Wednesday, December 22, 2010

True Grit


It's awards season! And my mailbox is full of screener DVDs in competition for the mighty golden statue. The great part of this time of the year are the special screenings with fancy parties. One of the best this year was the “True Grit” event. They showed the film in the huge Ziegfield Cinema, which seats around 2000 film lovers.

The story, written by Charlie Portis, was originally filmed in the late 60's as a swan song for John Wayne as “Rooster Cogburn”, and the 2010 version is by the esteemed Coen Brothers. As is there style, the film is very visual, violent, and gorgeous. But what's particularly engaging is the wonderful use of mid-18th Century frontier language. Starring the fantastic Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Hailee Steinfeld, Barry Pepper and Josh Brolin, it's one of the most powerful films of the year.

Afterwards, we were lead to a fancy dinner party at the Four Seasons. I saw a lot of fellow Academy people there. And then, in walks Jeff Bridges and Joel and Ethan Coen, with a crew of fans and photographers trailing behind. I try to get in to chat with the Coens – after all, 20 years ago they chose my film, “How to Kiss”, to open for one of their new feature films (I can't remember which one) so I thought they might remember me – but the crowd was so tight I wasn't able to get a word in.

Out of a possible 10, I give “True Grit” a 9.

1 comment:

  1. Well said, I would like to have some extra information about the cinema , I would like to go to the top 10 cinemas in the world !

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