I truly dislike John Wayne, and never saw the first version. You couldn't make me for a million bucks. But, being a Bridges fan, I did see the remake, and loved it. He (Bridges) was funny, gross and disagreeable. The young girl who played Mattie, Hailee Steinfeld, was perfectly cast. Plus it has Matt Damon, Josh Brolin and Barry Pepper in the cast. All excellent. Art direction totally on point (one of my favorite aspects of a film). At the time it was out, I was the lead graphic designer at a motorcycle magazine and every year we did a "yearbook" to acknowledge staff and writers, and I did the whole thing as an homage. That was a total hoot.
The Coen Brothers have made some movies that I didn't care for, but when they succeed it is very great film making. They had me at Blood Simple. Boom. The Ladykillers, Burn After Reading and even their most recent Inside Llewyn Davis (which got decent reviews) weren't my cup of tea. Yet the good ones are are unlike anything else. Impeccably made. No Country for Old Men was chillingly good, have you seen that? Anton Chigurh (played by Javier Bardem) was one of the most evil characters ever committed to film (of course, it was based on Cormac McCarthy's excellent book, they didn't dream him up on their own. But still...)
Even with their great success, they have remained true to their own aesthetic, and I have to admire them for remaining independent, true auteurs and producing one hell of a legacy. Honestly, I don't see where they have sold out.
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