True Grit

I'm sure even the most hardened Coen Brothers fan had some doubts upon hearing the highly illustrious brothers were considering another remake. After all, the last time they attempted one, was 2004's notorious "The Ladykillers", which along with "Intolerable Cruelty" is regarded as the least favoured in the Coen canon. However the Coens are far too astute to hamper themselves again. Part of me even thinks that they know something about those two films that we don't-after all, they are very noticeable blotches on their otherwise impeccable filmography. The Coens have always done what they meant to, which is part of what makes them such great film makers. Everything in their films is so perfectly judged, that the fact that "The Ladykillers" and "Intolerable Cruelty" are the misfires that they are, makes them stick out even further like a sore thumb. Although some have speculated it's their lack of 'Coen-isms' in the scripts I believe it to be something else. For "True Grit" is yet another fantastic achievement by the brothers, and yet for all its stunning wordplay, and oddball characters, it is as times, not very Coen at all. It is a Western, plain and simple. Delivered without any irony, the audience are transported back to a gritty, rough and unforgiving time. One that while it recalls the epic, silent landscapes and southern grit of "No Country For Old Men" and "Raising Arizona", it finds the brothers on new tides. Not that you'd ever know it; it offers something new to the great Coen pantheon while still more than living up to earlier classics.

Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) is bereaved after the recent and senseless murder of her father. At 14 years old she is head strong, confident, and more than a little vulnerable, but no less capable of taking care of herself. Being all these things and more, she takes it upon herself to capture and bring justice to her fathers murderer, Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin). In order to do this, she hires boozy US Marshall, Rooster Cogburn (a marvelously cantankerous Jeff Bridges), the only man with enough 'true grit' to get the job done. Along the way they meet Texas Ranger LaBoeuf (Matt Damon), a man also out to capture Tom Chaney and bring him back to his native Texan soil. Along with its plot, its characters are completely without fault-something which is the very least you can expect from the brothers Coen. Utilizing its chase movie set-up, they find ample room for quirky observations on the many 'characters' the Wild West had to offer and which are more than a dying breed nowadays. Within its themes of revenge, redemption and everything in between, they also allow the relationship between Mattie and Cogburn to grow. As Mattie, Steinfeld was called upon to do an awful lot. It is she who carries the film and grounds it around the more colourful characterisations of LaBoeuf and Cogburn. At merely 13 years old, she very nearly walks away with the film, so strong is her performance. No mean feat with a cast of this calibre, all of whom fire with all guns blazing. As Laboeuf, Damon gets most of the laughs. A slightly egotistical and proud man, his vanity and pride lend itself to the films funniest moments, especially when the aftermath of one action leaves him with a subtle, yet humourous speech impediment for the rest of the films running time. And completing the trio is Bridges' Cogburn. Much has been made of the John Wayne 1969 original film and the Dukes performance with which he won his only oscar. Here Bridges walks away with the role; in fact it is fair to say he completely dominates it over Wayne and will be remembered as the definitive actor for the part. Through his mumbled, slurred and thickly southern drawl, it is he who gets the film loudest performance and he is a pleasure to watch. His constant butting heads with LaBoeuf is a source of many of the most entertaining moments and his slow warming up to the strong willed Mattie gives the film its heart.

The film is not afraid to be funny when it has to while still retaining its smarts and originality. Every Coens film has wry moments of humour (even the blacker than black "No Country For Old Men") and "True Grit" is no exception. In fact its violence and harshness, is contrasted wonderfully with two of the most humourous characters seen in a Coens film for quite sometime in LaBeouf and Cogburn (a fantastic double act). Bridges' second team up with the brothers after the classic "The Big Lebowski" was always going to deliver, while Josh Brolin delivers in the few scenes he has. However newcomers Hailee Steinfeld, Matt Damon and Barry Pepper fit very comfortably with the Coens sensibilities. Pepper in particular steals the film in his limited screen time, which reminds the viewer of how talented he always was-completely unrecognizable here, he is better than ever before. When it comes down to it, the Coens always cast their films impeccably. When it came to remaking the original, they faced doubting looks not only from their previously burned fans, but from the lovers of the John Wayne classic. Although it shares vaguely the same plot, the Coens stick closer to the original 1968 book it is based on, and it is from where it gets its emotional weight. Dialogue stems from the novel but also shines with the best the brothers have previously offered. In the end with a surprising amount going against them, the brothers turn in their most crowd pleasing, yet no less effective work in some time. What they never forget is that while Bridges may hog the limelight, its title is not about him-it is our heroine Mattie who always had true grit.

