Burn After Reading Directed by Joel Coen
Synopsis: A Central Intelligence Officer loses his job, begins writing memoirs about his former job, and then loses the disc containing those memoirs. This disc falls into the hands of a group of gym employees, and two of them decide to try and return it. The ensuing phone call leads to confusion and hysteria between the characters, and none of it is resolved until it consumes a few more characters, Russia, and the United States Government itself. Directed by Joel Coen (No Country for Old Men), and written by Joel and his brother Ethan (Big Lebowski).
This first thought that crossed my mind at the end of this film was “that escalated quickly.” This film isn’t about some super secret spy infiltrating enemy territory, and trying to escape alive. It’s merely a film about a few blue collar Americans getting caught up in the misinformation game, and everything spiraling out of control. There’s no expert C.I.A. operative dispatched to “clean” things up, or some bomb dropped on the whole situation. Instead all these unstable people are left to deal with this mess by themselves, despite insistence on getting Big Brother involved. The journey isn’t a long one, but a lot of stuff happens to a lot of little people.
This film moves at a very even pace. From beginning to end the film flows unhindered and unheeded. Every character is fleshed out well. We get to see the daily lives of some would be blackmailers, spies, and playboys, but before you know it the film has reached it’s conclusion. It almost sneaks up on the viewer, and without J.K. Simmons character’s inclusion, it may have been entirely missed. There’s a bunch of build up throughout the film, some of which going unfulfilled (Tilda Swinton’s character seems to get lost in the shuffle by the end), but it’s no heart pumping thrill ride. It all happens at a rate similar to any regular day, only it has tons of irregular circumstances, though that’s probably what people come to expect from the Coens these days.
The acting in this film is grade A to be sure, but I’m going to follow that with a name rarely mentioned (if at all) by this film’s marketing campaign, Richard Jenkins. An acting veteran with over fifty credits in such films as I Heart Huckabees, Step Brothers, Outside Providence, and even other Coen’s fare (Intollerable Cruelty, The Man Who Wasn’t There). Jenkins, in this film of deviant, thoughtless, selfish characters, stands out as the only redeemable character in his turn as Ted the manager of Hard Bodies. He’s the only character you can help feeling any sympathy towards in his role in the whole fiasco. I’ve seen Richard Jenkins play many different roles, but he takes a real run at stealing the show in pretty much all of his scenes. You’ll get the great comedic performances you expect to get out of Pitt, Clooney, McDormand, and Malkovich, but Jenkins’ more dramatic turn stands as an unexpectedly pleasant surprise.
Also worth mentioning in the acting department is J.K. Simmons, who basically sums up the entire film’s events perfectly in his VERY limited screen time. Great to see him getting another chance to work opposite the camera with the Coen Brothers. Despite not being a big supporter of the Ladykillers, I found Simmons performance outrageously humourous in that film.
Enjoyment factor: I enjoyed this film a great deal. I laughed and laughed some more. Brad Pitt made me laugh, even in scenes I’d already caught the gist of from trailers, and the rest of the cast doesn’t seem to have any trouble keeping up. This movie is for people who enjoy “black comedies.” There’s certainly a niche audience when it comes to comedies involving any kind of casualty body count, and this film certainly has some characters “biting the bullet,” so to speak. If you’re a fan of the other Coen films set in modern day America, you’d probably enjoy this one quite a bit.
WTF Moment: Chad meeting Harry... Runner up: Harry’s Wife’s gift.
Theater Experience/ Rental/ Pass altogether: It’s the Coens following up No Country For Old Men, you kind of owe it to them to see it in theaters... Don’t you?
By Jeffrey Paul Louis Schiller
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphina: Season 4 Premiere Double Whammy
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia - Mac and Dennis: Manhunters (Ep 4.1)
Synopsis: Frank has delusions of living John Rambo’s life, Dee and Charlie get caught up in the hunger for human flesh, while Mac and Dennis are off chasing Rickety Cricket around the city.
This show isn’t exactly story driven, or character driven, or even special effects driven, it’s basically one hundred percent comedy driven. While Seinfeld was a show about nothing, this show is about even less than nothing. All of main characters (or “The Gang” as they call themselves) have remained basically unchanged from episode to episode. The start of Always Sunny season four looks to be on that same course. Dennis is still overly confident and mean spirited, Mac still has a lot of energy and nowhere to use it, Charlie still can’t comprehend anything that’s being said to him, Dee still hasn’t built up enough confidence to get away from them, and Frank is still the craziest of them all. All that is to say, I love this show.
This episode has the gang separated into a few different groups, like many other episodes. Rickety Cricket (Bruce Hornsby) is back and in better condition than ever. There’s a morgue attendant that enjoys yogurt in his anus, and that’s not even the strangest part of the episode. This episode is the first of any television show I’ve ever seen where two of the main characters seriously believe they’ve become cannibals. I’m sure cannibalism has come up in a Law and Order ep, or some other crazy cop show, but this episode’s narrative is based around it. If you can find a way to laugh at two cracked out people walking down a major city street forsaking cheesesteak, and trolling for a human to eat, then this episode is right up your alley.
