True Grit

Directors: Ethan Coen & Joel Coen

Writers: Charles Portis (novel), Ethan & Joel Coen (Screenplay)

Starring: Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld, & Matt Damon
Other notable Cast: Josh Brolin, Barry pepper, Dakin Matthews
Budget: $38,000,000 (estimated)

I’m generally not a fan of remakes or novel adaptations. But that’s usually because I’ve already seen the original or I’ve read the novel and the remakes/adaptations rarely add up. As I had not seen the original version, I wasn’t viewing the movie with a pre-formed bias.

The Good:

Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn – I think every time I laughed in this movie was because of a line this character spat. He’s severely flawed and incredibly relatable.

The animosity between the Marshalls – You have a lot of reasons for these two characters to belly-ache at eachother. One fought for the North, one fought for the confederacy. There’s the whole “I’m from Texas” mentality and then of course you have the old dog vs. the young whippersnapper. Their spats are priceless.

Josh Brolin as Tom Chaney – We don’t get to see Mr. Chaney for long, but he’s definitely a memorable character. Brolin makes you hate him within moments of meeting him, and what more do you want from a murdering scumbag?

The Bad:

Mr. Le Boeuf – Ka-reep-y. Guy comes off very strongly as a creeper with his first lines. I know it was different back then, but Mattie is 14… and the first scene in which she encounters the Texas Marshall was very much a set-up for a romantic relationship.

The Blue Screen at the end – Oh, it was horrible. When I see things like that in a movie (especially one with a budget like this one had) I wonder why no one took the time to do anything about it.

Voice over & ending sequences – I never enjoy voice over narration in these sorts of films. It always seems out of place.

The Final Verdict: Definitely see it. It will certainly have you running the full gamut of emotions.

Run time: 110 Minutes

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Tron: Legacy

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Writers: Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz

Starring: Jeff Bridges, Garret Helund, Olivia Wilde

Other notable Cast: Michael Sheen, Daft Punk, Cillian Murphey (uncredited)

Budget: An estimated $300 million (unconfirmed)

The Good:

The updated Grid – is pretty cool, it’s definitely less offensive to the eyes than the original version. (I want to live there)

Michael Sheen – His character was a complete surprise to me (after we saw it I went home and two minutes after we turned on the TV, there was a trailer with him in it, I was flummoxed). I’m not sure he was going for this, but he was channeling David Bowie hard core, and I loved every minute of it.

Homage to the original – The little things tickled me, like the blue water stuff from the first one, it was there, but no one said “Look! Here’s that blue stuff from the first one!” (It’s the little things I really enjoy.)

The Bad:

CGI on 1989 Flynn – I can forgive anything that looks computer generated inside the grid. Anything at all, because you’re supposed to be inside the computer… but the graphics on Flynn’s face when he’s supposed to be out of the computer in 89 are completely silly.

Cillian Murphey’s super short cameo – this leads into what I can only assume is the third series in the franchise. I hate that, but as far as ways to do it, this wasn’t one of the worse ways to do it.

The Vintage Lightcycle – only makes a brief appearance. They should have worked with that more.

Run Time: 125 Minutes

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