FilmMattic

A Western Tide Smashes a Familiar Box Office Landscape       This past week at the box office foretells an interesting though surprising story for the future success of the Western genre.  True Grit may have lost out to Little Fockers ( an underwhelming, formulaic comedy) for a second straight week—Fockers managed to capitalize on both it's established name and past two successful entries in the series by taking home $26.3 million for a gross total of $103.2 million over it's two-week run while True Grit totaled $24.5 million bringing it's box office gross to $86.8 million—but the Coen Brothers film provided a more compelling result that requires a more scrutinizing look behind the numbers       The seemingly ho-hum box office number for True Grit is actually quite significant.  The Coen Brothers $86.8 million dollar total (and counting) exceeds the box office receipts for all other Western Drama's since Tombstone in 1993....

True Grit Opens Today       True Grit —a remake of the 1969 original of the same name—opens up today in both the United States & Canada in wide release.  The enormously talented Coen Brothers have enlisted their directing expertise in this remake of a classical Western.  What the Coen Brothers ultimately do with this distinguished property is all the more intriguing.         Late December is usually a time for Hollywood to test its Oscar mettle.  I will be watching the film in the coming days and will post a review.  We shall see if True Grit is as truly firm and unyielding as it's parent name suggests.  Of course, John Wayne earned his only Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role as Marshall Rooster Cogburn in the original film that opened in 1969.       It is very fitting that Jeff Bridges has been tapped to follow in Wayne's immortal footsteps by taking...