Well the general audience, the ones who would hate the ending, has yet to get to it. Plus a film naturally drops over time at imdb. Ratatouille was top 40 at one point too.

It got a lot of negative response when I saw it tonight. A bunch of people were comparing the ending to The Sopranos. It's definitely not going to be very popular with the mainstream. I actually heard one guy just say "I don't get it". But, to be fair, I'm not even sure if I do. My point is that I think it's gonna be pretty difficult for it to win Best Picture, given the Academy's choices over the past few years (which have mostly been embraced by the mainstream).

well, it had a terrific expansion this week. $11 million 3-day, $15 million 5-day...that's like a $12.5K PTA. By now, if WOM with general audiences was as bad as some people here said, this would not have happened. It would've had less than half the PTA it got.

Just saying what I heard. I'm sure there's a fair amount of people who loved it, too. I just don't think WOM will be as fantastic as the reviews seemed to indicate. It'll definitely be mixed, maybe a bit better. And I don't think it's winning Best Picture.

BTW, does anyone know what the three main guys are being campaigned as? Bardem is supporting, I presume, but are both Brolin + Jones going for lead? I would give all three of them nominations, but I know that won't happen.

I believe Brolin is lead, and Jones/Bardem are both supporting. I saw this in the LA Times The Envelope, and it makes sense: Jones couldn't be a lead, since he's a less important and less seen character than Bardem [who we KNOW is Supporting].

and yet the film opens and closes with him.

Brolin and Jones aren't getting nominations so it doesn't matter much

Sin City opened and closed with Josh Hartnett, no one would have said he was the lead there either.

then i guess Josh Hartnett was pushed for Best Actor in Sin City.

I dunno what Sin City has to do with anything. I forgot that movie months and years ago. And I didn't say anyone would be pushed any way. I just think that whole "Bell is a less important character" thing is lame.

I cannot wait to see this movie.

maybe not less important, but only on-screen for twenty minutes or so. That's just not enough to get a lead acting push. That's less than most supporting roles that get nominated at the Oscars.

I think Jones is a fairly lead character, not from a narrative standpoint but definitely from a thematic one. His whole subplot definitely seems the most important when dealing with the intentions and implications of the film. I think the fact that he's the narrator and that the film's much-questioned ending revolves around him should not be overlooked.

But, as Shack said, neither he nor Brolin will be nominated, so this is all moot anyway. It's a shame, though, I thought all three were fantastic.

Bardem was intense as hell, bad-ass, AND had an accent. Those three things together will make him steal the show completely in the minds of most people who see this film. Brolin plays a quiet character, so however well he does it, it's much harder to remember than Bardem's psycho performance.

Not to mention that the film's marketing department has successfully implemented a hypnotizing meme that Bardem's good performance is somehow a great performance...

I pretty much feel the same way as you on all levels... especially about that ending...

They were the only two new movies I've seen since Beowulf, and I pretty much aagree. Neither were completely scuttled by the last 15 minutes, but in both instances those were the weakest stretches of the film.

I thought that No Country for Old Men just totally came off the tracks in the last half-hour or so. I may have to sit on it, but I haven't been as disappointed in a movie this year as I am in this one.

But regardless of the problems I had with the ending, Bardem is completely deserving of the nomination he will get.

What exactly is the problem people had with the ending??? I'm kinda not getting it.

I felt it ended a bit abruptly and aside from a single problem I had, I thought it was fine. Granted, I didn't love the film but thought it was very well done so I wasn't utterly disappointed. What was so disappointing about it? Maybe I just didn't get the movie.

Heh.

You know, at first I didn't really care for the ending, but the more I think about it, the more of come to appreciate it.

But still...

I had it at a C+ when the lights came up last night, but now, I've got it a full letter grade higher. Though there's still no way in hell it's making my top ten list for the year, I've got to say I'm extremely glad I saw it since it's given me a great deal to think about.