Verdict: 9/10

Bridges chews up the scenery and all the supporting cast (especially Pepper) deliver while Steinfeld gives an incredibly assured debut performance belittling her young age. In the end it may be commercial and crowd pleasing but it is no less Coen and their stunning sensibilities linger throughout in Roger Deakins gorgeous images, Carter Burwells heartfelt strings, and their own inimitable and finely tuned dialogue. If this is the Coens selling out, then more of it would be very much welcomed indeed.

"True Grit" Trailer

Piranha 3-D

It first must be noted that before those sitting high and mighty start sniffing their nose up at this movie, they cannot argue against this: At the very least "Piranha" knows its audience and it plays to it brilliantly. It is a remake about man eating Piranhas set loose on lithe, beautiful bodies during Spring Break. What did you expect? High art, this most certainly is not. What it is however, is the most out and out, rollicking good time you may have at the movies this year. While hardly the first 3D exploitation film, it is certainly the most high profile in recent years, following the dreadful "My Bloody Valentine 3D" released early last year. While that film seemed to have aspirations to knowingly playing to generic and cliche horror conventions, it had a horrible cast, daft set pieces, not an ounce of tension and horrid use of its 3D. "Piranha" on the other hand, not only plays hilariously with its tongue lodged firmly in its cheek, but with actual talent in front and behind the camera. Those who can withstand the copious amounts of blood and ridiculously gratuitous nudity will find a live action cartoon in front of them. Do not take this film for one second seriously; it's cast and director certainly don't. What they do take seriously is entertaining their demographic, something the film does in spades.

It's Spring Break on Lake Victoria, Arizona. Hundreds of students cut loose and go wild here every year. However this is the time that an underground earthquake hits, releasing a large swarm of prehistoric Piranhas from their underground lake. Falling prey first, to a very unfortunate Richard Dreyfuss (in the first of many nods to "Jaws") they then descend on the nubile, party goers on the lake. It's up to a small group of strangers to bond together to escape the snappy jaws of the very vicious fish. One of the small successes of the film is in it's casting. Already mentioned was the very welcome cameo of Dreyfuss, yet there are plenty of other surprises in store. Just seeing Christopher Lloyd back on screen again spouting some fantastic OTT dialogue is enjoyable in its own right. Adding to the 'knowing factor' is including talented comedy actors Adam Scott and one third of 'Human Giant' Paul Scheer. In fact its cast has to be one of the oddest in a while; many average cinemagoers won't understand the simple virtues of seeing seasoned veterans Elizabeth Shue (in her first lead in quite a while), Ving Rhames and the aforementioned Lloyd and Dreyfuss back on screen. Jerry O'Connell hasn't lately been in anything other than what is found in DVD bargain bins, Kelly Brook is hardly a 'serious' actress by anyones standards and the rest of the supporting players are filled out by porn stars. All of this adds to the fun on display and shows Director Aja's intentions from the off. To know these actors is to know perfectly what each character will fulfill. It is shameless in its intentions. Somewhat surprisingly, it's distributers Dimension and The Weinstein Company must have had very little faith in the film. Declining to show the film to critics before the films official release usually screams out 'stinker'. But then a curious thing happened. When the film was released, the film actually received good reviews. Happy that critics seemed to be in on the joke, they immediately greenlit a sequel. This has to be the first time a sequel has been put into development as a result of glowing reviews. The film did not open very successfully in its opening weekend. Probably down to the fact that audiences were not to be aware of the intentionally camp and cheesy tone of the film from its many promotional spots, it is regrettable. It seems that everyone involved got the tone the film was aiming for, apart from those promoting it.

Now as you probably can tell, the film is not plot or character based. It has only two things on its mind: Sex and Violence. And the film offers heavy abundance of both. In fact it spends its first half ogling acres of naked flesh, while then spending the second gleefully and very violently ripping it apart. At its center piece is an admittedly very well choreographed and sustained massacre sequence, as all the Spring breakers run (or is that swim?) afoul of all the vicious underwater carnivores. Aja shoots what resembles "Saving Private Ryan" as a stunningly gory and very literal 'bloodbath'. The lake runs red as decapitations, scalpings and lacerations run rampant. The sheer awesomery of the violence on display is both shocking and hilarious. Credit must go to the great make up effects supplied by KNB, for kitting out an entire lakes worth of amputees and bite victims.

