No Country for Old Men

[Dodgerbolt]

So I finally watched this movie since all of you guys were raving about it, and I need someone to explain to me why it was so great.
I was interested until the main character died all of the sudden, but even still- had the movie maintained its level I would have just "liked" it at best.
It really just seemed like another Cohen brothers movie to me.

[Mikey]

It was an unsettling movie for me, I didn't necessarily enjoy all that much. It definitely kept me interested and on the edge of my seat, maybe because I was stoned it seemed really intense. Easily one of the most intense movies I've seen in a long while. The killer/villain is a savage. I can't explain why people thought this was the "movie of the year", maybe because mostly crappy movies came out last year?

EDIT: Oh yeah, the silenced shotgun was fucking BAD ASS.

[Reece]

yeah, this movie was okay, not THAT great though. it left me feeling incomplete about the movie.

[bballty86]

great movie.

[Bob]

I enjoyed it, because I've always thought the book was amazing.

[Cassidy]

Reading the book helped a lot because I knew what to expect. It's an amazing adaptation and the best I've seen since FIGHT CLUB.

The acting was awesome (Bardem to Tommy Lee Jones to Brolin). Bardem was the best, obviously. He's definitely the most menacing villain since Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter. I mean, the hair is awesome and he did him extremely fucking well.

The scene with Bardem talking to the gas station dude was totally awesome. The dialogue in that scene is great.

It's suspenseful in how eerily quiet it all is is done amazingly well. That's basically the star of the film is the silence. The scene in the hotel, most notably, is fucking terrific.

My friend HATED what happened to the main character. I suppose most people who didn't like this movie were pissed off with the abrupt death and the abrupt ending. They were probably expecting a showdown between Llewyn and Anton. And if not that, at least Anton and Tommy Lee Jones.
But Llewyn's death, I thought, was sort of the point of it all. He was doomed to begin with, but the violence of it all was so random that he didn't even see what was coming. The fact that it wasn't shown was sort of the point. You thought Anton Chigurh was going to get him or there would be some massive showdown. In the book, I had to go back a page or two to Llewyn Moss' death, because it talked about it only a sentence or two. That's how shocking it was. The 'holy shit' aspect.

Tommy Lee Jones in this movie just absolutely kills me. The last words he says is totally McCarthy talking. I know some people don't like the long conversations he had towards the end, but those were some of my favorite parts of the movie, even the book.

And his other book the Road should be an awesome, awesome movie. Viggo Mortensen has signed onto star in that.

I take it you don't really like the Coen brothers. I still need to see Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, and Barton Fink (I own all of these). Big Lebowski, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Miller's Crossing, and Fargo are all great. I didn't like Intolerable Cruelty.

I suppose it's not for everyone, but it's definitely my favorite movie of 2007. Personally, I was entertained the whole way through and wasn't bored.

[Cassidy]

It was an unsettling movie for me, I didn't necessarily enjoy all that much. It definitely kept me interested and on the edge of my seat, maybe because I was stoned it seemed really intense. Easily one of the most intense movies I've seen in a long while. The killer/villain is a savage. I can't explain why people thought this was the "movie of the year", maybe because mostly crappy movies came out last year?

EDIT: Oh yeah, the silenced shotgun was fucking BAD ASS.

Dodgerbolt made this argument, but I don't buy this argument at all. Last year was far and away the best year for movies that I can recall.

Into the Wild, Gone Baby Gone, Superbad, Bourne Ultimatum, Zodiac, Juno, No End in Sight, There Will Be Blood, Knocked Up, Grindhouse, Eastern Promises, Once, 3:10 to Yuma, Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Walk Hard, the TV Set, Sweeney Todd, Charlie Wilson's War, American Gangster, Hot Rod, Michael Clayton, Dan in Real Life, the Lookout, Breach, Hot Fuzz, 28 Weeks Later

^Some of these movies were good to disappointing (American Gangster-Sweeney Todd-Hot Rod, most notably for me, should have been better, but still good).
There weren't any real franchises or blockbusters. And if there were, they sucked (Transformers, Fantastic Four, Spiderman, Pirates, Golden Compass, Harry Potter, I Am Legend). So maybe that's disappointing.
But I felt like I was at the movies every week.
And I still haven't seen all the movies I want to see.

I could rant more, but it's futile.

[Dodgerbolt]

The scene with Bardem talking to the gas station dude was totally awesome. The dialogue in that scene is great.

It's suspenseful in how eerily quiet it all is is done amazingly well. That's basically the star of the film is the silence. The scene in the hotel, most notably, is fucking terrific.


But Llewyn's death, I thought, was sort of the point of it all. He was doomed to begin with, but the violence of it all was so random that he didn't even see what was coming. The fact that it wasn't shown was sort of the point. You thought Anton Chigurh was going to get him or there would be some massive showdown. In the book, I had to go back a page or two to Llewyn Moss' death, because it talked about it only a sentence or two. That's how shocking it was. The 'holy shit' aspect.


