"Time just gets away from us."

Only the Coens. The most authentic western in modern memory, only the Coens could accomplish what they do here and they warrant rewatchability to spare. For one, the Coens are masters of language. Always have been, always will be. The way they go about capturing the Old West linguistics and dialects and transplant them into unique and unusual accents of characters is an absolute treat to experience and in the process, transplants the viewer into the past. A merciless past, but not one without humanity.

The production values are sky-scraping with expertise across the board. Anyone who claims to know films is aware of the legendary status of Roger Deakins, and he is currently…

(Part 7 of The Possibly Decades Spanning Coen Brothers Marathon)

Okay, let's get this out of the way first - this film is absolutely beautiful. Every shot seems to highlight something that you wouldn't think of being able to be considered stunning, but somehow is. The fact that Roger Deakins still hasn't won an Oscar despite being nominated about ten times is almost criminal. Here's hoping they give him it for Skyfall as a consolation prize.

Moving on from that, let's talk about the cast. Jeff Bridges is just fantastic as the grizzled, aging, constantly drunk marshal who of course manages to produce some of the film's best dialogue - "You are not LaBouef" being one of the greatest examples…

I used the receipt of a new blu-ray as the excuse to rewatch this film.
The absolutely brilliant cinematography was highlighted even more by the quality of the blu-ray. The colors and lighting effects made this feel like the best of authentic Westerns. There was incredible authenticity in the sets, buildings, and costumes used.

The Coen Bros. took a huge gamble in remaking a Western classic such as True Grit. They wisely didn't follow the same script but chose to follow the original manuscript much more closely. Trying to replace a "giant" like John Wayne in a remake was like trying to replace Arnold Schwarzenegger in "Total Recall". :-)
The Coen's pulled it off with an outstanding new script and…

Jesus Christ, man. I LOVE THIS MOVIE. Everything about it is just perfect.
I know, I know. When it comes to the Coen brothers, everybody prefers Fargo, Oh Brother Where Art Thou, or No Country...and don't get me wrong, I love those too. So when I say that True Grit is perfect, I don't mean it's the most perfect out of all the Coens films. I mean it's the perfect one for me.
I mean, this film is my soulmate. I don't know why it took a re-watch for me to realize this. But then again, I kinda do. You know how your whole life you've been searching for the right one, only to find out that they've been there…

A strong-willed girl (Hailee Steinfeld) hires a drunken lawman (Jeff Bridges) to arrest the man who murdered her father (Josh Brolin).

I've read that the Coen brothers did not see this film as a remake, since they took their inspiration from the original Charles Portis novel, even using much of the book's dialogue. It is that dialogue which makes this film a delight for the ear as well as the eye. The scene in which Steinfeld haggles over the price of some horses is especially well-written and -acted. Bridges inhabits the role of Rooster Cogburn in his usual understated manner. The contrast between his rough manners (we can almost see his body odor) and the flashy Texas Ranger (complete with…

Twee jaar na 'No country for old men' duiken de gebroeders Coen opnieuw het westernlandschap in. Maar waar hun oscarwinnaar het cowboygenre voorzag van een postmoderne schwung, kiezen de Coens ditmaal voor een traditionele western. Te verwachten: ruige cowboys, gorgelende vrijbuiters en onvervalste prairie-esthetiek.

'True grit' is een herwerking van de gelijknamige literatuurklassieker van Charles Portis. Het boek werd in het verleden al tot film verwerkt (de legendarische John Wayne mocht voor zijn vertolking als de robuuste marshall Cogburn zijn enige Oscar op de schouwmantel plaatsen), maar de Coens maken van hun update een veel grimmigere en meer nihilistische prent dan de jaren '60-pendant. Eerlijk toegegeven, de originele 'True grit' was, op de zoals vanouds smalende John Wayne na, verre…

"Time just gets away from us."

Only the Coens. The most authentic western in modern memory, only the Coens could accomplish what they do here and they warrant rewatchability to spare. For one, the Coens are masters of language. Always have been, always will be. The way they go about capturing the Old West linguistics and dialects and transplant them into unique and unusual accents of characters is an absolute treat to experience and in the process, transplants the viewer into the past. A merciless past, but not one without humanity.

The production values are sky-scraping with expertise across the board. Anyone who claims to know films is aware of the legendary status of Roger Deakins, and he is currently…