NICE trailer.
― Eazy, Thursday, 30 July 2009 17:31 (3 months ago) Permalink
Middling trailer, looks to have about the same heft as Burn After Reading (which I enjoyed).
― chap, Thursday, 30 July 2009 17:37 (3 months ago) Permalink
I am so fucking excited about this film. Everything I've heard - including waaay advance stuff from friends who went to see them talk about it at temple - suggests retro Jewish Fargo. Was filmed in the Twin Cities in places designed to evoke St Louis Park, MN in 1967. Over on the Gentile side of town my parents would have been busy making me at the time.
― clear chanel (suzy), Thursday, 30 July 2009 17:43 (3 months ago) Permalink
Will definitely watch.
― Mornington Crescent (Ed), Thursday, 30 July 2009 17:47 (3 months ago) Permalink
great trailer
― Highly trained BBQ chef (rockapads), Thursday, 30 July 2009 17:48 (3 months ago) Permalink
I'm in Suzy's hometown pride boat, but this looks MUCH better than early descriptions indicated.
― sir-mounter (Eric H.), Thursday, 30 July 2009 17:49 (3 months ago) Permalink
I was born in St Louis Park in 1970, so the retro part's exciting to me.
― Eazy, Thursday, 30 July 2009 17:50 (3 months ago) Permalink
where is a serious man, who really aims movie?
― Ømår Littel (Jordan), Thursday, 30 July 2009 18:02 (3 months ago) Permalink
i will see this
― there is no there there (elmo argonaut), Thursday, 30 July 2009 18:04 (3 months ago) Permalink
this looks pretty great and i have no idea what sort of film it will be
― omar little, Thursday, 30 July 2009 18:07 (3 months ago) Permalink
Seems like of like Revolutionary Road + Philip Roth.
― Eazy, Thursday, 30 July 2009 18:12 (3 months ago) Permalink
otm, being waiting for months for the trailer to come out. Having seen it I'm no wiser as to what the film will be like. In terms of sound design I can't remember a more complete trailer, really stoked for it now after seeing it.
― DJ Angoreinhardt (Billy Dods), Thursday, 30 July 2009 18:36 (3 months ago) Permalink
Dr. Morbius what are ur thoughts :)
― generic xanax order cialis buy viagra cheap tramadol (Dr. Phil), Thursday, 30 July 2009 20:21 (3 months ago) Permalink
― omar little, Thursday, 30 July 2009 20:23 (3 months ago) Permalink
So, the Coens will have now set a film in every decade from the 1920s through the present, except for the '70s.
― Stop wishing death on people just for the cool thread titles (Myonga Vön Bontee), Thursday, 30 July 2009 21:20 (3 months ago) Permalink
I'm too lazy to do it, but can someone list them in chronological order of when they're set?
― http://tinyurl.com/mnd3bd (Pleasant Plains), Thursday, 30 July 2009 21:23 (3 months ago) Permalink
They're like the August Wilson of film.
― jaymc, Thursday, 30 July 2009 21:24 (3 months ago) Permalink
No Country is set in the late 1970s, I believe.
― Eazy, Thursday, 30 July 2009 21:31 (3 months ago) Permalink
20s: Miller's Crossing30s: O Brother Where Art Thou?40s: Barton Fink (1941), The Man Who Wasn't There (1949)50s: The Hudsucker Proxy60s: A Serious Man80s: No Country for Old Men (1980), Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, Fargo (1987)90s: The Big Lebowski00s: Intolerable Cruelty, Ladykillers, Burn After Reading
― jaymc, Thursday, 30 July 2009 21:32 (3 months ago) Permalink
(Assuming that Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, The Big Lebowski, Intolerable Cruelty, Ladykillers, and Burn After Reading are "contemporary.")
― jaymc, Thursday, 30 July 2009 21:33 (3 months ago) Permalink
Lebowski is set at the start of the first Gulf War but not quite "contemporary" to the time it was produced
― there is no there there (elmo argonaut), Thursday, 30 July 2009 21:37 (3 months ago) Permalink
for a second, when I first glanced at this title, I thought it was Tom Ford's forthcoming directorial debut A Single Man.
― sir-mounter (Eric H.), Thursday, 30 July 2009 21:37 (3 months ago) Permalink
xp Oh right. Still their only film set in the '90s, oddly.
