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Burn After Reading

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by Cosmo, Sep 8, 2008.

  1. PCLoadLetter

    PCLoadLetter Well-Known Member

    Kind of funny reading the comments about the Coen Brothers and their films -- it's like "Intolerable Cruelty" and "The Man Who Wasn't There" never existed. (And wow, was "Intolerable Cruelty" disappointing.) Also "The Hudsucker Proxy," which is funny, because that was their shot with a big budget.

    Count me as a very big fan, and I'm looking forward to this one. The Coen brothers and Wes Anderson are really the only filmmakers I'll go out of my way to see.
     
  2. terrier

    terrier Well-Known Member

    Saw it today, and it was a hoot. Oh, what fun - Clooney womanzing beyond tabloid comprehension, Pitt playing a himbo, Malkovich being, well, Malkovich...and Tilda Swinton is fiercely erotic (she's got something goin' on if she's made two movies with Clooney within a year).
    Don't give it away, but this movie features my all-time favorite piece of furniture.
    Between this and "Juno," Simmons has entered my pantheon of character actors.
     
  3. Simmons was brilliant and the writing was top-notch. A great time at the theater ...
     
  4. CentralIllinoisan

    CentralIllinoisan Active Member

    Just saw it again, this time with my brother. Laughed even harder this time. What struck me in the second viewing was the impeccable comic timing of most every actor in the film. And the Coen Brothers allowed the scenes time to breathe and allow characters to have their expressions documented on film. Nuance is a lost art demonstrated capably in this movie.

    Speaking of timing, none other than Sledge Hammer himself, David Rasche, was tremendous in the movie. He's one of those "Oh, I know that face" guys who has been in almost 100 TV shows and movies. What great work here.

    http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0711058/
     
  5. ArnoldBabar

    ArnoldBabar Active Member

    Just got back, and I was actually disappointed. I'm a huge Coen Bros. fan, so maybe I was expecting too much, but I thought it was only OK. Their better films have more method to their depiction of chaotic events, and I thought this one seemed to lack focus, if that makes sense.
     
  6. Buck

    Buck Well-Known Member

    I liked 'The Man Who Wasn't There.'
     
  7. Simon_Cowbell

    Simon_Cowbell Active Member

    wffw
     
  8. Simon_Cowbell

    Simon_Cowbell Active Member

    Simmons and Jenkins... Like half of Mount Rushmore of male character actors in the past decade (yes, I know that their careers span deeper, but I think that Jenkins really emerged starting with Six Feet Under. And Simmons, can anyone believe this guy was once Schillinger?)
     
  9. Simon_Cowbell

    Simon_Cowbell Active Member

    Wow.... interesting divergence of opinion on this role.

    I liked it.
     
  10. doubledown68

    doubledown68 Active Member

    Saw it last night... absolutely loved it. Everybody was great. Almost forgot Simmons was in the flick until he finally appeared. Malkovich was great. Really enjoyed it... might have to see it again.
     
  11. Ben_Hecht

    Ben_Hecht Active Member


    Given the atrocious, retarded treatment of gambling in most mainstream pictures (Two For The Money? Puke. 21? Epic horseshit.
    It's too painful to go on . . .) . . . Rounders wasn't bad. It wasn't
    The Hustler, but it wasn't bad. You can pick at a few of the details, but
    it could have been much, much worse.
     
  12. DanOregon

    DanOregon Well-Known Member

    I enjoyed Burn After Reading. The Coen Bros. are master storytellers. Who would have thought to smashup a screwball comedy with a spy thriller? And no one does a better job of editing movies, cutting scenes a second or two before or after you'd expect, their pacing always has a way of creating tension in the most innocuous scenes.
     
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