RSS Feed for This PostCurrent Article

The Oscars: A dark view on dark times

By Behind The Scenes TV on Feb 26, 2008 in Awards, Commentary, Hollywood

 

It used to be that violence, even more than comedy, was the kiss of death for Oscar movies. Then came blood-saturated films like “Crash” and “The Departed,” which overturned some of those rules.

But perhaps no movie exemplifies how the Oscars have changed than this year’s best picture winner, “No Country for Old Men,” a dark, disturbing thriller from the Coen brothers.

Shot in a deliberative, unsentimental style, “No Country” is a bone-chilling tale of violence, stupidity and revenge, with a relentless, amoral killer (played by supporting actor winner Javier Bardem) at its center, coolly dispatching anyone in his way with a cattle gun. It is not the only acclaimed movie to have emerged from a forbidding corner of the American psyche. Many of this year’s most compelling movies — notably, two other best picture nominees, “There Will Be Blood” and “Michael Clayton,” as well as “American Gangster,” “Eastern Promises,” “Gone Baby Gone” and “The Bourne Ultimatum” — were meditations on violence, betrayal, revenge and grand ambition run amok.

(Source: Los Angeles Times)

Related posts:

  1. Oscars ratings sink to all-time low US television ratings for this year’s Oscars sunk to...
  2. The Oscars: Deconstructing the Little Miss Juno Phenomenon While you won’t yet find a clear front-runner among...
  3. ‘No Country’ and ‘There Will Be Blood’ lead Oscar race Dark and violent themes colored the Oscars nominations Tuesday...

Trackback URL

Related Posts

RSS Feed for This PostPost a Comment