Movie Review – No Country for Old Men

No Country for Old Men is a modern western set in Texas by the Coen brothers.

This movie is strong and has character earning a 9.

Josh Brolin is Llewelyn Moss, a hunter that stumbles on to several dead bodies, drugs and a satchel of cash. He figures to retire but hit man Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh is looking for him leaving a trail of bodies in his wake. Tommy Lee Jones is the sturdy, stoic sherriff and Woody Harrelson has a bit part as another hit man. Garret Dillahunt (the 4400) is the deputy. The acting was very solid in this masterpiece. Each of these men were strong individuals making their way through the world with their own spin on life. It was hard to know whom to support. They were all made of stone and standing tall.

The plot kept me interested and was plausible. Javier Bardem was completely insane in a very controlled and honest portrayal. It was fun watching him use his little toy throughout the movie. He was a delight to watch. I got a kick out of Woody Harrelson’s character. He was evil but very reasonable.

What can I say? The movie was great. The actors were great, and I walked away very satisfied. I can see why this was nominated for 8 Oscars.

It was a little bloody for those that are a bit squeamish…

More Star Trek Posters

I really dug this site when I first saw it over a year ago and I still do. The old post on this has been getting a lot of hits recently, so here’s another one for the books….

~AoB

Cool Space Pictures

Now this is what I call a ’splosion!

Check out the Space Image of the Day on space.com (or better yet subscribe to their feed).

~AoB

Movie Review – One Missed Call

One Missed Call is a remake of the 2003 Japanese thriller.

While entertaining, this only rates a 6, almost a 7.

A woman is shocked to discover that her friends are dying.  Each one receives a voice mail from three days in the future from the phone of a person that is dying right now.  The message is the words or sounds that they will make when they die in three days.  Kind of neat idea.  The plot was pretty decent and generally made sense.  It was somewhat believable and predictable (don’t go into that building all by yourself!  Wait for backup…)  The ending did have a decent amount of suspense.

The acting was alright.  Edward Burns was the cop (looked familiar but I couldn’t place him.  From Saving Private Ryan).  Margaret Cho made a cameo as another cop at the station and did not impress.  The other actors were stock horror flick types and did a workable day’s work on it.

I enjoyed it, but it was not challenging or anything special.  As the credits rolled at the end, I heard a teen girl exclaim, “This was the worst movie ever!”  Everyone’s a critic…

Movie Review – Cloverfield

Cloverfield is about some people trying to survive an attack on New York City as seen through a video camera one of the characters carries around for the whole movie.

This not-so-good movie rates a 6 although at times I probably would have given it a 5.

Too much time is spent introducing the characters for the first 20 minutes or so. They are unsympathetic and boring. I actually whispered to my friend that, “I hope they start getting killed soon!” They are having a going away party for Rob and one of the characters is using a video camera to film messages to Rob from the other guests. The building shakes, and everyone runs outside as the Statue of Liberty’s head comes bouncing down the street.

Four of the characters spend the rest of the movie trying to find another person and survive the rampage. Hud, a real doofus, carries the camera around for the whole movie and gets it all on film. The clever bit about this movie is that the entire film is shown through the camera that Hud carries around. That is also its biggest downfall (besides the poor plot and lame acting). Remember how the camera jerked around all through Blair Witch? Multiply it by 5 with much more wild swinging about of the camera to get an idea of how this movie shakes and shimmies.

For almost the entire movie, I felt physically ill. I had to look away frequently to keep from getting sick. It was just too much – never a break from camera swinging wildly around. I felt shaken up for about a half hour after the movie ended, and I very much enjoy going on roller coasters and sky diving. If you must see it, sit in the back. All five of us complained about the camera shaking as we crucified the movie afterwards. The plot was poor. It did not have suspense or scary parts. Not much blood either. The movie never explains what is attacking (it does show it), why or how. You just made me feel ill for 88 minutes. At least tell me what the hell is going on! The lack of information left at least three different explanations for what happened.

The ending actually leaves unclear how the movie ended. Not good. The acting was crappy, and I was hoping for the death of all the main characters. As a soldier tells them, “We don’t know what it is, but it’s kicking our ass!” Exactly.