cinematical hodgepodge

I can't say I'm a fan of John Wayne overall, but I do count two of his movies among my favorites (it's a loooooong list though), The Quiet Man and True Grit. I don't know what it is about these two films that captured my imagination but it happened. With The Quiet Man it was more than likely because it was a film set in Ireland, PLUS it's just plain fun. Maureen O'Hara plays a fiery Irish maiden who tames the brooding American former boxer played by John Wayne. What's not to like? Oh yeah, it's based on a short story of the same name penned by Maurice Walsh.

True Grit is a western tale adapted from Charles Portis' book of the same name and follows Rooster Cogburn on his begrudging journey to help a young girl avenge a death in her family. Cogburn is mean to her, makes fun of her but when tragedy strikes (no pun intended) Cogburn rides a horse into the ground and carries her the rest of the way into town for help. Wayne's crotchety old man character being softened by his association with the naive city girl hell bent on revenge is just one of my favorite stories. I'm slightly embarrassed to say that I have not yet read the book to see if I like the story pre-Hollywood, but it's on my list. What brought this to mind was some excellent commentary on the book and movie over at Cinematical (as usual).

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Vikings fighting space monsters in the 6th century A.D.? Bring it on! Unfortunately there is no scheduled American release date at this time :(

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Finally, someone with a healthy sense of humor! I have new-found respect for Deepak Chopra. In the face of protests over the parodies of Hinduism (and just about everything else) present in Mike Myer's new comedy, The Love Guru, Deepak Chopra has posted the following response on his blog:
As viewers will find out when the movie is released this summer, no one is more thoroughly skewered in it than I am --- you could even say that I am made to seem preposterous. If I don't take offense and some Hindus do, that doesn't make me superior or more mature or even innately tolerant. I just know the difference between a belly laugh and a diatribe."

How refreshing in our ultra-PC environment.

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KT and I have watched The Strangers and thought it was capital S-C-A-R-Y! There was a preview for a movie called Quarantine and I had not heard of it before then but it looked capital F#*%ing S-C-A-R-Y! I should have known that my beloved Cinematical would be able to deliver the skinny on this horrific delight. I'm going to have to see the original Spanish film before we see Quarantine! Enjoy the trailer for the original!


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Thank you, Eugene Novikov! I personally can hardly wait to see The Happening!

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Yes, I still harbor some unmistakebly warm feelings for Vin. I admit it freely. I'll also be seeing Babylon A.D. when it hits theaters.

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that is all (for today!)