Enough with the Miller’s Crossing spoilers! It’s going on my queue..

I like Aronofsky myself, but I didn’t really like ‘Pi’ much at all, I more preferred ‘Requiem’. ‘The Fountain’ was actually pretty solid; I rented it from Blockbuster on Blu-Ray and it was gorgeous to look at, esp. the strange space scenes. Meditative. Weird. I’d love to see what he did with ‘The Road’. I think the book and his own personal style would mesh very well together.

‘Miller’s Crossing’ is a must. As good as ‘No Country’ was, I would still rate MC as their best movie. Albert Finney was fan-fucking-tastic; the “Danny Boy” scene, with the old man just going to town with a Tommy gun, is one of cinema’s most memorable moments. That said, incredibly, Turturro’s bawling “look into your heart” speech/plea when Byrne is supposed to clip him out in the woods might be even MORE memorable. All of the performances were great, the use of vernacular is almost unparalleled, it’s exquisitely shot, and the plot is just chalk-full of backstabbing turns. It’s just a great, great movie.

That gas station scene was sooooo good. If you paid close attention Bardem would actually cry during scenes for no apparent reason. Just the most intense guy ever. I’m a pretty big Aronofsky fan, so hopefully he does that book justice.

I don’t necessarily dislike the Coen brothers, but their recent work (Ladykillers and Intolerable Cruelty) has been brutal. And I hated “O Brother.” Kingpin’s funnier than Big Lebowski, although it, Blood Simple and Raising Arizona are all def. solid. I remember really liking Fargo, but I haven’t seen it in years. Honestly, don’t think I’ve watched Miller’s Crossing, but I assume you suggest I do.

OK, I’ll def. rent/buy “Sunny.” In general, I prefer comedies and am always seeking out hidden gems. I just rented “The Not Just the best of Larry Sanders show” and wasn’t impressed. Watched 2 or 3 and will skip the rest.

As for the Coens being overrated, ack, whaaaaaa? Granted, some of their stuff (‘Ladykillers’, to name one) has sucked big time, and I didn’t like ‘Barton Fink’ half as much as many others did, but honestly, I think a case can be made that ‘Miller’s Crossing’ is THE best gangster flick ever, possibly even eclipsing ‘Godfather Pt. I/II’ or ‘Scarface’…..it’s close. Fantastic movie. I’m originally from far northern Wisconsin, just across the St. Louis river from Minnesota, so ‘Fargo’ resonated a lot with me as well. ‘Big Lewbowski’? ‘Raising Arizona’? ‘Blood Simple’? ‘O Brother’? So much quality. They have some duds, but they hit far, far more often than not, and apart from the dearly departed (Kurosawa, Kubrick), I am struggling to think of anyone more consistent.

And regarding earlier (sorry, was out of town), yes, ‘AD’ meant Arrested Development, and yes, by all means, ‘Sunny’ is worth a netflix. Season 1 was very short, kind of like an audition season. Season 2 is longer and includes the addition of Danny DeVito to the cast, who I could take or leave in general, but to his credit he blends in really well with the existing characters and is fun to watch. Seasons 1 and 2 are sold together as a single unit and costs about $22….dunno how they’d set those up on Netflix, but the show is awesome. Definitely do yourself a favor and catch up. Then, you can catch re-runs of Season 3 as they come along on FX. Watch for the “Sweet Dee Dates a Retarded Person” episode especially, with Charlie’s “Night Man”/”Day Man” suite, rarely have I ever seen anything so hysterical, I was literally on the floor roaring with laughter for like half an hour, and the songs were stuck in my mind for weeks. I’m pretty sure they’re still up on YouTube, but it’s probably better to save the moment until you’ve seen a bit more of the series and can fully understand the group dynamics and the extent of Charlie’s dysfunction.