651 replies to this topic

[nole.kennedy]

Happy-Go-Lucky>The Rest.

So freaking true; though I dooubt anyone will say that its a straight comedy. But niether is Burn After Reading, so...

[killerparties]

How am I the only person who counts In Bruges as a comedic film? Black comedy is still comedy. In Bruges >> Kung-Fu Panda >> Forgetting Sarah Marshall > Hellboy 2 > Be Kind, Rewind > Tropic Thunder +++ edited to add: #13. This is the first of the top twenty for which I have seen all four films [Tropic Thunder, The Darjeeling Limited, The Science of Sleep, Wedding Crashers], and my general impression of all of them is similar: there are several great to genius elements within the films, but I can't really say I love any of them. I suppose Science of Sleep would be my favorite, followed by Wedding Crashers, then Darjeeling, then Tropic Thunder.

[Elemeno P.T.]

"So I failed on the DVD"






















12. Burn After Reading


Directed by: Ethan Coen and Joel Coen

Total Votes: 21
Total Points: 194

2007#12- Eastern Promises
2006 #12- The Proposition
2005 #12- Good Night and Good Luck


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0942385/


Memorable Quotes:

Chad Feldheimer: Appearances can be... deceptive.


Osbourne Cox: No. No, I'm sorry, I don't know the number to, uh, my savings account because believe it or not I don't spend my entire day sitting around trying to memorize the fucking numbers to my fucking bank accounts! Moron!

Chad Feldheimer: [on the phone] Osbourne Cox? I thought you might be worried... about the security... of your shit.

CIA Superior: Report back to me when it makes sense.

Osbourne Cox: I have a drinking problem? Fuck you, Peck, you're a Mormon. Compared to you we ALL have a drinking problem!

Osbourne Cox: You're in league with that moronic woman. You are part of a league of morons.
Ted Treffon: No. No.
Osbourne Cox: Oh, yes. You see, you're one of the morons I've been fighting my whole life. My whole fucking life. But guess what... Today, I win.

CIA Superior: What did we learn, Palmer?
CIA Officer: I don't know, sir.
CIA Superior: I don't fuckin' know either. I guess we learned not to do it again.
CIA Officer: Yes, sir.
CIA Superior: I'm fucked if I know what we did.
CIA Officer: Yes, sir, it's, uh, hard to say
CIA Superior: Jesus Fucking Christ.


Osbourne Cox: If you ever carried out your proposed threat you would experience such a shitstorm of consequences my friend your empty little head would be spinning faster than the wheels of your Schwinn bicycle back there.
Chad Feldheimer: Y-you think that's a Schwinn?


You’ve got the Coen Brothers coming off a movie about a psycho killer that won four academy awards, including best picture. You’ve got Tida Swinton (Oscar for best supporting actress last year) and George Clooney (nominated for best actor last year) coming together again after the very successful Michael Clayton. Brad Pitt plays a spastic fitness trainer to perfection and later this same year manages to play a man aging backwards. Did I forget to mention that John Malkovich was in this movie? Oh, and how about the girl that spent some nights in Rob Gordon’s frat, Frances McDormand.
With all of this talent jam packed into ninety-six minutes Burn After Reading hit the box office as one of the most anticipated in films of the year which rolled over into $150 million at the box office. But Burn After Reading wasn’t just a big hit with a bunch of recognizable faces.

The Coen's latest can perhaps best be described as abnormal with one of the most indescribable plot lines of any major 2008 release. Not to mention the bombastic characters of Osbourne Cox, Harry Prarrer, and Chad Feldheimer. This cursing prude, fitness maniac, and sexaholic could only be pulled off my Malkovich, Pitt, and Clooney. Burn is a return to the slapstick comedy of the Coen's previous work, most similar to The Big Lebowski and Raising Arizona.

I suspect that the Coen Bros went into this, after No Country, with the hope of making a fun witty movie and nothing more. This isn’t a deep analysis of human behavior or an expose on greed or sexual deviance. No, I think this is a film whose intent is nothing more than to make us laugh at these screwball characters.

And so, dare I say it, “All Hail the New Lebowski!”

Written by WP64



Ranked Highest By: SonicAlligator- #3

[Elemeno P.T.]

Happy-Go-Lucky>The Rest.

Wouldn't classify that as a comedy at all.

Burn After Reading and Eastern Promises>>The Proposition and Good Night and Good Luck

[nole.kennedy]

"So I failed on the DVD" From The Streets song it was "Supposed to be Easy". Relevance to the movie is that the plot revolves around something that was supposed to be easy actually being difficult. And I think this is movie is a direct allegory to the US invasion of Iraq. Though, to be honest, I didn't love the film; it was good, but not great.

[undo]

Doubt is pretty great. I know you all want to be contrarian film critics itt but save that shit for The Reader or something.

If this was 1957 you'd all be like "12 Angry Men? LOL at that shit! The play was better."

[Mitchell]

Calling it as I see it, wanky award fodder. Pass. not sure the word 'spastic' is really the one you were looking in your review Wrestling Pun. Also Skinner claims in said song that he's "Not Addicted" like most of the characters in BAR with sex, image problems, drink. He is.

[Ogawa]

Happy-Go-Lucky>The Rest.

Wouldn't classify that as a comedy at all.

Why not?

[nole.kennedy]

I suspect that the Coen Bros went into this, after No Country, with the hope of making a fun witty movie and nothing more. This isn’t a deep analysis of human behavior or an expose on greed or sexual deviance. No, I think this is a film whose intent is nothing more than to make us laugh at these screwball characters.

I didn't read this before my previous post because I was desperately trying to score a relevance point and had to respond quick (you bastards are fast). But I totally disagree with this statement. While it is a chance for use to "laugh at the screwball characters" I think there is so much more to it. As I said briefly in my other post, I think that this movie is trying to point out the absurdity of the Iraq war and the cocky-"mission accomplished" attitude by our government during the war. Watch it again through that lens and tell me you don't agree!

[petras]

Burn after Reading and In Bruges far and away the funniest movies of the year. Nothing else even comes close for me.

[killerparties]

Doubt is pretty great. I know you all want to be contrarian film critics itt but save that shit for The Reader or something.

If this was 1957 you'd all be like "12 Angry Men? LOL at that shit! The play was better."

The Reader is a shit-ton better than Doubt, so the comparison is a little strained.

Comparing Doubt and 12 Angry Men because they're both based on plays is like comparing Raging Bull to Rocky and Bullwinkle because they both have Deniro.

The entirety of both the play and film versions of 12 Angry Men take place in one room, with the same eact characters and script. Nothing was changed besides the very final moments of the film, in which we learn one juror's name. What would lead anybody to prefer one over the other? The movie is a carbon copy of the play.

However, the film version of Doubt adds about ten speaking roles, twenty locations and countless newly written scenes. In essence, the movie chucks the entire structure of the play in favor of unnecessary details that only serve to redundantly underline the themes of an already pretty heavy-handed play.

I didn't mean to take you so seriously, but the comparison was terrible.

[Mitchell]

Every Coen film is about US foreign policy.

[killerparties]

Burn after Reading and In Bruges far and away the funniest movies of the year. Nothing else even comes close for me.

I still haven't seen Burn after Reading, but I'm glad that someone else finds In Bruges funny.

[Elemeno P.T.]

Happy-Go-Lucky>The Rest.

Wouldn't classify that as a comedy at all.

Why not?

Hate to do this but time constraints right now lead me to the admittedly annoying response- why would you call it a comedy?

[killerparties]

Every Coen film is about US foreign policy.

The political allegory of The Man Who Wasn't There was lost on me.

[velocity]

Happy-Go-Lucky>The Rest.

Wouldn't classify that as a comedy at all.

Why not?

Why would you classify it as a comedy? The only thing I found amusing was Scott's bombast toward the beginning of the film.

Burn after Reading and In Bruges far and away the funniest movies of the year. Nothing else even comes close for me.

Agreed, although for a B movie/straight comedy, Ping Pong Playa wasn't bad.

[nole.kennedy]

Every Coen film is about US foreign policy.

Really? Intolerable Cruelty? Don't really see it there. I think that is their worst film, thought I can't say I've seen them all.

Burn after Reading and In Bruges far and away the funniest movies of the year. Nothing else even comes close for me.

I still haven't seen Burn after Reading, but I'm glad that someone else finds In Bruges funny.

Yeah, In Bruges is very funny. I loved that movie. But would we really call it a comedy? Can it be compared in an apples to apples secnerio with Step Bros or Forgetting Sarah Marshall?

[Ogawa]

Happy-Go-Lucky>The Rest.

Wouldn't classify that as a comedy at all.

Why not?

Hate to do this but time constraints right now lead me to the admittedly annoying response- why would you call it a comedy?

The film was really funny. I laughed a lot. I can't think of any other category I'd put it in. I can understand someone not thinking it's funny, but that doesn't mean it's not a comedy. I didn't think Step Brothers was funny at all, but I wouldn't deny it's a comedy.

Yeah, In Bruges is very funny. I loved that movie. But would we really call it a comedy? Can it be compared in an apples to apples secnerio with Step Bros or Forgetting Sarah Marshall?

Yes, In Bruges is a comedy.

[velocity]

I suspect that the Coen Bros went into this, after No Country, with the hope of making a fun witty movie and nothing more. This isn’t a deep analysis of human behavior or an expose on greed or sexual deviance. No, I think this is a film whose intent is nothing more than to make us laugh at these screwball characters.

I didn't read this before my previous post because I was desperately trying to score a relevance point and had to respond quick (you bastards are fast). But I totally disagree with this statement. While it is a chance for use to "laugh at the screwball characters" I think there is so much more to it. As I said briefly in my other post, I think that this movie is trying to point out the absurdity of the Iraq war and the cocky-"mission accomplished" attitude by our government during the war. Watch it again through that lens and tell me you don't agree!

MattW's take on this made me reconsider my Coen Bros love. I still do appreciate most of their films, but I had never looked at them quite that way before and now it's hard not to. :(

[Mitchell]

Every Coen film is about US foreign policy.

The political allegory of The Man Who Wasn't There was lost on me.

Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle - "your looking at it changes it. You can’t know the reality of what happened, or what would’ve happened."Eg: The presence of forces may lead to a rise in an insurgency, the thing you observing can't be observed without interfering.

They didn't write Intolerably Cruelty or The Ladykillers.