127 Hours, True Grit, The Fighter, The Adjustment Bureau: June DVD & Blu-ray Round Up

June 6th

127 Hours was the movie Danny Boyle made after his surprise success with Slumdog Millionaire meant that he had the freedom to do as he pleased. An unusual choice perhaps, Boyle didn't take the studio's dollar and make the overblown epic of his dreams (it's hard to truly believe Boyle has such dreams), instead he decided to film the unfilmable true-story of Aron Ralston, a rather arrogant and unlikeable rock climber, forced to reassess his whole attitude to life when a climbing accident leaves him pinned under a boulder for the titular 127 hours.

127 Hours is an uncomfortable watch, it is meant to be. The crucial scene, which most will probably know of, but which I won't give away for those who don't, is near-unbearable, and will have even hardened horror fans squirming in their seats. But helmed by a filmmaker at the top at the very top of his game, and featuring a tour-de-force performance from James Franco as Ralston, this the film is far more than a single gruesome set piece, addressing themes of hubris, hope and redemption.

Carter Burwell - True Grit OST

Carter Burwell's True Grit is the soundtrack to the Coen Brothers' latest film of the same name, depending how you look at it either a remake of the 1969 John Wayne western, or an adaptation of Charles Portis' original novel.

The film follows the story of Mattie Ross, who sets out to avenge the murder of her father, a remarkable mission for a 14 year-old girl and a crotchety one-eyed US Marshal (Geoff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn)to embark on .

Arguing that only the church could give a 14 year-old girl the sheer temerity to confront a bunch of armed outlaws, Burwell decided he must look to 19th-century protestant hymns to find inspiration for his original score, "the songs Mattie would sing if she had time for such frivolity". The result is a beautifully paced melodic score that starts out with simple church piano pieces, and builds to fuller, fleshed out orchestral pieces as the story reaches its conclusion.