4. True Grit
Watch an old western these days on daytime television and you'll probably switch it off half way through if you're not a racist old man who still yearns for the past. The majority of westerns have aged horribly - the acting, visual style, pace, and ideologies. It's a genre of film that isn't often seen in cinemas these days. Most westerns this century have been poor spectacles that have relied on merging with other genres, and have still failed: Cowboys and Aliens, Jonah Hex, The Lone Ranger, etc. (Although, I do enjoy Shanghai Noon!) When you think of a western, you often think of John Wayne. Even his name screams cowboy and he was the poster-boy for the genre, and whether you love him or hate him, he remains one of the most iconic Hollywood movie stars that has ever lived. 1969's True Grit is the only time he won an Academy Award for best actor, and has since gone onto become a celebrated film about Wayne's fictional hero "Rooster" Cogburn who is hired by a fourteen-year-old girl to hunt down her father's killer. It's often ill-advised to closely remake a successful film, what's the point if you can't improve on the first one? Well, it would have took a brave gambler to bet against (and ultimately lose) to the Coen brothers, for ultimately, they did make a better film. Some may argue that it's not necessarily a better film, that it simply highlights how cinema has evolved, making it easier for younger viewers that have probably never seen a conventional western before. They may be right... if they weren't wrong. The Coen's made a simply outstanding western with a world-class cast including Jeff Bridges (a more likeable, yet no less ruthless Cogburn), Hailee Steinfield (who was thirteen-years-old when cast, and went on to be nominated for an Academy Award for best supporting actress), the ever-reliable Matt Damon, and Josh Brolin, who's mug and voice is perfect for the genre. Everything about the film was fantastic - the cinematography, the editing, the score. It may not have inspired a new wave of groundbreaking westerns, but it did, however, prove that westerns can still be successful and attract a healthy audience.