Burn After Reading

[New Feeling]

this is an absolutely great movie.  I tried to keep my expectations low but I think as a result I ended up liking it as much as I've ever liked a Coen movie on first viewing.  Very dark, very funny, very modern. A beautiful addition to the Coens incredibly diverse/similar body of work.  This is sure to be one of my favorites this year. 

There are just so many amazing scenes and moods.  In particular I was madly in love with Malkovich's Cox, especially that amazing scene on the boat with his dad.  Whenever this movie pretends to be serious it's hilarious on a whole other level.  I've never seen anything like it.

I endorse this big time, and I expect it to make more money than any Coen movie to date, at least if the crowd in my theatre is any indication.  I think this will have legs.

[modage]

HORRIBLE.  Unpleasant and unfunny.  Repeated use of the word "fuck" does not make a comedy funny.  The Coens need to retire the everyone looking for something storyline.  They should also be barred from setting any future films in the present day.  JK Simmons scenes were the only tolerable moments in the film.  They should have saved No Country For after this dreck.  Suck Trilogy complete.

[md]

Brad Pitt FTW

[Gold Trumpet]

I'm going to watch this tomorrow, but no Coen Brother fan should take my opinion serious. Whatever I think will come from a totally different viewpoint than you guys, but I can already see that Coen fans will tear themselves apart over it. The arguing will be fun to watch.

[Reinhold]

HORRIBLE.  Unpleasant and unfunny. 

i loved this film, and a lot of what i enjoyed was both unpleasant and unfunny. although i haven't read the book i have a sense that they were drawing those elements from it. what i didn't like was the slickness of the film-- it was much more similar in tone to intolerable cruelty (for example) than i expected.

[New Feeling]

for what it's worth I also like Intolerable Cruelty and even Ladykillers, they're just the first two parts of the "suckier" trilogy, the third part of which will probably take a while. I liked this better than either of those though, by a fairly large margin

[idk]

Yeah this was really good. I like how the head of the CIA was pretty much the same character as Juno's dad.

[samsong]

"what a clusterfuck."

this is an unfunny, unbelievably mean, and inconsiderate grumpy old man of a film.  i don't think i've ever seen a movie quite like this, in that it seems designed to be completely unsatisfying in almost every regard, save for john malkovich and jk simmons.  i didn't find it to be amusing nor ingenious and took the film to be an experiment in oscar momentum, an element i would appreciate had i not paid $8.50 to see it.  (i buy children's tickets)  emmanual lubezki grandstands to the point of distraction--"ooh, look at my compositional prowess and moody yet natural lighting!".  tilda swinton might be the most incapable comic actor on the planet.

also, where the fuck did that score come from? 

[md]

Yeah its the Coens selling out big time...and yet its still pretty funny.  The score reminded me of overly dramatic stock music in the best possible sense.  Kept the tone relatively light if you think about it. 

[MacGuffin]

strictly as a comedy it's hit and miss for me

Same here. Although it felt like a retread of the other Coens' stories like this, just not at that level. I think that because it felt grounded in a reality, that the comedy wasn't as hearty as it should have. If it had gone more over-the-top, it would have played at a level similar to Raising Arizona or Big Lebowski. But instead, I felt like I was one step ahead of the movie and characters.

[New Feeling]

i didn't find it to be amusing nor ingenious and took the film to be an experiment in oscar momentum, an element i would appreciate had i not paid $8.50 to see it.  (i buy children's tickets)

they were working on this long before they won any Oscars for No Country so there goes that theory.  You earned you kids admission, now grow up, this is better than you know

[picolas]

spoils

okay, after more reflection: the problem with this movie, to put it bluntly, is it thinks it's funnier than it is. sometimes it's right (dildo reveal), sometimes it's wrong (the whole secret crush subplot/divorce detective). this happens because unfortunately, as far as comedies go, the coens are no longer fully empathizing with their characters. instead the characters have become more like pawns in their elaborate stories of mayhem, being manipulated towards whatever the coens might think is funniest at any given moment, rather than what they truly might think is in their best interest as living breathing characters. that being said, i don't think this is an awful film. but i do feel like the coens are refusing to learn from their mistakes and getting into bad habits. or maybe they're slowly recovering. i don't know. i've never tried watching the ladykillers because what i've heard scares me.

