ScreenCrave.com » Josh Brolin

Interview: Josh Brolin Talks ‘MIB III,’ Impersonating Tommy Lee Jones And ‘Gangster Squad’

Laura Aguirre — Wed, 23 May 2012 19:24:11 +0000

In Men In Black 3, Josh Brolin plays the 1960′s version of Tommy Lee Jones‘ Agent K. His cool, charm and optimism offer a new side to a character we all knew to be otherwise grumpy. We recently got the chance to talk to Brolin. He told us why he chose to join the Men in Black, the terrifying process of impersonating Jones, and his first impression of Will Smith.

Check out our interview with Josh Brolin…

How do you go from an impression of Tommy Lee Jones to an entire performance?

It started with a bad impression that I used to do for Barry. I got to know Barry a bit through the Coens and was re doing Nick Nolte and Tommy Lee Jones, but really bad versions of them. And then somebody calls you and says, “Hey, you want to do this mega-movie and play young K for a billion people to judge?” I said, “Um, can I think about it?” It’s putting your ass on the line – especially when it’s somebody you know. I still don’t know if Tommy liked it or not.

You do get to add a smile to the performance, a smile that we hadn’t seen before.

Good. I think I’m most happy about that. I saw it in its entirety in 3D last night, which I hadn’t seen. The last time I had seen it, about 20% of the special effects were done. But I think I was most happy about that because Barry and everybody had an opinion on it. “I think he should be really happy” or “I think he should be depressed.”

And so, you’re figuring all this stuff out the whole time and at the same time, you’re playing Tommy Lee Jones. There’s a lot of hives that start to happen. I was so pleased that it seemed seamless and that’s what was so great as an experience and watching the film as objectively as I can watch it. I’m very lucky in that respect where I don’t watch a movie I’m in and go, “You’re so bad. Your nose looks so weird.” That whole cosmetic thing, I can really look back and say, “Does this work or does this not work?”

The intention was within ten minutes when you are watching the movie, you’re not watching me constantly do this Tommy thing, some kind of caricature of Tommy. I think it was really important to allow the chemistry to work and all that stuff and not do too much makeup. We did just enough, I think. And the voice goes up into that extreme lilt sometimes, but then goes back into more of a generic thing.

The voice was dead on, what was you process for that?

A torturous one. I was down in Mexico, and I went and rented a little motel room down and went on my computer and went through it. What happens is like with a play: you go, you get together, and you do the first reading. This would be very similar to this and you do the first reading of a play and it’s usually great. And then it just gets worse and worse and worse and worse and then you come back around so you feel like you’ve earned your way back to what the initial reading was. That’s what it was like.

So I went down to Mexico, and got totally frustrated, wanted to quit, wanted to call Sony and say, “You’re wasting your money doing this because I can’t do this.” You know, all the actor stuff that people go through. And then you start to go, “Oh my God, that’s one thing that sounds good.” The tough thing about Tommy is that the “u’s” will all be alike and the vowels will all be alike. When he’s doing his thing and the breathiness of all that stuff. Tommy’s all over. Tommy’s improvising his voice and it’s still cultivating into something we won’t know until later. It’s like an instrument that’s been played by nobody that somebody says, “Learn how to play this, but make an album in two months that everybody will hear.” It’s like, “Why, I can’t do that. I just started.”

Can you talk about your chemistry with Will Smith?

Chemistry with Will was either going to be there or not. I think that was just luck. You can act it. I remember acting with an actor I didn’t like so much and he says, “I feel like you don’t like me,” and I said, “I don’t have to like you. I can act it,” which wasn’t a nice thing. But the truth was I hadn’t met Will before I said yes to this, and we went into rehearsals right away. I had a lot of nerves about getting it right and listening to the iPod and having watched Men In Black fifty times and all that. But the minute I got together with Will, it was seamless and it was like, “Thank you, God, Thank you God.” And it was professional, too.

