(no subject)
I've been to the movies twice in 3 days. The first movie was so thrilling it knocked my socks off. The second movie was so fucking riveting, so fucking gut wrenching, that I almost COULDN'T HANDLE IT. It's rarely that often a movie just blows me away... but this movie did.
The first movie I saw was No Country For Old Men with Jordan and Ehren. Let me just say, that the Coen Brothers are probably my favorite directors and my favorite writers. I really can't think of another director who I can literally say "I love every one of your movies and await the next"... but, for me, that's the case with these guys.
Now I don't mean to rain on No Country's parade, but I watched another new movie that was just fucking brilliant... you could literally FEEL the audiences grotesque astonishment in the theatre.... it's called Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. It's fairly low budget, shot on HD video, and still in limited release. It has little actual action, but features an all-star cast: Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Albert Finney, & Marissa Tomei. It's written by a new comer who tried for 7 years to get his screenplay made into a movie. It finally hit the festival circuit this past September, and is NOW being released in theatres.
This fucking movie is INTENSE. So horrific, so thrilling, that you simultaneously can't watch but you have to watch.
Now, I don't want to spoil it, but here's the basics: (do NOT do any research on it because most of the plot descriptions I've read on websites give away a couple key things that you don't want to know going into the theatre)
At the beginning of the movie, a botched crime is committed. The first half the movie jumps around in time as it reveals each character's life prior to the crime and how they're intertwined with the other characters. In doing so, each character is not painted as inherently good nor inherently bad. In fact, you generally begin to feel sympathetic for ALL the characters which ultimately adds to the drama from the audience's perspective.
But the true beauty of the movie happens about halfway through... something is revealed about the crime... to both the audience and the characters in the movie... that turns a horrible situation into a literal "point of no return". And the beauty of this moment comes from the fact that the screenwriter lets the audience DISCOVER this over the course of the scene. Some people will get it immediately, others won't get it til the end of the scene where's it's blatantly revealed... I figured it out about halfway through the moment and then one at a time I heard gasps through the audience as they began to realize it themselves. I felt nauseous. It was that horrific. The hole that is dug becomes so deep that... well... you realize that there's a MILLION ways the movie could end and NONE of them are going to be pretty.
The final 15 minutes are nothing but breathtaking.
Wow, what a good movie. Oh, and for the record, Marissa Tomei is SO FUCKING HOT. OMG. She's 43 years old and she's gotta be in my top 3. Hell, she's pretty much naked for the first half the movie! OMG SO FUCKING HOT. HAWT.
Here's the trailer.. it's a very good trailer, but probably one of those rare instances where the movie is actually far better:
The first movie I saw was No Country For Old Men with Jordan and Ehren. Let me just say, that the Coen Brothers are probably my favorite directors and my favorite writers. I really can't think of another director who I can literally say "I love every one of your movies and await the next"... but, for me, that's the case with these guys.
Now I don't mean to rain on No Country's parade, but I watched another new movie that was just fucking brilliant... you could literally FEEL the audiences grotesque astonishment in the theatre.... it's called Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. It's fairly low budget, shot on HD video, and still in limited release. It has little actual action, but features an all-star cast: Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Albert Finney, & Marissa Tomei. It's written by a new comer who tried for 7 years to get his screenplay made into a movie. It finally hit the festival circuit this past September, and is NOW being released in theatres.
This fucking movie is INTENSE. So horrific, so thrilling, that you simultaneously can't watch but you have to watch.
Now, I don't want to spoil it, but here's the basics: (do NOT do any research on it because most of the plot descriptions I've read on websites give away a couple key things that you don't want to know going into the theatre)
At the beginning of the movie, a botched crime is committed. The first half the movie jumps around in time as it reveals each character's life prior to the crime and how they're intertwined with the other characters. In doing so, each character is not painted as inherently good nor inherently bad. In fact, you generally begin to feel sympathetic for ALL the characters which ultimately adds to the drama from the audience's perspective.
But the true beauty of the movie happens about halfway through... something is revealed about the crime... to both the audience and the characters in the movie... that turns a horrible situation into a literal "point of no return". And the beauty of this moment comes from the fact that the screenwriter lets the audience DISCOVER this over the course of the scene. Some people will get it immediately, others won't get it til the end of the scene where's it's blatantly revealed... I figured it out about halfway through the moment and then one at a time I heard gasps through the audience as they began to realize it themselves. I felt nauseous. It was that horrific. The hole that is dug becomes so deep that... well... you realize that there's a MILLION ways the movie could end and NONE of them are going to be pretty.
The final 15 minutes are nothing but breathtaking.
Wow, what a good movie. Oh, and for the record, Marissa Tomei is SO FUCKING HOT. OMG. She's 43 years old and she's gotta be in my top 3. Hell, she's pretty much naked for the first half the movie! OMG SO FUCKING HOT. HAWT.
Here's the trailer.. it's a very good trailer, but probably one of those rare instances where the movie is actually far better:
Click to view