Tear A Hole in Hollywood
Added 11/15/2009
There are 723 (or so) other reviews; thus I won't bore you with another generalized plot summary.
It's a profound film; not only because of what it has in it, or the way the plot shifts, but in its presentation. In its presentation, it tears a divide between truly remarkable films and standard hollywood action flicks. It does so by showing how amazing a film can be WITHOUT the sensationalism, overkill, and cliche. This Hollywood Action sensory overload has made many US films unable to tell a decent, unpredictable story; wading in a kiddie pool of mediocrity.
It's realistic. Yes, it is a violent film, however, the directors knew well enough that once the nature of the main violent character is exposed, then the rest is overkill. As a result, about four of Chigurh's murders are implied, but cut out of the scenes. I was impressed with the ingenuity of the two main characters -- in their weaponry, in their creative survival skills, and being able to improvise themselves into and out of situations. The wounds they received were realistic, and Chigurh's self-treatment of a gunshot wound to the leg further cemented his position as a knowledgable badass. But more importantly, that the directors show this treatment helps in furthering the viewer's understanding of the characters, and their ruthless ambition.
Cinematography is exceptional. Natural lighting is used throughout, and the situational atmospherics are never convenient coincidences that benefit the position of any one character. If anything, they speak more so to the true difficulties one would need to improvise themselves through, since many natural unanticipated factors become part of the plot. Additionally, some of the best parts of the movie are the (seemingly) very simply dialogue sections, that also help you identify with characters.
One of the things that made the end of "One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest" so remarkable is the complete silence at the end of the film. After the suffocation of Nicholson's character by the native American, the native escapes the hospital and there is no music to tell you how to feel or interpret that outcome. No Country is very similar, in that the only music I remember hearing was a mariachi band (who were actually in the film performing), or radios playing as part of the setting. I like that. I like that the directors aren't figuring ways to intensify scenes via sensory overkill. I like not having to try to decipher what a character is saying between overly-loud edgy metal guitar riffs or techno beats during a chase scene. I'm sick of having to turn the volume down, because the sound engineers figure that if the volume suddenly increases by 60 decibels, it will add to the excitement. And also, there's almost no yelling in the film. No yelling, no expletives. Not that I'm against it, but it sure is a refreshing opposition to all the flashy behavior, over-produced sound and video effects, which have become such a big part of the mainstream.
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this movie is so action packed and is an awesome movie. i love Tommy Lee Jones's performance in this movie. I Recommend it for everyone
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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violent and brilliant
Added 11/11/2009
I've never been able to stomach C. McCarthy' books- too terrifying, too much testosterone, most likely. This is one grand exception in which I would interject my sex (female) as a primary reason for disliking something. But I am and I do. So had I known the source of the plot, I would never have sat down to watch this. But I did, and inspite of the shaking and wincing and trips to the other room, it was brilliant. At some point I began to see Chigurh as Death and very much like Bergman's Death in the Seventh Seal, and then this movie began to unfold likewise. Chess or coin toss, Death is occassionally moved to allow a sense of chance, though most likely because in the end, it doesn't matter. The Seventh Seal makes sense of otherwise faulty scenes, eg., what is the purpose of Woody Harrelson's Character? I found him to be like Skat up in Bergman's tree, asking if there aren't any exceptions to be made for actors, whjile Death persists in cutting the tree down. I was also reminded of the end of the Seventh Seal, when the wife of the knight remarks something like "Oh you and your visions and dreams." Chigurh seems to be the only one exempt from Death..... I just erased a bunch of plot comparisons because you don't really want me to tell you the whole movie, but Outside of plot comparisons, the filming has a similiar beauty about it - landscape shots are stunning in their starkness-and even when littered with bloated murdered bodies there is striking artistry. My favorite lines in the movie are from Moss' wife at the end, which is a perfect summary of the one thing every victim of a predator should know in their heart. There is little if any sound track (I don't remember any), adding to the minimalist drama of the film. Very interesting, but not really for the squeamish.
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Coen's Have Jumped the Shark, Awful!
Added 11/9/2009
I really think that without Big Studio guidance, or even the old Hays Office, Hollywood filmmaking has deteriorated badly. I'm all for freedom, but films are collaborative affairs with huge budgets and when the artiste runs the show, we get disaster after disaster. Now the Coen's have jumped the shark.
Look, I liked the Josh Brolin character, gritty, poor, but resourceful when he finds the money in the midst of a bad drug deal. But just because you're in old Indian country on the Mexican border, it doesn't mean that there's no human compassion out there. All the existential, it don't matter anymore crap, the cheap killing and philosophizing before execution, all of that has no artistic merit unless someone believes in something. I don't care if it's God or Marx, we can't relate unless it touches our heart.
Finally, okay, A Fist Full of Dollars kind of adventure, gritty and the good-guy shoots the bad guys, you won't get that here. The good-guys just retire and mumble something about the good old days when dudes get shot on a porch or something. Awful!
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An instant classic modern Western
Added 11/9/2009
This top-notch action thriller's greatest strength is the pulse-pounding scenes where a psychopathic killer named Chigurh (impressively portrayed by a chillingly calm Javier Bardem) forces ordinary people to look death in the face. There's plenty of violence, but lots of suspense as well, and some subtle intrigue as well as a not-so-subtle moral message.
