ENCORE CHOICES TO THE BEST PICTURE NOMINEES - No Country for Old Men

PSYCHO (1960, Alfred Hitchcock)
http://imdb.com/title/tt0054215/
Obvious connections can be made to the plot similarities between Alfred Hitchcock’s classic 1960 film and No Country for Old Men. However, I’m far more interested in its connections of aesthetics, characterization, and execution. Certainly watching No Country for Old Men draws comparisons to Hitchcock both in the detailed way each shot is storyboarded as well as the use of lighting and editing. There is also the strong sense of mystery and suspense. Like in the best Hitchcock films we are the distant spectators and the film plays with us as much as it does its own characters.


THE STRAIGHT STORY (1999, David Lynch)
http://imdb.com/title/tt0166896/
The metaphysical core of No Country for Old Men is expressed in its opening voice-over narration, and then later further expressed in the final scene. No Country For Old Men is a film centered around following (or chasing) a path between the past and the future. While certainly a different film, David Lynch’s 1999 The Straight Story has a spiritual and layered feeling that resonates in No Country for Old Men. Both film move at a rhythmic and haunting pace, leaving plenty to reflect on old age and on American living.


THE THREE BURIALS OF MELQUIADES ESTRADA (2006, Tommy Lee Jones)
http://imdb.com/title/tt0419294/
The Three Burials of Melquaidres Estrada similarly uses a modern western with political undertones. It also skillfully plays with dark humor and most notably plays with the splendor of the old-western films. The Three Burials of Melquaidres Estrada is the directorial debut of Tommy Lee Jones who also stars. His presence in No Country for Old Men further connects the two films, and it seems a fitting choice to follow-up his Three Burials character with this role. Three Burials is above all a journey for meaning and for the human body and souls connection with land and with death. Those similar philosophical themes are certainly dealt with in No Country for Old Men, a land where the life or death of a human soul can be decided by a flip of a coin.