No Country For Old Men (First Viewing)

yes, you must. The cinematography alone is worth it

 

After re-watching this a few years ago, I realized she was the same actress who played Helena Ravenclaw in the last Harry Potter movie. I was doubly impressed by her performance and her accent.

 

I like how we don't know anything about the Chiggurh character. He just arrives, commits his mayhem, then limps off after closing the books on the deal. We don't know any more about him when it's all over.
About the scene in the gas station. The older fellow asked something about the weather. "Y'all getting any rain up your way?" What way is that? The old man indicates he can tell by the plates on the car that Chiggurh is from Dallas. Of course it's the last victims car. That was the wrong thing to do, to show any curiosity about the man. He's lucky he didn't die. A great scene.
I also like the Woody Harrelson character, Carson Wells. Just a straight-up business man trying to get his end of the deal.

 

I agree that Pitt was funny as all heck but dislike was based around precisely the fact that it was a series of comic riffs that didn't add up to much beyond that. When the Cohen brothers did work because it used the backbone of "The Odyssey" as to hang all of the silliness on. In fact, that film reminded me of a less fractured Monty Python styled film (i.e., Life of Brian being based on the life of the Christ only it's a mistaken Messiah), the use of the Arthur legend for the basis of "Holy Grail", etc.

I don't hate it mind you but was underwhelmed even considering the fact that it was a "lesser" Cohen film that was designed as a satire.

 

You know I had a really good day so...

Sorry about what I said that offended you. While I admit I fully reacted to the hate bomb you dropped you are right. I should respect your point of view as pointless as it may be in this thread.

So again, a gentle suggestion...perhaps this subject is a waste of time for you? Do you think it makes sense to drop into discussion about a film just to crap all over it and everything they do?

I myself don't consider myself a superfan or a titan because I enjoy their films.

I personally think they get too much adulation in place of say Paul Thomas Anderson who deserves more.

So not getting your intellectual remark. That was a bit much along with most of your reply.

Again my apologees. I guess I do need to get some manners in regards to dealing with your method.

 

You'd never guess that her film debut was Trainspotting.

 

Dear lord do I remember her in that. She is simply sexy and adorable at the same time. It confuses me and yet makes her so darn attractive.

 

Merely pointed out their movies are boring. A bit much to say I hate them or their movies. I literally mentioned I don't get the adulation they get. There's something for everyone out there which is great and it'd be one boring world if we all liked the same stuff.

Perhaps some can verbalize why they are so revered. @Jrr did a good job of starting a list, stating their work is quite dialogue driven.

 

I don't think are. at least not now. even those that appreciate their work acknowledge they can be very hit or miss, when theyre good theyre great but they've released a lot of turkeys as well

 

True of pretty much all artists putting out work, trying to top themselves. I respect them for that.

I'll rephrase, then. The ones that are considered great, what individual characteristics (consistent with the rest of their homeruns) are key components of their work that are responsible for making the Cohen brothers revered as filmmakers?

 

Great post!

Everything about this film is greatness.

The tension is this surpasses just about anything I've ever ever seen in film.

 

that's a tough one....kind of like "whats so good about miles davis?" either you get it or you don't.....ill leave that to someone better with words then me
pssst "Coen" Brothers

 

Yikes! Can't believe I've misspelled their surname every time in this thread. Thanks for correcting me.

 

I don't really think their work is dialogue driven either.

When I think of that I think of Woody Allen, Kevin Smith, Linklater, Tarantino ...etc.

I think of Coen Brothers being very visual and the dialog being secondary and almost comedic and not necessarily wordy or driving the plot. Of course their movies are offbeat and circumstance they are pretty hard to categorize. I guess if I really tried to pinpoint it, I would say more satire and kinda like South Park for the live action.

That is why your first post was foreign to me and yes offensive to me as well. It wasn't so much as having an opinion but it SEEMED just thrown out there and not what they are like at all.

By the way, for the record I am one of the few people that likes Hangover III.

 

Really liked this when it first came out, thought it was one of the best movie made in years. I watched it again a few months ago and still felt the same.

