Burn After Reading

[sportsgopher]

The ending of No Country was the same damn ending as the book.

I don't see how the Coen brothers can be blamed for that. Blame Cormac McCarthy.

Or don't. Some of us, I think, appreciated the ending.

I'm a massive Coen brothers fan — never saw Ladykillers — and I'll probably be seeing this movie Friday night when I'm on the road. I haven't seen a movie in the theater since The Simpsons, but this looks like a winner.

My top 5 Coen Bros. movies:
1. Raising Arizona
2. Miller's Crossing
3. No Country for Old Men
4. Oh, Brother ...
5. The Big Lebowski

And it pains me to leave Fargo and Barton Fink off the list.

**** yeah, man. The ending in NCFOM is outstanding.

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

1. Fargo
2. Blood Simple
3. No Country for Old Men
4. Raising Arizona
5. The Big Lebowski

Never got into Miller's Crossing

 

[Frank_Ridgeway]

Saw it today. Wife was disappointed, I thought it was good entertainment and nothing more. I'd watch it again when it hits cable. I don't think we're talking Oscars here, although Pitt (among others) did good acting jobs.

 

[jimnorden]

Nobody says the f-word better than Malkovich's character in this movie. movie itself was good times. no real heavy lifting but lots of fun.

 

[Frank_Ridgeway]

no real heavy lifting but lots of fun.

Yeah, that nails it pretty well.

 

[CentralIllinoisan]

Burn After Reading has some really subversive commentary on how America values a person's appearance over their true character; very well-played in that regard.

Though Clooney felt out of place at first, but settled into his role very nicely, as did Brad Pitt -- who made me miss him when his character wasn't on screen.

The Coen Brothers are slowly becoming my favorite filmmakers. They consistently create thoughtful, at worst quirky, fare they throw themselves into headlong. No frugality of authenticity with them; when you watch their films, you see they have created a three-dimensional world in which their characters truly inhabit. Their best film is Fargo, which I declare a modern masterpiece of mood, character and plot development. Not far behind is No Country For Old Men, the front-runner for best movie of this decade.

The Coen Brothers rarely miss, and when they don't nail it, the duo gets major points for trying something different or original. Consider Burn After Reading all of the above.

 

[Chef]

"Aces full, Mike."

Love Rounders.

Oh, and when the boys get together to play cards, someone invariably walks into the room, and yells out....."So, you have my money?"

 

[STLIrish]

I'm surprised at how uniformly bad the reviews I've read of Burn have been, given the Coen Bros. and the cast. But I'll probably see it at some point. I like the Coens (and thought the ending of No Country was perfect).
I'm not sure how to possibly compare Big Lebowski and No Country (or Fargo and O Brother), but I'd rank them like this:

1: Lebowski
2: No Country
3: Fargo
4: O Brother
5: Millers Crossing
6: Raising Arizona
7: Barton Fink

 

[PCLoadLetter]

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.

 

[terrier]

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.

 

[Bristol Insider]

Simmons was brilliant and the writing was top-notch. A great time at the theater ...

 

[CentralIllinoisan]

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/

 

[ArnoldBabar]

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.

 

[Buck]

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.

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

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

Burn After Reading has some really subversive commentary on how America values a person's appearance over their true character; very well-played in that regard.

Though Clooney felt out of place at first, but settled into his role very nicely, as did Brad Pitt -- who made me miss him when his character wasn't on screen.

The Coen Brothers are slowly becoming my favorite filmmakers. They consistently create thoughtful, at worst quirky, fare they throw themselves into headlong. No frugality of authenticity with them; when you watch their films, you see they have created a three-dimensional world in which their characters truly inhabit. Their best film is Fargo, which I declare a modern masterpiece of mood, character and plot development. Not far behind is No Country For Old Men, the front-runner for best movie of this decade.

The Coen Brothers rarely miss, and when they don't nail it, the duo gets major points for trying something different or original. Consider Burn After Reading all of the above.

wffw

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

Simmons was brilliant and the writing was top-notch. A great time at the theater ...

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?)

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

I love poker, but 'Rounders' was no good.
And Malkovich's horrible accent renders his scenes virtually unwatchable.

I liked Rounders in spite of Malkovich, whose hideous accent and Oreo-eating habits were pox on an otherwise remarkable acting career.

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

I liked it.

 

[doubledown68]

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.

 

[Ben_Hecht]

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.

Given the atrocious, retarded treatment of gambling in most mainstream pictures (Two For The Money? Puke. 21? Epic horse****.
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.

 

[DanOregon]

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.