This bodes well for the western as a whole - only a year ago critics were saying that the Coen's take on True Grit would be a flop, that there was no longer an audience for films like this, that only children went to the cinema. However an independent cinema survey has reported a spike in attendances by patrons over thirty years of age.
Maybe adults don't really go to the cinema these days because there are very few films we really want to see. Maybe if more movies like True Grit were produced then we'd be flooding the cinemas on a regular basis. Time to put away the CGI and reintroduce the acting and writing methinks.
Link - a horse opera renaissance ?
1 comment:
Last week I caught up with the new True Gritat a run-down, small-town cinema in provincial New Zealand. Ceiling tiles loose and stained, house lights dingy, etc., but the movie ... superb!
It was a Tuesday evening and the audience for that screening numbered only about twenty. But the patrons were both male and female and of all ages, including some minors accompanied by adults.
The movie has had a good press here. The reviewer for the Dominion-Post, which is the daily newspaper of Wellington, NZ's capital (and something of a film-conscious city with Sir Peter Jackson's HQ and Weta Workshop), had a piece headlined: "Forget John Wayne, this 'True Grit' is superior in every way".
My verdict is along the same lines. The new Grit is more likely to appeal to people today, including many older people who enjoyed the John Wayne version.
I think Gary's conclusion above is right, too. For more of his views on the Horse Opera Renaissance, click along to http://blackhorsewesterns.com/bhe21
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