Admiration.

After the recent Intolerable Cruelty of The Ladykillers (See what I did there people... as they both kinda sucked) its great to see the Coen brothers bounce back... and boy do they bounce back!
This movie was pure intensity.... Javier Bardem STOLE EVERY SCENE HE WAS IN! A story that keeps building until the finish.
There was just no way I could take my eyes off Bardem's character. And it has to be said that Brolin did extremely well to act opposite such a legendary performance.
The direction was superb.
The cinematography outstanding.
The acting was flawless.
The story was compelling.
I could easily say that just about everything in this movie felt right... up until the end.
The way the movie has been mapped out, for me, didn't concentrate enough on the Jones' character and then to finally resolve the story in a way that remains true to the book, made the film loose its momentum. And after the chase the movie did have nowhere else to go except back into character depth.
Simply worth watching for the perfect Cat & Mouse chemistry between Bardem and Brolin! Direction that stays with you. Highly Recommended

Ok now I see what all the fuss is about. You will often hear this movie is a modern-day classic, which don't get me wrong it deserves admiration but at the same time it it sometimes has its weaker points.... that just keep it back from perfection. Wow its true this movie keeps you interested right from the very start, you can't help but be drawn in. A dark vision of the future where disrespectful adolescents must kill each other to survive. Sometimes I think they should instigate these in the corporate world for "Team Bonding Exercises"... What's not to like! Strong characterisation, simplistic and clever direction combined with strong violence and dark humour. Admittedly I preferred the first half of the movie with its parody of an educational video and the introduction of characters. The atmosphere in this movie is incredible and when the character's you're drawn to die its quite horrific. Yet, for me, the conclusion of the story kinda plateau's out and the characters aren't as strong and the action begins to drag. I personally felt that it wasn't progressing fast enough. Everything was great up till the ending where it became slightly confusing and comical, and for a story this strong the ending didn't really do the rest of the movie justice. However, there's still some pretty unique stuff which is totally worth watching.

Worth a best movie Oscar simply for the truths it presents.How social culture's are slowly being judged under prejudiced stereotypes and nothing is what it seems. Some very touching moments... especially the incident on the poster... probably one of the biggest relief moments in cinematic history. The Matt Dillon/Thandie Newton storyline and Ludacris' dialogue are amazing. Every performance in this movie is inspiring and outstanding. It also has a great soundtrack and perfect direction. Emotional. Educational. Provoking. More of an experience than anything else... Loved it.

A movie that lives up to the positive press. Clooney is a storm of an actor!

A movie to be admired rather than enjoyed. This movie is extremely well made and some of the cinematography is simplistic and adds to the creative setting the story is founded on. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is outstanding, he adapts Truman Capote's entire persona (which is at first a little distracting at first) and makes it look so effortless. Half way through the movie I even began to notice how I was easily getting so used to the complexity of his manipulating character. As the movie progresses so does the duplicity of emotions being shown and I found it becomes very uncomfortable very quickly. It's almost as if it were divided into two parts, the killers and the person exploiting them for his own gain, and though you shouldn't sympathise with either you do end up pitying both parties. Gritty stuff. Look out for Hoffman reading the opening chapter of "in cold blood" as Capote. Raw and Intense.

Even though its sort of a chick flick, its a very good one... one that could easily rival One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. However unlike that this is actually a feel good movie. Winona Ryder upset by life's lack of direction "tries" to commit suicide, checks into a mental institute and bonds with the people there... and eventually finds herself. Awww. Both Ryder and especially Jolie are really amazing, and it would be hard for Jolie not to win an Oscar with such an amazing character going for her. She pulls it off so well you would think she was nuts. Good secondary performances from Goldberg and Murphey. Good evolution of characters and well directed. Might not be to most people's suiting but it is worth watching and has a good moralistic message to it. Bittersweet and a little bit inspirational.... even if it is a chick flick.

Day-Lewis only continues to prove how amazing he is an actor in this slow character study of a movie. His performance is intoxicating to watch as he burns up the screen once again.
This movie is epic from start to finish on every level. Some could say it is a masterpiece and part of me in inclined to agree, however it is long and the pace does suffer due to its magnitude of Day-Lewis screen time... and face it 2 and a half hours of Lewis persona is going to be exhausting to watch. Not only that but the secondary character's do become tedious and after the initial Dano/Lewis story arc the O'Connor arc is introduced and people do begin to feel the story is going nowhere.
There is a lot that could be learned from this movie, in the sense of building a cinematic achievement through steady direction and strong performances though this tends to make it a film of admiration rather than enjoyment.
In a selfish way I also expected more blood! I mean common it's in the title! But I'll accept the scarily accurate performance or an alcoholic by Day-Lewis towards the end.
As for the movie's music composition, ARGH, it did feel and sound like the strings on some violins where snapping somewhere.
A very very clever movie. Deserves recognition for being great but not magnificent.

There is a lot of controversy surrounding this movie, people keep recommended or boycotting it to me, at the end of the day its a movie as an individual you have to make up your mind about seeing. After all its directed by the legendary Oliver Stone.

Stone's direction in this movie is very focused, not only does he manage to capture the realistic normality before the disaster he totally manages to avoid the expected filming of the planes hitting the towers. There is no focus on the political agenda, or the violence initiated. It is purely a story about two victims buried under the rubble of the twin towers. In a sense the direction of this movie makes up for the fact that it's plotless, and as far as entertainment values go the movie plateaus in the middle and nothing seems to happen. Unlike Stone's other patriot works this focuses more independently on how outsiders responded to the critical event.

One of the most memorable scenes for me is the way stone manages to capture the chaos in normality as the character's drive up and into the towers. Just the environment around them is truly haunting. It acts simply a movie that questions the audience about where they were when the twin towers collapsed. Maggie Gyllenhall gives a great supporting performance as the pregnant wife to Michael Pena. Pena Himself is an amazing actor and what little screen time he has in this he shines. This also has fairly moderate performances from Bello and Cage, and because Cage isn't made to be the leading role his performance is more realistic and there is a lack of Hollywood glamour. However I feel the movie would still have been a lot better with his absence. More of a movie acting as an event rather than a story

With every minute that passes on this movie it becomes a minute harder to watch. A movie that strongly focuses on the people affected by 9/11 is always going to be a sensitive matter, but this movie is made with such sensitivity that it is amazing. Like World Trade Centre it is a movie event more than it is actually a movie.
Starting off with the terrorists getting prepared while the whole country goes about its daily routine it poses the audience to remember where they were when 9/11 happened. Greengrass's clever Writng/Producing/Directing and use of unknown actors makes this situation as real as it could possibly whereas more news and movies were focused on the Twin Tower's this film focuses strongly on peoples reactions, the reality of the situation and the crisis everyday people had to contend with and emphasis on those who died.
Each performance adds realism. Each growing moment increases the tension. The camera work makes you believe you are actually there. The direction is stunning when you think about all the issues this movie has had to deal with. The inevitable end is touching. Definitely not a movie you enjoy but one you experience and later admire.
The very last scene, is so real. It only proves how strong a director Greengrass is and will be personally of the most haunting movie moments in years to come.

Intresting but lacks emotional impact. Seing the historical footage was really captivating but that was just the introduction, from there on its just a journey of a team blowing things up. Though well directed the story is just dull. Strong lead by Eric Bana. Makes you paranoid about moving about your house afterwards.