Films of the Coen Bros.

OK Stew, it's becoming evident that you and I can't agree on anything.

Fargo is overrated!? What kind of bullshit is that? Did you see the same movie as me? Fargo is goddamn classic and much, *MUCH* better than O Brother...

Fargo is sublime.

Originally posted by stew:
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Well I myself wasn't keeping a running tally of "Vincennes disagreements", in fact, I didn't know we had any.
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We do now.

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But like I said originally, I am willing to say it just didn't do it for me. I simply think that a lot of their stuff is better, if not O Brother, then definitely "Miller's Crossing". But seriously, does it matter?
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It matters.

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I swear, some of you guys take it so personally when someone doesn't like the same movies as you. I suppose you could just rest easier if everyone liked the same stuff, but it wouldn't be much fun.
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It would be a blast.

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And I don't remember jumping all over you for saying Edward Norton is overrated, which I think is just as insane as you think I am on "Fargo".
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Who said I was rational?

And since you brought it up, Edward Norton has yet to prove his worth as a "great" actor, while guys who have been toiling in relative obscurity (at least until recently) like William H. Macy and Steve Buscemi have been paying their dues and really contributing to the art form.



[This message has been edited by Vincennes (edited 07-19-2001).]

The definitive Fargo review. Thanks, Prankster.

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- You can't just tap them on the shoulder anymore. You have to hit them with a sledgehammer. And then you'll notice you have their strict attention.

Now for the long anticipate, Old Will review of Fargo.

It sucked major league, damp, donkey balls.

I hated it as did every other person in my family and all of my friends. I absolutely did not enjoy it, think it was well made or well Directed, get what all the fuss was about.

I completely understand that some saw briliance and genius in the picture. I could lie and say, "Yes, yes!" A briliant and insightful film," but I'd be lying to you and I can't do that.

My cat keeps trying bury it in his sand box. My dog threw up on it,and when I told the neighbor's kid to "put it back where it came from," one day when he had taken it from my shelf, the kid tried to stick it up his ass.

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If it's really a supercomputer, how come the bullets don't bounce off when I shoot at it?

I adore the Coens. They are absolutely my favorite filmakers.

I refuse to rank their films. Sometimes I'm in a Big Lebowski/Hudsucker Proxy mood, but sometimes I'm in a Miller's Crossing/Blood Simple mood. Speaking of which - I want a super-duper deluxe box set of the Coen films to this point. Bare bones Raising Arizona ain't gonna cut it. Please?

Uncle Eli's Listing Of Coen Films:

1) Blood Simple
2) Miller's Crossing
3) Raising Arizona
4) uh....

See, I have had the same sort of anticipatory love of the Coens as I have for, oh, The Smithereens (One brilliant album, fifteen years of gunk).

Damned if they didn't blow the whole thing early.

I will listen to all debates and reasoning but my heart still says:

Hudsucker Proxy is visually gorgeous but WAY defective (as usual, can't understand a goddamn thing Jennifer Jason Leigh says).

Barton Fink is an art film wank job.

Big Lebowski is forty minutes of great comedy.

I can't even begin with O Brother. Yeesh, what a pretty mess.

And Fargo is a vastly, vastly, vastly overrated exercise in exceptionally poor screenwriting.

I think I left one 'vastly' out of that last sentence.

Love the Coens; eagerly await a new good film.

Peace.

I love Hudsucker and Barton Fink, although not as much as Miller's Crossing...

The Hudsucker Proxy is one of the most visually inventive films I have seen in a long time and Jennifer Jason Leigh's machine gun delivery is in keeping with the style of 1940s dames...

Barton Fink is quite incredibley pretenious but it also balances it out by making Barton something of a clearly recognisable git...the way he keeps interrupting Charlie and his long speeches can really be quite galling...plus the wrestling dailies section is godly...

"I will destroy you..!!!"

I'm watching all the Preston Sturges films again.
The Coens are the closest to that genius I've ever seen.

Hudsucker Proxy is one of the most purely entertaining films ever made and very close to perfection. Spielberg's films personally bore me but I can imagine what people see in his films when I watch Hudsucker Proxy - just pure, magical fun that always picks you up no matter how many times you watch it. There are some setpieces that are unequalled in it - Paul Newman's pants nearly ripping, the TV news about Tim Robbins' success, or the way the first hula-hoop is picked up by a kid... genius.

The Man Who Wasn't There... I bet that this film's reputation will grow a lot in the future. It is easily the most emotional of all their films, and the most profound too. There are lyrical moments, like when Crane is watching people walk in the streets, which are some of the most genuinely moving of recent years.

And that's not even going into the genius of Miller's Crossing or Lebowski or Fink... up until they decided to make some money for their kids with their last two films they had a 100% record. They're still the closest thing to a perfect career in cinema today - no-one else mixes entertainment and art so seamlessly.