What is wrong with people? Live shows have become such a bummer due to the ignorant jackasses that seem intent on ruining your night. For example, I saw Iron & Wine open for The Swell Season a few months back. Iron & Wine played an all acoustic set and these three mid-20s morons were yapping it up the entire time. Finally, I asked the if I could have thirty bucks since they essentially ruined half of my show. They moved to a different spot, but this type of thing happens everywhere.
It even happens to Morrissey in Liverpool of all places. You would think if there was a place that Morrissey was safe from this kind of stupidity, it would be his own country. After all, I saw him last summer and even the notoriously awful Dallas music crowd was way, way into him the entire show.
There are dark comedies and then there is “A Serious Man”, the latest from directors/writers Joel and Ethan Coen. When it’s all said and done, you won’t know what just happened and if you should have been laughing while watching the life of this poor midwestern Jewish math professor go down in flames.
The movie ominously opens in what can be assumed is eastern Europe prior to World War II. A man invites what his wife believes to be a “dybbuk” (Yiddish for a dead spirit) into their home. After an unfortunate act of violence by the wife, the husband believes that their family will be cursed forever.
Then, we finally meet our “hero”, Larry Gopnik (Richard Stuhlbarg). Larry is dealing with an unfaithful wife, her creepy overly-huggy boyfriend, a pothead son, a blackmailing Korean, Jew-hating neighbors, and a cyst-draining deadbeat brother. Folks, this is just the beginning for Larry as his problems mount and grow in a way that borders on making “A Serious Man” a horror film of sorts.
To go into greater detail would completely ruin the deliciously brutal events that transpire in Larry’s life. The fact that I found these tragic events funny almost makes me question my own morality. It would be disturbing if I didn’t know that laughter is exactly what the Coens are going for here. That’s right, laugh at Larry as his wife’s lover Sy is too touchy with him. Laugh as he is bribed in an insane manner by a disgruntled Korean student. How do the Coens make it okay for us to laugh at tragedy?
“A Serious Man”, while not my favorite Coen Brothers film, will join the ranks of their best work ever. If someone told me they felt it was their best movie to date, I wouldn’t argue and, depending on the day, may wholeheartedly agree. It is beautiful to look at (thank God for Roger Deakins) and brilliantly written.
Of course, writing can be great but only be saved by great acting and “A Serious Man” is loaded with it. If there is any justice in the world, veteran stage actor Michael Stuhlbarg will have a Best Actor nomination coming his direction. He wears Larry’s agony all over his face and almost makes you want more travesty to come his way, just to see Stuhlbarg react to it.
On a personal note, there is one performance that I feel will be completely overlooked. While seeking religious enlightment, Larry meets with several rabbi. One of which is played by actor George Wyner. Wyner is probably best known as the attorney to the former Mrs. Irwin M. Fletcher. He tells a slowly-becoming-famous tale about a Jewish dentist that read a message on someone’s teeth. The sequence alone could win an editing Oscar for the Coens, but I truly believe that Wyner is so brilliant in this small part that he should be getting some Best Supporting Actor consideration.
If you haven’t guessed by now, I think that “A Serious Man” is brilliant. It’s definitely the best movie I have seen so far in 2009 and I cannot possibly recommend it more than by saying it could be the best movie made by Joel and Ethan Coen to date. That’s really the only way I can describe how fantastic this film is.
I’ve repeatedly said that people love it when someone chooses a topic, comes up with a specific number of things that fit into said topic, and then orders those specific number of things in a best to worst fashion. It would be awesome if somebody came up with a word or phrase to best describe these strange itemized registries.
Am I the only person that just doesn’t get the seemingly universal appeal of Norah Jones? Sure, she’s a very talented musician but man, those songs all sound the same and listening to one of her albums in entirety is equivalent to downing a bottle of NyQuil.
While it would take a massive style upheaval for me to be interested in Jones’ next album “The Fall”, there are two names involved with the album that slightly makes me curious. First, My Leader Ryan Adams (by the way, happy birthday Ryan!) has written a tune on the album called “Light As A Feather”, which is being streamed right now on NPR. In addition to Ryan, Will Sheff of Okkervil River has written a song on the album as well. Norah is going all indie rocker on us…well, at least on two tracks.
It’s officially official: ABC could have another hit show on their hands. The early reviews of the “V” reboot were really great and now, the ratings for the pilot made it a hit with viewers. It reached 13.9 million viewers, which makes it the biggest debut show of the year so far.
I’m not going to go all out political over a show that features aliens hiding under real human skin, but there are definitely some big time political overtones. If you watched the show and didn’t see it, well, then you weren’t paying too much attention in the months leading up to November 2008. The Vs show up on Earth with a promise to heal the sick, share their technology, and promise that great things will come about now that they have arrived. Of course, we all know that is bogus after Pirate Steve tried to strangle Juliet.
