R.I.P. Paul Newman

Film legend Paul Newman died yesterday at the age of 83.  Here are five of my favorite Newman performances.

The Sting (1973)

Torn Curtain (1966)

The Verdict (1982)

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

Road to Perdition (2002)
He will be missed.

5 Signs You're Watching a Wes Anderson Movie

Found this on OMGLists and thought it was pretty good.  Five signs you're watching a Wes Anderson movie.

Review:Burn After Reading

After winning three Oscars in 2007 for their haunting ode to revenge, stubborn determination and the harsh Texas landscape; the Coen brothers have returned to the type of fare that has made then both fan and critical favourites. In the tradition of Barton Fink, Fargo and the Big Lebowski; Burn After Reading is a dark comedy that juxtaposes the worlds of personal fitness and the C.I.A. In typical Coen Brothers fashion scenes of macabre humour and heart-breaking poignancy swirl around each other creating a movie that in the end, is funny, touching and befuddling.  

The story begins with the demotion of C.I.A. analyst Osbourne 'Ozzy ' Cox(John Malkovich).  When offered a less important position at the state department, he launches into an expletive filled tirade, making it abundantly clear why he was demoted in the first place.  He is a man who feels adrift in a world of idiots and fools.  Everything about Cox screams pretension, from his bow ties to the way he pronounces the word memoir ( with an almost silent r).  He is married to the prickly Katie (Tilda Swinton).  In last year's Michael Clayton Swinton played a character who tread water through each scene trying desperately to keep her head above water.  Here Swinton's Katie is a no-nonsense pediatrician who is in charge at work, in charge at home and even in charge in her affair with Harry Pfarrer(George Clooney).  Cast against type, Pfarrer looks like your friends dad or the manager at a local grocery store.  Goofy, charming, sporting a gold chain and high waisted pants; he is the polar opposite of Clooney's Oscar-winning Syrianna character Bob Barnes.  While Barnes fought to uncover the plot against him, here Pfarrer - a Federal Marshall - only stares pensively at the ominous black car that seems to be following him.  He doesn't attempt to get the license plate

 number or follow the car.  But these three only make up half of the movie.  

The real fun begins when a copy of Cox's memoir is left behind at Hard bodies a Washington area fitness centre.  The first employee we meet is Linda Litzke(Frances McDormand).  Her marriage to Joel Coen must be rock solid because she is introduced in scene so unglamourous and hilarious.  She is in dire need of plastic surgery and lacks the means to pay for it.  Her partner in crime is Chet(Brad Pitt), a bike riding, skunk-haired fellow employee who tries rather ineptly to collect a reward for the missing disc.  Rounding out the Hard bodies crew is Ted(Richard Jenkins) the mild mannered manager who wants nothing to do with their crazy scheme. 

 If you've seen that first red band trailer you already know the plot in broad strokes, but this is more than a film about spooks and gym rats.  At its core, it is a film about longing.  Ozzy longs for respect and the accolades that would come from a best selling memoir.  In one of the films few quiet and understated scenes Cox tells his father that he has quit.  Little is explained about the relationship.  Was Cox's father a mistreated mid-level employee like him?  Was he a big shot whose shadows his son lives under?  Either answer would explain Cox's behaviour.  Linda hungers for attention.  She seeks a companion, settling for Internet blind dates with losers while a co-worker overtly pines for her.  Harry seems to need only a warm body, bouncing from bed to bed while his children's book author wife embarks on a book tour.  

Well written and funny, Burn After Reading combines the best of Fargo and TBL, it has Fargo's bleak tragedy and the zany characters and ridiculousness of TBL.  One tip do not take a drink during the scene where Clooney reveals what he is building in the basement., it might just be the dumbest, funniest and most disgusting things I've seen this year.  In an HBO featurette Ethan Coen described the move as "a Tony Scott, Bourne movie without the explosions" and the Coen brothers have fun playing in the genre.  The film begins and ends with long zoom shots that start from a satellite view of the globe and zooms down to the C.I.A. headquarters.  The Coen brothers' version of Langley is a building of cold, bare, empty hallways and plain nondescript offices.  Here J.K. Simmons plays Cox's boss' boss.  Quickly becoming the go to character actor, here Simmons plays a confused higher-up who knows what's happening but has no idea why.  His attitude can be summed up in one line: "get back to me when it makes sense".  

As I was watching the film I felt myself becoming annoyed.  There were several laugh out loud moments, but I was expecting something else.  It was a case of a great trailer doing the film a disservice.  That first red band trailer was drop dead funny.  As I left the theatre and began to drive home, I had time to think about the movie.  I liked it and would recommend it.   The performances are great - especially Frances McDormand, John Malcovich and Brad Pitt - and the story is actually original - rare for modern movies.  When you have first rate actors and filmmakers come together you rarely get a bad movie, these people are where they are for a reason: they can deliver.  The result here is nobody's best work, just an entertaining movie that will keep you laughing days after you've left the theatre.