Juno almost topped Across the Universe as the Worst Movie We As A Civilization Will Have To Experience. I wouldn't care that I sat through unrealistic situations, obscure reference after obscure reference (by a 16-year-old?!), a father who is surprisingly ok with his young daughter being "bored one day" and screwing some guy, and the fact that JENNIFER GARDNER SAVED THE MOVIE (??!!??!!), if it wasn't nominated for awards. Obviously they just didn't want to nominate too many movies that would be heavy contenders, so they pandered to a movie that seemed like it was written by a 13-year-old about a 16-year-old. It's not Knocked Up Lite because Knocked Up actually dealt with all of the mature issues in a funny way. In Knocked Up, the pregnant woman was miserable and terrified. Cut to Juno, where the girl is close to half her age, and the pregnant GIRL is wisecracking, not even really knowing she's pregnant until the middle ofthe second trimester, throws up once, throws one little tissy fit over prom. Who can greenlight something so blatantly horrible? And Jason Bateman plays Jennifer Garner's husband, a 30-omething jinglewriter who is stuck in a marriage. So what does he do to escape? He watches old horror movies and listens to eclectic music with Juno, and eventually puts the moves on her! What 30-something will put the moves on a pregnant 16-year-old to Mott the Hoople?! Did someone lose their mind writing this? Has the world gone insane? My only explanation is that a producer said "Wow, we could get a lot of sub-par names in thi and make a bundle. Let's have someone add some maturity at the end." So the older couple breaks up and Jennifer Garner gets the baby. Couple of good scenes in that. But then, it's right back to the stupid race: Juno and Michael Cera's character go back to being together, keep wasting away their days together, and act like it never happened. How is it some movies don't get greenlighted for insensitivity and moral issues, but Juno is made, which basically says that a 16-year-old can get pregnant, her dad will be fine with that, she can find a couple in the Pennysaver (I kid you not) to take it, she doesn't have to care enough about it to get updates on it wants it's gone, she'll barely feel any effects, and life will go back to normal after she has a child? Oh, and one last thing... the soundtrack. It was as irritating and forced as Juno's cynicism and witty taste was. You can only take so many folk songs about "wanting to be a bumble bee" and "you and me" and "things to be across the sea" before you want to go home and listen to Slayer for seven hours. Juno was the most tasteless, boring, forced, unrealistic, inhuman film I've had to see lately.
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Last year was a year to some real throwbacks, most notably westerns, and most notably "There Will Be Blood."
Paul Thomas Anderson took an Upton Sinclair novel about oil in general and worked it into a powerful story about an oil man, Daniel Plainview, who is dark, envious, proud, distrusting, and brutal.
Before I go into the actual plot at all, I want to note a few things Anderson did and didn't do that should get him a lot more credit.
Anderson didn't give us recycled characters. We didn't see Bill the Butcher from Gangs of New York (though Daniel Day Lewis did sport the same mustache for both characters). He also didn't give us the young brooding man Paul Dano played in "Little Miss Sunshine."
What we got was two characters who come to feel like wrecking balls. One swings around screen most of the time, and when the other hits, you're genuinely terrified of what the outcome will be.
Another thing Anderson has done brilliantly is shot a film in a way you don't expect or realize. Several major scenes are one continuous shot; no cutting from person to person, place to place. Anderson puts on an oil field and gives you only one set of eyes to understand the situation.
Another wholly satisfying and fresh tactic was when Plainview is at the dealing table trying to negotiate. How many times have we seen the camera fire back and forth while they cut deals?Not this time. We are fixed on Plainview, seeing his eyes twinkle as he ropes in land owners, and see the predator look slide across his face as they contemplate.
HOLD IT! It's not just filmMAKING that sets "There Will Be Blood above other standard movies. The acting is easiy the best of the year. With only two major actors (well, one for now) in the film, the casting was set perfectly to not overwhelm the audience and fish for awards, but to feel real.
