Jan
04
2011

True Grit…Now Added To My All Time Favorites List

I love movies, just do. It’s that simple, so there is a list of movies that I can watch over & over again.

Back to back in like a marathon, just keep the popcorn, drinks & bathroom breaks coming.

It’s a short list too:

  • Blazing Saddles
  • Once Upon A Time In The West
  • El Cid
  • Tombstone
  • The Matrix

I can now add the Coen brothers version of True Grit to this list.

The thing I like about the above list, except for Blazing Saddles, is the epic telling of the story (OK…Blazing Saddles also has an epic story too, but that’s almost another post in itself).

This version of True Grit is the book version through and through. Unlike the version which highlights John Wayne as Rooster Cogburn this version follows the book – which is the exploits of Miss Mattie Ross and how the ‘True Grit’ she looks for in the people she enlists to help her avenge her father’s killer is, in fact, all in her.

What makes Jeff Bridges performance in the move so epic is that he had some tall shoes to fill. I mean, seriously, he was reprising a renown John Wayne role! What I found fantastic is that he made the role more ‘real’ than John Wayne ever could. I think even the Duke would admit that the role was turned over, like Heath Ledger did to Jack Nicholson in his role as the Joker…the better actor has come to take the role as their own.

In the end, this film is impressive in many ways, it’s attention to detail (like Tombstone, someone did their period homework), the acting and the scope of the movie as it lovingly follows the book – right to the actual ending is just grand.

I will watch this again in the theater and I will be waiting for the directors cut special edition.

There won’t be any pussyfootin’ around with no theatrical version here. Naw sir!

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Written by Karl in: Art,Entertainment |
Oct
05
2009

Defining An Artist’s Work – Karl Style

UPDATE: This is my rant on photography…but it can probably apply to other things.

So this weekend I decided to be part of a mini photo contest on Facebook.

Nothing special really (the prize is to name the next topic for the contest), but it makes for a nice place to post your work. For amateurs it’s a great way to meet other amateur photographers & hopefully learn new idea & techniques.

So imagine my surprise when one of the contestants not only critiques my picture, but changed it as well! He used the idiom of “personal preferences” to define changing it.

We went round & round..but in the end I decided to let it go as I was getting more vexed with the discussion.

This got me thinking…is it OK to change another artists work?

The simple answer is no…but I wanted to clarify why the answer is no.

Firstly I am OK with whatever the artist wants to use to express themselves. While my preference is to use as little tools as possible on editing photographs, I know that there are those who use various tools to enhance the work the do. That’s fine…it’s what they use to express their art.

My issue is with others that decided to change that work for their own ends.

Until the world of digital artwork, art was done by the artist with little or no chance to change their work. The work was a rendering of art as the artist interpreted the work. You either appreciated the level of effort or moved on to something else you did appreciate.

Many people probably saw ways to change or enhance the work, but in the end it was not possible (or easy). The work stood on it’s own as the artist intended.

Now we move to the age of the digital allowing for more impressive works. For the photographer, it gives additional tools to make the “art” stand out or express something well imagined that would not be possible without the ability of the tool.

Unfortunately, we now have thieves who not only steal the work but change it and even take credit for the changed work as theirs – creating a sad trend for those who simply want to express themselves & share it with others.

For a long time I used to scoff at the photographers who put their moniker (watermark) on a picture, thinking it was the height of conceit to mark their work. I mean it’s already theirs so why the mark?

Now I know how it feels, I will have to rethink the value of the mark. For now, I’m still going to keep the mark off as I really don’t want to add that.

However, as I get further in my journey it may become a necessary evil.

The reality is that the person creating the work is the only one who is to be able to change it should they feel it necessary to do so. To take their digital work, change it to suit you is simply inappropriate.

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Written by Karl in: AAARRRGGGHHH!!!,Art,Karl |
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