"Burn After Reading"

[DrJay]

Saw it Saturday, hilarious, one of the funniest movies I've seen in a long time. I've only seen about half the Coen brothers flicks and need to rent the others.

[Marlow]

The 75-word Critic said this:

The Coen Bros. gave Brad Pitt and George Clooney broad farcical roles to play and the two stars had a ball with them. That's the good news. The bad news is that the Coen Bros. gave them no story to work with. The plot is pointless and a complete waste of our time. I kept waiting for the punchline to the silly performances, but then the credits rolled and the houselights came on. Say what?

[lonewolf]

I have figured out which of our local film critics to ignore and which to heed.
Marlow is battng about .600 with my personal film taste so, since I don't get free movie passes, I reckon I will have to shell out the $16 to see for myself.

[Marlow]

I have figured out which of our local film critics to ignore and which to heed.
Marlow is battng about .600 with my personal film taste so, since I don't get free movie passes, I reckon I will have to shell out the $16 to see for myself.

Here's the other one that came out this weekend:

Righteous Kill – Has they even been a bigger waste of talent? The chemistry of DeNiro and Pacino as buddy cops should have lit the screen on fire (hence their previous pairing being called Heat). Instead they both phoned in their performances in a I-figured-out-who-done-it-twenty-minutes-in. DeNiro played Deniro, Pacino played Pacino and that, I guess, was the entire pitch when this movie got green-lighted. It isn't a bad movie, but there was so much more potential here.

[guru]

Just marking time until "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

[Double R Bar]

My wife and I saw "Burn After Reading" and loved it. Brad Pitt was great. I would recommend it.

[lonewolf]

Righteous Kill:
Although my savage heritage generally loves vigilante movies, I was kinda disappointed in this movie. I figured out early who it wasn't and suspicioned who it was but wasn't sure until fairly late in the movie.

[Marlow]

Righteous Kill:
Although my savage heritage generally loves vigilante movies, I was kinda disappointed in this movie. I figured out early who it wasn't and suspicioned who it was but wasn't sure until fairly late in the movie.

See? I just upped my percentage with you!

[Daisy]

The 75-word Critic said this:

The Coen Bros. gave Brad Pitt and George Clooney broad farcical roles to play and the two stars had a ball with them. That's the good news. The bad news is that the Coen Bros. gave them no story to work with. The plot is pointless and a complete waste of our time. I kept waiting for the punchline to the silly performances, but then the credits rolled and the houselights came on. Say what?

This review from the movie critic guy who loves the adaptations of comic books? Not that there is anything wrong with that, except they invariably have no decent plot. Above sounds like his kind of movie.

[Marlow]

This review from the movie critic guy who loves the adaptations of comic books? Not that there is anything wrong with that, except they invariably have no decent plot.

Comic book movies have no plot?! What's more elemental than Good vs. Evil??!!

[imaginative]

Actually, there are comic-book adapations with quite good plots. Consider
e.g. ``From Hell''. For examples of weak plots, I would turn to adaptions
of computer games.

[Marlow]

Actually, there are comic-book adapations with quite good plots. Consider
e.g. ``From Hell''. For examples of weak plots, I would turn to adaptions
of computer games.

Good point - saw Hitman (and will see Max Payne) and enjoyed it sans plot. But it wasn't supposed to have one.

The biggest problem with the Coen Brothers (also applies to Woody Allen, Adam Sandler, Quentin Tarantino and others) is that they are to the point in their careers where they can write, direct, and produce movies without any checks and balances. When they think something is funny, NO ONE will tell them otherwise. So we end up with an inside joke (which are never ha-ha-funny) that goes on far too long and ends pointlessly. Pitt and Clooney were indeed funny. The movie, not so much.

[Daisy]

``From Hell''.

Have not seen it yet.

Good vs Evil is not good plot. Good vs Evil AND romantic side plot is also pretty boring. Do the comics have more than that? I'm not saying this means a plotless movie cannot be entertaining but you are the one that was complaining there was no plot above. I doubt it was the lack of plot that bored you to death.

[Marlow]

I doubt it was the lack of plot that bored you to death.

OK, how about this?

The film's aesthetic sensibilities failed to command my respect on an ontological level. Its character development was in dissonace with its overall thematic statement. Furthermore, I found no psychological truths underlying the auteurs' cinematic perspective. Ergo, it hoovered.

[Daisy]

I doubt it was the lack of plot that bored you to death.

OK, how about this?

The film's aesthetic sensibilities failed to command my respect on an ontological level. Its character development was in dissonace with its overall thematic statement. Furthermore, I found no psychological truths underlying the auteurs' cinematic perspective. Ergo, it hoovered.

In other words, few special effects and not enough fights.