I'm a big fan of the Ethan and Joel Coen. Huge fan. It's no surprise that The Big Lebowski and O Brother, Where Art Thou? are way up there on my favorite films of all-time. I'm not ready to put it up there with those two films because I've only seen it once and it usually takes a few viewings of a Coen Brothers film for me to truly appreciate their work, but No Country for Old Men is a fantastic piece of work - in my opinion.We finally made the time to watch it last night after about three weeks of putting it off. We had it shipped to us from NetFlix in the middle of last month, but we always put if off for some reason or another. Now...I wanna watch it again.
Filled with great characters (performed by great actors), the film is so filled with nuance and intelligence that it almost manages to make you feel like you are reading a really good novel half-way through your viewing of it. It certainly didn't hold to the conventions of a typical Hollywood movie. If you are expecting things to be wrapped up in a tidy little package by the time the film is over, then No Country for Old Men is probably not for you.
But you should watch it anyway. Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin are enough reason alone to watch it. These three leads, while never sharing any screen time, captivate you with their quiet, often introspective performances.
This film, like all of my favorite films, leaves you with almost as many questions as it does answers. It leaves you wanting more. And that's all I really want out of a movie.
Well, that and some gratuitous boob shots.
PS - This was my first post using Blogger's new "scheduled post" feature. It allows you to schedule the posting of a, um, post for some time in the future like so many other bloggy sites out there already. Don't know if I'm going to use it often, but maybe. I tend not to have more than one post written and ready to go at any given time. But it's nice to have the option. Keep going Blogger...you still have lots to fix. Like the stupid way you add pictures to the text editor where it screws up the spacing on the rest of your post. I fucking hate that!
16 comments:
Boob shots are always important.
I thought it was really well-acted too. Amazing acting.
I didn't need everything tied up with a bow but I could have used a few of the left-out plot points that were apparently in the book.
I didn't mind the ending so much but I would have prefered they ended it one scene earlier. That was the last real scene anyway.
I don't know. I probably need to see it again in a year or two.
I thought the last scene (without going into details) was truly important to the film in general and the character it involved. It explained a lot about his life and generally tied things up nicely for me, at least.
First of all the "scheduled post thing" - I've been using it through http://draft.blogger for a bit now and I love it! I'm glad I don't have to switch site anymore to use it.
Second of all, I HATED THAT MOVIE! I think it just wasn't my type of movie. Generally I like what the Coen brothers do but Javier Bardem's character really stressed me out. And I didn't really understand the point of Woody Harrelson's character or Tommy Lee Jones' character for that matter. I didn't make it to the end of the movie and maybe I need to watch it again, but JRK said nothing was wrapped up. I need things to be wrapped up.
Paige - Like a lot of Coen Brother films, this one may need to be watched more than once to be fully appreciated. I actually think it did "wrap things up" in a way that mades sense for a situation that made no sense. If that makes any sense at all. There is an interesting backstory to Woody's character that was left out of the movie, and Tommy Lee's character...well, in a way I think he is what the movie was all about. I'm not sayin' it is for everybody, but I really enjoyed it.
I like your new blue look!
I'd heard it was good from someone and that it wasn't what you would expect from someone else. So not having heard really anything else about it or seeing a preview we rented it and watched it. After Javier Bardem's character shoots the first guy I was totally like I wonder if Earl reviewed this on Movie Grenade... I guess they did they're job if it's bothering me this much to keep talking about it. Maybe in a few days I'll watch again. I'll stop blabbering now...
I loved the film. I heard some bad reviews before I went to see it. I went to see it anyway and I'm glad I did.
Like you said it's like reading a novel.
Fantastic film! xx
TK - very blue! ;)
Paige - You know, I hated The Big Lebowski the 1st time I saw it. Same with Fargo. It wasn't until years later that I came to love them. It's an odd relationship I have with the Coens.
Elise - I really hadn't seen any really bad reviews. But glad you liked it.
As I stated before (a Long Time A Go In A Galaxy Far, Far Away), this was a good film, but I have a hard time beleiving it won best picture. It does not fit the 'regular' Hollywood mold of obvious plot lines and happy endings. The Coen Brothers have a certain knack for making movies that are just on this side of surreal. They are like watching one of my dreams (I really do have dreams like these, but they usually don't involve murder.)
There were some points in this film that didn't make a lot of sense, but I if I went back and watched it several more times, I bet they would. But instead, I will just flip a coin and call it.....call it....Friend-o.....
I LOVE that movie. I saw it in the theater and spent the entire movie sitting on the edge of my seat with my heart pounding. It was THAT intense. I thought the ending was great. Just like life - nothing gets tied up in a pretty little package with a nice bow. However, a lot of the audience at the showing I attended booed at the end. Morons. I hate other people.
Lotus - surreal is a perfect way to describe their films. It's like an acid-wsshed version of America.
Bobgirrl - I can see people booing. STUPID PEOPLE!
I loved it too. As I love all the Coens films. I seriously couldn't fault it at all. But then I blogged about my excitement on hearing about the Javier Bardem/ Coen Bros. collaboration when it first started filming cos it seemed like such a crazy yet inspired hook up to me, ie. I was always gonna love it. Glad you loved it too!
Artful Kisser - plus there is that thing you have for Bardem, if I remember correctly.
This is one of my favorite movies of all time. I love its beauty and violence.
I bought the book after seeing the movie but haven't read it yet.
Poppy - It's a strange thing to say, but yeah...I love it's beauty and violence as well.
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