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Re: side-tracked, again



Ah, movies...

Much as I love City of Lost Children (the chain of causes sequence was
absolutely stunning), I have to say I think Delicatessen is by *far* the
superior film.  CoLC seems to exist in its own universe, which some may see as
a strength, but I felt that it gave the filmmakers liscence to get unfocussed.
Anything goes, because there are no limitations except those of style.
It was a fun ride, but at the end, I wasn't sure what I had just seen.
With Delicatessen, I got the feeling that the characters existed outside
the limits of what we were shown; they had a history, a culture, and
(maybe) a future.  CoLC seemed to exist in a bottle.  

Perhaps it depends on which you see first, much like whether you like GDBD
versus Eve (just kidding! ;-)), but Delicatessen will always be one of my
all-time top ten favorite films, and CoLC barely makes the top 50.

Now, as far as the Coen's go, I was bored *stiff* during Barton Fink, so I
don't understand why anyone would rave about that one.  I haven't seen Raising
Arizona or Miller's Crossing, but I was impressed with the characters in Fargo
(as grossed out as I was with the subject matter), and The Big Lebowski had me
*rolling* on the floor with its parodies of film noir conventions.  I found O
Brother Where Art Thou quaint and charming, if ultimately fluffy.  Blood Simple
was taut and chilling, very well constructed for a first effort.  Hudsucky
Proxy was fascinating, although it failed to really engage me with the
characters.  Jennifer Jason Leigh just made me want to go watch more Rosalind
Russell movies.  :-) So, I can't explain Barton Fink.  Anyone?

Back to work...
-- 
Don Smith                    Robotic Optical Transient Search Experiment
dasmith at rotse2_physics.lsa.umich.edu        http://xte.mit.edu/~dasmith/

"Go to red alert!"  "Are you *absolutely* sure, sir?  
It does mean changing the bulb."			    - Red Dwarf

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