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FILM REVIEWS: True Grit, a revenge tale from the Coen brothers

by Posted by Addison dePitt
written by Posted by Addison dePitt 1 minutes read
By Hiram Lee
[Originally reviewed –25 January 2011] ARCHIVES

True Grit is the latest film from Joel and Ethan Coen, the writer-directors responsible for such films as Fargo, The Big Lebowski and O Brother, Where Art Thou? Their new work is a remake of the 1969 film of the same name directed by Henry Hathaway and starring John Wayne. Both films are adaptations of Charles Portis’s 1968 novel True Grit.  After her father is murdered by outlaw Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin), 14-year-old Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) arrives in Fort Smith, Arkansas, looking to hire someone who will bring the killer to justice. Marshall Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), with a reputation for heavy drinking and a hair-trigger temperament, reluctantly agrees to take the job.

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ARTS & FILM

The Conspirator: Film on Lincoln assassination trial misses the mark

by Posted by Addison dePitt
written by Posted by Addison dePitt 1 minutes read

By Shannon Jones | 2 May 2011

Directed by Robert Redford, written by James D. Solomon and Gregory Bernstein

Robin Wright as Mary Surrat

The Conspirator, directed by Robert Redford, is a historical drama centered on a little-known aspect of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln: the trial by military commission of Mary Surratt (Robin Wright), who ran the boarding house frequented by Lincoln’s assassin, the actor John Wilkes Booth. Surratt became the first woman to be executed by the US government (the next would be Ethel Rosenberg in 1953, a victim of Cold War anticommunist hysteria).

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ARTS & FILM

HBO’s Mildred Pierce: A Depression-era drama aimed at a contemporary audience

by Posted by Addison dePitt
written by Posted by Addison dePitt 1 minutes read

By Joanne Laurier
29 April 2011

Directed and written by Todd Haynes; co-written by Jon Raymond; based on the novel by James M. Cain

1945 poster for Crawford's Mildred Pierce.

The HBO five-part miniseries Mildred Pierce, directed by independent filmmaker Todd Haynes and based on the 1941 novel by American author James M. Cain (1892-1977), is a serious and commendable effort, a highly uncommon attempt—in our day—to root people’s lives and psychology in a realistic economic and social context. One can only hope Haynes’s drama heralds the return of deeper and more probing examinations of social life to American filmmaking and television.

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ARTS & FILM

FILMS THAT INSPIRE: Hope in Waste Land (Video)

by shorty
written by shorty 1 minutes read

TGP’s Honor Video Series—

“Waste Land”
A Film by Lucy Walker

I RECENTLY BUMPED INTO THIS LYRICAL, SPELLBINDING FILM on our threatened PBS, a film made by the gifted Lucy Walker (more below)…a documentary of all things about garbage, or more precisely about Brazilian artist Vik Muniz’s work among people who pick through literally mountains of garbage every day and night—the fabled catadores—in one of the world’s largest landfills—the Jardim Gramacho in Rio de Janeiro—and still not only manage to maintain their dignity and humanity but provide indelible lessons on how to act in the face of near insurmountable odds. Could a story like this be captured in the US? Have our poor—let alone our middle class— lost the common sense these humble protagonists exude? Perhaps. That is indeed one of the questions that may haunt us after encountering the stories described in this film. This is a “must watch” for any American, and an indispensable experience for anyone working to change this nation.  —P. Greanville

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Sidney Lumet, director of 12 Angry Menand Dog Day Afternoon, dead at 86

by shorty
written by shorty 1 minutes read

By Hiram Lee  | 20 April 2011

Sydney Lumet

American filmmaker Sidney Lumet died April 9 at the age of 86. The veteran film and television director, whose career spanned half a century, is perhaps best known for the films 12 Angry Men (1957), Serpico (1973), Dog Day Afternoon (1975) and Network (1976). Lumet was renowned for his ability to draw rich performances from actors and for his classical technique behind the camera. He attempted, in his best work, to make a serious criticism of life in the US.

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