Burn After Reading

I am not sure what I just watched. I take it back, I just watched a movie by Joel and Ethan Coen. Burn After Reading is a bit much, even for them.





These two nut jobs have had some real winners. No Country for Old Men being the biggest winner of them all. Fargo, The Big Lebowski, Raising Arizona, they all have their place. They may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I haven't found too many people who truly HATE their movies.

I don't hate this one, but it just felt a little bit too much like they were trying to stick it in our faces. It felt like they were saying, hey..we won our Oscar, now take this!

The movie certainly had an A list cast, and they look like they had fun and thus put their hearts into it. It was well acted all around. George Clooney, Frances McDormand, Brad Pitt, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, and Richard Jenkins each outdid each other. McDormand played the lost, aloof character flawlessly. Swinton was fabulous as the bitch. No other way to put it.

This is certainly worth the watch, but I think it will be polarizing. Perhaps you dig the style, or perhaps you find it a bit too much. I would love to hear your thoughts.

The Blu-Ray format shined here. I felt like I was in the room with these folks. In fact, perhaps it was too good. I could see every pore on their face. That's not hot.

The DTS-HD Master Audio was just an average showing. Since it's mostly dialogue driven I wouldn't expect much more.

3 stars.

The Visitor

The Visitor is an absolute gem. This is what movie making is all about. The synopsis starts by saying, "In a world of 6 billion people, it only takes one to change your life". That about sums it up.

Professor Walter Vale, played by Richard Jenkins, is coasting through life. He returns to his apartment in New York City only to find a young immigrant couple squatting there. The rest is for you to discover on your own.




This movie is about all of the special things in life. The importance of living life to the fullest, love, and friendship. Mix in a bit of politics and you have a winner. It will make you laugh, make you cry, and make you angry. It's all too real, and all too possible which is quite scary. Immigration is quite a big topic since 2001, so I recommend watching this and experiencing a differing point of view.

The cast is so strong, so powerful, and so deserving of accolades. Haaz Sleiman, Danai Gurira, Hiam Abbass, and the aforementioned Richard Jenkins star and each are more powerful then the last. They bought out the best in each other. I would not be surprised if Jenkins received some Oscar love.

Surely one of the finest films of the year. 5 stars!

Step Brothers

Well, go ahead and crucify me. I loved Step Brothers! This is Will Ferrell's best performance since Anchorman.

I credit Judd Apatow for the injection of the over-the-top crude humor. There were moments that were so hilarious, so ridiculous, I just had to pause the movie until I stopped laughing. The first 30 minutes was so funny that I thought it had to die off. No way that it could continue. I was wrong. It was funny from beginning to end.




I have a feeling that there will be some out there that will totally disagree. You will need to have a crude sense of humor, you need to appreciate the mind of a teenage boy, and you need to have a bit of adolescence left in you. If you have two of those three qualities you will be in for some good laughs, and don't we all need that?

In typical Ferrell fashion, there is no real plot to speak of, it's all about the ridiculous jokes and over the top acting. Well done by he and John C. Reilly.

I haven't like any of their recent offerings until now. Glad they are back.

Mary Steenburgen, Richard Jenkins, and Kathryn Hahn also added some fabulous moments. But this was all about Ferrell and Reilly.

4 out of 5 stars!