Screen Actors Guild Awards Results

So the SAG Awards were last night, no they're not for women who have grown old gracefully, but rather they award (booming Patrick Stewart type voice) ACTING!

Here's the results

Current Splice favourite No Country For Old Men done the business as did The Sopranos and 30 Rock, two of the best things on telly this last year. And also the entire cast of the American version of The Office got an award, so all in all some good stuff.

And since this is the only Yank show allowed to use union writers it may be the best of the bunch. Not that the Oscars are ever that great anyway!

Great* Lines From The Movies *Interpretations of "great" may differ from mines, Part 7

"They all float down here."

As if it wasn't bad enough that It's Pennywise is a shapeshifting, child devouring clown, he goes and brings balloons into the equation. Shudder!

No Country For Old Men: Red's Take

I'm second to this one thanks to Ruud obviously typing his review at lightning pace. I'm the old Tommy Lee Jones figure here struggling to keep up! The fact that there is two of us meant that there was the scope to do reviews for the same movies, this is going to be the first time. Obviously it gives two different perspectives on the film, which is a good thing in my book. Anyway here we go with Splice's second review of No Country For Old Men.



It's been a while but it's great to see the Coen Brothers back. Not just from the unusually long layoff since their last film but back on form too. If it took a slighty ropey remake of The Ladykillers to get them to this place then that former film suddenly shoots up in my estimation.

Truth be told I was starting to worry a little about the Coens. O Brother Where Art Thou was the last time I truly enjoyed one of their offerings, The Man Who Wasn't There was slightly underwhelming no matter how brilliantly Film Noir was channeled, convoluted plot and all. The last two were comparable to Kraftwerk's Tour De France album, it may be by the masters but it's like it was done by one of the less talented copyists. In truth the Coens were on auto-pilot.

Thankfully the break seems to have done the trick. Somewhere during the time off they seem to have remembered what made visceral debut Blood Simple such a thrilling film and decided to in a way revisit it. Again we have Texas, though it's mainly shot in the daylight this time around, the Coens capitalising on a larger budget to really show the beauty of this arid place. And most importantly of all we have a brutal storyline that doesn't protect its lead characters in any way. Just because you get to know them doesn't mean it'll turn out alright in the end.

Some of the Coen trademarks are there. There's a period setting (1980) and a certain accent that brings lots of little ticks and colloquialisms for the actors to master. And there's the humour. Due to the storyline it only surfaces occasionally and at times it may be little jokes thanks to editing (the chicken farmer's death) as opposed to a hitman with asthma. The scene in which Llewelyn is trying to book a room at a motel is a great example. Less than thirty seconds and with no real point, it's only in there because the Coens couldn't help themselves. The same goes for Carla Jean's mother's dialogue. Then of course there are the visual metaphors that invite you to mull over them for ages like the significance of Tom's hat in Miller's Crossing. The ones I noticed from the one viewing I've had so far are trails of blood, dogs (mainly dead) and feet.

It may sound like hyperbole that we may have already seen 2008's best film before January is out but it's going to take one hell of an effort to supplant this. That's not to say it's perfect. At two hours it is a smidgen too long. And then there's the ending. Obviously I'm not going to ruin it for you but for many it will be the thing that dictates their true feelings over Old Country. It essentially peeters out, but for me the ending works, it may not tie everything up but that was never the point of the film. To recount as to why the ending may be a problem I serve up what happened at the screening I was at. The screen cut to black, the credits rolled and many people audibly groaned. On the way out the guys behind me had this conversation:

Guy 1: "What was that about then?"

Guy 2: This referred to something that happens at the end so I won't recount it here if you haven't seen the movie. Suffice to say it involves Kelly McDonald's character and the fact that like many things in the second half of the movie something isn't explicitly shown which caused confusion.

Guy 3: "Totally, I'm guessing there'll be a sequel."

Guy 2: "Could be right there. Well we've seen a ton o' crap movies recently!"

Guy 3: "Aye another rubbish one you've dragged us to."

Guy 1: "They haven't all been bad. Hitman was excellent."

Guy 2 & 3 : "Aye it was."

You can draw your own conclusions on that one if you wish.

As I said for me the ending worked with the movie. The performances are universally excellent and the violence is almost beautiful in it's suddenness and brutality. Obviously as it's the Coens the dialogue and directions great, it almost goes without saying when it comes to these two. No Country For Old Men is a tough film but one that is ultimately rewarding, cyclical or not. And thankfully looking at the amount of projects the Coens have lined up on IMDB it looks as if the spark may well have been reignited. The Coens are back and all is well with the world.

No Country for Old Men: Ruud's Review

So here it is, my review of the first film i have seen this year and you know when i was watching it I had a feeling that there would a race to get the first review of it up as, after all, it is the new Coen Brothers film which is titled above and it we are both big fans of the Coen chaps so hopefully i have stolen a march on the lad with his teeth in a shite (admittedly never seen it but proud) John Travolta film and got mine in first but im still intrigued to read his views.

As i say, Coen films are a shared interest for me and Red, many afternoons we spent walking to the train station in the pishing rain talking about the fact that The Big Lebowski was one of the funniest films ever made, Jesus Quitana was the bestest kiddy fiddler and, and, and, erm. Shut the fuck up Donny! yeah, that's it, best comeback for any comment ever.

But The Big Lebowski was years ago, in the time in between The Ladykillers remake was pretty mince though when I went to the cinema to see it it was in one of the silver screen old folk afternoon matinee type things and I was the only person who was in knots at the creative use of swear words on offer, so in truth the experience was a happy one and the films obvious failings fade in the memories. and though Intolerable Cruelty was alright, they really pale in comparison to the 90s stuff.

Which brings me back to No Country for Old Men, which if i was hackneyed i would describe as being a triumphant return to form or something else pretty lame, no, i will simply tell you that i thought that the film was great. Reasons for this appraisal start with the performance of Javier Bardem, the Spanish actor playing the bad guy Anton Chigurh; fantastically. Chigurh's choice of weapon are cracking too, a shotgun with a silencer (what the fuck?) and a compressed air cattle gun which is cool as fuck. Cool dialogue, Woody Harrelson is in it, a Ruud favourite. Josh Brolin is good, no great in it and how his character deals with a dog is masterful, it is hard to beleive that this guy who is ultra cool throughout in my opinion was the older brother with an old sock or something tied around his head in the Goonies however. And, it lasts around two hours, none of this 142 minutes or something mince.

Plotwise were talking Brolin's character finds a drug deal gone wrong with plenty of dead mexicans, he also finds 2million bucks which he takes. He returns to the scene after worrying about the barely alive Mexican he left begging him for water, he gets caught out and chased by bad guys with a dog, he gets away. Bardems bad guy comes to get his 2 million bucks and finds out its gone, and who has it.

At this point i need to explain the dog bit, as i have mentioned it twice and basically cant hold it in. He is chased to the river and so dives in and swims to safety, however the bad guys send the dog in after him, and a chase in the water ensues, and god is it exciting, Brolin gets out and the dog is hot on his heels, Brolin pops out the bullet casings and tries and tries to get the gun ready to shoot, as the dog exits the water and runs toward him. tension building he gets the gun fixed just as the pooch makes a jump for his face, bang the dog gets it, just in the nick of time. I love a bit of creative cinema! Man shoots dog in self defence in one of the tensest chase scenes in recent memory, priceless, no?

After Chigurh finds who has it, a cross Texas chase ensues as Brolin looks to keep the cash and Chigurh wants it, Tommy Lee Jones plays the disenfranchised Sheriff who is on the case trying to pull the clues together. And thats about it, some more characters come in (Harrelson for one) and some gruesome stuff happens in the middle but mainly its a kind of three way hunt for each other.

