Hello Friends,
Grab your popcorn and pull up a stool, its Movie Night again on Vinyl in the Valley!
Tonight we're watching Inside Llewyn Davis, a 2013 movie written and directed by the great Joel & Ethan Coen.
No one quite portrays the existential crises of modern man as enjoyably as the Coen Brothers do in their films. From Barton Fink to Big Lebowski to their terribly underrated masterpiece, A Serious Man, the brothers Coen seem to be drawn to characters who are on psychic journeys-- road movies not necessarily of a specific place or time, but rather of a state of mind.
Inside Llewyn Davis is a film that could have only been made by the Coens. The story revolves around the ups and downs (mostly downs) of the title character, Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac), a folk singer bouncing around clubs & coffee shops in 1961 Greenwich Village. Musically, 1961 is kind of in a creative abyss taking place between Rock and Roll's first Golden Age and the next generation of greats like Bob Dylan and The Beatles.
Based very loosely on real life folkster Dave Van Ronk, Llewyn's odyssey is one of just scraping by, never quite "making it", playing folk covers in cafes, sleeping on couches, burning bridges and chasing cats. Along the way, there's the last of his "friends", folk duo Jim & Jean (Justin Timberlake & Carey Mulligan); a revealing trip to the abortion clinic; a road trip to wintery Chicago; beatnik poets (Garrett Hedlund), junkie jazzmen (John Goodman) and a brief glimpse of this new folky upstart (Dylan) who's about to turn this entire world on its ear. And cats, cats, cats.
The entire cast is great. Adam Driver who plays Al Cody (loosely based on Ramblin' Jack Elliott) is a real standout!
Although we agree its a little bit of a tough and challenging movie at times, we give Inside Llewyn Davis two cocktail glasses up! Au revoir!
No one quite portrays the existential crises of modern man as enjoyably as the Coen Brothers do in their films. From Barton Fink to Big Lebowski to their terribly underrated masterpiece, A Serious Man, the brothers Coen seem to be drawn to characters who are on psychic journeys-- road movies not necessarily of a specific place or time, but rather of a state of mind.
Inside Llewyn Davis is a film that could have only been made by the Coens. The story revolves around the ups and downs (mostly downs) of the title character, Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac), a folk singer bouncing around clubs & coffee shops in 1961 Greenwich Village. Musically, 1961 is kind of in a creative abyss taking place between Rock and Roll's first Golden Age and the next generation of greats like Bob Dylan and The Beatles.
Based very loosely on real life folkster Dave Van Ronk, Llewyn's odyssey is one of just scraping by, never quite "making it", playing folk covers in cafes, sleeping on couches, burning bridges and chasing cats. Along the way, there's the last of his "friends", folk duo Jim & Jean (Justin Timberlake & Carey Mulligan); a revealing trip to the abortion clinic; a road trip to wintery Chicago; beatnik poets (Garrett Hedlund), junkie jazzmen (John Goodman) and a brief glimpse of this new folky upstart (Dylan) who's about to turn this entire world on its ear. And cats, cats, cats.
The entire cast is great. Adam Driver who plays Al Cody (loosely based on Ramblin' Jack Elliott) is a real standout!
Although we agree its a little bit of a tough and challenging movie at times, we give Inside Llewyn Davis two cocktail glasses up! Au revoir!
We'll see you next time, friends, until then the Tiki Bar is closed*.
(* not really)
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