I take it you don't really like the Coen brothers. I still need to see Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, and Barton Fink (I own all of these). Big Lebowski, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Miller's Crossing, and Fargo are all great. I didn't like Intolerable Cruelty.



Yeah, I liked that scene in the gas station. I wish there would have been more like it. I guess I was disappointed you had this potentially very intriguing character and we didn't really find out much about him.

You said the fact that it wasn't shown was the point. What point?

And yeah, I don't really like the Cohen brothers, which is why I didn't really want to see this movie in the first place. I feel like with the exception of Big Lebowski, which is one of my favorite movies, all of their movies fall apart towards the end.

[Cassidy]

I thought the point of Llewyn being killed and having it not being shown was sort of the point of the violence and its nature. It was random and you don't see it coming (to Anton getting hit by the car). Llewyn wasn't fit for it and thought he was smarter the whole time.

What I think it comes down to is that No Country for Old Men didn't meet the expectations that most viewers have. It's not that they wanted a happy ending, but they wanted a showdown. It went against that completely.
It seemed like it was going to be a completely conventional movie, but it didn't.
But I thought the ending was ultimately much better because of that.

Some people think otherwise.

[FOA]

Yeah, I liked that scene in the gas station. I wish there would have been more like it. I guess I was disappointed you had this potentially very intriguing character and we didn't really find out much about him.

You said the fact that it wasn't shown was the point. What point?

And yeah, I don't really like the Cohen brothers, which is why I didn't really want to see this movie in the first place. I feel like with the exception of Big Lebowski, which is one of my favorite movies, all of their movies fall apart towards the end.

Because it's not about the characters, it's about archetypes and motifs. He's evil. Just like in real life, there's sometimes no reason or logic behind what happens in the world. You can't rationalize or explain the bad things. That's what tommy lee jones' character is trying to wrap his head around. But he can't. Afterall, he realizes it's no country for old men.

I absolutely loved this movie. It was airtight, flawless. From the beginning to the very end, it had me griped and the whole time. Perfect acting, perfect script. Every single scene had so much weight to it. The tension was incredibly taught and real. Him opening doors with the air compressor was the scariest thing in the world. Fucking amazing.

[Cassidy]

^Well said.
It's a good movie/book to talk about and that needs to be talked about. I hope people don't just walk away and think it's stupid and write it off. It definitely makes you think.

The irony is that when Tommy Lee Jones says that it is no country for old men, it's ironic. It doesn't feel like it's a country for anyone. But he's saying that his time has come and a new generation is coming in and he doesn't exactly like what he's seeing in the evil.
McCarthy has a lot to say about society and his fears in general (the Road, especially). That book is more hopeful, despite being depressing and more horrible than you can possibly imagine.
McCarthy is like 75 and is near death and has his 8 year old son. I like to think he's writing these stories and saying a lot about society and the world that our generation and those to come have to deal with. He really is concerned about shit larger than himself. I dig that.

[Dodgerbolt]

So you guys like it so much because it's like real life in that there isn't always resolution and you don't see everything that's going on everywhere?

[Cassidy]

Ha. Way to put it in a nutshell like that.
It's real, but it's entertaining and interesting about it. That matters a lot. It's not making some earth-shattering point or deep, but it's still great and devastating with Tommy Lee Jones at the end.
There's great performances, the cinematography is great, and I always like the Coen brothers, but they were terrific this time.

Mixhail made the same point that you made about it, but he bashed the simple point that was made.

[FOA]

So you guys like it so much because it's like real life in that there isn't always resolution and you don't see everything that's going on everywhere?

That's part of why, yes. But more for that fact that I got my "Good Movie Vibe" (tm) throughout the whole entire film. It's one of those movies, for me at least, that was in the front of my mind for the next 2-3 days right after seeing it. It doesn't let you go. So good.

[Dodgerbolt]

That was the first thing I thought when it was over. What were the Cohen brothers thinking when they set out to make this movie? "We're going to make a movie that ______."

I guess does what I said above?

[Bluesteel]

this film was outstanding.

my number 1 of 2007. loved it to end

[Stringer]

i just picked up the book today and will probably start reading it soon...i enjoyed the movie but i think the book will probably give me more insight to the story. I would like to see this again after reading the book...

i thought the gas station scene is one that i really loved in this movie, as someone said earlier, the dialogue was great.

[shayne the kid]

I have to give the Coen brothers credit. There is this huge notion in the American cinema that a deneumont or a resolution is needed to make a film complete. Props to them for going against that. Honestly, it is not needed. And there is an ending, although very subtle, there is a conclusion. Think hard guys, come one.... What's the name of the film? No Country for Old Men, correct? What happens at the end of the movie? !!! SPOILER !!!





















