No Country for Old Men
You might have noticed that I am a fan of the Coen's Brothers' work. I mean, I liked Fargo, Miller's Crossing, The Ladykillers (2004) and The Man Who Wasn't There (first post of this blog!!!). Many reviewers have stated that No Country is their magnus opus. Well, I agree...
Everything about this movie is beautiful, even the violence (which is plenty). I know it's hard to say that the violence was beautiful, as it's hard to put the two words in the same sentence. But, the Coen Brothers are famous for their style. Their movies are highly stylized, and so is the violence.
I won't say anything about the story. But you should know that the movie introduced the "best" villain since, say, Darth Vader! (EDIT: I think we have seen some pretty good and memorable villains since Darth Vader, like Hannibal Lecter, The Terminator and many others that I totally forgot about). This guy, Javier Bardem, really deserves an Oscar. If he doesn't get it, then that's what I would call a rip off.
The movie probes into the state of chaos and violence that our communities are degenerating to, in the first minute of the movie, Tommy Lee Jones is telling us about the good old days when his grandfather was sheriff.
This movie is highly recommended. It gets an Amorphous Score of 5/5. Do yourself a favour and watch it.
Everything about this movie is beautiful, even the violence (which is plenty). I know it's hard to say that the violence was beautiful, as it's hard to put the two words in the same sentence. But, the Coen Brothers are famous for their style. Their movies are highly stylized, and so is the violence.
I won't say anything about the story. But you should know that the movie introduced the "best" villain since, say, Darth Vader! (EDIT: I think we have seen some pretty good and memorable villains since Darth Vader, like Hannibal Lecter, The Terminator and many others that I totally forgot about). This guy, Javier Bardem, really deserves an Oscar. If he doesn't get it, then that's what I would call a rip off.
The movie probes into the state of chaos and violence that our communities are degenerating to, in the first minute of the movie, Tommy Lee Jones is telling us about the good old days when his grandfather was sheriff.
This movie is highly recommended. It gets an Amorphous Score of 5/5. Do yourself a favour and watch it.
There Will Be Blood
This movie is Paul Thomas Anderson (Magnolia, Boogie Nights) tale of an oil man, Daniel Plainview. It's a tale of greed, power and madness. It spans about 30 years during the beginning of the 20th century. The character was magnificently done by Daniel Day-Lewis. No words can describe his superb performance, so I won't waste my time trying. The only thing that will be a reward for him, will be to walk out tonight with the golden bald statue!
You get to see the rise of Daniel Plainview as a major oil man from his first well till ... (well, I will leave this out). His greed and will to dominate all his competitors fuel up his anger and hatred. He is a man who hates all people, except himself. He want success to himself, and himself alone.
The movie is professionally done and is a feast to the eyes, but... I think that the movie could have used a little trimming. Don't get me wrong, the movie is terrific as it is, but I think that some non-important scenes took too long and, in my humble opinion, didn't affect the story a lot. But you see, watching Daniel Day-Lewis acting is really great. If I were the director, I would leave every shot recorded to film alone. Let the world see what real acting is...
Hollywood doesn't seem to be getting it right this year. For example, Atonement could have used an extra 30 minutes, while There Will Be Blood could have been better with 30 minutes less of its 150 minutes runtime.
The title of the movie is deceiving, there is very little blood throughout. Moreover, Paul Thomas Anderson made a great move that I really appreciate in movies: he delayed the first lines of spoken dialogue. As in 2001: A Space Odyssey and Once Upon a Time in the West.
EDIT: This movie joins some of the best movies to touch the subject of greed (one of the characteristics of the human personality), like The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (by my favourite actor, Humphrey Bogart) and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (by the eternal Sergio Leone).
This movie is a great watch and is, again, highly recommended: 4.5/5 Amorphous Points.
You get to see the rise of Daniel Plainview as a major oil man from his first well till ... (well, I will leave this out). His greed and will to dominate all his competitors fuel up his anger and hatred. He is a man who hates all people, except himself. He want success to himself, and himself alone.
The movie is professionally done and is a feast to the eyes, but... I think that the movie could have used a little trimming. Don't get me wrong, the movie is terrific as it is, but I think that some non-important scenes took too long and, in my humble opinion, didn't affect the story a lot. But you see, watching Daniel Day-Lewis acting is really great. If I were the director, I would leave every shot recorded to film alone. Let the world see what real acting is...
Hollywood doesn't seem to be getting it right this year. For example, Atonement could have used an extra 30 minutes, while There Will Be Blood could have been better with 30 minutes less of its 150 minutes runtime.
The title of the movie is deceiving, there is very little blood throughout. Moreover, Paul Thomas Anderson made a great move that I really appreciate in movies: he delayed the first lines of spoken dialogue. As in 2001: A Space Odyssey and Once Upon a Time in the West.
EDIT: This movie joins some of the best movies to touch the subject of greed (one of the characteristics of the human personality), like The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (by my favourite actor, Humphrey Bogart) and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (by the eternal Sergio Leone).
This movie is a great watch and is, again, highly recommended: 4.5/5 Amorphous Points.
Michael Clayton
George Clooney has his share of great movies, but some were not so fortunate, cough*Ocean's Twelve*cough.
I wouldn't get into any details as this is the kind of movie that you must follow all the plot twists and turns. But my only complaint is that it has been done before, many times. I won't say what movies were like this one as you will know what to expect then.
If you let the repetition fact go, then you will have a nice movie. Clooney's acting is superb, but he is no match for Daniel Day-Lewis... Hell, even Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises is no match for him!!! The music is also great. It's from the same composer who did Batman Begins.
So, a good plot and an interesting one at that, superb acting and a good score will make a good movie... But this is not Best Picture material. They did this movie a huge injustice by placing it in the same category with other superior movies.
A good 4/5 Amorphous Points is the score.
I wouldn't get into any details as this is the kind of movie that you must follow all the plot twists and turns. But my only complaint is that it has been done before, many times. I won't say what movies were like this one as you will know what to expect then.
If you let the repetition fact go, then you will have a nice movie. Clooney's acting is superb, but he is no match for Daniel Day-Lewis... Hell, even Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises is no match for him!!! The music is also great. It's from the same composer who did Batman Begins.
So, a good plot and an interesting one at that, superb acting and a good score will make a good movie... But this is not Best Picture material. They did this movie a huge injustice by placing it in the same category with other superior movies.
A good 4/5 Amorphous Points is the score.
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