Michael's Musings

June 14, 2011

A good ole Louisiana boy won a bass boat in a raffle drawing.  He brought it home and his wife looks at him and says, "What the hell you gonna do with that?  There ain't no water deep enough to float a boat that big within 100 miles of here."

He says, "I won it and I'm a gonna keep it."

His brother came over to visit several days later. He sees the wife and asks where his brother is.  She says, "He's out there in his bass boat," pointing to the sugar cane  field behind the house.

The brother heads out behind the house and sees his brother sitting in a bass boat with a fishing rod in his hand down in the middle of a big field.  He yells out to him, "What the hell are you doing?"

His brother replies, "I'm fishin.  What the hell does it look like I'm a doing."

His brother yells, "It's people like you that give people from Louisiana a bad name, makin' everybody think we is stupid.  If I could swim, I'd come out there and kick your butt."

You have a creative day.

Michael

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June 13, 2011

I watched the 2010 version of TRUE GRIT last night...and I did enjoy it.

Comparing it to the John Wayne original:

Certainly the Coens Brothers have taken a darker, less humorous approach to the material. 

I really liked the look of this new picture, and Matt Damon was much better as the Texas Ranger than was Glen Campbell.

The young girl (Hailee Steinfeld) was terrific.  If she keeps her head on straight, she could be a big star some day.

John Wayne or Jeff Bridges?

Wayne was a bit more fun in the role, but it's really a toss-up.  Both actors were excellent.

I liked the score in the original much more than the music in this picture.  In fact, a few months back when Jeff Bridges was making the rounds at the various talk show to promote the picture, the intro music they played when he walked out was from the John Wayne version of TRUE GRIT.

Go figure!

As an overall film, this new version is probably slightly better than the original, but Wayne's movie was very good, too, and is a minor classic.  That makes me wonder:

Why bother remaking this story at all?

I know that this remake did fantastic at the box-office, but if you want to make a Western there are plenty of other, new stories out there.

In today's movie market, we're lucky if we get one Western per year, so:

Why remake a hit?

You have a creative day.

Michael

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June 10. 2011

Yesterday, I had a phone conversation with a guy that I hadn't talked to for well over 40 years.

He's originally from the Seattle area and, in fact, is living up in that area now.

Back in the day, he played the title role in a Kirkland Community Theater production of MR. ROBERTS...and I was suppose to play the Captain.  Unfortunately, I had to bow out because I was directing another show.

In any event, this guy moved to Los Angeles about the same time I did, and he became a reporter for one of the local TV stations.

He was on the scene at the Ambassador Hotel the night that Bobby Kennedy was shot.

Talk about being where history takes place.

You have a creative weekend and I'll be back with you on Monday.

Michael

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