tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post8642195875456697297..comments2022-03-24T16:11:50.124-04:00Comments on The Man From Porlock: Culminating Experiences (A Serious Man, The Class, and Shotgun Stories)Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01450775188328918558noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-20945511578634339152009-11-21T19:14:37.765-05:002009-11-21T19:14:37.765-05:00Your review of A Serious Man is one of the best I&...<i>Your review of A Serious Man is one of the best I've read - it more clearly delineates - in your first paragraph - the touching or affecting aspects of this film - which, unfortunately, didn't reach me. Whereas, before, my comments have been along the lines of "the Coens failed to touch/affect me on this one," now I can see that I might have missed something and maybe the film deserves a re-viewing.</i><br /><br />Thanks very much, though as always with the Coens (and despite what I originally wrote), I'm now wondering whether my initial opinion will change. They're slippery bastards, hard to pin down. Right now, however, <i>A Serious Man</i> is my second favorite film of the year.Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01450775188328918558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-37676520809125630712009-11-21T16:14:13.951-05:002009-11-21T16:14:13.951-05:00Haven't seen Shotgun Stories. Sounds interesti...Haven't seen <i>Shotgun Stories</i>. Sounds interesting though.<br /><br />I'm with you on Clooney in an eye patch.Richard Bellamyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12397053921647421425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-30774858139075751792009-11-21T12:10:01.678-05:002009-11-21T12:10:01.678-05:00Thanks for responding, Hokahey. You didn't com...Thanks for responding, Hokahey. You didn't comment on "Shotgun Stories," so I first have to ask have you seen it? It's an interesting, atmospheric movie that concludes in a very unexpected way. I'd be curious what you think of it.<br /><br />I'm high on "The Class" as well, particularly its ambiguities and adamant refusal to be inspirational. That teacher is talented, but also one reckless dude.<br /><br />I'm agnostic on "True Grit." But as I mentioned earlier, if it's Clooney wearing an eyepatch, I'm outta there.Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01450775188328918558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-86656560621300938772009-11-21T10:30:38.326-05:002009-11-21T10:30:38.326-05:00Your review of A Serious Man is one of the best I&...Your review of <i>A Serious Man</i> is one of the best I've read - it more clearly delineates - in your first paragraph - the touching or affecting aspects of this film - which, unfortunately, didn't reach me. Whereas, before, my comments have been along the lines of "the Coens failed to touch/affect me on this one," now I can see that I might have missed something and maybe the film deserves a re-viewing.<br /><br /><i>The Class</i> is my favorite teaching movie - and I speak from experience (this is my 34th year of teaching). I really identified with the teacher. He had a passion - but it got him into trouble sometimes. Reminds me of me.<br /><br /><i>True Grit</i> - there are aspects of the novel that would fit nicely into a more realistic Coen brothers' re-imagining of the story and I will be open to it. But if the bros are just pulling the wool over our eyes - first of all, shame on them for being so condescending in public; second, I'm fine with the Henry Hathaway version being the only one; it's a great movie (and it's already funny as intended - and even somewhat cynical).Richard Bellamyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12397053921647421425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-17240639902577585922009-11-06T00:39:42.925-05:002009-11-06T00:39:42.925-05:00I haven't seen shotgun stories - but I can go ...I haven't seen shotgun stories - but I can go for yockels every now and again.RChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11340006144797496514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-44673759785064669652009-11-01T21:16:10.026-05:002009-11-01T21:16:10.026-05:00Is it possible the Coens are just jerking people&#...Is it possible the Coens are just jerking people's chains about "True Grit"? Like a reporter asked them what they're working on and they made it up on the spot? They're famous for doing this: when asked what "Miller's Crossing" was about, they replied: "Well, it's about hats. Wearing hats. And putting them on. It's all about hats." (Which, I recognize, is somewhat true.)<br /><br />They're also associated with an adaptation of Michael Chabon's "The Yiddish Policemen's Union." Now that I believe.Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01450775188328918558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-70923650129691055452009-10-31T18:35:47.723-04:002009-10-31T18:35:47.723-04:00We actually read True Grit in junior high for Okla...We actually read True Grit in junior high for Oklahoma History class (too long ago for me to remember much), but I don't remember being too impressed by it or finding it that different from the movie. In fact, I found the novel paled to some of the Louis L'amour novels I'd read when bored at my grandma's.Edward Copelandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12463676135131274426noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-28254083869209587622009-10-31T16:40:35.427-04:002009-10-31T16:40:35.427-04:00Jason: Yeah, good point. I was initially horrified...Jason: Yeah, good point. I was initially horrified by the thought of George Clooney wearing an eyepatch. The Western is one of the few remaining genres the Coens haven't tackled (unless you count No Country for Old Men, which I don't), so why not?Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01450775188328918558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-51247564049396701132009-10-31T13:01:15.360-04:002009-10-31T13:01:15.360-04:00On True Grit: I read somewhere that the Coens'...On <em>True Grit</em>: I read somewhere that the Coens' version was going to be 'closer to the book and funnier,' whatever that means. Considering that <em>The Big Lebowski</em> is somewhat inspired by <em>The Big Sleep</em> and <em>A Serious Man</em> is somewhat inspired by the Bible, I suspect that the Coens' <em>True Grit</em> might only resemble the original by being a Western. I presume it'll be pretty unique. We'll see.Jason Bellamyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18150199580478147196noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-34874311943091060092009-10-31T12:19:04.838-04:002009-10-31T12:19:04.838-04:00Ed - Yeah, I don't get the "True Grit&quo...Ed - Yeah, I don't get the "True Grit" thing either. "The Ladykillers," at least, had the type of black comic humor they enjoy, even if the results were disastrous. The Coens can make pretty much any movie they want, and they want to remake "True Grit"? Steven Spielberg wants to redo "Harvey"? Why indeed.<br /><br />"A Serious Man," though: When it was over, I thought: "Classic."Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01450775188328918558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-71241582391100392552009-10-30T15:22:18.765-04:002009-10-30T15:22:18.765-04:00I loved the Coens' first three films and mostl...I loved the Coens' first three films and mostly liked Barton Fink, but then I started to sour on them with Hudsucker Proxy. Each film seemed to have too much snark and to be another variation of a kidnapping/murder story with characters with accents who seemed dumb but spoke in unusually florid language. I even skipped some of their films. No Country seemed to mark a new phase. Very little if any snark and it also came the same year as their great short in Paris, I Love You. I thought Burn After Reading felt like a step backward, but A Serious Man is a marvelous move in an entirely new direction from them. I hope it bodes well for the future, though it concerns me that they've been linked to a remake of True Grit. Why?Edward Copelandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12463676135131274426noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-20303135831430019232009-10-28T09:19:55.465-04:002009-10-28T09:19:55.465-04:00Yeah, kind of. I think if I do a WTF, I'd use ...Yeah, kind of. I think if I do a WTF, I'd use that as the week's rant. When I say I need to get back to it, I'm pretty much referring to the movies floating in my head that I want to WTF.Jason Bellamyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18150199580478147196noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-16244489713559632602009-10-27T20:06:56.706-04:002009-10-27T20:06:56.706-04:00Jason-
Yes it was a WTF post (a concept I need to...Jason-<br /><br /><i>Yes it was a WTF post (a concept I need to get back to, and hope too soon, actually). </i><br /><br />I had assumed that the new "Weekly Rant" was a permutation of "WTF," but perhaps the two can coexist peacefully.Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01450775188328918558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-24635559500084707692009-10-27T20:05:10.467-04:002009-10-27T20:05:10.467-04:00Fernando-
A Serious Man is great. In fact, with a...Fernando-<br /><br /><i>A Serious Man is great. In fact, with all due apologies to Coen-heads, it is to me the first film of theirs to really deserve to be called "great."</i><br /><br />I would rate "No Country" up there with "A Serious Man." On the next tier, I'm very fond of "Raising Arizona," "Miller's Crossing," and, oddly enough, "Barton Fink."<br /><br />Coen movies I don't care for: "Lebowski," "Hudsucker Proxy," "O' Brother" (ditto, Steven), and, at rock bottom, "The Ladykillers." They hit a rough patch in the first half of this decade, but they've come out of it in a big way.<br /><br /><i>And I see nothing wrong with holding a director's so-called "superficial" movie as my favorite of their works....I see that L’Avventura holds everything that Antonioni wants to say about life, and I still prefer La Signora Senza Camelie.