No Country for Old Men

This was a stunning masterpiece of a film. The cinematography is absolutely breathtaking. Javier Bardem did indeed deserve the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor - he is fantastic. Tommy Lee Jones, too, is great. It is tense, captivating, and thought-provoking. I am still thinking about what it means. There is a lot of visual metaphor and symbolism, and I think a lot of what is said is important. One thing it is saying is that America itself is No Country for Old Men - it is harsh, it is violent, and it is unforgiving. There are people like Chigurh who do get away with it. But when the time comes, will you be brave enough to do what you must? I don't know if Ed Tom Bell goes after Chigurh in the end or not. It is ambiguous. I think correctly interpreting the dreams at the end is crucial - and I'm not sure if I'm ready to do so or not. Which is why I'm now reading the book.

Grade: A+

Eastern Promises

This movie was about a Russian mafia-type organization in London. Viggo Mortenson is some sort of undercover law-enforcement agent trying to bring down the organization. Naomi Watts is a doctor(? she calls herself a midwife) who is interested in the organization because an unidentified girl dies while giving birth and it turns out she was raped by the organizations head dude. It's a drama, with some action but not much (one really good fight scene). It's very moving and sad. And very good!

Grade: A