I know this is an unusual statement

[andrewducker]

But I actually preferred "Burn After Reading" to "No Country For Old Men".

Not that I disliked "No Country", but "Burn After Reading" was a hell of a lot more fun.

Comments

[heron61.livejournal.com]

From my POV, "Burn After Reading" was quite fun fluff and George Clooney was predictably wonderful.

SF author Daniel Keyes Moran eloquently expressed what I think about "No Country For Old Men".

[andrewducker]

Yup, he's right. Complete nihilism. But then that's common with the Coen's - Burn After Reading is equally full of arbitrariness, but because it's silly and funny it gets away with it better, in my opinion.

[andrewducker]

Oh, and I also agree about Enchanted, which I loved, except for the ending.

[khbrown.livejournal.com]

I felt Old Country... was an awkward combination of the realistic and the mythic which never quite came together compared to, say, Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia.

Burn After Reading was more fun, but also disposable / lightweight, as I feel Coen Brothers films tend to be. It's what keeps them from being great IMO, that they're always just ironic movie movies, with nothing to say about reality.

[andrewducker]

Hudsucker Proxy is probably the only one that doesn't feel lightweight to me.

It's The Hudsucker Proxy that's my favourite though - it's fantastically well put together, and I love the feeling of magic and humour to it. Not very deep though.

[khbrown.livejournal.com]

Well, Hudsucker is an imaginary reality anyway, that of 50s corporate America.

Have you seen Blood Simple or Miller's Crossing - probably my two favourite Coen brothers films, though I will always prefer Sam Raimi...

[andrewducker]

Early Coen Bros is still on my to-watch list. One of these days...

I like bits of Sam Raimi, and I enjoyed Drag Me To Hell, but his plots tend to be simplistic or downright rubbish (see Spiderman, for instance - I disliked all three movies, with the second being the least dislikable).

[khbrown.livejournal.com]

Have you seen A Simple Plan? It's reminiscent of Fargo, but is more serious and doesn't purport to be a true story.

[andrewducker]

Also on my to-watch list!

[andrewhickey.livejournal.com]

Holly and I both thought the same. Both had essentially the same worldview, but I thought Burn... was the best Coen brothers since The Man Who Wasn't There...

[endless-psych.livejournal.com]

so did I

[chuma.livejournal.com]

Not seen Burn after Reading, but No Country for Old Men just seemed to lose itself about 3/4 of the way in. I was left feeling like they cut it to make it fit an alloted time frame or that they forgot to shoot some of the closing scenes. It tried to be clever and interesting but instead fell up its own arse and what *was* an interesting movie became very forgetable. I doubt I will sit through it a 2nd time.