anticipate TRUE GRIT by the Coen brothers

admittedly Barton Fink was incomprehensible crap

This is one of my favorite Coen films :(

BEARSKIN WAS AMAZING

it seems to function as a simple old-testament allegory

hmmm, surely it's a little more skeptical that that? which is why we get to see Older Mattie as a miserable, lone c**t?

felt like young mattie had more going on than old mattie, didnt quite buy the transition

fit like a glove I thought.

also re JB "laying it on thick," Rooster Cogburn is not a role where you wanna be low-key w/ Bressonian subtlety.

(btw the Quantrill dialogue indicates he's likely a war criminal)

Ugh Morbs, really.

saw this last night, unfortunately fell asleep for about 20 minutes of it though (late showing in a too-warm theater); I think it was probably good.

young mattie is actively brilliant, old mattie didnt seem possessed of that genius

admittedly Barton Fink was incomprehensible crap

yeah this is my favorite one too

Old Mattie looked like Alice Roosevelt Longworth.

the coda was p depressing, what particularly were they trying to say by demonstrating the calcification of her worst qualities

That the pursuit of the wicked is not always conducted by the spotlessly virtuous, and stains all.

Ugh Morbs, really.

yes Grrrl, really! Quantrill is a notorious name in the history of our civil war. It's like saying you were in Lt. Calley's unit in Vietnam.

dont think that what she was ughing at

That the pursuit of the wicked is not always conducted by the spotlessly virtuous, and stains all.

― kind of shrill and very self-righteous (Dr Morbius), Saturday, January 1, 2011 2:25 PM (49 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

this is a reasonable point to make for sure, but it seems like they went out of their way to make old mattie kinda awful, im basing this entirely on her calling that guy trash, but still

I'm w/ Morbs on this one - sorry but not everyone grows up to be a superstar.

the girl is kinda awful!

Not like she was gonna be president or anything.

I'm w/ Morbs on this one - sorry but not everyone grows up to be a superstar.

― Simon H., Saturday, January 1, 2011 2:30 PM (9 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

thats a fine principle but particularly does it make sense that thats who she grew up to be, and what does it mean

the girl is a piece of work for sure but shes also an adventurous genius

im basing this entirely on her calling that guy trash, but still

That was Frank James, brother of Jesse. They robbed and killed a lot of people in the Ozarks and a good Christian women like Mattie wouldn't accept his graces even if the trash did stand up when a lady was present.

what more could a one handed girl in that time period grow up to be? I think she turned out pretty well all things considered.

what more could a one handed girl in that time period grow up to be?

Anxiously anticipating 2 Grit 2 Furious.

she is NOT a genius, re Eric's first comment, today she might grow up to be S*r*h Palin.

Barbara Streisand's stepson should've pushed her off the cliff.

Where in the world are you people coming up with ways to call Mattie Ross the worst and a cunt? I'm totally not riding along with any of that.

THe coda showed that maybe her desire not for justice, but for revenge cast a cloud over the rest of her life, that there were consequences, but I don't buy the hate.

And Morbz, she says in the book that she supported Al Smith for president. How can she be a proto-Palin?

She seems like she grew up and found out that most people had no grit/moxy whatsoever, and became appropriately isolated.

what more could a one handed girl in that time period grow up to be? I think she turned out pretty well all things considered.

― iatee, Saturday, January 1, 2011 2:35 PM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

well she turned out v mean, and yeah i did consider that it was a statement abt cultural marginalization of a one armed alpha female, but that doesnt feel quite right for this movie

Where in the world are you people coming up with ways to call Mattie Ross the worst and a cunt? I'm totally not riding along with any of that.

― Pleasant Plains, Saturday, January 1, 2011 2:44 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yeah i found her pretty appealing

pp otm, the rest of you saw a different coda than me, maybe.

to be clear i found the young mattie appealing, the old one was mean and purely uptight

also, we're basing this all off like 2 minutes of screentime

maybe she was just having a bad day

i got more of a "pain in the ass" reading from both the younger and older mattie. in the younger one it read as precocious, and in the older one it read as difficult... but it seemed very essentially the same character

xpost Yeah, maybe she just found out her hero just died hours before she could be reunited with him.

dunno feel like it was pretty purposeful

I think when a novelist or filmmaker jumps ahead 25 years to give you a glimpse of the protagonist, it's supposed to be fairly representative of her character.

What is endearing in children is irritating and worse in adults. Go fig.

i intend to stop belaboring this point but: thats a pretty broad brush

Anyway, I think PP's interpretation of the exchange is undoubtedly the correct one.

yeah prob

the missing arm pretty much drives the point home

I simply cant bear old Mattie being described as a c---. I let it go the first time way upthread but yeah, please, not that word for her.

(I'm not above using it in anger at inanimate objects but I hate it as a descriptor.)

I admit it's more a personal thing, the book is close to my heart for a long long time, Mattie especially. *That* word just undermines everything she went through.

Im not going to flip out or anything, just needed to state my case for her.

Carry on!

Perhaps that was harsh, sorry; I suppose one can pity the way old-school Protestantism has warped her (and America) if that's not too severe.

didn't realise this was a portis story. his stuff is hilare

Thanks Morbs. You're a good stick :)

FYI for anyone who is interested, The book (and history) sheds more light on her distaste for Frank James on the final scene: the other elderly outlaw was Cole Younger. Younger was partnered with the James gang at the Northfield robbery where the gang was caught: Frank James killed the bank officer, but surrendered to police & later acquitted. Younger was charged with the murder, did 25 years for Frank James' crime.

in the movie it seemed like it was because he didnt stand up

Yeah I know. Which plays fine, as it stand. I kinda think that outburst seems extreme without the context.

i'm kinda amazed at all the ppl outraged she dissed frank james here - you fuckers all bobby brady or something?

lol

i mean morbs using 'she got a little grouchier when she was older' as some sorta 'gaze into the abyss' parable w/o irony is a bit much imo.