Friday, February 01, 2008

No Country for Old Men

No Country for Old Men (Film):
Here is a movie that could appeal to two different audience for two very different reasons, however due to its limited release, and the way the movie is, will never get the acclaim it deserves.
The film follows the exploits of Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin), a Joe six pack, who one day while out hunting stumbles across a drug deal gone wrong. Things get complicated when he revisits the scene to help a dying survivor. After this he is on the run from a killer obviously hired by a drug king pin and some members of the other party involved in the deal. The film also has two other main protagonists, the killer AntonChigurh (Javier Bardem), who I will get to, in great detail later, and Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) a sheriff who is trying to get to Llewelyn to protect him from the hell he is bringing down on himself. The film shows that there is no country for old men, the world changes and several protagonists that are unable to keep up with the new way things are done.
The acting in this is superb, with Javier Bardems killer stealing the show. Here I have to give credit to the Cohens for creating the scariest killer since Hannibal Lecter. I think his performance in this will be remembered as just as intense, dangerous and unnerving, albeit for different reasons. In one scene Anton chats with a gas station attendant, this scene has such a strong sense of anticipation about it, it might just be the best scene all year. However the castisn't limited to just the three main characters, Woody Harrelson effortlessly pulls off another killer working for and against Anton, while Kelly Macdonald is perfect as the attentive and worried wife of Llewelyn.
A movie with an uncompromising message to tell is rare these days, that it is told so intriguingly is a testament to the Cohen's skill and the actors craft.

Case Designate Cloverfield

Reviews:
Cloverfield (Film):
I just yesterday went and saw Cloverfield. if you ha vent heard of this movie, well, that was kind of the point. The first trailer, seen here, didn't even have the name of the movie with it, the only information it gave was the release date. None of the promotion really told you what it was about. It was obvious New York was being attacked, by a large, or possible several large things. Leading up to the release there was a lot of viral marketing, including an Alternate Reality Game, focusing on theTagruato corporation, and its big selling drink, Slusho . All of this is fun and rewarding for those who got into it (or are jumping on after the movie, like me), however it doesn't help me talk about the movie itself.
Cloverfield is a monster survival movie. At its core it is that simple, what makes it different, is what makes it so engaging. The whole movie is shown from the P.O.V of a handy cam. It starts off with a going away party for Rob. He is going to become vice president of a company in Japan (In theARG we learn it is Tagruato, in particular Slusho ). The party, and indeed the city is crashed by a monster. What follows is a more realistic (although still a little too convenient at places) tale of what ordinary people would do in that situation. Rob, his brother Jason, Jason's girlfriend, Robs best friend (And the camera operator)Hud and a fellow part guest named Marlena all try and escape the destruction caused by the monster. As they are fleeing Rob gets a call from his 'girlfriend' Beth, who is injured but still alive. He decides to go and save her. Not too much else can be said about the plot, as to do so would be to spoil it. However the characters are fleshed out pretty well, mostly during the short party sequence. Robs relationship with Beth, his friendship withHud and his relationship with his brother and his girlfriend is all presented well, however it never feels forced.
Comparing this against any other monster movie is difficult. The film is supposed to be the recordings made by Hud of the event, and the audience is treated as such. There is no explanation for what the monster is or where it came from (Again theARG does give more clues). It is a refreshing change in presentation, particularly because, like the Blair Witch Project, the movie never breaks from its reality. It never switches to a third person view to show them running away from the monster, the movie does give some good shots of the monster, however it is presented naturally through the story, first through a glimpse between buildings, then more is seen whenHud video tapes a news report.

The movie however is not perfect. I think the biggest problem it has, is an almost unavoidable one. The line it walks between showing a realistic response to the terror, and the balance between being an engaging movie is difficult to maintain. Some parts come off as a little too convenient, or a little too cliche, these are kept to a minimum however, and for the most part it treats its material with a respect that it has never really gotten before. There are some slasher films, or action movies (In particular war movies) that try and convey it as realistic as possible, however never before has the monster genre had such an authentic experience. You are with them running through subway tunnels, ducking down in streets as the monster rampages over head, and most importantly you close enough to them to care when things go wrong. The acting is as expected, there isn't a huge range of acting needed to run around scared, however each of the characters is individual, you would not confuse them, nor are they ever lost in the crowd when compared to characters from other monster movies. There really isn't the melt down, can't go on scene. There is one scene like it, however it is kept in perspective.

I think the thing I like most about this movie is how much it has captivated my attention. Not only did I completely give myself over to the experience while in the movie, reading and discussing the back story and possible events around it, is just as exciting. Learning about theARG , possible theories as to what the monster is, where it came from all add to the movie, maybe not to the film itself, but to the movie as a cultural vehicle.

If you have seen the movie and would like to learn more about the ARG and the Cloverfield mythos, you should try this site (Which gives a run down of most of the stuff), or this one (For EVERYTHING Cloverfield).

You are going to HOLLYWOOD.

So if anyone is in L.A. when the Oscars are on, let me know we can meet up. Lana won tickets to the City of Angels, free air fare, free hotel. I cant WAIT.

I think I support some of the ideas of Scientology. Now calm down, don't run me out of town just yet. No I don't believe in the aliens or thetans or anything. After watching the AWARD VIDEO of Tom Cruise, If he is really saying that scientologists must get out there and help everyone, then that puts it about a thousand points higher than every other religion I have heard of. That is what the world should be, people helping others, not so that they will go to heaven, not because they share the same faith, just because its the right thing to do. I don't agree with the whole, throwing money at the church does anything other than KSW. Maybe I should start my own religion, mix in the best bits of all of it. Makes sense for a God to have a religion.

I think this is how the blog is going to go from here on out. Smaller posts, some full of links, some just rants. I cant believe I have chronicled more than a year of me mucking about. Its weird to think that there might be someone I have never met, in India, or Canada, or even the other side of Sydney, might be reading the inane sprouting of my mind.

After many, many years I realise why I don't always fit in. I'm from the Looking Glass. If you have no idea what I mean, read "Through the Looking Glass" by Lewis Carroll. I'm not strange, I'm just a mirror image of another me.

Monday, January 28, 2008

No Country for Old Posts

This is interesting, it shows the size of various planets & stars. Makes you realise that the largest known star is to our sun, as an ant is to an apartment block.

I always figured that being a game tester would be a great job. The more you look into it the less and less appealing it becomes, here is an article that details just how miserable a job it would be. Granted it is really testing hardware rather than games, but the game testing would not be much better.

You know what, Im with Bill Clinton, give him another four, no eight more years. Eight more years.

Some good work out tips, get better results from your workup by following this. Such as work out but keep cool, do two smaller workouts during the day etc.

I had heard of the side effects of most of these before (Acutane while effective is widely known to be pretty damaging, but herpes? At what point would you even consider it if that is a side effect), but here they are listed one after another, not pretty.

Heath Ledger died and that sucks. By far the funniest joke yet is if he hadn't finsihed filming his scenes for the new Batman they should just go the Bela Lugosi route and have someone walk around with a cape held up.