This is something of a novelty for me, seeing a film on th Oscar list for best picture before the ceremony, the last time that happened was probably LOTR but then every man and his dog saw that, so by default it is now my favourite to win, but i would like to qualify that by saying anything else in the catagory would have to go some to beat this and if they did then they must be very good films indeed. Also on the Oscars area, why is Bardem in the supporting actor catagory, he is the main character, bad guy or not, he is the main man, i dont understand why he doesnt squeeze into best actor, really dont, in this day of age everyone knows the antihero is best! back to the film now, No Country for Good Men passed all my criteria for great film, cool dialogue, good performances and the fact that you dont check the time when watching it, a wee thing to look out for when watching a film there, how many watch checks, less=great films, persistant checks=not that good, possible lulls in the action or something. Anyway as i was saying, hardly checked my watch so in the Ruud book its a cracker.

All in all, Coen Brothers, i salute you, welcome back, its been dull without you.

Over to you Big Red.

Ruud Kerouac.

Happy Birthday Paul Newman

I like your sauce.

And those jars of stuff you put on food aren't too bad either!

Eh? Eh? Ach, forget it!

Great* Lines From The Movies *Interpretations of "great" may differ from mines, Part 6

"I like men now".

Ralph Wiggum questions his lifestyle choices after noticing Bart skateboarding in The Simpsons Movie.

The Razzies

Sometimes i am so glad i dont get to see much of what comes out over the calendar year. It all seems to me to be a better idea to wait till DVD, especially if this is what can happen!

2008 Razzie Nominees

Worst Picture
Bratz
Daddy Day Camp
I Know Who Killed Me
I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry
Norbit

Worst Actor
Nicolas Cage, in Ghost Rider, National Treasure and Next
Jim Carrey, The Number 23
Cuba Gooding, Jr., Daddy Day Camp and Norbit
Eddie Murphy, Norbit
Adam Sandler, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry

Worst Actress
Jessica Alba, Awake, Fantastic Four, and Good Luck Chuck
Logan Browning, Janel Parrish, Nathalia Ramos AND Skyler Shaye, Bratz
Elisha Cuthbert, Captivity
Diane Keaton, Because I Said So
Lindsay Lohan, I Know Who Killed Me

Worst Supporting Actor
Orlando Bloom, Pirates of the Caribbean
Kevin James, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry
Eddie Murphy, Norbit
Rob Schneider, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry
Jon Voight, Bratz, National Treasure September Dawn and Transformers

Worst Supporting Actress
Jessica Biel, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry
Carmen Electra, Epic Movie
Eddie Murphy (as Rasputia), Norbit
Julia Ormond, I Know Who Killed Me
Nicolette Sheridan, Code Name: The Cleaner

Worst Screen Couple
Jessica Alba & either Hayden Christensen in Awake; Dane Cook in Good Luck Chuck; or Ioan Gruffudd in Fantastic Four
Any Combination of Two Totally Air-Headed Characters in Bratz
Lindsay Lohan and Lindsay Lohan in I Know Who Killed Me
Eddie Murphy (as Norbit) & either Eddie Murphy (as Mr. Wong) or Eddie Murphy (as Rasputia) in Norbit
Adam Sandler & either Kevin James or Jessica Biel in I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry

Worst Remake or Ripoff
Are We Done Yet? (remake of Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House)
Bratz (A rip-off if there ever was one)
Epic Movie (Rip-off of every movie it rips off)
I Know Who Killed Me (Rip-off of Hostel, Saw and The Patty Duke Show)
Who's Your Caddy (Rip-off of Caddy Shack)

Worst Prequel or Sequel
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem
Daddy Day Camp
Evan Almighty
Hannibal Rising
Hostel: Part II

Worst Director
Dennis Dugan, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry
Roland Joffe, Captivity
Brian Robbins, Norbit
Fred Savage, Daddy Day Camp
Chris Siverston, I Know Who Killed Me

Worst Excuse for a Horror Movie
Aliens vs Predator: Requiem
Captivity
Hannibal Rising
Hostel: Part II
I Know Who Killed Me

My first thoughts are, what the hell is Fred Savage up to, after a right stupid rumour about Marilyn Manson starring in The Wonder Years he goes and directs Daddy Day Camp. Actually, what is Daddy Day Camp! Wait now i have it, its nominated for worst prequel so it must have something to do with Daddy Day Care. Which was baws incidentally. A fair shout of John Voight because i have seen Transformers and he is mince in it but starring in Bratz is unacceptable and he deserves all he gets.

