Film Genre Research: No Country for Old Men

The film begins with the production company logos, followed by a black screen with the title of the movie in white font. Blowing wind can be heard before a man begins talking. The black screen cuts to a sunrise scene of a desert. The narrator talks reminiscently and nostalgically about being a sheriff. During this, several wide shots of the desert at sunrise play over. The narrator tells a story about a man he arrested, and how times have changed since then. The desert scenes slowly evolve into morning scenes as the sun rises. The landscape is very still and quiet in all of them. A scene of an officer leading a man to a police car appears. The narrator begins talking about "this particular crime," hinting that it is the one the movie will be about. The officer puts the man in the back of the police car, and then a shot from the driver's seat shows him put a compressed air canister in the front seat. The officer gets in the car, and drives away as the camera rises with a crane over the desolate land.
Budget: 25 million
Box Office: 171.6 million
Awards: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture (Golden Globe), Best Picture of the Year (Academy Awards), Best Achievement in Directing (Academy Awards)

Film Genre Research: Menace II Society

The film begins with a black screen with character dialogue and atmospheric noise before showing the two characters enter a market. The dialogue is conversational. A handheld camera captures a two shot of the two talking and walking through the market. A camera on a track shows them walking to the back of the store. The store owner lady comes into the view and stands by the two characters. A back and forth edit between them and the owner lady shows the one character telling her to mind her business and her continuing to  look at them. They pick out beers from the fridge while the camera continues to switch to the lady looking at them. When the one character opens the beer, the camera quickly pans to the store owner man who shouts not to drink the beer in the store. It pans back to the characters who say they are going to pay. The lady follows them as they walk toward the counter, and the one character gets increasingly provoked by her. He curses at her and she tells them firmly to hurry up and buy the beer. A close up of her face shows her anger as she continues to follow them. The owner man tells them to hurry up. He seems on edge about their presence. Several back and forth shots between the man, lady, and characters appear as they purchase the beer. As they leave, the man makes a comment about the character's mother, which provokes him. The camera zooms on his face as he walks back to the counter. The two start arguing while the second character drinks his beer. As the camera is on him, gunshots are heard, followed by the lady screaming. An insert shot of his beer breaking on the floor comes before a shot of the one character shooting behind the counter. A two shot of the one character and the screaming lady follows. He forces her to the back to get the camera footage. An eye-line match of the second character as he looks over the counter shows the man's dead body on the floor. A struggle between the lady and the one character is audible before gunshots silence it. The one character emerges from the back and begins opening the register and looting the man's body. The second character is panicking and telling the other character to hurry up. He runs out and is followed by the other character. A voice-over of the second character plays over them running. Sirens and a car can be heard screeching away.
Budget: 3.5 million
Box Office: 27.9 million
Winning Nominations: Best Movie (MTV Awards), Best Cinematography (Spirit Awards)

Film Genre Research: Scarface

The film starts with the Universal logo before intense incidental music starts playing. Over a black screen, a description of the emigration of thousands of Cubans to America via the newly opened Mariel harbor is flashed. It takes several flashes to show the entire description. A black and white video of Fidel Castro speaking publicly about the decision to a crowd is played. The music shifts to an upbeat song and videos of boats leaving Mariel harbor. The boats are filled with people seeking to get to Florida. The main actor's name flashes on the screen in red font, followed by the title of the movie in bigger font. More videos of people leaving on boats are shown. There are close ups of people's faces, and wide shots of people waving from the boats. There are aerial shots of the boats too. More producers of the movie are flashed in red font periodically between sequences of videos. The videos now show American flags and people eagerly getting off the boats. There are also people hugging as they get onto land. A panning shot shows them walking off the harbor, then another similar shot shows people cramped in detention camps. Close ups show the people's disappointed looks before the last credit is shown and the music fades away.
Budget: 37 million
Box Office: 65.9 million
Nominations: Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama, Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture, Best Original Score - Motion Picture

Film Genre Research: Heat

The movie starts with a sequence of production credits with somber incidental music. The cast credits fade in and out on a black screen. The title fades in the same manner but with bigger and bolder font. A nighttime scene of a subway fades in. More cast credits fade in and out on the right of the screen, while a long take of a subway slowly approaches on the left. The train gets louder and closer before the camera switches to the opposite direction to show the train rolling away. The train is now on the right and the credits are on the left. The train stops and the camera cuts to a close up of a man walking out of it. He walks closer to the camera before an over the shot angle shows him descend down an escalator. He is wearing a boiler suit with a hospital badge. The credits are still on the left side. A crane shot is angled directly down at him walking. A low angle shot shows his shoes as he walks by, then angles up at a statue in front of a building. The scene cuts to inside the building. The man pushes the metal door open and walks through the hospital. Several close up shots of the man walking are mixed with shots of patients and hospital equipment. Each shot is only about a second long. There is atmospheric noises from the hospital and there are beeping sound effects. People can be heard saying medical jargon. The man exits the hospital and approaches an ambulance van. He gets in it and starts the engine.
Budget: 60 million
Box Office: 187.4 million
Nominations: Best Cinematography, Best Action-Adventure Film, Best Stunt Ensemble, Best Picture, and several others. 

Film Genre Research: Sicario: Day of the Soldado

The film begins with menacing and intense incidental music over the production credits. A black screen with a statistic about the Mexican Cartel fades in briefly. An aerial shot of the US Mexico border at night fades in, with howling wind sound effects. The sound of a helicopter grows louder as it emerges from the bottom of the screen. An over the shoulder shot of the pilot shows a thermal imaging screen in the cockpit. Dialogue is exchanged between the pilot and the headset about movement on the screen. Another aerial shot cuts in of the helicopter descending away from the camera. Then there is a wide shot of the helicopter scanning the land with a spotlight. People can be seen running on the screen in another over the shoulder shot. The pilot zooms in on the image to show the people carrying duffel bags. An aerial shot of border patrol intercepting the running people cuts in. Sirens can be heard. The camera cuts to a look of the interception on the ground with a handheld camera. The people can be heard talking frantically as the officers wearing army outfits and "border patrol" badges demand them to get on their knees. The camera is very shaky. A point of view shot of the thermal imaging shows a man attempting to run away. The cross hairs on the image follow him. The scene then cuts to another handheld camera angle of the man running, then stopping abruptly. A wide shot of the man then shows a ravine in front of him and border patrol behind him. He kneels down and begins opening his bag. A mid-shot of the people comes in showing them talking to the border patrol. The scene then cuts back to the kneeling man, who looks nervous. He says a Muslim prayer before being approached by patrolmen. They yell at him to show his hands. A beeping is heard before a wide-shot of the patrolmen and the kneeling man shows him explode. The scene cuts to the thermal image which is glitching out. Menacing incidental music plays.
No credits are given. I watched 20 minutes in with no avail.
It had a budget of 35-45 million and made 75.8 million in the box office.
It was nominated for Best Picture, Best Thriller, and Best Original TV Score Spot. It won the Hamilton Award for the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists.