Author Topic: No Country for Old Men  (Read 48729 times)

edgar00

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Re: No Country for Old Men
« Reply #180 on: March 31, 2009, 11:22:52 PM »
Best movie ever (of 2007)!

You disappoint me mr. hamster.
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FroHam X

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Re: No Country for Old Men
« Reply #181 on: March 31, 2009, 11:27:18 PM »
Best movie ever (of 2007)!

You disappoint me mr. hamster.

What did you want me to say? There Will Be Blood? I'm sorry, but I didn't go see TWBB 5 times in the theatre like I did with No Country. Though by that standard The Dark Knight would be the best movie of 2008 and of all time. Then again, it might just be.
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bb6634

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Re: No Country for Old Men
« Reply #182 on: April 09, 2009, 01:20:12 AM »
frozenhamster, I gotta say, I LOVE your Back to the Future avatar!  Very nice!

pixote

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Re: No Country for Old Men
« Reply #183 on: April 09, 2009, 02:13:34 AM »
This movie would have been better backwards.

pixote
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FroHam X

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Re: No Country for Old Men
« Reply #184 on: April 09, 2009, 02:39:38 AM »
This movie would have been better backwards.

pixote

I agree. That way you get all the boring old dudes talking out of the way at the beginning, and it also isn't too disappointing when the seemingly lead character is killed off unceremoniously. ;)
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ferris

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Re: No Country for Old Men
« Reply #185 on: April 09, 2009, 08:42:31 AM »
This movie would have been better backwards.

pixote

I agree. That way you get all the boring old dudes talking out of the way at the beginning, and it also isn't too disappointing when the seemingly lead character is killed off unceremoniously. ;)

...and it could have been renamed "No Country for Boring Old Dudes"  :)
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ferris

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Re: No Country for Old Men
« Reply #186 on: April 09, 2009, 08:49:02 AM »
Speaking of the old dudes.  The debate earlier on this thread motivated me to go back to the novel and read just the sections in italics (Bell's internal monologues at the beginning of (almost) every chapter)

So I'm back to my theory about "it's bad now?  yeah?  well it's always been bad?"  the only thing that's really changed is you're old - how you gonna deal with it?

Has anyone read any of the other Cormac McCarthy novels?  This is one of three books about this area of the country from different time periods.  Just curious. 


Anyways I'm not usually so interested in the source material, but the movie is SO CLOSE - they took so few liberties!
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verkisto ratsel

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Re: No Country for Old Men
« Reply #187 on: April 09, 2009, 11:45:25 AM »
jeffstatt- I am a BIG Cormac McCarthy fan... I am more of a fan of his novels set in the Tennessee region [Suttree, Child of God, Outer Dark, The Road] as opposed to his "Border" novels [All the Pretty Horses, Cities on the Plain, The Crossing, Blood Meridian, No Country]. He has written a few plays as well. His most recent, The Sunset Limited, is really thought-provoking. Blood Meridian is considered by many to be one of the greatest American novels ever written and it is indeed a fascinating epic. It deserves an HBO mini-series treatment by the makers of Deadwood... It’s kinda funny- his stories like Child of God and Outer Dark could be excellent horror movies that would make the Saw movies look like after-school specials. Horrific stuff…

The Coen's No Country for Old Men was incredibly faithful to the novel with the exception of the Sheriff Bell ruminations that you mentioned which wouldn't translate to the screen in any satisfying way. Not only are those monologues a full 1/3 of the novel, but not having Bell's thoughts did change the tenor of the movie and shifts its narrative [and maybe even moral and thematic] center. I think the fact that they are largely absent from the film is part of what has led many viewers to feel so dissatisfied with the death of Moss and the conclusion of the movie. In the novel it is much more clear that Bell is the real main character and that the story is more about how he changes internally throughout the film... The real climax is the moment of truth when Bell is in the motel room with Chigurh and Bell refuses to face him. I don't think this is as clear in the movie as it is in the novel, but that is when Bell knows that he needs to quit...

It's interesting that NCfOM was originally written as a screenplay and McCarthy went back and added the Bell monologues...

I can't wait for The Road... as much as one cannot wait for a film about the apocalypse and cannibalism…
« Last Edit: April 09, 2009, 01:24:39 PM by verkisto ratsel »

ferris

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Re: No Country for Old Men
« Reply #188 on: April 09, 2009, 12:24:26 PM »
...It's interesting that NCfOM was originally written as a screenplay and McCarthy went back and added the Bell monologues...


THAT I did not know!

So where you pretty satisfied with the treatment of the the novel in the movie?  I suppose when you heard the Coen's were doing it that you worried it would end up pretty bastardized?
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Clovis8

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Re: No Country for Old Men
« Reply #189 on: April 09, 2009, 12:27:52 PM »
...It's interesting that NCfOM was originally written as a screenplay and McCarthy went back and added the Bell monologues...


THAT I did not know!

So where you pretty satisfied with the treatment of the the novel in the movie?  I suppose when you heard the Coen's were doing it that you worried it would end up pretty bastardized?

How could someone not be satisfied? Its one the most faithful adaptations ever I think.

 

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