As a loyal member of Team Coco, I have mandated that the late night show watching in my household go to Conan. I have successfully recruited my dad as a regular Conan fan as well. Earlier this week Jeff Bridges was a guest on the Conan show, plugging his new movie True Grit. My dad is a fan of Jeff Bridges and an even bigger fan of Westerns. After viewing a clip from the movie my dad asked me if it was at the dollar movies yet. My dad consistantly asks if new movies are at the dollar movies. But interestingly enough, he reserves his dollar movie status for the movies he really wants to see. I explained that it's a new movie and has several Academy Award nominations, so if anything it will be in the regular movie theaters even longer. It is very seldom that a Western movie comes out in theaters and even more seldom that late night show marketing works on my dad, so I agree to take him to so see the movie the following day. We went to a 2:40 showing, which guaranteed no crowds and a $2 discount off the regular movie price. Going to the movies with my dad is like job shadowing a safety inspector at a chemical plant. He critics and analyzes every aspect of the theater. As usual, the floor plan is all wrong, the seats are not practical and don't recline properly, and the surround sound system is "too loud". Seat selection is even more interesting. My dad likes to sit way, way, way in the back of the theater by the movie projector window. When we finally settle in and watch 15 minutes worth of coming attractions, my dad switches gears and starts to enjoy himself.
The movie True Grit lasted for a very long two hours and forty minutes. The most interesting aspect of the film for me was the authentic costuming, the consistent use of American English dialect of the Old West, and Matt Damon's cowboy hat. The double belted band with a one-sided flip hat gave his character a fashion forward look. Other then that, it was not as amazing as it was marketed. I believe if I was born and bred in the Northeast and cowboy culture was this exotic thing below the Mason Dixon line, then I may have enjoyed the movie more. But being a Texan, the movie felt incredibly familiar. Texas is filled with individuals with "True Grit". My grandfather was one of them. Even though he has been dead over the past fourteen years, the raw characters of the movie allowed me to remember him clearly.
Speaking of the day's work while spitting chewing tobacco into an old Folder's coffee can, my grandfather always reminded me of the Black John Wayne. The front yard of my grandparent's home in southeast Texas was consistenly covered in work tools and old farm equipment. Along side the tools was an old pick up truck that was infected with rats from my grandfather's hog farm. The slop truck and rusted farm tools were such an eye sore that one time their neighbors had the city fine my grandparents for bringing a health hazard to the neighborhood.
I didn't think Jeff Bridges' character was as unique as movie critics perceive. I've brushed shoulders with his character, 'Marshal Rooster', in checkout lines at the HOME DEPOT, dinning at the Cracker Barrel on Sundays after church, and bullying slower moving traffic into the slow lane on Texas highways. A reality tv show crew could easily wonder into a coffee shop in downtown Grand Prairie, TX and find retired members of the Klan with equal ruggedness. The movie True Grit isn't all bad either. If you are scheduled to do some community service at a retirement home and it happens to be movie day, True Grit would be a great film to show. Despite the flawed floor plan of the theater, my dad enjoyed the movie a little more. The reoccurrence of the Church of Christ song, Lean on the Everlasting Arm, and open range scenes of cowboys on horseback, reminded him of his childhood and Western heritage. My dad and I both agree that True Grit has 10 too many Academy Award nominations but is worthy of a dollar movie theater screen.
The movie True Grit lasted for a very long two hours and forty minutes. The most interesting aspect of the film for me was the authentic costuming, the consistent use of American English dialect of the Old West, and Matt Damon's cowboy hat. The double belted band with a one-sided flip hat gave his character a fashion forward look. Other then that, it was not as amazing as it was marketed. I believe if I was born and bred in the Northeast and cowboy culture was this exotic thing below the Mason Dixon line, then I may have enjoyed the movie more. But being a Texan, the movie felt incredibly familiar. Texas is filled with individuals with "True Grit". My grandfather was one of them. Even though he has been dead over the past fourteen years, the raw characters of the movie allowed me to remember him clearly.
Speaking of the day's work while spitting chewing tobacco into an old Folder's coffee can, my grandfather always reminded me of the Black John Wayne. The front yard of my grandparent's home in southeast Texas was consistenly covered in work tools and old farm equipment. Along side the tools was an old pick up truck that was infected with rats from my grandfather's hog farm. The slop truck and rusted farm tools were such an eye sore that one time their neighbors had the city fine my grandparents for bringing a health hazard to the neighborhood.
I didn't think Jeff Bridges' character was as unique as movie critics perceive. I've brushed shoulders with his character, 'Marshal Rooster', in checkout lines at the HOME DEPOT, dinning at the Cracker Barrel on Sundays after church, and bullying slower moving traffic into the slow lane on Texas highways. A reality tv show crew could easily wonder into a coffee shop in downtown Grand Prairie, TX and find retired members of the Klan with equal ruggedness. The movie True Grit isn't all bad either. If you are scheduled to do some community service at a retirement home and it happens to be movie day, True Grit would be a great film to show. Despite the flawed floor plan of the theater, my dad enjoyed the movie a little more. The reoccurrence of the Church of Christ song, Lean on the Everlasting Arm, and open range scenes of cowboys on horseback, reminded him of his childhood and Western heritage. My dad and I both agree that True Grit has 10 too many Academy Award nominations but is worthy of a dollar movie theater screen.
1 comment:
Well written. Can't wait for more.
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