Bardem was excellent as Chigurh, and the bolt gun was pure genius. My wife saw it with me the first time and Chigurh terrified her. She won’t watch it again!

My only criticism is that I always felt that Moss had a fighting chance, but he dies at the Motel. I thought there would be a bigger showdown.

 

Actually I liked that angle a great deal. It pulled the rug out from under us all.

If you look at it from a probability standpoint, he was outgunned and was distracted by a woman. Though we may not like to think of it, maybe he was cheating or flirting further when the posse rolled up. Regardless, if you think of how badly he was hurt earlier and likely still suffering, it is the only reasonable outcome. Money and overconfidence are a deadly combination. That and the Mexican gang are just a little more motivated seeing as it is their money to begin with!

No way in hell I would leave my wife that way after the hell I went through. No amount of $ is worth it...then again I have never been put in that situation, so who knows. I am too paranoid to think I would sail off into the sunset. I tend to think things like that catch up with you. Lottery or nothing for me. I just don't believe in stealing.

 

My wife heard enough, she wouldn't watch. I had to find those great Tommy Lee scenes for her. She saw the whole opening of course, the middle Tommy Lee stuff and the ending with the car wreck and the dream. She loved what she saw and saw what I liked so much about it.
It's like Pulp Fiction, I had to find scenes for her. The dance, the opening and closing (which she really likes), and Keitel belittling the two of them (aka the 'Cat in the Hat' sequence).

 

Do you know what they do to people like you inside?

 

This discussion inspired me to watch it yet again last night.

Question: Why is Carson Wells unarmed? He is the only one who truly understands Chigurh and what he is capable of doing. I realize he has to cross an international border, but he still goes back to his room without so much as a slingshot.

 

??

What does that mean?? Am I talking to Chigurh? I am scared...

Confidence again a problem. The ATM thing shows he didn't understand Chigurh at all.

To me, I would have never ever went back to that room. The way he was holding the bolt and the fact that I was above him on stairs....well there is a slim chance. That dude ain't letting you walk out of there alive and if Carson truly knows him, that is the only option.

As far as the gun, where there is a cut, so maybe he disarmed him before they sat down. I tend to think he wasn't expecting Chigurh at that moment.

Btw, notice the blood that doesn't touch his boot...but in his slop because of being mastered by Carla well that is a completely different story.

 

It's a quote from Trainspotting, what he says to her when he finds out she's under age.

 

oops. Been a few years. lol All I can remember about her is the bouncing up and down.

I need to see it again, but I will never forget the baby scene. That just sucked so bad.

 

A lot of it was filmed in New Mexico that we natives appreciate. A great movie!

 

MORE SPOILERS

Yours is a perfectly understandable reaction to the particulars of Moss's demise. But they way they played it fits better into the overall point of the film.

Moss saw himself as capable and careful, and I think compared to the average viewer of the film, certainly compared to me!, he was. Carla Jean put it well when he said Moss takes on all comers. And as Carson Wells remarked, he was surprised Moss had encountered Chigurh and survived (even if he ended up in the Mexican hospital).

But he had his lapses.

By the time he gets to the El Paso hotel, he thought he had it covered, and was laying in wait for Chigurh. But as Ellis later said to Sheriff Ed, the World doesn't wait on us, and thinking it does can end in vain. Moss thought he could see what was coming, but it ended up not being Chigurh but instead the members of the drug gang (alerted to where he was by Carla Jean's mother). And of course this happened right before Sheriff Ed got there, surprising him as well. And the beer leads to more beer woman ends up face down in the pool.

As a result the particulars of Moss's demise (and Chigurh's subsequent escape with the money) drive home to Ed the truth of what Ellis says to him.

In this way Moss's story is another example of the way we can look at our lives as ones that we control through our intentional actions, but that what actually happens will often be affected by things we do not foresee or are otherwise outside our control. Which is the lesson Ed learns as part of the overall story of the film.

 

Found this interesting clip including a part of an interview with Kelly Macdonald: