Categories
News

The Big Lebowski Cast Reunion

The cast of The Big Lebowski (1998) were recently reunited on stage in New York.

Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, John Turturro and Julianne Moore all spoke about the cult classic to promote the new Blu-ray release.

Watch live streaming video from thebiglebowski at livestream.com

The Q&A was moderated by Entertainment Weekly’s Clark Collis and was streamed over Livestream.

> The Big Lebowski at IMDb and Wikipedia
> NY Times report on the reunion
> Buy the Blu-ray from Amazon UK

Categories
Cinema Reviews Thoughts

True Grit

This beautifully crafted Western from the Coen Brothers is a much richer adaptation of the Charles Portis novel than the 1969 film version.

It begins in Arkansas during the 1870s with a young girl named Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) hiring grizzled US Marshal Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) to track down her father’s killer (Josh Brolin).

A Texas Ranger named Le Beouf (Matt Damon), who is also after Chaney, joins them as they head out into Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma) and, despite their differences in age and temperament, gradually form a close bond.

Although regarded by some as a remake of the film that finally won John Wayne his first Oscar, this is actually more faithful to the original novel, preserving the point of view of Mattie and its distinctive depiction of the Wild West.

Both the town of Fort Smith and the rugged surrounding landscape are recreated with consummate skill: regular cinematographer Roger Deakins shoots the terrain with a harsh beauty and Jess Gonchor’s production design helps create a detailed, but never romanticised, world.

The wintry setting makes for palette which emphasizes blacks, browns and greys, which is in stark contrast to the garish Technicolor of the Henry Hathaway film.

Aspects of the setting such as the rough way of life and the violence also mark this out from the previous version.

Not only does this help make the current film distinctive but also provides a convincing backdrop for the actors to shine, although it might surprise some audiences how much of a presence Steinfeld has in the film.

In what is effectively the lead role, she anchors the narrative and acts as a surrogate for the audience, as we see much of the action through her perspective.

A precocious performance, it is amongst the best any child actor has given in recent years and bodes well for her future career.

As Cogburn, Bridges banishes any lingering memories of Wayne in the role, mixing the grizzled, boozy charm of his country singer in Crazy Heart with the believable tough streak of a hardened lawman.

Damon has the slightly lighter role of Le Beouf (pronounced ‘Le Beef’), but his comic timing is impeccable and provides an excellent foil for Bridges and Steinfeld.

All three main actors cope well with the affected dialogue, which the Coens have gleefully taken straight from the novel, and this is mirrored by quirky ‘Coenesque’ behaviour, which involves characters shooting at cornbread and arguing about Confederate guerrillas.

With less screen time, actors such as Brolin and Barry Pepper (as ‘Lucky’ Ned Pepper) make a strong impression and there are the usual array of distinctive, odd-looking minor characters that often crop up in the work of the Coens.

Carter Burwell’s plaintive score is moving without ever being sentimental and provides a highly satisfying mix of hymns, strings and piano to augment the action.

Despite featuring the ironic tone so beloved of the Coen Brothers, there is a pleasing sincerity to Mattie’s quest, as her scripture-fuelled journey captures her determination and spirit, which rubs off on the men around her.

This is something that is movingly depicted as the film reaches its latter stages.

Certain memorable sequences, such as a group hanging or the climax, skilfully weave humour in with genuine tension, showing the light and shade of the West as originally imagined by Charles Portis.

Since the book and previous film came out in the cultural tumult of the late 1960s, the image of John Wayne cast a long shadow over the source material, obscuring the way in which Portis slyly undercut the very traditions of the Western that ‘Duke’ embodied.

The Coens have translated this humour and pathos for a time of similar cultural transition, making a Western that both celebrates and wryly debunks the genre.

A reminder of their prodigious filmmaking talent, it is also an evocation of a distant time and place that feels strangely radical in the current era of Hollywood.

True Grit is out in the US and opens in the UK on Friday 11th February

> Official site
> Reviews of True Grit at Metacritic
> More on the Charles Portis novel at Wikipedia
> The Coen Brothers at the IMDb
> NY Times profile of Charles Portis

Categories
Interesting TV

The Dude Abides

A new PBS documentary about Jeff Bridges takes its title from The Big Lebowski.

Is it just me or has the character of the Dude stayed with Bridges after all these years?

Watch the full episode. See more American Masters.

I remember seeing the Coen Brothers film at a press preview back in 1998 and it went down a storm with the audience.

It was soon apparent that it wasn’t going to be a box office smash, but over time its reputation has grown to such an extent that it is now one of the major cult films of the 1990s.

The film not only spawned a loyal following, but also led to a book (I’m a Lebowski, You’re a Lebowski), a festival, a Shakespearean version, an online newspaper (or ‘Dudespaper’) and even an adult version.

This clip from “Jeff Bridges: The Dude Abides” shows Bridges visiting a shop in New York’s Greenwich Village called The Little Lebowski, which is dedicated to items inspired by the film.

My favourite line is when Bridges says: “Cool shop man!”

Watch the full episode. See more American Masters.

> American Masters at PBS
> The Big Lebowski at Wikipedia
> Jeff Bridges official site (which almost entirely consists of hand drawings by the man himself)

Categories
Cinema Reviews Thoughts

Tron: Legacy

After 28 years, the Tron franchise is resurrected with a visually stunning but emotionally hollow update to the original film.

