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Sunday, March 16, 2008

No Country For Old Movie-Goers…

So, on a whim last night, Mrs. That Dan Guy and I decided to take in a movie, to replace the postponed Lenny Kravitz concert we had cleared our evening for.

We had wanted to see The Bucket List, the buddy comedy with Jack Nicholson, and Morgan Freeman. The Bucket List however didn’t give a flying leap about OUR preference, having long ago departed the mainstream movie theatre chains.

So, after gazing at a selection of people and movies we had never heard of before, and my losing a short game of Rock Paper Scissors, we opted for the heavily Academy Award awarded “No Country For Old Men”, for which Tommy Lee Jones had been nominated for Best Actor, and Javier Bardem WON, for Best Supporting Actor.

Why do I get the feeling you already know where this is heading????

Anyhoo, we settled into our seats, and readied our popcorn for the dimming of the lights.
Show time!!

The movie started out enjoyable enough, with James Brolin’s son setting up the story’s narrative – stumbling into the aftermath of a drug deal gone wrong. Man, he looks more and more like his dad every time I see him…

At any rate, without spoiling the rest of the movie, what happens after the opening scene drives the rest of the movie, and ultimately introduces viewers to Arlo. Or Ergo. Maybe it was Anton – Bardem’s homicidal maniac hit-man enforcer character. Who by the way really should have won for Best Actor. Tommy Lee Jones was like some kind of slow-talking afterthought. But that’s just one man’s opinion, even though he was in a very minute part of the film – Best Actor?? HA!

But again, I have digressed. The (completely ripped-off for Best Actor) Bardem character spends the next 90 minutes or so grim-faced, and whackin’ everyone in sight. He is a delight. Hey, I just wrote a poem, I think so!!

At any rate, all this build-up ultimately leads to the most disappointing ending I’ve ever seen, and we’ve seen a lot. The whole theatre seemed to feel the same way, once the credits started to roll. A collective groan permeated the theatre, like fog on an early morning London street corner. Like freckles on Raggedy Ann.

Our final conclusion – probably about one thumb half up. Javier Bardem is enjoyable, and the movie starts out well enough, but maybe they should have brought Will Ferrell in about halfway through, to lighten the atmosphere. Then you wouldn’t have cared so much when the ending sucked The Big Potato…

Chow for now!!

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