Let's talk about the movies I've seen lately.

The Other Guys

Given the director (Adam McKay), stars (Will Ferrell, Mark Whalberg), and concept (buddy cop spoof), The Other Guys had the potential to be hilarious but wound up amusing instead. It doesn't help that the funniest characters, and the ones most emblematic of shoot-'em-up police thriller excess, get killed off in the first act. Rent Hot Fuzz if you want both the comedy and the action done right. And is it just me or was Whalberg funnier in The Departed?

Greenberg

Though I didn't hate it, and Ben Stiller and Greta Gerwig turn in fine performances, I get the impression that plotless character studies and/or Noah Baumbach movies just aren't my cup of tea.

A Single Man

A Serious Man's ending either jumps the shark or is pitch perfect. In any case, Colin Firth's performance can't be ignored, and Jon Hamm's vocal cameo is cleverly cheeky.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Edgar Wright's adaptation of Bryan Lee O'Malley's graphic novels explodes with energy, humor, and visual delight, but its conceit of a relationship as a video game is a mixed bag. Some points ring true: the past as a physical enemy; strengthening friendships as the real-world equivalent of "leveling up;" self-respect as the key to beating the villain. And it's refreshing to see love as the catalyst for average joes to inexplicably become badasses (as opposed to say, revenge in Oldboy or general misanthropy in Watchmen). But it's hard to imagine what Scott Pilgrim and his beloved Ramona see in each other. Michael Cera is moderately likeable as Scott but other than his skills at bass guitar he has zero personality, and his attraction towards Ramona apparently derivates entirely from seeing her in a dream. That didn't work for me in Brazil and it doesn't work here. Ramona doesn't have much going for her either, other than her looks, and she comes off mostly as a prize to be won.

A few side notes: fans have fervently praised the film's originality, but while it displays great imagination and a dose of creativity, calling an adaptation of an existing property saturated in comic book and video game references "original" misses the point. Also, I'd like to shake the hand of the genius who cast Mae Whitman as one of Ramona's exes, especially if it was for the sole purpose of a fight scene between a reunited George Michael Bluth and Ann Veal (her?).

Burn After Reading

Like an episode of The Wire or Mad Men, there's something comforting about the Coen Brothers' lack of faith in people in Burn After Reading. The vain, snobbish, lascivious, greedy, and stupid will get what's coming to them and in some instances pay the ultimate price for their misguided deeds, whether they deserve it or not. Even simply being a schmuck is a mortal sin in the Coen's universe. Oh, and this is a comedy. Needlessly harsh? Yes, but this is D.C., not Fargo. Meanwhile, the CIA (taking the role of the Gods, I suppose), knows simultaneously everything and nothing about the follies at hand. It's not a Coen classic (their trademark snappy dialogue is nowhere to be found) but it's satisfying, and well-acted from top to bottom.

Piranha 3D

This is the only movie I've seen in 3D since it became the trend that nobody asked for, but it has to be the first to do the gimmick justice. Truly, naked women, dismembered body parts, and killer fish were meant to be seen in three glorious dimensions. If you have a strong stomach and a willingness to leave good taste outside the theater, Piranha 3D is trash of the highest order.

Coen Brothers Power Rankings

Now that I've seen Burn After Reading, the filmography is complete. For purposes of this list, consider the segment from Paris, je t'aime to be "also recieving votes."

1. O Brother, Where Art Thou?
2. Raising Arizona
3. Blood Simple
4. Fargo
5. The Man Who Wasn't There
6. Intolerable Cruelty
7. No Country for Old Men
8. The Big Lebowski
9. Burn After Reading
10. A Serious Man
11. The Hudsucker Proxy
12. Barton Fink
13. Miller's Crossing
14. The Ladykillers

Honestly, positions 5-9 are something of a jumble. Can you really compare No Country for Old Men to The Big Lebowski? I'm very confident in the top four and bottom five, though. The other caveat is that most of these movies I've seen only once (and mostly many years ago), and since Fargo greatly improved in my mind after a second viewing there's no reason one of the others in the middle of the pack couldn't as well.