New Coen Bros, A Serious Man

i'm a bit insulted. i can't formulate a general objection to them, and i grow tired of those who insist on doing so. but i just don't have particularly warm feelings about anything i've seen by them, and i have pretty negative feelings about some of their films, like 'man who wasn't there.' none of their films sticks in my mind as an experience i want to linger over or return to.

are you the same darragh mac who writes for senses of cinema?

nope.

the 'ur a little bit mad' was me just being confused btw, sorry if it came over a little strong.

amateurist i share your discontent w/ most of the coens' stuff but 'srs man' is every bit as good as this thread would suggest

amateurist i share your discontent w/ most of the coens' stuff

YOU'RE BOTH CRAZY

ok i'll stop

amateurist fwiw i really loved this one and hated the man who wasn't there so... i say go for it

i'm a bit insulted. i can't formulate a general objection to them, and i grow tired of those who insist on doing so. but i just don't have particularly warm feelings about anything i've seen by them, and i have pretty negative feelings about some of their films, like 'man who wasn't there.' none of their films sticks in my mind as an experience i want to linger over or return to.

― by another name (amateurist), Monday, May 10, 2010 11:32 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

i'd say 1) this is fairly atypical, 2) i don't like "man who wasn't there" (or any of their films from the 2000s really) but liked this, 3) imo this and "lebowski" are their best films. idk you might not like it, but im sure you'll watch much worse films in any given year.

the man who wasn't there is probably one of their worst movies. they def. have stinkers in their catalog.

this movie, tho, is amazing

so, what's everyone's problem with the man who wasn't there? curious because I've seen it but honestly don't remember much about it.

my reaction at the time was, "yeah, it was alright."

terrible cast, pointless plot, half-assed screenplay, an homage that adds nothing to its sources, empty

I liked this movie a lot but generally I agree with amateurist re the Coens.

i like everything they have done, to varying degrees – with the exception of big liebowski, which i kind of just feel is just silly and aimless, and oh brother! where art thou, which never really connected with me.

man who wasn't there was super boring iirc

I think I liked it enough when I watched it, but can't for the life of me remember ANYTHING about it.

the movie that wasn't there iirc

The Movie That Wasn't There

lol

man, who wasn't there?

Basically the two Minnesota-set Coen movies are, imo, their best. Except maybe No Country.

I liked The Man Who Wasn't There, but I'm a big fan of the source material. It's definitely better than the Hudsucker Proxy or the Big Lebowski.

this movie was kind of like a cohen brothers's' napoleon dynamite

sorry I have no idea what I meant by that I just wanted to type it

this movie wasn't bad by any means but I felt like it wasn't doing anything new/I really never felt a connection to it for whatever reason

I liked The Man Who Wasn't There, but I'm a big fan of the source material

I am too, but this movie didn't even come close to the moody intensity oc the best Cain screen adaptations imho. cast, as I said, was terrible.

It's definitely better than the Hudsucker Proxy or the Big Lebowski.

totally disagree on both counts but I tend to be the lone Hudsucker stan around here

nah man i like it

definitely better than TMWWT

"cast, as I said, was terrible"

I liked the cast generally. Sco-Jo was miscast though.

I love Hudsucker, actually.

The Man Who Wasn't There had a terrible cast? I'm not crazy about the flick (it's def. better than, say, Lady Killers), but the cast looks pretty good on paper to me ... I need to watch it again, though, wasn't sure whether the ending was brilliant or terrrrrrible.

Totally forgot about the Lady Killers. That movie is total garbage.

the Clooney/Zeta Jones divorce lawyer one is also really bad. Not a fan of Burn After Reading either

Also Intolerable Cruelty, sigh. Lot of lame Coen bros movies.

I am a fan of Burn After Reading just for J K Simmons scenes. Those are so good they almost redeem the rest of it.

the weirdest thing to me about A Serious Man was how under the radar it seemed - distro was totally shitty, was gone from the theaters in a couple weeks, never saw much press for it, etc.

intolerable cruelty and burn after reading are both hella enjoyable

Burn After Reading's pretty easily my favorite since Lebowski if not Fargo

Loved Serious Man (finally saw it a couple weeks ago). Was refreshing not to have a bunch of big name actors in it after the overload of Burn After Reading.
I am a fan of Burn After Reading just for J K Simmons scenes
Yes -- I lol just thinking about them ...

I am a fan of Burn After Reading just for J K Simmons scenes.

Also, the David Rasche scenes - though I may be getting those mixed up with "In the Loop".

I watched A Serious Man last week and it mainly left me cold. If I'd have grown up with this sort of Jewish culture I may have loved it, though. Some good moments (loved the tenure guy leaning on the door each time, Sy Ableman in general) but found it kind of unsatisfying.

No he's the one who Simmons is talking to.

He's not funny in In The Loop at all.

"If I'd have grown up with this sort of Jewish culture I may have loved it, though."

Yeah I def think this helps.

i grew up a lutheran in a small dutch calvinist town in iowa and i thought it was one of the most brilliant things they've ever done.

i do live in the twin cities tho. i was just in SLP this past weekend!

He's not funny in In The Loop at all.

I thought he was good in "In The Loop" - though maybe I imagined it. Seeing him in anything usually brings a smile to my face - probably because of watching "Sledge Hammer!" too much in my formative years. Sort of like my reaction to Bruce Campbell.

I didn't think any of the Americans in In The Loop were funny so maybe it's me.

creepy aide had some decent lols imo

oh god, when i made my post upthread i forgot that the following shitty coen brothers movies exist

burn after reading
intolerable cruelty
ladykillers

"creepy aide had some decent lols imo"

The racquetball guy? He had a moment or two.

Ladykillers is the only one I thought was truly shitty.

Intolerable Cruelty was brutally bad.

yeah it was pretty bad, but maybe Clooney was OK in it? I don't know, I don't remember it all that well.

yeah I almost walked out on that one (xpost)

the weirdest thing to me about A Serious Man was how under the radar it seemed

wasn't it nominated for Best Picture though?!