This is the first Coen Brothers film that I didn't like (well, maybe Intolerable Cruelty - 4). I'm pretty sure there is some allegory going on here that I am missing. The story is about a writer who goes to Hollywood to write scripts for a major picture house in the 40's. The stories he writes are about the inner anguish of the characters, and the film portrays Barton as going somewhat crazy, it is hard to know what he is imagining and what is actually happening. This might be the story within a story thing going on, but it is difficult to see on first view.
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Sometimes I worry that I've lost the plot. My twitchin' muscles tease my flippant thoughts. I never really dreamed of heaven much until we put him in the ground, but it's all I'm doing now - listening for patterns in the sound of an endless static sea. ~ Conor Oberst
This site is now (mostly) an archive of my writing on film from November 2004 - May 2008. I will link to my articles elsewhere and post the occasional Twitter review.
Film Index
Looking for a particular film? Use the Index. I rank films from 1-7, looking for good and well told stories about what it means to be human.
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2005
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May
(35)
- Assault on Precinct 13 - 3
- About Schmidt - 5
- Stand By Me - 6
- The Time Machine - 4
- The Sea Inside - 6
- The Aviator - 5
- We Don't Live Here Anymore - 5
- Team America: World Police - 4
- The Man Who Wasn't There - 6
- The Hudsucker Proxy - 6
- Waking Life - 7
- Mean Creek - 7
- Zelig - 6
- Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith - 5
- Blade: Trinity - 4
- National Treasure - 6
- Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy - 5
- Open Water - 5
- In Good Company - 7
- Fat Albert - 3
- Identity - 5
- Shaun of the Dead - 6
- Coyote Ugly - 3
- Wall Street - 6
- Barton Fink - 3
- The Ka-ching of Star Wars...
- Boys Don't Cry - 4
- Monster - 1
- The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys - 6
- Igby Goes Down - 5
- Van Wilder - 4
- Infernal Affairs - 6
- Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events - 7
- Taxi Driver (1976) - 5
- Deep Impact - 5
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May
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We are lonesome animals. We spend all of our life trying to be less lonesome. One of our ancient methods is to tell a story begging the listener to say-and to feel- ‘Yes, that is the way it is, or at least that is the way I feel it.’ You’re not as alone as you thought. —John Steinbeck
2 comments:
Ack...I totally don't agree. I'd give the movie a six. Try watching it with the understanding that the hotel is, literally, hell.
That bit of information would probably helps raise the ranking, but it seems to me that it is not obvious to the viewer to make the assumption that the hotel is hell. But it makes sense, since the Coen Brothers usually make reference to things outside of the film, that viewers may know about.
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