― jaymc, Thursday, 30 July 2009 21:39 (3 months ago) Permalink
awesome trailer. i'm totally down with trailers that pique interest without giving away much of the movie
― congratulations (n/a), Thursday, 30 July 2009 21:46 (3 months ago) Permalink
Really wish more movie trailers had some measure of thought put into them like this one.
― Telephone thing, Thursday, 30 July 2009 21:49 (3 months ago) Permalink
Revised:
1929: Miller's Crossing1937: O Brother Where Art Thou?1941: Barton Fink1949: The Man Who Wasn't There1958: The Hudsucker Proxy1967: A Serious Man1980: No Country for Old Men1984*: Blood Simple1986*: Raising Arizona1987: Fargo1991: The Big Lebowski2002*: Intolerable Cruelty2003*: The Ladykillers2007*: Burn After Reading
*shooting date
― jaymc, Thursday, 30 July 2009 21:49 (3 months ago) Permalink
They've never made a film where the action leaves the US.
― chap, Thursday, 30 July 2009 22:59 (3 months ago) Permalink
Oh, except for a brief sojourn across the Mexican border in No Country.
These are the dudes responsible for the trailer, they've done some good stuff over the last whilehttp://www.markwoollen.com/
― Number None, Thursday, 30 July 2009 23:06 (3 months ago) Permalink
Hoberman all but calls them Jewish anti-Semites:
http://www.villagevoice.com/2009-09-29/film/for-serious-man-coen-brothers-aim-trademark-contempt-at-themselves/
but Armond loves it!
http://www.nypress.com/article-20412-the-humor-in-gloom.html
― A Patch on Blazing Saddles (Dr Morbius), Friday, 2 October 2009 08:20 (1 month ago) Permalink
Who knew Hobermann had gender reassignment and a name-change to Ella Taylor?
― edward everett horton hears a who (suzy), Friday, 2 October 2009 09:13 (1 month ago) Permalink
a serious woman
― Zeno, Saturday, 3 October 2009 17:18 (1 month ago) Permalink
the film is somewhere in between "great" (in parts) to mediocre/embarrassing (in other parts).
the last 30 minutes or so of the film (esp. the bar mitzvah scene) are truely great: only then did The Coen brothers took the film seriously and thoghtfully as they didnt for (most of) the rest of the movie, which is a not-so-much-inspiring take on judaism as philosophy and culture.the comedy is vulgar on those parts because it was done while the directors didnt take their "job" seriously, and as a result - the characters,the story, the jokes are shallow, and some people would say even anti-semite (as they did).at least they did made the effort to make the movie into something profound - a piece of art - at the last part,saving it from being their worst movie into being somewhere in the middle between their best and their worst to date.
still - some good sequences there too - the one where Gopnick is fixing the antenna on the roof is brilliant,for example.
― Zeno, Sunday, 4 October 2009 22:22 (1 month ago) Permalink
frank grimes: the movie
i loved this
― peter falk's panther burns (schlump), Saturday, 10 October 2009 01:12 (1 month ago) Permalink
― peter falk's panther burns (schlump), Saturday, 10 October 2009 01:15 (1 month ago) Permalink
oops on me for attributing VV review.
Anyway, this is one of their best (like, top 4) and I'd declare it my favorite along with Raising Arizona if there wasn't some slippage into actual cruelty, as opposed to a study of gracelessness under pressure. All the roles are astoundingly well cast. And yeah, it's the most aerious American film about Judaism I can recall since Mazursky's Enemies. Key ambiguous line: "I didn't do anything."
Also, I know the guy who plays the shtetl husband in the prologue (he also did the Yiddish translation). We're in the same vintage film-comedy film buff circle.
― Your Favorite Saturday Night Thing (Dr Morbius), Friday, 16 October 2009 19:03 (1 month ago) Permalink
^"misattributing"
"serious"
― Your Favorite Saturday Night Thing (Dr Morbius), Friday, 16 October 2009 19:05 (1 month ago) Permalink
Morbs, I did not get to see ASM while home but you might wanna take a look at this: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/08/AR2009100804786.html
― Yo! GOP Raps (suzy), Saturday, 17 October 2009 00:38 (1 month ago) Permalink
― M. Grissom/DeShields (jaymc), Sunday, 18 October 2009 18:12 (1 month ago) Permalink
Dybbuk, Schmybbuk: I Said "More Ham"
― M. Grissom/DeShields (jaymc), Sunday, 18 October 2009 18:18 (1 month ago) Permalink
Some of the weakest sequences here are, predictably, pot-related
― Your Favorite Saturday Night Thing (Dr Morbius), Sunday, 18 October 2009 18:21 (1 month ago) Permalink
I loved this! I agree about the pot sequences though.
