12 movies of christmas...

I had originally planned to do this during the month of December, at least to be a bit more seasonally accurate, but there is very little possibility that I will actually be able to see 12 movies in one month. Therefore, I decided to begin last night.

In an effort to immerse myself in cinema this season...I've chosen to view several movies and share my take. To those of you who know me...a lofty gal I am not. I still appreciate a good old-fashioned weep or giggle fest...I'm not a stickler for ratings, and I prefer to read first anything that's been adapted from a book. I do not discriminate. Comedy, film noir, thrillers you name it...I am a lady who loves a good story.

This, I thought, was a good story.

No Country for Old Men is the Coen Brother's adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's intense novel of the same name. Keith...a walking encyclopedia of cinema, finished the book hours prior to the viewing, and I will sheepishly cop to the fact that I did not go of my own volition. I didn't read the book...and felt that this particular film was not my bag, but I said I would go so I went.

What can I say...The West Texas landscape is dusty and desolate as the movie begins with hunter Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) happening upon some drug money amidst major carnage in the middle of nowhere. He leaves the ghastly scene with cash in tow, but returns for some ungodly reason. This sets in motion a bloody chain of events that introduces the other key characters.

Javier Bardem, sporting a fine haircut and ghostly pallor, plays oddly principled psychopath Anton Chigurh. One of the best villains I've seen in a while...Anton is menacing but not obvious. Perhaps that is what makes him so terrifying. He is hot on the trail of Mr. Moss. leaving a string of some pretty unlucky folks in his wake.

Tommy Lee Jones, in a brilliant turn, plays third generation sheriff Ed Tom Bell. In what I found to be an uncharacteristically restrained performance...Sheriff Bell seeks to protect Llewelyn while trying to wrap his head around what the world is coming to. Jones, a native of Texas, illuminates the worn, witty sheriff Bell. He is sorely outmatched and unwittingly aware that this is a world he doesn't quite belong in, hence the title.

This is a bleak, violent, and incredibly unnerving commentary on the world we live in. You know from the moment he takes that money that no good will come of it.