New Coen Bros, A Serious Man

yeah

That MST3K guy is friends with my cousin - but I knew his brother Ch4d. My friend Avr0m is in the bar mitzvah scene.

chfourd?

surely you've never used a number in place of a letter, s1ocki?

I def. agree the movie didn't hate Larry, at all. It didn't hate Judaism either, it had more of a "humans not fitting into divine systems" thing going on.

surely you've never used a number in place of a letter, s1ocki?

― Yo! GOP Raps (suzy), Monday, October 19, 2009 4:50 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

n0 n3v3r

Esp. not when I talk about my friends Avrom and Chad.

"humans not fitting into divine systems"

To me, it's more amused with humans expecting "divine systems" to be repair manuals, like whatever the punchline the second rabbi uses, along the lines of "Hashem doesn't tell me everything."

I wonder if the rubes will boil as much at this film's sort-of-open ending the way they did with No Country. (This won't be nearly as big a hit, obv, lacking a killer.)

those rubes!

Rub3s.

lacking a killer

more importantly, lacking a bigger star than Richard Kind.

VERY excited for this -- especially with advance notice that there are twin-cities centric joeks herein, tho maybe of a vintage i won't get

No gentile babies were conceived during the time frame of this movie (except for me).

Ella Taylor: "To cap it all, Larry's pneumatic pothead of a neighbor (Amy Landecker), the sole looker in sight and therefore probably a shiksa"

There was a mezuzah on her door!

Yeah, didn't she also say, after Larry remarked that he didn't care for the neighbors on the other side, "Goys, huh?"

hmmm someone might want to mark this thread as full of spoilers already

yes! watch movies better crazy lady! it really disproves her whole risible "ugly jew" thesis

xp

The hot neighbor was so obv not a goy, tho clearly derived from Mrs Robinson (even the tropical plants in her house).

hmmm someone might want to mark this thread as full of spoilers already

― moonship journey to baja, Wednesday, October 21, 2009 1:05 AM (8 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

after a movie comes out i think spoilers are fair game... i mean you can assume that we're actually talking about the film and not anticipating at this point no?

it hasn't been released everywhere

what happened to freedom of speech in this country

you're canadian

yes, what country did u think i was referring to

a country with free speech!

loved loved the ending

parking lot rabbi = omg. up there with any scene they've written.

this was so great

the son's friend looked EXACTLY like fred armisen.

omg I was trying to figure out who he looked like! that's it.

call w/ records club guy where he repeats santana's abraxis like 12 times was incredible

i think the coen brothers are making it about there father

Job was their dad?

embrace the mystery.

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

Can't be both unless Job is their dad so yeah.

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^^^^^^^^^^^

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?

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

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.

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.

WaPo meets the Frozen Chosen

loved the ending of this

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.

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

well, that speaks well of how your days go, cuz it seemed pretty lifelike to my eyes; mazel tov!

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.

believe me my days do not go well

But I don't think anyone else thinks they're torturing him, except maybe his wife's lover. Everyone has his reasons, etc.

btw I hafta go outta town and miss a party that the Shtetl Husband would be attending. :(

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.