Everyone dies but the old man, who ends up leaving the law enforcement field, it was no country for him. With that being said why would you need a better resolution? The whole point of the film was to mirror the flaws in our society, portrayed through the plot line of the movie. Any one notice the lack of dialogue. This was another excellent technique because what was seldom said had more relevance to the plot and more meaning.

All that aside, hands best movie in the last 2 years at least.

[love]

is the silenced shotgun a part of any of the Hitman games?

[Cassidy]

i just picked up the book today and will probably start reading it soon...i enjoyed the movie but i think the book will probably give me more insight to the story. I would like to see this again after reading the book...

The movie is pretty faithful to the book.
It's just a hell of a lot more insightful to Tommy Lee Jones' character.
And also, the pool scene towards the end, there is a girl...there's a LOT more on that.
Plus, Cormac McCarthy can really write.
And notice how the first scene of the movie is done in basically 2 pages basically (although Tommy Lee Jones' opening monologue is 2 ages). It's just done and described so well.

This is his most accessable book. If you like it, check out the Road. That's being made into a movie. I still need to check out the rest of his work. But he is awesome.

[Mixhail]

Ha. Way to put it in a nutshell like that.
It's real, but it's entertaining and interesting about it. That matters a lot. It's not making some earth-shattering point or deep, but it's still great and devastating with Tommy Lee Jones at the end.
There's great performances, the cinematography is great, and I always like the Coen brothers, but they were terrific this time.

Mixhail made the same point that you made about it, but he bashed the simple point that was made.

Yup, I gave this movie a B+. Its got great direction, great cinemetography, great acting and a cool plot... but its all cancelled out by how meaningless the whole story was.

I was first angered because everyone was advocating how this movie shows how Death/Fate can come randomly and theres no stopping it. I, however, argued that thats totally not the point of the movie... Anton was showing how fate is uncompromising and totally going to catch up to everyone, meaning there is no avoiding it. But then i was pissed at how Anton (who was the personification of Death/Fate) just randomly got hit by a car and walked off... if he was killed, that would have been great. But he wasn't so now we have to go back to the random theory... which i totally didn't buy considering Woody Harrelson's character said Anton's not crazy and has a strange system for his murders, how Anton was determined to kill and unstoppable, and that Moss had a cool final quote before he got kiled off screen. Add in two extra scenes of Tommy Lee Jones talking about how the world is apparently descending into evil now and theres nothing we can do about it, and i just left the movie pissed. Especially because the final scene involved talking about "dreams" which is totally gay, but also because apparently the world is more evil now then it ever was before... even though Texas used to be a fucking lawless land full of people doing whatever the hell they wanted. Yeah, todays much worse just because of this one killer (who doesn't kill randomly) and because kids are "putting spikes through their noses and dying their hair green."

Also, i was pissed at how no one could like or understand this movie unless they read the book. And lo and behold theres conversations everywhere where those people say "oh you just didn't get the point". Of course not because the movie totally destroyed its own point in the final act. I don't think anyone took away any real point from this movie that wouldn't conflict with another thing someone took from it... and that just means everything was pointless since no one can agree on the main themes.

so good to see you were on my side Dodgerbolt. This movie is getting all the awards because artsy critics love it when movies go against the grain, despite the fact that there may be no point behind anything.

[Cassidy]

Couldn't disagree with it more.

I'm not saying that you have to read the book at all to understand it. It's just as good of an adaptation as FIGHT CLUB was. There's a couple stuff missing.
It's just that reading the book first helped me to know what to expect.
But even if I hadn't, I still think I would have been blown away.

It wasn't artsy at all. It just wasn't conventional. It's not like it was some bullshit movie doing artsy shit like Elephant or Science of Sleep.

[FOA]

Yup, I gave this movie a B+. Its got great direction, great cinemetography, great acting and a cool plot... but its all cancelled out by how meaningless the whole story was.

I was first angered because everyone was advocating how this movie shows how Death/Fate can come randomly and theres no stopping it. I, however, argued that thats totally not the point of the movie... Anton was showing how fate is uncompromising and totally going to catch up to everyone, meaning there is no avoiding it. But then i was pissed at how Anton (who was the personification of Death/Fate) just randomly got hit by a car and walked off... if he was killed, that would have been great. But he wasn't so now we have to go back to the random theory... which i totally didn't buy considering Woody Harrelson's character said Anton's not crazy and has a strange system for his murders, how Anton was determined to kill and unstoppable, and that Moss had a cool final quote before he got kiled off screen. Add in two extra scenes of Tommy Lee Jones talking about how the world is apparently descending into evil now and theres nothing we can do about it, and i just left the movie pissed. Especially because the final scene involved talking about "dreams" which is totally gay, but also because apparently the world is more evil now then it ever was before... even though Texas used to be a fucking lawless land full of people doing whatever the hell they wanted. Yeah, todays much worse just because of this one killer (who doesn't kill randomly) and because kids are "putting spikes through their noses and dying their hair green."

