds imaginable doing the detecting. 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?' (2000) - this episodic screwball comedy tribute to the genius of Preston Sturges has a lot to commend it but, in the end, doesn't quite come off due to the same irritatingly OTT gurning factor that flawed THP. 'The Man Who Wasn't There' (2001) - incredibly, I still haven't seen it! 'Intolerable Cruelty' (2003) - their weakest and least imaginative film up till then, this was yet another attempt at the screwball comedy genre, and a shockingly routine (for them) and not particularly funny one at that. Watchable and mildly entertaining, but that isn't the Coen Bros we know and love... 'The Ladykillers' (2004) - their first abject disaster that had me seriously worried all their talent and judgement had deserted them for good, if there was ever a film that no one (no matter how talented) should ever have had the effrontery to try and remake it was Ealing's 'The Ladykillers' - with that never bettered cast - for my money, a strong contender for the greatest black comedy ever made. This was nothing less than a crime against cinema... with Tom bloody Hanks, to boot! 'Paris, Je T'Aime' (2006) - they were responsible for one segment, haven't seen it. 'No Country For Old Men' (2007) - talk about having your faith restored, in my opinion this blistering contemporary western/crime thriller is the masterpiece their career was always building up to, quite simply one of the most perfect and intelligent and incredibly suspenseful thrillers ever made, with a trio of iconic, career best performances from three of the finest actors in the business. Should be in everyone's Top 10 films of the new millennium so far! 'Burn After Reading' (2008) - a really disappointing follow-up to their masterwork, when will they ever get tired of these goofy hare-brained all-star comedies when they already made their comedy masterpiece with TBL? I despair... 'A Serious Man' (2009) - haven't seen it but hear good reports. 'True Grit' (2010) - we shall see, but I ain't getting good vibes. |