The MoFo Movie Club Discussion - No Country For Old Men

It wasn't that it was funny that made me giddy. It was that it was a beautifully composed and edited scene. I wonder how many takes they had to do to make it work. I just thought it was gorgeous-looking and awesome filmmaking. My experience with my dogs is that none of them have really liked the water, but I know people whose dogs love the water. Once again, I wasn't considering the fact that my dogs hating the water made me love that scene. It was more for aesthetic reasons; plus, I'm still quite sure that I've never seen any other comparable scene before. (This clip seems too dark to me, but it's still good.)

__________________
It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page

Mark that is a pretty cool scene and I think more than anything it's a testament to the awesome use sound in the film that you mentioned before. Really, really great stuff. How on earth did No Country lose two separate sound-related Oscars to The Bourne Ultimatum?

yeah totally agree. I thought they had it in the bag for sound. the attention to sound detail in particular scenes was amazing. for example Chigurgh is in the hotel looking for Lewelin and you can actually hear the ambiant sound from the type of lights used in the staircase when he walks up it and into the hallway. the attention to small details like that really blew me away. and that gunshot sound from the 12 gauge w/ silencer was cool!!

__________________
"More human than human" is our motto.

Ah I get you now. See, this is what I love most about this place. I'm just beginning to pick up on things like that and obviously that whole thing just blew right over my head. That makes a lot of sense now that I think more about it though.

I agree and I wonder if it was just one of those times when the academy figured it would be a good year to spread things around. After my second time around with There Will Be Blood I'm even more positive that it was probably a coin toss that won best picture for No Country. There Will Be Blood is that good... it really is. In fact I like it better than No Country but that's more due to the fact of how agreeable I find Danny Day's character. But probably more likely is that since Danny Day's performance was just so strong the academy could simply split up some of the "biggies" and make a few other films happy as well. No Country got the two real big ones I guess, so its not like they are going to complain or anything.

__________________
We are both the source of the problem and the solution, yet we do not see ourselves in this light...

Yep, same here. The incongruity of it all made me laugh, the way in which it was set up made me smile. I'm surrogate father to a long-legged American Staffie and the thought of that neurotic pooch going anywhere near water (think Woody Allen with paws and massive sharp teeth) is quite bizarre.

__________________
"Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how the Tatty 100 is done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves." - Brendan Behan

I dunno, I don't think that the film isn't high(er) on my Coens list because I don't 'get' it. There are lots of things about it I like but very few that I love - that's another thread talking, though.

As the man says, any more mention of me and Lebowski will incur my ire, and my ire is wanted in seven States. Especially in the mornings.

The killer in this movie (Javier Bardem) is one of the scariest I have ever known from a film. I wanted him to be stopped so much while watching the movie. I'm also kind of in awe of him. He is like a human snake.

I was disappointed by this movie's ending.

I've only seen it once though. Would love to get it on DVD sometime soon.

A human snake...nice analogy.

__________________
Cinexcellence.com We discuss movies. Join the discussion.--Twitter -- YouTube -- Facebook

I wonder where people would rank this film against the Coen's other work?

Miller's Crossing is my favourite, followed by Fargo. I think that, over time, No Country For Old Men will approach the latter but I can't see it holding the place in my heart that Miller's Crossing does.

"Mind his little fontanelle, now."

1. Raising Arizona, A+
2. Miller's Crossing, A+
3. The Big Lebowski, A+
4. Barton Fink, A
5. O Brother, Where Art Thou?, A
6. The Man Who Wasn't There, B+
7. Intolerable Cruelty, B+
8. The Hudsucker Proxy, B+
9. No Country for Old Men, B-
10. Fargo, B-
11. Blood Simple, B-
12. The Ladykillers, C+

1. Miller's Crossing A++
2. Barton Fink A+
3. The Big Lebowski A+
4. Blood Simple, A
5. Fargo, A
6. O Brother, Where Art Thou? A
7. No Country For Old Men A-
8. The Man Who Wasn't There B+
9. Raising Arizona B+
10. The Hudsucker Proxy B
11. Intolerable Cruelty C+

Haven't seen The Ladykillers

__________________

Trust me, you wouldn't want to...

Thanks guys.

I loved this movie. So I went out and bought it, it passes again until multiple viewings. The lack of a score is somehow perfect for this movie.

But for the life of me i cannot figure out what that last scene about dreams was. Or the scene with the crazy cat guy.

__________________

Δύο άτομα. Μια μάχη. Κανένας συμβιβασμός.

What happened to all the folks that were bashing this flick and thought it was overrated? You know who you are. Did it leave such a terrible taste in you mouth that you can't be bothered to weigh in even for a second?

No Country for Old Men is a little overrated.

The horror! The horror!

I can remember the film getting a merciless slagging somewhere (probably IMDB so it doesn't really count) and would welcome some "this film is crap and here's why" views.

Don't be scared people, we're a broad church here, although if anyone says "I want 2 hours of my life back" I'm not gonna read any further. That phrase is a wee bit tired.

Tommy Lee Jones has been playing Ranger Capt. McCall ever since Lonesome Dove. The nice thing is that no one could do it better.

Sure. The whole movie is like walking in on a conversation that has already been going on for several minutes and then leaving before it ends.

IMHO, the best scene in the whole film is the bit at that remote gasoline station and the best actor in the movie is the old guy playing the station owner. The actor playing the killer plays it so low-keyed that the only animation in the scene is the station owner. The scene wouldn't have been the same without him, because he's spot on as an old man just passing through life doing the best he can. The killer is nuttier than anyone we'll ever meet so we don't know him. But, thanks to that particular actor, we know the old confused station owner.

My second favorite character is the fat lady running the trailer park. That boy may be a dangerous killer, but she's not breaking the rules for him or anybody else.


Well, that's one possible interpretation. But as you live longer, I think someday you'll look back and say 2008 wasn't really all that different from the 1990s, the 1980s, or the 1970s. Maybe not all that different from most of the 1960s either. What was true about the big issues of the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, is still true today.

I'll go with whoever's earlier guess that he didn't want to step in blood. You'll remember he checked the soles of his boots after the last killing. I think it was more of a phobia than anything. Had he stepped in blood, it would have left a clue, but he doesn't try to clean up the blood because he's not worried about leaving clues. He is worried about getting blood on his feet, however.

Woody Harrelson's appearance was a major fashion tip to anyone who buys a western hat. A new hat (which is fairly expensive) comes out of the box with a high uncreased crown (like Hoss wore on Bonanza) and a wide brim. And the folks in a good western clothing store will shape the crown and brim into any of the many styles that you might want. But most important, they can and will trim the excess material off the brim. Cutting it down an inch is good; two inches are usually better, depending on your build and facial structure. The full brim that Woody was wearing was much too big and looked silly, especially on someone that slender. There's even one shot looking up at him in which you can plainly see that the hat is too big because of the gap between his head and the hat's headband. He should have asked for a long oval shape instead of letting them stick him with a circle shape. The western suit was OK if you like those things and I really didn't get a good look at his boots, but that hat was really distracting.

Yeah, I thought at the time someone had a really well-trained dog for that scene.