Also, i was pissed at how no one could like or understand this movie unless they read the book. And lo and behold theres conversations everywhere where those people say "oh you just didn't get the point". Of course not because the movie totally destroyed its own point in the final act. I don't think anyone took away any real point from this movie that wouldn't conflict with another thing someone took from it... and that just means everything was pointless since no one can agree on the main themes.

so good to see you were on my side Dodgerbolt. This movie is getting all the awards because artsy critics love it when movies go against the grain, despite the fact that there may be no point behind anything.

I would say you are 100 percent wrong. How could you say it was artsy? It was the exact opposite of artsy. It was realistic, gritty, honest with no bullshit, and no soundtrack. It was the most "real" film I've seen in a long, long time. You make it sound like going against the grain is bad, or a cop out to the critics... in the case of this film, no way.

I'm with Cassidy.

And I haven't read the book yet, so there goes that argument.

[Mixhail]

i never read Fight Club and i somehow thought it was the best movie ever... probably because it had a point. actually, alot of good points. Also, the twist in that movie is good even after seeing the movie. The twist in No Country just leaves you going
"thats it? o well". Mind you i never really complained about how they killed Moss offscreen, i just think its ultimately pointless to talk about when compared to the rest of the last act. Sure its kinda cool to think that the climax of the movie occured before you figured the climax would happen, but like i keep saying that wasn't my main problem with the movie. People getting hung up on that are idiots, similar to those who didn't like how Cloverfield didn't answer any questions in the movie.

I doubt i have a problem with the adaption techniques. I am also pretty sure i don't have a problem with what the Coen brothers did to make this movie... all my praise has already been dished out to them and i hope they win Best Director and all that. But the story sucks, so i should probably just say fuck you to the author of No Country For Old Men. But i think because you focused so much on how well they adapted it, that you couldn't not like the movie. In the end the movie is all style, no substance.

[Mixhail]

I would say you are 100 percent wrong. How could you say it was artsy? It was the exact opposite of artsy. It was realistic, gritty, honest with no bullshit, and no soundtrack. It was the most "real" film I've seen in a long, long time. You make it sound like going against the grain is bad, or a cop out to the critics... in the case of this film, no way.

I'm with Cassidy.

And I haven't read the book yet, so there goes that argument.

maybe i shouldn't have said it was artsy, but Unconventional. Sorry to the both of you who are hung up on that dumb word. But i still think its a cop out to be unconventional without providing a concrete purpose for doing so. They threw 3 unconventional things at you during the final act... Moss's offscreen death, Anton randomly getting hit by a car, and Bell just talking about dreams and doing nothing afterwards.

What none of you are doing is proving the point of the movie to me. I seem to be able to counter anyone's interpretation with another interpretation. Making things that subjective is not ultimately good.

i like how you bolded how i said it was meaningless and then provided no answers as to how the movie was meaningful besides giving the purpose of the Coen's storytelling perspective on it. Anyone can see that and i've already said thats cool.

[Cassidy]

Dude, it's such an awesome story.
I loved the book and everything in it.

It's a great chase movie and it all ends badly. And Tommy Lee Jones is the one man who is supposed to be the one to stop it all, but he can't. His character floored me and stole the show for me, as much as Javier Bardem did for most people. Some people just cannot get into that.

And once again, I really wish I was back home in crappy old central Massachusetts so I could take a picture of my dog's dick. When he gets a boner, it looks like a chapstick. It is really fucking gross. I will let you see it sometime when you least expect it.
McCarthy is awesome.

[Cassidy]

maybe i shouldn't have said it was artsy, but Unconventional. Sorry to the both of you who are hung up on that dumb word. But i still think its a cop out to be unconventional without providing a concrete purpose for doing so. They threw 3 unconventional things at you during the final act... Moss's offscreen death, Anton randomly getting hit by a car, and Bell just talking about dreams and doing nothing afterwards.

What none of you are doing is proving the point of the movie to me. I seem to be able to counter anyone's interpretation with another interpretation. Making things that subjective is not ultimately good.

Tommy Lee Jones' character Sherrif Ed Tom Bell feels absolutely futile when standing up against the likes of Anton. He says from the get go that he'd have to put himself on the line and be just as reckless as basically Llewyn Moss was. He just doesn't know if he has it in him completely. He's defeated by it.
The evil is there in the world and his character is extremely interesting (and depressing).
His character feels useless and thinks his time has past. He doesn't know anything besides being a Sheriff and isn't fit for anything else (the last scene where he's telling his wife what he's going to do).
He's done in a bit by the world around him (reading the newspapers, people not saying 'thank you' or calling people 'sir' or 'm'am').
The dream of his father and the last two talks I loved as much as anything in the world.

