Tag: True Grit
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Dean Smith, Olympic Athlete and Western Stuntman, Dies at 91
Finis Dean Smith, a stuntman regular in John Wayne Westerns who turned to Hollywood after becoming an Olympic gold medalist, died Saturday. He was 91.Smith was born in Breckenridge, Texas and began his athletic career competing in track and field competitions, earning All-American status in the 100-meter dash in 1952.He went on to win varying…
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John Wayne’s Career Ended With a Bang Thanks to His Last Western Role
John Wayne has earned his status as the King of Hollywood Westerns with his nearly unbelievable quantity of outlaw stories. Wayne’s filmography is essentially a catalog of how the genre evolved; 1939’s Stagecoach launched many of the archetypes that would last for generations, 1956’s The Searchers represented a growing maturation that reflected more serious ethical…
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New on Paramount+ in March 2023
March looks to be another exciting month for Paramount+. Cobra Kai star Peyton List tries to solve her own murder in the all-new Young Adult mystery series School Spirits. Kiefer Sutherland will also be returning to the small screen with another spy role in the Paramount Plus original series Rabbit Hole. March will also bring…
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Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley Is Bringing Back Some Key Franchise Cast Members
Eddie Murphy turned 61 years old this year, which makes him roughly the same age John Wayne was when he played the out-to-pasture codger Rooster Cogburn in “True Grit.” That film, and Wayne’s subsequent Westerns, had an elegiac, one-last-ride feeling to them. Yes, the Duke’s cancer was in remission at this point, but he still…
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The John Wayne Classic Mia Farrow Thinks Is Her Biggest Career Mistake
Long before the Coen Brothers brought Charles Portis’ novel “True Grit” to the screen in 2010, its first film adaptation came in 1969, with Hal B. Wallis producing and Henry Hathaway directing. Recognizing that the book had strong cinematic potential, actor John Wayne encouraged the involvement of both men. To round out the decades-old talent…
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‘A Quiet Place Part II’: How Westerns and Spielberg Influenced John Krasinski’s Shooting Style
For “A Quiet Place Part II,” the sequel to the blockbuster alien invasion film, director John Krasinski emphasizes more action. And, with the passing of his father character at the end of the first film, turns deaf daughter Regan (Millicent Simmonds) into the protagonist. She becomes the film’s canny and determined hero, combatting the aliens…
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Expect ‘French Dispatch’ to Leave the Oscar Race and Eye Cannes 2021 Instead
What’s left for the Oscars? The telecast will proceed, two months late, on April 25, but as to what might qualify — the only definitive answer will come when we reach the February 28 submission deadline. As a canary in a coal mine, “Tenet” failed to reignite audiences; instead, it revealed the hazards of theatrical…
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Charles Portis, ‘True Grit’ Novelist, Dies at 86
Charles Portis, the author whose 1968 novel “True Grit” inspired two beloved big-screen Westerns, died Monday at the age of 86.The Arkansas native had struggled with failing health for several years, according to his brother, Jonathan, who confirmed the death to the Arkansas Times.His biggest success was the 1968 novel “True Grit,” the story of…
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Now Stream This: ‘Under the Silver Lake’, ‘True Grit’, ‘Prince of Darkness’, ‘Minority Report’, ‘Anima’ and More
(Welcome to Now Stream This, a column dedicated to the best movies streaming on Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and every other streaming service out there.) It’s a holiday weekend, which means you’re going to need stuff to watch. Sure, you could go to a BBQ, or the beach. But who wants to do that when you…
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True Grit at 50: the throwback western that gave John Wayne his only Oscar
Released in the same year as The Wild Bunch and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Henry Hathaway’s western was defiantly old-fashioned in comparisonThe year 1969 was a true inflection point for the American western, a once-dominant genre that had become a casualty of the culture, particularly when Vietnam had rendered the moral clarity of…