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December 2009
Bollywood flick is big in India — and Austin
It’s a mildly well-kept secret that Cinemark Tinseltown 17 on South I-35 near Stassney Lane screens a new Bollywood blockbuster each week. Not just any Bollywood movie, but a major one that opens at the same in its Motherland.
(For instance, I was in Mumbai in 2007 when Shahrukh Khan’s smash “Om Shanti Om” opened. I had to miss it, as I was leaving. When I got back to Austin, it was playing at Tinseltown, so I caught it within days of its Indian release.)
Anyway, a new one, “3 Idiots,” opened last Friday at Tinseltown and, according to eye-witness accounts, the local Indian community packed the place, forming long lines that snaked around the building for several showings.
These viewers, and lots more around the world, pushed “3 Idiots” to score the best opening weekend ever for an Indian film, writes Variety. It grossed rupees 1 billion ($21.4 million) worldwide. It opened on 2,126 screens, including 366 internationally, grossing $4.45 million overseas.
Directed by Rajkumar Hirani and starring Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan, the three-hour-long “3 Idiots” is “a comedy that makes some scathing indictments of the Indian education system,” Variety says. More:
A comedy about three college buddies that doesn’t let its more serious theme of “self-actualization” get in the way of the entertainment, 3 Idiots takes a while to lay out its game plan but pays off emotionally in its second half. Quality mainstream item … comes laden with must-see smarts, especially super-choosy star Aamir Khan (Lagaan).
Tinseltown didn’t pick up the phone, so we couldn’t get solid numbers. Its Web site lists the film as playing for at least another week. Tickets are $10 for all showtimes. Details and tix HERE.
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Noteworthy DVDs released 12/29/09
PICK OF THE WEEK
“District 9” (Sony): The movie has its share of problems — it can’t decide whether it’s a mock-doc or a straightforward action film, for one thing — but this South Africa-set sci-fi flick was original enough to merit some of the attention it was given.
OTHER TOP PICKS
“9” (Universal): Gorgeous and occasionally charming, though it’s a big letdown compared to the short film that inspired it.
“Capitalism: A Love Story” (Anchor Bay): More hot-button agit-prop from Michael Moore.
FRESH FROM THE MULTIPLEX
“Jennifer’s Body” (Fox); “Paranormal Activity” (Paramount); “A Perfect Getaway” (Universal)
DOCUMENTARIES
“Facing Ali” (Lions Gate); “Last Cup: The Road to the World Series of Beer Pong” (Virgil Films)
BEST OF TV
“Emily of New Moon” Season 2 (Echo Bridge); “Glee” Season 1, Vol. 1 (Fox); “Spaceballs: The Animated Series” Season 1 (MGM); “Time Warp” Season 2 (Gaiam); “The United States of Tara” Season 1 (Paramount)
CULT CORNER
The “Flight of the Conchords” boys spoof horror films in “Diagnosis: Death” (Lions Gate); “Lesbian Vampire Killers” (Weinstein Co.)
STRAIGHT(ISH) TO VIDEO
Sam Elliott plays Sam Houston in “Gone to Texas”; Amy Grant in “A Song from the Heart” (Echo Bridge); “The Marine 2” (Fox); “Princess of Mars” (Asylum); “Weather Girl” (Screen Media)
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Rodriguez and Trejo talk about ‘Machete’ and more
So they let some online journalists visit the Austin set of the Robert Rodriguez-produced “Predators” (what about us?!), and the folks at Collider.com spoke to actor Danny Trejo, who shot Rodriguez’s “Machete” earlier this year in town and has a part in “Predators,” as well as Rodriguez, who discussed “Sin City 2” and an all-new “Spy Kids.”
Trejo’s HERE.
Rodriguez is HERE.
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Tarantino to become ‘honorary Texan’
Quentin Tarantino will be crowned (cowboy-hatted?) an “honorary Texan” during the 10th annual Texas Film Hall of Fame Awards on March 11 at Austin Studios.
Tarantino joins fellow inductees Michael Nesmith — a Houston native, film producer and former member of the Monkees — who will receive the Warren Skaaren Lifetime Achievement Award, and San Antonio-born actor Bruce McGill, who played D-Day in “Animal House,” as well as co-starring in “Silkwood,” “Courage Under Fire” and “The Insider.”