</i><br /><br />I am sincerely in awe of your range. Replace "Antonioni" with "Apatow," and sub your two titles with, respectively, <i>Knocked Up</i> and <i>Walk Hard</i>, and you'd have my version of that statement.Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01450775188328918558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-75298716601214418422009-10-27T01:55:28.381-04:002009-10-27T01:55:28.381-04:00A Serious Man is great. In fact, with all due apol...<i>A Serious Man</i> is great. In fact, with all due apologies to Coen-heads, it is to me the first film of theirs to really deserve to be called "great." I think much of it has to do with how their usually jaundiced distance from characters is enriched and complicated by truly personal feelings toward identity, doubt, and cosmic unknowabilty. Oddly enough, I thought that it succeeded in saying what <i>No Country for Old Men</i> only huffed and puffed about. And it beautifully balances their twin impulses for snarky comedy and grave tragedy, often quite breathtakingly within the same scene.<br /><br />And I see nothing wrong with holding a director's so-called "superficial" movie as my favorite of their works. First of all, "superficial" is a relative term (one man's Matisse is another man's Screech, as a comic once said). And besides, it's possible to appreciate one film as an artist’s fullest articulation of a worldview while personally preferring to revisit another work. I see that <i>L’Avventura</i> holds everything that Antonioni wants to say about life, and I still prefer <i>La Signora Senza Camelie</i>.<br /><br />Who knew "Somebody to Love" had such profound lyrics? And the tornado at the end. Oh man...Fernando F. Crocehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05934811626066160149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-73051126774933157772009-10-26T22:32:33.499-04:002009-10-26T22:32:33.499-04:00On Lebowski: Yes it was a WTF post (a concept I ne...On <i>Lebowski</i>: Yes it was a WTF post (a concept I need to get back to, and hope too soon, actually). And it does still apply, because I still don't understand how people saw that once and thought it was utterly awesome and wanted to see it again; which is what needs to happen for something to become a cult classic. However, catching bits here and there on TV and stuff, I'm now finding myself with favorite scenes or lines that I remember. It's been a strange metamorphosis. I wouldn't feel right calling myself a fan, but I kind of understand it's appeal now. I think. Maybe not. These Coens are confusing.Jason Bellamyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18150199580478147196noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-20966696703792802182009-10-26T13:30:52.519-04:002009-10-26T13:30:52.519-04:00I don't quite know how Coen Brothers movies wo...I don't quite know how Coen Brothers movies work. I do feel, regardless of how I feel about their films, that what's on the screen is there for a reason. Even the greatest directors have those moments when you feel they're winging it. Something like "O Brother" which I didn't like at all, I still had to admit that I understood why they made the choices they made. <br /><br />"A Serious Man" was the first time I read their script before seeing the film, but their reputation for having the final product match their final draft was true with this one, as only about 2 or 3 short scenes were taken out. I marvel at their ability to create films so tightly constructed on the page, but still don't feel overly constrained on the screen.<br /><br />Also, I like "Lebowski", but think it's no more than a great collection of gags. Never understood why so many pick it as their favorite Coen film, much like I don't get those who pick "The Shining" as their favorite Kubrick film. I find both films to be rather superficial compared to those director's other works.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05571206086671634525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-81418359465131198142009-10-26T12:12:32.668-04:002009-10-26T12:12:32.668-04:00Somehow the Coens create 'jokes' that are ...<i>Somehow the Coens create 'jokes' that are funnier when you know they're coming, when you've seen the full work.</i><br /><br />I'd go so far as to say they don't really write jokes at all (and your quotations indicates you're saying the same thing), they create situations that are funny due to certain elements or a particular context. Sometimes the tone of their stuff is off for me - over-the-top hollering generally grates on my nerves -- but I was perfectly in synch with "A Serious Man," which is, for the most part, played in a poker-faced deadpan.<br /><br /><i>I don't quite understand how Coen movies work. They repeatedly create similar responses wherein one's appreciation grows or alters upon repeated viewings, but I can't solve the mystery of how they create this response.