What was sort of funny about seeing No Country is that Noe and I went to a 2:10 matinee and the only other people in the theater were senior citizens...not the crowd you expect to see at a Coen brothers movie with gratuitous and well-publicized violence. And the people working in the movie theater were old, too. (What made the experience even more awesome is we went to an early dinner - at the Steak Loft, Noe's pick - after the movie and it was totally early-bird special.)
Anyway, I made a point to watch the Oscars that night mainly to see what No Country would win and was pleased to see it take not only Best Supporting Actor and Best Director but Best Picture as well. Javier, you made the movie for me. Joel and Ethan, I don't know how you mine such good material from small-town law enforcement (remember Fargo?) but please keep it up.
Now I just have to read the book...I know, you are supposed to read the book before you see the movie. Normally I abide by this rule. The thing that stopped me in this particular case was quotation marks, or lack thereof.
(Yes, I have a problem with unconventional punctuation. If we must be honest, this is the reason why I have never actually read Cold Mountain, either. But I also thought Cold Mountain sounded kind of lame, so I needed an excuse. I have no excuse now to skip No Country. I need to buck up and realize that I can indeed read dialogue without quotation marks.)
But I digress. I was going to briefly mention my thoughts on the rest of the Oscars:
1) I am not really sure how Tilda Swinton walked off with supporting actress. I have nothing against Tilda Swinton; in fact, I quite like her. But I didn't quite like Michael Clayton. I just don't think that she and Clooney had to act that much in this particular movie.
2) I might have to go see There Will Be Blood, not only because Daniel Day Lewis is a fantastic actor but because I just figured out that the creepy preacher kid in the preview is the colorblind brother from Little Miss Sunshine.
3) Go Marion Cottilard, go! La Vie En Rose was a bit too long and played too much with time elements...but Marion was fantastic. Phenomenal. She was Edith Piaf. I love you Cate Blanchett, but your Elizabeth sequel had nothing on Marion.
2 comments:
As a compromise, you should consider books on tape (or CD). I have Cold Mountain on tape if you'd like to borrow it. That way you don't have to read sans quotes, and it's just like someone is reading you a story. I've listened to Cold Mountain twice now on the drive to Michigan. It's a lot better than the movie by the way.
just saw no country for old men; it's unassumingly unconventional and yet (thankfully) never over the top. a bit morally dumbfounding, but that can be a good thing... all in all the Coen brothers deserve their Oscars, well done indeed.
Post a Comment