Roger von Oech

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Valeria Maltoni

Goodness, I need to get out more! I haven't seen any of them. You gave us beautiful descriptions. I love Daniel Day-Lewis, he's superb in his roles, very believable.

Roger von Oech

Valeria: You could do a lot worse that checking out "There Will Be Blood"!

Alex von Oech

I've seen four of the five and following your disappointing review of Atonement and your "Keira Knightly has the body of an 11 year-old boy" critique, I don't plan to (at least until it's on TNT three times a week).

My vote goes to DDL for best actor, but No Country For Old Men for best picture. I had the most fun watching this movie, and it's the only one I'd like to watch again in five years. Although the plot was gripping, the characters each have multiple levels, obscure mannerisms, and various righteous and sinful qualities.


I also really enjoyed 'Eastern Promises' and 'Once'. Both worth checking out.

Finally, while we're on the topic of cinema...RIP Heath Ledger.

Roger von Oech

Alex: It's hard to dispute your comments. As I said, I also greatly enjoyed "No Country for Old Men." Even Woody Harrelson (who's often annoying) was good. The character that will stick in the audience's mind is Javier Bardem's Anton Chigurh, the money-seeking hit man.

I agree with you about "Once" and "Eastern Promises."

I'd also recommend "Persepolis," the French-language animated coming of age story of Marjane Satrapi in Iran in the 1980s.

Chris Tregenza

The ending for No Country... is very odd. I saw it the other night and I don't think I've ever heard a cinema so quiet as when the end credits appeared. Everyone was stunned, trying to work out what had happened.

Next day I checked-out a copy of the book and its seems to end in exactly the same way.

Overall its a great piece of technical cinema but like "The Man Who Wasn't There", the audience is kept at an emotional distance from the characters and that does impact on your enjoyment of it. But a great return to form for the Cohn brothers after a couple of disappointing films.

Roger von Oech

Chris: I agree . . . the ending for NCFOM is a bit odd.

You helped me remember one of my favorite Coen Bros. films: "The Man Who Wasn't There" with Billy Bob Thornton and James Gandolfini. It came out in the fall of 2001, and like many other things then (books, films, etc.), it got lost in the post 9/11 and post anthrax-scare hysteria. Well worth another look.

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