No Country for Old Men

celeb_2006 · November 9th, 2007, 07:51 PM

No Country For Old Men

There's tremendous critical buzz for this latest release from the Coen brothers, adapted from the novel by Cormac Mccarthy. It's in limited release now but I was able to see it a nearby theater.

I will say that the scenes with Josh Brolin and Javier Badeem (kick ass performance), where they played games of cat and mouse in motel rooms (amongst others), were some of THE most intense, heart stopping, and suspenseful things I have ever seen at the movies. In fact, all scenes with Josh Brolin in them were nail biters I was on the edge of my seat. Ditto with Javier Badeem's memorable hitman character. What didn't work as well for me were the scenes with Tommy Lee Jones ruminating about the state of affairs and other philosophical things. It kind of ruined the pacing and flow of the movie. Perhaps if I see it again I'll appreciate the intricacies of his scenes.

As a crime thriller movie, the main story of a man finding cash and trying to get away with it, one of the best ever.

sputnik · November 10th, 2007, 12:15 PM

i can't wait! i've been jonesing for a really good coen brothers movie for a long time.

nwgirl · November 10th, 2007, 02:37 PM

Ooooh, that looks gooooooooooooddddddddd!

KristiB · November 11th, 2007, 08:36 AM

Wow. I was a stressball through much of the film. I almost want to see it a second time so I don't sit there with my fingers plugging my ears, fearful about what is about to happen.

Javier Bardem was so good as the evil Anton Chigurh. Scary good. Fucked up good. I don't know whether to say WOW or go hide under my blanket until I can get his image out of my mind.

The film was really well done. It was very quiet, which seems strange when you are thinking of a film in this genre. But, they didn't really use any music in the film, and when they cut to the credits at the end, it's quite jarring. (That doesn't give any of the plot away...)

celeb_2006 · November 11th, 2007, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KristiB

Wow. I was a stressball through much of the film. I almost want to see it a second time so I don't sit there with my fingers plugging my ears, fearful about what is about to happen.

Javier Bardem was so good as the evil Anton Chigurh. Scary good. Fucked up good. I don't know whether to say WOW or go hide under my blanket until I can get his image out of my mind.

The film was really well done. It was very quiet, which seems strange when you are thinking of a film in this genre. But, they didn't really use any music in the film, and when they cut to the credits at the end, it's quite jarring. (That doesn't give any of the plot away...)

That's an excellent point that I noticed also, they did not overdo the music and soundtrack. Any other movie would have layed on the background music heavily during the suspenseful parts, the quiet only further added to the tension. Some of the scenery was amazing too, especially towards the beginning with Josh Brolin's character hunting and whatnot, the way you see the whole countryside it was amazing. I'll definitely see it again just for the Tommie Lee Jones parts.

nwgirl · November 26th, 2007, 10:01 AM

Um.......OK..........WTF was up with the ending?

Everyone in the theater was like "WTH?" They had technical problems so they had to restart the movie a couple times, and at the end, I said "I wonder if they skipped over part of the ending" cause it sucked ass! Great fucking movie up to that point. I hate that shit!

Edited to add: This is exactly what I was talking about in the August Rush thread. If it's critically acclaimed, I end up not being satisfied.

Thalia · November 26th, 2007, 11:03 PM

I loved this movie, particularly because the ending didn't conform to one's expectations of the action-thriller genre. I think it was supposed to be a meditation on the fact that the new generation's way of doing things has completely superceded the 'honour' and ideals of the old generation, rendering the "old men" (like Tommy Lee Jones) of the title completely unable to function in the new order. It was a Western without heroes - I love the way the Coens bend genres!
BTW, Javier Bardem rules. I'm now using the term "friendo" as part of my everyday vocabulary.

TonjaLasagna · December 5th, 2007, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thalia

I loved this movie, particularly because the ending didn't conform to one's expectations of the action-thriller genre.

I love the way the Coens bend genres!

Javier Bardem rules. I'm now using the term "friendo" as part of my everyday vocabulary.

Yes!
Yes!
Yes!

Bardem's killer, Anton Chigurh, reminds me of Tony Hopkins Hannibal Lector in that he'll kill you or let you live according to his own skewed rules and there’s an odd sense of honor in there somewhere.....or maybe it's just me and my attraction to amusing, unemotional, soft-spoken psychotics.

Beeyotch · December 6th, 2007, 01:39 PM

God I didn't like this movie and I agree it has something to do with how the critical acclaim hikes up your expectations. I also agree that the performances themselves were excellent, even if I didn't like the movie as a whole.

I guess I don't like movies with "plots" that are merely observational. If you ask me, I wouldn't even say there was a full plot here because that was too abrupt an ending to really be an ending. My initial reaction, from another thread:

Quote:

Meh. The ending was so anti-climactic the entire theater was like WTF and some people started booing and laughing.

I will say that Javier Bardem plays a psychopathic killer way too convincingly. If I ever see him I'm taking off running in the other direction. I don't care if you're DeNiro, Pacino, Nicholson--nobody can act that well.

Tommy Lee Jones did well with the material that was there (excellent job of looking haggard and sagely life-worn as a Bumfuck Nowhere, Texas sheriff), and so did Woody Harrelson, even if he hardly got any screen time.

It was a good movie, I just found the subject matter particularly depressing and disheartening. Too realistic a reminder of how there are psycho's out there and the ugly nature of money, drug deals gone wrong, etc. There was very little you could take away from it, or maybe very little I wanted to take away from it that I didn't already know: avoid psychopathic killers with blank stares and don't expect to get away with $2 million from the bloody scene of a heroin deal gone wrong.

eta: I think I would have liked an ending where Chigurh dies in that intersection near the end. That would have been in keeping with the "senseless, bad, fucked up shit happens" theme and it gives me a tiny sense of satisfaction that it happened to the bad guy too. Anything but the ending it had, god that sucked so bad, it made me want to smack both Coen brothers and demand an explanation for that shit.

ang · December 6th, 2007, 01:51 PM

i can't wait to see this...i lurvvvve the coen brothers movies.

TonjaLasagna · February 24th, 2008, 10:59 PM

Best f*cking Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay - HURRAH! I'm so happy. My boy Josh Brolin is da bomb!!!!!!