Capsule Opinions

There isn't much for me to say right now, as I was up late last night watching our friends on CNN and Fox. I did want to mention that I've seen a few of the Oscar contenders, all of which I liked and none of which I feel compelled to review at length. But they are:

Atonement. This I enjoyed better than the book. The story seemed intact yet more streamlined, but the pleasure for me lay more in watching the performances. I am glad to see the winsome James McAvoy find a home in a period drama that is worthy of him. And the end of the film touches on one of Hollywood's very big ideas.

No Country for Old Men. The first of two Western-style movies that explore the anxieties of masculine individualism. I'm phrasing this in an awkward, academic way because I didn't really understand the movie, but I liked it anyway. (I have not read the book.) In a formal sense it is beautiful and full of grace, and I could watch it again just for the photography. The is story about men chasing each other with guns and other, more creative weapons, and there are more philosophical elements but I wasn't sure if I was supposed to take them seriously. I did wonder if it was too much of a reflection of David Lynch and Quentin Tarantino, who have both shown us quite a lot already about crazy people wearing cowboy hats. (Although I can't recall at the moment if any cowboy hats were, in fact, worn in this film. Perhaps I was too caught up in the action.)

There Will Be Blood. A very long movie, also in the tradition of Westerns, about a man played by Daniel Day-Lewis who tries to strike it rich in the early days of the oil industry. Any film about oil is also going to be About America, which carries a certain risk. The story of the rise and fall of an ambitious but flawed titan of industry is one that we've all heard before, but here it's told in an intense and interesting way. For more insight after you've seen the movie, read the Phil Nugent review.