True Grit by Charles Portis

It was only sometime within the last few months that I learned that both True Grit movies were based on the book of the same name by Charles Portis.  Seeing and loving the 2010 version of the movie caused me to watch the 1969 version, which I also really enjoyed.  One day I happened to spot the book when I was out shopping and I bought it on a whim. 

The plot for True Grit is the same basic plot that the movies have.  The plot is fairly straightforward and really not that complicated, but it is still a good, entertaining book.  A little bit of suspense does turn up in a few spots.  There are things that happen in the book that didn’t make it into either movie.  I don’t think there was a drastic change for anything in either movie.  The book is a bit bleak at times, but I think that fits for the story and everything going on.  I don’t consider the book to be that violent, but there is violence in a few scenes. 

True Grit is told in a way so that it seems like Mattie, the young girl at the heart of the story, is retelling what happened later in life.  That is what was done with the 2010 movie.  I like that Mattie is such an important part of the story.  Cogburn is another strong character.  The fact that he and Mattie are such strong characters helps to make the book stronger and more entertaining. 

True Grit is a well done, entertaining book that is definitely worth reading.  People who have enjoyed either movie version should give the book a chance.

I did post a review on Epinions.

True Grit

The book is available to buy at different places, including Amazon.com.
True Grit

Sherlock - Season One

Sherlock Holmes is a very popular character.  In the last few years, I have started to pick up more movies featuring the character.  I have also picked up a collection of the stories.  When I heard about Sherlock, a new show from England featuring the character in modern times, I was intrigued.  I eventually decided to pick up the first season on Blu-ray.

Sherlock is based on the stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, though they are updated to work in modern times.  I think that does add an interesting element to the series.  The first episode of the series does seem to be based on the one story featuring Sherlock that I’ve read.  Sherlock still relies on his observation skills and deduction ability, but he also uses modern things like computers, cell phones, and the internet.  John Watson is also around, helping on the cases.  He does end up doing some odd jobs for Sherlock, but he isn’t a bumbling idiot like the character has been portrayed in other movies.  John is writing about the cases on a blog. 

The episodes in Sherlock each feature a different case that he works on.  By the last episode - there are only three in the first season - things from the first case are mentioned again.  The mysteries are interesting and done well.  Suspense does turn up in various scenes, including the final scene of the last episode of the season.  I have read that a second season is planned.  I’m sure I’ll add it to my collection once it is released to own since I enjoyed the first season so much.

Sherlock originally aired on BBC.  I knew it was a BBC show when I ordered it, so I did expect the season to be short.  I just didn’t expect it to only be three episodes.  They are 90 minutes long though.  While it would be nice if there were more episodes in the season, they are all very interesting and entertaining.  The characters are a lot like they have been in movies, though they are each tweaked a bit.  I like that John is more of a partner than comic relief. 

Sherlock - Season One is available on DVD and Blu-ray.  Since it was only a few dollars more than the DVD, I decided to get the Blu-ray.  The first two episodes are on one disc and the last episode as well as a few extras are on the second disc.  The extras, which are focused on the making of the show, are interesting and worth watching.

Sherlock is a great show that deserves to be seen.  Fans of the character should definitely give it a chance.  Sherlock - Season One is a good choice for fans of the show.

I did get a longer review posted on Epinions.

Sherlock - Season One

Yogi Bear

For many people, Yogi Bear is a character they fondly remember from cartoons.  I have seen the cartoons over the years, though it has been a while since I last saw one of them.  I wasn’t sure what to think when I learned that a big screen movie was being made, but I ultimately decided to go see it.

Instead of being just an animated movie, Yogi Bear uses a combination of live action characters and animated characters, like has been done with some other cartoons turned into movies.  Yogi and Boo Boo look fine and interact with real items fine overall, though somehow I think the movie would have worked better if it was animated instead of the blend. 

The plot for Yogi Bear is fairly simple and very straightforward.  Yogi is obsessed with stealing picnic baskets in Jellystone Park with the help of his friend Boo Boo and Ranger Smith keeps trying to keep him under control.  A nature film maker, Rachel, shows up, wanting to film in the park.  Things get more complicated when Ranger Smith learns that Mayor Brown plans to shut down the park for financial reasons.  Most of what happens is focused on attempts to save the park. 

Most of what happens in Yogi Bear is rather silly.  I’m sure that the movie is too silly for some viewers.  I fully expected the movie to be silly before seeing it, so I wasn’t bothered by the silliness.  The movie could have been better, but it isn’t horrible.  It is just a cute, silly family friendly movie.  Dan Aykroyd and Justin Timberlake do fine with the voices.  Children will probably like the movie more than adults.  If expectations aren’t too high, I think the movie can be enjoyed. 

