Random Snap: Jeff Bridges

Director Joel Coen with cinematographer Roger Deakins on location filming True Grit. Photo by Jeff Bridges.

In keeping with Oscar Weekend, check out Jeff Bridges' behind-the-scenes panoramic photos of the making of True Grit.

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Oh, and an urban myth alert: you might hear yet again this weekend the old canard about how "three billion" people watch the Oscar broadcast. No such thing—that was merely one wag's long-ago estimate of the total population of all the countries where the Academy Awards are broadcast. Lots of people watch the Oscars, but it's never been among the top most-viewed shows. Major sporting events hold most of the records (the Packers' recent Super Bowl win is #1 in U.S. history, and seven others in the U.S. Top Ten are Super Bowls). Complicating the issue is that no one tracks worldwide viewing—it's only done country-by-country, and only in some countries. In the U.S., the M*A*S*H finale—which unfortunately wasn't very good—ranks highly, and in the U.K., Princess Diana's funeral drew a large viewership. The best guesses put the global TV audiences for the Oscars at 40 to 60 million. The true number is probably nearer the low end of that range, and count people who watch only part of the broadcast (nearly everyone—most of whom will be rooting for one of the subset of films they happen to have seen. I saw The King's Speech yesterday, and will definitely be rooting for that).

Personally, I think there should be a Bizarro Oscars where they rate and give awards for movies that came out five or ten years ago. Of course, that would have little commercial value to the studios (or would it, now that DVD and streaming video are so big?), but it takes a little perspective to know what's good. Oscar often gets it wrong, chiefly because they're trying to appraise the merit of films that are too new. (Will anyone be watching Black Swan ten years from now?)

Which means that right now we'd be debating the merits of these films. (Ah, well, maybe it's not such a good idea after all...although The Man Who Wasn't There, which I was talking about just yesterday, happens to have come out in 2001.)

Mike
(Thanks to Marty)

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Original contents copyright 2011 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.

Comments

[Ken White]

I liked The Kings Speech so much I saw it twice. The second time my wife went with me and she slept through the whole thing. A split decision on that one.

The Oscar telecast has devolved into an overgrown episode of Entertainment Tonight. It is just an hours long commercial full of celebrity endorsements with enthusiastic common folk as the shills. I'll catch the highlights the morning after the blessing.

[Robert L.]

Wow. 2001 was a really good year for movies. Erg. Kinda depressed now, looking at the last few year's harvest.

[Hugh Alison]

Top Gear (BBC Car programme) is estimated to have 350 million viewers worldwide...

Shown almost every country except the US.

[Ken Tanaka]

Glad to see that you're finding new enjoyment of motion pictures, Mike.

Personally, although I love films, and have been a collector of them since they were first available to collect, my interest in the Oscars ceased nearly 20 years ago. Too much silliness and internal politics.

As an aside, thanks most for the tip towards Jeff Bridges's photos! I've long thought that a story, or even a series, on celebrity photographers would make good reading. I have books of several of them (George Patton, Sammy Davis, Jr., Yul Brynner, et.al.) and it's a subject that I think offers great interest.

[hugh crawford]

Jeff Bridges takes about as good a Widelux photo as anyone does, I love his stuff. His book "Pictures by Jeff Bridges" is one of my favorites. It kills the "celebrity movie stars can't tale pictures" theory dead dead dead.

Sammy Davis Junior "Photo by Sammy Davis, Jr." and Denis Hopper ( holy crap , check out those prices ! ) weren't bad photographers either.

[Ben]

Slim pickins back in '01... Clearly the best film was animated. I'm actually really glad that Toy Story 3 got nominated for best picture this year, even if it won't, and probably shouldn't, win.

Here's hoping an animated film will win sometime, though the boat was clearly missed in '08 with Wall-E, a far better film than any of the best picture nominations that year. Oh well... That's the oscars for you. I much prefer Jeff Bridge's widelux...

[hugh crawford]

"can't tale pictures" was meant to be "can't take pictures" , but of course there's a lot o narrative in those panos , so maybe he IS tale-ing pictures.

[Mike Johnston]

"Top Gear (BBC Car programme) is estimated to have 350 million viewers worldwide... Shown almost every country except the US."

Hugh,
And I watch it faithfully in the U.S. I subscribe through iTunes ($17.99 for the whole season), and watch every episode as soon as it's delivered.

