Monday, February 25, 2008
Noes Country 4 tha old Mens WINS! WOO!!!
I really liked No Country for Old Men and I think it's the best job Oscar has done naming a Best Picture in a decade or more, at least since Schindler's List in '93. Since then, they've picked Forrest Gump over Pulp Fiction, Shakespeare in Love over Saving Private Ryan, American Beauty over every movie that didn't suck that year (sorry American Beauty fans, but ugh), Fucking Gladiator over Crouching Tiger, and of course, Crash over Brokeback Mountain AND Munich. Paul Haggis has played America for fools.
I actually liked last year's winner, The Departed, as well, but it didn't leave as indelible an impression on me as the Coen Brothers did. Frankly, I'd forgotten about it. I always get this sense that the Coen Brothers are really one step ahead of us all. No Country is relentless, unlike some critics' favorite There Will Be Blood, which I liked better when it was called Scarface. I haven't seen Michael Clayton yet, so I won't make a catagorical judgment either way. Juno was good.
The reason I liked No Country the most is that the narrative subverted my expectations, without ever losing me. That doesn't happen too much in film, so it's nice when it does.
I actually liked last year's winner, The Departed, as well, but it didn't leave as indelible an impression on me as the Coen Brothers did. Frankly, I'd forgotten about it. I always get this sense that the Coen Brothers are really one step ahead of us all. No Country is relentless, unlike some critics' favorite There Will Be Blood, which I liked better when it was called Scarface. I haven't seen Michael Clayton yet, so I won't make a catagorical judgment either way. Juno was good.
The reason I liked No Country the most is that the narrative subverted my expectations, without ever losing me. That doesn't happen too much in film, so it's nice when it does.
