Weekend Forecast: 9/11/08
By Craig Kennedy - September 11th, 2008; 12:01 am
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen and Mr. Angelina Jolie on the set of Burn After Reading
Open wide and say “Burn!”
- Burn After Reading. Anyone who has read LiC for any length of time knows I’m completely in the tank for the Coen Brothers. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that I loved this movie. It’s fair to say that not everyone is tuned in to the Coen’s peculiar wavelength and those that aren’t will find nothing to see here. However, those who dig the music are in for the Coen’s most satisfying venture into straight comedy (by the Coen’s bent standards) since The Big Lebowski. Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich and Richard Jenkins star in this story of sex, CIA analysts, Treasury guys, gym coaches, Russians, and some highly classified shit.
It’s pretty much all down hill after this…
- Righteous Kill. Al Pacino and Robert De Niro are two jaded New York detectives on the trail of a serial killer and it kind of makes me sad that I couldn’t care less. There is room to hope that these former acting powerhouses will deliver I guess, but I’m having a hard time doing it.
- Tyler Perry’s The Family That Preys. Well, I guess it’s comforting to know that other races suffer from insipid family comedies too. See me looking on the bright side there? You can just call me Mr. Glass Is Half Full - anything but Mr. Eats At Lebanese Restaurant Without Pants.
- The Women. With the Cukor original readily accessible, I don’t need to see this update starring Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Debra Messing, Eva Mendes and Jada Pinket Smith even if there was a compelling reason to believe it didn’t suck.
Opening in limited release:
- Flow: For Love of Water. Can anyone really own water? That’s the question behind this documentary that looks at what happens if one of the keys to our survival is no longer freely and easily available. Sounds like the feel-bad documentary of the fall. Sign me up.
- Forgiveness. Hmm. Hard to explain this one concisely. It’s a psychological thriller about a 20-year-old Israeli-American who goes back to Israel to join the Army. He has a breakdown after accidentally killing a Palestinian girl and ends up in a mental hospital that may be haunted by holocaust survivors. Got that? Good.
- Phoebe in Wonderland. This one starring Elle Fanning as an Alice in Wonderland obsessed 9-year-old, Felicity Huffman as her mother and Patricia Clarkson as an unconventional drama teacher popped onto LiC radar when it got some good notices at Sundance. I like the cast and it’s encouraging to see a female-centric film that isn’t brain dead (see above: The Women), but otherwise I’m not sure what to make of this one. Ok, I’d pay to see Patricia Clarkson in Preparation H commercial.
- Towelhead. Yeah. Hated it. Read the gory details here, but don’t just take my word for it. See it yourself and then come back and let’s argue.
Opening in New York:
- Christmas on Mars: A Fantastical Film Freakout Featuring The Flaming Lips. I once went to a Beck concert where The Flaming Lips were the opening act. I was familiar with their modest 1993 hit She Don’t Use Jelly, but that was about all. Though Beck himself did not disappoint, on this particular evening I have to say the strange band from Oklahoma overshadowed him. The Lips delivered one of the most entertaining, beyond-description live music shows I’ve ever seen. Directed by and starring bandleader Wayne Coyne and featuring the other members of the band, Christmas on Mars is a musical fantasy sci-fi adventure set on a colonized Mars in the year 2055. When the planet’s oxygen generator and gravity control units malfunction, the stage is set for some hallucinatorily fantastical film freakiness. The film has turned up at assorted rock festivals and now it’s beginning a two-week run in Manhattan at the KGB Complex. You can get tickets here.
- Moving Midway. I’ve got a beef with film critic Godfrey Cheshire for walking out of a Man on Wire press screening after 45 minutes simply because the documentary borrowed music cues from Michael Nyman’s work on several Peter Greenaway films. In protest, I recommend you walk out of his film, a documentary about the relocation of his family’s centuries-old plantation house, half way through. Yeah, that’s pretty weak, I know, but who am I? Che Guevara? (shaking fist in anger)
Notable Los Angeles openings:
- Sukiyaki Western Django. Takashi Miike’s Japanese film inspired by an Italian take on the American western featuring Quentin Tarantino as “Ringo.” Could be fun. Could be crap. Could be fun crap.
