Hit - Starring Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Tommy Lee Jones

What would happen if you stumbled upon a slew of dead bodies, a truckload of heroin, and about two million dollars in cash? Llewelyn Moss (Brolin) is about to find out… the hard way.

No Country for Old Men is the sleeper hit of the season. It is an unexpected thriller that takes the audience on a haunting journey of greed, violence, and drugs. The end of the movie left me slightly disappointed because of the fact that it ended with no clear resolution. Thinking about this over time, I found that the ending was perfect because of the fact that there was no resolution. It leaves the movie ending open to interpretation.

Looking at this movie from a critical point of view, I found the characters, the story, and the art direction to be extremely well done. The characters are compeling and dynamic which makes the audience feel very connected to the story and the idea that this situation (or something similar) is really happening to these people.

The best part of this film is the steady camera. Where have you been all my life, steady camera? I have missed you for so long.

Bottom Line: Best film of the year.

Action

Rated R for strong graphic violence and some language.

Running Time: 2 hours 2 minutes.

Hit (but way too long) - Starring Emile Hirsch, Jena Malone, Marcia Gay Harden, William Hurt

Shortly after graduating from Emory University, Christopher McCandless abandons his possessions, gives his entire savings to charity, and hitchhikes to Alaska to live in the wilderness. Along the way, Christopher comes in contact with various people and situations that influence his life.

This movie was good enough to send me into a few stages of mourning.
1. Denial and Isolation - First I found myself feeling sad about the movie, I couldn’t believe that someone could leave their family and not let them know where they were going and what they were doing with their life.
2. Anger - I found myself becoming angry at the fact that someone could be so selfish and only think about themselves in the aspect of happiness.
3. Barganing - I didn’t really think I went throught this stage, but now that I am thinking more about it, I started to say to myself, “if only he had tried to leave Alaska earlier, then he would have been able to get back to his family (and/or civilization).”
4. Depression - I found myself upset about the film as a whole because it showed a portrait of a man that seemed smart, interesting, and determined, yet he had no regard for the people who loved him most.
5. Acceptance - at this time, I have finally accepted that although the movie was really long, I found that it was a good portrayal of a person who decided to risk his life doing something he felt he had to do.

Bottom Line: A beautifully told story about a selfish young man who finally realizes that “happiness is not real unless shared.”

Drama

Rated R for language and some nudity.

Running Time: 2 hours 20 minutes.

Miss - Starring Nobody you know

Something has attacked New York City. In order to survive, a group of twenty-somethings attempt to find a way out of the city.

It is amazing how movies get made these days and what is the “inspiration” for a film. I read an article on Yahoo! that told how there were two main sources of inspiration to J.J. Abrams for this film:

1. He was upset that the movie poster for “Escape from New York” had the head of the statue of liberty and yet, this detail was not included in the film.

2. He traveled to Japan and saw the merchandise surrounding Godzilla and realized that America doesn’t have a monster movie of its own.

I personally believe that J.J. took some ideas or got inspiration from the film “The Blair Witch Project.” My question to film makers out there is this:

Is there any reason we can’t have a steady camera? Why do they feel the need to always take us on these roller coaster rides when using the camera? It makes me sick.

Another thing about this movie that makes me sick is that it takes place in New York. Really? Yes, really! Why does every freakin’ monster movie have to take place in New York? Can’t I get a San Francisco? How about a monster at the Alamo? I am really tired of all monsters landing in New York, it is overdone.

The last thing I have to say about this movie is… it is a problem when the talk of this movie is the fact that we all know that the executive producer is J.J. Abrams. Not the director, the executive producer - the person who hands out the money for the film. We should never know who the executive producer is on a movie until we see the credits.

I digress.

Action/Horror

Rated PG-13 for violence, terror and disturbing images.

Running Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
Time when you want to lose your lunch due to bad camera operation: 25 minutes