Tarantino’s ties to Texas, namely Austin, run deep. He’s longtime pals with Richard Linklater and has collaborated with Robert Rodriguez (“From Dusk Till Dawn,” “Grindhouse”). His legendary QT Fest — a week of cult, classic and drive-in favorites — was born in Austin theaters and Tarantino is an advisory board member at the Austin Film Society.
The hall of fame awards “recognize outstanding actors, directors, screenwriters, musicians, producers and films from, influenced or inspired by the Lone Star State.”
For details and tickets to the event, go HERE.
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Noteworthy DVDs released 12/22/09
PICK OF THE WEEK
“(500) Days Of Summer” (Fox): Worth rewatching just for the blissed-out Hall & Oates musical sequence, the movie is a real treat until it (arguably) betrays its entire message in the final scenes.
OTHER TOP PICKS
“Extract” (Walt Disney / Miramax): Mike Judge bounces back from the experience of “Idiocracy” — if not to the heights of “Office Space,” then at least high enough for fans to hope he’ll keep returning to the places where real people work in search of comedy.
“It Might Get Loud” (Sony): Jimmy Page, the Edge, and Jack White get together to trade riffs and wax philosophical about rock-and-roll’s favorite instrument. (No, Jimmy, not the dulcimer.)
FRESH FROM THE MULTIPLEX
“All About Steve” (Fox); “Beyond A Reasonable Doubt” (Anchor Bay)
ARTHOUSE/FOREIGN
Stanley Tucci’s Theo Van Gogh remake “Blind Date” (E1 Entertainment); “The Katemquin Films Collection, Vol. 1,” “Still Standing: The New Films of Dariush Mehrjui,” “Wadja, Man of Cinema,” “The Valley of the Bees” “Witches’ Hammer” (Facets)
FROM THE VAULTS
“Flowers in the Attic,” “The Philadelphia Experiment” (Anchor Bay)
DOCUMENTARIES
“In Search of Mozart” (Microcinema); “Motherland” (Vanguard)
BEST OF TV
“Chuck” Season 2 (Warner Bros.); “Family Guy: Something, Something, Something Dark Side” (Fox); “Kyle XY” Season 3, “The Secret Life of the American Teenager” Season 3 (Walt Disney); “Taxi” Final Season (Paramount)
CULT CORNER
“Maid-Droid” (Cinema Epoch)
STRAIGHT(ISH) TO VIDEO
“American Pie: The Book of Love” (Universal); “Ghost Machine” (Anchor Bay); “Noble Things” (Monarch); Ethan Hawke and Vincent D’Onofrio in “Staten Island” (National Entertainment Media); Victor Garber in “Torso” (E1 Entertainment)
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Fantastic Fest wants to see your movie
Austin’s own Fantastic Fest, the biggest genre film festival in the country, is accepting submissions to its 2010 edition, Sept. 23 — 30.
Details, rules HERE.
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Actress Brittany Murphy dead
ASSOCIATED PRESS
3:21 P.M. UPDATE: The Associated Press reports that Cedars-Sinai Medical Center spokeswoman Sally Stewart confirmed Brittany Murphy died at 10:04 a.m. Sunday. She would not provide a cause of death, or any other information. Read more.
EARLIER: Numerous news outlets are reporting this afternoon that Brittany Murphy has died.
Sources tell People, TMZ and television stations KABC and KTLA the actress went into cardiac arrest early Sunday at her Los Angeles home and emergency crews were unable to revive her.
Murphy, 32, has starred in a number of films, including “Clueless,” “Girl, Interrupted” and “8 Mile.” She also provided the voice for Luanne Platter on the animated “King of the Hill.” Murphy was married to Simon Monjack, who directed her in “White Hotel.”
Check back later for additional details on this developing story.