Filed under: Weekend Forecast
Tags: Al Pacino, Annette Bening, Brad Pitt, Burn After Reading, Christmas on Mars, Debra Messing, Elle Fanning, Ethan Coen, Eva Mendes, Felicity Huffman, Flow For The Love of Water, Forgiveness, Frances McDormand, George Clooney, Godfrey Cheshire, Jada Pinket Smith, Joel Coen, John Malkovich, Meg Ryan, Moving Midway, Patricia Clarkson, Phoebe in Wonderland, Quentin Tarantino, Richard Jenkins, Righteous Kill, Robert De Niro, Sukiyaki Western Django, Takashi Miike, The Coen Brothers, The Women, Tilda Swinton, Towelhead, Tyler Perry, Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys, Wayne Coyne
Related Posts: - International ‘Burn After Reading’ Poster
- ‘Burn After Reading’ Featurettes
- buRn afteR Reading
- Weekend Forecast: 11/9/07
- The Watercooler: 9/15/08
Glad you liked Burn After Reading. And don’t you just love the repeated use of the word “shit” by Pitt’s character? It’s another example of the Coens’ gift for language: the word shit stops being funny in and of itself around the age of 6, but they manage to make it hilarious.
I just saw SUKIYAKI WESTERN DJANGO, and I’d say fun crap is a pretty good description. It’s quite good actually - not a great film but it doesn’t take itself too seriously. Quentin Tarantino’s performance is high camp, and the whole atmosphere is ridiculous enough, but strangely accurate enough, to make for a fun homage to the Spaghetti Westerns of old through a decidedly Eastern lens - kind of like both KILL BILLs mixed together. My review will go up sometime later today.
PHOEBE IN WONDERLAND opened the Riverun Film Festival here back in April, but I didn’t catch it. Could be interesting but it doesn’t really set me on fire.
As for RIGHTEOUS KILL, well…I saw 88 MINUTES, and that was enough.
Craig, I must admit, that with both you and our esteemed friend Pierre de Plume on board for the Coens’ film, I will hobbling in to see it on Saturday evening in a local multiplex. I have kept all the observations and effusive analysis in my consciousness, and am hoping it all pans out for me (and for other LIC regulars!).
Matthew, I saw DJANGO two weeks ago at the Sunshine Landmark and I must completely agree with you on that “fun crap” assessment. You couldn’t have put it better.
Craig, you enigmatic little crabcake, you.
You NEVER told me you saw BECK live. After all, I told you what happened when I saw him live. (Um, yeah…) Twice in six months.
You’ve been holding out on me, honey babe.
Did you see him in 2002? I saw him the first week of December that particular year and THE FLAMING LIPS were the opening act. They are rather avant garde but quite cool. They did play damn well and they were very entertaining.
I do recall that Wayne was eyeing me up repeatedly. (I was in the front row for both BECK shows so it wasn’t difficult.) But then he got really annoyed with me because he ordered everybody up on their feet at one point and I refused to get out of my seat.
My back had been bothering me and I knew I was going to be standing for BECK”s entire set (had to get AS CLOSE to that stage as possible…) and I was trying to conserve my energy. Wayne never said anything to me. But I just had the impression he wasn’t thrilled because I didn’t jump when he said jump.
Well, I paid for my ticket. It’s a rock concert. Not a fricking relay race. If he had asked me, I would’ve been polite. But I would’ve told him what was what.
Anyway…
This goes to show how completely screwed up our release schedules are.
SUKIYAKI WESTERN DJANGO is just opening in LA NOW? We’ve had it for two weeks.
This is incredibly odd. We NEVER used to get anything before LA or NY. NOT EVER. There was an Italian film that we got a week before NY earlier this year as well.
Strange….
Doubt that I’ll view many films until we’re well into the fall. Guess I’ll go to the stuff that I loved that’s still playing.
I’m just not finding these new releases sufficiently seductive. Or something…
All I am saying is enjoy your weekend all who live in the US, and dont ever take it for granted.
Nick, I won’t take the movies for granted but our political process and the Republican party? Please, take them away. Far, far away.
I’m looking forward to escaping the real world for 90 minutes tomorrow night with the Coen Brothers’ Burn After Reading.
The only drawback is that after I see it, everything else this movie season is sort of downhill for me personally. Oh well, VIVA LE COEN!