Mike

[Craig]

I just got a chance to see "Crazy Heart" (I know - 2009 - I am WAY behind), and Bridges blew me away. Now I am anxious to see the new "Grit", especially with all that has been said about it.

Cw.

[Timothy]

I feel that something like The King's Speech is way more likely to be forgotten in 10 years than Black Swan. Partly because Black Swan should take its place in Darren Aronofsky's oeuvre by then, and partly because I haven't heard anyone talk about Shakespeare in Love in a really long time.

[Eric Rose]

The Dude abides.

[Mark Erickson]

In this digital age it is nice to see that Jeff Bridges hasn't abandoned his Widelux and film (or is it "tape" now?). They're nifty cameras and he does really nice work with them.

[Bob Dales]

IIIIIIIIIIIIII don'''''''''''''t cccccccccare whowhowhowho wwwwwwwwwwwwins anything.

There are Mardi Gras parades to see, you see.
And pix to take.

bd
NOLA

[RobG]

You know, I always wanted to be a famous and successful actor, just so that when The Academy came knocking on my door, I could tell them to stick their little statue of Uncle Oscar where the sun don't shine. The Oscars have NEVER been about how good something is, much much more about how well the director, producer, studio, stars etc can make kissy-face with the head honchos at The Academy. (Yeah, I'm bein' polite...)

So for me, I could care less about the whole dang shootin' match; I prefer to make my own judgements about a movie's worth.

BTW, and sorry to do this to you, kids - there ain't no Santa and the Easter Bunny isn't real either. ;)

[Mike Johnston]

Nobody in here but us curmudgeons.

Mike

[Alex Vesey]

Just had a look at Jeff Bridges' site. The handwritten format take a bit to get used to, yet it is refreshing. He could have gone the other direction with a "high-gloss" look with lots of Flash, etc., but he took another direction. It certainly has a individual feel to it.

[Albano]

Amazing, Mike. When I was viewing True Grit, I remembered Bridge's mania of shooting in each movie he's in, so it's so nice to confirm he is still doing it.

[Robin Dreyer]

Top Gear is also available if you have BBC America on your TV plan. I don't have a TV plan at all, but my son gets BBC America and introduced us to this show, which is so entertaining that I like to watch it even though I barely care about cars. Too bad my Dad didn't live long enough, however, as there was hardly anything he loved as much as he loved cars and the British.

[Jordan]

I believe that here in Canada, the viewership record goes to the 2010 Olympic hockey final. About 50% of the national population watched at least part of that game.

[Ross Chambers]

I guess I've lost the plot altogether. In the pre Oscars week I bought DVDs of "Pandora's Box" (GW Pabst, Louise Brooks (!)) 1929 and "The Third Man" (Carol Reed, Joseph Cotten & Orson Welles) 1949.

I'm so pleased that DVD technology has given us back all these timeless great films.

The monochrome cinematography alone of "The Third Man" is at the peak of the art.

Ross

[Matt P]

The (free) iPad app of Bridges's True Grit photos is fantastic. I expect that it won't be too long before anyone will be able to create self-contained photo book apps like it, which should be interesting.

[Ed Kirkpatrick]

As for the Oscars, I watch for the dresses... :)

[Koen Lageveen]

Wow, Bridges is actually pretty good. Besides the behind the scenes snaps (always nice), there are some really original gems in there. Good to see a celeb-with-an-expensive-camera make some genuinely interesting work!

[Jon Porter]

My fondest "Oscar memory" was a few years ago when I snagged a mint Nikon FE2 on eBay for a pittance, probably because the auction ended at the height of the Academy Awards broadcast.

Jeff's photos are excellent, but Dennis Hopper is still my favorite celebrity photographer.

[Ed]

Dennis Hopper was a photographer who financed his carreer by some acting :-). Although he could combine both nicely as he did in Apocalipse Now. No props needed their! Jeff Bridges I don't know but I met Dennis at a show of his pictures somewhere in Germany. We exchanged a few words, as I told him I liked the pictures and he was pleased to hear that and played them down. A he played the vilain in Speed I had a hard time believing him no matter how good he acted.

Greetings, Ed

[Don Jagoe]

The True Grit portfolio was terrific. Thanks!

[Nicolas]

Mike :
Nobody in here but us curmudgeons.

So why couldn't we old curmudgeons of (almost) anywhere round the world vote for 2001 Best Movie?

My vote :
1 Mulholland Drive
2 Donnie Darko
3 Shrek
And of course
0 Sen To Chihiro No Kamikakushi