The law doesn't matter against the likes of an evil dude. It's unstoppable and evil wins out. Evil is reckless. The law is not. Moss' character was just desperate to create a better life for himself (and he was unfit against a genuinely evil dude).

There's so many different interpretations for this and what things symbolize (some stuff from the Bible, where I guess Moss would be like taking an apple from the garden of Eden or some shit...I don't really care for the Bible). I don't really care too much to look at that.

[FOA]

maybe i shouldn't have said it was artsy, but Unconventional. Sorry to the both of you who are hung up on that dumb word. But i still think its a cop out to be unconventional without providing a concrete purpose for doing so. They threw 3 unconventional things at you during the final act... Moss's offscreen death, Anton randomly getting hit by a car, and Bell just talking about dreams and doing nothing afterwards.

What none of you are doing is proving the point of the movie to me. I seem to be able to counter anyone's interpretation with another interpretation. Making things that subjective is not ultimately good.

i like how you bolded how i said it was meaningless and then provided no answers as to how the movie was meaningful besides giving the purpose of the Coen's storytelling perspective on it. Anyone can see that and i've already said thats cool.

Do you like horror movies? Anton is pretty much the epitome of the killer who won't and can't be stop. That's terrifying and made even more so by the fact that he's not some monster or spaceship or alien... he's human.

And do you really want a point? What about just being engulfed in the story?

[Dodgerbolt]

Yeah, but was he really that "unstoppable"? Or that "evil"?
I know, you're going to say "what do you want, the terminator?" No, but I would have liked a little bit more.
And I also don't appreciate having to infer all of this from the story. I mean, I enjoy a movie that makes me think, but jeez, how about letting the audience in on SOME of this stuff?

The whole no resolution thing I think is a personal preference, but honestly, I don't get any satisfaction out of it. It's a one trick pony for me. Once you've seen or read something that doesn't have a nicely wrapped up ending, you think "oh yeah, that's how real life is" and the rest of the time, you've already seen it.
Look, I live in real life. Every day comes without resolution for me. I go to movies and watch TV shows and read books so I can have some of that, or at least a more obvious point.

[FOA]

I can understand the need for a resolution... but how would it work in this movie? Slow motion gun fight with doves in the background? Now that would be a cop out. Having it end nicely with all the ends wrapped up would ruin everything the movie had going for itself.

[Dodgerbolt]

How so?

I would have been fine with him being killed by the car that hit him. That would have made the movie more enjoyable for me. But the ending wasn't a huge problem for me, I just didn't LOVE this movie.

[Cassidy]

I don't think the movie made you think too much. I kicked back and enjoyed the hell out of this.

Then I'd just have to say it just wasn't for you. It's not that you don't 'get' it, it's more personal preference, as you said.
Not everybody is going to like it, but I was blown away by it.

To me, there was a resolution. It just didn't end in this massive showdown that people were conditioned to expect. Would I have liked that? Sure. But the movie would have been different because of that. Two people walk away: Anton gets away and Sheriff Bell resigns and is haunted and feels powerless. It's simple, but it's tragic.

[Mixhail]

The law doesn't matter against the likes of an evil dude. It's unstoppable and evil wins out. Evil is reckless. The law is not. Moss' character was just desperate to create a better life for himself (and he was unfit against a genuinely evil dude).



Do you like horror movies? Anton is pretty much the epitome of the killer who won't and can't be stop. That's terrifying and made even more so by the fact that he's not some monster or spaceship or alien... he's human.

And do you really want a point? What about just being engulfed in the story?

in response to both of you, i don't believe Anton was evil. We see him as evil because he killed without emotion, but he had a purpose and a mission. He had a fucked up set of morals, but at least they were morals. He did not kill randomly... he only killed when fate dictated he should or if people got in the way of his need to complete his mission. This was definitely not a movie about good vs evil because such a battle would involve characters that were unconditionally good or evil. Bell is not unconditionally good... he never puts himself on the line really to stop Anton and he's only consummed by the task because he believes his dad wanted him to be a hero like him. And as i stated above, Anton is not unconditionally evil. When people see it this simply, this is where i have to say you are wrong about that. If we thought this way, then we would be forced to think Anton was exactly like the Terminator, but he's more complex than this. Javier Bardem played the role perfectly so we wouldn't think this way... his coolness should make you think wow, this guy is smart and not insane and thats why he is worthy of all the Oscar talk.

i don't like horror movies mostly because they are usually all style and no substance. Dawn of the Dead is probably the only "horror" movie i really like nowadays, but thats because it had more than one point to it than just telling a tale of people simply surviving (its also a cool exploration of consumerism and what to do when theres nowhere to run to). But to say this was similar to a straight up horror movie or thriller is again too simplistic. Everyone's motivations are vague and so are the outcomes, but like i said every major event in the last act just throws everything into confusion, creating an ultimately meaningless story. I can't become engaged in that because i knew that Moss was probably going to die since the movie was supposedly about the unstoppable power of fate... i just didn't know what would happen after. And lo and behold, he does and then everything goes to hell after. Theres no story to grow engaged with then.