- Photos: Brittany Murphy
- Photos: Celebrities who died in 2009
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Screen Actors Guild names its nominees
MALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE: Jeff Bridges, “Crazy Heart”; George Clooney, “Up in the Air”; Colin Firth, “A Single Man”; Morgan Freeman, “Invictus”; Jeremy Renner, “The Hurt Locker”
FEMALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE: Sandra Bullock, “The Blind Side”; Helen Mirren, “The Last Station”; Carey Mulligan, “An Education”; Gabourey Sidibe, “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”; Meryl Streep, “Julie and Julia”
MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: Matt Damon, “Invictus”; Woody Harrelson, “The Messenger”; Christopher Plummer, “The Last Station”; Stanley Tucci, “The Lovely Bones”; Christoph Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds”
FEMALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: Penelope Cruz, “Nine”; Vera Farmiga, “Up in the Air”; Anna Kendrick, “Up in the Air”; Diane Kruger, “Inglourious Basterds”; Mo’nique, “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
Nominations for best ensemble cast went to “The Hurt Locker,” “Precious,” “Nine,” “Inglourious Basterds” and “An Education”
See the full list of noms, including those for TV, HERE.
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Austin doc-maker wins huge grant
Austin documentarian Heather Courtney has won a $50,000 grant from the United States Artists Fellows program. Each year, the group awards 50 unrestricted grants of $50,000 to artists of all disciplines from across the country.
Courtney joins poet and novelist Sapphire, Houston artist Rick Lowe, playwright, actor and stage director John O’Neal, actor-playwright Anna Deavere Smith, among others.
Courtney, whose films include “Letters from the Other Side,” is currently working on a film that “follows a group of 20-year-olds from her hometown in northern Michigan before, during, and after their National Guard service in Afghanistan.” Courtney has been making several sojourns to Afghanistan to make the doc.
From United States Artists:
Through a rigorous evaluation process, panels of experts in the arts selected the 55 winning artists (including five collaborative pairs) from among 348 nominated applicants from 45 states. USA Fellowships are awarded to artists of all career stages who demonstrate artistic excellence, unique artistic vision, and significant contributions to their fields.
Learn more about USA and see all recipients HERE.
A little more about Courtney HERE.
Heather Courtney
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Austin Film Critics Association picks winners
Photo galleries of the AFCA award winners:
Director Kathryn Bigelow’s Iraqi war drama “The Hurt Locker” was named the best movie of the year Tuesday by the Austin Film Critics Association.
“The Hurt Locker” picked up two other awards with Bigelow winning best director, and Barry Ackroyn best cinematography.
Colin Firth won best actor for is role in director Tom Ford’s “A Single Man,” and Melanie Laurent won best actress for Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds.” Tarantino took home the best original screenplay award.
Christoph Waltz won best supporting actor for “Inglourious Basterds,” and Anna Kendrick won the supporting actress award for “Up in the Air.”
The group also named “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” (2004) as the best movie of the decade.
Here’s the complete list:
Best Film: The Hurt Locker
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
Best Actor: Colin Firth, A Single Man
Best Actress: Melanie Laurent, Inglourious Basterds
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
Best Supporting Actress: Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
Best Original Screenplay: Inglourious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino
Best Adapted Screenplay: Up in the Air, Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner
Best Cinematography: The Hurt Locker, Barry Ackroyd
Best Original Score: Up, Michael Giacchino
Best Foreign Language Film: Sin Nombre, Cary Fukunaga
Best Documentary: Anvil! The Story of Anvil
Best Animated Feature: Up
Best First Film: District 9, Neill Blomkamp
Breakthrough Artist Award: Christian McKay, Me & Orson Welles
Austin Film Award: Me & Orson Welles
Top 10 Films:
The Hurt Locker
Star Trek
Up
A Serious Man
Up in the Air
Avatar
Inglourious Basterds
District 9
Where the Wild Things Are
(tie) Moon, The Messenger
Top 10 Films of the Decade:
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
There Will Be Blood (2007)
The Lord of the Rings (2001-2003)
The Dark Knight (2008)
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
Kill Bill (2003/4)
No Country for Old Men (2007)
The Incredibles (2004)
Children of Men (2006)
(tie) Memento (2000), The Departed (2006)
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Golden Globes actually likes ‘Avatar’
The Golden Globes has announced its nominees for all things superlative in movies this year, and with logic that boggles, the group has tapped “Avatar,” “Inglourious Basterds” and “The Hangover” as films worthy of the adjective “best.”
Anyway, the full list of nominees is HERE.
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More critics’ year-end picks
Critic coteries from around the country keep chiming in on the year’s best flicks (as said before, expect results from the mighty Austin Film Critics Association very soon). The venerable New York Film Critics Circle is the latest to announce their champs, HERE.
