I recently re-watched Barcelona for an online movie discussion group I'm in, and I was surprised how much I still liked it. What I remembered about it, having seen it in the theater and once or twice on video years ago, was that it seemed to be a pastiche of what I call "quotable scenes." I mean that the entire scene seems packaged to be the kind of scene you talk about with your friends. Ted reading the Bible and dancing to Glenn Miller, for example. Or Fred changing the anti-American grafitti with a felt-tip marker. I guess if I'm going to coin a phrase, a better one might be "packaged absurdity."
That's what I remembered. But watching it this time around, I was pleasantly surprised with how well the movie holds together. I don't think it's a pastiche at all, and I found those scenes as funny as I had a long time ago. But what I really realized this time was how much I liked Fred and disliked the movie's supposed protagonist, Ted. Fred has such an honesty and frankness in his dealings with the world; it's really refreshing.
Can't wait to see what you think of Metropolitan. Like sdedalus, I rented it first without knowing anything at all about Stillman, and really loved it. Used to watch it over and over again. But I haven't seen it in quite a few years. May need to revisit it.