Jeff Bridges reveals his "True Grit"

By Zorianna Kit

LOS ANGELES | Tue Dec 21, 2010 1:18am EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Nearly a year after his Oscar win for best actor, Jeff Bridges has gained awards buzz again, teaming up with his "The Big Lebowski" directors, Joel and Ethan Coen, in "True Grit."

The film, due out in theaters on Wednesday, shows off Bridges' acting chops in the role of drunken U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn in the post-Civil War era Western, a 180-degree turn from his recent role as a tech-whiz trapped in a computer grid of his own making in the futuristic "Tron: Legacy."

"True Grit," first adapted in a 1969 film that won John Wayne an Oscar as Cogburn, is based on Charles Portis' novel about a 14-year-old girl (newcomer Hailee Steinfeld) who teams with Cogburn and a Texas ranger (Matt Damon) to avenge her father's death. Bridges sat down with Reuters to talk about the film and how his career has changed since his Oscar win.

Q: The book was already made into a 1969 film. Weren't you wondering why the Coen brothers wanted to make this?

A: "I was curious. But they said, 'We aren't remaking the movie, we are making a movie of the book 'True Grit' by Charles Portis. Have you ever read it?' And I hadn't, so I did. I could see why they wanted to make this movie. The book is wonderful and it reads just like a Coen Brothers script."

Q: How did you create a character different to John Wayne?

A: "I don't know how, but his portrayal is not something I would refer to as I'm studying my lines. I took it as a totally fresh thing. But whether subliminally something leaked in, I don't know."

Q: Your character is a pretty good gun slinger. Was that you doing the shooting, or was there a stunt person?

A: "I don't really mess with guns too much outside of the movies, but yeah, that was really me shooting in the film. But whether I hit the target or not -- that was some movie magic."

Q: You spent pretty much the entire movie on a horse. Do you ride?

A: "I love riding. To be communicating like that with another species -- it's a wonderful team that you develop."

Q: You won your first Oscar in February for playing alcoholic singer Bad Blake in "Crazy Heart." How has your career changed since then?

A: "I thought maybe I'd get a big flood of wonderful scripts but that hasn't happened for some reason. But I've gotten into my music a lot, and I think that's a direct result of 'Crazy Heart.' I've just cut the basic tracks for an album with T-Bone Burnett (who wrote "The Weary Kind" from 'Crazy Heart'). It should be out next year on Blue Note Records."

Q: You come from an acting family. Was it your destiny to follow your father Lloyd and brother Beau into acting?

A: "My dad was very proactive about all his kids going into the movies. Not for any vicarious reasons or anything. He just loved it so much he wanted to share the joy."

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James Franco "surprised" to be Oscar co-host

NEW YORK | Mon Dec 20, 2010 1:41pm EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - James Franco, who barely hit Hollywood's A-list of actors before landing the coveted job of co-hosting the upcoming Oscars, said in an interview he was just as surprised as anybody that he was offered the job.

The 32-year-old actor told Entertainment Weekly magazine in an interview published on Monday that he first said "no" when Oscar producer Bruce Cohen asked him to co-host with Anne Hathaway when the top movie honors are given out February 27.

"I was very, very surprised, and my initial reaction was 'No,'" Franco said in the interview. "Then I thought about it and I thought, well, why not? Because I'll look bad? Well, I don't care."

Hesitation from his representatives and others who thought it was a bad idea because Franco is tipped for a possible best actor nomination for his "127 Hours" spurred him on even more.

"That always sparks something in me. So I said, 'Yes, of course!' Because that reaction that they have is based on conventional wisdom of what makes a good career. And that can be boring, really boring," he told the publication.

Franco first gained wide recognition playing a villain in "Spider-Man 3" before receiving a Golden Globe best actor nomination for "Pineapple Express" in 2008 and acclaim in the same year playing the boyfriend of Sean Penn's character, Harvey Milk, in "Milk."

(editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

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Oscar contenders jockey for position

By Gregg Kilday

Mon Dec 20, 2010 1:25am EST

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - And they're off. And it's The King's Speech in the lead. No, wait, it's The Social Network by a nose. Hold on, The Fighter is coming up fast on the inside track.

As the 2010 awards race turns into the backstretch -- the fall film festivals have come and gone, Golden Globe, Critics' Choice and SAG nominations have been unveiled, critics groups have begun to weigh in -- none of the contenders has broken from the pack. At the moment, there's some genuine suspense.

That could change by mid-January, with the Critics' Choice awards slotted for January 14 and the Globes two days later. Oscar nominations will be unveiled on January 25, and the winners announced February 27.

