No Country for Old Men; Disturbingly Excellent

Ken and I were in New York over the Columbus Day weekend and we saw No Country for Old Men. It was the centerpiece presentation of the 45th Annual New York Film Festival at the new Rose Theater at Lincoln Center.

In a nut shell, No Country for Old Men is a familiar tale of a drug deal gone bad and the struggles of a man who attempts to make off with something that is not his own. It is set in 1980 West Texas and the violence that is depicted in this period makes the Wild West of the 19th Century seem like a walk in the park in comparison.
The book is wonderfully written by Cormac McCarthy (which we both read after we saw the movie) and the movie is directed by the Cohen brothers who have a nack for the crime genre movies (ie Blood Simple, Fargo and Miller's Crossing. In fact some of the sequences were so very well done it was nothing short of shocking.

I was happy to see the this terrific novel make such a graceful transition to the screen. For the most part the movie was true to the book. The exemptions being the elimination of one character, another characters' philosophical soul searching was not expanded, and the ending was appreciatively and hastily conceived for the movie.
However, the movie does honor the topics and characters that McCarthy illustrates in his book.

The main characters in this movie are Tommy Lee Jones (Ed Tom Bell)as the sheriff of a small town; Josh Brolin (Llewelyn Moss) as the average man at the wrong place, at the wrong time; Woody Harrelson as a the hired hand; and introducing Javier Bardem who plays the memorable villain, Anton Chigurh with ruthless audacity. It is our opinion that this movie will become a cult classic, where fans will learn the words to the more memorable scenes.

The cinematography is excellent and startling. Viewers not having read the book will be captured by the situations on screen which are often hard to predict and will be afraid to look what they fear will happen next.
Tommy Lee Jones was excellent in his role as the Sheriff. And so was Bardem as the diabolical Chigurh.
The film editing is stunning; the score is discreet and foreboding; making No Country for Old Men pleasant to watch and listen to.
No Country for Old Men is an excellent movie. Please look for it at a theater near you sometime this fall. Ken and Len give No Country for Old Men 4-Stars.
Please visit us soon as we bring you Our Two Cents Worth at the Movies.

We Own the Night; an Intense Period Piece

We Own the Night, is a gritty, well made, well acted film.
This is a period piece set in New York City during the 1980's when the NYPD waged a bloody battle with the Russian Mafia.
Joaquin Phoenix is excellent as Bobby Green; the manager of a popular night club in the Bronx, who struggles to keep his family's ties (Robert Duval and Mark Walberg) to local law enforcement, secret from everyone except his his devoted girl friend Amanda.(Eva Mendes)
The movie tells of the blatant criminal activities that occurs at the club to which Bobby turns a blind eye.
Police raid the club one night and a Russian Mafia boss's nephew kills himself rather than be questioned by the police which leads to the Russian Mafia declaring war on all New York Police.
Now Bobby has to choose between the glamorous life of the night club circuit, or the life of his father and brother as police officers.
Duval and Walberg are good too but this is Joaquin's movie.
We Own the Night was non-stop, non-hip, drama and suspense with a strong cast and a great performance from Phoenix. We give this movie 3.5 stars
Please check back soon as Ken and Len continue to bring you Our Two Cents Worth at the Movies

THE KINGDOM (2007) - Snipets of the Evening News

America is at war in Afghanistan and in Iraq. The world is at war against terrorism; but Hollywood feels that Americans and the world, have not have their fill of war in the last 4 years so they have given us, The Kingdom (2007).

Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Garner are certainly good in their roles. However their stories are such a part of today's evening news broadcast from Iraq, that we found it difficult to find the subject matter interesting enough for a feature film movie while there are existing conflicts to consider.

The one review I had seen before I saw this movie was..." More brawn than brains....". I tend to agree with that thumbnail assessment.
The movie is action and violence packed, but in the end fiction can only imitate reality. The action scenes tended to be chaotic and difficult to follow. The plot weak and undefined. Sounds like the real thing if you ask me.

At least in the movie, the Americans gave the impression that they were fighting the battle to win. That was about the only fiction in the movie. In present day America, war has become a business. The winner is the government contractor that makes the most money. The loss of life has become inconsequential to those that promote these senseless conflicts.

The Kingdom (2007) may have a better audience in 50 years once the pain and the embarrassment of this conflict has been soothed by the passing of time.
Ken and Len give The Kingdom (2007) 2.5-STARS.

Please check back with us soon as we will be the first one in our zip code with "Our Two-Cents Worth" review of No Country for Old Men. We are traveling to New York for the NYC 47Th Annual Film Festival and we have tickets for the premier film of the festival. See you when we come back.