This and that

[cleolinda]

So yesterday I ended up curled up on the couch watching movies with Sister Girl, for a change of pace: Burn After Reading and Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus.

(First: yes, I heard, Fox has picked up Narnia. I am terrified. This is why. Also this.)

Anyway, Burn After Reading was interesting, in an "I'm glad I waited until DVD" kind of way--I don't know, it reminds me a lot of Fargo (hapless losers attempt crime, all hell breaks loose), but without sympathy for the characters (which is what made Fargo so gripping). I mean, right down to having a law enforcement figure kind of throw up his/her hands at the end and go, "What the hell? Why?" And maybe this is the difference between a drama and a comedy, I don't know (it's probably an unpopular opinion on my part as well). It probably would have been more difficult to actually get you to care about these people instead of just having them be wacky and have a great (black) comedy, but then, I like a challenge. I don't know--the only person I really felt for was Ted the gym manager, although I felt myself trying to feel empathy for Linda and her desperation for a surgical makeover, but... I just couldn't manage it, somehow. But oh, man--Ted, y'all. Good Lord.

Although, yes, Brad Pitt stole with the movie. I didn't like him as a person so much as I liked him as a character, though--he was an idiot, but he was a fun idiot. Unfortunately, I'd already heard what happened to him, so it wasn't much of a surprise.

Fur, meanwhile, was CRACKED OUT. It was also a lesson in not paying attention to reviewers, because things I'd heard in passing seemed to indicate that it was yet another lackluster also-ran biopic. Yeah... no. I couldn't even tell you if it was a good movie, but I would definitely recommend you give it a shot because it is CRACKED. OUT. As far as I can tell, the characterization of Arbus was based on Patricia Bosworth's Diane Arbus: A Biography, and then the movie put her in a made-up situation to fantasy-explain how she broke out of her '50s housewife blah blah blah to become an iconic photographer. I actually thought that Nicole Kidman was really good at portraying a very meek, sheltered, bottled-up woman who just absolutely could not deal with her richie-rich parents' world, and spent much of her time zoning out on people and staring at things, wishing she could photograph them. And then, pretty early on, Robert Downey Jr. shows up as a masked man who drops a key down the drain and--I'm not even going to tell you why he wears a mask. I don't even want you to know that much going in. Man. I kind of loved it, just the dreamy zonked-out craziness of it. Just--Netflix it or something.

Comments

[stormarrow.livejournal.com]

I really loved FUR. I have watched it numerous times, and I have no idea why I like it so much lol. There's just something about it that is just so good! RDJ is awesome as always, and I agree I liked the way Kidman played the part. I think they were both fantastic. And the ending was just so sad...

[jennythen.livejournal.com]

I just saw Burn After Reading, too! I felt the same way you did. Interesting, not funny. I couldn't really feel empathy for Linda, either, especially since we never even saw her find out that her friends were killed. It seemed like it ended so abruptly.

[greedyskunk.livejournal.com]

Wow, I just wanted to say that your icon makes me very happy! The Stand/Twilight crossover anyone?

[paradise-loved.livejournal.com]

i don't know -- i really enjoyed burn after reading in the sense that i didn't have to really care about any of the characters (except ted, of course, and isn't richard jennings having a great year?). it was kind of like chicago in that most of the characters are despicable people but you want them to do whatever it is they need for the sake of the story. then again, i thought it was a fun film for a friday night at the movies. i'd like to rewatch it to see what i think five months later.

also, i think brad pitt should just stick to doing comedy.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Well, you can tell that wacky characters are what he really loves, so I hope he gets to do more stuff like that.

[karie122.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I wasn't a huge fan of Burn After Reading for very similar reasons. I just couldn't empathize with the characters. It's the same complex that I had with Wuthering Heights in that I found that none of the characters were inherently likable. Brad Pitt definitely was the most amusing character in the film which is why once the murderous wackiness began, it pissed me off.

[r0ck3tsci3ntist.livejournal.com]

On no. They destroyed The Dark is Rising aka The Seeker and I will never forgive them.

[bluinkalchemist.livejournal.com]

Not even Doctor Who could save it.

[efyyness.livejournal.com]

fargo and burn after reading are made by the same people...


i rather liked burn after reading. :D

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

fargo and burn after reading are made by the same people...

Well, that was my point--that they'd already done a similar movie once before, and this suffered somewhat in comparison.

[mmaresca.livejournal.com]

Fur was a movie that I didn't enjoy... but I did respect, for many of the reasons you cite.

[miabee023.livejournal.com]

Oh my god. I totally did not know that was Robert Downey Jr. Seeing as how I had no idea who he was PERIOD until I went and saw Iron Man several months after watching Fur. Although I do distinctly remember going, "Who is this guy? He looks attractively familiar..."

THANK YOU FOR SOLVING THE MYSTERY.

(Okay, so I could've been less lazy and just looked on imdb, but honestly, where's the fun in that?)

[sun-star-n-moon.livejournal.com]

YAY NARNIA LIVES!! There is a Santa!

Now, as long as it isnt screwed up, I will never ever ask for anything ever again.

Thats a dirty lie.

How about, I refrain from asking for anything for a year a month a week.

[joaniemaloney.livejournal.com]

I felt the exact same way you did about Burn After Reading. I think I heard some positive reviews so I decided to give it a try, but I waited for the DVD as well. Brad was the best part about it, no question. Everyone else I could care less about.:/

[illian.livejournal.com]

I'm convinced that there is at least one person, maybe multiple people, way up in Fox's hierarchy who doesn't get sci-fi/fantasy AT ALL and tries to re-filter it through what they think works. Then they kill it when that doesn't work either. =|

[hulamoth.livejournal.com]

let's all pray to heaven that the BBC never sells them anything. Your icon just gave me a horrible thought of FOX and Daleks. Even though that's obviously a sarcophagus.

But seriously; FOX is so busy trying to service the lowest common denominator that they should just stop buying good, complicated series.

[malhablada.livejournal.com]

I just rented Burn After Reading the other day. I have a deep and abiding love for Tilda Swinton, plus John Malkovich was my third serious actor crush in middle school (circa Con Air, but still), so a movie where they were married was pretty much inevitable for me to watch.

It was all right. Malkovich's uber-precise pronunciation of the word "memoir" cracked me up.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

YES! I did love the mem-WAH. And I love Tilda Swinton just because she is fierce--it did crack me the hell up when we discovered that she was a pediatrician.

[last-archangel.livejournal.com]

I'm far more worried by the fact that the guy who is directing Dawn Treader also directed the horrid Gorillas In The Mist.

[hulamoth.livejournal.com]

HAHAHAHAHA WHAT

[hulamoth.livejournal.com]

haven't seen Fur but agree with you on Burn After Reading (the dildo thing made it more difficult for me). I like John Malkovich, and Ted, but I got downright annoyed by Francis McDormand's character.

ugh, FOX, WHY. At least I know that I'm not crazy for hating them.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

I will say, the dildo thing cracked me up because I genuinely did not expect that at all. And Clooney was just so proud of it, too.

[pugnacioun.livejournal.com]

I went to go see Burn After Reading while it was still in theatres and I found it almost unbearably hysterical. Of course, I'm rather a fan of black comedy and don't need (and even prefer not) to feel for the characters in a comedy/drama/anything for it to appeal to, interest, and entertain me.

[vitalitat.livejournal.com]

I'm just hoping that no matter what, it's a lot better than Caspian. *crosses fingers*

[nyahu.livejournal.com]

Ditto! I mean, really... After Caspian, I'm kind of looking forward to what Fox can do with it.

[scornedsaint.livejournal.com]

Did you hear about ONTD reaching the heretofore unknown 16.8 million comment limit?

wwhaaaa?

[hulamoth.livejournal.com]

you mean per post or total for the community?

[goonie-freak.livejournal.com]

Ugh I HATE Burn After Reading... but I liked Fargo. The only reason I kept watching it was because I felt for Ted... Everyone else was annoying...

At least you have never suffered through "Meet Bill". That is the WORST movie made... and I have even sat through Zombie Strippers soooo thats saying something...

[disturbed-kiwi.livejournal.com]

I just watched Meet Bill, I thought it was alright. What did you find so bad?

My worst movies ever include Freddy got fingered and Tideland at the moment.

[redcoast.livejournal.com]

Yo, Cleo, relating to the iPhone: my dad works for AT&T, pretty high up in the company, and if you're still having trouble with them I can email him. He's helped my friends out before when they were having trouble.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Well, five hours sufficed to talk them into giving us a new phone, but thanks. : )

[disturbed-kiwi.livejournal.com]

While Fargo was funny but you understood and felt for everyone, I think the point of Burn After Reading was actually to laugh at these idiotic people. Except Ted.

Which is why the punchline is really the final scene, where you see all there panic and craziness was really pointless as even the boss guy just files it all away and wants to ignore it.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Well, I mean, I do get that. But it's to the point where--you have to be careful about having a character say, "So basically, all of this was for nothing and had no point," because you risk the viewer going, "Wait, then why did I spend an hour and a half watching it?" Although, I know, that's often the Coens' point. But with Fargo, it seemed more like it was about the way things end up being for nothing, the tragedy and the comedy of it--the best laid plans of mice and men, etc.--whereas this one just came off as ninety minutes of "Hey! Wacky!" Again, it's not a matter of not getting it, it's just a matter of not liking it. And, I mean, I enjoyed it well enough while I was watching it. It just didn't entirely work for me on some level.

[chorusgirl.livejournal.com]

fur was INSANE.
I still don't know if i liked it or not but that shit was nuts.

[elvenjaneite.livejournal.com]

I was seriously MEH about Burn After Reading, but I complete agree about Ted (only part where I was going OH NO!) and Brad Pitt's character, who had me in stitches the entire time.

[robinmc.livejournal.com]

Burn After Reading has been sitting on my ottoman for weeks now, and I keep meaning to watch it, but I've been distracted.

I remember when Fur came out, and I had absolutely no idea what to make of it. Now I'm intrigued.

[barrelgoddess.livejournal.com]

FOX!? D: In the immortal words of Emerson Cod -

OH HELL NO!

T_T

(Have not seen Burn After Reading, but I adoooooooooooore Fargo. One of my favorite movies ever.)

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I love Fargo. That may have been the source of my problem with this one.

[la-petite-singe.livejournal.com]

Aww, poor Ted the gym manager. Jenkins is so great. I was shocked when he got offed, and I totes didn't think Les Frères Coen could shock me anymore. But I did laugh a lot at Brad Pitt--I like him best when he's being ridiculous. (Sorry you were spoiled, because I had the most epic flailing reaction to that and it just made it better.) Still, I agree, it kinda couldn't decide on a genre sometimes.

UM, IT SERIOUSLY WAS. But--

Nicole Kidman was really good at portraying a very meek, sheltered, bottled-up woman

I need her to STOP PLAYING THAT. I can no longer handle any roles where she's all prissy and doing that whisper-voice. I was the crazy slut from Moulin Rouge back, please. D: But I will say this: because of the...you know, everything, Downey's performance was all about his eyes and his voice, and those are basically my favorite things about him, so on that level? Hot. But...still...cracked out. As you said.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

I think part of the reason I was okay with Kidman here was because I haven't seen a lot of her movies lately, so I wasn't tired of that whole schtick. Although, I admit, she does it. It just happened to work for this character.

Also, RDJ creeped the hell out of me for about the first half of the movie, until Lionel stopped trying so hard to be arbitrarily weird and just started being friends with Diane. In a way, he had put up just as much a wall with his weirdness as she had with her shyness.