But a wee message of support to Dennis Dugan who i love. Nominated for I now Pronounce You Kiddy-on Gays or whatever its called i have heard is mince but the man brought us Happy Gilmore, The Benchwarmers and Problem Child (81 minutes of perfection) so if there is such a thing as bouncbackability then it will surely happen to this cinema hero!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=qlwnZqyKk-Q

Heath Ledger Dead!

Fuckin' hell!

What this means for the Dark Knight no one knows.

RIP

Oscar Nominations Are Out

Look here!

Quite a few aren't actually out here yet so I'll reserve comment, except to say that Bourne got the usual snub for anything that isn't editing or sound, Disney are dominating the best song (did they see Walk Hard?), Surf's Up got a nomination (personal HUZZAH!) and there's the usual non-Yank snub in most of the main non-acting categories. Also after the whole BAFTAS creaming themselves over Atonement it may have been the usual pro-Brit pish from them or what I just described from Oscar.

Anyway it appears to be going ahead no matter how the writer's strike is going. Up to you if that's a good thing, but John Stewart's involved so it can't be all bad.

Oh and I'd do the Spliceys but let's be honest, awards are crap really so who cares.

Venus

Venus must have been a tough sell for its makers. It's the story of an old man that falls in love with a young woman and his not entirely innocent infatuation. Of course the Daily Mail bait plotline aside, the film is actually quite a moving riff on the idea of what it is to be alive, and not just the breathing, shitting and sleeping alive, but what it is to actually live.

Peter O'Toole acts his arse off in what may be the final great performance of a great career. In some ways he's playing a less successful version of himself in Maurice, now reduced to playing the dieing guy on Casualty (at least he's not a corpse in Taggart) and spending his days pissed as a fart reminiscing about how great his life was while he was young performing Shakespeare and being adored by all the bright young things. He does this with old friend Ian, played rather excellently by Leslie Phillips proving what a good actor he can be when not living up to the stereotype he's created for himself. Ian's problem is that he is a hypochondriac and spends what's left of his life worried about every little bad feeling, that this time it'll be the thing to finish him off. In short neither is enjoying the time they have left.

Enter Ian's niece Jessie (another great performance from Jodie Whittaker) who is doing about as much of that there living stuff as the two old yins even though she's only twenty. Life hasn't been great to Jessie. Maurice, being the dirty, well, man that he is falls for Jessie and they all learn a lesson about life, The End.

It sounds a bit twee really. But Venus is anything but. O'Toole and Phillips have a real chemistry as two lifelong friends who essentially drink and swear a lot, much like my mates and me really. The first thing that'll really strike you is how much it plays like comedy show Still Game, just with more fucks and cunts where flips and fuds had to do on the BBC and a lot less of the kooky Asian shopkeeper. Obviously the subject matter also detracts from the fluffy nature of the synopsis. Maurice feels alive because a young woman lets him touch her. She allows it because of an inner deadness brought on by an abandonment of all around her. As I said Venus is anything but twee.

The thing about Venus is that it's a bit of a confusing experience to watch. At times it's very funny and there's some heartwarming moments, but on the flipside it's also a desperately sad movie, not in a tearjerker sort of way, it never stoops to those levels. Instead there's this overreaching sadness not only in those old walking corpses or the empty shell of a girl using an old duffer to feel wanted in the way he's using her to feel somewhat young again but in the prospect that while the film could be read as a group of people learning about what it is to live it can also be read that the only way they were able to do it is through using someone for a shallow sense of happiness.

It's this confusion that stops Venus from being a truly great film and it's present not only in the script but also the style of the film. At times it strives to be gritty and realistic, while at other times it becomes quite stylised in its camera work. The filmakers seem to be a little unsure themselves quite how Venus is meant to play and as such there is an unevenness to the film. It's still a very moving film but it could have done with some stronger decisions behind the camera and in the writing process so it was able to live up to the bravado performances of O'Toole et al in front of it.