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INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS - Coen Brothers - First Trailer

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Trailer was meh, but Coen Brothers movies only range from good to fantastic anyway, so it doesn't really matter.

Why isn't F. Murray Abraham in more stuff?
 
Iunno maybe it's my personal sensibilities but I don't see any meh there. That was the most electrifying trailer I've seen probably since Magnolia's.
 
Coen Brothers are somewhat hit and miss for me. I had a theory for a while that every other movie by then was something that I liked, but that's a little too simplistic and not always true. They tend to have movies I absolutely love, and movies that just don't resonate with me, but that are still well made movies.
 
Think this latest trailer is the best.

I agree with the critiques of the look--not sure if it's working for me. Almost looks a bit too artificial. Still, HYPE.
 
I love the look of their "film," always. I don't know what it is about their cinematography or editing (I'm ignorant on the subject), but the quality of their shots looks nicer than anyone else's.
 
What do they mean by one night only? They can't possibly think that the theater owners would be on board with that?
 
This movie is getting incredible reviews. Looks like the Coen Brothers might be on top form here. That's always something to get excited about.
 
Oscar Isaac Talks About Inside Llewyn Davis, the Movie That Could Make Him a Star

Three types of musicians hinge on authenticity: punk bands, folk singers and rappers. Actors, like Oscar Isaac, are by definition phonies. But the star of Joel and Ethan Coen's new film, Inside Llewyn Davis, understands that pressure to keep it real. In high school, he was a straight-edge punk frontman in bands like The Worms and The Blinking Underdogs. And to play Llewyn Davis, the cheerful, Guatemala-born, Miami-raised performer sank into the self-sanctified life of a homeless singer-songwriter in 1961 New York, who'd rather starve to death — or, really, rather mooch off his friends — than sell out. (As for rapping, maybe he'll make that movie later.)

"You're always looking for who means it more," Isaac says. "That's why you have artists who end up killing themselves, so you knew they meant it — so it wasn't some affectation."
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Never heard of those bands but I'm intrigued...
 
Finally saw it.

Tucks right underneath Miller's Crossing and Barton Fink, but doesn't top them.

Still, a towering achievement. Like The Master, it's a rich character study with little in the way of resolution or explanations. Liking the trend.
 
The ending makes this movie. The songs are great, but the movie would have left me feeling hollow without that brain twisting ending. I can see now why some people have said that the movie stayed with them long afterwards. It's a bit haunting.
 
metsallica said:
Was wondering the same thing. How was the ending brain twisting, exactly?
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Well,
I had a discussion afterward where some found it unclear that the movie started at the end of the story, and they thought that it was actually Llewyn getting beat up twice under similar circumstances. I think the thing that might throw people is that both DISTINCT instances of him walking through the apartment hallway with the cat are shot identically, and it wouldn't surprise me if people thought it was the same thing happening twice with different outcomes. But it's actually:
Bob Dylan Show >
Flash to some time earlier where Llewyn loses cat >
Story of Movie >
Before Bob Dylan show (but after heckling) Llewyn has RETURNED to Professor's apartment >
Sequence from beginning of movie (with added detail)

PLEASE do not read if you haven't seen the film. Those are serious spoilers and ruin a fantastic reveal.
 
BenjaminBirdie said:
"Brain twisting"?
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Yeah, I knew that'd be interpreted as suggesting some kind of Inception/Prestige type reveal. But what I meant is that
the movie tells you a story in a fairly straight forward manner, a linear narrative, then ends with this bleak, vignette that repeats the introduction scene-by-scene but with slightly different outcomes and extra information. It forced my mind to immediately connect the beginning and end of the movie into a loop - but because of the slight changes, a moebius strip. That's why I'm still thinking about how to properly interpret the movie - to attempt to answer the big question: did Llewyn actually change? and if so, for the better? Or is he dooming himself to repeat the same back alley struggle week after week? Embracing the tiniest glimmer of hope to chase his dream gig and then looking into the abyss and resolving to give it all up only to find himself swept back up into the cycle? But is this version of the cycle going to be a little different? And will he accumulate enough changes one day to finally escape?
 
Emwitus said:
Key word is "hate melodramatic crap." And this is it.
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The movie isn't melodramatic in any way, shape, or form. It's a low key, dark comedy.

I thought it was pretty good. I got to see it about a month ago at a local art house theater that hosted a Q&A with John Goodman.

I would highly recommend watching this movie back to back with A Mighty Wind.
 
Iceman said:
Yeah, I knew that'd be interpreted as suggesting some kind of Inception/Prestige type reveal. But what I meant is that
the movie tells you a story in a fairly straight forward manner, a linear narrative, then ends with this bleak, vignette that repeats the introduction scene-by-scene but with slightly different outcomes and extra information. It forced my mind to immediately connect the beginning and end of the movie into a loop - but because of the slight changes, a moebius strip. That's why I'm still thinking about how to properly interpret the movie - to attempt to answer the big question: did Llewyn actually change? and if so, for the better? Or is he dooming himself to repeat the same back alley struggle week after week? Embracing the tiniest glimmer of hope to chase his dream gig and then looking into the abyss and resolving to give it all up only to find himself swept back up into the cycle? But is this version of the cycle going to be a little different? And will he accumulate enough changes one day to finally escape?
Click to expand...

But
there weren't actual changes, just added detail (Dylan in the background, the rest of the guy who punched him's dialogue). But no, Llewyn won't and can't change. That's what was so incredible about the final performance of the film. So much anguish, knowing that he'll never be successful, and that he'll never have the "courage" to "get back together" with his partner and jump off the GWB.
 
Ugh, this needs to go wide already. I've been hearing about it for weeks, but living in Tampa, which might as well be the boonies to the film industry, I have no hope in sight. :(
 
BenjaminBirdie said:
But
there weren't actual changes, just added detail (Dylan in the background, the rest of the guy who punched him's dialogue). But no, Llewyn won't and can't change. That's what was so incredible about the final performance of the film. So much anguish, knowing that he'll never be successful, and that he'll never have the "courage" to "get back together" with his partner and jump off the GWB.
Click to expand...

Ah, okay, that's how you interpreted it.. I saw the movie alone (in a mostly empty theater sadly) so I haven't had the chance to discuss it with anyone yet. I get what you're saying, but
the fact that he won't be able to get on the boat and ship out and will have to keep scratching together small gigs to eke out an existence until his next opportunity miraculously arrives means that he is doomed to do it all over again.. only this time he learned to keep the cat from getting out (don't know what this means metaphorically yet - if the cat is indeed symbolic of his inner self) and he now knows that Jean has slept with the club owner as well and using Llewyn as a scapegoat and potentially tossing his money away. This to me suggests that he has made some minor discoveries, or changes; not enough to change his worldview, but enough that maybe he's 1% wiser. And if his life really is on repeat, there might be hope that he'll escape his rut and actually find happiness for himself one day. Maybe in Akron - you felt like he was almost going to pull the car onto that exit and follow where that road may take him.. but maybe next time?
 
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