True Grit

I love westerns! Be it sixties "spaghetti westerns" or more serious action westerns, I love 'em. I have always loved the semi campy style of John Wayne's, Rooster Cogburn. When I saw the teaser trailer for the remake of "True Grit" I was elated. I could see from the trailer, this was going to be a much more serious take on the 1968 novel.

First let me say what a cast! Jeff Bridges, Matt Daemon, Josh Brolin! They were all awesome. And then we come to Hailee Steinfeld. Her performance was simple stupendous. Her portrayal of Mattie Ross gave the character a clear sense of strength and determination which was at the same time a mask for her characters true fear about what lay ahead.

There was amazing dialog in this movie, some of it rather campy but played so straight faced that it lent to the feeling of authenticity of the film. Part of that authenticity was in the violence. I do not particularly enjoy violence on the big screen, especially when the filmmakers seem to be rubbing in my face in gregarious proportions. While this film definitely pushed the line of graphic violence in a PG-13 movie, it was not reveling or glorifying it. It was merely a way of life and portrayed as such. While I could have used less graphic depictions, I did not find it offensive.

In conclusion the film has great heart and whit. It lived up to my excitement and as a lover of the genre I would recommend it to any avid western lover.

Yogi

So I went with all my family to see this over Christmas. We opted not to see it in 3D as the cost for that many people would be astronomical and my parents were footing the bill. As for the movie... it was... cute. The kids seemed to like it, though the adult side of the story (the love interest of Ranger "what's his name") didn't quite cut it for the kids. While people seem to love or hate this cg Yogi, I think the film could have used more of the title character.

The internet is full of people crying over the fouling of there childhood memories. So, I went and watched some old Hanabarbara cartoons on youTube to prep myself for the film and trust me, your memory doesn't suit you if you feel this movie didn't have the sophisticated humor of what your memory espouses to the old cartoons. As I have found with all my childhood memories of cartoons and many movies, my tastes for humor and entertainment have refined and evolved over the years. The "awesomeness" is in the memory, not the cartoon. So maybe this yogi can be to our kids what the old traditional yogi is to us. You choose.

While we didn't see it in 3D, all the "jump out of the screen" gags were very apparent. Yogi was well rendered but some of the river action compositing was less than decent. Overall, the film was fun but I might have been fine waiting for dvd to show the kids. Because if the kids don't enjoy it enough to sit through it, you won't either. If you go into this movie with an open mind you will find it more or less entertaining.