dremble wedge

No acting awards for any Americans... Expect a clean sweep next year!

Third Man

I cared more about the Oscars this year than the previous two, the quality of films was far higher this year.

No Country for Old Men is excellent I would recommend it to anyone who likes good storytelling told unconventionally, there's no popcorn munching big bang ending which is so formulaic of violent dramas in this film but then it is so much more than just a gun toting festival.

There Will Be Blood is a fantastic film how anyone can call this boring I'll never be able to work out, the performance of Lewis is breathtaking and the film itself looks magnificent, the supporting cast is very strong as well, it's no surprise that this film won Best Cinemaphotograhy it's a beautiful piece to behold.

I actually thought of the five nominated Best Picture's, Atonement was by far the weakest, it never succeeded where the book did and was for me a bit of a let down.

Simon

vanmunchen

I used to enjoy the Oscars when the great stars were still around and active, either handing out or receiving awards such as James Stewart, Kirk Douglas, Audrey Hepburn, John Wayne, William Holden, Ingrid Bergman, Henry Fonda, Cary Grant, Burt Lancaster and Elizabeth Taylor. All of whom had such great style. I care little for the present generation of stars or the films. This years programme was tedious in the extreme.

David Brent

I see Tilda Swinton caused a bit of controversy by turning up at the awards with her young male lover and not her husband.

Dave.

John Llewellyn Moxey

What is the world coming to?

John

Steve Crook

Terrible isn't it?

Or did I mean ...
Good on you Tilda, go out & enjoy yourself and leave the old man at home

Steve

John Llewellyn Moxey

LOL

John

penfold

How unlike the home life of our own dear Queen....

Good luck to her, I say. I'd have gone if she'd asked....

Incidentally, who is she married to??

I like the way she thinks too...this is a longish article, and starts unpromisingly, but stick with it.

Vertigo Magazine, Article - A Letter To A Boy From His Mother, by By Tilda Swinton

Bit of a Bay Window, what??

DB7

I had high hopes for this given all the hype but scratch the surface and it's a thinly-plotted thriller enhanced by some excellent cinematography. The ending might have won me round but I just thought it a letdown.

Third Man

I think viewing a film like 'No Country For Old Men' which has no straight pattern of events can be off putting but rather than follow a clearly defined plot I took the film at a more existential level and it was the feelings that the film drew on that so enamoured me to its story. Rather than look at the basic plot of the film itself it was what the plot went through to get to it's conclusion that I felt was so remarkable, character study, human fallibility, corporate and criminal cohesion, the isolation of the older generation and finally fate, you can't stop what's coming.
Of course you may find my view skewered and off course a wee bit but that's what I like about this type of film, the viewpoints and feelings that people get from it are a very subjective experience.

Simon

DB7

I certainly wouldn't call Bardham's a character study, he appears straight out of a Hollywood blockbuster where the villain is almost superhuman. The weapon was a nice twist but highly fanciful. I think a nail gun was used in one of the Lethal Weapon films - all good fun but they do have a safety mechinism in fact.

As for the ending, there's hundred's of responses to the 'mist' ending on the forum below to I don't feel too left out. I gather the ending is the same in the novel, and maybe it works better in print.
» Debate: "No Country for Old Men" Ending >> Meet In the Lobby -- Movie News And Your Views

Third Man

No I think the real character study is on Sheriff Bell but I think maybe the Coen's failed to get this across in the film itself.

Chigurgh (Bardem) is a trained ruthless assassin a machine he is something that any normal human being would be afraid of, he is our darkest deepest fear he asks questions we cannot answer but feel obliged to respond to, he poses every question we wanted to know but cannot answer he's our nemesis someone to look up to but never admire. He's our scratch the surface and we might find ourself.

scholes

Not really

lordtednfs

Ahem!

Was I right or wat?

Looking forward to catching up with the winners over the next few months.

__________________
Hooked off the line

TimR

We are too violent as a nation - I am in sad agreement. And I would not see No Country.

But not all "yanks" are "obsessed with violence" and Hollywood is not the US.

I would usually agree with this in a general sense, but this is more than a little over-the-top. There are quality American films that are still made, even today.

And if the imported British television crime dramas get any more brutal and violent, you will have to find a mirror and start asking those same questions....

"Home was never like this"

"Mine was"