An Academy Out Of It's Mind!
I like a lot of movies that were Best Picture Oscar winners. Gandhi, Amadeus, Chariots of Fire, Gladiator, American Beauty... I can go on. This year's best picture winner in my opinion was a terrible movie. I think the basic plot shouldn't have holes for a picture to be great. Acting, directing, cinematography, can only go so far. No Country for Old Men had a weak plot.
<--------Spoiler Warning----->
The first half of the movie is slightly interesting. The protagonist and the villain are both trying to pot a million dollars neither own. One of them is poor and good, the other is devil incarnate, randomly killing people for no good reason. And guess who finally stays alive and free? Tommy Lee Jones plays a cop with an undecipherable Texas accent. In fact a Texan friend complained that he couldn't figure out what was being said in many parts.
In comparison some of the other nominees were much better. Juno, for instance was a simple funny movie, again with great acting and major names. Among my favorite movies this year was Marjane Satrapi's "Persepolis". It is the story of an Iranian girl growing up during the Iranian Revolution in the form of graphic novel. Simply brilliant. It makes a big statement, about the proletariat, how some people use "opiate of the masses" to create a repressive society.
2 comments:
I completely agree with you about No Country...I was sorely disappointed, especially given all the hype. It was a weird, random movie, too long, with Javier Bardem's performance as the only high point. And I couldn't get Tommy Lee's accent either.
I don't agree with you.
Juno tried real hard to be witty and got it right in the beginning, but the 'attitude' of the girl was overplayed. Moreover, what were they trying to focus on in the film? Her pregnancy? Her see-saw relationship with her boyfriend who, turns out to be a goody goody boy in the end after not caring two hoots about her during the pregnancy? Or her relationship with the would-be parents? Or all of it? Or none?
'No Country..' though it has no plot, per se, engages in no cliches. The baddie isnt in the business for the money. He has his own set of principles. His performance is quite scary and at the same time, brings life to the tale. His clash with the texan is exciting. Though I too didn't understand where Tommy Lee Jones' character fits in, I think it was a better choice than Juno.
Post a Comment