What's this guy supposed to be, the ultimate badass?

No Country For Old Men
Directed by Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Produced by Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, Scott Rudin
Written by Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, Cormac McCarthy (Novel)
Starring Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones, Kelly Macdonald, Woody Harrelson

No Country For Old Men "AWESOME" Trailer

Notes

• This movie never explicitly really states what's happening. I feel like I had to deduce a bunch of stuff on my own. So... that threw me off a bit.
• Dude! Tallahassee is in this movie! Alas, no zombies to kill. (Yeah I saw Zombieland a couple weeks ago.)
• There's pretty much no music in this movie, so you audiophiles should, uh, hear elsewhere.
• Josh Brolin ALMOST looked like Paul Rudd. Too bad it wasn't Paul Rudd.
• There were actually a couple funny parts! THANK YOU.

Things I Learned from No Country

• If you're looking for guns in Texas, look for dead Mexican bodies, because they usually have guns. (Uh... not meant to sound racist.)
• The U.S./Mexico border in 1980 kinda sucked when it came to security.

Recommended to

• Those who want to see gunshot wounds.
• Those who want nightmares of Javier Bardem.
• Those who like to think about stuff. Deeply.
• Those who enjoy any of the actors.
• Cowboys.

Not recommended to

• Impatient people.
• Those who are expecting an exciting thriller.
• Casual movie-goers.

Conclusion:

Let me first say this: This movie is a drama. There are some elements of thrill and horror, but above all else, it is a drama. That being said, the ending went totally over my head (spoilers coming). There wasn't really any climax, the last scene was just Tommy Lee Jones talking... it's almost as bad as the ending of The Red Pony. I don't care if you want lemonade, boy!

But the movie, for the most part, was well done - I greatly admire the Coen Brothers' non-traditional style of filming. The acting was top-notch (especially Javier Bardem as Chigurh), the setting was gorgeous, and a few key scenes made it worth a viewing. As for a SECOND viewing? ...Maybe not for another 30 years.

Don't they ever stop migrating?

The Birds (1963)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Produced by Alfred Hitchcock
Written by Daphne du Maurier (story), Evan Hunter (screenplay)
Starring Starring Tippi Hedren, Rod Taylor, Jessica Tandy

Notes

• It's weird how natural smoking is in the 60's.
• Tippi Hedren has such an entrancing voice... or isn't that how a lot of people talked back then? Third possibility: a 1960's microphone filter to make a voice sound awesome.
• It's creepy how the main three women in the movie all have the same hair cut! That's on purpose, right Hitchcock?! Oh, oh, to show how their heads are all similarly wrapped around the charms of Mitch??
• The little girl was a pretty bad actor. Again, I question if this just her or every little girl in the 60's.
• This is probably the only movie that can make me yell "WATCHOUT THERE'S A FREAKIN' CROW BEHIND YOU!"
• There seems to be a small amount of bird poop in the film.
  
• If this whole bird-attack craziness ever happened to us, I've thought of a simple solution. All we gotta do is get a whole bunch of those plastic six pack rings and place them all over the ground. The birds will succumb to our might of litter in no time.
• Did I just make a pollution joke..?

Things I learned from The Birds

• Back then, school children sang songs in class with no apparent purpose! (In English!)
  
• Flashlights used to be huge. (Physically speaking, not among consumers, although I'm not ruling that out as a possibility too.)
• Cars do, in fact, blow up if they catch in fire.

Recommended to

• Those who want to watch a horror film with fairly intricate character dynamics.
  
• Fans of Hitchcock films.
• Those who want to see people being attacked by birds. Boy, are YOU guys in for a treat!

Not Recommended to

• Those who get easily bored by old movies.
• Those who are looking for a horror film that matches the pace and gore of current horror movies.
  
• Ornithophobics.

Conclusion

This was my second Hitchcock movie and I, for the most part, enjoyed it. There are two great things I like about his films: the long narrative intros (albeit a little too long), and the memorable settings. (Totally wanna visit to Bodega Bay now!) I think the best part of the movie was not the creepy birds - no! It was the scenes where people were talking on phones! Which sounds a little odd, sure, but it is the film's pinnacle of the acting, directing, and cinematography! The ultimate scene would naturally be a bunch of birds talking on the phone, but sadly, Hitchcock did not deliver on that front.

You can't call it Frolie...

Children of Men (2006)
Directed by Alfonso Cuarón
Produced by Marc Abraham, Eric Newman, Iain Smith, Hilary Shor, Tony Smith, Thomas Bliss, Armyan Bernstein
Novel by P.D. James
Screenplay by Alfonso Cuarón, Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Clive Owen (Uncredited)
Starring Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Charlie Hunnam, Clare-Hope Ashitey

Children of Men Trailer

Notes:

• The image of tough Clive Owen in a business suit while wearing flip flops is pretty cool.
• I think this is the first time I've seen Michael Caine not helping a super agent or super hero, and instead, helping himself to a little futuristic weeeeeed...
• They either had an incredible baby actor, or an incredible CG team to make an incredible baby actor. (Although the CG team probably could've spent more time on that ping pong ball.)
• The actors going in out of cars on the RIGHT hand side kept confusing me. I kept thinking "oh wait, if they're in the passenger seat, who's driving..?"

Things I learned from Children of Men:

• In the future, doors will be too short for people of Clive Owen's height.
• Babies are born limp?! Oh that makes sense. Looks creepy. For a split second I thought the girl gave birth to a dead alien.

Recommended to:

• Those who like the trailer or the concept for the movie.
• Those who like deep, heavy, and thought-provoking films.
• Those who read the book?
• Those who like dystopia stories.
• Mothers (so they can be thankful of their children?)

Not recommended to:

• Those looking for something bright and happy.

Conclusion:

I'm a pretty delicious sucker for movies about crazy hypothetical situations. "What if no one could have a baby!?" "Yeah! I'll watch that!" But regardless of my initial bias, this was an excellent movie with a lot of exciting and tense moments, along with great acting and dramatic scenes. There was even a part where I said "oh my god!" out loud, and involuntary exclamatories are most often a good sign.

Coming soon: The Birds