No Country For Old Men

[Jack Hammer]

...I'd never put an AVP movie into my DVD player

Thats what I thought til I actually saw AVP. Its cheesy and all, but it was entertaining and well done, fairly true to the established Alien and Predator precidents. I have it on dvd and have watched it several times. It's like watching Doom, it'll never win any awards, but you're still entertained.

I still haven't seen NCFOM. I've been waiting to be able to pick it up on BD for ~$18, or until my roommate rents it. After reading these reviews I'm leaning toward the latter first.

Jack

 

[jostenmeat]

hey guys, another huge Coen Bros fan here. I've seen everything they've made AFAIK.

NCFOM was the first Coen film I didn't see in the theater since discovering them, because I was more disappointed in the their last couple, Intolerable Cruelty and Ladykillers.

Outside of those, I LOVED all of the other Coen films listed in the last few posts.

Others that are unmentioned and definitely worth watching are Blood Simple, Miller's Crossing, Raising Arizona... Blood Simple was their first film, low budget perhaps, but what a clever thriller! Miller's Crossing is one of the best gangster movies made IMO. Ok, not Godfather-level, but excellent nonetheless. ok, ok, Im a fanboy...

 

[Buckeye_Nut]

I thought 9/10ths of the movie was excellent, but the ending kind of ruined it for me.

 

[captiankirk28]

I agree with some of the other posts that the movie was ok the ending left you out in the dark, it sucked, for how much hype their was for it it should have been alot better. Woddy Harrison had a big role in it--ha ha.

 

[Halon451]

Most people who don't like the movie seem to complain about it not falling down Hollywood norms.

The movie had a fantastic, gritty, real feel to it. Not everything is explained. There's no clear concise wrap-up at the end. There's a lot of anguish, desperation, and greed that the movie captures in a very human way that few movies do. The extremely human feel of the movie is contrasted brilliantly with Chigurh's distinctly non-human actions and manner. The fear his character instills is very real.

The movie was fantastic. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. I didn't walk away having learned a lesson, or content to walk away satisfied with the nice Hollywood ending. I kept thinking, especially about Ed Tom and his life and retirement.

The acting was superb all-around, as well. Tommy Lee Jones delivered his character better than I've ever seen him do.

I have to agree - I thought the movie was incredible, much because it didn't follow the typical Hollywood format of a movie, which is so hard to do these days. And it's nice to see a movie where the good guys don't always win, it keeps it more realistic. I was honestly spooked by Chigurh's character, in a way that no horror movie has done for a very long time.

TLJ's performance I thought was one of his best so far - he's been rather typecast as of late into the same basic outspoken, loud, bossy character, which is essentially the same in every single movie - this one was much different, this didn't try to make him seem larger than life, it made him seem beaten down by it.

The wife and I immensely enjoyed this flick - and the ending caught us completely off guard. We did a double take at each other, then back at the screen.

 

[j_garcia]

Chigurh was definitely well portrayed as a cold, methodical killer. There wasn't really a "good guy" in this movie. They tried to present pretty much all of the main characters as flawed or at least mulit-faceted. Chigurh was shown to be quite intelligent and he viewed his actions as "right" based on his own code of ethics. Llewelyn's character was basically good, but greed still got to him. Tommy Lee's character was very wise and experienced, but could also see that if this could be his last investigation if he pushed it too hard, so he was a bit non-commital about it. I didn't get from this movie "I need to watch this again..."

 

[majorloser]

Some friends of our came over last night to watch this. Man, was it slow! The lack of soundtrack also got to me a little.

And I agree with Matt on the ending. We all looked at each other and said WTF

 

[jonnythan]

What in life ever has a Hollywood ending?

Nothing does. Lives continue, or they don't. Situations and events don't get neatly wrapped up. This movie bucks the Hollywood convention that you need everything wrapped up perfectly and happily before the credits roll.


The movie ended there because the story was over. No cute morals, no summations, no bizarre cliffhangers. We get to see Ed Tom enter his new life and we get to see Chigurh continue with his.

 

[stratman]

Some friends of our came over last night to watch this. Man, was it slow! The lack of soundtrack also got to me a little.

And I agree with Matt on the ending. We all looked at each other and said WTF

Not a shootem' up. A lot of people came in with that expectation, it was the farthest thing this movie wanted to be and in that sense it succeeded.

