just call it, FRIEND-O
Hey guys. So, my week's been pretty awesome so far, if not quite random. Monday and Tuesday were my first TAFE classes, which were different from what I expected but still fun and I'm looking forward to how the rest of this year will go. Wednesday, I headed to the doctor to see what's happening with my acne medication, after I had to stop taking the antibotics the dermo prescribed me after I had side-effects. The result of that is I'm going on the pill (as certain types of the pill help to reduce acne) which I'm happy about for various reasons that I won't go into for the sake of spacedivided. And finally yesterday I caught up with my friend Heather, which was lovely as I hadn't seen her in ages, and we saw
No Country For Old Men
In a few words: Cryptic, bloody, suspenseful, creeeeeeeeeeepy.
In a long rambly sentence or two: Kickass movie in the whole LOL HE JUST KILLED THAT GUY WITH A PRESSURIZED AIR GUN kind of way, but also very cryptic and psychological; light on the dialogue with a lot of heavy meaning when words are said. Stupidly amazing performances!
Actual thoughts/discussion:
Oh, and Lost premiered last night! WOO LOST! But I found it to be a bit of an underwhelming ep for me (though I'm certain things will get going soon enough, and I have several things to say about Jack's Hopies VS Locke's Nopies that I can't be bothered saying right now). Oh and NOT ENOUGH DESMOND. Brotha. I'm still waiting for that episode sweetrina said should happen, where Jack and Claire find out they're related entitled Brothas and Sistas.
In today's big fandom news, all signs point to the writer's strike being over. We survived, you guys. We made it. Through all the hard times, all those times when we thought we couldn't survive, all those instances where everything was working against us and there was nothing we could do but band together and scratch and claw our way to the light shining in the distance...by god, WE MADE IT THROUGH. *group hugs, jears and celebratory pie*
...Except we probably shouldn't celebrate yet, because it isn't over yet but will probably be soon. Sigh. I'm really getting tired of this now; not the writers striking but all their offers and deals being refused by the networks. Whatevz at that point, I guess, it's over when it's over, but hopefully that will be soon and not in ten gazillion years. If you'd like to know what will be happening with your show of choice post-strike, go here and check it out.
Speaking of TV, new stuff that's returning down here this week: House (4 eps left), Numb3rs (8 s4 left), Lost (8 s4 eps left) and Grey's (s4 left). I also managed to grab Roswell s2 and s3 yesterday for $60 all up, so I have those to watch as well. I also have to write a personal expository piece for my Journalism class so off I go. Have good evenings!
No Country For Old Men
In a few words: Cryptic, bloody, suspenseful, creeeeeeeeeeepy.
In a long rambly sentence or two: Kickass movie in the whole LOL HE JUST KILLED THAT GUY WITH A PRESSURIZED AIR GUN kind of way, but also very cryptic and psychological; light on the dialogue with a lot of heavy meaning when words are said. Stupidly amazing performances!
Actual thoughts/discussion:
- K, so, I didn't actually plan to see this movie with Heather-Bear as much as we turned up to the theatre at a quarter to 2 and this movie happened to be starting in 15 minutes. I actually thought I'd come out disappointed but no, this movie is awesome in a lot of really weird ways. It has elements that have been underdone in many a film and yet made this one fantastic.
- It's a thinking movie and an adult one - not a lot, if anything, is coherently explained and the audience is left to make a lot of their own judgment, especially as to the motives of the characters. However that works really well when your principal characters are hunters, killers and survivors. The only somewhat morally sound character here would be Tommy Lee Jones' sheriff, but even he is difficult to call as the voiceover at the start is him telling of how he sent a teenage boy to the electric chair for killing a girl on questionable reason. I liked how haunted by his past the sheriff was, though, living in the shadow of the war he fought in and his father. He was enigmatic but also somewhat troubled, and it felt like he kind of wore his heart on his sleeve. I'm kind of sad Tommy Lee Jones isn't getting a heap of attention for this movie because this was his best performance in a long time (though I am glad he's getting his nods for In The Valley Of Elah).
- I really loved how this movie explored different sides of a hunt: hunting for prey, being hunted and trying to protect the hunted. Javier Bardem probably sums the whole film up best when he said "I think the movie speaks of a lack of meaning in violence. I embody violence, I am violence itself in the movie, and there is a man ... who is trying to understand the meaning of it and at the end there is no meaning."
