Im still in the Coen neck o the woods. The rest of their comedies were somewhat uneven but remain eminently viewable just to note and venerate their genre jumping. I have to keep a space open on my list. Heck, maybe its an outline and not a list, and that makes 1a., 1b., and 2d, and so forth valid, I can think outside of the top ten list box this way. First lets look at the most solid part of the continuing Coen treatise, The Hudsucker Proxy, their screwballish Capra/Sturges romp. Could Tim Robbins be more babe in the woods?, could Jennifer Jason Leigh be more Katherine Hepburn, Paul Newman be more Edward Arnold? Even Charles Durning had an air of Charles Coburn about him. Tim Robbins, set up for failure by evil Paul Newman, wins out with total wide-eyed in Babylon innocence and can do it spirit triumphs initially with his invention of the Hula-Hoop. You Know, For Kids Surviving a series of ups and downs and betrayal by Amy Archer, Norville (Leigh & Robbins) Barnes ultimately triumphs in both love and business in the great tradition of the masters. The art direction is tops, adding much to your viewing enjoyment. Everything is nice and spiffy, eye candy. The next film in the lesser pantheon, but still a pantheon none the less is the brothers treatment of the spy thriller, Burn After Reading. If the intelligence world had the degree of lack of intelligence as on display here, we would be in a much sorrier condition as things are today. Take Agent George Clooney s overreaching drive to build the worlds finest Dildo in his home shop, match that with the paranoia that Agent John Malkovich is drowning in, just give him a hatchet and watch out. Add into the mix two completely inept and woeful amateur extortionists Brainless Brad Pitt and Scheming Frances McDormand two professional gym rats who totally F*ck things. Sideways. It was fun but like our next feature, the Coens reverent remake, The Ladykillers, it needs a lagniappe, just a little bit more to satisfy our palate. The original Ladykillers starred Alec Guinness, with a slightly special speech inflection, I hesitate to say impediment, as Tom Hanks sported a wonderful Southern inflection, We must have Waffles, forthwith!, both films sported great supporting casts, Hanks had J.K. Simmons, Ryan Hurst and Marlon Wayans. Guiness sported Peter Sellars and Herbert Lom. Katie Johnson wins out over Irma P Hall in the Old Lady department. If you buy a ticket for Joel & Ethans ride, make it a round trip and have a Guinness for the ride back. Intolerable Cruelty was their look at Rom-Coms, a modern Rock & Doris romp over the hills and valleys of divorce and marriage. Laughter does ensue and follows the scarily handsome couple of George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones. The boys made a nifty semi-autobiographical tale of growing up Jewish in the Twin-Cities, A Serious Man. It was well wrought and thoughtful, not being completely familiar with living Jewish, I was pleasantly surprised with how easily I was drawn in to all the tsuris. Michael Stuhlburg, Arnold Rothstein of Boardwalk Empire, was a revelation of tics and grimace, Richard Kind was his wanted cousin who had to constantly suction a draining boil on his back or some such malady. The ever aging parade of rabbis was a lotta fun. The appearance of a Dybbuk was keen. Fred Melamed as Sy Abelman the mensch who cuckolds Stuhlburgs Larry Gropnik satisfyingly dies unexpectedly, is strangely unforgettable. Again, I entreat you to see these all these films if you can, hell, borrow em from me, I have a fairly eclectic, and impressive collection. Sorry, I donated all of us like my VHS tapes to the FD. Oh , dont worry if you tune in a Coen film not covered previously, and you find yourself laughing, their films are loaded with faux comedy treasure trails. Not that the comedy you perceive is faux. Its still funny, its really alright to chuckle during the Tommygun Tap Dance in Millers Crossing, the performances of Javier Bardem in No Country for old Men and M. Emmett Walsh in Blood simple have moments where laughter is allowed. Remember its all right, if its Ho-Ho-Ho K with you its probably Ho-Ho-Ho k with the Coens.
Posted on: Fri, 18 Apr 2014 02:24:03 +0000
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