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| Marc |
 Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 3:15 pm |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
Posts: 8424
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I am screening some early Bardem flicks at my theater: JAMON JAMON and PERDITA DURANGO.
Without question, Bardem was the actor that created the most electricity in NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. I thought Tommy Lee Jones was doing his usual Zen redneck schtick. |
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| Marc |
| Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 3:20 pm |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
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| While watching JUNO I really enjoyed it. Particularly, the way the film integrated the Moldy Peaches songs into the storyline. But, upon reflection I thought the flick's "hipness" was too forced in an indie flick sort of way. I had the same problem with LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE. The characters in both flicks are a screenwriter's concoctions with little connection to real people. In dealing with a 16 year old daughter's pregnancy would real parents be so whimsically philosophic about the situation. I doubt it. Everything was just too warm and fuzzy....except the creepy yuppie husband stuck in his rock and roll fantasy. That guy seemed like a real person with real issues. Not just some kind of hip signifier. |
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| mo_flixx |
| Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 3:23 pm |
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Joined: 30 May 2004
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Befade wrote: ...
Everyone seems to have forgotten Lust/Caution......one of my early favorites.
I didn't forget. It's on my favorites list. |
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| mo_flixx |
| Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 3:29 pm |
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Marc wrote: While watching JUNO I really enjoyed it. Particularly, the way the film integrated the Moldy Peaches songs into the storyline. But, upon reflection I thought the flick's "hipness" was too forced in an indie flick sort of way. I had the same problem with LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE. The characters in both flicks are a screenwriter's concoctions with little connection to real people. In dealing with a 16 year old daughter's pregnancy would real parents be so whimsically philosophic about the situation. I doubt it. Everything was just too warm and fuzzy....except the creepy yuppie husband stuck in his rock and roll fantasy. That guy seemed like a real person with real issues. Not just some kind of hip signifier.
I wish I'd known more about the music Juno and the yuppie husband referred to in the film. I suspected that Juno DID have better taste in music - but those involved years when I didn't listen to much popular music. I'm sure that Marc could fill me in on all the groups referenced in the movie.
I agree about the parents. The stepmom was _especially_ concerned about pre-natal care...but at the same time, Juno could come and go as she pleased, etc. And yes, they took the news almost too calmly. On the other hand, it was obvious that they were a loving couple and good parents. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 3:57 pm |
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| I would have loved if they referenced Nails in Juno. I was half expecting it. |
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| jeremy |
| Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 4:02 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 6794
Location: Derby, England and Hamilton, New Zealand (yes they are about 12,000 miles apart)
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| Is that some laboured pun, 'nailing' has too meanings in Brit speak: getting it just right (as in hitting the nail on the head); and something to cladding or fence panels or...We have a whole lot of other words for fucking and as yet haven't felt the need to adopt this American import. The lamest euphemism for sex yet has to be the PG-friendly 'diddling'. |
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| lady wakasa |
| Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 4:54 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 5911
Location: Beyond the Blue Horizon
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Befade wrote: I think the title, No Country for Old Men....... explains that the story is really Bell's story.
Yeah, but I think a surprising number of people didn't pick up on that.
inlareviewer wrote: befade, it's very strange that Lust, Caution didn't get more push, but then again, considering Mr. Lee's last fillum and the kerfuffle over it, and how many people in AMPAS remain defensive, bitter, idiots and/or all three, maybe not.
Another film that a surprising number of people (including most of the major US critics) didn't pick up on. Maybe Ang Lee wanted to make an Asian story, period. It's done extremely well in Asia, won a bunch of awards - perhaps that was the most important thing to him. |
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| inlareviewer |
| Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 5:10 pm |
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Location: Lawrence, KS
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lady wakasa wrote: Befade wrote: I think the title, No Country for Old Men....... explains that the story is really Bell's story.
Yeah, but I think a surprising number of people didn't pick up on that.
lady wakasa wrote: inlareviewer wrote: befade, it's very strange that Lust, Caution didn't get more push, but then again, considering Mr. Lee's last fillum and the kerfuffle over it, and how many people in AMPAS remain defensive, bitter, idiots and/or all three, maybe not.
Another film that a surprising number of people (including most of the major US critics) didn't pick up on. Maybe Ang Lee wanted to make an Asian story, period. It's done extremely well in Asia, won a bunch of awards - perhaps that was the most important thing to him.
Burton and Depp are doing publicity for Sweeney in Japan even as I type this. |
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| lady wakasa |
| Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 5:40 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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inlareviewer wrote: Burton and Depp are doing publicity for Sweeney in Japan even as I type this.
Ha! After watching Yaji and Kita - Sweeney Todd seems right up the Japanese alley. |
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| inlareviewer |
| Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 6:39 pm |
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lady wakasa wrote:
Ha! After watching Yaji and Kita - Sweeney Todd seems right up the Japanese alley. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 7:24 pm |
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| Totally disagree with the skepticism about Juno's parents and their relative complacence about their daughter's pregnancy. First of all, they were nowhere near like "whatever." They were concerned. But I got the feeling they were both aging hippies of some sort and didn't really worry about Juno because deep down they knew she was an intelligent and caring person. They were not "generic parents." They were specific characters--the kind of characters who don't go ballistic about unwed motherhood, even when it's in the family. |
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| lshap |
| Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 7:43 pm |
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Site Admin
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lady wakasa wrote: Befade wrote: I think the title, No Country for Old Men....... explains that the story is really Bell's story.
Yeah, but I think a surprising number of people didn't pick up on that.
The title, "No Country For Old Men", suggests one angle of a very multifaceted prism. It's hardly the film's single touchstone, and it certainly doesn't singlehandedly transform the story into an ode to old age. Sure, the Tommy Lee Jones subplot (yes, it was a subplot) carried a certain philosophical angst, but the film could've been called "No Haven For The Hunted", or "Sleeping Dogs Lie", or "Sociopath Kills Everyone". It's just a title, as removed from the story as the end credits. |
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| Marc |
| Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 8:03 pm |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
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Quote: They were specific characters--the kind of characters who don't go ballistic about unwed motherhood, even when it's in the family.
Billy,
there's a middle ground between taking their daughter's pregnancy in stride and going ballistic. Everything in JUNO was a setup for some hip witticism. People don't behave like this in real life. Dad's talkin' jive and his 16 year old daughter
is channeling Lester bangs. |
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| jeremy |
| Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 8:28 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: Derby, England and Hamilton, New Zealand (yes they are about 12,000 miles apart)
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I'm with Marc on this one.
Given all their unquestioning support, shouldn't at least one parent have accompanied Juno to the abortion clinic or found a better one - it was a dump and it was picketed! Boy would I have given Su “Babies want to get borned" Chin something to think about if Juno had been my daughter. |
_________________
I am angry, I am ill, and I'm as ugly as sin.
My irritability keeps me alive and kicking.
I know the meaning of life, it doesn't help me a bit.
I know beauty and I know a good thing when I see it. |
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| Nancy |
| Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 9:16 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4607
Location: Norman, OK
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lady wakasa wrote: inlareviewer wrote: Burton and Depp are doing publicity for Sweeney in Japan even as I type this.
Ha! After watching Yaji and Kita - Sweeney Todd seems right up the Japanese alley.
I agree. I'm still trying to get more people to watch Y&K. |
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