We don’t know each other personally that well. It was very professional and we were always talking about the story and how we could make a moment better and ad-libbing and going back and forth. From my point of view, I was very happy with the outcome because it was organic.

What appealed to you about this big mainstream project?

It’s not a business decision. I don’t think “I bet the audience wants to see me in Men In Black now.” It’s totally selfish and personal. I like to have fun. I’m a total goof. And honestly, as a whole, serious movies are much more fun to work on than comedies because you’re compensating for the drama, so people usually have a brilliant time. When I did Flirting With Disaster, it was one of the gnarliest movies I ever did.” Everybody was like, “Oh, my God! This is not funny, And I’m not funny. It was like “Wow, this is gnarly. I want to do dramas.” And I liked Flirting With Disaster and I saw how it came out and it was like, “Wow, it’s a great movie.” So for me, it sounds so cliché, but I just want to keep challenging myself.

My goal isn’t to do as many mega-films as I possibly can. That’s just not my own personal goal. My goal is to be on my deathbed and to look back and kind of chuckle. And I’m starting to chuckle a little bit right now. It’s a really nice feeling. Like the guy from No Country For Old Men did Men In Black, who also did Milk, who also did W. That’s a nice feeling for me.

What are you looking for from a director?

It’s different. You work with The Coens and you get nothing literally. I’ve told this story a million times, but we’re doing No Country and I would finish a scene and look at Ethan [Coen] and Ethan would be silent and that meant, “Awesome, we got it. It was amazing.” It was like, “Really, that’s it?” The first two weeks, Javier [Bardem] would go, “Oh, my God! He’s going to fire me. He hates me.” [Laughs] I’ve had the most amazing stories about Oliver [Stone] and this and that. I had an amazing experience with him. I heard Gus [Van Sant] was quiet and fragile, and I didn’t experience that at all. So I’ve been very lucky.

Directors know the biggest talent a director can have, from a actor’s standpoint, is casting. If you cast it right, they won’t have to do much. And beyond that, they know when to tweak and when not to tweak. If they feel like they have to get in and say something because they have the title of director, that’s usually a massive problem.

When did you first realize you had a gift for vocal mimicry?

When I got kicked out of class a lot, that’s when it starts, you make people laugh. And I remember the first time I ever took an acting class was in high school and it was kind of an accident and I did an improv class and I created a character and everybody laughed. So it first came in humor and it was like, wow, making people laugh is really fun, this feels right, and creating stories. I wrote from the word ‘go’. I have all my journals, still from the beginning. So writing short stories, writing poems, writing scripts, writing plays, writing that, so storytelling has been a massive thing in my life. And then, I found out you can maybe act what you’re doing, like Mike Nichols or somebody in the beginning. And I liked the prospect of that.

Everybody imagines, your dad was an actor, so you became an actor. Your dad can’t get you a job. And my dad wasn’t in a position to give me a job. He didn’t run a studio or something. My dad was trying to get his own jobs. So when I became an actor, he was like, “Are you sure you want to do that?” And now my daughter’s into it and it’s the same thing. She has much more talent than my father and I, for sure, put together. I’ve seen her on stage and she just blew my mind, but if it’s in there, it’s in there.

Did you try to stop her?

The thing is, you look at your kid and you go, “What do you want to do with your life?” And they go, “I want to be rejected my entire life.” “Go for it!” It’s not something you wish for your kids, but even in the greatest of successes, you’re always going to have people slamming you. It’s constant, especially now with the Internet and all that. But she’s got the skin, she’s got the heart, and she’s got the talent, so why not.

What surprised you about working with Will?

The first time you meet Will, he’s like, “Hey!!!” You’re like, “Wow, serious?” It’s like waiting for rehearsal and try this voice and talk about it and whatever and he’s like, “M-I-B!!!” And you go, “OK.” So that was the whole movie. It’s just funny, man. It’s like going to an insane asylum. You have Will doing that and you have Barry going (imitating nasal voice), and telling stories about his mother calling him Madison Square Garden when he’s 16. And I’m like, “There people are crazy.” I thought I was crazy, but these people are nuts, which, honestly, makes it fun because you have both sides, which I understand very well.

You can have a lot of fun and you can have a lot of fun on the set, which I think is very important, and you can also bang away and say, “Look, what’s the best story here. Let’s never get lazy about our work. The professionalism comes first and then, we can have a blast.” There’s a lot of people that just want to have a good time and there’s a lot of people that I’ve work with, not a lot, but some, that just love the title, man. They’re in Hollywood and they can get good blow or something, I don’t know. What I loved about working with Will is that he is into it. I don’t know why he didn’t work for four years, which was a choice. I thought that was pretty amazing after four years. I like to work a lot personally. I like to just keep challenging myself and all that, but maybe, that would change in the future, I don’t know.

What do you key into when you’re doing a period piece like Gangster Squad?

You know, honestly, first and foremost, I’m proud of L.A. and I’ve really tried to embrace California, hence our California skit on SNL. I try to embrace California a lot because I remember as a kid, being an actor was going to New York and studying in New York. Everybody was kind of ashamed to be from California or especially from L.A. And I really made a point about turning that around, because California is pretty fricking great, man. So this was a movie about California and about Los Angeles and I loved the idea of that first and foremost. Secondly, Sean [Penn] and I were looking to do another movie together. We really had a great time working together and we’ve been friends for a long time. We had a great time working together on Milk, so we were looking for something else.

There was a great moment I had – I was just interested in the era. It was an interesting era that I didn’t really know a lot about, and especially about Los Angeles and learning the history of Los Angeles. But my dad came to the set one day, which he usually doesn’t do. And he came on to the set where O’Meara’s house is and he’s out on the porch, and we were looking out, and it was basically one of the streets that has not changed, the houses hadn’t changed, and we put all the old cars. And my dad sat, and he usually doesn’t do this, I don’t come up to him and say, “What was it like?” Because he denies his age or whatever.

And he was sat back and for like 45 minutes, he goes, “God, I remember when your uncle got hit by a thing there,” and he was like telling me all these stories. It was like he was in a full regression. It was innocence in his eyes. And I was like, “That’s why I’m doing this film. That’s why I love this. There was an innocence, even though it was hard, it was severe, all the gun battles, all that kind of stuff, there was an innocence to it that I really, really want to experience. So I did, through my pop, as much as through the movie.

What did you think about the 3D?

I loved it because it was a new 3D that I had never seen. I talked to Barry about it. In my experience, 3D is usually very invasive. It’s like scratch and sniff, whatever it is. And I felt like it was in the movie. It made the movie more beautiful. And as Avatar was an incredible experience, it’s so surreal. There is heart, but there’s no humanity in it. You’re watching these things flying and dragons and all this and this is a very different experience. And I thought this is a better movie because it’s in 3D. And I hadn’t seen it, I hadn’t seen any 3D. And Barry was like, ‘Can you watch 12 minutes. Come on.’ And I saw the movie as an entirety, which I was very happy about.

What do you think of the Rick Baker make-up?

It’s incredible and it’s always incredible. And not that this means what you think it means and seven Academy Awards and regardless, the guy, he is the beginning and he is the end. Because when he’s not around anymore, people are only going to be doing what they’ve been taught by him or the precedents that he set. Period. And Christian Tinsley, who is my makeup guy and did the makeup for Men In Black, and did for Jonah Hex and did it for W., and did it for a lot of things, he’s going to do it for Old Boys, he’s going to do it for Labor Day. He’s an incredible guy and Rick has a lot of respect for him, which I think Christian is very happy about, but no, there’s nobody like him, truly, and what a great grounded guy, too. And he was one guy who came and gave me – compliments are weird. I got used to The Coens, so I’ve gotten used to nothing and he was very complementary on the set. It was nice.

Men In Black III opens Friday, May 25th.

