Not That Critical: A Serious Man

Saturday, December 12, 2009

A Serious Man

Kristin and I just watched A Serious Man with some degree of enjoyment. I equivocate because I still haven't really thought the film through (I'm somewhere about the first time Larry Gopnick calls Columbia Records Album of the Month Club). However, most of the film is what I've come to expect from the Coen Brothers, but it did get Kristin and I thinking about putting together a film retrospective. Here's my tentative line-up. If you notice something clever about a combination, of course it was my first thought.

Burn After Reading and A Serious Man
Intolerable Cruelty and Raising Arizona
Big Lebowski and No Country for Old Men
Barton Fink and O Brother, Where Art Thou?
The Hudsucker Proxy and The Man Who Wasn't There
Blood Simple and Fargo
Miller's Crossing

I hope Kristin will not be upset that I broke up the big night featuring our favorite films back to back (Fargo, Miller's Crossing). I thought it was important to remember that the Coens are relevant (and still making movies) in large part because of Frances McDormand. Forgive me.

On to the list. The first night consists of the latest films, which I think are the same film or at least the same ending. The second night will be a date night, third night - westerns, the fourth night - a battle of Johns (Turturro and Goodman), and the fifth night on the dangers of industry. The sixth night will be all about Frances and the final night will be my favorite of bunch.

Submit your restrospective and let the 'dualing' begin...

Oh, and in honor of having finished teaching Russian film for the quarter, I will include a review for A Serious Man: Many movies deal with problems of society and families and this is interesting in A Serious Man.

3 comments:

Lydia said...: The evidence seems to say that Miller's Crossing is my favorite too (the evidence being the fact that I've watched it approximately nine hundred times).

I think Blood Simple and Fargo make a good pair, although as in many of your pairs, I want to watch them in the opposite of the order you listed, because I want to end with the movie I like better (Blood Simple after Fargo; Hudsucker after Man Who; Barton Fink after Oh Brother).

I think you need to justify including Intolerable Cruelty and not Ladykillers. Or maybe you don't. I haven't seen LK and don't really plan to, and am still more or less in denial of the fact that anyone thought a remake was necessary. But IC is arguably not really cannon, because it was mostly written by not-the-Coens.

(Which category of social outcast is it that knows/cares uncomfortably much about a way-too-narrow category of something? Geek? Dork? ); December 13, 2009 at 6:19 AM
Thad said...: Intolerable Cruelty made the list over The Ladykillers for two reasons. 1) Kristin and I both acknowledge it is not only their worst film, but horribly offensive. 2) It's a remake of a brilliant film and therefore it does double injustice. Intolerable Cruelty is on the list because Raising Arizona makes up for it.

And I agree with reversing the order of the films. Better to end on a good note.; December 13, 2009 at 11:45 AM
Kirsten said...: I'm happy to take IC off the list, then we could have all pairs. Also I don't like it.

Lots of Coen movies are offensive, but LK is offensive to everyone. In every way.; December 13, 2009 at 1:51 PM