No Country For Old Men

I found myself buying the most praised about movie of last year, "No Country For Old Men". This film won several awards including Best Picture, Best Director(s), and Best Supporting Actor. I was confused about the story and the ending the first time I watched it. But I still wanted to have it apart of my collection. Once watching it again I better appreciated it and it's character's.

I identified with all 3 main characters. The man trying to take the money and run. The man trying to get the money back and the man trying to keep the peace and make sense of the whole situation. Josh Brolin gives a very good performance as Llewelyn Moss and Tommy Lee Jones gives a surprisingly good performance as Sheriff Ed Tom Bell. (Jones' really has only given 2 good performances before this movie with "The Fugitive" and "Men in Black".) But the breakthrough performance goes to Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh. He plays a sadistic killer perfectly. The kind of guy who can kill you for looking at him the wrong way and he won't feel any remorse by it. He'll kill you and maintain his composure. He's crazy but not stupid. The way he talks, walks, thinks and acts gave me chills and I found myself once again rooting for the bad guy. Mainly because the bad guy in this particular case seems to be the one thing you remember most about the movie. The scene that steals the movie is when Bardem's character is trying to pay for gas when the attendant makes smalltalk about the weather. That's when Bardem's character switches into crazy mode and the guy walks away with his life because he won a coin toss. That's pretty bad ass if you ask me. Bardem's character is such a good villain, and Bardem plays him so well that he makes it into my Top 5 list of movie villains of all time.

"No Country For Old Men" is a solid movie that forces you to pay attention. What the movies lacks in speed it makes up for with anticipation. Great character's with great performances gave this movie the credit it deserved and should be watched by all.
4 stars (out of 4)

The Best Dance Movie There Is?

Footloose. Is Footloose the best dance movie there is? Now a days, there are dance movies coming out the wazoo. Save the last dance, Step Up, Step Up 2, How She Move, etc. Dancing isn't dancing anymore its become something a little more....dumb.

In my opinion there are only three dance movies and that's it. Footloose, Flashdance, and Dirty Dancing. Those are the ones that all the new dance movies should get compared to. Since each movie was made in the 80's, each movie has a certain degree of corniness. But as corny as they are, they still are praised more than the dance movies today. The movies today deal with "Oh no, I need to dance cause that's all I can do." I mean in that Save the Last Dance movie the sister of the main character had a baby but yet she is going out every night dancing at the club. I mean that's just not even good parenting. But yet dancing seems to be more important. These dance movies are all the same and the only difference is what "ringtone rap" song they are dancing to. Maybe it wouldn't be a problem if the kids watching these movies knew where these stories came from. They all stem from the 3 dance movies of the 80's.

In Dirty Dancing, a young girl goes to a summer resort with her family and discovers a whole new world of unconventional dancing. She learns the style and in doing so she falls in love with her instructor and discovers herself along they way. There is style 1.

In Flashdance, a young striving dancer wants to make it big so she practices and makes her way to the top. But during the movie she carries her own weight. She works two jobs and makes it all her own. (This movie also has one of the most sexiest scenes in it when she takes her bra off underneath her shirt while she's talking to a guy). There is style 2.

Finally in Footloose, a young man moves to a small town from the big city and finds out that dancing is illegal. It's him against the world when he wants to have a dance and he brings the best out in people throughout the movie. Style 3. And is Footloose the best? As cheesy as it is throughout and for the fact that no one is allowed to dance during the movie and then at the end, everyone is a good dancer, it is a great movie. Possibly, the best dance movie. Kevin Bacon has to fight off a whole town and wins. Great stuff!

I think the thing that bothers me the most is younger kids now a days have no clue about these movies. They have no idea that this is where all the ideas stem from but I guess that is the case with a lot of things these days. I think everyone should watch Footloose and get lost in the cheesiness. Have fun with 80's style and just have a good time.

Footloose : 3 Stars (out of 4)

The Dark Knight

I recently saw the latest Batman movie, The Dark Knight. I have been waiting for this movie to come out for at least 8 months. I saw the first preview for it during the I Am Legend premiere. It looked Dark, more violent and very spooky due to the fact that one of the leading roles was played by a guy who just passed away. (Heath Ledger)

The movie itself was good but the reason it was great was due to Heath Ledger. I was blown away by his performance. The Australian actor hid his accent, his face and his manorisms and became a completley different person. I was unaware it was even him. Ledger gave a oscar worthy performance as the sinister Joker. A role made famous by Jack Nicholson in the 1989 Batman directed by Tim Burton. In my opinion Ledger out-performed Nicholson. During the course of the movie I found myself rooting for Ledger's character. His happiness towards evil and his clever wit made it easy to like the bad guy. I mean the guy laughed when he was getting his butt whooped and had such a smartass idea about everything. I absolutley loved his performance.

The movie was phenomenal! A great plot, with a stellar performance allowed for this movie to work its way in to the Top 5. 4 Stars (Out of 4)

Kieth's Top 5 Movies

Here are my all time Top 5 movies: (as of 7/18/08)

1: Good Will Hunting
2: 40 Year Old Virgin
3: Star Wars Episode lll
4: Pirates of the Carribean: Curse of the Black Pearl
5: The Dark Knight