Posted on 12/30/2010 1:12:53 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Each year the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) nominates 10 films in its Golden Globe competition for best motion picture, five in the drama category, five in the musical or comedy category.
This year, the HFPA chose not to nominate a film that was more powerful than any of the dramas selected and funnier than any of the comedies, the Coen brothers' "True Grit."
In fact, "True Grit," the year's best movie and one of the best Westerns ever made, received not a single nomination for anything – not supporting actress, not screenplay, not anything. If ever a sign were needed that Europe was a lost cause, this may be it.
There had been earlier warnings, among others the 20-minute standing ovation at Cannes in 2004 for Michael Moore's dreadful agitprop, "Fahrenheit 9/11," or the Nobel Peace Prize for Al Gore's already camp classic, "An Inconvenient Truth."
If I might speculate, the Europeans likely slighted "True Grit" for its unapologetic celebration of republican virtue. I refer here to those virtues necessary to build a successful republic: self-reliance, resourcefulness, strength, competence, charity, piety.
Unfortunately, these virtues are as alien to our own president as they are to the Europeans, which may explain why Barack Obama's approval ratings in Europe still hover in the 90 percent range.
"In America," said Obama upon his return from the putative Million Man March in 1995, "we have this strong bias toward individual action. You know, we idolize the John Wayne hero who comes in to correct things with both guns blazing."
Obama had other plans for America. "Individual actions, individual dreams, are not sufficient," he continued. "We must unite in collective action, build collective institutions and organizations." V. I. Lenin could not have said it better himself.....
(Excerpt) Read more at wnd.com ...
This is a really, really good movie. Bridges is excellent - completely different interpretation of Cogburn from Wayne's, but excellent and believable. Steinfeld is a wonderful actress and hopefully has a great future ahead of her. She is much better than Darby, who was too old and too modern. Steinfeld really digs into the part and steals the show - and since the book was about her and not Cogburn, that makes sense.
And thank goodness Glenn Campbell was nowhere near this production!
Things I noted particularly -- the courtroom scene is perfect. As a lawyer I usually hate courtroom scenes, but this one was just about right. A country courtroom in rural Georgia would have just about the same cast of characters in it today, asking the same questions, raising the same objections (I beat the prosecutor to "Dying declaration" which is exactly the correct exception to the hearsay rule), and dealing the same way with an obstreperous witness (about the only way a defense attorney can deal with a crusty old LE officer is p*$$ him off and make him look bad to the jury - the defense attorney tried hard here, but we never get to hear the verdict so no idea if he succeeded.)
The dialogue is right on the money. Believe it or not, people really talked this way back then. A young lady who was educated by her father in the Classics and the Larger Catechism would talk just so. Rhetoric and debate were taught in school, and flowery language was the order of the day. I edited my gg-grandfather's Civil War letters and he wrote like this, even when he was just scribbling a line to his wife.
The nuts-and-bolts of the film are perfect - great lighting, great score. I could quibble and point out that "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms" wasn't written until 1887, ten years later, but it's a perfect theme for the film so whatever.
Little bit of trivia: "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms" also figures in Night of the Hunter, where it's more or less the theme music for Robert Mitchum's nasty serial killer/preacher. Great scene - the inimitable Lillian Gish is sitting in a rocking chair, guarding the kids with a shotgun in her lap from the preacher lurking outside, and he starts singing -- and she starts singing along.
Leaning on the Everlasting Arms
Bet the Coen brothers saw that movie.
That movie scared me to death! It was more frightening than any monster movie. Monsters were fictional, but human monsters were all too real.
Scared the fire out of me too. You can see I’ve never forgotten it.
Me either, but "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms" is still one of my favorite hymns. I think it's beautiful.
The use of it in True Grit is more straightforward, but in Night of the Hunter it's sort of comforting the way Gish's character takes the melody and the meaning away from Mitchum. . . she really is leaning on the Everlasting Arms, and with that strength she shoots the SOB. And good riddance. Love the phone call to the sheriff, "I got something trapped in my barn."
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