True Grit Remake is Truly Entertaining

Never arrive late to a movie.  Words to live by; you can miss the entire premise of the film.  Unfortunately, I missed the first five minutes of this film.  Fortunately, that was all I missed.  True Grit, originally a 1969 John Wayne classic, was re-done with flair, gumption, and great casting.  Since I was already aware of the plot of the movie (a young girl’s father is killed and she promises to avenge his death by hiring a deadbeat Marshal to hunt down the culprit), I was able to fill myself in very easily.  And then I was along for the enjoyable ride that lasted the duration of the movie. 

If you’re not aware of the Coen Brothers by now then you probably live in North Dakota.  Well, maybe not North Dakota because they directed Fargo as well as No Country for Old Men, The Big Lebowski and just a few others.  They love to re-use actors in their movies and their choices for True Grit were nothing short of fabulous.  There’s Jeff Bridges as a withering drunkard of a Marshal, Matt Damon playing an aspiring hero, and Josh Brolin playing a dirty villain.  But it was newcomer Hailee Steinfeld as young Mattie Ross who stole the show.  She made me feel inferior at times (I mean, what 14-year old really has that vocabulary?), but her true grit was admirable.  Her quick-witted responses had me giggling seconds after I realized how clever she was. 

The amazing cast along with the twists and turns of alliances in this movie make it a must-see.  Even if you have to miss the first five minutes.

Spend or Save?  Spend your money and experience a great film about the wild wild west!

The Social Network Creates Buzz

Somewhere among the numerous empty bottles of Beck’s Beer consumed by Mark Zuckerberg and clean-pressed Brooks Brothers suits donned by Eduardo Saverin, The Social Network emerged as an enjoyable display of talented young Hollywood actors. Facebook is officially the most trafficked site on the Internet as of September 10, 2010- it even surpasses Google- and dominates most of my unemployed life. Seeing a movie about the drama behind its creation satisfied my most stalkerish of dreams. At times, it felt like I was watching a male-dominated episode of Gilmore Girls with all the speed-talking and camera diversion from character to character. But after I sorted through the facts and realized that I was witnessing the story about the creation of Facebook as well as two lawsuits all happening simultaneously, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. It was punchy and witty and taught me a lot about the allure of money, that is the things I didn’t already know.

The film highlights four major players, or six actual people. There’s Mark Zuckerberg, played by Jesse Eisenberg, who, pardon the language, is an egotistical pompous asshole. He’s a genius and he knows it. The only time in the whole film he’s put into his place is when his girlfriend, played by Rooney Mara, dumps him, leaving him stranded with two beers. Mark’s best friend and business partner in the movie is Eduardo Saverin, played by Andrew Garfield. He’s a suave money-hungry Harvard student who is played for a fool by Mark with the help of Sean Parker. Enter Sean Parker: a paranoid schizophrenic who is more self-absorbed than whoever that Carly Simon song is written about. He is played by none other than Justin Timberlake who brings a more realistic view of fame & fortune to the movie. The fourth player in the film is played by three characters: the Winklevoss twins and Divya Narenda. These three guys are pros at being ivy-leaguers: smart, athletic, and powerful. They originally recruit Zuckerberg to help with their elite Harvard-only dating website. And that’s where the conflict begins. Zuckerberg saw promise on his insta-shutdown website, Facesmash, and realized that combined with the ideas of the Winklevoss twins, he could create a media powerhouse.

The casting in this movie was more than well-done. The movie used all of its allotted 120 minutes but when it ended, I still felt as if there was much left unsaid. Perhaps it’s because the Facebook trials are still ongoing or perhaps it’s because the ending was very abrupt. No matter the reason, this movie left me wanting more.

Spend or Save? Spend…and spend and spend