The Oscar Awards list of winners spurred me to watch “No Country For Old Men” last night, just to understand whether it deserved the statuette.

The film’s a racy thriller for the most part… will have you riveted and chewing your nails… and then suddenly it slows down, the film goes into a philosophical tangent… the ruthless psychopathic killer seems almost vulnerable and …

If you think that the films nominated for the foreign category Oscars are the best of the world, you’re wrong. Some of the greatest films of this year didn’t even make it to the nominations. Reasons: some weren’t simply sent by their country as their official entry while others were disqualified for various reasons.

Critics allege that the Oscar juries are markedly conservative in their view, declaring only the widely accepted and politically correct films as winners. That allegation may have some substance as many widely acknowledged masterpieces have not been given the Red Carpet treatment. Films like Stanley Kubrick’s Clockwork Orange, or Sam Peckinpah’s Straw Dogs failed to generate Oscar buzz in the 1970s.

Tom Elce reviews Atonement, the winner of BAFTA award for best film and a strong contender for academy award for best motion picture
Atonement (2007)“Atonement” wants to be an encompassing romantic epic to be mentioned in the same breath as classics like “Gone With the Wind” that ironically doesn’t give the centric romance much oxygen to […]

The tagline for “No Country for Old Men” is “there are no clean getaways” and that holds true over the film’s 122 minutes, misguided Llewelyn Moss’ (Josh Brolin) attempts to escape ruthless assassin Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) becoming an increasingly messy situation from a personal standpoint the further he flees. Lest readers get the wrong idea, then, it should be said up front that “No Country for Old Men” itself is anything but messy. A clean, concise near-masterpiece that gorgeously tells a gritty, dark story without seeming to put a foot wrong, the film is the first film directed by the Coen Brothers since 2004’s “The Ladykillers” and their best since 1996’s “Fargo.”

This film is a non-linear movie about the life of France’s musical soul, Edith Piaf, played by the excellent Marion Cotillard. Piaf begins life as the daughter of a poor mother and an absentee father. Soon the father returns and moves his daughter to a brothel, and later returns for her once again to take her traveling with his circus.

Justin McGuire reviews Juno, a film nominated for Oscars in four categories: Best Motion Picture, Best achievement in directing, Best screenplay and Best performance by an actress in a leading role
Juno (2007)In short, girl meets boy, girl meets boy, girl gives resultant baby away to childless couple.
Juno, played by Ellen Page, is the spunky, quirky, […]

The recipient of the Jury Prize at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, “Persepolis” is a compelling, wonderfully told film based on the autobiographical graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi, writes Tom Elce
Persepolis (2007)A vivid and personal account of the years following the 1979 Islamic revolution told from the point-of-view of writer-director Marjane Satrapi as she grew […]