The Coen Brothers
 

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.

What about Fargo?

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.

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.

Nobody remembers O' Brother Where Art Tho? heh.

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,

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.

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.

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.

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

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

I love it. Jennifer Jason Leigh is preeeetty.

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.

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.

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

They did Raising Arizona too didn't they?

Yes

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).

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.

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 >:

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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).