Inside Llewyn Davis

"A Serious Man" is the movie I think you are referring to.

Just looked it up, I wanted to call it "A Simple Man" but didn't want to add further confusion.

I loved "A Serious Man"... my son and I constantly make little comments to each other that are lifted from the film.

The dad who constantly gets yelled at that others in the house who can't watch "F Troop" (without the dad going to the roof
to adjust the antenna) is not really much different from the abuse I get from my family when the Internet in our house goes
on the fritz.

My one son will start griping about the internet, but his brother will get me smiling with an obscure reference to "F Troop"
("Yeah, dad... Sean needs the internet so he can watch 'F Troop'...")

I love the line in the movie where the kid is trying to convince the professor to give him a better grade by offering him a (private)
retest but the professor still refuses because its unfair to his other students - and the kid responds "...don't tell anyone,
sneaky sneaky hush hush"...

"Sneaky sneaky hush hush" is another line that gets repeated often in our house.

It's just a fun thing to say - LOL

I think the post above that calls the main character a singer/songwriter version of "Willie Loman" is dead on.

 

The cat, seems to me, is a plot device to clue the viewer as to the chronology of what we are seeing Davis do.

Sometimes the cat gets out of the apartment, sometimes he doesn't.

Or maybe it is just a cute cat.

 

There was 2 cats.

 

You mean the cat in the apartment and the cat on the road?

 

There could have been three cats.

 

It's been 2 years since I saw the movie but I know the cat (s) were important. How you figure 3 cats, please remind me.

BTW, loved the movie. My only complaint is that you spend the whole movie waiting for Dylan to appear and I found that distracting from the rest of the movie.

 

Definatley 2 cats different gender.
Third possible cat( if it's a cat)
Road accident car hits a cat (could be the same cat he left in the car..possibility ).

 

I never saw the original BD - I got a DVD for review purposes - but I suspect the only advantage to the Criterion is all the new bonus materials.

Given this is a recent movie, I'd be shocked if the Criterion offered any picture/sound improvements...

 

I'm pretty sure I knew Dylan didn't appear until the end, so that wasn't a distraction for me.

I doubt I would've really thought about it anyway!

 

I thought that his grudging care taking of the cat represented his ambivalence toward his optimism for success. Maybe this cat will help him change his attitude? In a Disney movie it would. But this is the Coen brothers. His care for the cat was the only time he showed care for someone besides himself.

When he abandons the cat in the car on a freezing road the cat looks at him as if it knows he's about to be abandoned, but doesn't meow or make a fuss. The cat looks right at him as if saying "Are you sure you want to do this? Ok, it's your life. You're giving up with your spirit. Good luck with that." Whether this is what was intended or not, it's a nuanced, pivotal scene.

Even though he goes on to audition, his spirit seems even worse and despite a decent performance, fails, as he believed (my opinion) he would.

So I guess the cat didn't actually come home. It was just another orange cat that showed up on the doorstep, which is more believable. But at the same time, Davis returns home. Without the cat, and with less pride. I believe he's learned something. Pride (his kind) is the mother of all sins. And failures.

 

yes yes, that's the name, I was simply lazy to look it up. )) The film has many great moments. The moment when Danny has a bar miztvah while being high as a kite - hillarious. )))

 

Such a good movie that we can have such different takes on it. I am going to rewatch it.

 

It's one of my favourites ever.
Just got the Criterion Blu Ray with lots of bonus features.

 

Agreed. The Ladykillers is really below par, comparting to their excellent filmography.
I guess Inside Llewyn Davis is now on the top of my charts - and that's high praise, since they have already directed lots of fantastic movies.
Here's another masterpiece:
Blood Simple. (1984) - IMDb »

 

This one ranks as one of my least favorite Coen Brothers movie. After I watched it I wondered who felt this story needed to be told and that it would make an entertaining movie? It was well acted and the attention to detail was admirable, but ultimately a waste of my time.

 

The movie's big payoff for me was when the club owner that he was auditioning for in this scene (played by the
great F. Murray Abraham) looked over at Davis when the song ended and said: "I don't hear a lot of money there".

 

I've watched this film about five times now. Like many Coen Brothers films it gets better with each viewing. Love it and a great soundtrack..

 

I have to agree with you about the soundtrack. But it's my least favorite Coen Brothers film. I tired it a couple of times, but it just down't work for me...

 

So, many years after the release, I finally got off my ace and watched this film -- I loved it! I was about to post some thoughts until I read this quoted post -- my thoughts are all right there. Thanks for that!

Man, I have met quite a lot of "Llewyn Davis" characters in my life -- these highly talented folks who just can't seem to not sabotage their chances at success due to personality traits and the behavior/decisions that follow from that.

Ya know what scene really moved me? When Llewyn travels all the way to Chicago to meet with Bud Grossman (F. Murray Abraham) and Llewyn plays "The Death of Queen Anne" for the club owner.

F. Murry Abraham does an incredible acting job here with facial expressions alone -- the way I interpreted it was that Bud Grossman knew he was hearing something great... something powerful... it hit him on an emotional level. But, his business sense told him that he wouldn't be able to sell it to the masses. To me, it was telling that he didn't say, "Kid, that just isn't too good" -- He just said, "I don't see a lot of money here."

What were other folks' take on this scene?

 

Folks here calling this weak or the worst Coens film. Watch "The Ladykillers" and then come back to this, no contest.

 

Well for me, both Inside Lewellyn and A Serious Man are two later mostly passed over masterpieces from the Coens.

 

"A Serious Man" is an absolute gem!

 

Yeah, The Ladykillers was awful. Intolerable Cruelty and Hail, Caesar! weren't much better. Their comedies are extremely hit-and-miss.

And yes, animals tend not to fare too well in Coen films, for whatever reason. That's why I can't share any of their movies with my wife.

 

Llewyn is a masterpiece?

 

Ordered the blu-ray this weekend, and it should be arriving today. Looking forward to seeing this one.