794 Inside Llewyn Davis

[Lachino]

The first scene of the movie is the last scene of the movie, just shown beforehand.
Knowing this, the real first scene chronologically is when he wakes up in the Gorfeins and the cat escapes. At the end of the movie when he wakes up at the Gorfeins and stops the cat, it's a separate instance that only mirrors the first instance.

So there's no separate incidents in the alley...Yes, that must be the explanation. The fade out/in after the first beat down suggests a jump in time, at least subtly. The added effect of the cat being overlaid with the guy in the alley for a fleeting moment is nice, btw: The guy is walking away from Llewyn and the cat is walking towards him, which is our first intimation of a kind of circularity and of something being communicated to Llewyn that he doesn't take heed of.

Moreover, Bob Dylan actually comes on stage in the first Gaslight scene if you watch carefully and you can hear him tuning his guitar. I can't see the film taking place anywhere else than something like a week in early 1961. Thematically it makes a whole lot more sense too to show us Dylan's arrival in Greenwich Village (that is, rather than the ending taking place in 1963) because his style is the final nail in the coffin for Llewyn's ambitions. Unlike Dylan, he's not the harbinger of anything: he sings beautifully but out of tune with the times. But crucially, this irony of fate is not available to Llewyn at the end, only to us. He's still in the dark.

[captveg]

I always thought it was the same scene. One of the more brilliant choices in the film, IMO, as the first time we see it we are invested in "rooting" for Davis and see him in the right in his frustration/annoyance at this man he meets in the alley. However, at the end of the film, the scene is yet another that reveals Davis as a narcissistic ass, with this man confronting him doing so only to defend the dignity of his wife, who was relentlessly and rudely insulted by Davis.

[Self]

Announced for January

[captveg]

"The First Hundred Feet, the Last Hundred Feet, a new conversation between filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and directors Joel and Ethan Coen about the evolution of their approach, from Blood Simple to Inside Llewyn Davis"

This sounds amazing.

[Self]

Interesting that the Coen Brothers didnt "approve" of the transfer but have such a presence on the extras

[Red Screamer]

Nice set of extras. I'm really liking the idea of a Robert Christgau commentary

[criterion10]

"The First Hundred Feet, the Last Hundred Feet, a new conversation between filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and directors Joel and Ethan Coen about the evolution of their approach, from Blood Simple to Inside Llewyn Davis"

This sounds amazing.

Absolutely. I'll probably end up upgrading my current Blu-Ray for this alone.

[jedgeco]

This release is stacked on the supplement front.

[eerik]

Interesting that the Coen Brothers didnt "approve" of the transfer but have such a presence on the extras

Why would they need to approve it (again) when the post-production/mastering was done digitally, like any other modern film?

"The First Hundred Feet, the Last Hundred Feet, a new conversation between filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and directors Joel and Ethan Coen about the evolution of their approach, from Blood Simple to Inside Llewyn Davis"

This sounds amazing.

A bit strange choice for the interviewer, isn't it? Or am I missing something?

[flyonthewall2983]

That's a lot of features on one Blu-ray disc. You have the concert which runs over 90 minutes, the very-well done documentary which runs 3/4's of an hour, the commentary and the new video pieces.

[tenia]

Seems like a nice release combining most (all ?) of the existing extras and including new ones. Plus I love the cover.

[flyonthewall2983]

The only supplement on the Sony disc was the making-of.

[What A Disgrace]

Except perhaps for Dont Look Back, this is the most feature laden Criterion release since the Les Blank box from last November.

[krnash]

A bit strange choice for the interviewer, isn't it? Or am I missing something?

I don't think so. They're great contemporaries and have likely crossed paths. Sometimes the best conversations come from professionals who have respect for each others' work but have very different styles. Guillermo is a movie buff and is an incredible pleasure to listen to, I'm sure this will be a great interview.

[TMDaines]

"The First Hundred Feet, the Last Hundred Feet, a new conversation between filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and directors Joel and Ethan Coen about the evolution of their approach, from Blood Simple to Inside Llewyn Davis"

This sounds amazing.

A bit strange choice for the interviewer, isn't it? Or am I missing something?

I remember the reaction to Del Toro getting involved with the extras on the Vampyr MoC release.

[FrauBlucher]

"The First Hundred Feet, the Last Hundred Feet, a new conversation between filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and directors Joel and Ethan Coen about the evolution of their approach, from Blood Simple to Inside Llewyn Davis"

This sounds amazing.

A bit strange choice for the interviewer, isn't it? Or am I missing something?

I remember the reaction to Del Toro getting involved with the extras on the Vampyr MoC release.

I don't think it odd or strange at all. Whenever I have seen a director's Q&A, usually at a DGA function, the moderator is almost always another director. When I saw Scorsese do a Q&A for Hugo, Wes Anderson was the moderator and Scorsese was the moderator for Richard Linklator's Q&A for Boyhood, as well as Jonathan Demme moderating The Master Q&A session with PT Anderson. And there have been others. Some of these pairings seem an unlikely match, which for me, makes it all the more interesting.

For Criterion to do the same on their supplements seems pretty standard.

[ianungstad]

Noah Baumbach has visited Brian De Palma enough times on Criterion's behalf he even made a documentary about it!

[FakeBonanza]

A bit strange choice for the interviewer, isn't it? Or am I missing something?

I remember the reaction to Del Toro getting involved with the extras on the Vampyr MoC release.

I don't think it odd or strange at all. Whenever I have seen a director's Q&A, usually at a DGA function, the moderator is almost always another director. When I saw Scorsese do a Q&A for Hugo, Wes Anderson was the moderator and Scorsese was the moderator for Richard Linklator's Q&A for Boyhood, as well as Jonathan Demme moderating The Master Q&A session with PT Anderson. And there have been others. Some of these pairings seem an unlikely match, which for me, makes it all the more interesting.

For Criterion to do the same on their supplements seems pretty standard.

I don't think there's anything particularly strange about any of those pairings either. Scorsese was one of Wes Anderson's earliest champions, and even nominated him as "The Next Martin Scorsese" in some bogus Esquire series. PTA has always cited Demme as one of his greatest influences as well. I can't comment as much on a possible Linklater/Scorsese connection, due to my lack of interest in the former, but given Scorsese's position as the de facto Elder Statesman of American cinema (not to mention his love of film), I wouldn't be surprised to see Scorsese paired with any young(-ish) American director.

Del Toro is always someone who has worn his cinephilia on his sleeve, and I certainly don't think there's any reason to think he's bound by the genres he has worked in. I think he's short segment on Criterion's The Man Who Knew Too Much release is excellent, and I look forward to hearing his insights into the Coens' work, and the insights he is able to draw out of them as well.

Actually, if I'm not mistaken, Del Toro wrote one of the definitive Spanish-language books on Hitchcock, so his critical chops have been well documented.

[tenia]

The only supplement on the Sony disc was the making-of.

Sure but there have been many different arrays of extra features (I'm thinking of the US, UK, German & French releases).

[flyonthewall2983]

So is Sony lending this to Criterion? Or is it Lionsgate, who recently assumed the home video rights to CBS Films?

[ianungstad]

There is no Sony or Lionsgate logo on the sell sheet. It's being licensed straight from CBS Films.

[hearthesilence]

This scene has grown even more entertaining lately.

[chucktatum]

DVD Beaver

[mfunk9786]

DVD Beaver

Who can forget Llewyn Davis' stirring rendition of "Traditional"

[manicsounds]

No confirmation about the audio on "Another Day Another Time?" Hopefully lossless 5.1 like the Studio Canal Blu-rays, but given Criterion's track record of lossy audio on bonus films...