Anton Chigurh... unwrapped??

Anton Chigurh, played by a very innocent-looking Javier Bardem, is possibly one of the darkest, most mysterious characters I've ever seen. This post might not even come to much of a conclusion, he's so mysterious. To start of with, he's a murderer. That is to say the least. Why does he kill? And what explains the apparent absense of emotion he has, even when killing people? There's one scene in the movie in which he kills a man, answers the phone, sits in a chair, and simply puts his feet up when he notices blood is about to get on his boots. That sums up his reaction to his other victims' deaths. It doesn't phase him. But, there's one scene in the movie (No Country for Old Men) in which he smiles, otherwise he has a pretty blank expression. So why? The coin Chigurh uses to predict many people's fates in the movie may indicate his dependence on destiny. Perhaps his mind is wired so that he naturally believes he will make up people's fates because he wants to. He always wants to kill (for some unknown reason... this will be the unfinished part of the post), so he does, and because he can. I kind of wonder if Anton's character is supposed to remind the audience of a pessimistic portrayal of God. Many believe that God is the ultimate judge and that he sends people to Heaven or Hell depending on what he believes they are worthy of. It is a mystery if God sends more people to Heaven or Hell. Many also believe that God is very unforgiving, thus thinking that God sends everyone to Hell. So, like God, Anton Chigurh kills everyone instead of giving them what they want, life on earth. Those are my thoughts. There is no telling behind the character of Anton Chigurh.

Altman and Naivety

A topic important to all of Altman's films we watched in class is naivety. In Nashville Sueleen Gay and Linnea Reese are very naive. Sueleen thinks she is going to be the next huge country singer, along with many other characters. In reality, she's awful. Most of the other characters going for the same goal as Sueleen are just as awful. What's a downfall for Sueleen is that she's willing to give up some of her innocence in order to "achieve" her goal. What's more is that people make her believe she's going to become a singer someday. She's not. Not even close. In the end she realizes it's not going to happen, and is left in the dust. Thus, a major theme of Nashville has to deal with checking oneself with reality from time to time in order to stay loyal to oneself and not get caught off-guard when things don't go as planned. Also, in The Player the main character Griffin Mill gets so caught up in the mystery of the "I will kill you" postcards and notices that he fails to see the long-term effects of his actions. He stalks the guy who is supposedly sending him the messages and murders him on a whim. He then proceeds to make love to this guy's old girlfriend and lose his name in Hollywood, including breaking his current girlfriend's heart. It's not a good situation, and all a result of being too concerned with a silly message (which perhaps also got out of hand) and ultimately being too naive to see the outcome of his actions. Then again, this part of the story was in a movie, so I'm not exactly sure if it happened and if we're supposed to learn from it... Oh well. Good movies.

Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas

Though directed by Henry Selick, Tim Burton is usually accredited for the haunting film The Nightmare Before Christmas. This is no surprise. The Nightmare Before Christmas has everything typical of Burton’s stop-animation style. The scary and demented characters though the film is aimed at a younger audience, the out-of-the-ordinary world, Burton’s style only starts with this film.
The story opens on Halloween Town, a town that has lived up to its name all these years by… celebrating Halloween. While wandering in the woods the main character, Jack Skellington (Danny Elfman and Chris Sarandon), comes across a portal to Christmas Town. Jack loves Christmas Town and the feeling of Christmas so much that he tries every measure to bring Christmas to Halloween Town. His attempts to kidnap Santa from Christmas Town fail and only end up putting characters in danger. Jack never actually brings Christmas to Halloween Town, but dazzles Halloween Town with some things he could take from Christmas Town—like snow. Everything is set right in the end and Jack ends up with Sally (Catherine O’Hara), a girl he has fallen in love with while trying to bring Christmas spirit to Halloween Town.
A big theme of this movie has to deal with wanting something to be what it is not. Halloween Town is, clearly, meant for Halloween and not Christmas. Though Christmas Town may be happy and wonderful, and Halloween Town dark and evil, Halloween Town cannot just switch to Christmas. This is obviously made apparent when Jack fails to bring Christmas to Halloween Town. But Jack is able to improve Halloween Town’s spirits by bringing certain aspects of Christmas Town to it, which means that something may be improved not by transforming it completely but by giving it new features so to speak.
This song shows Jack’s desire for something new and better. Though he is the Pumpkin King, he desires something he has not yet known.