 

[mouettus]

Reading the posts here, I really guess it's a hit or miss. Some like it and some don't. Personnaly, I think a story has to have an ending, a punch. Good or bad. eg: the mist. (SPOILER HERE) he shot everyone for nothing... 2 minutes later he would've lived with his son. (/SPOILER HERE)

I guess I'll have to rent it. I'm scared of deception though... along with TWBB, can't be a bad night!

 

[Exit]

Everybody failed to mention the coolest thing in the movie - the new weapon. The tank and pneumatic device the killer hauled along and shot people in the head with and punched out the door locks with was a new one. I am sure it will be added to some video game someday. Overall a pretty good movie.

 

[jonnythan]

It's not new. People have been using captive bolt pistols to kill for a long time.

 

[stratman]

Originally invented for the meat slaughter industry, it came in various guises, yes it will pummel a human skull to bits, not practical as a weapon though, I see someone coming up to me with one and I'll take it as a handgun.

 

[Exit]

Still does anyone remember another movie with a killer using one of those things?

 

[stratman]

Still does anyone remember another movie with a killer using one of those things?

The following is from wikipedia:


In the novel No Country For Old Men and its Oscar-winning 2007 film adaptation, the killer Anton Chigurh uses a captive bolt pistol to kill several people and to punch out cylinder locks on doors.

The captive bolt stunner is described in Eric Schlosser's 2001 book Fast Food Nation, and footage showing its use in a slaughterhouse appears in the film adaptation.

In the 1983 novel Cal, the IRA 'soldier' Crilly uses a captive bolt pistol to kneecap fellow paramilitaries. The victims subsequently develop a limp, pointing them out as traitors to others. In the novel, the man uses a captive bolt pistol because he believes "it doesn't leave a trace". Ironically this is what leads investigators to him and his paramilitary unit.

A captive bolt pistol is used to commit murder in the book and film adaptation of The Butcher Boy.

The 1992 German film Benny's Video features a captive bolt pistol in the killing of a pig for slaughter and also in the commission of a murder by the title character.

In Neil Gaiman's novel American Gods, Czernobog discusses the use of the captive bolt pistol in a slaughterhouse as part of a history of his work in the meatpacking industry.

In the video game Hitman: Contracts Agent 47 can use a bolt pistol to eliminate his targets in the level 'The Meat King's Party'.

The comic book The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Cut! features an unnamed villain who uses a captive bolt pistol (referred to as a "bolt stunner") to murder one teenager and knock another unconscious.

The Deli Creeps song "Boom Ch Ka," a song written about McDonald's and the slaughter of cattle used in their burgers, is named after the sound created when the bolt is fired.

The television show Bones referenced a bolt pistol as the weapon of choice for a hitman tied to Dr. Temperance Brennan's fugitive parents. The use of the bolt pistol was the unique signature that led to additional charges for this hitman.

One of the first occurrences of the captive bolt pistol in a detective story can be found in the 1935 novel The Unicorn Murders by Carter Dickson (one of the pen names of John Dickson Carr).

 

[Sheep]

I saw this movie, then I asked the front counter for a portion of my money back. They asked me why, and I replied with "The film didn't have an ending, why should I pay the whole price?"

ZING!

SheepStar

 

[billy p]

No ending

Everyone associated with the deal in the desert died what more do you need? I personally thought the movie was excellent and why should there always be an ending, draw your own conclusion.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

I didnt really like it.

 

[WmAx]

The movie was pretty good until about the last 15 minutes. I thought the ending was worthless. IMO, the ending ruined the entire film.

-Chris

 

[mouettus]

Wow. I never saw a movie that pissed me off that much as an ending (well... there is no ending!). I read the posts and didn't think it could be that bad. I mean... I like stories with different endings. Not necessarily living happily ever and after but not like this.

I hope the writer dies from the killer he created! lol. Talking about the killer... he's the creepiest guy that I've ever seen in a movie. I could FEEL the fear of the characters. Every tiny bit of him was perfect. His looks, his make up, his acting, his text, his voice, his weapons.

What a movie but god damn give me an end to this pls. Him dying from the car accident at the end would've been a good ending...

I dunno what to say... lol. I'm just still speechless. How can you end something in such a manner!? Very frustrating.