Movies I've seen and my Opinions

I 'm tempted to say that your disappointment with Gone With The Wind, for quite understandable reasons, might be evidence of its greatness.

There. I've said it.

Gone With The Wind was the last movie I went to that played with an intermission. Thank you, Little Art Cinema. It's over three-and-a-half hours long and I'm not sure if that includes the music for the overture, the intermission, the entr'acte and the exit. If I recall correctly it used to air on broadcast television over two consecutive nights... and pull huge ratings. I'm assuming that you watched the entire movie in one sitting. Consider yourself lucky. The rough-cut was six hours long.

Scarlett O'Hara is, as you say, a "whining stuck-up b***h." That's what makes Vivien Leigh's performance so amazing. Thank you, George Cukor. She is Scarlett. Rhett Butler is played by Clark Gable. But Scarlett exists. She annoys, vexes, infuriates and amuses the other characters within the film as well as the audience watching the film.

But back to the running time. Gone With The Wind was the huge blockbuster of its day. The studio had to (and did) what all studios do with blockbusters. This just served to lengthen the running time. It was released in the middle of the Depression, the same year as The Wizard of Oz. Thank you, Victor Fleming. Just think of the colours. If people were astonished at the transformation when Dorothy enters Oz you can imagine the effect that a sunset at Tara would have on an audience. Gone With The Wind gave them four hours of that.

But back to the "the whining stuck-up b***h, who the whole movie is based around." The character arc that brings Scarlett from flirting with the Tarleton twins to that stunning panorama of Scarlett swearing SPOILER - highlight to read As God is my witness, as God is my witness they're not going to lick me. I'm going to live through this and when it's all over, I'll never be hungry again. No, nor any of my folk. If I have to lie, steal, cheat or kill. As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again. That was amazing. That is amazing. That moment would be the emotional climax, the end, of almost every other movie. And it comes at the midpoint of the movie, just before the intermission.

By the end of the movie Scarlett has, to my mind, actually become a sympathetic figure. Her home, the world she was born to and everyone she loved or thought she loved has come crashing down around her. She has literally gone through fire, the South has fallen, SPOILER - highlight to read husbands have died and deserted her, she's been raped and had a miscarriage, horses have killed her father and her daughter and she has driven Rhett away. All of her hopes are gone. Still she is not defeated.

SPOILER - highlight to read After all, tomorrow is another day!

I know this doesn't, nor should it, change your experience of the film. However, the memory of what merited a "generous" 3 will fade. I hope that you will then look more kindly upon Gone With The Wind.

Yes. You cannot go wrong with John Cusak.

And yes, I have spoilerized one of the most famous and familiar movies of all time.

All right, being such a big fan of the movie, I'm gonna do my best to answer your No Country queries.

What the hell is this movie even about?

Taken at face value, it's the story of a not-so-rational but definitely greedy country boy taking a case of money from the scene of a slaughter involving the Mexican drug trade. The Mexicans hire Anton Chigurh to get the money back, but after he gets the tracker, he kills them and goes after it for himself. If you wanna get analytical, the movie is about the unspeakable evil which we know is coming yet are helpless to stop. It takes place in 1980, as cocaine was being introduced to the U.S., foreshadowing the darkness and decadence which was to follow. Anton Chigurh is an embodiment of this. No one gets out clean, and the good guy doesn't always win (or even have a chance of winning).

If there is a plot, what is the ending?

Anton kills Llewellyn, finds the money, kills Llewellyn's wife, and goes on his way like the mysterious evil thing he is.

Who gets the money in the end?

This would be Anton Chigurh, as evidenced by forking money over to the kid for the shirt. Granted, we never see him pick up the case, but it's implied (just like how he kills Llewellyn's wife).

Why was Woody Harrelson's character even in the movie? What was his purpose?

He was an old acquaintance of Anton's, most likely a partner in crime. He was brought in as Anton's only known contact, the only person who could possibly have a chance of getting him to stop chasing after the money and killing the Mexicans in his way.

Or Tommy Lee Jones for that matter! What did he do?

Tommy Lee Jones' sheriff is the central character in the movie, and the key to its themes. We don't always see him a lot, but he's the one telling the story. Again, to get analytical, he represents the inability to stop what's coming. He's a good guy, a nice guy, a respectable guy...but his father always called him a coward, and when he finally works up the nerve to confront the bad guy...the bad guy's already gone on his merry way.

Why did the guy go back in the first place? What's wrong with him!?!

He's kind of an idiot. That might be a little harsh, but he doesn't always think before he acts. He felt guilty, which is probably not something he feels a lot, and that's why he went back.

I'm not expecting to change your opinion or anything, but since it was my favorite movie of last year, I thought I'd help ya out with some of your questions. ;-)

Glad you loved A Mighty Heart, though, it definitely doesn't get enough love.

And I, too, am not a big fan of Gone with the Wind (though I like it a lot more than you do), and not only was Scarlett O'Hara not a very good character, but Vivien Leigh's performance wasn't exactly the epitome of screen acting. That movie's classic status needs some serious knocking down.