A Serious Man

Seeing this movie brings up three different issues that I'd like to discuss concerning reviewing movies:

1st When I see a movie with someone who obviously doesn't like the movie does it taint my opinion?

2nd If I heard good things about the movie, including excitement expressed by someone I respect, does that taint my opinion?

3rd What makes a good movie? Do you always have to feel good afterwards? Should you feel challenged by what you just saw? What does it mean if you liked it more at the time than later on, and vica versa?

I saw "A Serious Man" with Rob. Now Rob and I really liked "No Country for Old Men" and he really liked "Burn After Reading" which I thought was good. We also both liked "O Brother Where Art Thou" and that just about covers our joint Coen Brother film experience. Therefore we should both like this new Coen Brother movie right? Well there were many things going against Rob liking this movie; the subject matter, the characters, the setting and the progression of the story. That's just about everything that matters, and I think Rob hated it all.

Review headlines and brothers can be great news for a movie, or bad news. I haven't read Robert Ebert's review of "A Serious Man", but I saw the headline on his website, praising the film and giving it four (out of four) stars. I also has a brother of mine mention his interest in this film, which automatically made it a must-see. Now what did Ebert see that didn't work for Rob? Was he able to detach himself from the slow pacing of this film and see it for what it was meant to be? Did he laugh at the same parts I did and get the irony, even when it was subtle? And my beloved brother, was it past Coen Brother films that attracted him to their newest effort, or was the trailer and effective piece of advertising? Would his opinion of the entire film itself be as high as his anticipated opinion? I hope to find out.

And now to the final question, was "A Serious Man" a good film? As I mentioned above, I was laughing. I was laughing alone in a packed theater. I become very conscious of being alone in laughter, although if the film is funny enough to laugh at I don't hold back anymore. The film deals with the life a Jewish professor of Physics during the 1960s in middle America. He is a man looking for answers. His problems are more irritating than anything else, but the sheer amount of dilemmas that befall him become overwhelming. The details of his struggles, the people in his life and his search for truth are what make of the entirety of this film. Everything here was done well and was done in an interesting way. I also found that the question that is asked more than once about God's role in our lives, specifically in troubles that we face, was especially poignant. So to answer the question directly; I thought this was a good film. What stand out to me about this film though, is that I can easily see an other perspective, and maybe you too might hate this movie like Rob does...

Law Abiding Citizen

This is an effective, thoughtful and gritty thriller that delivers, up until the most important part, the last five minutes. If you have any interest in this movie, you've probably seen the trailer and are familiar with the basic storyline. So you know that Gerald Butler's family has been brutally murdered, and he's out for revenge. The twist is that Butler's character is captured soon after he begins to exact his vengeful plan, yet is able to continue it while in custody. Jamie Foxx plays the district attorney who made a deal with one of the murderers, and now must confront Butler while dealing with his personal struggle with the idea of justice. What saves this from being a by-the-numbers thriller is the emotions and ideas that Butler and Foxx fight over throughout the movie. If Foxx hadn't made the deal with one murderer he risked both of them walking free. Butler, in his quest for revenge holds accountable anyone who obstructs what he sees as justice. If those in positions of power make compromises where the law is concerned, who holds them to task? Alas, it was all too good to be true. In the last couple of scenes, so much that had been painstakingly established for the first 100 minutes of the movie, was casually tossed aside in the name of a clean ending. Dirty, messy, ugly movies shouldn't have happy endings.

Where The Wild Things Are

The book "Where The Wild Things Are" was about childhood angst, and the use of imagination to defeat that angst. The book was direct and efficiently and beautifully made its point. Spike Jonze has adapted this classic book into a film that retains everything from the book and expands upon it. Where the book really lumps all of Max's emotions into a group of wild things, the film "Where The Wild Things Are" gives each monster individuality, each of which denotes a specific attribute or feeling that Max has. I liked how throughout the film Max sympathizes with each of the wild things, and we sense that he is actually recognizing his connection to each character and helping based on his personal experience. With all this being said, this didn't really do much for me. I recognized what Jonze was doing, but personally I never had childhood angst. I can appreciate Max's imagination, but imagination for me was always an expansion, never an escape. What I really loved about this film were its visuals. The wild things are amazing technical achievements. Max was wonderfully cast, and his interaction with the people in his life and the wild things was right on. Many times I found that I was lost in the atmosphere of the film, it's as good as the book, yet I never felt it was a gimmick or distracting. Finally I will say that my friend Rob is right, this is a movie for adults who understand and love the book. It's difficult for me to believe that children of unimaginative adults could appreciate this film for what it is. Therefore all children should read the book, grow up, then see this movie.

Zombieland

I rolled out of bed around 9:00 on Saturday morning. It was a cool, crisp Colorado Fall day, so Jess and I decided to head up into the mountains with the kiddos and take in the colors of the changing leaves. We stopped in at Dunkin Donuts to get a well-rounded, healthy breakfast of Maple covered Long Johns, toasted Coconut and Chocolate-filled donuts. I don't know why, but for some reason I was struck by the friendliness on display, first thing in the morning, in a random store in Colorado Springs. The line for coffee and donuts stretched out of the store, into the atrium. This meant that between the store and the atrium a door had to be held open to keep the line in check. As we moved forward, the passing of the responsibility of door-holder was exchanged with extreme politeness. As I passed off my place to the guy behind me, he asked me if I knew when the Rockies game started, and when I answered to the best of my knowledge, he took it as a cue to discuss his favorable opinion of college football versus professional. I remarked that he was correct, and obviously college football is a pure version of what the NFL has so outrageously corrupted. Now this little experience struck me at the time, but the reason I'm conveying it to you is that after seeing "Zombieland" later Saturday night, the events of my morning had an even more significant meaning. "Zombieland" is about a group of four strangers who are the last remnant of humanity. It is about thier interaction with each and how no matter how bad things get there is always something inside that separates them from beasts. Now I'm not going to get into the philosophy (or lack thereof) actually contained in this film. I just found it to be an interesting coincidence that I'd see evidence of human kindness in the morning, then see it so prominently displayed in the unlikely place of a zombie movie. On top of that, if you take into account the political climate that the media is attempting to paint, one of stark contrasts and unjustified disagreements. And on top of that you add a Michael Moore movie attacking the very fabric of our society. Isn't it odd that America chose to come together and see a movie that lifts up the human struggle, instead of on that breaks it down?

Oh yeah, and "Zombieland" was a really funny movie (with zombies doing zombie stuff mind you).