[Dodgerbolt]

Yeah, I agree with all of that.

[kissmyfist]

am i the only one here who didn't like this movie at all?

[Cassidy]

Anton was definitely bad. He killed people without mercy, even if it was fate (like when he pulled that random dude over who was driving in a car and shot him in the head with the cattle gun...he was just unlucky enough to be in his path).

You definitely would not want to be in Anton's path.
He was definitely a villain. Just because he can reason and is sane doesn't mean that he's not. So many movies paint the evil as just evil and don't give them any human emotions. That's stupid. 24 is AWFUL with this, as much as I enjoy it (the Wire is the best with this).
He's hard to understand exactly...as Woody Harrelson says to Moss in the hospital, he does have his morals.

[FOA]

(This heated discussion is awesome)

in response to both of you, i don't believe Anton was evil. We see him as evil because he killed without emotion, but he had a purpose and a mission. He had a fucked up set of morals, but at least they were morals. He did not kill randomly... he only killed when fate dictated he should or if people got in the way of his need to complete his mission. This was definitely not a movie about good vs evil because such a battle would involve characters that were unconditionally good or evil. Bell is not unconditionally good... he never puts himself on the line really to stop Anton and he's only consummed by the task because he believes his dad wanted him to be a hero like him. And as i stated above, Anton is not unconditionally evil. When people see it this simply, this is where i have to say you are wrong about that. If we thought this way, then we would be forced to think Anton was exactly like the Terminator, but he's more complex than this. Javier Bardem played the role perfectly so we wouldn't think this way... his coolness should make you think wow, this guy is smart and not insane and thats why he is worthy of all the Oscar talk.

i don't like horror movies mostly because they are usually all style and no substance. Dawn of the Dead is probably the only "horror" movie i really like nowadays, but thats because it had more than one point to it than just telling a tale of people simply surviving (its also a cool exploration of consumerism and what to do when theres nowhere to run to). But to say this was similar to a straight up horror movie or thriller is again too simplistic. Everyone's motivations are vague and so are the outcomes, but like i said every major event in the last act just throws everything into confusion, creating an ultimately meaningless story. I can't become engaged in that because i knew that Moss was probably going to die since the movie was supposedly about the unstoppable power of fate... i just didn't know what would happen after. And lo and behold, he does and then everything goes to hell after. Theres no story to grow engaged with then.

Isn't that a good thing, when a movie can surprise and take you places you didn't expect? There really is three leads in this movie, and each story intertwines with the other. So after one is dead, the other 2 stories continue on.

Anyway, I absolutely loved it. (Obviously, haha) I felt very strongly about it, but it all comes down to that. Watching a movie is completely subjective so each and every person viewing it will have a different opinion. Isn't great art great?

[Mixhail]

^ ha if you can re-read what i said, i did expect Moss to die. And it would have been great if that wasn't the highpoint of the movie. Plus the stories NEVER intertwine except for Anton and Moss's shootout. Actually i don't even think they see each other's faces exactly when it happens. The "unconventional" thing about the movie is that you expect everyone to meet up and have a showdown, but instead everyone just goes about his own way and meets their "final fate" (in terms of the ending of the movie) in different ways: Moss gets killed by Mexicans, not Anton. Bell thinks he will get killed by Anton, but instead just goes off to die slowly and pissed without any heroics, and Anton never gets served by justice. Thats it... everything you thought would happen collapsed upon itself, but even worse was that the themes and morals you thought you got from the movie turned out to be pointless too. Thats complete deception and thats lame. I can't truly like anything that fucks me over without a reason.

if we are going to talk about expecting something to happen and then still not knowing what will follow, lets talk about how open ended and awesome the ending to Fight Club was.

[Cassidy]

^Make a separate thread for that and we will.

[FOA]

^ ha if you can re-read what i said, i did expect Moss to die. And it would have been great if that wasn't the highpoint of the movie. Plus the stories NEVER intertwine except for Anton and Moss's shootout. Actually i don't even think they see each other's faces exactly when it happens. The "unconventional" thing about the movie is that you expect everyone to meet up and have a showdown, but instead everyone just goes about his own way and meets their "final fate" (in terms of the ending of the movie) in different ways: Moss gets killed by Mexicans, not Anton. Bell thinks he will get killed by Anton, but instead just goes off to die slowly and pissed without any heroics, and Anton never gets served by justice. Thats it... everything you thought would happen collapsed upon itself, but even worse was that the themes and morals you thought you got from the movie turned out to be pointless too. Thats complete deception and thats lame. I can't truly like anything that fucks me over without a reason.

if we are going to talk about expecting something to happen and then still not knowing what will follow, lets talk about how open ended and awesome the ending to Fight Club was.