Men In Black 3: Movie Review

Laura Aguirre — Tue, 22 May 2012 19:37:31 +0000

Men In Black 3 has become a blockbuster underdog, mainly because it’s the movie no one was asking for, and has to overcome a lot of bad buzz about re-shoots. It’s been 10 years since we last saw Will Smith‘s Agent J and Tommy Lee Jones‘ Agent K monitor alien activity on Earth, and the new film offers a time travel twist which introduces Josh Brolin as the new K, placing Jones in the back seat. Does MIB3 have what it takes to overcome being a little outdated and a “troubled production?”

Find out in our review of MIB3…

The Players:

Directors: Barry Sonnenfeld
Writers: Etan Cohen, David Koepp, Jeff Nathanson, Michael Soccio
Starring: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin
Cinematography: Bill Pope

The Plot:

When Agent K’s (Jones) life and the fate of the planet are put at risk, Agent J (Smith) takes it upon himself to travel back in time to right the wrongs of the future. J seeks help in an unfamiliar era, teaming up with young K (Brolin) to save his partner, the agency, and the future of humankind.

The Good:

Josh Brolin As Young K: MIB3 took a risk by breaking up an iconic duo and replacing Jones with Brolin – though everything suggested that Jones’ was one of the stars of the film, his performance is basically reduced to a cameo. But the movie doesn’t suffer because of it as Brolin gives a pitch-perfect performance as young Agent K. His impersonation of Jones is uncanny but entirely his own. He displays a softer side of the character, playing K as a charming and optimistic fellow instead of the world-weary cynic of the last two films. His chemistry with Smith comes easy, and both actors play off each other well.
Time Travel: Smith’s Agent J travels back in time to the Mad Men era (or at least that’s the film’s most obvious touchstone), and it’s where the movie really takes off. The 60′s section of the film offers the film’s best moments, including a trip to Andy Warhol’s The Factory where Bill Hader gives us his best Warhol, and a surprisingly lighthearted moment of period racism when Smith’s K gets pulled over for being a black man in a fancy car. In the past we also meet a sweet and likable alien named Griffin, played by Boardwalk Empire‘s Michael Stuhlbarg. He’s a pivotal part of K and J’s mission to save the world, and gives the movie a needed spoonful of quirk.
Visuals: Visually, the film is amazing. It’s a bright, colorful and full of spectacle. And the 3D actually serves a narrative purpose – including visual jokes. In one particular funny scene, we see Nicole Scherzinger carrying a wobbling two-layer cake, intercut with closeups of her vibrating buttocks that kills. But like a lot of 3-D, these scenes are at the beginning of the movie and by the third act the 3-D isn’t as noticable.

The Bad:

Weak Bad Guy: The main troublemaker, Boris the Animal, is played by Flight of the Conchords actor/musician Jemaine Clement and he’s transformed into an unrecognizable, disgusting creature (courtesy of the amazing make-up artist Rick Baker). And though he looks great, he doesn’t really make for a memorable villain. There’s nothing beyond the make-up. He’s a plot point, and little more.
Not Memorable Enough To Make A Stink: MIB3 is better than expected, but not only is it coming 10 years late, but it’s not a movie anyone was asking to see. And once you see it, it’s hard to find the motivation for it other than “Seemingly Viable Franchise.” At this point getting the band back together isn’t enough to justify buying a ticket.

Overall:

MIB3 is better than you’d think, all things. The performances, visuals and a few of the jokes make it painless. But one does not expect to call a franchise tentpole blockbuster “diverting” (at best). And in the competitive summer marketplace, it’s just not good enough.

Rating: 6.5/10

Men In Black 3 opens in theaters Friday, May 25, 2012.

Photo Gallery:

Trailer:

Are you excited for Men In Black 3?

