True Grit

Just watched the original John Wayne version of True Grit.  One of these days I should read the book.  The 2010 Cohen brothers film was rad as fuck, I saw it in theatres and I've watched it a few times since then.  I should buy the DVD one of these days, instead of just watching the pirated version.

I guess I could go into some sort of film-review compare-the-versions deal, but honestly the Nostalgia Critic already did that and he's the professional (or was) so go watch that instead.

I just wanted to share an observation I made about the end of the two films.  Spoilers!  In the remake, the one I saw first, it ends with a flash-forward where Mattie is all grown up as a one-armed spinster lady, and when she finds out that Rooster has died she has his corpse dug up from where it was and interred in her family plot.  Very touching and poignant.  In the original film (and possibly the original book?  I really gotta read it) this is not in the future.  It's right after the whole catch-Tom-Chaney adventure, where Rooster brings Mattie home and she's all "This is what I wanted to show you!" and shows him her family's little graveyard.  And is all, "This is my dad's grave, Mom will go next to him, that's where my sister and her family will be buried, this is where my brother and her family will be buried.  I'm gonna be buried right here when I die, and when you die I'd like you to be buried here too!"

Which is just, like, sweet, I guess?  It was olden times so I guess nobody had much else to do but sit around and plan their death, since they didn't have the internet or anything fun to do.  But I can't get over how the version where one of the characters is actually dead is somehow less morbid than the one where they both live.  Like, what is up with that.

Notes on Jem

I'm writing a recap/review thing for the first episode of Jem, and something occurred to me.  The Misfits are the "bad" group, and Jem and the Holograms are the "good" group.  So the Misfits embody all the negative traits, like greed, anger, arrogance, etc.  And Jem and the Holograms embody the virtues: honesty, friendship, kindness, charity, etc.

So what's with the names?  How come it isn't "The Holograms" and "Pizzazz and the Misfits"?  Pizzazz is both the indisputable leader of the Misfits and one of the most arrogant, self-centred people on the show.  But Jem is the one that feels the need to distinguish herself as the Leader And Most Important Person in the name of the band, above her friends and sister.

So is Jem/Jerrica secretly a bitch?  I mean, hints of it show up all through the series, like the continued lie to her boyfriend and being a total snob when it comes to the Misfits (she called them and the music they sing trash the first time she sees them, it's no wonder they hate her so much).  Is it really so important to her that she be the most famous and identifiable member of her band?

LOOK AT MEEEEEE