- JAVIER BARDEM. JAVIER BARDEM. Good Lord, I would not want to be his real-life girlfriend and see this movie because I would be scared of him in the dark after that. I mean, bloody hell. Every single second he's on film is creepy. It was so strange to see a killer kill and not be looking for either repentance or for more bloodshed, but rather because of what I saw as control dynamics. Heather and I actually got into a debate over why he did what he did and particularly his scene with Carla - I thought a lot of Chigurh's (Bardem's character) actions dealt with fate VS control, that Chigurh had built himself up to the point that he believed he was in control of fate and in particular, other people's fates. It came to a light with his coin-tossing, where he would always insist the victim call it, which was an obvious method of control to me. Throughout the film Bardem never shows us distress or discomfort, until the scene with Carla where she says that he decides whether or not to kill her, not the coin. What struck me then was the change in emotion on Chigurh's face as if he'd never considered the two to be separate, and of course he walks out of the house and checks his shoes without the audience hearing a shot. Now, Heather, based on the shoes, thought he had killed her but based on the control dynamics thing and the fact that we've heard a shot for every other person he killed in the film I'm actually of the opinion he didn't. (Then again maybe it made more sense that he did. WHO KNOWS!).
- If I didn't illustrate it well enough in my last point, Javier Bardem is absolutely fantastic in this and deserves the Best Supporting Actor Oscar wholeheartedly. In fact, considering the other nominees I'd be surprised if he doesn't have it in the bag - I think his only real competition would be Casey Affleck. Add to the reasons Bardem should win that this is one of few English language movies he's done (he's Spanish) and that he doesn't actually know how to drive.
- Onto the other actors: I've already mentioned Javier's greatness and Tommy Lee's coolness, thus I now have to mention Josh Brolin. Dude, talk about unappreciated, cause he's really good in this too and nobody's mentioned a single peep about him. That said, though, he's been a in a lot of bombs over the past few years, was also in Grindhouse and appears to be stalking Tommy Lee Jones, so let's hope this one catapults him up there. Also, he's strangely hot in this movie. I think it's the fact that he looks like and plays his character like a modern version of an Old West cowboy.
- The scene where Chigurh is in the motel room doing up his leg, complete with spreading down a big sheet of plastic to avoid bloodstains, removing the bullet using tweezers, taking an iodine bath and giving himself several self-injections of lidocaine KICKED ASS LOL. Yes, it's a cliche pulled straight from any action movie, but it is an awesome one. However Heather couldn't stand to watch it because they were doing these quite lengthy zooms of him loading up the syringe and sticking it in his leg, the blood pooling out, etc. (Quite obviously this is not a film for those who dislike the bloodz).
- This movie is way funnier than it should be. As one example, I think the entire audience snorted in amusement during the (incredibly unsettling) scene at the convenience store where Chigurh has just flipped the coin and says "Just call it...FRIEND-OH." You can see that bit at the start of the IMDB trailer, if you are so inclined.
Oh, and Lost premiered last night! WOO LOST! But I found it to be a bit of an underwhelming ep for me (though I'm certain things will get going soon enough, and I have several things to say about Jack's Hopies VS Locke's Nopies that I can't be bothered saying right now). Oh and NOT ENOUGH DESMOND. Brotha. I'm still waiting for that episode sweetrina said should happen, where Jack and Claire find out they're related entitled Brothas and Sistas.
In today's big fandom news, all signs point to the writer's strike being over. We survived, you guys. We made it. Through all the hard times, all those times when we thought we couldn't survive, all those instances where everything was working against us and there was nothing we could do but band together and scratch and claw our way to the light shining in the distance...by god, WE MADE IT THROUGH. *group hugs, jears and celebratory pie*
...Except we probably shouldn't celebrate yet, because it isn't over yet but will probably be soon. Sigh. I'm really getting tired of this now; not the writers striking but all their offers and deals being refused by the networks. Whatevz at that point, I guess, it's over when it's over, but hopefully that will be soon and not in ten gazillion years. If you'd like to know what will be happening with your show of choice post-strike, go here and check it out.
Speaking of TV, new stuff that's returning down here this week: House (4 eps left), Numb3rs (8 s4 left), Lost (8 s4 eps left) and Grey's (s4 left). I also managed to grab Roswell s2 and s3 yesterday for $60 all up, so I have those to watch as well. I also have to write a personal expository piece for my Journalism class so off I go. Have good evenings!