The 1969 True Grit was certainly gritty enough in its plot and action, though I wouldn't care to measure it against Bonnie & Clyde. It's in what looks in retrospect - though not at the time - as a certain visual glossiness that marks True Grit against more recent movies. I wouldn't care to measure it against Bonnie & Clyde in that respect either. Butch Cassidy is certainly as plot-gritty as True Grit, and less visually glossy. (I haven't seen The Wild Bunch.
Where Butch looks old-fashioned now is in its pacing. Much of it is sluggish - again, it certainly didn't seem that way at the time - and this is where movie (and TV) making has vastly improved.
I'd like to say more about your comment on MTV editing, because I think there's two things going on here: a faster ability of the audience to pick things up, which is good, and impatience and squirminess on their part, which is not so good. The ability to watch things over again on VCR/DVD/Tivo/whatever has definitely assisted the former.
What I find most obviously crude in old movies and TV now (though the old True Grit was not particularly bad in this) is the use of establishing shots. The art of the establishing shot has advanced so far in the last 30-40 years, it's astonishing. I can't watch '60s detective TV shows any more: they seem to be nothing but an endless succession of the detective getting into his car, getting out of his car, walking from his car, walking to his car ...
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Date: 2011-01-05 11:21 pm (UTC)Where Butch looks old-fashioned now is in its pacing. Much of it is sluggish - again, it certainly didn't seem that way at the time - and this is where movie (and TV) making has vastly improved.
I'd like to say more about your comment on MTV editing, because I think there's two things going on here: a faster ability of the audience to pick things up, which is good, and impatience and squirminess on their part, which is not so good. The ability to watch things over again on VCR/DVD/Tivo/whatever has definitely assisted the former.
What I find most obviously crude in old movies and TV now (though the old True Grit was not particularly bad in this) is the use of establishing shots. The art of the establishing shot has advanced so far in the last 30-40 years, it's astonishing. I can't watch '60s detective TV shows any more: they seem to be nothing but an endless succession of the detective getting into his car, getting out of his car, walking from his car, walking to his car ...