It...it...why? I mean, what's the why of the story? Who do I care about? What's interesting.

It's very shiny?

Characters aren't what pull me in generally, although Tom's closed-off-ness is kind of attractive to me (see also, Rebecca on The Inside). It's the overlapping love triangles and the dialogue and that gorgeous dress, and the goofy moments, and never being sure how far (or if) Tom's planned things, and watching him manage to pull himself out of a mess and still lose everything. And that final shot when for once, he's not masking his feelings. And Eddie Dane.

I guess I love it because it's never gotten boring to me. I like things i can watch (or read) over and over, and still get surprised by something. Sometimes the same thing multiple times. (I think I've finally stopped going, "Hey, that's Frances McDormand!")

And random: one of the writers or creators or somesuch of Burn Notice is over on Warren Ellis's board. So I watched the first episode and enjoyed it and have totally failed to catch it since. I want to go see what he has to say about it but I'll get all spoiled.

Anyway, Donovan did not ping my gaydar but I don't know that mine's very finely tuned. Plus I was distracted because he kept reminding me of Guy Pearce.

never being sure how far (or if) Tom's planned things

See, if he'd done the whole thing without ever hitting first or hitting back or firing a gun, I'd have been more interested in whether that's what he was angling to do the whole time or not. Since actually killing someone didn't seem to come difficultly to him (or as a result of what we've seen happen to him) I was left in a vague place by the end. I felt I knew less about his motives and methods than I did halfway through.

There wasn't enough love in it for me to get caught up in triangles either. I liked the Dane. I almost started rooting for him, but it was too clearly going to be a letdown so I stopped.

Burn Notice--I've been watching it, but I'll let episodes pile up without feeling like I've missed much. Most I've liked Bruce Campbell since Brisco County Jr (not actually a fan of his, all told), and it's great to see Sharon Gless (I think I last saw her kick ass in State of Play The State Within, so this contrast is wonderful). I don't know if I hate Gabrielle Anwar, but I surely do hate her character and am very glad they backed off her accent (even though she's still from there). The lead--well, he has a certain something about him, but if I look too closely it's like rubber skin stretched over a skull and I feel like I'm having a bad acid trip.

Which reminds me--where the hell is my Percocet? My head hurts.

...I think shrift stole the life I'm supposed to be leading, or something...

If it helps, sometimes I feel guilty for bogarting all the baby lesbians!

if it helps, sometimes I feel guilty for bogarting all the baby lesbians!

Heh. You're just taking reallllly good care of them for me, right?

Nah, I suppose I don't really need baby lesbians. Though they would be sort of entertaining to have around, being dramatic and cute and entertaining.

I had a baby lesbian once. It was a very weird night.

Oh. I think the "What heart?" thing was a change...by then he knew he'd lost the things he wanted, but he had to save himself anyway. I dunno, I guess to me he didn't engage in physical violence (so much) because he was brains, not muscle, but not so much from a moral stance. He didn't object to it, he just didn't want to do it himself; that wasn't his role.

I'm not sure that even touches on what's you're saying, but I'm free associating, so... there.

I was left in a vague place by the end. I felt I knew less about his motives and methods than I did halfway through.

Ah, that's probably a big reason why I like it. But I can see it making you feel "...And?"

I never felt I knew enough about what he wanted to know when it'd changed, or when he'd gotten (or been denied) it. He wanted to live, well enough, and I guess he wanted the girl because the guys in those movies usually do...but not deeply, because that's not how gangster movies are constructed.

When he puked on that second trip to Miller's Crossing I thought maybe we were seeing someone who wasn't able to deal with violence personally, although he'd stood next to it a lot--his mortality, or killing people. But then when he did kill Bernie it was such a non-event that I didn't feel the shift. They were just actions, in sequence. No momentum, no change in inertia, nothing.

Ah, that's probably a big reason why I like it.

Maybe if it were less crisp a movie I'd revel in the unsureness more. But it seemed so deliberate (and I don't mean that in a ponderous or lifeless way) that I felt left on the outside. Surely the Coen brothers could have communicated anything to me they wanted to...they have a firm handle on the medium. Yet? I got nothing. Not even confusion. Just a heaping pile of zero.

I guess I should try Barton Fink next and see how that holds up. And then The Hudsucker Proxy. I'm confident in my memories of liking Fargo, and I am definitely unmoved by Raising Arizona, and I'm not expecting either of those to change.

I've never seen The Big Lebowski, and I'm suspecting maybe I can just let that one slide. Yet...so many people whose taste I appreciate love it.

Their movies are so not for me. Fargo and Raising Arizona are the only 2 from your list that I can deal with.

why am I still up?

I guess I should try Barton Fink next and see how that holds up.

It's my favorite Coen Brothers and I've seen it a lot, but I don't know if it'll ring much for you. I am pretty sure that the Hyperion in AtS was based on the Hotel in Barton Fink, though.

The lead character is a pretty savage satire on Clifford Odets and (by extension) a kind of well meaning, but ultimately bankrupt lefty culture that dominated the first half of the century in America. The Bill Mayhew character (in a subplot) is a balancing vision of William Faulkner in Hollywood. Not that they spare or laud the Faulkner character but they're definitely choosing one kind of American literature of the 30s over another.

Anyway, that's the B-Plot. In some ways it's their version of Graham Greene's The Quiet American. They really want to pull the skin back on the American cultural tendency towards self-bullshit. Their tone is blackly comic because...because that's always their tone.

In some ways the most interesting character is Judy Davis' character. You certainly won't find the title character likeable. There are so many amazing performances though. Judy Davis, John Mahoney, John Goodman, Tony Shaloub, Michael Lerner, and Turturro.

I don't know how to sell you on its virtues, because I'm not sure they align with your interests. Its virtue is its acuity. It's virtue is its vision. Literally, how it sees things.

As for the Big Lebowski, I'm convinced that it's less than the sum of its parts but the parts are all completely intriguing.