‘Men in Black III’ Featurette Re-Introduces The Franchise

Damon Houx — Thu, 10 May 2012 18:10:22 +0000

We’re heading toward the Memorial Day weekend, and though The Avengers is still setting records (and may continue to), Men in Black III is the big picture of that holiday weekend, which sells Will Smith‘s agent J losing his partner K (Tommy Lee Jones) and traveling back in time to work with a younger version of his partner (Josh Brolin). Check out the new featurette…

The word we’ve been hearing about the film – which junketed last week – is much better than one might expect for this troubled production. It seems the reshoots they had and the work that went into them eventually made something that was moderately enjoyable. We’re pleasantly surprised by this revelation. But that’s more inside baseball; the bigger question is if regular audiences will line up for the sequel, which comes a couple of years after the fact and follows a sequel that virtually nobody liked.

This definitely offers Will Smith doing his best to act boyish and high-energy charming, and the joke of seeing Brolin doing Jones may be enough to keep his performance engaging. Director Barry Sonnenfeld says that Brolin’s chemistry with Smith is just about the same as Smith’s chemistry with Tommy Lee Jones, which is good, we guess. The movie opens May 25, and then all will be revealed.

Have you heard the Pitbull song? (It’s bad)

Josh Brolin And Ryan Gosling Get Rough In ‘Gangster Squad’ Trailer

Travis Woods — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:55:39 +0000

The trailer for Gangster Squad is an interesting beast—it starts out appearing to be a star-studded (Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, and Emma Stone) and sharp take on 1940s noir; then, around 1:30 mark, it switches gears and becomes a Guy Ritchie-styled monstrosity. So what kind of film is this—an L.A. Confidential neo noir, or a Sherlock Holmes-in-fedoras mess? Check out the trailer and see if you can figure that one out.

Set in 1949 Los Angeles, Brooklyn-born mob boss Mickey Cohen (that’s Sean Penn, to you), runs the underground crime syndicate of la la land and all things west coast, having purchased protection from the police department and L.A. politicians. That’s where Gosling and Brolin come in, as leaders of a clandestine crew of LAPD cops set on taking Cohen and his crime empire down.

The film was helmed by Ruben Fleischer, who previously directed Zombieland (and which explains several of the visual flourishes in the film, as well as the presence of Emma Stone, a Zombieland alum). While no official release date has been set, a full trailer (courtesy of Warner Bros.) just in time for the summer movie boom seems to indicate you’ll be seeing Gangster Squad on the big screen before 2012 wraps things up.

What do you think of the Gangster Squad trailer?

Get Ready for ‘The Avengers’ With a New Featurette

Damon Houx — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 18:22:14 +0000

Though The Hunger Games may have set the event film bar higher with its record-breaking $155 Million opening, the summer movie season is only a few weeks away and it’s going to kick off with The Avengers – which is looking to be a monster of a release. It’s not a sequel, per se, but it does bring together Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man with Mark Ruffalo‘s Hulk, Jeremy Renner‘s Hawkeye, Chris Hemsworth‘s Thor, Chris Evans‘s Captain America, and Scarlet Johansson‘s Black Widow. To get you more stoked, there’s a new featurette on the film, check it out…

This fluff piece is heavy on the previous films, and I find it funny that they talk up The Incredible Hulk, but can’t show Edward Norton‘s face as Bruce Banner, but then also don’t really show Mark Ruffalo either. Such is the actor switch-up game.

You mostly have writer/director Joss Whedon and producer Kevin Feige talking here, buffered with clips from the returning cast (Downey Jr., Evans and Hemsworth). But with many of those interview clips, it’s hard to tell if they were done for this movie or are leftover snippets from the previous films. Mostly it seems that this is trying to get people caught up with the last couple movies in the series, as it does end with an ad for those previous efforts. No surprise: This also leaves out Ang Lee‘s Hulk.

What’s interesting about this film is that – as we’ve said before – the only real movie star of the film’s superhero leads is Iron Man. Though the other comic films have done okay, Iron Man and its sequel are the only ones that have done $300 Million dollars or more at the domestic box office. The Avengers has the first week of the summer season, and there’s no Fast Five spoiler this year, so the picture will open, and open big. But if it ends up doing numbers closer to what Captain America or Thor did, it will definitely be a disappointment. The Avengers opens in a little more than a month from now, so we should start getting reviews shortly. That said, early word has been very positive.

