Oh You Can't Stop What's Coming...

There Will Be Blood Trailer #3
Super hyped up now. The music was crazzzy and looks like Daniel Day-Lewis gives one of the most sinister and devilish performances ever. I can't wait.
**** out of ****
No Country for Old Men(dir. Coen Brothers)
More like No Country for Overrated Movies. Just kidding. To an extent. It's easy to see how it's getting such high notices by the critics because it's accessible to a wide audience and it's obviously well-crafted, but much like Pan's Labyrinth, just because it's probably the best reviewed movie of the year doesn't mean it's anywhere near the best. It's also made by filmmakers that most will say have had an artistic slouch with their two previous films so maybe it's just that the critics were excited that they made something actually good after those two films(haven't seen either, just going by the critical reaction). I'm sort of a contrarian, but since this was easily one of my most anticipated films of the year, I feel that it's just not me trying to be "different" from everybody else. It's just not all that great. There's definite moments of brilliance, but in the package it's in, it's hard to say it approaches anything resembling a masterpiece. The film is sort of an artfully done thriller in it's first three quarters of the film and during this portion's running time, it's hard not to say that it wears out it's welcome and then the film becomes something more interesting and then eventually fizzles out with that tangent. The film's ability at creating a sense of place with it's focus on little details is commendable, but it's not equally able at creating an effective dramatic story. There's something inherently dramatic about a man getting chased down by pretty much a killing machine, but there's brief glimpses that show that the film could have been better like a scene where Llewelyn is leaning against a rail after an encounter with Chigurh all bloody and looking like he's about to cry. It's a very emotionally involving moment in a rather cold film filled with violence. Anton Cigurh is an interesting character and probably the most memorable, but since he creates all the violence in the picture, it's hard to really embrace him or the film. I'd say that's most likely more the source material's fault than the Coen Brothers due to McCarthy's extreme non-description of characters in at least the book I attempted to read, Blood Meridian, and what I've heard of The Road. And much like those two books, this film is filled with violence and you'll probably end up walking away with images of blood in your head rather than a character's face after a shoot out. The film is still emotionally engaging and it would be fine if it ended on a good note, but you know, of course, it doesn't. I can't really imagine how anybody could defend this ending. It feels so tacked-on especially when a scene that precedes it would have made a really good ending. Heck, I would haven given this film a higher recommendation if it wasn't for the ending. Some could argue that it brings to the forefront the film's theme of violence being a part of human nature for as long as we existed, but you still have to wonder if it's really necessary? It's almost the equivalent of the ending of Psycho where someone tries to dumb down and sum up the picture for the audience, but more anticlimactic and out of place. I've heard the book ended that way, but why not improve on the book by excising that ending? It's still a good film, but when viewed as a whole, it just could have been so much more.
*** out of ****
P.S.
The more I think about this movie, the more I dislike it. My gut reaction right now is ** because I'm starting to feel totally indifferent to this film on an emotional and intellectual level. The violence, while abundant, had no weight and the characters are more like ciphers than actual flesh and blood now that I think about it. Anton Cirgurh, while fascinating at the time, might as well have been played by Arnold Schwarzenegger since he's pretty much The Terminator. There's also an apparent lack of conviction with the film's message, which isn't totally surprising since it's neither profound or new. The world isn't in the greatest shape, but it seems particularly puzzling why the violence in the film really didn't hint at this message until Tommy Lee Jones's character started to talk about the violent and scary times we're living in. It's a fault of the filmmakers even if aesthetically in terms of image and sound, the film is rather pleasing. Disappointing and overrated.