Shouting Grounds

Wildly Popular ‘Iron Man’ Trailer To Be Adapted Into Full-Length Film

There are those moments in your life (increasingly so, now that the Internet is so ubiquitous) were you may experience something for the first time, only to find out later that the opportunities to do so are drastically limited, or worse yet, in your ignorance, you discover that you will never experience it again. This is case with myself and kung fu cinema.

I really didn’t start watching and buying movies until the end of the 90′s, about the time when the modern-classic age of hong kong cinema was coming to and end. China now had possession of Hong Kong and many famous directors had fled for fear that their craft would be handicapped in some way by the political shift that was taking place. The great films of the 80′s and 90′s had already made their mark on the collective soul of chinese action cinema, and I was seeing it all for the first time.

The Prodigal Son

Out of the movies I’ve seen, “The Prodigal Son” film stood out. It stood out from the thousands of films because of it’s technical merit and because the respect for the chosen technique, featured in the story; Wing Chun.

No…not the band Wang Chun, or whatever…Wing Chun is a close-range Chinese fighting style. It is the style that Bruce Lee had been proficient in prior to creating his own forms. The secret behind the style is that the practitioner can defend and attack at the same time, without wasting energy with wild movement. Whether or not it could stand up to a Brazilian Ju-Jitsu onslaught (see “no”) is not my concern. It is a poetic style and lends itself well to being the featured art of a kung fu film.

Here is a scene from The Prodigal Son, which is, in my opinion, the finest technical fight scene I’ve ever seen in a film:

The fight scene is masterful in adhering to the rules of Wing Chun and not only is it fast, but it’s technically flawless. Very cool. That’s one that benefits from a slow-motion viewing or two.

Along with the riveting action sequences and technical accuracy there’s a great story and some comedy too. As with most Hong Kong action cinema you get a little of everything. One second someone’s wife could be getting raped, and the next there’ll be a fart joke. Couple this with the fact that the bad guy always gets killed/defeated and you now have the principle reasons why I love kung fu movies.

With the tone of recent martial arts action movies out of China turning, primarily, to tragic themes (Curse of the Golden Flower, Hero, Fearless, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, to name a few), I miss the old care-free days of “Cantonese comedy”-infused films.

Just for fun, here’s the final fight scene (complete with shitty dubbing and ass-hair-burning musical score)(watch for the headbutt, awesome!):

Fucking Sweet

The actor in the first fight scene on the bridges, who is practicing Wing Chun, is Lam Ching Ying. Who died in 1997 from liver cancer. So he was long dead by the time I even saw this movie. Sucks that he’s not around to school the next generation of action stars.

Here’s a great page detailing the life and death of a great kung fu action star.

Here are some bonus clips of Lam Ching Ying in action (awsome):
Spook Encounters 2
Magnificent Butcher
Wheelchair Beatdown

In an effort to saturate the Grounds with movie reviews, I’ve been combing the *ahem* libraries for some golden oldies. This time around, it’s George Romero’s Creepshow. I remember this movie from when I was a wee lad, and that it both intrigued me enough to watch it over and over again and that it scared the shit outta me. I’ll slice this review up to follow the serial nature of the movie, so follow along…minor spoilers ahead

Father’s Day
Not as creepy now as it once was. A group of smarmy republicans assemble every Father’s Day to honor their dead grandfather, who was rumored to have been killed by their mother with a marble ashtray because all the fucker did was bang on his chair with a heavy cane screaming and calling her Bitch all the time, complaining that they’re all just after his cash. If you ask me the fucker got what he deserved… In the end, it’s not as scary as it used to be. Satisfying though.

The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill
Stephen King (who wrote the stories) stars as a hillbilly’s hillbilly that finds a meteor on his land. Everything the meteor touches (or touches it in the case of King) begins to quickly overgrow with some eerie-ass grass…and not the smoking kind. While he begins to turn into a Chia Pet, he dreams about selling the meteor off to a local college to pay off his debts. More quirky than scary.

Something to Tide You Over
An old school tour de force, starring Leslie Neilsen and Ted Danson. Ted’s sleeping with Leslie’s wife, and Leslie wants revenge. Again, I can’t blame him. He’s got a strange CCTV fetish and a love for the tide. Probably my second favorite of the five serials.

The Crate
A couple of buddy professors secretly loath the ultra-controlling drunkass whore wife that one of them was unlucky enough to marry…to the point where the dumbass married to her daydreams about killing her. One day, a janitor at the college they teach at finds a crate hidden under a stairwell marked “Arctic Expedition, 1854″, all hell literally breaks loose. My favorite of the five stories.

They’re Creeping Up On You
EG Marshall is a particularly annoying SuperRepublican, living alone in a spartan apartment built to seal out pollution, germs and bugs. He obsesses about cleanliness while screaming at people on the phone, ordering them around and buying up companies. He gets his…and this story was the hardest for me to watch when I was young. An telltale quote, said by a woman’s voice on the phone to EG, “I hope you get cancer in the worst place!”

The best part of the movie is the way Romero mixed in the serial comic content with the live action content, tying the stories together with a short story about a kid killing his shitty dad. Each of the stories use comic-cell style overlays and crazy lighting throughout to link the comics to the live action…good stuff. Also you’ll notice that in each story, the people that meet their end have it coming, while the protagonists are usually people you also loathe…which in a way makes the world the stories are based in a little easier to believe, i.e. everyone’s human.

Arousal Factor – Magic John Stone for Creepshow – Snapped to Attention

I Think I Love My Wife

Having nothing to watch last night I found myself flipping through HBO’s OnDemand offerings when I came across the recent Chris Rock movie “I Think I Love My Wife“. Rock, who wrote, directed, and produced the film plays a bored married man who spends his days fantasizing about sex with other woman and his nights being denied sex by his wife. This all changes however with the arrival of Nikki (played by Kerry Washington), the sassy, super-sexy, ex-girlfriend of one of Rock’s old college buddies.

The Good:

• Kerry Washington is HAWT. Need more proof? Watch She Hate Me.
• There are certain scenes in the movie where Rock literally shifts into stand-up mode and begins delivering jokes as if he were on stage at the Apollo. These moments are actually quite funny.

The Bad:

• The Movie as a whole. The acting is nothing to write home about, the plot is forced and awkward, and the characters have ZERO chemistry.

The Ugly:

• Rocks acting is as bad as it ever was. At this point I think it’s safe to say the man simply doesn’t belong in front of the camera unless he’s performing stand-up.

The Verdict

Don’t rent, don’t buy. Keep your distance.

Arousal Scale – Redscape for “I Think I Love My Wife” – Snapped Clean Off

Okay first things first. Frank Darabont’s “The Mist” is fucking terrifying! This movie is what Cloverfield (see review) should have been!

The film is an adaptation of the Stephen King novel of the same name and the 3rd movie based in King’s source material that Darabont has directed. Perhaps you’ve heard of the other two: The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile. As in his previous two endeavors, Darabont does not disappoint here.

The basics of the plot are simple. In the wake of a particularly violent storm a mysterious mist appears and engulfs a small New England community. Certain residents find themselves trapped in a supermarket due to “something” in the mist which kills anyone who travels more than a few feet outside the store. Inside the store we are introduced to what appears to be the normal hodge-podge of stereotypical characters that frequently inhabit movies of the horror genre. However while some of these characters do indeed behave in the typical wooden and predictable manner you would expect, the ones that matter actually manage to bring a surprising degree of complexity and humanity to the roles.

Speaking of roles I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen Thomas Jane better! I think I can honestly say his performance here eclipsed those he turned in for Deep Blue Sea, The Punisher, and even 61*. His character, David Drayton, is the closest thing to a hero in the film however Jane plays it low key and subtle and through this we see that this is a just man trying to survive. In fact at times some of the choices and decisions he makes are startlingly selfish and go directly against what a “hero” in such a film would do.

As for the monsters themselves they are where the build up comes in to play. At first we see a tentacle here or hear a loud bang or rattle there. Soon we see all manner of creatures out in the fringes of the mist and there is a particular scene I would advise anyone with a fear of spiders to cover their eyes during.

If the movie has a downside it’s the blatant usage of some of the characters as nothing more than a plot device. Andre Braugher’s role as, Brent Norton, the out of town, New York, asshole lawyer is a perfect example. It’s a shame too because I normally like Braugher. Not this time around however.

Overall I found the film to be enjoyable and riveting. Without giving anything away I will warn you, however, that the ending of this movie is pretty hardcore. Not so much from a blood and guts standpoint but more from a psychological perspective. Still I encourage everyone to check it out. Definitely rent worthy and if you’re a horror movie buff it’s a buy for sure!

Arousal Scale – Redscape for “The Mist” – Stone Cold Rock Hard

Another new review topic, a brainfart of our man Redscape called “Why you keep bringin’ up old shit?”. We intend to use this category to review old movies, games, music, etc. And my old I mean ‘relatively accepted as in the past’. Spoilers are mute because we’re going to assume that you’ve either seen, read, played, heard, etc…what we’re talking about.

Blade Runner – The Final Cut

So I’ve finally made it COMPLETELY through Blade Runner without falling asleep. My previous attempts numbered (3), each time just making it past the point where Edward James Almost makes his strangely asian-speaking debut. And while this is “Why you keep bringin’ up old shit?”, I am reviewing Ridley Scott’s “Final Cut” of the movie, just because if I’m gonna watch the damned thing might as well be the ulti-version.

I gotta say, it’s great to see a young and healthy Harrison Ford in a movie. One of the reasons that I’m holding my enthusiasm for Indy IV is because of his age. It was also good to see a good old classic 80′s representation of the future, just gives you that warm and fuzzy feeling inside. This movie starts out like it’s going to go 2001 style, extremely slow shots with Space-Mountain music that lull you to sleep…and then some asshole shoots a repub through a wall in one of the better over-the-top handgun-blasts I can remember. The rest of the movie ebbs and flows from slow 80′s-scifi pace to action movie pace, never quite slowing enough to lose you but never going over the top.

This vision of the future has been played before, although when it was new it might have been original. LA’s a huge city with enormous skyscrapers and monolithic structures built over the husk of the old city. There are tons of asian influences, no doubt when we were sure Japan would buy up the country. It’s dreary, dirty looking and full of smog and rain. Deckard’s (Harrison Ford) apartment looks like a cabin on a spaceship and is on the 97th floor of somekind of superbuilding. Everyone seems grimy, sweaty and tired of life. A great outlook.

In any event, I’m not gonna run down the whole jist of the story. Suffice it to say there’s some ‘Replicants’ (very-human looking androids) running around looking for someone to tell them how to live longer than four years, and Deckard’s job is to race after them and shoot them with his burpgun all the while giving that trademark Harrison Ford what’s-going-on look. I’m sure there’s a deeper meaning here, but I just watched the movie and haven’t had decades to argue it with my buds. The rest of the cast is pretty good, nobody was too shitty. Meh.

All in all, not a bad movie. I’m glad to have finally seen it, but I don’t think I’ll watch it again, at least not for a long time.

Arousal Scale – Magic John Stone for Blade Runner – A Magic John Bone

Here’s something funny to share…

So my co-worker and I went out to the site of the Johnny Depp movie in Crown Point last night to see if we could get a glimpse of Edward Wonka Depp Sparrow Dillinger. We weren’t able to see Johnny last night (filming was running late and they wanted to get the hell out of NWI — can you blame them???) But while we were there, my co-worker was telling me about how some guy dressed up like Jack Sparrow and climbed the courthouse — and was up there by the clock with a sign.  I laughed and said “I would have peed my pants if I had seen that.”

Well, this morning, we find the video of the incident on Northwest Indiana Times website.  And after looking at it… I realize that the guy dressed like Captain Jack is my fucking electrician.  Yes, this is the guy who fixed the outlets in Brian and I’s kitchen and laundry room.  Should I be frightened???

Can’t figure out how to embed the file here, so here’s the link… take a look!
http://nwitimes.videos.vmixcore.com/p/video?id=1792066

If you have some free time, and I’m not suggesting that you do, I recommend checking out this awesome retelling of the events leading up to the War in Iraq.

PBS Frontline’s: Bush’s War

It’s a two part series and seriously puts everything in its place regarding the shit that we’ve gotten ourselves into up until the present time. Too bad it’s from PBS. They need to get more exposure on this one. I think this clears up a lot when thinking about what the administration was thinking (or not thinking) when these terrible decisions were made.

It sort of makes you feel bad for Colin Powell, being as that they had him sized up and marginalized from the start, only to pin the whole argument for war on his shoulders. The speech he made to the U.N. for forever be known as an impossibly bold collection of lies and exaggerations that signaled our intentions to enter into a conflict with Iraq.

I was pretty mad at him, and I guess I still am, because he let himself be used by the administration in a way that HE KNEW was dishonest and would lead to war. As a general he KNOWS that war isn’t to be entered into lightly. Despite that speech, the real fuckers Wolfowitz, Cheney, and Rumsfield are the real criminals, with the rest of the bureaucracy as accomplices.

I definitely recommend.

First look at Snake-Eyes from next years live action G.I. Joe movie. Looks pretty f’in good to me. He’s being played by Ray Park, the same guy who was Darth Maul. I can’t wait to see him in action. Stephen Sommers, the director, has already indicated he’s going for the feel of the original Snake-Eyes so the character will be mute and a lone wolf type. He’ll use both his sword and guns when fighting! I’m hoping for something similar to the Gun Kata from Equilibrium but with some sick swordsmanship thrown in!

Also for all you Cobra fans Storm Shadow will also be in the film. I’m sure we’ll get to see at least 1 or 2 epic confrontations between the two!

The original USA Today article can be found here.

**UPDATE**

Came across another image! This time with the sword and the gun! Ultra high res version can be seen here.

Eraserhead

Jesus tapdancing christ…fuck my brain! Half of me wonders if David Lynch made this movie so ridiculously insane on purpose simply to make people try and figure out what it all means, and part of me thinks that maybe he had a method to the madness…though I hope not. If he did then he’s a crazy ass bastard, to be sure. In keeping with the theme of Shotgun Theater, I’m not going to reveal any spoilers…even though I doubt most people will be able to make it through this movie. I would warn you, however, that this movie is straight-up disturbing as hell. I’d try not to watch it around anyone else for fear that they’d think you’re a goddamn lunatic freakshow for suggesting they watch it. And while keeping any spoiler material close to the vest, I’m going to also say that this movie is completely worthless. Nothing makes any sense and if you’re seeing some kind of imagery or can draw any parallels to ANYTHING then you’re either high as Chong or you’re some goth goof-off that wants this movie to mean something so you can tell people about it like it’s a badge of honor. All you’ll do is prove your mental retardation.

Arousal Scale – Magic John Stone for Eraserhead: Imploded like Michael Biehn

Awake

After seeing Redscape’s review, I decided to give this movie its day in court…not a bad move. I’ve come to except and overlook Hayden Christenson’s driftwood-school of acting…it truly seems like he’s trying but in the end all you get is some pouting stares, which when coupled with his caterpiller-like eyebrows make him look like a two year-old trying to force out his first throne-dump. Sad really. Aside from that nonsense, and in spite of the acting, the movie was at the very least held my interest throughout. The most believable performance was turned in by Lena Olin, who played Hayden’s mum…Jessica Alba should probably just be bronzed in the nude and placed in a public square for youngin’s to ogle. I’m a Terrance Howard fan, but he wasn’t remarkable at all in this flick either. In fact, the only thing that made this movie watchable was the story…so if you’re down for a decent story and can live through 80 minutes of not-the-worst, but not great acting then I second Redscape’s recommendation for renting Awake.

Arousal Scale – Magic John Stone for Awake: Flacid

From CNN. (link)

Author Arthur C. Clarke, whose science fiction and non-fiction works ranged from the script for “2001: A Space Odyssey” to an early proposal for communications satellites, has died at age 90, associates have said.

He died early Wednesday — Tuesday afternoon ET — at a hospital in Colombo, Sri Lanka, where he had lived since the 1950s, Chase said.

His best-known works, such as “2001″ or the 1953 novel “Childhood’s End,” combined the hard science he learned studying physics and mathematics with insights into how future discoveries would change humanity.

Clarke and director Stanley Kubrick shared an Academy Award nomination for best adapted screenplay for “2001.” The film grew out of Clarke’s 1951 short story, “The Sentinel,” about an alien transmitter left on the moon that ceases broadcasting when humans arrive.

As a Royal Air Force officer during World War II, Clarke took part in the early development of radar. In a paper written for the radio journal “Wireless World” in 1945, he suggested that artificial satellites hovering in a fixed spot above Earth could be used to relay telecommunications signals across the globe.

He is widely credited with introducing the idea of the communications satellite, the first of which were launched in the early 1960s. But he never patented the idea, prompting a 1965 essay that he subtitled, “How I Lost a Billion Dollars in My Spare Time.”

Clarke was knighted in 1998. He wrote dozens of novels and collections of short stories and more than 30 nonfiction works during his career, and served as a television commentator during several of the Apollo moon missions.

Though humans have not returned to the moon since 1972, Clarke said he was confident that a “Golden Age” of space travel was just beginning.

Beyond 2001 and a few short stories I’ve never really delved into his works. Any fan of Science Fiction, however, knew Arthur C. Clarke by name and the tremendous contributions he made to the genre. I also never knew that “fun fact” about the role he played in the history of the communications satellite.

Rest In Peace Arthur. You will be missed.

Ya Boi Redscape here with a new edition of Shotgun Theatre for our loyal and devoted masses (all 3 of you). I’m firing both barrels this time around with two reviews: There Will Be Blood and Awake. So without further ado…

There Will Be Blood

Paul Thomas Andersons “There Will Be Blood” is at its heart a character study. And oh what a character it gives us in Daniel Day Lewis’s portrayal of Daniel Plainview, a pioneering oil driller and eventual tycoon. Anyone familiar with Lewis’s work behind the camera knows that his performances instantly command respect. His Bill the Butcher in Gangs of New York still gives me shivers when I watch it. To say his performance this time around was astonishing would be downplaying it. I honestly can’t think of any other actor in today’s Hollywood that could have pulled it off. After seeing the film I can honestly say I’m in full support of his recent Oscar win.
One of the things I liked most about the movie was how it effectively captured the look and feel of the time. Rarely have I found myself so drawn in and transfixed by the settings of a film. The bulk of the action takes place in the American southwest during the early 20th century and Anderson effectively uses the quiet and desolate nature of the land to accentuate and lend power to the characters performances. The brutal nature and hardships of the mining and drilling are also captured and conveyed very well.
While we’re on the subject of Anderson it should be said his directing here is superb. He moves the film at a slow pace which allows the viewer to become fully engrossed in the richness and complexities of the characters. The first few minutes of the movie, during which there is no dialogue just action underscored by tense chords of music, are a perfect example of how well Anderson is in control of his craft.
Kudos also to the supporting cast, especially relative newcomer Paul Dano who turns in a particularly noteworthy performance as a corrupt and attention seeking preacher.
Overall I give the film top marks in nearly every category. A definite must see as well as must have for anyone’s collection.
Arousal Scale – Redscape for There Will Be Blood: Platinum Dipped and Diamond Tipped

Awake

I have to say I didn’t like Awake at first and it wasn’t until about half an hour into the film that I really began to get into it. Looking back on it now I realize I was trying to make the movie, in my mind, into something it is not. I was looking for the film to be fairly black and white in it’s portrayal of events and wasn’t expecting the moral complexities it presented me with instead. With that said, let me also state if metaphysics isn’t you particular cup of tea it may be best if you stay away from this one.
On the surface the film is about a young man who has inherited both his late fathers vast wealth and responsibility. The rub is he’s got a bum ticker that could go at any moment. Add to this a sexy fiancé, a disapproving and controlling mother, and a heart surgeon who’s up to his elbows in malpractice suits and you have the makings of a fairly cleaver thriller. On a deeper level the movie deals with issues of betrayal, morality, and second chances.
The twist in the plot is provided by a phenomenon known as Anesthesia Awareness. As you can probably guess the net result of this experience is being fully conscience, yet paralyzed during surgery. In this case heart transplant surgery. Not a fun time. The scenes involving the surgery were particularly terrifying. The rest of the movie involves a literal out of body experience as our protagonist races around the hospital and city trying to piece together clues and uncover an apparent plot against his life.
Now a few words on acting. Hayden Christensen, a.k.a. “Mannequin Skywalker”, turns in a fairly well performance, but he’s still plagued by a “woodenness” in his delivery at times. I still think he has what it takes to become a high caliber actor; I just think his technique needs some refining. Jessica Alba character was functional at best and it honestly felt like she phoned it in. Terrence Howard I’m convinced at this point could effortlessly play any role.
The real surprise for me however was how tender and touching the film turned out to be. It was almost as if midway through it transformed into a totally different movie.
Bottom line: Rent this movie or catch it on cable, not worth buying.
Arousal Scale – Redscape for Awake: Steamed Asparagus

Welcome assholes! This will be the first in Shouting Ground’s exclusive rapid-fire review segment entitled “Shotgun Theater”. It’s open to reviews of anything you please, just organized into a common format. For Shotgun posts, keep your reviews to a single paragraph (1 para, but go as long as you have the wind for)…and like I said, blast anything from movies to trailers, software, games, consoles, politicians, soda, music, hooters, anything. Shotgun Theater is an attempt to bring to written form the format of the “coming revulsions” episode of a Thousand Cuts. I’m also going to resurrect the extremely popular “Arousal Scale”, to be attached to each shotgun blast.

Today I’ll be firing three rounds straight from the hip…covering Michael Clayton, Gone Baby Gone, and Death Sentence. I’ll throw up a warning if I get into any spoiler material so’s I don’t ruin the movie if you haven’t seen it.

Michael Clayton

Going into MC, I didn’t know what to expect since none of the trailers or commercials showed anything that could hint to the thrust of the movie except for George Clooney running through and/or looking around a forest, and yelling at Tilda Swinton “Do I look like I’m negotiating?!” Without going into too much detail, the movie unfolds much like a John Grisham movie, i.e. The Firm or The Rainmaker. If you like legal dramas, you’ll be very pleased. If you like great acting by more than one person, you’ll be extremely pleased. Tom Wilkinson is fantastic, George Clooney is pretty great, but while Tilda Swinton was above average (guess that’s not saying much these days given the median quality of acting…i.e. dogshit) I don’t think she gave an Oscar-worthy performance. She made her character believable, but she didn’t pop off the screen like Tom Wilkinson did. That being said, I can’t remember who she was measured against for Best Supporting…nor if I had seen any of their films. The pace of the movie is again, similar to a John Grisham film…but shouldn’t put you in a coma. Arousal Scale – Magic John Stone for Michael Clayton: Vlasic

Gone Baby Gone

WTF you say? Ben Affleck’s directing a movie? Sure to be an abortion right…given his recent stringy mess of diarrhea. Ah…lest we forget he and Matt Damon wrote an Oscar-winning screenplay for Good Will Hunting. So maybe while he doesn’t seem able to choose great acting roles for himself, he might just know something about making fucking movies. MJS says “Shit yeah he does”. Gone Baby Gone is a great goddamn movie. Not only are great performances turned in by Casey Affleck, Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman, but Michelle Monaghan is pretty decent as the female lead (the only reason I point this out is I still have a bad taste in my mouth from Rachel Bilson’s worthlessness in Jumper)…she actually plays a believable role as a person with a brain and beating heart, contributing to the motion of the film instead of simply providing aim for an erstwhile boner. You might remember her from Mission: Impossible 3, but you might not. She’s some creepy amalgamation of several actresses, including Katie Holmes (how do you think she got the part opposite the Cruise Missle?). Anyways, fuck her…back to the movie. The Elder Affleck is able to make this movie different by changing the pacing of the plot from a normal movie, just when you think it should be nearly ending, you find out its not…and you’re kept guessing. Great first effort. Arousal Scale – Magic John Stone for Gone Baby Gone: Stone Cold

Death Sentence

Released around the same time as The Brave One, both movies slipped into the big shitter of cinema quickly after being released. However, having seen The Brave One, I had to see this for comparison…with fingers crossed that the director wouldn’t try to get the Bacon to flash his cock for the eighteenth time. Enough with the dick talk… While this movie was a serviceable thriller, I can’t help but feel depressed after watching it…JT would love it. I will say that it did avoid some of the pitfalls of the Brave One, i.e. unexplainable stupidity by law enforcement. I won’t say anything more about that. And while DS did have its share of gruesome killing, I’ve seen it all before…and by much more convincing people than the Bacon. That being said, the Bacon did do a good job of portraying a normal guy that was thrust into the situation of the movie, including some of the hesitation I think a normal person would have in some of the situations. And in closing, John Goodman looked bad in this movie…like John Candy during Wagons East bad. Have a rice cake or two, old buddy. Arousal Scale – Magic John Stone for Death Sentence: Hobbled

**spoiler alert**

So after No Country won Best Adapted, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Picture, I figured I needed to give it a day in court. After all, I love the Coens’ other movies. I was really happy to see them get top-flight recognition…they deserve it. While both Fargo and O Brother got them best writing Oscars, they hadn’t yet been recognized for their directorial efforts.

So…the movie. From the trailers and commercials I knew Javier Bardem was going to somekind of creepy badass…that gets setup in the first 5 minutes. He’s a creepy cold-blooded mother fucker to be sure. He needs a car so he kills a guy with a compressed air piston. Who the fuck does that? That’s some awesome shit.

The cinematography is entrancing. This movie already feels like quite a departure from the other Coen movies I’ve seen, save perhaps O Brother. Even then, this movie has a far more serious tone in every aspect. In a particular scene, Josh Brolin is chased through the desert by mexican drug runners, the camera work is fantastic and really pulls you into the story. Speaking of Brolin, he’s come a long way since Goonies and Hollow Man. Although in a smaller part, he was great in Planet Terror last year. And Tommy Lee Jones…what can you say? His acting seems so automatic, so effortless.

Another great scene, Bardem has a conversation with the owner of a gas station, and while there’s no plot points or direct action, the scene is so charged with a feeling of dread… His mannerisms, the way he questioned the shopkeep…terrifying in such an abstract way. Fantastic direction.

So by now, you’re saying, “MJS, how much kleenex did you go through up to this point…as you’re obviously wanking over this movie.” I’m just trying to call it as I see it…and so far it’s pretty goddamn well made. While this movie feels different than O Brother, the Big Lebowski or Fargo, there are still some Coen-feeling moments sprinkled in.

After seeing what Bardem is capable of, Josh Brolin’s character is shown to have similar tactical ability, and the stage is carefully set for what should be a great showdown between the two. Each shows so much thought and purpose in everything they do.

Note: Woody Harrelson can really wear a cowboy hat. Make of that what you will.

I’m going to stop pointing out particular scenes…this movie is extremely well crafted. Makers of shit movies everywhere should take notes, this is how it’s done. Great from top to bottom, in all facets of cinema. Go see it. Take your friends.