"No Country For Old Men"

[rsfmotoman]

I liked the movie because of the unexpected ending.

[thisOne]

Originally Posted by rsfmotoman

I liked the movie because of the unexpected ending.

There was an ending to this movie???

[Mr. Lin]

Originally Posted by thisOne

There was an ending to this movie???

Well it certainly didn't go on forever.

[soundmotor]

Anyone who has watched Coen brothers films before should not have been surprised by how this one ended.

I liked it, even the ending, and note that this film has possibly the best bad guy ever, Anton Chigurh.

Bardem's performance will be talked about for years.

[shrinkboy]

the coen bros and cormac mccarthy are hand in glove in this film. the coens have always explored the ubiquity, banality, and comedy of evil. in this one they go a step beyond and join up with mccarthy staring evil directly and without flinching right in the face.

to hate the film because it doesn't deliver the payoff you desire is a basic misunderstanding of the story.

i won't go any farther because summer has already said everything else i could say about this film but i will mention that EVERYTHING mccarthy has written is well worth reading. i would even go so far as to say he must be read. i cannot a imagine a contemporary writer coming from a deeper position than he.

the film of his pulitzer prize winning book The Road is either in production or has wrapped, starring viggo mortensen as the father. if you think NCFOM was dark, check this one out.

[soundmotor]

Originally Posted by shrinkboy

the film of his pulitzer prize winning book The Road is either in production or has wrapped, starring viggo mortensen as the father. if you think NCFOM was dark, check this one out.

(OT - Mortensen is well cast in that role.)

[Aage]

Originally Posted by shrinkboy

to hate the film because it doesn't deliver the payoff you desire is a basic misunderstanding of the story.

I watch movies for entertainment. Call me anything you like, but for me, that movie did not qualify as entertainment. A revenue generator for the Coen Bros, yes.

I watched it with my wife, our daughter, and daughter's fiancé, none of us enjoyed it.

Eight thumbs down for us.

[pmsummer]

Originally Posted by Aage

I watch movies for entertainment. Call me anything you like, but for me, that movie did not qualify as entertainment. A revenue generator for the Coen Bros, yes.

I watched it with my wife, our daughter, and daughter's fiancé, none of us enjoyed it.

Eight thumbs down for us.

Personally, I'd say it went to the "art" side as opposed to the "entertainment" side. I like both kinds of movies, and that's why they build multiplex theaters.

"Art" is usually conceived to tell the future something about the present (even when the "present" is represented by past and future events), while "entertainment" is usually created to tell the present something about the past (including most sci-fi, hence the "Western" and "WWII" motifs).

Art also attempts to defy death by projecting outward, whereas entertainment attempts to comfort and console us in the dark night.

Both art and entertainment are needed. Sometimes they overlap. Neither is necessarily better.

Picking my feet up now.

[Fast_Eddie]

Originally Posted by pmsummer

Personally, I'd say it went to the "art" side as opposed to the "entertainment" side. I like both kinds of movies, and that's why they build multiplex theaters.

"Art" is usually conceived to tell the future something about the present (even when the "present" is represented by past and future events), while "entertainment" is usually created to tell the present something about the past (including most sci-fi, hence the "Western" and "WWII" motifs).

Art also attempts to defy death by projecting outward, whereas entertainment attempts to comfort and console us in the dark night.

Both art and entertainment are needed. Sometimes they overlap. neither is necessarily better.

Picking my feet up now.

Well put. Aage, it just wasn't your kind of movie. Doesn't make it bad. Kinda like how I can't stand Pink Floyd. Doesn't make them bad. Just not for me. 'Cept for the really early stuff, of course. See Emily Play and that. But the rest of it... not so much.

[operaman]

Originally Posted by RussinOhio

(Spoiler alert!!

I did'nt like this movie as a whole. Tommy Lee Jones was great in this as the sheriff I will say. I was caught up in the cat & mouse game up until the lead charctor got killed.....and then as if that were not enough...his wife! I wanted to see the wife triumph through all that happened and the writers kill her off!

This story had no resolution. It'll hold you to your seat with suspense and then abrubtly end.

Russ

Obviously you, like most american film goers, watch movies for plot only without any appreciation of thematic or literary device. The murderer in NCFOM represents fate. He himself is almost killed by the random car crash at the end of the movie. The "Country" that's no good for old men in this film is, via metaphor, life itself. We're all done for.

It's a spectacular movie but not if you fail to view the auteuristic qualities that link it to other Coen Bros. films. The book reads uncannily like a Coen Bros script in certain ways, only much darker - Ethan and Joel must have pinched themselves when they first read it.

[soundmotor]

Originally Posted by operaman

Obviously you, like most american film goers, watch movies for plot only without any appreciation of thematic or literary device.

What credentials qualify you to make such a statement?

[Fast_Eddie]

It might just be the other things I'm reading and working on in my life, but I saw it as a story of acceptance. Tommy Lee Jones makes a decision. He can continue to fight evil, or accept that it is and live his life. He chooses life. I don't mean life as opposed to death, but life as opposed to struggle.

[thefragger]

This movie was a remarkable story that was excellently executed and wonderfully portrayed, imo. To this date I've watched it five times each with different people and every one of them took something different away from it.

There were some funny parts.

[tboat4]

I thought NCFOM was a terrible movie because of the story. Now the guy that played the killer gave a terrific performance. He really WAS that character.

[roggom]

His weapon was an air tank and a plunger, man that is frickin wicked. He literally slaughtered his victims like cattle. Some of his victims just stood there almost accepting their impending doom. Very dark movie but I enjoyed it.