The scene-stealer is easily Paul Dano, who plays the off-putting and down-right eerie Eli Sunday. YOu don't expect anyone to rival Plainviews drive, force and brute manly demeanor. But, out of the blinding daylight comes the sheepish, akward Sunday, seemingly unafraid of Plainview's power and stature.
Many scenes of the movie built around these two leave open-ended meanings that will start debates outside the theatre. In one scene, Sunday makes a bold move, leaving you abosolutely baffled as to what is going on in his head.
In the soon-to-be-famous church scene, Plainview atones for his sins (for purely capital reasons, of course), and Sunday drives an emotional stake through his heart, leading to the clip some of you may have seen on the Golden Globes of Plainview breaking down as he confesses he has abandonned his only son.
Another puzzling, open-ended moment is immediately after Plainview is "saved," when he whispers something to Sunday. It cannot be understood by us, but it leaves a myriad of feeling on Sunday's face, from horror, to nervousness, to faux satisfaction.
All of this leads to an unforseen ending sequence. Everyone's left wondering if the two men of different industries will ever have closure, and it comes in the most shocking, unforgiving, and sickly pleasurable ways.
Daniel Day Lewis, who rightfully won the Golden Globe for Best Actor, is still a scene stealer. I first saw him in "Gangs of New York," and was mesmerized by his commitment and honesty in a character. Where last time he was an evil man on the prowl in brutal times, Day Lewis became an evil man with glaring weakness and humanity for his role as Plainview.
While Day Lewis caps the movie with a one-line knock-out punch, it's just as good (and a whole lot less spoilerific) as his praise of Sunday's evangelical church service: "That was a Goddamn helluva show in there."
So, when Oscar time floats around, make sure you've sen this film. I can't promise that cheesey, recycled crap like Atonement will finally be snubbed for not reaching out of Jane Austen's back pocket, but perhaps Day Lewis will hold reign as the greatest actor of our time and Dano may get his Best Supporting award.
Overall, this movie is a low-key powerhouse. There are at least a handful of scenes you will miss the beginning of as you try to comprehend what had just previously happened. Unnerving tension and sometimes unpredictable, frightening characters make this movie an action film with only 30% action.
At times it can be slow, but there's always an underlying air to every scene that makes you wonder when the next bombs going to drop... and it always does, right up to the last line.
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I truly had accepted There Will Be Blood as the deserving film of the year. But then I saw No Country For Old Men, a pulse-pounding game of cat an mouse that can only be described as... boom.
There's been a lot of talk of Javier Bardem's scene-stealing role as Anton Chigurh, a quiet, cold killing machine armed with some not-so-traditional weapons. Though the film is based mostly around Llewelyn Moss (played perfectly by Josh Brolin), a Vietnam Veteran who finds a bag full of money in the midst of a blown drug deal he stumbled upon. The only problem is that in the bag with the money is also a tracking device, putting Anton hot on his trail.
So begins an edge-of-your-seat scare fest. If Javier Bardem is on screen, you know bad things are about to happen. The only thing that makes it worse in when he is losing his patience chasing someone. At all times, however, he keeps his character calm, cool, and unexpectedly deadly.
Tommy Lee Jones gives a great performance as Sheriff Ed Tom Bell, a man who has taken up his post just like every ma in his family has. The only problem is that he seems very hesitant, even afraid to get really involved in the situation. Though he doesn't do much other than offer a great deal of excuses not to go to the rescue and some very good dialouge with his comrades, Tommy Lee Jones, as well as every character, finds his place eventually.
This movie is steady, dark, loud, and frightening. While some may think that it's just another "The Departed," it's actually a much more realistic look at the kind of men in situations like this; they aren't all courageous, or smart, or sane. They are all just men. The violence is graphic, but only because it would be in that situation.
No Country For Old Men is easily my favorite to win. Javier Bardem will no doubt get his chance to give an acceptance speech. But for what my opinion's worth, I'd say the Coen brothers will round out the night's festivities.
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