I did get a longer review posted on Epinions.

Yogi Bear

Little Fockers

Even though Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers were popular movies, there wasn’t any reason for a third movie to be made.  I wasn’t surprised when I found out that Little Fockers was coming out though. 

I was ambivalent about seeing Little Fockers.  I liked Meet the Parents all right when I first saw it, but it was much less entertaining to me when I saw it a second time.  It just doesn’t hold up that well.  I haven’t watched it again in years and haven’t wanted to watch it.  Meet the Fockers was somewhat entertaining, but once was plenty for me.  It was just too much of a rehash of the first movie.  Given how I felt about the first two movies, I wasn’t expecting a lot from Little Fockers. 

It has been six years since Meet the Fockers came out.  There really wasn’t any need to make Little Fockers after so long.  It seems to be more of an attempt to grab cash than anything.  The name is very misleading since the kids - the little Fockers - really don’t do much of anything.  They just turn up briefly in a few scenes and then fade away while all the focus is put on the antics of Jack and Greg again.  If the movie had truly been about the kids, it could have been something a bit different.  Instead, we just have Jack spying on Greg while he acts like a bafoon again.

The plot is paper thin and really nothing interesting happens.  Jack wants Greg to take over as the head of the family.  Jack and Dina arrive for the twins’ birthday and Greg is asked to do some sort of promotion work for an erectile dysfunction drug by a beautiful, but dumb, woman.  The humor is very crude and downright gross at times.  Much of what is done to add humor just falls flat.  Seeing Greg get puked on or Jack going off the deep end just isn’t funny. 

Jack has not evolved as a character in any way since the first movie.  He’s still a control freak who goes way to far with things.  Greg is no better, acting like an idiot when Jack is around.  Pam and Dina are barely in the movie.  It is like they are tossed in just to observe the insanity between Greg and Jack.  Roz and Bernie, Greg’s parents, are barely in the movie, so Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand are horribly under used.  There was no point to them even being in this movie.  Jessica Alba is the main new addition to the cast.  Her character, Andi, is one of the worst characters I’ve seen in a movie in a long time.  She comes across as a sex obsessed dingbat.  It isn’t believable at all that the character is a former nurse. 

Little Fockers has a few amusing moments, but the movie is a huge waste of time overall.  It is pointless and unnecessary.  People should go see True Grit instead.

I did get a review posted on Epinions.

Little Fockers

True Grit

I haven’t liked that many westerns, though I haven’t watched many in recent years.  I will still give them a chance if I think they look interesting, which is what I did with True Grit.  I really liked the movie. 

I probably saw the John Wayne version of True Grit at some point, but I honestly couldn’t remember anything about it before seeing the new version.  Once I saw this one, I ended up watching the older version.  The main plot is the same, though a few little things have been changed here and there.  Both movies are based on the book by Charles Portis.  I haven’t read the book, though I’ve heard that this version stays closer to the book.

True Grit begins by setting up the situation and explaining how Mattie Ross decides to deal with her father’s killer herself.  The pace is a little slower while that is going on and the characters are introduced, but it doesn’t take that long for more to start happening.  The plot is very interesting and I was surprised by several things.  I’m thinking that I wouldn’t have been as surprised by a few things if I had seen the previous movie.  The plot is very entertaining and it is definitely worth watching. 

Most of what happens in True Grit is more serious.  Mattie’s father has been murdered and Mattie decides to track him down herself since the authorities don’t seem to be doing much.  She hires Marshal Cogburn because she hears he is the most ruthless.  He isn’t interested at first, but she keeps after him and gets her way.  There is violence in the movie, though it isn’t too graphic.  There are just one or two scenes that are a bit disturbing.  There is a decent amount of humor in the movie, mostly from things that Cogburn says at times.

A lot of True Grit takes place when Cogburn and Mattie are on the trail, searching for her father’s killer.  The landscape is a bit bleak and colorless, but that fits in well with the movie.  Things look wonderful.  There are a few gorgeous, and even powerful, shots in the movie. 

Mattie is a wonderful character.  She is a very determined young woman.  She takes on something that many adults wouldn’t in deciding to go after her father’s killer.  She is very intelligent, and she is frequently able to get her way.  I love how she deals with a merchant early in the movie.  Rooster Cogburn is a complicated character.  He isn’t fully a hero type character, though he isn’t really a bad guy either.  He does use questionable methods at times, and he tends to get drunk.  Jeff Bridges is wonderful in the part.  Le Boeuf is a Texas Ranger also looking for the same man.  He teams up with Cogburn, though the men don’t get along that well.  Matt Damon does really well with the part.

