TheRetroCritic

After the Spiderman 3 misfire (which, to be fair, was pretty darn funny), could it be that we might be getting something very familiar but *gasp* good? Liking it so far. Looks like we'll be getting something closer to the comics. I'm thinking how good or rubbish Rhys Ifans' Lizardman will look will make or break the film. But yeah, surprisingly satisfied with the trailer for now. At least it won't be Turn Off The Dark ...

Pregnant man movies are never as good as their one poster joke. Junior had Arnie pregnant, Rabbit Test had Billy Crystal pregnant...anything else? Nope. Now we have Marcello Mastroianni pregnant. Yes, the cool Italian guy from all the best Fellini movies. So how does it hold up compared to these other, later efforts? Well, sadly about the same. Arguably, this is the "technically" better film in that it doesn't try too hard to be hilarious, it just exists. Unfortunately that's also one the film's biggest shortcomings: it really doesn't try anything. It's like whoever comes up with these pregnant man movies just wrote "pregnant man" on a piece of paper and handed it to the director: "make this!". Why not just make like a hilarious version of La Dolce Vita where Mastroianni's going to all these parties...but he's pregnant? Stylistically, at least, it would be fun. But no. A Slightly Pregnant Man spends a lot of time building

Can The Coens do no wrong? Is that possible? It certainly appears that way. A Serious Man is indeed yet another mini-masterpiece from the men behind The Big Lebowski , Fargo and countless other triumphs. After a truly perplexing opening 5 minutes, it looked like The Coens were going to really lose us on this one. But of course they were only teasing. A Serious Man is probably their most personal film and feels closer to the likes of Barton Fink than anything else they've done in the past: small, focused, stylish, incredibly clever, truly unique and of course very funny. For anyone with Jewish heritage, the film will probably feel extra-perceptive but at its core the film's ideas and messages are universal. Larry Gopnik's struggle to make sense of the unjust treatment he suddenly receives from the world around him is one which anyone can empathise with and understand. A Serious Man, like a lot of Coen Brothers films, is a bit like watching an ant struggle under a mag