Am I the only person who HATED No Country?

I saw all five Best Picture nominees this year. And I really don't understand how No Country won. In my opinion, it was the worst of them.

I would rank No Country for Old Men as being in the top 5 least pleasurable movie-watching experiences of my life (up there with "The Dukes of Hazzard").

I didn't think anything about that movie was redeemable. I was completely bored. The second hour of the movie, I was continually taking my cell phone out of my pocket to see how much longer the boredom was going to last.

HOW did that movie beat "Atonement" and "There Will Be Blood"?

Am I alone here? And if I am, can anyone explain what it is that I missed that was so great about it?

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yes. you're the only one.

kidding. :)

no i can see how its a movie that wouldnt appeal to everyone. i thought it was brilliant and it was my favorite film of the year. i've seen it three times and it gets better with each viewing.

i'd still agree though that Fargo is an even superior film.

I didn't hate the film, but the wildly extravagant praise the film has gotten continues to confuse me: what was the big deal? As good as it was and I think it is the Coens' best film in about twenty years (no I'm not forgetting the even more surrealistically over-rated FARGO), NO COUNTRY ultimately just felt like the latest piece of Bleak Chic. They seem to want me to be shocked, shocked! at the existence of Evil in the world.

Now in THERE WILL BE BLOOD and SWEENEY TODD, I was shocked and horrified and moved and thrilled and astonished and pretty well devastated. But THERE WILL BE BLOOD and SWEENEY TODD are fascinating, rich works of art, which NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN is (to me) very definitely not.

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Updated On: 2/25/08 at 11:30 AM

chicks don't get movies.

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I didn't hate it at all, it was a mildly interesting chase/Western kinda movie with a great villain (and quite a moving performance by Kelly Macdonald). However, at NO point did I feel I was watching an award-winning film of any kind. Easily the most overrated film of the year.

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"Now in THERE WILL BE BLOOD and SWEENEY TODD, I was shocked and horrified and moved and thrilled and astonished and pretty well devastated. But THERE WILL BE BLOOD and SWEENEY TODD are fascinating, rich works of art, which NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN is (to me) very definitely not."

You see,you've answered the question. You were able to feel all those things in BLood and Sweeney-other people didn't. I kept thinking about how dreary Blood was and what I could be doing at home instead of sitting through that, so I left.

My criterion for a good film is whether I'm swept away into it. I was immediately swept into No Country's atmosphere by the cinematography and art direction. I felt like I was right there. I felt the fear that each character felt when confronted with the Bardem creature. I was spellbound to the screen and didn't want to miss a second of it.

It's all a matter of each person's sensitivities and aesthetics.

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Updated On: 2/25/08 at 11:55 AM

I LOVED No Country, and I was incredibly pleased with its win. I was watching it with somebody who really wanted There Will Be Blood to win over it. Most people in my dorm (the Communications Residential College, with LOTS of RTVF - radio, television, and film - majors) really loved No Country, but often mostly for the cinematography. I've come across very few who hated it.

And those I have come across say it's because they hate blood and gore. Pfft.

Updated On: 2/25/08 at 11:56 AM

To lovelyspotlight - The blood and gore didn't bother me (I did, after all, like There Will Be Blood and Atonement -- both of which I thought had better cinematography as well). I didn't like it because I felt that it was slow and pointless.

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Of course not.

One guy watching the telecast with me went on a rant about how much NO COUNTRY sucked after the Coens won Best Director(s). The other guys he was with agreed with him.

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I would have preferred to see TWBB win. But NCFOM was just as worthy. Both are impressive films.

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Part of that emptiness is the point.

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Well, to each his own. Part of the reason I loved TWBB and NCFOM so much is the extreme relevance to today's world. I thought both films examined very real, very disturbing aspects of life and society that continue to build up in this world, and this country, of ours.

They are both very of our times, which I think is what made them so powerful.

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I did think TWBB was a better film overall. In fact, I found TWBB to be flawless.

You know, sometimes the best art polarizes people. Some people love it, some loathe it. I'm getting that that is the case with NCFOM. Variety is the spice of life. Even variety of opinions.

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