"You could make the case right now that there is a split developing between King's Speech and Social Network," awards consultant Tony Angelotti says. "King's Speech is more the actors' piece, while Social Network has been sold on the basis of its writer, Aaron Sorkin, and director, David Fincher."

From the moment the very British "Speech" debuted at the Telluride (Colo.) Film Festival to a standing ovation in early September, the drama has been a crowd-pleaser. The Weinstein Co. took it a few days later to the Toronto International Film Festival, where the reaction was equally rapturous -- the premiere audience even sang "Happy Birthday" to 50-year-old star Colin Firth. The film ended up with the festival's People's Choice Award.

At the same time, Sony -- with a series of strategic screenings designed to excite awards bloggers -- was readying "Social Network," which made its own auspicious debut as the tony opening-night film at the New York Film Festival. Even before the curtain went up, Film Comment critic Scott Foundas, a member of the festival's selection committee, proclaimed the movie "a splendid entertainment from a master storyteller."

Ever since, most critics have been falling all over themselves to find the right superlatives to praise the movie. While "Speech" eked out one more Globe nomination than did Fincher's movie, critics groups from New York to Los Angeles rushed to endorse "Social Network" as best picture.

Meanwhile, David O. Russell's "The Fighter" was marking time. Paramount did not enter it into the fall festival sweepstakes while awaiting a December launch. But even though the movie was one of the last contestants to enter the ring, it scored six Globe noms, tying "Social Network," and then built momentum when it tied "King's Speech" for SAG Award noms -- both pictures got four.

But though the trio of movies now appear bunched tightly near the top of the leader board, there's plenty of other action this awards season.

Natalie Portman has proved another critical darling for her turn -- on pointe, no less -- as a neurotic ballerina in Fox Searchlight's "Black Swan," which is thrillingly baroque. The film leads the Critics' Choice pack with 12 nominations, one ahead of "The King's Speech" and "True Grit."

At the opposite end of the spectrum, the backwoods drama "Winter's Bone," which first made an appearance at the Sundance Film Festival in January, is bracingly austere, and its lead actress, Jennifer Lawrence, also has been showered with praise. With seven nominations, "Bone" will be the film to beat at Film Independent's Spirit Awards on Oscar eve.

There also are the wild cards: "Toy Story 3" and the thriller "Inception" not only won over critics but dominated the summer box office. "Blue Valentine" got Globes love but no SAG attention. "True Grit," ignored by the Globes, rallied back with the help of the SAG voters.

With so many factors in play, it's far too early to call the race.

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"Tron" leads weak pack of newcomers at box office

LOS ANGELES | Sun Dec 19, 2010 11:51am EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Tron: Legacy," a costly 3D sci-fi movie that Walt Disney Co has promoted for more than three years, took the top spot at the North American box office, but with a disappointing weekend haul of $43.6 million, according to estimates issued by the company on Sunday.

Industry observers had been expecting a three-day start in the $50 million range. As openings go this year, the massively hyped sequel to an obscure 1982 movie failed to crack the top-10, and observers have said it will need to rely on strong overseas business to break even.

According to reports, the effects-laden update cost $170 million to make, and more than $100 million to market worldwide. Disney, despite being a public company, is the only studio that refuses to divulge budgets. A studio executive was not immediately available for comment.

Critics trashed the film, which has occupied the attention of two Disney studio regimes in recent years. Jeff Bridges returns to the film as a videogame developer trapped in a virtual environment called the Grid. It marks the feature directing debut of commercials veteran Joseph Kosinski.

The studio, whose live-action pictures are overshadowed by the hit cartoons from its Pixar division, is looking to launch a franchise to take over from its popular "Pirates of the Caribbean" series. Just as the buccaneer theme-park attraction seemed an unlikely basis for a film series, so does "Tron," which appealed only to boys. This time, the studio aimed the film at men and women of all ages.

Disney has been offering tantalizing glimpses to movie fans at the annual Comic-Con convention since 2008, and has raised the heat in recent months with cross-marketing efforts across its theme parks, consumer-products and television wings.

Also new was "Yogi Bear," a live-action/animated update of the old television cartoon. It came in at No. 2 with $16.7 million, a few million dollars short of the expectations of its studio, Warner Bros. But the Time Warner Inc unit said it hoped the Christmas holiday would boost business among the film's core family audience.

Meanwhile, the weekend's other big new release, "How Do You Know," a comedy featuring a high-priced lineup headed by Jack Nicholson and Reese Witherspoon, was a major flop. It earned $7.6 million, falling short of modest expectations. The ranking was not immediately available. The film was released by Columbia Pictures, a unit of Sony Corp.

(Reporting by Dean Goodman; Editing by Vicki Allen)

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"Larry King Live" draws 2.2 million for last show

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