See the entry below for more groups’ selections.
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Critics weighing in on ‘09’s Top 10
The nation’s film critics organizations are busily balloting on the best movies of 2009 (including the Austin Film Critics Association, which is wrapping up voting as I type this.)
Some results so far:
Boston critics’ winners HERE.
Washington, D.C. area critics’ winners HERE.
Los Angeles critics’ winners HERE.
The American Film Institute’s winners HERE.
We previously reported on the National Board of Reviews picks HERE.
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Xmas classics at the Paramount
The Paramount Theatre is playing some holiday chestnuts — “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “A Christmas Story,” “Miracle on 34th Street” and “White Christmas” — for a limited time, Sunday through Dec. 20.
Showtimes and details HERE.
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Noteworthy DVDs released 12/8/09
PICK OF THE WEEK
“AK 100: 25 Films by Akira Kurosawa” (Criterion): For all you moneybags cinephiles, this mega-box offers a number of Kurosawa films that have never been on DVD in the States. Caveat emptor: Most of these titles are already out individually, with copious bonus features that aren’t included here.
OTHER TOP PICKS
“The Cove” (Lions Gate): One of the year’s most lauded docs is a stomach-turning look at the dolphin trade operating out of a remote Japanese cove.
“Public Enemies” (Universal): Filmmaker Michael Mann rebounds from “Miami Vice” with the help of Johnny Depp’s deadly-cool John Dillinger.
“Julie & Julia” (Sony): A surprisingly enjoyable tweak of the biopic genre, in which Meryl Streep (as Julia Child) appears to be having so much fun the League of Serious Thespians might ask her to surrender her membership card.
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” (Warner Bros.): Perhaps you’ve heard of him.
“Brigitte Bardot: Classic Collection” (Image): A threesome starring the French bombshell, including Roger Vadim’s “The Night Heaven Fell” and the gender-switched “Don Juan.”
FRESH FROM THE MULTIPLEX
“World’s Greatest Dad” (Magnolia)
ARTHOUSE/FOREIGN
“Dog Eat Dog” (MPI); “Ghosted” (First Run Pictures); “Lion’s Den” (“Leonera”) (Strand); “Somers Town” (Film Movement); “Tom and Thomas” (Phase 4)
DOCUMENTARIES
“Beautiful Losers” (Oscilloscope); “Brick City,” “A Finished Life,” “Prima Ballerina” (First Run Pictures); “Johnny Mercer: The Dream’s On Me” (Warner Bros.); “Knut and Friends” (Image); “Michael Jackson - Life & Times Of The King Of Pop 1958-2009,” “Wesley Willis’s Joy Rides” (MVD)
BEST OF TV
Catherine Zeta-Jones in “The Cinder Path” (E1 Entertainment); “Friday” Complete Series (Image); “The Fugitive” Season 3, Vol. 2, “Perry Mason” Season 4, Vol. 2 (Paramount); “The Judy Garland Show Collection” (Infinity); “Lost” Season 5 (Walt Disney); “Rescue Me” Season 5, Vol. 2 (Sony); “SpongeBob SquarePants” Season 6, Vol. 1 (Nickelodeon); “Thomas Mann’s Buddenbrooks” (E1 Entertainment)
REISSUE/REPACKAGE
“Get Smart” Season 5 (HBO); “Gozu” (Cinema Epoch)
CULT CORNER
Adam And and Debbie Harry in “Drop Dead Rock” (MVD); “Shaolin Vs.” (First Look); Blu-ray editions of “Alphabet Killer,” “Behind The Mask,” “Cyclops,” “Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer,” “Lower Learning,” “Red Mist,” “Sands Of Oblivion,” “Walled In,” “While She Was Out”
STRAIGHT(ISH) TO VIDEO
“Carriers,” Ben Stiller and Jason Schwartzman in “The Marc Pease Experience,” directed by Todd Louiso of “High Fidelity” (Paramount); Corey Feldman and Bronson Pinchot in “Hooking Up” (MTI); Amy Adams in “Moonlight Serenade” (Magnolia); “This Beautiful City” (Cinema Epoch)
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Local doc wins award
Austin filmmaker Nancy Schiesari’s documentary “Tattooed Under Fire” has nabbed an award from the Women Film Critics Circle, a 48-member-strong organization of women critics and scholars from around the world.
