quarterwavevertical
Joined Mar 2018
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Reviews58
quarterwavevertical's rating
I found the re-make to be a major disappointment.
Among its shortcomings is that the fun that characterised the original was most definitely missing. The result is a dry and often boring movie.
Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn? I don't think so. John Wayne was a natural in westerns, but Bridges seems to be out of place. He was good as The Dude, but not here.
Even worse was Matt Damon as LaBoeuf. Admittedly, Glen Campbell's performance in the original was wooden, but Damon's is markedly worse. I've heard livelier dialogue in high school plays.
The Mattie Ross in this one is also disappointing. Her depiction lacks the fiery spirit that Kim Darby's did and that, in the earlier film, adds a great deal to the story.
A re-make of a movie is supposed to be an improvement on an earlier version. ("The Maltese Falcon" is one good example.) This one isn't.
Stick to the original.
Among its shortcomings is that the fun that characterised the original was most definitely missing. The result is a dry and often boring movie.
Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn? I don't think so. John Wayne was a natural in westerns, but Bridges seems to be out of place. He was good as The Dude, but not here.
Even worse was Matt Damon as LaBoeuf. Admittedly, Glen Campbell's performance in the original was wooden, but Damon's is markedly worse. I've heard livelier dialogue in high school plays.
The Mattie Ross in this one is also disappointing. Her depiction lacks the fiery spirit that Kim Darby's did and that, in the earlier film, adds a great deal to the story.
A re-make of a movie is supposed to be an improvement on an earlier version. ("The Maltese Falcon" is one good example.) This one isn't.
Stick to the original.
I didn't like it. I quit halfway through this one as I found it boring, with nothing happening. I kept waiting for some sort of story to emerge as there didn't seem to be much of a plot to begin with.
There were other things wrong with this movie. In my opinion, Warren Oates was miscast and his performance didn't do the character of Rooster Cogburn justice. In addition, I found the Mattie Ross in this film to be irritating. In particular, she's supposed to be older than the character that Kim Darby portrayed in the original and, presumably, a bit more mature.
This is one movie should be avoided. There are lots of better westerns that are worth watching. This isn't one of them.
There were other things wrong with this movie. In my opinion, Warren Oates was miscast and his performance didn't do the character of Rooster Cogburn justice. In addition, I found the Mattie Ross in this film to be irritating. In particular, she's supposed to be older than the character that Kim Darby portrayed in the original and, presumably, a bit more mature.
This is one movie should be avoided. There are lots of better westerns that are worth watching. This isn't one of them.
I never saw this movie when it was originally in theatres, but I heard songs from the soundtrack quite often soon after it was released in 1980. I was a graduate student back then and I often listened to a certain FM radio station while I was working on my research. The music was on its playlist during that summer.
I never got to see "Xanadu" until a few years ago when it was featured on the old Turner Classic Movies show "TCM Underground", which featured off-beat or cult films. I was left bewildered, wondering what all the fuss was about. It definitely wasn't worth the wait as the soundtrack was the only thing worthwhile about it. The plot, what little there was, was confusing. It was hard to tell if the presentation was for a movie or a music video (MTV would go on the air more than a year later).
I'd largely forgotten about it until I noticed that TCM had it on today's schedule. I thought, "Why not?" and gave it another shot. I needn't have bothered. The movie hadn't improved since I last watched it. Then again, I wasn't paying all that much attention to it as, during the latter half, I was working on something else.
This is a terrible film. It's so bad that it doesn't even qualify as a Golden Turkey.
I never got to see "Xanadu" until a few years ago when it was featured on the old Turner Classic Movies show "TCM Underground", which featured off-beat or cult films. I was left bewildered, wondering what all the fuss was about. It definitely wasn't worth the wait as the soundtrack was the only thing worthwhile about it. The plot, what little there was, was confusing. It was hard to tell if the presentation was for a movie or a music video (MTV would go on the air more than a year later).
I'd largely forgotten about it until I noticed that TCM had it on today's schedule. I thought, "Why not?" and gave it another shot. I needn't have bothered. The movie hadn't improved since I last watched it. Then again, I wasn't paying all that much attention to it as, during the latter half, I was working on something else.
This is a terrible film. It's so bad that it doesn't even qualify as a Golden Turkey.