The western has struggled to make a come back in recent years.
But I'm not sure the western has ever gone away. I think the audience has always been there, eagerly awaiting new tales of adventure.
The upcoming release of the Coen brothers version of TRUE GRIT has fans chomping at the bit, and advance reviews are raving about it.
John Wayne has long been a favorite actor of mine, and he won the Academy Award for his turn in TRUE GRIT (1969) in 1970. Jeff Bridges may have created an equally memorable Rooster Cogburn in the new cinematic telling of Charles Portis' novel that was serialized in the Saturday Evening Post in 1968.
This month might make a good and fun time to discuss the western. Done. Gonna do it.
Meanwhile, here's the trailer for the new TRUE GRIT, hitting U.S. cinemas on December 22, 2010.
Long live the western!
ReplyDelete"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, and I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to other people and I expect the same from them."
--John Bernard Books (The Shootist)