After skipping my movie last night – Super Bowl Sunday, when something more important was on TV – tonight I watched the 1969 version of True Grit, starring John Wayne as, pretty much, John Wayne. While much of the acting was excellent, especially by Kim Darby, who played the teenage girl/avenger, the Duke was awesomely hammy, essentially playing a caricature of the image of John Wayne, Western Hero), which somehow actually advanced the wonderfully involved plot. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. The only thing that put me off a bit was the “G” rating, which seemed to belie the incredible amount of violence in the movie. The Wild West (or at least what was supposed to be Oklahoma) was a tidy place but one full of men shootin’ men.