[samsong]

this is better than you know

i'd be indebted if you made a superfluously long list of the ways in which this is true.

[Sleepless]

I think the final scene summed up my thoughts on this pretty well: what the fuck just happened, what was the point. Disappointed. IMO they hit an all-time high with The Man Who Wasn't There, and everything they've done sine then hasn't been that great (I still don't care for No Country). If you like classic Coens, don't bother with this.

[New Feeling]

this is better than you know

i'd be indebted if you made a superfluously long list of the ways in which this is true.

WARNING SPOILERS!!!!!

This movie is the one where the Coens intentionally refuse to sympathize with anyone.  That is interesting to me.  All of their movies have been accused of being cold and heartless along the way, and this one is the first one that really earns it.  But only towards it's characters, not towards the audience or the world.  Towards which it is trying to humorously point out the error of our present ways.  For once, there is no good guy, nothing close.  While they've always found their character's sad situations somewhat funny, in this one they are completely without sympathy, because no one remotely deserves it.  And that's sort of how Washington is

I love how Mcdormand and Pitt are essentially the bad guys in this, and people seem to want them to be more likeable.  they are like Sholwalter and Grimsard in Fargo, they are the dumb greedy fucks who cause all the trouble.  You keep expecting them to become the heroes and that never materializes, McDormand in particular staying completely self-obsesses and pathetic the whole way.  the cool thing is, tons of regular people are exactly like that, but I never see it in this type of movie.  At least not in this way.

The swearing, while not overly imaginative, seems closer to the way these type of people might really talk than most movie dialogue, and it is funny as a result.  THE CIA guys in particular, I thought the number of fuck's coming out of Malkovich seemed totaly appropriate. 

"I have a drinking problem?  Fuck you, you're a Mormon"

Clooney and Pit give rediculous performances in this movie, and McDormand too, essentially making fools of themselves, but everyone else seems pretty under control.  A backwards ass decision for a big hollywood movie, and a subversive one for sure.  We are not supposed to like any of them, I think, though we are supposed to find them funny. And they are, if you don't mind laughing at the self-made problems of totally self-obsesssed people.

Which brings me to what I think this movie is all about, the self-obsession of our times.  The only person who seems to remotely care about anyone else in this movie, is the ex-priest that gets axed to death trying to help, but even he is a complete fool for being in love with such a vile and pathetic person.  The CIA aren't trying to help anyone, just keep themselves out of trouble, neither is pitt, or mcdormand, or clooney, or swinton, or malkovich, or the russians, or anyone else for that matter.  Self-obsession run rampant in our tims, the Gym culture being an obvious symbol of this, and the repeated marital infidelities being another obvious one.  This movie makes a mockery of marriage they way so many people have for most of time.  The fact that it's all set in Washington and everyone is completely self-obsessed and unlikable is enough for me to give the film 4 stars right off the bat.  No one seems to give a fuck about politics or serving their fellow man in the least     

the music is over-dramatic for comedic effect, and I think it works wonderfully.  When McDormand can't get her procedures approved, the emotional tone seems to be like a direct reference to Jerry Lundergaard's phone troubles, only it's is so much less consequential at this point.  Mcdormand is simply nuts, and one of the least sympathetic characters I've ever seen as a result.  I like this   

I still can't get over that scene with Cox and his dad on the boat.  It's insane

Brad Pitt is hilarious, even though he is completely overdoing it.  So is that Janitor guy. 

Coming Up Daisy!  seriously now that is funny

the Dildo chair! that is funny too.  Especially when Clooney has his breakdown

Malkovich's drinking problem, hilarious!  you rarely see that shit in movies, not comedy ones anyway, and it is handles quite simply

This movie is almost exactly like every other Coen brothers movie while still being completely original, which continues to be a fascinating trend in their body of work.  They are the most distinctive voice in cinema, with maybe two or three competitors.  Even if you think you will hate this movie, every person who has an interest in cinema owes it to themselves to see every Coen movie at least twice in my opinion.  They are all better on repeat viewing, or so I have found.  and better and better and better. 

The cinematography is great, if you don't hate moody yet natural lighting and perfect compositions, both Coen trademarks.

If you are not a good person you will probably not like this movie.  It's making fun of you