No Jews were harmed during the filming of A Serious Man

On a bike trip to Oregon last September I bought a copy of the Elizabeth Taylor bio by Kitty Kelly, and it happened that same day that in a thrift shop I bought a $2 dvd of The Taming of the Shrew (1967) which she made in her hey-day with then husband Richard Burton. I remember seeing TTOTS in '67 with a friend at the beautiful Chinese-styled downtown theatre the Fifth Ave before it became the spectacular live theatre house that it is today, and the film was fascinating, bawdy, colorful, funny, and the film broke four times during it's 2hour running time, with the lights coming on each time for several minutes. That was maddening, but I still forgave the technical gaffs because the film was so engaging. Franco Zeffirelli was the director, still best known for his version of Romeo and Juliet a year later. The film holds up extremely well (this is Shakespeare, after all) and the cast is superb. At first Taylor made me wince--she seemed rather obvious and over the top with her shouting and eye rolling, but when finally Burton is introduced, his blowzy drunkenness seemed more over the top than her, and the film really takes off. I've read all sorts of interesting political takes on the story (mostly about the sexism of the play) since then, but the way it is played out makes me wonder if anyone saw this version, which is a delight to watch.
Also this week watched Never So Few, a WWII film featuring Frank Sinatra, Gina Lollobrigida, Peter Lawford, Steve McQueen (in his first major role), Richard Johnson and Paul Henreid. It's a serious story about a few Kachin allies who along with a small troop of Americans hold off 40 thousand Japanese in Burma. Unfortunately there's a lot of talk and some rather simplistic action scenes that mute the film's effect.
On TMC last night watched Here Comes the Groom, a modest Frank Capra film with Jane Wyman and Bing Crosby, who sings three songs too many in that bland forgettable sort of manner that people like to call laid back. The corn is spread thickly and even though I liked the pace and some of the shtick, it was rather annoying at times, too. Not one of Capra's best, considering It's a Wonderful Life, It Happened One Night, Meet John Doe, Mr Smith Goes to Washington, Mr Deeds Goes to Town, Arsenic and Old Lace, etc....

But fortunately, I've saved the best for last. Today I caught up with the Coen brothers newest film, A Serious Man, and it jumps to the top of my Top Films of the Year list. It is very dry, and very funny, and goes deep into the Jewish psyche of the 1960's. Some criticism has said that it is anti-Semitic, that it makes fun of Judaism, but I loved the characters so much that it's hard to make that stick. The leading man is having a very bad year--his wife is leaving him for one of his best friends, a student is trying to black mail him for a better grade, his son is ready for bar mitzvah but barely avoids getting beaten up by a classmate everyday, his brother is sleeping on the couch and hogging the bathroom to drain a neck abscess for hours every day, and he is lusting after a sexy neighbor. This is all handled with an eye for the absurd and humorous, and for once I wasn't the only one laughing at the screening--at least four or five other members of the audience (of 14) were guffawing loudly (this was an 1130am Thursday matinee, after all.) I suspect A Serious Man to be solidly in the top 5 of the year, since tomorrow Precious opens and will move Man to number 2.