bloviation extrordinaire
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Bring your expectations of standard Hollywood conventions to this movie and you’ll be left hanging in a big way. I always preach that it’s great to break the rules and veer away from the formulas in movies once in a while (check out this excellent article on “plot immunity” to whet your whistle on the subject), but resolution is not a convention that’s easy to let go. That’s the challenge of this latest Coen brothers’ trip. |
[SPOILER ALERT] Continue reading “9.0 No Country For Old Men”
Bittersweet drama with some nice time slicing.
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From the “Chapter 19 and holding” department… Inspired by the Gillespie family experiment, the Behrns-Millers have all decided to belatedly crank through all that is Harry Potter. We’re knee-deep in the books, audio books, and movies. Maybe they’re to blame for my recent lack of posts… :> |
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Despite the fact that their first exposure was to the unholy and tortuous “Star Wars Holiday Special”, which circus ringleader Lucas himself says he would like to personally destroy down to the last copy “with a sledgehammer”, the girls have managed to get hooked on the Star Wars saga. |
Sorry I missed this the first time around – I guess I avoid hype. My New England homies from across the Hudson were great fun to watch 10 years later – Ben Affleck’s track suits alone make this a must see. It’s good, if you haven’t, see it.
If I were a rich patron of the arts, Jim Jarmusch would get my money. Kick back and enjoy another of his classics.
Effortlessly the best action movie of the year. You have to pay close attention to hear all the details of V’s pontifications, revealing how much we all lip-read without knowing it, but the quips are often worth a rewind. The best “big” movies have rich tapestries of backstory, introduced through classic novels, supporting short movies, cartoons and pulp fiction, or graphic novels (in The Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, Star Wars, and this one, respectively). And we need more commentary on the subject of terrorism vs. fascism, it’s the most relevant subject of our time.
I’ll say it again, Woody Allen has made my life richer. He’s on track again with this one. It springboards off an intellectual discussion around a table at a NYC restaurant with Wallace Shawn proposing that “we run to comedies to hide from our deep dark fears of our mortality”. And takes off. Enough said.
This movie is a cartoon caricature of racism, and for the first 15 minutes I didn’t get it. Example after example of unresolved racist behavior had me squirming in my seat thinking “arty movie designed to make you uncomfortable”. But c’mon, this won an Academy Award, it can’t not resolve! I was not disappointed, once I settled in and accepted the rules: this was a grand exploration of the subject, intent on putting every well-developed character through intense challenges. And there are some beautiful responses. Check it out if you get a chance.