― Simon H., Sunday, 18 October 2009 18:40 (1 month ago) Permalink
come on, "do you take advantage of the new freedoms?" is a brilliant scene
― banned, on the run (s1ocki), Monday, 19 October 2009 03:03 (1 month ago) Permalink
this movie is amazing. and speaks to my n american jewish upbringing with alarming specificity.
― banned, on the run (s1ocki), Monday, 19 October 2009 03:04 (1 month ago) Permalink
I just found out from my dad that Amy Landecker, who plays Mrs. Samsky, is my aunt Paula's stepdaughter and that, according to a Chicago Tribune interview, she modeled her performance after my aunt. o_O
― M. Grissom/DeShields (jaymc), Monday, 19 October 2009 03:11 (1 month ago) Permalink
I loved loved loved this.
Movie's only weakness was that despite Sy Ableman's character being amusing as all get out I found it somewhat difficult to believe that Gopnik's wife would actually fall for someone that thoroughly unexciting (not to mention so completely unctuous.) But that minor stretch of credulity aside, it was pitch perfect.
― Alex in SF, Monday, 19 October 2009 16:42 (1 month ago) Permalink
Ableman does come off as unctuous, but I can also see how his touchy-feeliness could represent an attractive alternative to Larry's essential conservativism.
― M. Grissom/DeShields (jaymc), Monday, 19 October 2009 16:51 (1 month ago) Permalink
I couldn't quite see it, but it's a minor complaint cuz Ableman's character is so hilariously funny that I was able to overlook it.
― Alex in SF, Monday, 19 October 2009 16:55 (1 month ago) Permalink
The bar mitzvah sequence definitely belongs on my list of favorite drug freak-out sequences ever.
― Alex in SF, Monday, 19 October 2009 16:57 (1 month ago) Permalink
anyone know if / when this will get nationwide release? or will i have to wait until it comes to the arthouse cinemas here?
― elmo leonard (elmo argonaut), Monday, 19 October 2009 16:58 (1 month ago) Permalink
i think the coen brothers are making it about there father
― FACK, Saturday, 24 October 2009 14:44 (4 weeks ago) Permalink
Job was their dad?
― Your Favorite Saturday Night Thing (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 24 October 2009 14:45 (4 weeks ago) Permalink
embrace the mystery.
― banned, on the run (s1ocki), Saturday, 24 October 2009 15:08 (4 weeks ago) Permalink
cause i heard they were basing the character off there dad, i also heard they basing it off the book of job, i could be wrong
― FACK, Saturday, 24 October 2009 15:22 (4 weeks ago) Permalink
Can't be both unless Job is their dad so yeah.
― We call them "meat hemorrhoids" (Alex in SF), Saturday, 24 October 2009 15:26 (4 weeks ago) Permalink
call w/ records club guy where he repeats santana's abraxis like 12 times was incredible
― johnny crunch, Saturday, 24 October 2009 14:28 (3 hours ago)
THIS^^^^^^^^^^^
― LaMonte, Saturday, 24 October 2009 18:09 (4 weeks ago) Permalink
i kinda dumb, and i know the ending is meant to be ambiguous, but what are we mean to infer about the kid and the 20 dollars? Why that meaningful look? Is he deciding not to give the money?
― ryan, Monday, 26 October 2009 17:01 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
hes all lets see how this tornado plays out before i hand over the money - the general theme was disruption of staid lives - only unlike everyone else in the movie the kid sees possibility in the chaos - he does share their small minded outlook tho
can def see how some might get the impression that the coens dont like these people v much - tho the level of cultural insight and attention to detail is affection enough imo
― ice cr?m, Saturday, 31 October 2009 18:54 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
OK I need a press screening for this, STAT. Very anxious to see this - British reviews are, so far, fantastic - but had a chat with a Jewish writer over here that really needed to go to shul re Midwest Jewry ie. he was surprised there *were* any. I relayed details of the conversation to my mom and it earned a big, fat WTF That said, British Jewish writer said he cursed his great-grandparents for getting off at Southampton instead of continuing on to Ellis Island.
