Support NeoGAF

[bender]

A tale of Two (True) Grits.

I watched True Grit (2010) again and followed it up with a True Grit (1969) chaser. The Cohen brothers have made two of my favorite movies in The Big Lebowski and No Country For Old Men, but something has always felt off with their adaptation of the True Grit novel. It's said they aren't terribly familiar with the John Wayne film. It's pretty remarkable how similar yet different the movies are. A lot of the dialog mirrors one another which probably speaks to the strength of the source material and the differences come down mostly due to the performances. John Wayne's Oscar performance was said to be more of a lifetime achievement award than him being deserving with his portrayal of Rooster Cogburn and if you look a the completion that year, I'm inclined to agree. Further, I don't think John Wayne would disagree. It's also a popular notion that Jeff Bridges' performance was superior to that of his performance in Crazy Heart which notched him an Oscar which is an interesting Juxtaposition. I do prefer Jeff's rendition, but he can't hold a candle to John Wayne's delivery of "fill your hands, you son of a bitch".

I didn't care much for Kim Darby in 1969 and while I think Matt Damon feels out of place in 2010 but he's far preferable to Glen Campbell. Hailee Steinfeld is masterful but I do think the direction given to her was a bit too Wednesday Addams in how cold and ruthless she was. And maybe that's what stops me from loving this movie. No Country For Old Men left me feeling hollow but I always like to watch it again. True Grit gives me the same emotions but without wanting to go back to it.

Both adaptations are worth watching and I prefer 2010 even if I don't like it as much as most. I'm going to read the book next.

One last thing, I do really, really like Barry Pepper as Ned Pepper in 2010. He's no Robert Duval (who is?) but it's a great casting choice. Robert Duval is my favorite part of 1969.

 

[kruis]

Let's see

- Metropolis (1927) (this was a rewatch, actually, the new cut which restores some b-stories cut for other markets it's simply marvelous)
- Nosferatu (1922) (rewatch because I saw the Herzog version recently and I wanted to refresh my memory a little)
- Der Golem (1920) (I always liked the Golem appearances, the movie depicts him like an innocent and apparently calm child, which is absolutely true)
- The Phantom Carriage (1921) (as I said before, I was pleasently surprised at the universal theme of this film, which makes it so terribly modern in our times, plus great SFXs for a movie that old)
- City Lights (1931) (not strictly a silent movie, but I'm not that picky, gentle story like all of the Tramp's, absolutely a classic)
- Faust (1926) (always loved the play, and I was not disappointed, great sets and camera angles)

in the future I'll tackle:
- The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
- The Cat and the Canary (1927)
- Dr. Mabuse the Gambler (1922)
- The Phantom of the Opera (1925) (of this one apparently only exists a recent cut from 1929 or so, with added scenes and score, so I'm a little undecided)

It's fascinating to learn about the shooting of multiple version for different markets (export and domestic cuts) which often led to lightly off-center shots due to having different camers concurrently on set, if not completely redone scenes, the tint philosophy, the approaching menace of the 'talkies', the huge amount of lost endeavours due to fires or accidents and so on.

I'm always impressed by special effects in the age of silent movies. Even though the film equipment was primitive by our standards, the men making the movies were among the brightest of their days and they were true pioneers.



An absolute must-see for anyone interested in silent movies is the 1980 documentary series "Hollywood" made by Kevin Brownlow. It's the most comprehensive overview of US silent movies ever made and featured unique interviews with many of the stars and directors of that era who were still alive. It's a shame that this masterpiece of a documentary series was never released on DVD or Blu-Ray, supposedly getting the rights to the many film fragments was really difficult - although that's getting harder to believe considering the fact that the vast majority of silent movies are now PD in the US. From January 1st all movies made in 1929 will be PD and that was the beginning of the sound era.

You can watch the entire 12 part series for free on the Internet Archive. Quality is so so, since the video files were made many years ago from VHS and LaserDisc rips and encoded in XVID.

Hollywood : Kevin Brownlow : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Hollywood (also known as Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film) is a multi-BAFTA award winning 1980 documentary series produced by Thames...

archive.org

 

[violence]

No country for old men.

Amazing movie. In my top ten favorites of all time.

★★★★★

 

[John Marston]

Heretic:

Really liked it. I thought the ending was the weakest part of the movie. It wasn't terrible, but it was a little out of control. But Hugh Grant was great, it had an interesting premise, it was tense all the way throughout.

Just watched it.
Yes the last Act is a bit messy but it's a great Hugh Grant one man show