Isn't that on you then, not the movie? You were making up what the movie meant before it was even over.

[Mixhail]

Uh, thats what you are supposed to do for EVERY MOVIE IN EXISTENCE. Every movie has their own objective set of morals that people are supposed to understand. And if there is a twist, then we can recalibrate those themes and still take something out of it.

i did not watch Saving Private Ryan and think that it was a good statement on the plight of the black man in the U.S. just because there were no black people in the movie.

and wow, who neg reps for having Kissmyfist "agree" with you. I have no control over this dude.

[FOA]

Uh, thats what you are supposed to do for EVERY MOVIE IN EXISTENCE. Every movie has their own objective set of morals that people are supposed to understand. And if there is a twist, then we can recalibrate those themes and still take something out of it.

i did not watch Saving Private Ryan and think that it was a good statement on the plight of the black man in the U.S. just because there were no black people in the movie.

and wow, who neg reps for having Kissmyfist "agree" with you. I have no control over this dude.

^hahahaha at the neg rep.

Anyway, I guess the 'twist' in this movie, instead of recalibrating your feeling about it, made you not like it?

And I have no clue where you're going with the SPR remark.

[Mixhail]

i used the SPR remark to say how you can't be totally subjective about themes/morals in movies, which was to combat how you said you should be subjective about all good movies.

in regards to the twist, i said this before and i'll say it again. I would have liked the movie way more if the movie just ended right after Moss talked to that girl by the pool. He summed up everything perfectly, but then everything got thrown to shit.

[Cassidy]

and wow, who neg reps for having Kissmyfist "agree" with you. I have no control over this dude.


Haha.
Who the hell did that?

[Mixhail]

dick.

i should do the same back. Fuck all this good critical analysis, i'm just gonna call you teh gay from now on.

[Cassidy]

Oh yeah? and I'm gonna call you the Gaysian.

Are you Asian or Hawaiian or other?

[Judelaw]

When I saw this movie a man who came in alone get hit in the head with soda by some fucker who just ran in.
Pretty crazy.
I liked the movie though.

[heffaleff]

easily my favorite movie of last year

[saviorself]

this movie didn't leave me feeling incomplete. it took me a little while to get the significance of the ending though because at that moment I was zoning out.

Javier Bardem was an amazing villain.

[Hollow]

This film was probably my favorite in years. Everything from the silent soundtrack to the beautiful imagery made the movie perfect in my eyes. This really felt like a complete film to me, which never happens.

The whole point of the movie for me was that there are some evils that you can't explain or stop. The opening and closing dialogues allude to this. Ed Tom Bell finally realizes this at the end of the movie and retires, realizing he can't stop evil like Anton.

[WalterMitty]

I loved this movie, particularly because of the fact that I'm a very cynical person and I can relate to a story that tells you that the world is fucked up and there's nothing you can do about it.

[Aspirations27]

I got a bootleg of this, haven't watched yet.

[tung]

wow just saw this today.

javier bardem scares the shit out of me.

great movie.

[haverchuck]

how was their no resolution?
I think maybe I'm too high to get how you don't get it.
I understand the not liking it,
whatever, don't really care.

*spoiler*
Moss gets killed by the mexicans for having the money (which they don't find, and Anton finally got the money, escaped, then killed Moss's wife, after Moss's wife's death, Bell gives up

What more resolution was there to be?
I bet you love movies with the "20 years later" write-ups
as a somewhat humorous "ending" pops up for each character

*spoiler*
and moss's wife's death was done off screen too
it was my favourite kill scene of the movie
and it was done absolutely perfectly,
unconvential as it may have been to anyone

[chamby]

javier bardem scares the shit out of me.
.

edit: great movie

[Guitaryan6969]

yeah Javier Bardiem scared the shit out of me too, I never get scared in a movie ever, the only movie that has ever scared me was Seven and it was the scene where the skinny dude they thought was dead started moving and shit. Javier best win the academy award

[decadeofmattues]

Gay, i still havent seen this

[Jason]

I actually just got done watching it. I have a shitty divx copy, but I thought it was alright. I agree that it kind of ended lame, but it did work. The only problem I had were that all of the important deaths in the movie werent shown. and WTF was with the mom? Did she die too? When/how? all of the sudden Moss' wife says that she had to bury her mother? I didnt get that. Maybe I missed something. Overall it was alright, I really dont see how it is being praised as "Best Movie In The Last Decade" by some people. I can name off a bunch of movies that were better than this. Not that it was bad, it was good, but not as good as everyone is raving.

[tung]

i was too focused on peeing during the last part of the movie to really analyze it. I definitely have to watch this again.

[Bob]

I actually just got done watching it. I have a shitty divx copy, but I thought it was alright. I agree that it kind of ended lame, but it did work. The only problem I had were that all of the important deaths in the movie werent shown. and WTF was with the mom? Did she die too? When/how? all of the sudden Moss' wife says that she had to bury her mother? I didnt get that. Maybe I missed something. Overall it was alright, I really dont see how it is being praised as "Best Movie In The Last Decade" by some people. I can name off a bunch of movies that were better than this. Not that it was bad, it was good, but not as good as everyone is raving.

The mom had cancer, didn't she?

[Jason]

The mom had cancer, didn't she?

yeah, but they didnt really express that that's what killed her. I guess maybe its implied, but they didnt explain anything about it really at all.

[decadeofmattues]

This movie was very interesting and the violence was amazing (especially his shotgun and air compressor) I loved this movie and i hope i can find a dvd quality download so i can have it now

[Andrew Wiggin]

I loved this movie and i hope i can find a dvd quality download so i can have it now

I think the DVD is actually set for March 11. Not too much longer :)

[Panasonic Youth]

I think There Will Be Blood was the best movie of 2007 and of the last 10 years, but this is a fantastic film.

Most of the reasons that some of you dislike this film is precisely what makes this morality tale so much more interesting and fascinating. The ending is about as airtight of a resolution that you can get; just because you don't see it all doesn't mean you don't know it all.

There are subtle clues to everything happening. Not only is a greater tale about evil and good, but the character studies of each individual person are detailed enough to make this intellectually challenging, yet they don't ever sink to over-explaining anyone.

I love this film. One of the more intense films I've ever seen. Anton Chigurh scared the shit out of me, especially when he's chasing Moss through the hotel and the streets afterwards.

[Andrew Wiggin]

Anton Chigurh scared the shit out of me, especially when he's chasing Moss through the hotel and the streets afterwards.
At the very beginning of this scene where Moss is in the hotel room just waiting for Anton to come in is perfect. The way everyone knows what's coming, but is just waiting in anticipation gets me on edge every time.

[Aaron_Y]

I have got to see this movie, does anybody know when it comes out on DVD?

[Mikey]

Haha look 3 posts up genius!

[Aaron_Y]

Haha look 3 posts up genius!
Haha I guess I should actually read the thread.

[Stringer]

i just got done finishing the book...loved every second of it, and loved even more they way they wrapped up the movie a little differently than in the book.

this is going to kinda be a stupid question but i will ask it anyways *spoilers*

so the mexicans who killed moss are the third party involved in the drug deal? or did they just find out somehow about the money and tried getting it from him but still couldnt find it?

[Mixhail]

who uses spoiler font for a 5 month old movie?

the answers to your question are yes and yes. Anton never killed him, the Mexicans did. The money then becomes a non-issue because its use as a plot device is over once Moss is dead.

[saviorself]

I think the DVD is actually set for March 11. Not too much longer :)

awesome news. there are very few movies that I buy on DVD right when they come out (I'm cheap and only buy DVDs that are $10 or less) but I'm pretty sure I'm going to be getting this one

[zorro]

I just finished reading the book and I cannot wait til this comes out on DVD to buy it and watch it over and over.
This was easily one of, if not THE best movie I saw last year.

[indigogita]

I came in 20 min late, and was trying to catch up the whole time. had no idea what was going on. but I liked what I saw, and really wana see the beginning.

[Bluesteel]

DVD on tuesday.

purchase it. you won't regret it at all.

[Dodgerbolt]

Unless you didn't really like the movie like me.
There would be regret involved.

[Bluesteel]

sorry you didnt dig.

[Dodgerbolt]

I was too!

[thealmightyjim]

I just want to mention that EVERYONE in this movie is a fucking badass.

[Stringer]

this came in at work on Wednesday and i watched it that night for the second time, probably going to watch it again with my parents tonight...its so good, i think the best part is the fact that it gives you so much of a different movie experience than anything ive seen in the past 5 years or so.

[Hank Hill]

i thought it was pretty awesome. the cinematography was ace as well.

[Stringer]

god damn, this movie keeps getting better everytime i watch it.

[jsarrio]

*Revive thread*

I just wrote a paper about the book/movie compared together (I'm the idiot who didn't use the search button). A little critical imo, but I still love the Coens. Oh and I read a lot of past posts and everyone's opinions about the differences between the book and movie seem to be pretty consistent with mine. I too feel the movie lacks certain aspects that make the story so good, but I still feel that it is still a good adaptation of the story.

Different strokes, Different folks.

[WalterMitty]

I loved this movie. It was so captivating and it shares my cynical view of the world.