― fake plastic butts (suzy), Saturday, 31 October 2009 21:45 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
I really really wanted to like this but just... didn't laugh. Yes, a bit too cruel, but that wasn't so much the problem for me - I just found it hammy and unfunny. I think there is something wrong with me, judging by the reaction of the rest of the (Washington DC) audience.
― ljubljana, Sunday, 1 November 2009 00:12 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
WaPo meets the Frozen Chosen
― fake plastic butts (suzy), Sunday, 1 November 2009 02:32 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
loved the ending of this
― TGAAPQ (Mr. Que), Monday, 2 November 2009 17:05 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
I quite enjoyed this. The first half seemed tenser and sadder to me. I think the tone lightened a bit in the second half, as the plot twists and tangents got a bit kookier, allowing the Coens to display their gifts of concision and visual narrative. Then when things finally seem to be lightening up, there comes the ominous twist of the ambiguous ending, seeming to foreshadow another downward lurch.
― o. nate, Monday, 2 November 2009 20:57 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
really really really did not dig this myself. everyone was just so damn miserable! didn't even warm up to the main character until the last quarter of the film. and the ending.. ugh. just too nihilistic for me, i guess
― Nhex, Saturday, 7 November 2009 03:08 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
well, that speaks well of how your days go, cuz it seemed pretty lifelike to my eyes; mazel tov!
― Your Favorite Saturday Night Thing (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 7 November 2009 03:22 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
Miserable was probably not the right word - I meant almost every character felt irredeemably annoying and horrible. Makes sense for this movie, since they're all just different avenues to torture the main character, but it makes for a really aggravating film when it doesn't feel like it's really going anywhere, especially with that ending. I can't believe how much effort and time was wasted for that last joke with the last rabbi, for example. I kind of wish the movie ended after the opening scene.
― Nhex, Saturday, 7 November 2009 03:28 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
believe me my days do not go well
― Nhex, Saturday, 7 November 2009 03:29 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
But I don't think anyone else thinks they're torturing him, except maybe his wife's lover. Everyone has his reasons, etc.
― Your Favorite Saturday Night Thing (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 7 November 2009 03:33 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
btw I hafta go outta town and miss a party that the Shtetl Husband would be attending. :(
― Your Favorite Saturday Night Thing (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 7 November 2009 03:34 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
I have to think about why the usual Coen Bros misanthropy worked better in this context than any other. This is one of the best of the year.
― I yanked that sucker hard, and work it did. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 7 November 2009 05:39 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
if I am on the tenure track and suffer from tenure-process-related-paranoia, should I avoid this movie? Will it aggravate my symptoms?
― twice boiled cabbage is death, Saturday, 7 November 2009 06:31 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
hard to say
― iatee, Saturday, 7 November 2009 06:36 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
not unless yr husband leaves you for a serious man. :)
(given the Halloween photos, I'd say unlikely)
― Your Favorite Saturday Night Thing (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 7 November 2009 14:14 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
Do you take advantage of the new freedoms?
― goole, Monday, 9 November 2009 06:17 (1 week ago) Permalink
this was aight. the uncle with the suction tube was so disgusting
― luol deng (am0n), Monday, 9 November 2009 07:16 (1 week ago) Permalink
*sigh*
― Your Favorite Saturday Night Thing (Dr Morbius), Monday, 9 November 2009 14:15 (1 week ago) Permalink
what r u sighing at
― luol deng (am0n), Monday, 9 November 2009 18:24 (1 week ago) Permalink
times done changed
― how rad bandit (gbx), Monday, 9 November 2009 18:37 (1 week ago) Permalink
the Richard Kind character enters like a walking cheapshot but he's rather heartbreaking, not "disgusting."
― Your Favorite Saturday Night Thing (Dr Morbius), Monday, 9 November 2009 18:40 (1 week ago) Permalink
he's kind of both to be honest morbsy
― banned, on the run (s1ocki), Monday, 9 November 2009 18:46 (1 week ago) Permalink
every character is designed to be a huge problem for larry (do you see what happens, larry!?) but they all remained somehow warm and human, to me. trapped and blinkered and absolutely irritating, but not evil. this was way less misanthropic than burn after reading. very similar theological terrain to no country, too.
