The Coen Brothers

[Schimid]

Why should I like them?

I got back from watching Burn After Reading, a black comedy that is apparently so smart that it actually doesn't have to convince me that it's funny. I saw the film with my girlfriend and a theater full of fifty-somethings drawing out laughs like I imagine they do at their grandson's high school production, all over a manually operated dildo chair, or the final scene which literally consists of two men sitting at a desk lamenting, "now that was a sticky situation!"

Then I came home and watched No Country For Old Men and maybe I'm just not "getting it" but, what the fuck, seriously. Okay, so the movie is faithfully adapted from a novel and as such, there isn't a lot of dialogue. Fine. I suppose I'm also supposed to gather the sanctity of the American southwest, in our noble plains and agricultural roots or some shit because the film seems to blow it's fucking wad for arid climates, but come the fuck on, movie.

Ladykillers was kinda funny, I guess, at least the parts of it I actually watched. Not that it was really boring (though knowing what I know now, I am terrifyingly wrong), it just couldn't pull my attention away from whatever I was doing at the time. I think it was vocabulary training.

Honestly, I understand that a lot of their films follow unconventional narratives and maybe that's why I don't like them. Maybe it's that all of their endings are unsatisfying and deny closure and I need that because I'm a cultural simpleton that goes to movies for tits and explosions. These guys just bore the everloving shit out of me. I didn't even like The Big Lebowski for fuck's sake, I spent most of my time saying to myself "wow, they sure are high."

What am I doing wrong.

[MetalMilitia]

What about Fargo?

[J. Tithonus Pednaud]

I'm not into a lot of their stuff. I sort of look at each movie independently. I have yet to see the new one, but I thought Old Men was brilliant. Mostly due to how much was conveyed in silence.

[Fathom Zero]

I saw Fargo, The Big Lebowski, and The Ladykillers. I agree with JTP's view of looking at each movie independently. I liked them all, but I didn't think they were all related, save the fact that there was top-notch acting and they happened to all be Coen Bros. movies.

[Neen]

Nobody remembers O' Brother Where Art Tho? heh.

[Schimid]

I never saw Fargo, but heard it was good. But what am I talking about, I hear all of their movies are good and then hate them.

I agree it's incredible and sometimes chilling how much they can convey through silence, but I can't be arsed to watch a subtle pantomime for two hours.

They all should be looked at independently, sure. They're completely different movies. But the structures, themes and devices of the brothers are present in all of the movies I've seen and while I certainly admire their consistency, I just can't bring myself to like it.

The acting was great in all the movies I've seen, too. So why the fuck do I hate these guys so bad? They're eccentric, I know that, but I certainly don't want to hate a filmmaker just for breaking convention.

But God, I do.

EDIT - I should probably explain--it seems as if in each movie they explore the same themes of a silent and unrelenting murder that is creeping throughout the entire movie without warning or remorse. I don't think such a thing was in Lebowski, but it's certainly in No Country, Burn After Reading, Ladykillers and (i hear) Fargo.

Also,

Each movie I've seen takes casual snuff to a whole new level. Anton kills almost everyone he meets in No Country. Burn After Reading kills off Brad Pitt halfway through with literally no warning. Ladykillers had no problem bumping off the crooks left and right.

so while I think each movie is independent in it's own right, it's also worth noting that there are some devices the brothers use in all their films.

[Guitar Woman]

I hated Big Lebowski at first, but it's this weird thing where every time I watch it it gets funnier.

The fuck is wrong with No Country, though? That's an amazing movie.

[kahljorn]

Fargo is a really good movie, I think. It does have that silent thing (one of the characters is basically a mute) ad also all the slaughter though. You should probably try watching that.

[Mockery]

Any love for the Hudsucker Proxy? It's an amazing movie.

[Dimnos]

Any love for the Hudsucker Proxy? It's an amazing movie.

