Favorite Coen Bros. Movie?

Started by Satcho9, January 09, 2003, 03:50:07 PM

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children with angels

I've tried to keep out of doing lists in threads, but - having resisted for a long time - this one is just too much fun not to consider. I'll try to give some explanation...

1)Barton Fink - It feels to me their most personal, and is certainly the most personal to me as a writer. The final image and the build up to it are miraculous, so beautiful.

2)Big Lebowski - Probably the film that makes me laugh most in the world. Every scene works to its full comic potential. Fuck the nonsensical plot.

3)Fargo - I think it's their finest film for character: you don't often feel too much with the characters in Coen movies (as discussed in the Emotional Attatchments thread), but you're with Jerry and Marge all the way.

4)The Man Who Wasn't There - Visually the most beautiful. Perfectly filmed. Very funny - not quite as moving as it could've been maybe.

5)Raising Arizona - Just because I watched it again the other day and it made me cry. I liked it a lot better than I remebered.

6)Millers Crossing - Another very beautiful film, wonderful score too. The only reason it's so low is it just isn't as much fun to watch as others, something I pretty much demand in a Coen movie.

7)Hudsucker Proxy - Goddamn: another beautiful one. Very silly, very funny - wonderful Capra and His Girl Friday style referencing. Maybe just too silly to be higher on the list, and the plot is very forced.

8)Oh Brother - I don't enjoy watching it as a whole too much - it works wonderfully in parts. It's beautiful (once more) and intermittantly hilarious, but feels like a very similar - and less funny - dynamic as TBL.

9)Blood Simple - This is only so low because I haven't watched it for ages: I need to do so again soon. I remember thinking it was lacking in that Coen look, but I may be wrong...

Phew. That was fun. Now I have to go watch them again.
"Should I bring my own chains?"
"We always do..."

http://www.alternatetakes.co.uk/
http://thelesserfeat.blogspot.com/

MacGuffin

Quote from: children with angels9)Blood Simple - This is only so low because I haven't watched it for ages: I need to do so again soon. I remember thinking it was lacking in that Coen look, but I may be wrong.

You're wrong. The shafts of light that come through the wall at the end, the entire sequence of shots when Ray kills and buries Julian, the opening. Hell, the quick, sped-up, tracking shot (best known in "Raising Arizona" when the camera climbs the ladder up to the mother's screaming mouth) was introduced in this film.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

dufresne

01) Miller's Crossing
02) Raising Arizona
03) Fargo
04) The Big Lebowski
05) The Man Who Wasn't There
06) Barton Fink
07) Blood Simple
08) O Brother Where Art Thou
09) The Hudsucker Proxy
There are shadows in life, baby.

godardian

I just re-watched Miller's Crossing last night. It's muted, definitely a change of pace for the Coens... I think it may be their most sedate work. Is that why everyone's so enamored of it? I mean, it's an excellent film, but so many other Coen efforts sparkle so much more to me.

My favorite, like Children's, is Barton Fink. Miller's doesn't have "Are you in pictures?" "Don't be silly." Which always just makes my jaw drop from the audacity of it. That's what I associate with the Coens and what I think makes them great- their playfulness and simultaneous love of and irreverence toward cinema history, tradition, and convention. I love The Hudsucker Proxy, too... that's probably my second favorite. But I don't think they've made a bad film yet.

The commentary on Blood Simple is pure comic genius for cinephiles.
""Money doesn't come into it. It never has. I do what I do because it's all that I am." - Morrissey

"Lacan stressed more and more in his work the power and organizing principle of the symbolic, understood as the networks, social, cultural, and linguistic, into which a child is born. These precede the birth of a child, which is why Lacan can say that language is there from before the actual moment of birth. It is there in the social structures which are at play in the family and, of course, in the ideals, goals, and histories of the parents. This world of language can hardly be grasped by the newborn and yet it will act on the whole of the child's existence."

Stay informed on protecting your freedom of speech and civil rights.

SoNowThen

I'm a huge fan of noir, but I've never seen Blood Simple. Should I be buying it?

Oh, my fav Coens are: Big Lebowski, Barton Fink, The Man Who Wasn't There.

But I haven't seen Raising Arizona yet, so I don't know where to put that.
Those who say that the totalitarian state of the Soviet Union was not "real" Marxism also cannot admit that one simple feature of Marxism makes totalitarianism necessary:  the rejection of civil society. Since civil society is the sphere of private activity, its abolition and replacement by political society means that nothing private remains. That is already the essence of totalitarianism; and the moralistic practice of the trendy Left, which regards everything as political and sometimes reveals its hostility to free speech, does nothing to contradict this implication.

When those who hated capital and consumption (and Jews) in the 20th century murdered some hundred million people, and the poster children for the struggle against international capitalism and America are now fanatical Islamic terrorists, this puts recent enthusiasts in an awkward position. Most of them are too dense and shameless to appreciate it, and far too many are taken in by the moralistic and paternalistic rhetoric of the Left.

godardian

Quote from: SoNowThenI'm a huge fan of noir, but I've never seen Blood Simple. Should I be buying it?

Oh, my fav Coens are: Big Lebowski, Barton Fink, The Man Who Wasn't There.

But I haven't seen Raising Arizona yet, so I don't know where to put that.

You have got to see Raising Arizona. The package isn't lying when it calls it "a comedy beyond belief." Cage and Hunter are hysterical. It's really laugh-out-loud funny, and so lively and well-done. See it ASAP; you'll be glad you did.
""Money doesn't come into it. It never has. I do what I do because it's all that I am." - Morrissey

"Lacan stressed more and more in his work the power and organizing principle of the symbolic, understood as the networks, social, cultural, and linguistic, into which a child is born. These precede the birth of a child, which is why Lacan can say that language is there from before the actual moment of birth. It is there in the social structures which are at play in the family and, of course, in the ideals, goals, and histories of the parents. This world of language can hardly be grasped by the newborn and yet it will act on the whole of the child's existence."