― goole, Monday, 9 November 2009 18:58 (1 week ago) Permalink
"a walking cheapshot" against who?
the infirm
― banned, on the run (s1ocki), Monday, 9 November 2009 19:01 (1 week ago) Permalink
the loud suctioning of fluid from his neck late at night was far from heartbreaking
― luol deng (am0n), Monday, 9 November 2009 23:26 (1 week ago) Permalink
"heartbreaking"
"scarequoting"
― luol deng (am0n), Monday, 9 November 2009 23:31 (1 week ago) Permalink
Pot mitzvah made me laugh.
― cough syrup in coke cans (Eric H.), Tuesday, 10 November 2009 04:18 (1 week ago) Permalink
And I literally forgot there was such a thing as Red Owl. I think I saw a few in Bloomington as they were dying off.
― cough syrup in coke cans (Eric H.), Tuesday, 10 November 2009 04:28 (1 week ago) Permalink
used to live a few blocks away from one that is now a kowalskis
― how rad bandit (gbx), Tuesday, 10 November 2009 14:48 (1 week ago) Permalink
my friend pointed out the use of some "stoner-cam" in this movie which i hadnt really remembered but sort of denigrates in my eyes, in retrospect
― banned, on the run (s1ocki), Tuesday, 10 November 2009 17:16 (1 week ago) Permalink
Loved this. I don't think I've ever seen a film that so effectively captured American synagogues - the detail was just incredible. And the stoned bar mitzvah was amazing - it really captures what a bar mitzvah FEELS like - you get shoved up onto stage, a metal pointer gets pushed into your hand, and a few minutes later you're uncomfortably parading past all of these old, wrinkled faces that you have no idea how to react to and a strange sense of being judged in a way you don't understand.
― Bay-L.A. Bar Talk (Hurting 2), Sunday, 15 November 2009 04:57 (6 days ago) Permalink
I also liked the almost zen parable feeling of the goy's teeth scene - though the person I was with took it as critical of rabbis, it actually reminded me of all the things I like about the Jewish tradition - the kind of shrugging, comic unknowingness of it.
― Bay-L.A. Bar Talk (Hurting 2), Sunday, 15 November 2009 05:00 (6 days ago) Permalink
I don't think it was full on "stoner cam," just an extremely shallow depth of field.
― cough syrup in coke cans (Eric H.), Sunday, 15 November 2009 05:57 (6 days ago) Permalink
I heard some behind-the-scenes stories from the Sht3tl Husb4nd on Thursday night! Nothing scandalous, obv he was thrilled w/ the role.
Also, a friend tested for the Coens for the Richard Kind part!
― Your Favorite Saturday Night Thing (Dr Morbius), Sunday, 15 November 2009 07:52 (6 days ago) Permalink
I thought the megaracist next door was a little silly, and I had a few other minor quibbles, but otherwise I liked this quite a bit.
― windy = white, carl = black (polyphonic), Sunday, 15 November 2009 09:10 (6 days ago) Permalink
that neighbor was great tho. "is this guy bothering you?"
― luol deng (am0n), Sunday, 15 November 2009 10:29 (6 days ago) Permalink
I realized after the film that the neighbor WASN'T actually a megaracist. He had a realistic degree of xenophobia, but the more horrific elements were just in Gopnik's mind (the jew-hunting dream, etc.). I think this ties in to the "perception" theme.
― Bay-L.A. Bar Talk (Hurting 2), Sunday, 15 November 2009 16:00 (6 days ago) Permalink
they really didnt get each other
― ice cr?m, Sunday, 15 November 2009 16:02 (6 days ago) Permalink
Lousy limited release in the UK for this - only 27 screens nationwide by the look of it, despite five star reviews from nearly all quarters. Means a drive over to the other side of town for me, or a trip to the (rubbish) arthouse cinema. Broken Britain indeed.
― Bill A, Friday, 20 November 2009 10:28 (Yesterday) Permalink
Going tonight...
― viagra falls (suzy), Friday, 20 November 2009 10:33 (Yesterday) Permalink