No Backlash for Old Men

First, No Country for Old Men. Best Picture of the year, according to the Academy! Overrated piece of crap, according to the audience I saw it with.

First off, you might want to hold off on seeing this movie until you can watch it at home by yourself or with some trusted friends. Because the movie contains lots of silent, tension-filled stretches, and believe me, those scenes are a whole lot less effective when you're surrounded by a bunch of fidgety cattle chewing their popcorn cuds.

Second, by all appearances the movie looks like an effective cat-and-mouse thriller. And it is! For the first part of the movie, at least. Then the narrative suddenly veers off into another direction, one that's dense with the metaphors and symbols that were in the background before. Most people will be content to be pulled along during the first half of the movie -- like I was -- then be shocked when the movie starts asking questions of them. It's sort of like having a fun day out water-skiing when suddenly the driver cuts the cord and tells you to swim back to shore.

Because of this, I could barely make my way out of the theatre due to the buttery fog of ill-will hanging in the air. My final thought about There Will Be Blood goes double for this movie: Be prepared when this comes out on DVD, because you're going to be pummeled by the constant stream of opinions telling you how bad it is.