The group hands out several year-end awards, and we’re not sure which one Schiesari’s film received. We’ll tell you when we find out.
Update: Schiesari’s film won the Courage in Filmmaking award in the documentary section of the prizes.
Schiesari is a film professor at UT and a faculty member at the Austin Museum of Art. “Tattooed Under Fire,” a co-production of KLRU, aired on PBS last month. The doc is set at Fort Hood. Here’s what Austin360 TV critic Dale Roe wrote:
Schiesari’s documentary centers on the military ritual of getting inked, interweaving the personal stories of six central characters — and their relationships to the war in Iraq — with the visual expressions of their tattoos (River City Tattoo Parlor, a place where many of the Fort’s war-bound and returning soldiers go under the needle, is located across the street from the base).
More about the film, including a trailer, HERE.
More about the Women Film Critics Circle HERE.
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Zellners’ ‘Goliath’ hits DVD
Speaking of Austin’s Zellner brothers (see entry below), their feature-length debut “Goliath,” which premiered at Sundance in 2008, will be out on DVD on Jan. 12.
Made in Austin, the deadpan-bizarre comedy follows a recently divorced guy’s life as it crumbles apart when he loses his cat Goliath, the only thing he still cares about.
Watch the trailer HERE.
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Local shorts play Sundance
After reporting that former Austinites the Duplass brothers are debuting their new feature at Sundance in January and that Austin’s Bryan Poyser’s feature “Lovers of Hate” is in the fest’s dramatic competition, comes more Austin-Sundance news:
David and Nathan Zellner’s short comedy “Fiddlestixx,” based on their outrageous Web series about a time-traveling monkey, plays Sundance’s dramatic short competition. See the series HERE. (The Zellners are Sundance veterans, with such films as “Goliath.”)
Amy Grappell’s exceptional short documentary “Quadrangle” is screening in the Sundance short docs program. It’s “an unconventional look at two ‘conventional’ couples that swapped partners and lived in a group marriage in the early 1970s, hoping to pioneer an alternative to divorce and the way people would live in the future.”
Jason Tippet’s short doc “Thompson” was produced by 2006 Austin High School grad Elizabeth Mims and is playing the short docs program. (Mims is currently a senior at Cal Arts.) “Thompson” won best short at SXSW in March. Description: “Since second grade, Matt and Ryan have shared the bond of speech impediments, weapons, and things that go fast. But as their last days of high school speed by, the two friends find that their go-carts, dirt bikes, and RC cars can’t outrun adulthood.” More HERE.
The films were picked from a record 6,092 submissions.
Get the full Sundance line-up HERE. The fest happens Jan. 21 — 31 in Park City, Utah.
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Duplass brothers at Sundance, again
Formerly Austin-based filmmakers Mark and Jay Duplass are officially darlings of the Sundance Film Festival. The writing-directing (and, in Mark’s case, acting) duo have screened several indie shorts and features, including “The Puffy Chair” and “Baghead,” at the fest over the years.
And now the Duplass’ first Hollywood feature, as yet untitled, is being showcased in the Sundance “premieres” section in January. The film stars John C. Reilly, Marisa Tomei, Jonah Hill and Catherine Keener.
Though “Baghead” was made in and around Austin in 2007, the Duplasses struck out for Los Angeles a few years ago to mine moviemaking gold.
The new film, world premiering at Sundance, is a comedy described by the festival like this: “A recently divorced guy meets a new lady. Then he meets her son who is, well … interesting.”
More about it HERE.
The Duplass brothers at Sundance in 2008 (photo: Chris Garcia)
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National Board of Review names year’s best
Awards season has officially begun: The National Board of Review has picked its best-ofs, and the winner for Best Film of the Year is … “Up In The Air,” the Jason Reitman dark comedy starring George Clooney. (It won the Audience Award at this year’s Austin Film Festival and opens here Dec. 11.)
Clooney and Morgan Freeman (in “Invictus”) share the best actor prize. Clint Eastwood takes the top director crown for “Invictus.”
Best actress: Carey Mulligan for “An Education.” Supporting actor: Woody Harrelson for “The Messenger.” Supporting actress: Anna Kendrick for “Up In The Air.”
