Watching "No Country for Old Men" on AMC. Never saw it before.

[Brigid]

Not quite half an hour into it right now, and so far it is making no sense at all. Should I give it more time?

[texanwitch]

1. Yes.

It is a great movie.

Try to keep a body count.

Tommy Lee Jones is worth the watch.

[Brigid]

2. Body count?

About a dozen so far -- and four dogs, I think.

[texanwitch]

3. More to come.

The guy reading the mail with the air compressor kills lots of folks.

Except for the guy in the store, who quesses the quarter.

And the trailer park lady.

[Crazy Dave]

29. In the book trailer park lady calls the coin wrong

Which is why everyone is supposed to automatically guess since Chigurh looks at the bottom of his boots when he walks out of the house at the end.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

4. who got the money?

[Brigid]

5. Last I saw it . . .

Llewellyn threw it into the brush near the Mexican border.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

7. and then he went back and got it - ...right? I thought, on his way back

over the border. . .

:shrug:

[Brigid]

8. He's in a Mexican hospital right now.

Woody Harrelson is trying to make a deal with him.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

9. ok . . .

keep an eye on that money . . .

[jobycom]

13. Especially on the dime.

:wink:

[siligut]

30. Because of the coin near the vent, I think Anton found the money

Is that what you think? Am I missing something?

[Tuesday Afternoon]

34. well . . .

but, why go after Lewellyn's wife?

[siligut]

36. Anton is a man of his word

Twisted, but he had rules and he kept them. That is my impression. Who do you think had the money? The wife? The thing I get is that he went after Lewellyn's wife, months later. After her mother died. I didn't read the book; did you?

[Tuesday Afternoon]

39. no. I did not read the book.

I am wondering if the Mexicans beat Chigurh to the room :shrug:

Anton strikes me as a man of his word only when it behooves his agenda...otherwise he don't give a fuck about nothing.

[siligut]

40. Maybe, I would have to watch again, because I didn't think so

I can't remember now, but for some reason, I didn't think the Mexicans got the money. Maybe because the tracking device is what led Anton to the hotel room, unless the Mexicans took the money but left the device in the vent. My feeling, when it comes to things as certain as death, rules are important. Doing what works, like Anton said, paraphrased, "Use the right tool for the job", so follow a protocol that works. It doesn't make him noble, to be a man of his word, it just makes him consistent and reliable.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

42. When did he put in another tracking device?

I need to watch it again. I have forgotten a lot of it.

You could be right about him killing her for the sake of his rules. I can go either way with that one.

Just because Chirgurh looked in the vent does not mean the money was there, or does it?

Yes, Lewellyn used the venting system the first time but, would he use it again?

:shrug:

on edit:
IMDB containing spoilers, if interested:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0477348/synopsis

[cemaphonic]

50. Sure, Moss would use the vent again.

He's running on fear, instinct, adrenaline and no sleep by this point, and is in way over his head. Plus, he doesn't know that his method has been sussed out by the others.

In the book, Chirgurh definitely finds the money, and gives it back to its original owner (another high-rise suit). I think the Coens leave enough clues to the effect that Chirgurh gets it, but I always found it interesting that they recognized a McGuffin for what it was, and just wrote it out of the story as unimportant.

[siligut]

52. Thank you for the link, it really kicked my memory

I thought the dime by the vent meant that Moss had hidden the money the same way and that Anton found the money there. It was the pointed way the camera stayed on the coin and the screws. Maybe it was the sequence and it was only implied that Anton got the cash, it seems that many people weren't sure. I did have my scenes confused, thank you for the link. :hi:

[Tuesday Afternoon]

53. yw --

the book leaves no doubt that Chigurh found it but, I think the movie leaves it open to interpretation.

:hi:

[Laura PourMeADrink]

6. it's a dark, bummer, isn't it? nt

[Brigid]

10. Yep.

There goes Woody Harrelson.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

12. haha....I remember thinking...I hope he talks his way out of this

and wham. He is the most under-rated actor...IMHO.

[Brigid]

17. I haven't seen too many of his movies.

And . . . There goes Llewellyn. And his stupid MIL just told a perfect stranger where she and her daughter were going -- while they're on the run, no less.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

21. omg..you HAVE to see him as Larry Flynt...