A friend said that one was good. I assumed it was the bottle of NyQuil he chugged before watching it. :lol

I loved Fargo and The Big Lebowski. :rock The Ladykillers had a few funny moments but nothing worth paying for in my mind. :\

As far as O' Brother Where Art Tho? It looks as if I am the only one unaffiliated :lol

[Fathom Zero]

Any love for the Hudsucker Proxy? It's an amazing movie.

You know what, I completely forgot it was a Coen Bros. flick.

I love it. Jennifer Jason Leigh is preeeetty.

[Cherry Nirvana]

I liked Hudsucker Proxy and Fargo, but I'm not sure whether or not I should spend the money to see Burn After Reading. It looks like it would be all right, but I haven't really heard anything good about it.

[Kitsa]

I have not yet seen Hudsucker Proxy, but I want to.

I just watched A Serious Man today. I spent the longest time wondering what the hell until I read the Coen bros' quote that the first part of the movie had absofuckinglutely nothing to do with the rest of it.

Sometimes I like the obscure stuff and sometimes it's a little too :seewhatididthere for me.

[Grislygus]

The Coen Brothers were behind the remake of The Ladykillers? How the hell did I not know that

[Pentegarn]

They did Raising Arizona too didn't they?

[Grislygus]

Yes

[MarioRPG]

I don't think I'm going to see A Serious Man. And Burn After Reading was just Ok, I think it got better toward the end.
So saying I liked Fargo, Lebowski and especially O Brother (but that's bc it's the old south).

[Kitsa]

A Serious Man makes one hell of a lot more sense if you're at least part Jewish. Otherwise, too many inside jokes and references will whiz right by you. Also, not all of the Yiddish is subtitled. And the entire start of the movie is in some sort of Polish-Yiddish mix.

It's a good movie in its own weird way, but it was like they were trying extra hard to be all abstract and stuff and that sort of subtracted from the whole.

[Esuohlim]

I usually don't like movies by the Groan Brothers but I enjoyed Burn After Reading, and have yet to see Fargo.

Also start posting again, Schimid, you asshole >:

[Fathom Zero]

Burn After Reading is one of the worst movies I've ever seen. At least it ended in a semi-cool way.

It would be a better short story.

[Esuohlim]

Well for Burn After Reading I had appreciation for how all the misunderstandings rendered all the characters' actions and motives completely pointless, I guess :\

[Fathom Zero]

I saw a blurb about it where somebody sad it was the anti-spy movie, where nothing was accomplished and everything ends badly. That's a pretty good description, I think.

[Esuohlim]

I'm more about characters than plot, anyway. It's probably why I liked it.

[Supafly345]

I started writing stuff on why I liked burn after reading, despite it not being one of the Coen's best, but most of it has been covered already. I actually enjoyed rolling my eyes at them going to the russian embassy. I would consider it a 'miss' on the coens infamous record of jagged hit or misses, a miss meaning I definitely know it isn't for everyone, but I enjoyed it.

And I'm sorry for not catching this thread when it was fresh, because there is almost no excuse for not liking No Country for Old Men, unless you aren't into the genre or whatever meaning you don't like it just as I wouldn't like the best chick flick ever made.

[Kitsunexus]

The Big Lebowski is one of my favorite movies ever. I'm not so crazy about it that I'd go to Lebowski-fest or anything, but still, I love that movie.

Fargo was IMO an OK movie that was carried along by good acting, a few awesome setpiece moments (the woodchipper, yo), and a great sense of atmosphere.

No Country for Old Men was an exceptional movie based on a shitty book. Fucking awesome to the core. One of the most tension-filled movies ever, and it is just a MASTERPIECE when it comes to the cinematographic aspects. The book is shit, though.

Burn After Reading was shit.

The Ladykillers has a few funny moments, but the flow of the movie is glacial.

I've never really sat down to watch O, Brother Where Art Thou because that time period and location bores me to tears.

The Hudsucker Proxy is one of the funniest fucking movies that will ever be made, everything about that movie is just spot-on awesome.

Barton Fink is fucking KICKASS.

I've never seen Blood Simple or Raising Arizona or Miller's Crossing, though I fully intend to.

