It's Back: Exceelent Movies I've Seen Lately

[The Dane]

I saw "True Grit" Thursday night, much better than the original.

Agreed. I thought True Grit was great. I know it's probably sacrilege, but I grew up watching every John Wayne movie ever made on KTLA 5, and I always found him a little comical and hard to take seriously as an actor. I liked his movies because they had shootouts and plane crashes, and there is nothing unlikeable about Wayne, but I always thought he was kind of a caricature and not really a character in his films. True Grit was just begging to get remade, and the Coen Brothers nailed it, in my opinion.

[DMT]

I agree that True Grit was excellent. I haven't seen the original.

[Erik]

I agree that True Grit was excellent. I haven't seen the original.

Same here.

The Coens said they wanted to do a remake because there was so much stuff in the book that wasn't in Wayne's version.

[Mithrandir]

Really? I had kinda avoided it because I loved the original...but I will have to give it a look...



"I call that bold talk from a one-eyed, fat man!"

"Well, fill your hand, you sonovabitch!"

My sentiments exactly....and those quotes are GOLD, Jerry..GOLD!!!

[rhd]

Agreed. I thought True Grit was great. I know it's probably sacrilege, but I grew up watching every John Wayne movie ever made on KTLA 5, and I always found him a little comical and hard to take seriously as an actor. I liked his movies because they had shootouts and plane crashes, and there is nothing unlikeable about Wayne, but I always thought he was kind of a caricature and not really a character in his films. True Grit was just begging to get remade, and the Coen Brothers nailed it, in my opinion.

I have seen only the original so far, and I also thought it was great (despite Glen Campbell ). After seeing several endorsements of the remake here, I'll have to check it out when I get a chance, but will have a high bar to clear for me.

[JudeBaldo]

I have seen only the original so far, and I also thought it was great (despite Glen Campbell ). After seeing several endorsements of the remake here, I'll have to check it out when I get a chance, but will have a high bar to clear for me.

Another endorsement for the True Grit remake over here.


I saw The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo last night and it was solid and entertaining. I was surprised by how well Daniel Craig acted.

[rhd]

Really? I had kinda avoided it because I loved the original...but I will have to give it a look...

"I call that bold talk from a one-eyed, fat man!"

"Well, fill your hand, you sonovabitch!"

There are lot of great quotes from the original, which are only part of what makes it great. Just off the top of my head:

"They must have all been family men 'cause they turned tail and headed for home."

"A clumsier child you've never seen than Horace! He musta broke 40 cup."

Whoever wrote the script was great. Maybe a bit campy, but charmingly witty. And in addition to Wayne's usual performance as a charismatic tough guy, Kim Darby was great in her role, too. Actually, Wayne's character also had an endearingly vulnerable side to it, which worked well w Darby's character, which was also tough but vulnerable because of her youth, small size and gender. They complemented each other's vulnerabilities, and each 'had grit' in their own way.

[rhd]

Same here.

The Coens said they wanted to do a remake because there was so much stuff in the book that wasn't in Wayne's version.

I didnt realize that it was based on a book. One of my penchants is to read the book that movies I like were based on, so now I will look for the book (is it also called True Grit?).

[The Dane]

I saw The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo last night and it was solid and entertaining. I was surprised by how well Daniel Craig acted.

I just saw that as well, and was impressed. The rape scenes were pretty shocking, though; it's not for the faint of heart. I'm going to read the books now.

[johnnya24]

True Grit was terrific.

I haven't seen the Fincher remake of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo yet ... I thought the Swedish remakes were very good, and kinda made this version pretty much redundant ... but I'll probably see it because it's such a good story. I've got Noomi Rapace is my head as Lisbeth Salander, so it will be a bit weird to see someone else in the role so soon.

[johnnya24]

Real Steel - This movie has a 7.4 rating on IMDB and 59% on Rotten Tomatoes. Don't let those reasonably good scores fool you ... it's total crap. I have nothing good to say about this, I can't even say it finishing was a relief because it lasts more than 2 hours. The best part for me was when I nodded off ... the worst part was when I woke up and realized it was still on.

[Teenwolf]

I've been off work lately, and went through a ton of movies.

Brazil, Time Bandits, Adventures of Baron Von Munchausen - Saw these three consecutively in a theatre on my 29th birthday last week. Pretty awesome. I took mushrooms for the start of Brazil and it nearly killed me. Time Bandits is only okay, but the other two were absolutely great and worth seeking out.

Oxygen - Really cool performance from a young Adrien Brody, but not much else to see. Looks amateurish in places, but if you're a fan of Brody it's worth a watch.

50/50 - Decent buddy comedy/drama about overcoming being diagnosed with cancer. Good performances and all, but not a particularly memorable film. The relationship aspects are all pretty predictable.

Elvis - Did you know that John Carpenter directed Kurt Russell in a 1978 biopic? It's good but not great. Russell does a pretty weak Elvis, I thought, but it was still cool to see how things supposedly went down.

Ali - I'd much rather watch either of the two excellent docs on Ali than see Will Smith's mopey portrayal. But, some cool stuff to make it worth a watch.

Crazy Stupid Love - Not awful, but that's as nice as I can be.

Friends with Benefits - Much better than Crazy Stupid Love. Well-written and genuinely funny, with some decent chemistry. It's just really hard to feel for these characters that are rich and entitled and beautiful.

Beautiful Girls - I like that none of these people are particularly attractive or successful. The small town setting feels authentic. It's a Big Chill type of thing, where there are a ton of finely realized characters in their late 20's, early 30's, trying to figure out what to do with their lives. Liked this a lot.

Terri/Win-Win - Both feel very similar, so I'll just say that if you like awkward coming-of-age dramas then you'll love these two films. Great performances from the mentor characters (John C. Reilly and Paul Giamatti respectively). Also really good performances from the teenage leads.

[Erik]

Brazil is in my Top 10 of all time.

[Erik]

I didnt realize that it was based on a book. One of my penchants is to read the book that movies I like were based on, so now I will look for the book (is it also called True Grit?).

Yes.

http://www.amazon.com/True-Grit-Charles-Portis/dp/159020459X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1326031930&sr=1-1

[Mithrandir]

There are lot of great quotes from the original, which are only part of what makes it great. Just off the top of my head:

"They must have all been family men 'cause they turned tail and headed for home."

"A clumsier child you've never seen than Horace! He musta broke 40 cup."

Whoever wrote the script was great. Maybe a bit campy, but charmingly witty. And in addition to Wayne's usual performance as a charismatic tough guy, Kim Darby was great in her role, too. Actually, Wayne's character also had an endearingly vulnerable side to it, which worked well w Darby's character, which was also tough but vulnerable because of her youth, small size and gender. They complemented each other's vulnerabilities, and each 'had grit' in their own way.

Cross-examining Lawyer: So, you say that when Amos Wharton raised his axe, you backed away from him.
Rooster Cogburn: That's right.
Cross-examining Lawyer: In what direction were you going?
Rooster Cogburn: Backwards. I always go backwards when I back up.

[LaBoeuf sits down for supper at the Monarch Boarding House]
Monarch boarder: Watch out for the chicken and dumplings. They'll hurt your eyes.
LaBoeuf: How's that?
Monarch boarder: They'll hurt your eyes lookin' for the chicken.
[he and other boarders laugh]
LaBoeuf: You squirrel-headed bastard!