</i><br /><br />Maybe because there's nothing to compare their movies to but themselves. Even within their own body of work, each film is so markedly different from the last: What links "Raising Arizona" with "Miller's Crossing" with "Barton Fink" with "No Country for Old Men" with "O' Brother, Where Art Thou?" besides the names of the filmmakers who made them? In the case of "A Serious Man," I think David Edelstein is right that it's "the missing piece of the Coen brothers puzzle." As someone else wrote, the film gives you hints of who they are, or at least where they came from.<br /><br />Additionally, I'm predisposed to like movies that subvert my expectations. All three movies I've reviewed here accomplish this.<br /> <br />You like "The Big Lebowski" now, huh? Wasn't that a topic for one of your "WTF" posts?Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01450775188328918558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-25216915645594608792009-10-26T08:03:39.342-04:002009-10-26T08:03:39.342-04:00I'm glad Steven commented here, because I need...I'm glad Steven commented here, because I need to go back and read his <i>A Serious Man</i> piece.<br /><br />My thoughts are still coming together on the movie. I've seen it twice, and I understand the movie better but my feelings about the movie are as mysterious as ever, something I'll get into on my review.<br /><br />I didn't care for <i>Burn After Reading</i>; I mean, I didn't dislike it, but it didn't grab me (I'm not a big fan of Frances McDormand, and I'm one of those who didn't think Brad Pitt's performance in the film was funny, even though I'm usually a fan of Pitt's. These things probably didn't help. Anyway...)<br /><br />The humor of <i>A Serious Man</i> is interesting; another thing I'll explore in my review. There are several parts that got great laughs the first time through (hilarious? not sure I'd go that far), and then there are parts that I didn't even smile at the first time but laughed at the second time. This might be the <i>Fargo</i>, <i>Big Lebowski</i>, etc., effect. Somehow the Coens create 'jokes' that are funnier when you know they're coming, when you've seen the full work. It took me at least three viewings of <i>Big Lebowski</i> to even kind of like it. But now I do. (I'm not one of its super fans, and there are parts that annoy me, but I have a warmth for that movie now. Strange.)<br /><br />All this rambling is to get here: I don't quite understand how Coen movies work. They repeatedly create similar responses wherein one's appreciation grows or alters upon repeated viewings, but I can't solve the mystery of how they create this response.<br /><br />On <i>The Class</i> ... Ditto. Well said.Jason Bellamyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18150199580478147196noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-32875752734866889462009-10-25T15:36:05.945-04:002009-10-25T15:36:05.945-04:00The Coens fascinate me in that I never know how I&...The Coens fascinate me in that I never know how I'm going to respond to one of their movies. This is probably sacrilege, but I'm not a fan of "The Big Lebowski." For me it has an in-jokey opaqueness that's a problem with some of their other films, and lets John Goodman (an actor I normally admire) run amok; I find him hard to watch. On the other hand, I think I was too hard on "Burn After Reading" the first time around. I saw it again on DVD and somehow it seemed much funnier. I agree with your excellent review that their last three films represent the strongest run of their career. I think "A Serious Man" may be the best movie they've ever made: as I wrote, it's personal in a way that even the most expertly crafted of their other movies are not. It's also funny as hell, filled with classic scenes of people in positions of authority spouting nonsense from behind their desks ("Look at the parking lot, Larry!") that have become a Coen Bros. specialty.<br /><br />Will be curious to see what you think of "The Class." I greatly admire the conclusion of "Shotgun Stories" too. It gives the lie to what I call "Upham's Law" (from Saving Private Ryan), which claims that a sensitive, thoughtful man really isn't a man until he kills somebody in cold blood. Clearly Nichols thinks that's bullshit.Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01450775188328918558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-34889360182625368582009-10-25T14:21:20.046-04:002009-10-25T14:21:20.046-04:00"A Serious Man" has been the movie domin..."A Serious Man" has been the movie dominating my thoughts during what's been a disappointing fall movie season. You brought up a point that I also made in my own piece that the film is universal. I am more unfamiliar with Judaism than other religions, but never had any issues relating to this film, which truly demonstrate what was so special about this film. <br /><br />I also feel it is a movie I will revisit often and my interpretation of it will change depending where I am in my life. A great film.<br /><br />I saw "Shotgun Stories" earlier this year and was impressed by it, particularly an ending that avoids the obvious place where that story would usually go. Looking forward to "The Class" which is near the top of my Netflix queue.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05571206086671634525noreply@blogger.com