Would you buy your Avengers tickets now?

‘Men In Black III’ Official Trailer Shows More Josh Brolin, More Will Smith Shtick

Travis Woods — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 16:56:47 +0000

While we saw a trailer for the upcoming Men in Black III last December, it felt more like a teaser, seeing as how it was a quickie trailer for an incomplete film with a troubled production and, at the time, apparently no written ending. Now, we get a more polished trailer for the entirely unnecessary sequel, which finds Will Smith traveling back in time to save Tommy Lee Jones, whose younger self is portrayed by Josh Brolin. While there is plenty of Will Smith hamming it up, Brolin’s impression of Jones is moderately smirk-worth. Check it out after the jump.

Well, there you have it. Lots of 1960s clichés—the film is apparently taking the Austin Powers approach to time travel—with Will Smith literally using the word shiznit, because apparently Will Smith using circa-1995 slang terms is still viewed as somehow fresh and funny, right guys?

That said, Josh Brolin’s impersonation of Tommy Lee Jones is amusing; however, after two and a half hours, it seems like a one-note joke that would get more than a little old by the end. But hey, it’s a 3-D Will Smith summer movie in which he fights aliens, so it’ll probably do millions of dollars of business, and we’ll have to put up with this shiznit for several sequels to come.

What do you think of the trailer?

Men in Black 3 Trailer Offers One Joke

Damon Houx — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 17:41:51 +0000

Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, and Josh Brolin…as Tommy Lee Jones? That’s the set up from the Men in Black 3 teaser trailer, one that seems to be there to refresh viewers on the world of the Men in Black. Though the rough outline of the plot has been known for a while, this gives a sense of what the film is about, with newcomer Emma Thompson telling the viewers that Jones’s K character has been dead for forty years. Check out the teaser…

It’s a short tease, and one that offers exactly one joke in its running time (at least if you’re not familiar with the premise of the series), but that joke (Brolin’s Jones impression) may be enough to get people interested in seeing the film.

This is a weird teaser in that it’s not very clean – there’s a whole lot of set up for essentially one joke. The movies have been funny, and this covers a lot of back story – perhaps because it’s been a decade since the last picture means that they have to reorient a new generation to the series. And perhaps also with the recently announced reshoots the studio isn’t entirely sure what’s going to be in the finished film. But they do suggest some scale, and that we’re going to see some period detail. And maybe, just maybe, they’ll be some laughs along the way. The film is set to open May 25, 2012.

Are you ready for more Men in Black?

Josh Brolin to Star in Spike Lee’s Oldboy

Damon Houx — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 22:22:40 +0000

Josh Brolin and writer/director Spike Lee have enough respect to quiet naysayers. And that’s exactly what happened when Josh Brolin was cast in Lee’s remake of 2003′s Oldboy. The original is a cult Korean film by Chan-wook Park that won the Grand Prize at Cannes (and is currently in the top 100 films of all time according to IMDb), and originally fans were perturbed that anyone would consider such a remake. But the tide has turned, and there’s new goodwill for the project that comes from Brolin and Lee.

Resentment toward the remake was born mostly of Hollywood snapping up anything Asian and popular after the huge success of The Ring and Martin Scorsese‘s The Departed – a remake of Infernal Affairs – but that cycle of remakes has disintegrated. For a while it seemed like Bong Joon-ho’s The Host was next on the block, but that remake seems to have fallen by the wayside. Sadly, if Lee’s adaptation works, it may clear the way for more remakes.

Brolin was on the shortlist for the project, and recently Christian Bale was mentioned as a lead. The original follows a man imprisoned for thirteen years by an unknown person, and gets out looking for revenge. Though main character appears to be Brolin’s role, the part of the man who imprisoned him is also a substantial part, and could go to someone like Bale.

Have you seen 2003 film Oldboy?

Josh Brolin, Tim Burton Team Up for The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Krystal Clark — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 16:19:12 +0000

Oscar nominee Josh Brolin is about to get ugly for his next role. According to THR, the actor will join forces with Tim Burton for a retelling of the classic story The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The last incarnation we saw was in 1997 when Disney painted their pretty picture of the tortured character. Hopefully with Burton and Brolin, we’ll get something a lot closer to the source material.

The trade reports that Warner Bros is developing the project with Kieran and Michele Mulroney, the writing team behind the sequel Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. The Hunchback of Notre Dame is based on the novel written by Victor Hugo, back in 1831. It centers on “Quasimodo, a deformed and hunchbacked bell-ringer of the Norte Dame cathedral who tragically falls in love with beautiful gypsy named Esmerelda.”

The first feature adaption was in 1905 under the title Esmerelda, and the last was the aforementioned Disney version from the nineties. For years people have been fascinated with the tale of this tortured soul, and now Josh Brolin will put a new spin on the battered protagonist.

Brolin will both star and co-produce the film, while Burton is in early talks to helm. The director is very busy with pre-production for another WB gothic-tale, Dark Shadows. Dun! Dun! Dun!

What do you think of Brolin as the new Quasimodo?

True Grit: Movie Review

Mali Elfman — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 17:21:02 +0000

It’s time for some horseback riding, gun shootin’, mumbling bad-asses in the Coen Brothers most un-Coen Brothers-like film True Grit starring Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, and Barry Pepper. One thing is for sure, if you can understand what they’re saying in this film, you’ll be a fan — but that won’t be easy for ya now, ya hear? Check out our review…

The Players:

Directors/Writers: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
Novel By: Charles Portis
Actors: Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Barry Pepper
Score By: Carter Burwell
Cinematography by: Roger Deakins

The Plot:

Based on the Charles Portis novel of the same name, True Grit follows a tough U.S. Marshal as he helps a stubborn young girl track down her father’s murderer.

The Good:

The Writing: Even though this is not one of my favorite scripts from the Coens, it’s still miles beyond the majority of screenplays today. Not only are they good at writing amazing one liners, but they’re also able to apply them to the screen extremely well. It’s a good thing they direct their own screenplays because it takes a very interesting mind to understand the complexities and depths of their writing.
Moments of Quiet: The Coen’s biggest strength lies is in what they let go unsaid. This film is extremely sparse, and aside from a few drunken rants and a sassy young girl, the only time the characters really talk is when they have something to say. Though this sounds like an obvious thing, a lot of films have so much unneeded dialogue, it’s nice to see one where every line has its place.
The Writing AGAIN: What is also amazing about their writing is how they create a new language for every film they make. Whether it’s Fargo, No Country for Old Men, Burn After Reading or True Grit, all their characters have a very distinct way of speaking which transports you into a different world and forces you to pay attention so you can be a part of it.
The Acting: Another reason why the dialogue sounds so good is because of the performances in this film. Though Jeff and Hailee are the stars of the show and rightly so, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Barry Pepper and the rest of the cast all put in amazing performances. There literally are no small parts in a Coen Brothers movie and much like their text, every actor has a right to be there.
The Mumbling: You won’t be able to understand every line in this film, so don’t bother leaning over to your significant other and ruining the movie with “what did he just say?” The mumbling is part of it and you’ll come around to it and their way of speaking in time.
The Richness/The Silence: This is not a cliched Hollywood film in ANY way. They’re going to make you wait for the pay off and then change it up on you. They’re going to leave you in silence and they’re going to force you to watch a film that though it is entertaining was not created for entertainment’s sake. It’s a bold move, but well executed.
The Humor: You have many directors trying to make comedies, but despite what genre the Coen’s play in, their films always have a sense of humor that is undeniably funny and more realistic than any comedy routine. This film is no exception, and despite it’s serious tone it will most definitely have you laughing — and sometimes you won’t even know why. They don’t even need a punch line, their timing is so good that it does the work for them.

