Odds and ends (3), with bonus George Clooney content

Finally, a quick buzz through another handful of recent viewings:

A Serious Man: Not a Coen Brothers high (Blood Simple, Fargo) or a low (Barton Fink, The Man Who Wasn't There), but an interesting middling effort. Set in 1967, the film follows the tribulations that beset a college professor (Michael Stuhlbarg, pictured with Alan Arkin): his wife is leaving him for an old friend, his son is getting ready for his Bar Mitzvah while getting in trouble for listening to the Jefferson Airplane in school and facing the wrath of a bully, his at-odds brother (Richard Kind) is staying on the couch while he sorts his life out (part of which seems to include a sexual attraction to men), and his sexy neighbor invades his dreams. Stuhlbarg is a Job figure, not understanding why he is suffering, and like Job he gets advice from three men, in this case, rabbis. Just as suddenly as things went awry, things get better, but as the last moments of the movie suggest, not for long. The performances are good and as with most Coen Brothers movies, it looks great, but honestly it just didn't stay with me long. One minor point: though clearly set in 1967, references are made to two albums (Santana's Abraxas and Creedence Clearwater's Cosmo's Factory) which didn't come out until 1970. This seems like an odd mistake for Coens to make, unless it means something--Abraxas was a mystic Gnostic figure and the comsos is the cosmos.

A Single Man: Another movie about a college professor beset by troubles; here, Colin Firth gives a superb Oscar-nominated performance as a gay man in the early 60's dealing with grief over the death of his younger lover a year earlier. The film is set on one day in his life as he attempts to put his life in order and commit suicide. However, the attentions of a sympathetic student, who may be in the process of coming out, make his change his mind. The ending, like that of A Serious Man, suggests that life may simply be a cosmic joke. The movie is good, but Firth's performance is outstanding.

The Informant!: True story of a whistle-blower (Matt Damon, who put on a real beer belly for the role) who isn't quite as noble as he appears. The tone is one of dark humor, and Damon is quite good as the strange layers of his character begin peeling off, but again, not a movie that stuck with me.

Bright Star: The real-life romance of John Keats and his muse Fanny Brawne; very much an old-fashioned Masterpiece Theater kind of film, and if that's what you're in the mood for, you'll like it. Ben Whishaw is very good as Keats, but no one else stands out.

Fantastic Mr. Fox: Quirky little stop-motion animation film about a fox who, despite trying to take care of his family and move up in the world, has a hard time fighting his natural urge to steal chickens, and gets in trouble for it. I had never seen a Wes Anderson film until now--most of his movies (The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic) sound interesting but offputting. This was not offputting, but there's not much to it. Still, it's worth seeing for the animation, the look, and the ubiquitous George Clooney who does the voice of the title character.