While Juliet will be tough to forget, Elizabeth Mitchell is proving that she can definitely carry a show. I didn’t dislike the moments without her in the pilot, but I definitely enjoyed her character, Erica Evans, way more than any others. Ugh, especially her son Tyler (Logan Huffman). I can already tell that kid totally sucks, mostly due to his emo hair cut.
The other actors seem to be smartly cast. Scott Wolf did well as the pretty boy journalist that sells out in order to score the big interview with creepy V leader Anna (Morena Baccarin, on permagrin so far). It was fun and oddly uncomfortable to see Alan Tudyk (aforementioned Pirate Steve) to play a bad guy since he always plays such nice guys. I had also thought Morris Chestnut had fallen off the planet. Of all characters, his probably is the most intriguing.
So for several reasons, I’m in. Right now, there are only three more episodes scheduled to air, with ABC waiting on the ratings before green lighting anymore into production. Here’s hoping last night’s showing made that decision easier for them.
Yesterday marked the 20th anniversary of “Say Anything”. A special edition of the movie was finally released on BluRay, which I believe I’ll be picking up. One would assume you really haven’t lived until you have seen Lloyd Dobler hold that boom box over his head in crystal clear 1080p high definition. There is also a cool interview about how Cameron Crowe got “In Your Eyes” into the flick on EW.com right now.
Since my Favorite 100 Movies of All Time list hasn’t quite materialized just yet, I can safely tell you that “Say Anything” is in my top ten. It’s not number one or anything, but it’s a movie that I hold very near and dear to my cold, dead black heart. There aren’t many romantic movies that make me weepy every time out…but this one gets the waterworks going every single time.
Oh, you can’t go wrong with Eric Stoltz dressed as a chicken either.
ABC unveils the rebooted pop culture phenom of “V” tonight and I’m definitely interested. I can remember sitting up and watching the original series with my mom and, since I was only six years old at the time, those green lizard aliens scared the bejesus out of me. The show quickly died out but I watched every single one of them and, if I recall correctly, recorded them on VHS to review for my blog at a later date. Yes, I was the first blogger, at an early age no less.
Let’s be frank (or you be you, whatever), most sci-fi shows fail miserably on television. Even “Star Trek” tanked and was pulled early. The main reason that “Lost” works so well is due to the amazing characters and, from what I’ve read so far, “V” is hoping for that angle as well. The reviews aren’t bad so far, ranging from lukewarm to greatness.
Cinematically Correct note: Don’t get me started on the political allegory involved here…but listen close for the universal health-care shot tonight.
There aren’t many things in the world that can make me feel better after the Phillies loss last night. I’ve tried listening to Allison Krauss, Zooey Deschanel, nothing is working.
It only took one viewing of “Raising Arizona” for me to become a Coen Brothers fan for life. Think about it, how many times have they done you wrong? Not often buddy. “The Ladykillers”? A bit underrated if you ask me. “The Man Who Wasn’t There”? Methodical, not boring. “Intolerable Cruelty”? Well…that one’s pretty awful but one bad apple out of seventeen is pretty damn amazing.
Since everyone loves the Coens, Total Film created their 25 Best Coen Brothers Moments list. Of the 25, five heavily feature Coen favorite John Turturro. Their first choice is from “Barton Fink”, which is fantastic…but I have to go with either the diaper heist from “Raising Arizona” or Brad Pitt’s hilarious phone convo with John Malkovich from “Burn After Reading” as my numero uno.
There are dark comedies and then there is “A Serious Man”, the latest from directors/writers Joel and Ethan Coen. When it’s all said and done, you won’t know what just happened and if you should have been laughing while watching the life of this poor midwestern Jewish math professor go down in flames.
If you haven’t guessed by now, I think that “A Serious Man” is brilliant. It’s definitely the best movie I have seen so far in 2009 and I cannot possibly recommend it more than by saying it could be the best movie made by Joel and Ethan Coen to date. That’s really the only way I can describe how fantastic this film is.
Am I the only person that just doesn’t get the seemingly universal appeal of Norah Jones? Sure, she’s a very talented musician but man, those songs all sound the same and listening to one of her albums in entirety is equivalent to downing a bottle of NyQuil. 
It’s officially official: ABC could have another hit show on their hands. The early reviews of the “V” reboot were really great and now, 
ABC unveils the rebooted pop culture phenom of “V” tonight and I’m definitely interested. I can remember sitting up and watching the original series with my mom and, since I was only six years old at the time, those green lizard aliens scared the bejesus out of me. The show quickly died out but I watched every single one of them and, if I recall correctly, recorded them on VHS to review for my blog at a later date. Yes, I was the first blogger, at an early age no less.