The Bad:

Horse Violence: I get that it goes with the story, it’s accurate to the character, but damn is it hard to watch.
The Snakes: Though I loved the scene and how it began, without giving anything away, the truth of the matter is that it was a rather inaccurate way for snakes to behave.

Overall:

Not necessarily the brother’s finest work, but for me they always deliver something far superior than almost everything else in theaters. Don’t miss this bad boy.

Rating: 8.5/10

True Grit hits theaters December 22nd.

Photo Gallery:

Trailer:

Will you be seeing True Grit over the holiday weekend?

Josh Brolin to Direct and Star in Pitz and Joe

Krystal Clark — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 18:45:15 +0000

Josh Brolin is one of the most talented actors of his generation. Who would have thought that the headband wearing kid from The Goonies would become one of Hollywood’s most sought after stars 25 years later? He will appear in the highly anticipated Coen Brothers adaptation of True Grit, which opens this Christmas, and after that [according to Variety ] he’s ready to take the next step in his career. He’s going to direct!

The trade reports that Brolin will star, direct, and produce the film adaptation of the play Pitz and Joe. The play “follows the misfortunes of a young man with brain damage from an accident and his sister, who tries to coax him into believing again that life is worth living.” Pitz and Joe was originally written by Dominique Cieri in 1979.

The screenplay will be written by Maya Forbes, whose credits include The Rocker and Monsters vs Aliens. We’re not sure how prepared she is to take on something this heavy but we’ll give her a chance. We’re really interested to see Brolin take on all these different jobs. We hope he gives us something as great as his acting performances.

What do you think of Brolin directing? Do you think he can pull it off?

Extended True Grit Trailer Will Cut You Down

Krystal Clark — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 17:07:52 +0000

We told you last Friday that a new, extended version of the True Grit trailer would be released earlier this week and here it is! Over at Yahoo Movies they got their hands on the new trailer that features more footage, more characters, and more story. This will definitely be a heavy contender come Oscar season. Watch the trailer below…

The story of True Grit centers on a U.S. Marshal (Jeff Bridges), his sidekick (Matt Damon), and a 14 year old girl named Mattie (Hattie Steinfeld) who tags along as they try and track down her father’s killer. The original film’s point of view was taken from that of Cogburn, while the Coen’s remake we will follow the vantage point of the young girl. The cast also includes Josh Brolin and Barry Pepper in supporting roles. The film is scheduled for release on December 25, 2010.

This movie looks amazing and in typical Coen Brothers fashion it manages to include comedic elements without diluting the drama. The crack Damon makes about Bridges’ eye was delivered with perfection. It’s a nice break amongst all the seriousness that the film entails.

What do you think of the new trailer for True Grit? Are you interested in seeing the new film?

ScreenCrave.com » Josh Brolin

Interview: Josh Brolin Talks ‘MIB III,’ Impersonating Tommy Lee Jones And ‘Gangster Squad’

Related Posts

Men In Black 3: Movie Review

The Players:

The Plot:

The Good:

The Bad:

Overall:

Rating: 6.5/10

Photo Gallery:

Trailer:

Related Posts

‘Men in Black III’ Featurette Re-Introduces The Franchise

Related Posts

Josh Brolin And Ryan Gosling Get Rough In ‘Gangster Squad’ Trailer

Related Posts

Get Ready for ‘The Avengers’ With a New Featurette

Related Posts

‘Men In Black III’ Official Trailer Shows More Josh Brolin, More Will Smith Shtick

Related Posts

Men in Black 3 Trailer Offers One Joke

Related Posts

Josh Brolin to Star in Spike Lee’s Oldboy

Related Posts

Josh Brolin, Tim Burton Team Up for The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Related Posts

True Grit: Movie Review

The Players:

The Plot:

The Good:

The Bad:

Overall:

Rating: 8.5/10

Photo Gallery:

Trailer:

Related Posts

Josh Brolin to Direct and Star in Pitz and Joe

Related Posts

Extended True Grit Trailer Will Cut You Down

Related Posts