Following “Up in the Air,” the group’s 10 best films, in alphabetical order, are: “An Education,” “(500) Days of Summer,” “The Hurt Locker,” “Inglorious Basterds,” “Invictus,” “The Messenger,” “A Serious Man,” “Star Trek,” “Up” and “Where the Wild Things Are.”
According to Wikipedia, the NBR works like this: “Ballots are sent in by the 110-strong membership, composed of selected knowledgeable film enthusiasts, academics, filmmakers and students in the New York metropolitan area.”
The group’s site is HERE.
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Locals get their movies into Sundance 2010
The all-important Sundance Film Festival has accepted at least three movies by Austin filmmakers for its 2010 edition in January in Park City, Utah. But we can only mention one today, as the fest hasn’t officially made all its announcements.
Still, we have this: Bryan Poyser’s comedy “Lovers of Hate” is running in the fest’s prestigious main feature competition, a place where many an indie is plucked from obscurity, so this is a big deal. It’s up against 14 other titles, which star the likes of Orlando Bloom, Mark Ruffalo and Natalie Portman.
Starring Chris Doubek, Heather Kafka and Alex Karpovsky, Poyser’s film follows “how the reunion of estranged brothers is undermined when the woman they both love chooses one over the other.”
“Lovers of Hate” was shot in Park City and Austin. Poyser, director of artist services at the Austin Film Society, is known for the Austin features “Dear Pillow” and “The Cassidy Kids.” More about “Lovers of Hate” HERE. Read Poyser’s blog HERE.
Get the full Sundance competition line-ups HERE.
Poyser
In other important indie film news, with an Austin twist, the annual Independent Spirit Awards noms have been named. Local ties:
Lynn Shelton’s unorthodox bromance comedy “Humpday” — co-starring former Austin actor/director Mark Duplass (“The Puffy Chair”) — has been tapped for the John Cassavetes Award, given to the best feature made for under $500,000.
Producer Dia Sokol is up for the Piaget Producers Award for getting behind Andrew Bujalski’s all-Austin-made feature “Beeswax” and SXSW fave Joe Swanberg’s “Nights & Weekends.”
Complete list of Spirit nominees HERE.
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UT student docs get national showcase
Short documentaries by University of Texas film students will be airing nationally on The Documentary Channel beginning in spring in a special partnership between the cable channel and the UT Documentary Center — a deal that was three years in the making.
According to UT, “The Documentary Channel will have exclusive U.S. broadcast rights to select films from UT student documentary filmmakers for 18 months. These films will be showcased on The Documentary Channel’s ‘DOC U,’ a platform for student work, during the first quarter of 2010.”
The first four films to be broadcast are Ruth Fertig’s “The Cockroach Project,” Berndt Mader’s “Pay Dirt,” Christina Kim’s “Dreams in All Sizes” and Anthony Penta’s “A Casebook on Remote Viewing”.
The shorts were made in Radio-TV-Film classes and picked by a panel of RTF faculty and Documentary Channel programmers. The Documentary Channel is HERE.
‘Dreams in All Sizes’
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Coen brothers coming here for ‘True Grit’
Looks like the mighty Coen brothers will be making their reboot of the classic 1969 John Wayne western “True Grit” in these them parts, with the shoot revving up in March.
Sources say Joel and Ethan Coen are scouring areas east of Austin, rustic, old-timey places like Elgin, Taylor and Granger (for the railroad there). They’re looking for scrub and farmland and want to be “as close to Austin as possible.”
“They are seriously, seriously looking,” we are told.
The Coens are no strangers to Austin and Texas. They made their 1984 debut “Blood Simple” in town and shot parts of “No Country for Old Men” in the state.
Matt Damon, Jeff Bridges and Josh Brolin are slated to star in the remake of the revenge tale. The original, an Oscar-winner directed by Henry Hathaway, starred Wayne, Glen Campbell, Robert Duvall and Dennis Hopper. Bridges will inhabit Wayne’s memorable role as Marshall “Rooster” Cogburn.
The Coens are also looking at Utah, Arizona and New Mexico for the film’s finale, a big shootout set in the Rockies. Evidently, Texas just can’t supply that kind of landscape.
The production will be headquartered in Austin. The film is set for a 2011 release.
The Coens, looking ‘Grit’-ty
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