The first film was about a brilliant software engineer, Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), who enters into a virtual world whilst this sequel picks up many years later as his son Sam (Garrett Hedlund) tries to solve the disappearance of his father.

Responding to a mysterious message he finds himself pulled into the world where Kevin has been trapped.

Aided by a female warrior Quorra (Olivia Wilde), father and son have to escape the new digital universe and the clutches of those who now rule it.

The original film was by no means a huge hit, but it was a pioneering film that used computer graphics and live action in a way that foreshadowed the revolution in CGI over the last 30 years.

Disney’s decision to reboot Tron for a new generation, seems to be an attempt to engage audiences who remember it and to adapt the technology driven story for the current digital age, utilising cutting edge 3D and digital effects.

On a purely technical level, the film largely succeeds.

Director Joseph Kosinski has a background in architecture and commercials and the look of the film is remarkable.

Not only are the individual visual effects impressive, but the alternate digital world of ‘The Grid’ is brilliantly realised by the effects team from Digital Domain.

The dark, neon lit landscape is a dazzling upgrade from the first film and the stylised costumes, light cycles, discs and various vehicles all provide a feast for the eyes in both the action sequences and calmer moments.

Utilising a similar 3D camera system on which Avatar was shot has paid off, using the frame in an immersive, considered way which contrasts with recent productions which unwisely opted for retrofitted 3D in post-production.

The one visual misstep involves a digital version of Bridges, which only serves to highlight the difficulty in crossing the ‘uncanny valley‘ when using motion capture characters on screen.

But there is a deeper problem at the heart of Tron: Legacy, which is the chasm between the pioneering visuals and the writing.

The script by Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis feels clunky and episodic, like episodes of TV show cobbled together in a rush or levels on a computer game that are just there to be completed.

This leads to an inherent lack of drama and consequence to the material, despite the visual pyrotechnics that make it so captivating to look at. It also means the performances suffer, as the characters are often just cogs in a wheel.

Hedlund is a generic young lead who lacks charisma; in contrast, Bridges has presence and gravitas as the elder Flynn, whilst these qualities are absent in his younger alter-ego C.L.U.; Wilde looks and feels right for her part, but has little to do except kick some obligatory butt.

In supporting roles Michael Sheen seems to be doing a camper version of David Frost as a mysterious club owner and actors such as James Frain and Beau Garrett also feel like elaborate props rather than actual characters.

Despite these fundamental drawbacks, the score by Daft Punk is absolutely epic: a wonderful mixture of their trademark electronica with a full orchestra that gives the whole film an extra kick.

It is curious to predict how audiences will react to Tron: Legacy as it references a lot of the original film and yet at the same time feels quite different.

Disney have opted not to re-release the original, so its presence lingers over this sequel in a strange way: are they worried about it looking dated in comparison or just planning for releasing both films on Blu-ray and DVD at a later date?

Certainly the original, whilst groundbreaking, wasn’t a huge hit and there has to be a concern that a new generation might be a little confused as to why this new film exists and why it took nearly thirty years to warrant a sequel.

If you look closely at the end credits you’ll see the filmmakers thank the fans of Hall H at Comic-Con, the annual convention which has held such a sway over Hollywood in recent years.

This film has been a fixture there since 2008 when Joseph Kosinski and producer Sean Bailey gauged interest for the project with test footage and even earlier this year where they recorded audio from the crowd, presumably for the arena sequence.

But is there a danger of Hollywood pandering to the geek-fuelled fantasies of Comic-Con?

Given that Disney has spent a rumoured $200 million on this film, they will be anxiously hoping that mainstream audiences are as passionate as fans in Hall H.

The finished film reflects the strange journey it has had to the screen, as it is both technically dazzling and structurally disjointed.

Although Disney can expect a big opening, the film’s shortcomings as a drama and possible confusion as to what it actually is (a sequel to a semi-cult 1982 film) could mean it struggles to have an impact on the wider culture.

> Official site
> Reviews of Tron Legacy at Metacritic
> Find out more about Tron at Wikipedia
> Details on the Daft Punk score

Categories
Cinema In Production Interesting

Jeff Bridges & Colin Farrell filming Crazy Heart

This is Jeff Bridges and Colin Farrell sharing the mic in Alberquque, New Mexico last week during the filming of their new movie Crazy Heart.

It was caught on camera by Sheriff Greg Solano who writes:

Last night [Thurs 18th Sept] at the concert they were filming another movie “Crazy Heart”, starring Jeff Bridges, Colin Farrell, and Robert Duvall.

Those in attendance were treated to be a part of the film as they filmed concert footage for the film.

The film is about a down-on-his-luck alcoholic country music singer who, through his relationship and experiences with a female reporter, is able to get his life and career back on track.

During the filming at the Toby Keith Concert Colin Farrell and Jeff Bridges got on stage and sang to the audience while scenes were shot. I must say they were not half bad as country singers.

I was allowed to bring in a small digital camera and I took pictures and some small videos of the filming.

Check out more photos and information on his blog.

> Crazy Heart at the IMDb
> Jeff Bridges and Colin Farrell at Wikipedia