Stay informed on protecting your freedom of speech and civil rights.

MacGuffin

Quote from: SoNowThenI'm a huge fan of noir, but I've never seen Blood Simple. Should I be buying it?

Yes.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

godardian

Quote from: MacGuffin
Quote from: SoNowThenI'm a huge fan of noir, but I've never seen Blood Simple. Should I be buying it?

Yes.

Even if only for the commentary, which- I can't repeat it enough- is super, super swell. Anyone who has the DVD but hasn't watched the commentary, do so at your earliest convenience. It's fantastic.
""Money doesn't come into it. It never has. I do what I do because it's all that I am." - Morrissey

"Lacan stressed more and more in his work the power and organizing principle of the symbolic, understood as the networks, social, cultural, and linguistic, into which a child is born. These precede the birth of a child, which is why Lacan can say that language is there from before the actual moment of birth. It is there in the social structures which are at play in the family and, of course, in the ideals, goals, and histories of the parents. This world of language can hardly be grasped by the newborn and yet it will act on the whole of the child's existence."

Stay informed on protecting your freedom of speech and civil rights.

MacGuffin

Quote from: MacGuffin took godardian's words and Even if only for the commentary movie, which- I can't repeat it enough- is super, super swell incredible. Anyone who has the DVD but hasn't watched the commentary movie, do so at your earliest convenience. It's fantastic.

SoNowThen, please don't watch it just for the commentary.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

godardian

Quote from: MacGuffin
Quote from: MacGuffin took godardian's words and Even if only for the commentary movie, which- I can't repeat it enough- is super, super swell incredible. Anyone who has the DVD but hasn't watched the commentary movie, do so at your earliest convenience. It's fantastic.

SoNowThen, please don't watch it just for the commentary.

Well, by all means, watch the movie first, but please, please don't miss that commentary!
""Money doesn't come into it. It never has. I do what I do because it's all that I am." - Morrissey

"Lacan stressed more and more in his work the power and organizing principle of the symbolic, understood as the networks, social, cultural, and linguistic, into which a child is born. These precede the birth of a child, which is why Lacan can say that language is there from before the actual moment of birth. It is there in the social structures which are at play in the family and, of course, in the ideals, goals, and histories of the parents. This world of language can hardly be grasped by the newborn and yet it will act on the whole of the child's existence."

Stay informed on protecting your freedom of speech and civil rights.

SoNowThen

Alrighty, boys. I will pick it up at the next buying frenzy (which is gonna include Adventures Of Antoine Doinel and Blow Out!!).
Those who say that the totalitarian state of the Soviet Union was not "real" Marxism also cannot admit that one simple feature of Marxism makes totalitarianism necessary:  the rejection of civil society. Since civil society is the sphere of private activity, its abolition and replacement by political society means that nothing private remains. That is already the essence of totalitarianism; and the moralistic practice of the trendy Left, which regards everything as political and sometimes reveals its hostility to free speech, does nothing to contradict this implication.

When those who hated capital and consumption (and Jews) in the 20th century murdered some hundred million people, and the poster children for the struggle against international capitalism and America are now fanatical Islamic terrorists, this puts recent enthusiasts in an awkward position. Most of them are too dense and shameless to appreciate it, and far too many are taken in by the moralistic and paternalistic rhetoric of the Left.

Blood on the Granite

The Big Lebowski,

Its a Bob Dylan song in the movie medium, pure poetry.
Tick,tick,tick...its like a movie,
Looking up he sees it,
Blood on the Granite.

SoNowThen

So, I finally saw Blood Simple, now I can make my list.

1. Big Lebowski
2. Barton Fink
3. Blood Simple
4. The Man Who Wasn't There
5. O Brother Where Art Thou
6. Miller's Crossing
7. Fargo
8. Hudsucker Proxy


I put Fargo low even though I recognize it is a brilliant movie, and I love the acting, and the look... I just got more and more annoyed with it rather than enjoying it. I will watch it again one day, but for now I respond to the others so much more. Also, I think once I finish reading the Odessey, I will like O Brother more.

And judging by the trailer for Raising Arizon...well... I don't think I wanna see that....
Those who say that the totalitarian state of the Soviet Union was not "real" Marxism also cannot admit that one simple feature of Marxism makes totalitarianism necessary:  the rejection of civil society. Since civil society is the sphere of private activity, its abolition and replacement by political society means that nothing private remains. That is already the essence of totalitarianism; and the moralistic practice of the trendy Left, which regards everything as political and sometimes reveals its hostility to free speech, does nothing to contradict this implication.

When those who hated capital and consumption (and Jews) in the 20th century murdered some hundred million people, and the poster children for the struggle against international capitalism and America are now fanatical Islamic terrorists, this puts recent enthusiasts in an awkward position. Most of them are too dense and shameless to appreciate it, and far too many are taken in by the moralistic and paternalistic rhetoric of the Left.

children with angels

Give it a try definitely - it's a lot better than it looks. If you love the surreal humour of Big Lebowski (and I guess you do, since it's at the top of your list) you'll probably really dig it. It's also quite weirdly moving.
"Should I bring my own chains?"
"We always do..."

http://www.alternatetakes.co.uk/
http://thelesserfeat.blogspot.com/

modage

Quote from: SoNowThenAnd judging by the trailer for Raising Arizon...well... I don't think I wanna see that....

eww. are you serious?
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.