more movies

[ellen_datlow]

Today I saw No Country for Old Men and for once, I agree with Lucius. It's not bad but not as good as Before the Devil Knows You're Dead because it doesn't have the gravitas of the former movie. Also the Woody Harrelson character IS utterly gratuitous to the movie (something else Lucius told me). However, what it does have is the monstrous character that Javier Bardem plays. Wowie! Tommy Lee Jones is also good. All the acting is great and if Bardem doesn't get an academy award nomination (along with Philip Seymour Hoffman for BTDKYD) they'll have been cheated.

Then tonight watched The Prince and the Showgirl. Laurence Olivier (stars and directed!?!) with Marilyn Monroe. Zero chemistry but it was lovely to see Marilyn at her best. Charming and bubbly and adorable. And Kiki's Delivery Service about a young witch (13) who as tradition has it, must leave her parents and hometown with her broomstick and her black cat to learn witchcraft in another town or city that feels right to her. Another anime charmer by Miyazaki and the Ghibli studio.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Sorry I missed NCFOM but I haven't recovered from Before The Devil... yet. I have never felt as hopelessly trapped as I did by that movie. It does what noir was always supposed to do.

Rick

[bev-vincent.livejournal.com]

I thought Harrelson was miscast in any case, whether the character was necessary or not. His grin seemed terribly out of place with the tone of the film. The character resolutions didn't work for me as well on film as they did in the book, either—especially since we don't get to see first-hand what happens to the guy who's been the focus of the plot for 85% of the movie.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

I didn't particularly mind not seeing what happened. We KNOW what happened.

[cinriter.livejournal.com]

I agree with both of you - I thought Harrelson was miscast and I thought his character was pointless in the film.

But Bardem...wow. Love the idea of a psychotic with an incredibly terrible hair cut!

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

You could tell how crazy he was from his very first act of violence --that look on his face --yikes!

[bev-vincent.livejournal.com]

It was just that after being with him for every excruciating moment up to that point, it was a sudden and unexpected distancing.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Oh yes. Definitely. And obviously intentional (for whatever reason of the screenwriters/directors).

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

Kiki's Delivery Service is my favorite Miyazaki.

[foresthouse.livejournal.com]

My boyfriend wants to go see NCFOM, so we will probably venture to it soon. :)

Kiki's Delivery Service sounds fun. I liked Howl's Moving Castle from Studio Ghibli a lot.