Aja has got a lot of praise over the years. Credited with starting the Extreme French Horror genre in "Haute Tension" he then moved to America to remake a string of forgettable and very po-faced horror flicks. While "Haute Tension" was not the horror masterpiece that many proclaimed it to be, it did show that the Director knew how to handle tension and violence in a picture. He can frame a shot well and knows how to play to demands for the genre in a fresh enough way. I thought his talent was to be dimmed in America, but it seems he has found his feet here. He builds proceedings well enough and handles his cast well. Most impressivily, he seems to be having fun with the material. 3-D is very well handled throughout. The film is after all, an all out and unashamed exploitation picture and Aja relishes in throwing as many bodily functions and objects towards his audience as he can think of. The effect works well in adding to the scream-jump-laugh factor. The creatures themselves are hardly menacing in their CG appearance, but they do the trick and work well on screen. The films revels in its absurdism and gleefully celebrates its debauchery. It is gratuitous in every sense of the word, it has zero brains or originality and it panders to the lowest of the low in its audience demographic, but it is competently made, well acted and most importantly of all, great fun. Audiences do get it wrong sometimes it seems. See it on the big screen with mates and laugh along to the glorious violence and mayhem on display.

Verdict 69%

The definition of a guilty pleasure; this offers mindless, nasty violence and pointless and gratuitous nudity, but I chuckled and laughed throughout. Everyone delivers the ridiculous material with a wink and events are well sustained. The sequel cannot come soon enough. Let's hope they decide against the flying piranhas of James Cameron's original 1981 sequel.

"Piranha" Trailer

The Crazies

First of all let me state that I have not seen the George A. Romero '73 version of the same name. So judging this, is completely on its own merits. I can say that this is a competently made and relentlessly paced thriller. From what I can tell it is more along the lines of the Dawn of the Dead remake, rather than The Omen's recent efforts. The film stars Timothy Olyphant(-astic) and Radha Mitchell as the respective Sheriff and Doctor of the town, Ogden Marsh in Iowa. Something strange is happening around this small town, and no one seems to know what is going on. Turns out, the towns water supply has been infected with some sort of virus and its affects include sending the normal, sane and pleasant inhabitants of the town into homicidal maniacs. Can the Sheriff and his loving wife save the day, or will they join the town and succomb to the depths of insanity? What follows is a simple, 'get from here, to there' as a few of the sane minded towns folk attempt to navigate their way and escape the town once and for all. The US Army however, have other ideas....

I have enjoyed both Olyphant and Mitchell's work for some time now. They regularly appear in these genre films, but always turn up decent, watchable work, and this is no exception. Olyphant's cool gait and Mitchell's expressive features provide the main reasons why you keep with the film, despite all the stupidity going on around them. They are ably supported by the various townsfolk, but at the end of it all, it is their love and steely determination that sees you watching through to the bitter, bloody end. It was to my suprise upon seeing the end credits, that I noticed that Breck Eisner had directed the film. It seems he has put the disaster of his 2005 Matthew McConaughey starring adventure film 'Sahara' (both in the court rooms and its box office performance) behind him. The mayhem is well handled and maintained throughout the films brisk running time. Our protagonists move from small burst of action to small burst of action every few minutes and this suprisingly does not become tiresome. In fact, taken for what it is, and you can get a certain level of enjoyment out of the film.

Its main problems lie in its plot. It wisely never attempts to complicate or deepen things, but this ends up meaning that the film becomes quite slight and forgettable. Imagine 'Tremors' crossed with the little seen 2006 thriller, 'Right At Your Door'. Fun for its duration, but will not stick with you in same way that it possibly could have. Sure the film is violent and tense, but Eisner never fully explores the idea of your loved ones turning on you in such a terrifying manner. In fact, he could have made the whole affair much nastier if he wanted it to stick with audiences better. This is not to take away from the film. I have always had a soft spot in my heart for those 'small American towns that get destroyed' movies that come along every now and then. Done right, and you can get a nice, little tense thrill ride, much of what exists here. The film is being marketed as a horror. In fact it is rare to see American films nowadays that truly scare. This is no exception. It's tense, and features some nicely inventive death scenes, but never, for one second did I nervously look over my shoulder for fear of those who might be behind me on my walk home....



Verdict 61%

Short, fun and tense. Perfect date movie fodder, but don't expect to suspect your friends and neighbours as anything other then they are when it's all over.

Film Trailer:(Be warned, it actually gives away a lot of the best scenes and films plot)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEMZwQulT1Q