New Year’s - Almost

Back to reality, boys and girls. Well sort of. New Year's isn't here yet, but the big holidays are over. I never had much respect for New Year's Day. It just doesn't have the same cache that the other big days have. There aren't any real traditions that I know of. Other than finding an excuse to booze it up too much and stay up late, I'm not sure what makes New Year's much different from a Friday night. But I didn't come here to beat up New Year's eve or day. I used to like New Year's day, back when the family would gather around and watch college football bowl games and devour nachos, chips and dip and other assorted appetizer snacks. This was the one day a year we children were encouraged to eat this stuff and I went at it full force. Now the big bowl games are spread out over a week or so and are all played at 9pm eastern time, so as to not compete with one another. This doesn't do much to keep the kiddies interested. So there Tostitos Fiesta Bowl sponsors. I won't be watching your ads this year because the game isn't on the day I have off to watch such things.

New Year's is also supposed to be about resolutions or things you want to have great effect for the next 365 days and hopefully beyond. Last year M and I put more effort into this, with much better results than normal. I'm not sure if I'll do the same for this year. I probably will, just not with so many unrealistic goals. I like to improve my odds when I can. One of the resolutions I sort of have is to turn this into a forum for more regular types of posts. Originally I envisioned writing this as a series of dispatches from the country, a sort of modern day folk wisdom. Turns out I only had one or two folky posts in me and ran out of steam quickly. I actively try to avoid writing about work. I find work blogs to be just as tedious and full of hot air as the people I come across while working. I shouldn't be surprised at this and I am not. Occasionally I throw in a rant-type post, which is cathartic and hopefully amusing. I try to keep the tone somewhat upbeat. And then there are the mini-recaps of various meals or projects. I'm going to keep up with those as they come along. In addition to this stable of stud post options, I am going to try out a few new prospects in the next few months. If I like them, then that's what you'll get.

Today I'm going to talk about I movie I saw recently, called 'Burn After Reading'. This is a Coen brothers' joint, their first after the Oscar winning 'No Country For Old Men', which I really enjoyed. I've been a fan of Joel and Ethan since I saw 'Miller's Crossing' way back in the day. In subsequent re-views, I realize I had no idea what I was watching as a kid, but the characters in the movie hypnotized me. They made 'Raising Arizona', which I also enjoyed but in later viewing realized it was not a kids movie at all. Raising Arizona was also filled with memorable characters and this turns out to be the hallmark of a Coen brothers' movie. Unusual deaths play a big role too. They've killed people with a wood chipper, cattle gun, fireplace shovel, hatchet and a whole lot of guns. Based on this list, if you hadn't seen anything they'd made, you might think these are action or horror movies, but for the most part there are filled with long scenes of unusual dialogue and nuanced human interaction peppered with flashes of realistic violence. This, to me, seems so much more realistic and interesting than someone getting pumped full or bullets and crashing through windows to save the planet. When you click through the CNN crime section you rarely come across the successful brazen daylight bank heist and much more reliably read about the heat of the moment murder or the poorly conceived criminal plot and amateur cover-up attempt. The Coen brothers write some of their screenplays, and the dialogue is, at first, very strange. It's conversational rather than dramatic. Less hyperbole and more revelatory of the character speaking. Even if you are a spy or world leader, most conversations you have with people are about mundane things. You're not yelling or crying. You're trying to convey a point or win an argument or make a joke. Maybe you're just filling the silence. I understand movies are for escape and entertainment. Hearing about the plot to save the world or win the girl is more interesting than the fool who cut you off in traffic or hearing about your latest toothache. Maybe that's why the Coen brother movies are so unusual and why they stand out for me. Anyway, I learned in the bonus features of the DVD that 'Burn After Reading' was written specifically for the actors and actresses playing the roles. The movie wasn't going to be made unless George Clooney and John Malkovich were available. There was no casting call, no search for someone to play the tough guy or the leading lady. In this regard, I think the movie was successful. I couldn't' picture anyone else playing these roles. The plot was somewhat less successful, but I think that was secondary to the opportunity to show the audience who these people are for 90 minutes. The plot never resolves itself on screen, and I'm fine with that. Some people didn't like 'Burn After Reading' very much, but I did, if only for the scene of a drunken Malkovich slurring his way through a Princeton song with his college cronies. If it sounds bizarre, that's because it is and that's what makes it so wonderful.