Ooh, ooh, ooh, can we talk about Burn now? Can we? Can we?
You thought it was a straight comedy, Craig? Hmmmm. I think I could gravitate to that POV after repeated viewings, but I was fairly horrified the entire time. Apart from a few laugh-out-loud moments (almost all involving Pitt), I was gripped by noir-dread. When Clooney surprises McDormand with his “creation,” I gasped with relief, rather than laughed at the pure audacity of it; I thought he was a serial killer of some sort, and was just happy Linda wasn’t about to be cut into small pieces.
I think a large part of my reaction to it is due to Burwell’s score. It is a foreboding, heavy thing hanging its murky hands over the heads of all the characters. In some ways it reminded me of the score for In Bruges; the intellectual part of me knew I was watching a comedy, but the score kept reminding me that none of this was really that funny.
I’ve enjoyed it more and more as I’ve thought about it the last few days. Richard Jenkins’ character is one of their most sympathetic, tragic creations, perhaps rivaled only by Jerry Lundegard. His “finale” is pure noir.
No, no talking about Burn yet. Actually you guys already have, but I haven’t been reading it. Will join in after seeing it tonight. I’m still crossing my fingers that the brothers will take a break from A Serious Man filming and stop in to introduce BaR.
I’m otherwise planning on In Search of a Midnight Kiss, probably Righteous Kill, and maybe something called Bab Az’iz - The Prince Who Contemplated His Soul. Or something like that. Tell me if you’ve heard of it.
Flow played here a couple of weeks ago and I think is returning later in the year. I missed it, but would see it.
On a different note, I’m somewhat pleased that there aren’t 9/11 conspiracy theory movies still being widely released. That’s all I have to say about that.
Hedwig, I was equally amused by Oz’s use of the word “fuck”. Those two words are child’s play, but in Coen hands they are notes in a symphony.
Matthew. Fun crap sounds exactly like what I’m in the mood for this weekend.
Sam. Don’t get too excited. There was plenty of grumbling from people in the audience, though I have to say during the screening it was drowned out with laughter.
Miranda, my Beck anecdote was much less interesting than yours.
Nick man, you’re killing me. Just come to the USA. We’re a mess, but I think you’d be happier.
Joel, I wish I could predict whether you’re going to like BAR or not, but I can’t, so I won’t.
***SPECIFIC BAR TALK****
Evan, yeah I was surprised at how funny it was. I laughed longer and louder than any of the high concept comedies from this summer. Everything from Clooney’s obsession with floor materials to the more obvious outright jokes made me laugh. I loved though that the cinematography and score and DC milieu all pointed toward a traditional spy/crime thriller, yet what was happening on screen was absurdity played with a completely straight face. Horrifying? You bet, but par for the course in just about every Coen movie. There are always at least a couple of moments of the macabre. It had a very Fargo feel, but a little less deep and melancholy.
I loved Jenkins too. In fact one of my favorite moments in the entire movie was that little girly breath/sigh he gave after getting chewed out by Frances McDormand.
I’m talking too much. I have to save some energy for the review.
***END BAR TALK***
Daniel, I’d come across the B’ab Aziz movie in the course of a Weekend Forecast some months back but was at a complete loss on how to synposize it so I moved along.
What are you’re expectations of Righteous Kill? I’ve heard it’s not as bad as 88 Minutes, but that’s faint praise.
Haha, thanks for that BAR break, Craig.
Expectations are quite low. I actually missed a screening of it last night because I had a screw in my tire on the way there that required immediate attention.
I see RK as more of a novelty than anything else. At this point, we should be thankful we can sit through just one horrible movie instead of the two that RDN or AP might have individually made on their own.
It’s not just surprising to me how bad this is expected to be, but how little attention is even being paid to these guys anymore. When was the last time either of them did anything that received serious acclaim from critics? Take away Pacino’s TV time and you’re looking at early-mid 90’s for both of them.
hahha…ya bloody optimist!
Hehe, just calling it like it is.
You’ve made me realize that I really know nothing about Bab Aziz. I’ve now found out it’s a parable about Sufism, which doesn’t raise necessarily my interest, and the middling RT reviews only make the decision that much harder, including a positive one from MZS. Sounds like it’s nice to look at; maybe like The Fall but not as good. Perhaps I’ll skip it.
