Fall Movie Review Roundup: No Country for Old Men...and More!

What is O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU?, if not a literary adaptation? I believe it was even nominated for an adapted-screenplay Oscar. Greek epic poetry is literature!

Good review though, can't wait to see it in any case. SLIFF has a lot of awesome screenings comin' up this week (including one, with James Gunn present, of SLITHER tonight that I'm gonna go to--never did see SLITHER, know you liked it, should be awesome). Not SLIFF-related, I saw a free advance screening of the watchable-but-not-special-(but-will-probably-get-a -best-supporting-actor-nomination-from-the-academy) MUSIC WITHIN the other day. Seen that? I also went to see LUST, CAUTION but the theatre (yes, the whole theatre...or at least the parts that show the movies) broke about 20 minutes in. I was told you have to sit through an awful lot of Caution before you get to the Lust, though!

Rob,

No less an authority than The New York Times referred to NCFOM as "the first literary adaptation these filmmakers have attempted," and nearly every other prominent reviewer has done the same. But now that you mention it, I think you're right. I changed it here and on Cinematical.

I've never heard of Music Within, and Lust Caution just hasn't lured me yet, despite the promise of NC-17ness.

I stand by O BROTHER as a literary adaptation, and I'm glad you agree. Those "respected periodicals." Shows what they know!

MUSIC WITHIN is a biopic about Richard Pimentel (instrumental in getting the Americans with Disabilities Act passed); Ron Livingston stars and Michael Sheen is actually a bit believable as his cerebral-palsied friend (hence the Oscar-talk above).

"No Country" is the first literary adaptation the Coens have ever attempted. Even they have admitted, on numerous occasions, that the whole 'Odyssey' adaptation was a bit of a joke. They felt it happened on a subconscious level while writing it, and they added a few things from the Odyssey along the way. As usual, the Academy took the bait and nominated them for 'Best Adapted Screenplay'. It's another 'Academy Award nominated Editor Roderick Jaynes' or Fargo, "Based on a true story". The Coens are the best practical jokers in Hollywood.

Hey, if the opening credits say "adapted from Homer's Odyssey" and there are comparisons to draw between the Odyssey and the movie that seem beyond mere coincidence as there are, I still say it's a literary adaptation. It might not've started that way, and it may be loose, unintentional, or even a joke, but there's a journey back to an estranged wife (and a process of re-winning her), a blind soothsayer, a cyclops, sirens, lotus-eaters, and a main character named Ulysses!