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117318/

People vs. Larry Flynt. He was exceptional...but even better...Courtney Love as his lover.

[jobycom]

11. One of the best movies ever, but if you aren't into by now, you'll never get there.

Unless you start it over and catch it in a better mood. It's like most Coen Brothers films--if you're in the right frame of mind at the time, it's brilliant. If you aren't, it's just jumbled.

Reminds me of those old 3-D paintings you could stare at all day and just see random colors and lines, but when you suddenly shift perspective, you see dolphins splashing through the waves.

[pacalo]

18. It was very artfully put together, wasn't it? There was a new type of terror

that I'd never seen before & that's saying a lot. Plus, I really like Josh Brolin.

[jobycom]

20. Yes, very artfully done. The terror, I think, comes from the lack of predictability.

To me the whole thing was a commentary on cause and effect, and our inability to know them. That's a common theme for the Coens, but it was perfect in this one. Everything that happened seemed like random chance to the people it happened to, from the deputy at the beginning to the wife at the end, and yet everything was part of someone else's plotting and planning. People died because they wandered into a well-laid plan, but the encounters seemed random in the context of their own lives. No one saw the whole thing, so no one knew why it was all happening. The Coens' first film, Blood Simple, was like that, too, only with fewer characters.

The audience can see, sort of, all the plans and how they are coming together, but they still can never predict what will happen next. People die when you don't expect it, they live when you don't expect it, and sometimes they barely escape death and don't even know they were in danger. And that makes it terrifying, because the audience can see the intersecting plans, but still can't tell what's going to happen. It's a perfect representation of chaos theory, in some ways.

Then there's the whole exploration of evil, but that's another subject.

And great dialogue, too. "Is, uh, Carson Wells there?" "Not in the sense that you mean."

[Blue_Tires]

26. I've seen a lot of the Coen brothers' stuff, but this one never began to make sense

to me...(You can see some of my earlier posts when the movie was in the theaters)...

I've read the critical analyses and realize the movie was never 'about' a drug deal gone bad and stolen money, but the allegorical themes are weakly presented, the dialogue was pedestrian and the pace is way too slow, imo...This will forever be one of those movies that I'll never "get"

I can concede that the cinematography is beautiful, though...

[jobycom]

73. You've read the reviews...

If you can't accept that I don't know what else I can do for you...

:rofl:

:rofl:

See, it's a line from the movie... :rofl: God, I crack myself up!! Oh never mind.

[Orrex]

14. Rosebud was the sled

Make sense now?

[Brigid]

15. You wandered into the wrong auditorium.

"Citizen Kane" is on down the hall. :)

[Orrex]

16. Doh! Not again!

:blush:

[Blue_Tires]

31. Soylent Green tastes like people for some reason...

[Bucky]

46. It's all a dream. Dorothy never left Kansas. . . . Or did she?

[Brigid]

19. OKaaaay . . .

:crazy:

[texanwitch]

22. I like the end of the movie.

Tommy Lee and the bad guy are so close, in the motel room.

After watching the movie several times, I know where the money went.

Hint, the coins and screws on the floor.

[av8rdave]

23. Yes. Strange, haunting film

The book is wonderful.

[slay]

24. One of my favorite movies - but do yourself a favor and rent it - AMC censors their movies

unfortunately. That may have something to do with it as it is quite a wild and violent movie. Non-conventional to be sure, but an excellent film all around - it's not necessarily about what, or who, you think it is. I don't want to say anymore, but I do highly recommend it. There's a reason it's in the Top 500 movies of all time list on IMDB -- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0477348/

If you're looking for a straight up standard flick where everything is fast paced and spelled out for you - this is not your flick. But if you can think outside the movie box - this is a true adventure in film making. Even my 79 year old father loved it, Friend-O. :evilgrin:

[barbtries]

25. i had to stop watching it.

too violent for me.

[Little Star]

27. I did not understand that movie! Maybe I need to watch it again....

with someone who did get it so that they can give me a clue or three!

[blogslut]

28. I don't think you're supposed to get it as much as feel it

The entire point of the film is summed up by the title. The protagonist (the sheriff) is forced to face a world that doesn't make sense anymore. He's grizzled and jaded but he's entered a new reality where all the lessons he's learned cannot be applied. This is not an action film or a thriller or a whodunit. It is an allegory.

[Blue_Tires]

32. I know I've watched too many cop shows/movies

because when Tommy Lee Jones broke out that "Lookin' for a man who has recently drunk milk?" line, I screamed at myself in the theater: "NO! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO FINGERPRINT THE GODDAMNED PLACE BECAUSE GOD FORBID HE'S IN A DATABASE SOMEWHERE AND QUESTION THE NEIGHBORS ON THE OFF CHANCE SOMEONE IN BROAD FUCKING DAYLIGHT SAW HIM ENTER AND LEAVE YOU BRAIN-DEAD COUNTRY-FRIED EXCUSE FOR A POOR MAN'S ANDY GRIFFITH!!"

[Brigid]

33. This rant gets you a Brigid DUzy!

:rofl:

[Tuesday Afternoon]

35. yep. huge plot hole for me, too

kind of ruined the rest of the film for me.

[siligut]

37. It was 1980; was there a huge fingerprint database then?

This was a podunk town too, didn't look like the neighbors were close. But I do the same thing, I don't like plot-holes. Why the hell didn't Lewellyn check for a tracking device? Didn't he know, there is always a tracking device? I console myself with the idea that so much of what makes a story move forward is human error.

[Blue_Tires]

38. In the FBI? Hell yea

remember the Feds were involved in the case from the start (The good Sheriff of course had no real use for them)

[siligut]

41. Yeah, probably wasn't the first thing an old sheriff would think of

But something a career criminal would know. I hadn't considered it before, but it does seem that the sheriff dropped the ball on that one.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

43. didn't Tommy Lee Jones pick up the glass and take a drink of the milk

himself? I remember thinking: FOOL! what are you doing? get those prints!!

[texanwitch]

55. The milk bottle was wet.

Would there have been prints.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

59. was it a bottle? I thought it was a glass -- don't recall it being wet

maybe some condensation :shrug:

I would think, Yes, they could have gotten prints -- at least they should have Tried to get prints.

[texanwitch]

61. Anton drank from the bottle and left in on the table.

Tommy Lee picks up the bottle and then pours the milk into a glass.

The bottle was wet, Anton has just left.

Couldn't have been to long for the bottle to be wet.

I have seen this movie many times, too many.

I like Tommy Lee.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

64. oh yeah. that is right

haven't seen it in years. and yes... they just missed Anton.


still bad call on Tommy Lee. bad call.


and yes, you have watched it too many times ;)


Tommy Lee just ain't all that for me. nope.

[texanwitch]

67. Tommy Lee is a Texas boy.

I don't know if a wet milk bottle could hold a print.

Unless the finger were really dirty.

Maybe with grease.

[Little Star]

45. Ahhhh, now it makes sense....

I kept trying to make some sort of sense about the world that doesn't make sense! Thanks! Now I get it!

[cemaphonic]

47. Interestingly, the "things are getting worse" notion is undermined by the conversation at the end.

The one where he goes to visit his shut-in (cousin?, uncle?). And remember, the book is by the guy who wrote 'Blood Meridian,' so it's not like he has any romantic notions about the Old West.

[blogslut]

48. Wasn't that his father?

You mean the line about vanity?

EDIT ADD: you're right. The Barry Corbin character is his uncle.

[cemaphonic]

49. No, his father is dead, and held the sherrifs job before.

And not just the line about vanity, but the whole conversation.

[blogslut]

51. Yeah

I dug the scene with Jones and Corbin.

Yes, what the uncle said were the proverbial words of wisdom - that the west was always hard, evil is evil and trying to rate it on some sort of scale is "vanity". But that's, I think, the dilemma for the sheriff's character. He's grown weary of observing the permutations of evil. He's not sure (referring back to the soliloquy at the beginning of the film) he wants to be "part of this world" anymore.

[ceile]

44. Read the book.

Although, if you found the movie confusing...well, the movie follows the book to a tee.

[texanwitch]

54. At the end of the movie where Tommy Lee goes back to motel, watch for a set of eyes in the room.

I missed this part many times but then I watched the movie on dvd and caught it.

I am guessing the set of eyes is Anton's going back to get the money from the vent.

The money was hid before in a vent why not again.

Tommy Lee goes into the bathroom to look for Anton and Anton then walks out of the room.

Tommy Lee would not have seen him.

The clue was the coins and the air vent on the floor.

I never noticed the set of eyes in the dark, the scene goes by very quickly.

This is what I think.

I haven't read the book yet.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

56. yes, I saw that scene and you can tell it is Anton --

but, the Mexicans were there before him and could have possibly found it first. Anyway, that was my thinking since he went for Moss's wife but, I guess he owed her since he had promised Moss.

another poster above, read the book, and it is not left ambiguous. He found the money and returned it in the book.

[texanwitch]

57. I don't think the Mexicans had a chance to get the money because Moss was waiting with the shotgun.

When Tommy Lee drives up a pickup truck is leaving in a hurry with someone trying to get in.

Moss was found lying in the doorway.

He was killed but got off some good shots, he was a Vietnam combat vet.

The police came and there wasn't a chance to get the money until that night.

Tommy Lee was so close to getting killed himself.

If I had been Moss's wife I would have disappeared and taken my mother with me.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

58. yes, she should have left -- with or without her mother. I guess she thought any threat to her

died when Moss was killed.

I always wondered why Anton didn't kill Tommy Lee.

[texanwitch]

60. I would have sold my mother's house quick and taken off.

I would not want Anton looking for me.

I quess Anton just wanted the money and didn't want the chance of getting wounded again.

Moss did shoot him in the leg a few days before.

Also Tommy Lee was a cop, the heat would be on Anton for killing Tommy Lee.

This movie has a lot going on, have to take notes.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

62. you take notes?

:o

[texanwitch]

63. I did.

I figured out the movie.

It was fun.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

65. good for you.

:applause:


don't guess you saw The Minus Man by any chance :shrug:

[texanwitch]

66. No.

I will see if Netflix has it.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

68. hey

take notes ;) :D :hi:

[texanwitch]

69. I will.

Now to Netflix, hope it is on instant view.

If not, I just mailed my dvds back today.

[texanwitch]

70. Netflix has it.

I should be getting the dvd by tuesday.

Looks like a good movie.

[texanwitch]

71. There is a nice little movie I like called Strangers In Good Company.

It is on instant view.

The is a all female cast.

Really worth a watch.

[texanwitch]

72. The motel scene at the end of the movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIY33GgX3sM&feature=related

Go to 2:53, is that Anton in the dark.

Yes, I think it is.

[av8rdave]

75. That scene - in the hotel room near the end of the movie...

Anton was in the room, I believe.

What caught my eye was the coin laying by the screws to the vent. It was obvious the coin was used on the vent, but it also made me wonder if Chigurh stayed hidden and didn't kill Tommy Lee because he made that decision by a coin toss.

I don't recall the book addressing that.

[texanwitch]

77. I thought about the coin toss myself.

It is the only thing that makes sense.

Anton killed everybody else.

Maybe he just wanted to get away quietly, he got what he came for.

He was nice to the boys on the bikes.

[siligut]

78. There were two rooms

My impression was that Anton was in the other room, next to the room Tommy Lee entered. Because of the suspense leading up to Tommy Lee entering the room, we were led to believe Anton was in the room he entered. I am by no means sure of this, it just seems that Anton couldn't have been hiding behind that door.

[texanwitch]

79. I think that was at the first motel.

The first motel was single story, the one at the end was multi-story.

Not saying that Moss didn't get two rooms in the new motel.

Questions, more question.

I don't think we are meant to know what happened at the end.

Just enough clues but not enough.

[siligut]

80. Someone who read the book says the movie stayed true

So, maybe they know for sure. But, when Tommy Lee was hesitant to enter the room, you could see that the police tape was in front of two rooms. :shrug:

[texanwitch]

81. The last motel scene was at El Paso, Moss's wife and mother in law were coming on the bus.

I went back and watched the scene and the light shinning on Anton came from the hole in the door lock.

He used his air gun again to blow the lock.

He could have been next door and watching Tommy Lee drive up.

The police might have wanted to just tape off a wider area then just one room.

If I was staying at the motel I would have left.

[douglas9]

74. If you liked "No Country for Old Men".....

check out Tommy Lee Jones in "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada", as good if not better.

[texanwitch]

76. I have seen that movie.

He is good in it.

I don't think Tommy Lee is ever acting, he is just being Tommy Lee.