It could turn out to be one of those gems of discovery. I vote you have a look unless you’re having a hard time squeezing in a movie.
Hey, I love Mr. Pacino like nobody’s business. But I’ve heard NOTHING AT ALL about RK, which makes me think that it’s going to be just awful.
So…NO.
And Craig, as to what you said earlier….
*raises eyebrow*
Well, ANYTHING would be..
Glad to read you like the Flaming Lips Craig. I particularly admire their 2002 album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.
Daniel, that must be one big tire you were in.
Yoshimi was the album they were touring with when I saw them open for Beck. Coyne opened with the title track singing with a nun puppet.
lol, that’s why you’ve been missed, sartre, my friend…
By the way, it was just told to me that I “didn’t miss anything” last night, and that RK “doesn’t even have camp value.”
Burn After Reading!!! Finally!
OH NO, Danny.
I was right then. NO RK for moi…
I’m looking forward to reading everyone’s reactions to Burn. Craig, Pierre, Evan, and Hedwig have all delivered positive verdicts but the film has received only a 55 score at Metacritic, so there may be some rich discussions ahead with regards points of difference.
Daniel, the conspiracy movies are still coming.
http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/09/11/movies/11able.html
I just hope Righteous Kill features a line of dialogue somewhere along these lines:
PACINO: “This certainly was a…righteous kill.”
DE NIRO: “Mm hmm.”
I haven’t read the reviews yet Sartre, but I suspect there are a number of critics that just have never been with the Coen program. They were steamrolled by No Country and now they’re getting their revenge.
A few others probably look at No Country as some kind of progression and see their return to comedy to be a step backward. These people I submit do not understand the Coens very well.
Then again, maybe I’m off my nut and even true fans will be disappointed. I look forward to finding out.
Jeff, I will buy you a beer if that happens…right after I finish laughing.
Aside from understanding the Coens or not, any kind of creative work cannot (and should not) be confined to such a narrow view. The Coens and others like them will do what inspires and interests them in that moment. If they want to make a light comedy it’s because the creative spark that’s spurring them on in that moment inspires them toward light comedy. That doesn’t mean they’re taking a step backward or compromising their artistic standards or anything else. These detractors are dense, with no concept of the creative process.
Agreed. Just because it’s not Oscar material doesn’t mean it’s not awesome.
I really hope the Coen fans around these parts dig this one. I expect you will, but one never knows about these things.
Daniel — have you seen Polanski: Wanted and Desired yet? You could always go to that one.
WARNING **** WARNING ******
BURN AFTER READING CHIT CHAT
Sam, please don’t expect BAR to be the Great American Film. Yes I liked it . But I consider it to be the Coens doing a nice long exhale after NCfOM. Moments of brilliance, yes, but not a string of belly laughs for me — which is fine, by the way.
******END OF BURN AFTER READING CHIT CHAT WARNING*******
I’d have to agree with Pierre: I also didn’t laugh that much at BaR, but I liked it nonetheless, was grinning throughout, and I expect to like it even better a second time (almost all Coen brother movies are better the second time around for me).
Pierre, (and Hedwig) I hear you. I see that Andrew Sarris makes claim that its one of the “most awful” films ever, but then again he hated NCFOM as well. I will go in with my expectations pared down, and with no anticipation of sustained laughter. For me the proof will be in the pudding tomorrow night at 7:00 P.M. at my local Edgewater multiplex.
Nice to be reading your submissions sartre!
WARNING **** WARNING ******
BURN AFTER READING CHIT CHAT
Maybe Andrew Sarris’s assessment is driven by initial, superficial reactions to the film — which, of course, I know also is a significant barometer box office-wise. Larger-than-life or noble characters — or flawed to the extreme — capture attention and awards much more easily than those who do unattractive things or behave stupidly or seem downright idiotic. People want traditional uplift in some way, and when they don’t get it, the “quality meter” score suffers.
******END OF BURN AFTER READING CHIT CHAT WARNING*******
That is a very wise and probably most accurate supposition there Pierre!
I’m going to continue the BAR conversation in the actual review thread.
http://livingincinema.com/2008/09/12/review-burn-after-reading-2008/