Reviews

Like the rhapsodes who stitched together tales to form the Odyssey, the Coen brothers have brought together Homer, blues and bluegrass, George Clooney, and digital photography to create a modern-day epic-comedy. The first 12 minutes feature the memorable opening scene (which I understand uses the soundtrack from a real chain gang), the highly amusing song "Big Rock Candy Mountain" and the train scene which makes me laugh out loud every time I see it. In fact, this is all I saw the first time in the theater, due to a power outage. My husband and I received a voucher and couldn't wait to see the entire movie the next day -- based on only the first twelve minutes! I saw the movie in Louisiana, and "You are my sunshine" was written by our former Governor Jimmy Davis. I got a lump in my throat when the entire audience began singing "You are my Sunshine." O Brother is based on Homer's Odyssey, and it's a fun parlor game to see how many episodes from the Odyssey you can recognize (John Goodman playing the Cyclops is the most obvious). The one thing missing: they need a voodoo priestess to play the role of Circe to try and change the frog back into Pete! One word of warning (not a spoiler): There are two instances of animal brutality that are hard to watch (but it's obvious what's going to happen).

The DVD is a must-have... it shows how they took the verdant Mississippi countryside and digitally enhanced it to make it look like the dustbowl of the 1930s.

Film buffs will recognize tributes to Cool Hand Luke and the Wizard of Oz, among others. The Coen Brothers are geniuses.

Now you'll excuse me... I've got to R-U-N-N-O-F-T.

I was stuck in an Austrian bed and breakfast on Pentecost (Pfingsten)Weekend and caught this one. It's about an elderly couple in a nursing home, who believe they have been invited to Sunday dinner by their relatives. They have to navigate all sorts of new-fangled inventions (like the subway system) to get to their destination, and there are lots of humorous moments. When they arrive, the relatives aren't at home. Presumably they had told the old folks "we'll have you over for dinner on Pentecost" and never expected them to remember the invitation. The ending takes place in a church and has mystical overtones.

I got the impression that this film is shown every year at Pentecost for the kiddies (like we show Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer at Christmas). Although this movie is pretty saccharine, it was a good insight into German culture, and was easy to follow for a young American practicing German!