Let's see... The man downstairs began banging when he thought I was asleep, even though my music was super quiet and so forth. It's all in his head. But, it causes me CFS PTSD. And I can't let this go on anymore. Even if it means the worst. I think he is a psychopath who has been hating on hippies all his life and so now, because I whistle, he sees me as a hippie. He never confronts me in public, even if I invite it, cuz fuck.
I saw him come in, the other day, and he is so decrepitly old and ugly. yet, he blathers on the phone like he is king of the world. It's just so weird. Says he from Chicago. Owes $40,000 to the state of Colorado. I knew he had something to hide the first time he 'rounded the corner to say a big HI! to em when all I wanted was to get my dog to crap. Pretty apparent. He's been trying to bugfuckery me for 4-5 years, when he owes all that money to Colorado. Seriously. Learn to recognise BS'ers. And, yes, I meant what I said.
Anyway, today's topic is, "Oh, Brother! (Where art thou!)" - a perfectly stupid title, but made by the Coen brothers. By now, I've seen a number of their movies. They are always off the mark, historically, humanly, psychologically... But, they crank the drama or dramedy up so high, you are just fine believing, for the moment, that this is the way it is, and always was. THIS movie, is said to be their least violent, and so it punctuates reality with less insistence that you believe, on the edge of your seat. And, therefore, this was a more daring movie. In some ways.
Coming out of the narcissistic 1990's, they chose George Clooney for the prime character. I am sorry, I know everyone thinks he is Kentucky humble, but in every movie I have seen him in, he is overacting. And, I get from the cleft notes, they really didn't know who else to choose for the part. Granted, they sold Clooney down, in the part, which is fine, but it still didn't work. Such are the times. You have to forgive the stuff that went before, right? And, so, this movie is good enough.
I love movies set in the 1930's. I love any historical movies, even in the 1960's, or so on. Even though the writers always get a lot wrong with the epoch, it is nice to see what they get right, historically, and, so, humanly. We can't have enough movies of the 1930's, and earlier, really! We should have a commission churning these things out, because we are as close to then as we ever shall be! As well, I am intrigued by the nitrate silent films dug up in NW BC, Canada, preserving a record of the past - of the conquering of a continent, through decadence and dance. When you compare the time we have to that which buried the dinosaurs... When you imagine that we are so very different to those of the 19th century - we're almost Siamese twins dancing alongside those ghosts of the immediate past.
So, "Oh, Brother," was a stupid, nice, curious movies. It had lots of references to the past. It was a weak, watered-down homage to the Odyssey. It was, "Down By Law, " meets, "Mark Twain, " and, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". Hit or miss, what was most pleasing to me was how the movie swerved near actual movies made by Will Rogers, in the 1930's. George Clooney's character was meant to be a braggart of that age, but, it really didn't work, and, I am sorry that the Coen brothers are not historians. Maybe I am asking too much. There should be a law - that creative filmmakers must first graduate in history before they make certified historical movies, or fiction. Only because there are not a lot of contenders in the field. If there were 100 times more contenders in the field, then I wouldn't care. But, movie-making tends to be capital-intensive.
A simple, adventure story-line. Cute. Historically interesting. Never made me laugh. Supporting actors were all great.
BtW - Made my first trek to library in a few months. Carrying laundry and laptop. Made another instacart order. Then did a load of laundry. Walked home. Happy dog awaiting.