Major league fan of the Coens over here. With regards to currently working American directors, I put them in the same exalted company as Martin Scorsese, Terrence Malick, and Paul Thomas Anderson. Once I have more time, I’ll want to talk more about the Coens’ work at length.
But for now? I’ll say that I love Blood Simple. They came out strong straight out the gate. Miller’s Crossing,O Brother, Where Art Thou, and No Country for Old Men rank pretty high in my book, too.
The only ones I’m kind of iffy on are The Ladykillers and Hail, Caesar! They’re not faves, but even those have elements that I like and can appreciate.
Huge Coen fan, was very sad to hear the news that they will be going their separate ways for a while. Although I really shouldn’t complain given their output as filmmakers - compared to most prestige directors they put out movies pretty frequently.
My favorite is also Barton Fink, although the top 5 or so is pretty tight. Inside Llewyn Davis, Fargo, No Country for Old Men, A Serious Man, Big Lebowski, O Brother…
Fargo
Big Lewbowski
True Grit
No Country For Old Men
The Man Who Wasn’t There
Although really it’s Fargo, Big Lebowski and everything else. The Ladykillers is their weakest for me and while it isn’t a bad film, it really pales in comparison to the original.
There’s actually a Big Lebowski themed bar in Edinburgh called “Lebowski’s” although I’ve never been in. Presumably instead of a urinal there’s just a big rug that really ties the room together.
I may be a philistine, but those are the only three (or two?) Coen movies I can see myself watching again. Pretty sure I’ve seen most of their movies (not all, but most, I guess). But just these three more than twice.
No Country/Old Men gets a thumbs up as well: I stole that line to use sometimes when asked “where’d you get that?” “At the gettin’ place!” Great performances but two (maybe three?) times seeing it is enough for me.
Hudsuckeris a fun romp, but for some reason I feel like punching Tim Robbins in the face when I see him in a movie. No idea why.
So I’m a Lebowski. No, I don’t walk around in a bathrobe doing cosplay, but I was drinking White Russians out of a pint glass at home before I saw the movie (no idea where I hit upon the idea, but vodka was my drink of choice at the time, for some idiotic reason, so it was a natural), so clearly I was the uncredited inspiration!
I’ve never seen any of their movies because the only source of film I go out for is …well, MST3K, but I’m thinking about how I read the idea that everybody in the Big Lebowski seem to think they’re in a different movie, each with a different genre. And most of them are completely wrong.
I was gonna say “any”…any props at all would be more than he received. But he did get a Golden Globe nom which he lost to…Robert Downey Jr in Sherlock Holmes