The one thing that I've noticed about Coen Brothers films is that they like to end anticlimactically (IMO). I dunno whether it's because they suck at writing the endings or that I just suck at trying to understand them (most likely the latter).

[The Leader]

I think sometimes anticlimactic endings are best. It's like they punch you in the face and you never get the satisfaction of hitting them back. It makes you want more.

[Kitsa]

I am not ashamed to say that the one scene in Burn After Reading

where Brad Pitt abruptly gets shot in the face

made me jump.

[Dimnos]

Aside from the mild joy that short scene provided I thought that movie was worthless. :(

[Dimnos]

I've never seen Blood Simple or Raising Arizona or Miller's Crossing, though I fully intend to.



I dont know about the other two but Raising Arizona is rather funny. Possibly the best Nick Cage movie there is?

[Tadao]

Other than Valley Girl

[Dimnos]

Wow. I forgot all about that one. :lol

[Esuohlim]

Burn After Reading was good, y'all are dumb

[Dimnos]

How was it good? What part(s)? In what way? I WANT TO KNOW! >:

[Supafly345]

Well I thought the scene in the car where Pitt was pitifully trying to act cool and spy-serious to Malkovitch was the best, a perfect scene illustrating this movie as one of Pitts best performances.
But being an idiot and asking for someone to prove how a movie is good is retarded, and I think you know that. You don't like it, and nobody can explain it into being good stupid.

[Dimnos]

It was a joke genius. Its more a question of what parts he thought were good. Perhaps he could explain a scene he enjoyed in a way that I could understand WHY he liked it where as I did not. Not that it would change my mind into liking it. I was really looking forward to this but when I finally watched it the movie was a huge let down. Although I will admit lots of the actors in it did a great job on their characters; but sadly it still sucked.

[Esuohlim]

Like I said before, I favor characters over plot. I like how the characters interacted with each other, and I like how the characters' interactions with one another mostly stemmed from complete misunderstandings and because of it shitty things happened that didn't need to happen.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say most people who didn't like the movie found it pointless plotwise, and you're right. But it wasn't about the plot for me.

[Pentegarn]

I'm with you Milpool. I liked Burn After Reading. I thought it was a clever showing of people too stupid to know what they were getting themselves into getting in way over their head, and hilarity ensued.

[Mockery]

Burn After Reading was a fun movie. It's not their best, but I still like it a lot and the characters were almost all fantastic. Hell, I've watched it more than once just because I love seeing John Malkovich get increasingly angry throughout the film:

"Oh, yes. I know very well what you represent. You represent the idiocy of today. You're in league with that moronic woman. You are part of a league of morons. Oh, yes. You see, you're one of the morons I've been fighting my whole life. My whole fucking life. But guess what? Today, I win."

Fucking priceless.

Also, to those of you who still haven't seen their film, "The Hudsucker Proxy"... what the hell are you waiting for!?

[Zomboid]

CHRISTMAS! :lol

[Kitsa]

I'm waiting for my damn video store to get it in because Netflix suspended my account for DVDs I returned not reaching them.

Someone somewhere (allegedly) must have a nice effing collection of Asian extreme and documentary DVDs >:

[Kitsa]

Ok, just watched Hudsucker Proxy tonight. Still don't know what to think. I feel like I've been dragged through a mini-ordeal.

Can't really say more without danger of someone going all YOU JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND THE NUANCES on me.

[Fathom Zero]

I don't think there are many nuances to it. It's pretty straightforward, except for near the end when time's stopped.

[Kitsa]

Even that was pretty straightforward. All of the symbolism was of the heavy-handed variety, or at least the vast majority of it was.

One thing that got me was how very much Tim Robbins looked and sounded exactly like the character Bill Paxton plays in Big Love. They could be twins. And the building reminded me I haven't played Grim Fandango in forever.

During some stretches, I felt like I was watching a high school play. And yes, I realize that the whole caricature-y period feel was on purpose.



Some funny parts, though. "You know...for kids!"

[Fathom Zero]

All I can say is that Paul Newman's my boy!