chauncey goes to the movies

so i recently established thursday nights from now on as my movie night...and i've just had the pleasure of witnessing two fantastic films, 'no country for old men' and 'there will be blood'. i created somewhat of a grading system using instead of stars i'm using c's (for chauncey hehe). i usually prefer going to see more arthouse style films at the angelika or the sunshine down on the lower east side or soho but if i do go to a mainstream theatre i try to catch more avant garde films...surprisingly i went to see two that are nominated for golden globes....both leads in both movies gave oscar worthy performances in my opinion....


no country for old men
c c c c c c c
javier bardem devilishly portrays the deliciously sinister anton chigurh, the type of villian you are in awe of the entire film. his peformance was breathtaking! his ahead of their time weapons were fascinating and the way he psychologically fucked with each of his would be victims and even people he decided to spare was exhilarating. he basically let absolutely nothing stand in the way of him and what he desired. josh brolin, who is downright hot in this movie, plays the man who stumbles upon what anton is looking for and tries to getaway with a very large sum of money...certainly not the slightest bit aware of the capabilities and relentlessness of the monster that is trying to reclaim what is his. the film was tense and startling in its blatant gore and the fact that a soundtrack was completely absent. it's absence added so much to the drama it actually was painful waiting for what was going to happen next. the painful in a not so good way parts and the reason it only got 4 c's is because of the shitty job tommy lee jones did as the narrarator and the unnecessary casting of woody harrelson as the renegade private investigator type doing a cheesy cowboy impersonation. tommy lee jones played the old man that is was no country for but his performance was unconvincing and seemingly half ass. aside from javier's funky hairdo, you really couldn't tell when the story took place until near the end of the movie when the year is displayed on the screen and that was a bonus as the story could have taken place in any time...past, present or future. i definitely recommend checking this film out for javier chilling performance and for the fantastic cinematography...so many scenes were shot as though they were gorgeous paintings come to life.


there will be blood
c c c c c c c
wow! just saw this film a couple hours ago and honestly i was so pleasantly surprised by it from beginning to end. although this and 'no country' were vastly different in storyline and production, i consider them companion pieces because of their renegade cowboyesque attitudes. daniel day lewis has definitely given the performance of his career! he was the relentless villian that you shamelessly rooted for the entire movie, having been in his position (on a lesser scale of course) being the victim of deceit and rightfully owning a mistrust in everyday people. you feel his pain and you agree with his sacrifices and you admire his survival tactics. paul dano is double cast as a set of twins and gives a riveting performance as eli sunday, a young minister, who sees a monetary opportunity to advance his church through daniel plainview's (day lewis) plans to buy out an entire town in order to secure his oil company. his sermons were wild and frenetic, resembling the comical televangelists of today. in perfect opposition, i admired plainview's complete disregard for religion and the 'power of the lord', especially at the turn of the century. a way of thinking that was sheer revolutionary at that time. it was also an interesting view of this country at a time when water was something you only got from a well and the industrial revolution was simply a newborn. the soundtrack was thrilling and dark with simple orchestrations accented with sharp spanks of the lower keys and definitely added to the images of dusty, dry landscapes and murky oil rigs. dillon freasier, who plays daniel's somewhat 'adopted' son and 'business partner', shows huge promise as a future major acting star, showing great emotional strides for his age, all the while maintaining a childlike innocence within such a guilty lifestyle. i definitely recommend going out to see this one...i'm also interested in reading the book from which the screenplay was derived called "oil!". as with any adaptation for the screen...you're left to wonder how much deeper into each character the author went that wouldn't translate to a two hour film.

so i'm rooting for either javier or daniel to win an oscar...i'm sure they'll both be nominated...they better be! next movie i want to see is 'the orphanage'