Thanks, although it takes no genius to point out the obvious. ;-))
In re
No Country For Old Men, I am still trying to figure out how I feel about it. I like movies that have a story to tell, and ones that come to some kind of resolution to kind of justify making the movie in the first place. NCfOM just goes and goes, and then it just...*ends*...
From what I saw, the moral of the story is that it is useless to have ideals or to struggle for what's right, because there is just insane, abject evil out there that can't be stopped, doesn't follow any kind of logic, doesn't respond to reason, and if you try to be a hero and fight it, then really, really bad things happen as a result -- so you just give up and wait to die. The End. ;-))
Now, for some
good movies:
Michael Clayton -- Underrated, shoulda won something, good plot and storyline despite the corporate-bashing premise. Clooney was robbed this time.
We Own The Night -- A Prodigal Son story, has the same 'evil' elements as NCfOM, same bleak outlook, but these people get off their butts and DO something about it, dammit, and it happens to be the *right* thing at that! And am I the only one who is just blown away by how good Joaquin Phoenix is??? The guy has an acting range that is unbelievable (emperor of Rome in
Gladiator, good-guy firefighter in
Engine 51,
Johnny Cash fer cryin out loud in
Walk The Line), and it's a cryin shame Sean Penn has a Best Actor Oscar and this guy doesn't...
Gone Baby, Gone -- Has to be about the best movie technically I have seen in quite a while, and Ben Affleck proves that his movies are better when he is
behind the camera instead of in front of it. The plot twists are excellent, Casey Affleck plays his part in such an understated way (although he needs to lose the Brando Mumble) that his naivete is so believable, Amy Ryan (late of The Wire) is fantastic as the coke-slut/grieving-mother...just a great movie, what
Mystic River was trying to be. Maybe this one makes up for Ben's horrible, unforgivable
Gigli??? Nah!!! ;-))
And here's a sleeper:
The Good German -- Another George Clooney vehicle but with a twist: it's done in the old
Casablanca, black-and-white, everybody-smokes-constantly style, no PC makeover of the 40's. Although Toby McGuire was horrible miscast as the fresh-faced-kid-turned-ruthless-black-marketeer-egoist, and there are some sex scenes that just didn't need to be there, this film is very good.
Anyway, I'll let you know what I think after I've seen a few more...;-))