“You don’t know what you’re talking about, do you?” – me to anyone who says they don’t want to watch No Country For Old Men tonight.
Did you know that the average adult spends over an hour a week scrolling through Netflix??? I just made that up, but it’s pretty believable, right? Especially if you’re anything like those of us in the LWA office, who often find ourselves constantly chatting about what to watch and what not to watch. It never ends.
So we thought we’d take cut to the chase and make an executive decision, as we do every Wednesday, and tell you that tonight you oughta be watching the Coen Brothers’ 2007 film, based on Cormac McCarthy’s 2005 novel, No Country For Old Men. It’s the country and western that brought in eight Academy Awards and elevated Javier Bardem to icon level, instantly becoming a classic.
True to the book, it’s philosophical and dark in all the right places as we watch old-timer Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) trying to track down sociopathic hitman Anton Chigurh (Bardem) and his prey Llewellyn Moss (Josh Brolin). I’m getting thirsty for milk just thinking about it… Check out five reasons why it’s a five-star film below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38A__WT3-o0
Pearls of wisdom.
As you’d expect from anything written by the great Cormac McCarthy, there are so many little life lessons in the dialogue and monologues, particularly from Sheriff Bell. Stuff like “I always figured when I got older, God would sorta come inta my life somehow. And he didn’t. I don’t blame him. If I was him I would have the same opinion of me that he does,” or Ellis’ (Barry Corbin) line, “All the time you spend trying to get back what’s been took from you, more is going out the back door.” Pure gold.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jOKNs_WZIQ
Pour one out for the pooch.
Imagine this, you’re an attack dog, all you wanna do is attack and brutally tear apart someone, it’s your life’s work. One day you’re chasing this fella through this river, thinking it will be a standard disembowelment job and just as you jump towards his throat, he pulls out a pistol and shoots you… Poor doggo, right?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRe9K-2oW7g
Put yourself in their boots.
Don’t know about you, but the main thing that runs through my mind when I’m watching Llewellyn dodging Anton, is what I would do in that situation. Would I have thought to hide the case in the hotel? Would I have checked for the transponder? Even though, in reality, I’d crumble at the very first hurdle, a little bit of escapism is always nice.
The sounds.
Sound plays such a big part in building tension in this film to replace the music. Whether it’s the creaking of a floor underneath Anton’s socks or the scuffling of boots in the desert, the noises and the sound design make this movie so special.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fb0DJ5fe87w
Ol’ one-take Jones.
So apparently Tommy Lee did the whole closing scene, where Sheriff Bell talks about his dreams, in one take. When a W Magazine asked him if it was a difficult scene to nail, he simply responded, “Naw. I’d been practicin’.” Enjoy:
