Best Picture #3

Image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8b/No_Country_for_Old_Men_poster.jpg

Movie #3: No Country for Old Men (2007)
Oscar wins: 4- Best Picture, Best Director (Coens), Best Supporting Actor (Bardem), Best Adapted Screenplay (Coens)
Nominations: Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing
Directed by: Joel & Ethan Coen
Written by: Joel & Ethan Coen from the book No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
Starring: Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones
Length: 122 minutes
Budget: $25 million

No Country for Old Men, the most expensive film so far (by $10 million) is a remarkable adaptation of the Cormac McCarthy novel. As a huge fan of McCarthy and reader of all of his books, it comes with great praise that I say: this is one of the few incidences where the film was better than the book. Joel and Ethan Coen created an amazing screenplay, and pulled out all their tricks to not only follow closely with the book, but expand on it.

This is a film about Llewelyn Moss (Brolin), who finds money out in the desert at the scene of a drug deal gone wrong. Moss decides to take the money, and what ensues is a ruthless hunt. Anton Chigurh (Bardem) is a brutal, heartless hitman who tracks Moss, and Ed Tom Bell (Jones) is a sheriff also on their tail, not to take Moss in, but rather to protect him from the brutality that he knows exists in Chigurh (pronounced shi-gehr, not "sugar").

This is definitely my favorite film of the three I have watched so far. Javier Bardem gives one of the best acting performances I have ever seen, creating a chilling character who fits perfectly with the depiction in the novel, while the Coen brothers give this their typical unexpected comedic-twist. There are also strong performaces all around, from Brolin and Jones and even Woody Harrelson, who makes his appearance as yet another person hunting Moss and the money.

Ironically enough, at the 80th Academy Awards, three of the films four losses came at the hands of an action film, The Bourne Ultimatum. The fourth came (rightfully) to There Will Be Blood in Best Cinematography. That ceremony was one with very spread-out awards and recognition, with the leaders (No Country and Blood) at eight nominations, two more films at seven, and then 17 films with between 2-5 nominations. No Country led the winners with a very low four wins. This was a very strong year in film, with great acting performances like Daniel Day-Lewis (Blood) and (probably) my favorite performance of all time, Marion Cotillard in La Vie en Rose coming through in a (somewhat) surprise. Also, shockingly enough, a comedy film was nominated for Best Picture that year, with Juno getting four nominations, winning Best Original Screenplay for Diablo Cody.

Next, I move on to The Departed, which won the award for Best Picture in 2006.

Rankings:
1. No Country for Old Men (2007)
2. The Hurt Locker (2009)
3. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)