True Grit is a wonderful movie.  I do think it is one of the best of the year and it is definitely the better than many of the other movies currently in theaters now.  Fans of the cast or of westerns should give it a chance. 

I did get a review posted on Epinions after seeing the movie in the theater.

True Grit

The Fighter

I don’t know much about boxing, but I decided to see The Fighter, a movie about real life boxers Micky Ward and Dickie Eklund.  The movie is really well done and entertaining, though a few scenes are more difficult to watch. 

I am not familiar with Micky or Dickie, so I have no idea how accurate The Fighter is.  The movie only covers a specific time period in the lives of the brothers.  For me, since I didn’t know anything about the real men, it was hard for me to know for sure how much time passed over the course of the movie.  It does seem like some things receive more attention than others.

Much of The Fighter is focused on Micky’s training.  That does add some violence to the movie.  A few scenes are more graphic than others, though the movie isn’t overly gory.  The plot does sort of follow a formula, but it is done well and ends up being entertaining.  Some of what happens is predictable, but that didn’t bother me.  Some complications are added, mostly through how the family deals with each other.  That family - at least the movie version of them - has a lot of issues. 

A lot of time in The Fighter shows things tied to Dickie and how his life has spiraled out of control.  He once fought Sugar Ray Leonard, and he is still living off that former glory.  After that fight, nothing much happened with his boxing career.  By the time the movie is set, he is a drug addict with delusions of staging a comeback.  Their mother ignores the problems that Dickie has, while praising him and not really supporting Micky. 

The acting in The Fighter is wonderful.  Mark Wahlberg does a really good job as Micky.  He spent several years training for the part, even before he knew for sure it was going to be made.  Christian Bale is the real stand out as Dickie.  Bale lost a lot of weight for the part.  That does give him a more realistic drug addict look, but he’s also creepy looking.  Bale just doesn’t look good that thin.  The freaky, creepy look works for the character.  Amy Adams turns up as Charlene, Micky’s girlfriend.  It is a different sort of role for Adams, but I think she does well with it. 

The Fighter is a very good movie and definitely worth watching.  The cast is outstanding and I can see why they have been receiving award nominations.  Fans of the cast should give it a chance.

I did get a review posted on Epinions after seeing the movie in the theater.

The Fighter

The Tourist

Johnny Depp is one of my favorite actors.  I will usually make an effort to see his new movies.  I have also liked several movies that I’ve seen Angelina Jolie in.  When I saw the trailers for The Tourist, the first movie they’ve made together, I thought the movie looked interesting.

The Tourist hasn’t made a lot of money, and I know that some people have said it is a really bad movie.  I don’t agree with that.  It isn’t exactly what I expected from the trailers, but I do think that the movie is entertaining and worth watching.  I really enjoyed it. 

The plot for The Tourist is interesting, though it could have been a bit more original.  I do think there are a few surprises to what happens.  Things are slightly more complicated than they seem at first.  After seeing the movie, I discovered that it was based on a book.  I have no idea what has been changed for the movie.

I’ve read that some people have felt that the pacing is too slow in The Tourist.  I didn’t feel that way at all.  The movie has been promoted as a thriller and I can see some thriller elements in it even though the movie isn’t that suspenseful overall.  For some reason, the movie has been nominated in the comedy/musical category for the Golden Globes.  While there are some funny lines and moments, the movie is far from being a comedy and it definitely isn’t a musical.  There is some action in a few scenes, though the movie really isn’t action packed.

There are only three main characters in The Tourist.  Frank, a math teacher on vacation, probably receives a bit more attention than the others.  He ends up in a somewhat odd situation that he manages to deal with fairly well.  I think Johnny Depp did a very good job with the part.  Elise is a mysterious woman who pulls Frank into the mess he ends up in.  She looks elegant and refined, but it is quickly clear that she can take care of herself.  Inspector Acheson is the last character that receives much attention.  He is a detective with Scotland Yard and he’s investigating something that is tied to Elise and Frank.  Paul Bettany does fine with the part.  Timothy Dalton has a small part as Acheson’s boss.

I really enjoyed The Tourist and think it is better than a lot of people have said.  Fans of Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie may find something to like about the movie.

I did get a review posted on Epinions after seeing the movie in the theater.

The Tourist