New Moon is nothing if not an international advertisement for the hungry virtues of virginity and young people can’t get enough of it
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Theatre
A smart, prickly and rewarding view of sexual and emotional confusion
Cock
Restaurants
Kitchen W8 is a bargain for this area, if such sophistication is what you crave
Kitchen W8
Too long and drawn out but very entertaining with excellent special effects
This is a peculiar play and does not work for me. Some of it is very funny but there are real flaws
Alex has a strong powerful voice and was faultless, she is far better now than she was on the X-Factor
London,
Evening Standard rating
Reader rating
Dir: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen.
Cast: Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Woody Harrelson, Kelly Macdonald
Description: Llewelyn Moss, one of life's eternal dreamers, thinks he has hit the jackpot when he stumbles on the bloody aftermath of a drugs deal, and a suitcase containing a cool $2.4 million. Unfortunately, Llewelyn is caught in the act by the dealers and they despatch twisted hit man Anton Chigurh to kill the thief and return the cash. As Llewelyn and Anton begin a deadly game of cat and mouse across the barren Texan landscape, Sheriff Ed Tom Bell gives chase, following Anton's trail of destruction with an eye to apprehending this most sadistic and merciless of serial killers.
Country: US. 2007. 122mins
On the run: Josh Brolin plays a man being hunted by a psychopathic killer
My female friends and I are calling it No Country For Old Women. Oh, those Coen brothers. Yes I'm sure their latest noir thriller is a brooding masterpiece peopled by Southern grotesques and a portrait of autonomous evil (Oscar nominee Javier Bardem in a fright wig) that will go down in screen history. But does it have to be so violent?
There's something about the casual offing of all the victims - the weapon of choice is a cattle gun, normally used in abattoirs - that makes me think of boys pulling the legs off flies for sport.
I'm a lone voice, of course. The FT finds it a "masterly demonic tableau", The Observer "a brilliant meditation on mortality". The Standard's own Derek Malcom thinks it may very well be the best film the Coens have ever made. Personally I can't help noticing all the great enthusiasts have been male.
The plot is lifted from Cormac McCarthy's original novel, an elegy for the old West set in 1980s Texas. Josh Brolin's hunter stumbles across a botched drug deal in the desert, nicks the loot and finds himself hunted by Bardem's psychopath. Arguably he deserves all he gets. But it's the other - little - people he drags into the frame that breaks my heart.
What is all this killing for? What great moral arc does it serve?
And, more importantly, where are the women? Yes, it's lovely to see Kelly Macdonald in a cameo role (I hope she gets the Hollywood career she deserves) but I'd argue that the best Coen films always have a ballsy female lead - where, to put it bluntly, Joel Coen's actress wife, Frances McDormand, is busy breathing down his neck.
Think of McDormand in Fargo, Holly Hunter in Raising Arizona or Marcia Gay Harden in Miller's Crossing. It may have inspired a postmodern cult, but the moments The Big Lebowski really takes flight for me are when Julianne Moore's "vaginal artist" Maude is on screen.
I'm probably being prudish about No Country for Old Men. It will clean up at the Oscars. Bardem is terrific, and so is Woody Harrelson (all 10 minutes of him). The cinematography by Roger Deakins is stunning.
But the lack of respect for the body, the sheer bloody aftermath depresses me. Yes, they may handle the killing with verve and ironic tension, but this is a Coen brothers film too far.
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Thank you Liz. You are not alone. Granted, the photography and acting were good but how many blood drenched bodies do we have to see to make a point. Methinks too much was read into this film - a hidden message which escapes me. A psychopathic Frankenstein look-alike wanders around unchalleged with what looks like an oversized fire extinguisher. (It could be funny but obviously humour was not a strong point in the film). He scoops up from the shelf drugs which are usually kept behind locked doors and nonchalantly sets fire to a car without anyone noticing. Is he invisible? Does no-one recognize the cattle gun for what it is? In cattle country? There were many holes in the story, but who cares? Perhaps it was redeemed in the end - we didn't stay to find out!
- Mary Stuart, Oakville, Ontario, Canada
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