Film critics and human beings don’t always agree on everything. For proof of this, take a glance over at the IMDB’s top 250 and then compare it with BFI’s Sight & Sound top ten poll. They don’t even remotely align (SHAWSHANK!). Still, there are some filmmakers who frequently satisfy audiences and critics in equal measure. Joel and Ethan Coen are two of the finest.
True Grit (the new film from the Coen Brothers) is either a remake of a supposedly-awesome John Wayne picture, or a fresh adaptation of the book that spawned the aforementioned film. But whatever it is, it literally doesn’t matter because you just knows it’s gonna be tops. The funny thing is that most people actually won’t hate on that assertion, which when you think about it is bloody strange. The word ‘remake’ has, after all, become critical short hand for ‘wank’, BUT then again when you write Coen Brothers backwards and swap most of the letters around it spells out ‘SAFE HANDS’.
Title card from the John Wayne original.
The moody trailer that débuted online earlier this week has been described as ‘pure Coen-brothers’ and I get what the boring cunts are trying to say. Stylistically, tonally and shit-hot-castily, the trailer is unmistakably them. Bridges and Brolin, former collaborators on both the Co-Bros best comedy and best SRS-movie respectively are on board for this, as is Matt Damon of Maaaaaatt Daaaaaaaman fame.
The best bit about the typically-teaserish trailer? It’s gotta be when the creepy hymn repeatedly and immediately pauses when dialogue is spoken and then continues playing the instant the dialogue snippet ends. Touches like that don’t go a’miss and the currently in-vogue trend of atmospheric trailers has definitely peaked with this bad boi.
So, the most productive siblings of the 21st century look set to unleash yet-another masterpiece upon the world. Waves, choirs and mountains of praise usually elicit internet backlash, but I have a good feeling that this will just make you fuckers go all Sight and Soundy on my ass. Which can only be a good thing, right?