The plot revolves around Nam-Vet Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) who finds a suitcase full of money at the site of a drug deal gone bad, and decides to risk taking it. Chigurh (a nasty little bug with a very troublesome bite) is trying to find him (and the money) and doesn't care who gets in his way. Meanwhile, a Texas lawman (Tommy Lee Jones) is trying to track down the source of all the bodies that are turning up. The story rambles here and there, and the directors seem uncertain where to finish the story, so the final minutes are totally unexpected and almost inexplicable, but this is clearly an instant classic of the modern West.
Much of the film is a series of chase sequences wherein the ingenious Moss tries to stay one step ahead of the relentless Chigurh, whose calm detachment makes him seem almost inhuman. Instead of a gun, Chigurh employs a device used to slaughter cattle - an indication of his true mindset. In an exchange with Moss' wife near the end of the film, he reveals an attachment to his own ideals which could almost be considered admirable. Unfortunately, his single-minded pursuit of those ideals leaves no room for compromise with the rest of the world, whose fate is of no concern to him.
After Moss' trusting mother-in-law unwittingly initiates a bloodbath, the somewhat cryptic ending takes us to Jones and a retired sheriff who discuss how much things have changed since their heyday, making the point that their beloved Texas is no country for old men like themselves. But given the amount of carnage that we're shown in the few minutes prior, it doesn't seem like it's much of a country for young men, either. Until all men start to see each other as human beings and not just cattle, the cycle of violence and despair can only continue.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Tear A Hole in Hollywood
Added 11/15/2009
There are 723 (or so) other reviews; thus I won't bore you with another generalized plot summary.
It's a profound film; not only because of what it has in it, or the way the plot shifts, but in its presentation. In its presentation, it tears a divide between truly remarkable films and standard hollywood action flicks. It does so by showing how amazing a film can be WITHOUT the sensationalism, overkill, and cliche. This Hollywood Action sensory overload has made many US films unable to tell a decent, unpredictable story; wading in a kiddie pool of mediocrity.
It's realistic. Yes, it is a violent film, however, the directors knew well enough that once the nature of the main violent character is exposed, then the rest is overkill. As a result, about four of Chigurh's murders are implied, but cut out of the scenes. I was impressed with the ingenuity of the two main characters -- in their weaponry, in their creative survival skills, and being able to improvise themselves into and out of situations. The wounds they received were realistic, and Chigurh's self-treatment of a gunshot wound to the leg further cemented his position as a knowledgable badass. But more importantly, that the directors show this treatment helps in furthering the viewer's understanding of the characters, and their ruthless ambition.
Cinematography is exceptional. Natural lighting is used throughout, and the situational atmospherics are never convenient coincidences that benefit the position of any one character. If anything, they speak more so to the true difficulties one would need to improvise themselves through, since many natural unanticipated factors become part of the plot. Additionally, some of the best parts of the movie are the (seemingly) very simply dialogue sections, that also help you identify with characters.
One of the things that made the end of "One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest" so remarkable is the complete silence at the end of the film. After the suffocation of Nicholson's character by the native American, the native escapes the hospital and there is no music to tell you how to feel or interpret that outcome. No Country is very similar, in that the only music I remember hearing was a mariachi band (who were actually in the film performing), or radios playing as part of the setting. I like that. I like that the directors aren't figuring ways to intensify scenes via sensory overkill. I like not having to try to decipher what a character is saying between overly-loud edgy metal guitar riffs or techno beats during a chase scene. I'm sick of having to turn the volume down, because the sound engineers figure that if the volume suddenly increases by 60 decibels, it will add to the excitement. And also, there's almost no yelling in the film. No yelling, no expletives. Not that I'm against it, but it sure is a refreshing opposition to all the flashy behavior, over-produced sound and video effects, which have become such a big part of the mainstream.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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this movie is so action packed and is an awesome movie. i love Tommy Lee Jones's performance in this movie. I Recommend it for everyone
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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violent and brilliant
Added 11/11/2009
I've never been able to stomach C. McCarthy' books- too terrifying, too much testosterone, most likely. This is one grand exception in which I would interject my sex (female) as a primary reason for disliking something. But I am and I do. So had I known the source of the plot, I would never have sat down to watch this. But I did, and inspite of the shaking and wincing and trips to the other room, it was brilliant. At some point I began to see Chigurh as Death and very much like Bergman's Death in the Seventh Seal, and then this movie began to unfold likewise. Chess or coin toss, Death is occassionally moved to allow a sense of chance, though most likely because in the end, it doesn't matter. The Seventh Seal makes sense of otherwise faulty scenes, eg., what is the purpose of Woody Harrelson's Character? I found him to be like Skat up in Bergman's tree, asking if there aren't any exceptions to be made for actors, whjile Death persists in cutting the tree down. I was also reminded of the end of the Seventh Seal, when the wife of the knight remarks something like "Oh you and your visions and dreams." Chigurh seems to be the only one exempt from Death..... I just erased a bunch of plot comparisons because you don't really want me to tell you the whole movie, but Outside of plot comparisons, the filming has a similiar beauty about it - landscape shots are stunning in their starkness-and even when littered with bloated murdered bodies there is striking artistry. My favorite lines in the movie are from Moss' wife at the end, which is a perfect summary of the one thing every victim of a predator should know in their heart. There is little if any sound track (I don't remember any), adding to the minimalist drama of the film. Very interesting, but not really for the squeamish.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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