MandD: Manhunters is an episode that seems to hit most of it’s spots. Few jokes went unappreciated by my busted gut, and I’m always for a guest appearance from The Gang’s favorite fallen priest. This show certainly isn’t for everybody, and this episode proves it better than most. If you’ve watched this show before, but fell out of sync with it’s air dates, I recommend getting back on board. If you haven’t seen it, but enjoy shows like Arrested Development, Flight of the Conchords, and FX’s former show Starved, this one’s for you.
It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia - The Gang Solves the Gas Crisis (Ep 4.2)
Synopsis: Charlie has a failed experiment of running the bar on a gas generator. Mac and Dennis find out, and promptly intervene. While this is going on Dee and Frank try their hands at being spies.
On any other Thursday I think this episode would have been funnier, but after the insane premiere episode finished, it was unfair to follow it with this one. The former episode being one of the most outrageous the series has ever seen, and this one being a more standard production. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate a good Charlie disguise as much as the next viewer, but I just think this episode was softened by the extreme comedy barrage of the episode that aired just prior. Now to get a little more objective.
This episode brought us back to the core of the show, the relationship between the three leads. Finally the cards have been put on the table and the viewer knows where the group stands. Dennis is the looks, Mac the brains, and Charlie the wild card, or is it Dennis the looks and the brains, and Mac the muscle, or is Frank the muscle? One thing is for sure, Charlie IS the wild card. Everything from his silly faces, his gas station destroying antics, or the way he pulled an un-Ghostbusterly shirt removal for a bank loan, it all reeks of wild card and hilarity.
The rest of the characters in this episode, not nearly as much. Frank and Dee’s ill concieved and executed plan has some funny stuff going on (water boarding for instance), but overall just felt thrown together to give them something to do during this episode. The ending of the episode is what I saw to be the high point, and the last face Charlie makes while driving in Frank’s “rape” van is worth watching the entire episode for itself. I’m still highly optimistic that the rest of this season will have me rolling on the floor, but I hope the episodes are more outrageous and/or shocking in the vein of the premiere episode.
By Jeffrey Paul Louis Schiller
Synopsis: Frank has delusions of living John Rambo’s life, Dee and Charlie get caught up in the hunger for human flesh, while Mac and Dennis are off chasing Rickety Cricket around the city.
This show isn’t exactly story driven, or character driven, or even special effects driven, it’s basically one hundred percent comedy driven. While Seinfeld was a show about nothing, this show is about even less than nothing. All of main characters (or “The Gang” as they call themselves) have remained basically unchanged from episode to episode. The start of Always Sunny season four looks to be on that same course. Dennis is still overly confident and mean spirited, Mac still has a lot of energy and nowhere to use it, Charlie still can’t comprehend anything that’s being said to him, Dee still hasn’t built up enough confidence to get away from them, and Frank is still the craziest of them all. All that is to say, I love this show.
This episode has the gang separated into a few different groups, like many other episodes. Rickety Cricket (Bruce Hornsby) is back and in better condition than ever. There’s a morgue attendant that enjoys yogurt in his anus, and that’s not even the strangest part of the episode. This episode is the first of any television show I’ve ever seen where two of the main characters seriously believe they’ve become cannibals. I’m sure cannibalism has come up in a Law and Order ep, or some other crazy cop show, but this episode’s narrative is based around it. If you can find a way to laugh at two cracked out people walking down a major city street forsaking cheesesteak, and trolling for a human to eat, then this episode is right up your alley.
MandD: Manhunters is an episode that seems to hit most of it’s spots. Few jokes went unappreciated by my busted gut, and I’m always for a guest appearance from The Gang’s favorite fallen priest. This show certainly isn’t for everybody, and this episode proves it better than most. If you’ve watched this show before, but fell out of sync with it’s air dates, I recommend getting back on board. If you haven’t seen it, but enjoy shows like Arrested Development, Flight of the Conchords, and FX’s former show Starved, this one’s for you.
It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia - The Gang Solves the Gas Crisis (Ep 4.2)
Synopsis: Charlie has a failed experiment of running the bar on a gas generator. Mac and Dennis find out, and promptly intervene. While this is going on Dee and Frank try their hands at being spies.
On any other Thursday I think this episode would have been funnier, but after the insane premiere episode finished, it was unfair to follow it with this one. The former episode being one of the most outrageous the series has ever seen, and this one being a more standard production. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate a good Charlie disguise as much as the next viewer, but I just think this episode was softened by the extreme comedy barrage of the episode that aired just prior. Now to get a little more objective.
This episode brought us back to the core of the show, the relationship between the three leads. Finally the cards have been put on the table and the viewer knows where the group stands. Dennis is the looks, Mac the brains, and Charlie the wild card, or is it Dennis the looks and the brains, and Mac the muscle, or is Frank the muscle? One thing is for sure, Charlie IS the wild card. Everything from his silly faces, his gas station destroying antics, or the way he pulled an un-Ghostbusterly shirt removal for a bank loan, it all reeks of wild card and hilarity.
The rest of the characters in this episode, not nearly as much. Frank and Dee’s ill concieved and executed plan has some funny stuff going on (water boarding for instance), but overall just felt thrown together to give them something to do during this episode. The ending of the episode is what I saw to be the high point, and the last face Charlie makes while driving in Frank’s “rape” van is worth watching the entire episode for itself. I’m still highly optimistic that the rest of this season will have me rolling on the floor, but I hope the episodes are more outrageous and/or shocking in the vein of the premiere episode.
By Jeffrey Paul Louis Schiller
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