Thursday, February 28, 2008

Your pajamas... were stolen?
Yep. I wonder what this city is coming to if a bloke's pajamas are no longer safe.
( Lt. Kellaway & Stanley Ipkiss, The Mask)

My sentiments somewhat. I wondered the same wonderment last evening (with a different if) when I asked three friends, one after another, to come over and let's drink some fine whiskey and spend a great evening watching the DVD of No Country. (Ok, quite mediocre whiskey actually, but that's beside the point.) Each one of them declined, citing lame reasons. So here was I, and there was Anton Chigurh and all that gore. And my wife somewhere in the background constantly jabbering at me for exposing the kiddo to such mad violence.
.... Caught in that sensual music all neglect/Monuments of unageing intellect.
I won't try to review the movie. It's been reviewed enough. Apparently there's a raging debate on about who killed Llewelyn Moss, the Mexicans or Chigur. I really couldn't figure out, though I might just go with the former. And then again, if Chigur really was inside that motel room when the Sheriff entered, or, the Sheriff was just trying to picture him inside. I figured the later.
The point everybody seems to have converged on is that The Brothers Coen have come out of their creative rut back into the noir zone and dark humor. Well I dunno. The movie felt more dark than humorous. Although there were some brilliant flashes like this..
-Don't put it in your pocket.
It's your lucky quarter.
-Where you want me to put it then?
- Anywhere. Not in your pocket.
Or it'll be mixed in with the others
and become just a coin.
Which it is.
Priceless. But mostly it got so dark you could use a flashlight to catch that humor. I'll take their bright humor any day. Think O Brother. Or even Big Lebowski.
Having said that, it's a nicely crafted film all the way. Sort of grows on you. But it's not overwhelming. It certainly stays longer with you than Departed. But nowhere near as long as A Beautiful Mind, or Forrest Gump.
I'm drinking more of that mediocre stuff tonight and trying to watch George Clooney. It's my oscar week.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

But mostly it got so dark you could use a flashlight to catch that humor.

Possibly the best one-line review of NCFOM !!

Btw, I love Big Lebowski, and think it is the second best, barely beaten by Fargo, of the Coen brothers.

PS: If i may ask, what was the whiskey ? The best mediocre whiskey I have had is Ballantine 12 yrs blended.

Partho said...

There's a room of shadows/ that gets so dark brother/ it's so easy for two people to lose each other....
Bruce Springsteen, Tunnel of Love

Completely unrelated. I got carried away.Thank you for your kind words.

Bongo, you are a true connoisseur and a very rich man to boot, unlike me. I have read your cocktail posts and got duly awestruck. The best mediocre whiskey I have had is Whyte & Mackay double matured I-don't-know-how many-years-old. The particular mediocre whiskey in question here was way too middle of the road for your taste I'm sure. Seagram Blender's Pride, if you insist.

Partho said...

I forgot to mention, lest it be misconstrued, that I don't consider Big Lebowski a lesser film by any standards. It was pathbreaking work, man, a treatise on dudeism, every dude's bible!

Anonymous said...

Partho, unfortunately I am not as rich as I would like to be - alcohol-appreciation wise. :)
More so since moving to Australia, the stuff is bloody expensive here compared to the US. And probably I would have much fewer opportunities in India.

Thankfully, in case of whiskey and scotch, I have had rich(er?) friends who let me taste from their collections. Also a few bottles gifted here and there has helped.

Speaking of alcohol and The Big Lebowski, I was reminded of the Dude's comment while being pushd around: "Hey, careful, man, there's a beverage here! "

In Dino said...

There's a gap between what you write and what you say. I distinctly remember the offer you made of vintage whisky if I came along to watch the movie (and kept my mouth shut under extreme provocation).

Partho said...

Vintage? I don't know zis vaard! I might have said fine whiskey, alright, but then went back home and saw I was out of supply.