3. A SERIOUS MAN
For those you following at home, I mentioned that a movie got demoted from the top spot. Well this is that lucky film. But you can't blame me for being so ecstatic at an odd film that nearly perfectly presented the particular neuroses and whimsies of the Jewish culture I grew up, and filtered through the incredible freewheeling cinematic style of the Coen Brothers. It was the double the cult movie watching experience... combining the "cult" I'm a part of through my culture and faith, with the teasing narratives, misdirections, and inconclusiveness that was played to its darkest ends with No Country For Old Men and to its completely ridiculous ends with Burn After Reading. Now that I've calmed down from the first viewing I realize that perfect concoction does not make for the most structured fully-formed movie watching experience. No matter... I felt this film hit me deeper because of my Jewish identity, even moreso because of the constant questioning of my devotion to Judaism that has been on the frontburner in the recent year or two. A Serious Man convinced me through its weirdness and charms that the incessant insecurities, occasional paranoia, and simple fun stories are all part of the journey.
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