Sunday, November 11, 2007

No Country for Old Men (IMDB) (Netflix)
The blog is back, maybe. The latest Coen brothers' effort is worth at least a temporary resurrection, with first-rate source material (Cormac McCarthy's book) and ruthless execution by brothers Ethan and Joel, house cinematographer Roger Deakins, and and a terrific cast quartet of Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Woody Harrelson, and Tommy Lee Jones.

It's a West Texas crime drama set in the 1970's. Brolin's character comes across a business transaction that has gone spectacularly awry, and finds the quid for someone else's quo. Bad idea, and soon a hit man (Javier Bardem) sporting a pageboy haircut and a unique weapon is on him with Terminator-like determination. Because it's the Coen brothers, it's bloody, gripping and sometimes funny, often all at the same time. If you've seen Fargo, Blood Simple or The Man Who Wasn't There, you know what I mean.

Safety tips--pay attention to Jones's discussion of his dreams well into the movie. It may seem like the movie is taking a breather, but it's not. And if a guy walks up to you with a compressed gas cylinder attached to with a hose, put the car back in Drive and floor it.