PhantomKnight
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Post by PhantomKnight on Jul 24, 2016 19:57:47 GMT -5
The Big Lebowski is a rarity for me, in that it's a Coen Bros. comedy that I actually love.
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Justin
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Post by Justin on Jul 24, 2016 20:43:52 GMT -5
The Big Lebowski is one of my favorite movies, right along with A Serious Man.
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Jul 24, 2016 21:45:59 GMT -5
along with A Serious Man. and Man Who Wasn't There are the two Coen Bros movies I have very little memory of. Cruel Intentions and Lady Killers, as shitty as they are, are far more memorable. |
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Jul 24, 2016 21:54:15 GMT -5
along with A Serious Man. and Lady Killers, as shitty as they are, are far more memorable. |
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Jul 24, 2016 22:41:12 GMT -5
Cruel Intentions. Intolerable Cruelty. Same shit.
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Jul 27, 2016 18:10:27 GMT -5
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
View count: Second time Doomsday note: Good lord my mom hates this movie. 'Sing in me, O Muse' is the text that opens O Brother, Where Art Thou? That's natural given that the credits of the movie tell us that O Brother has a rather unique source material, or not unique at all depending on how you look at it. Based on the 2,800 year old classical epic The Odyssey, a story about a wanderer making his way home to his wife and son, O Brother tells a similar tale about a group of escaped chain-gang convicts seeking a buried treasure while staying one step ahead of johnny law. George Clooney plays Ulysses Everett McGill (Ulysses = Romanized Odysseus) who heads the group as they're constantly hounded by relentless lawmen who will beat and burn everything in their path to capture them. There are a few direct references to the Odyssey, most notably an eye-patched John Goodman standing in as the mythical cyclops. There are run-ins with seductive 'Sirens' in a riverbed. We later discover that Ulysses isn't after treasure at all, in fact he's hoping to get back to his wife before a 'suitor' can claim her as a new bride. But Odyssey references aside, O Brother is a fun movie about a man destined to get home to his family. Set against the backdrop of the Depression-era deep South, we see the gang come across politicians, lynch mobs and con men, totally oblivious to the fact that they've become hit musicians based on a song they recorded for a few dollars. O Brother is a hard movie to gauge. On the one hand it's not terribly funny or engaging, on the other hand it's pretty enjoyable and has a satisfying albeit kind of absurd ending. Then again the whole movie is pretty absurd in true Coen fashion. What I did enjoy however is that it flowed well and the connections don't seem terribly forced. The Soggy Bottom Boys was a great base of sorts on which the movie revolves around and having it wrap up with the governor's race and the sabotaging of the Ku Klux Klan rally works in a way that can only work in a Coen movie. It also explores the themes of deep south living and the characters that are found in that direction, again something the Coens will revisit down the road. Ultimately this movie is enjoyable in a very Coen-esque way. The humor comes primarily from the circumstances presented, the dialogue and its delivery rather than actual jokes much like Raising Arizona. It's a fun movie that isn't the best Coen offering however it does display ambition, ingenuity and some passion behind it.
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Dracula
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Post by Dracula on Jul 27, 2016 18:14:38 GMT -5
Doomsday note: Good lord my mom hates this movie. LOL, I have the opposite problem. I don't know how much she cared for the actual movie but my mother was obsessed with its soundtrack and played it over and over again to the point where I can't really enjoy the movie because I associate it with my parents' lame musical taste. |
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Jul 27, 2016 18:55:33 GMT -5
Doomsday note: Good lord my mom hates this movie. Cruel Intentions is better. my mother was obsessed with its soundtrack That fucking soundtrack won the Grammy for Album of the Year. Unforgivable. |
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PhantomKnight
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Post by PhantomKnight on Jul 27, 2016 21:17:07 GMT -5
O, Brother happens to be one of the few other comedies of theirs that I like.
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Jul 29, 2016 13:25:03 GMT -5
The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
View count: First time This is the one Coen Bros. film I knew absolutely nothing about before watching. I was a little young to care when it came out, it flew under the radar when I got older and only now have I finally sat down to watch what is one of the best movies I've seen in a very long time. This is perhaps the most apparent attempt up to this point of the Coens really sinking their teeth into a particular genre of film and creating an effective but faithful noir movie could not have been an easy task. Lesser filmmakers probably would have steered clear from doing a noir film altogether but the Coens took their shot and succeeded masterfully. Billy Bob Thornton plays Ed Crane, a barber with a kind but two-timing wife Doris (Frances McDormand, naturally). Ed hears of an investment opportunity in the new craze of 'dry cleaning' and decides to get the money by blackmailing Doris' boss and lover, Big Dave. Ed gets the cash from Dave but is forced to kill him when Dave finds out Ed is behind the scheme and attacks him. Ed thinks he's in the clear until Doris is arrested for Dave's murder and things start to slowly but surely unravel. What really makes the story tick is the soft, almost hypnotic performance by Thornton. His character is calm, cool and at times indifferent even when faced with his own set of damning circumstances. It's a great character and Thornton plays it to a tee. I'm a big fan of noir films. They can seem so dated and etched into a certain place and time yet that also makes them so enjoyable to watch. The Coens here captured both the obvious and more subtle characteristics of noir films, from Billy Bob Thorton's eerie narration to the lighting and set design that's carried through the movie. There are also several throwbacks to earlier movies that no doubt inspired them, my favorite being the body in the submerged car reminiscent of Shelly Winters in Night of the Hunter. Crane's character isn't some spunky private eye or brash cop. He's a barber, a mundane and unsuspecting character who surrounds himself in these terrible circumstances that brings down everybody he comes in contact with, much like Kirk Douglas' newspaper reporter in Ace in the Hole or Fred MacMurray's insurance salesman in Double Indemnity. Even releasing the film in black and white gives it that somber, gritty feel that would be more difficult to capture in color. As of now, of the Coen Bros. films that were introduced to me through this stroll through their filmography The Man Who Wasn't There is the gem that stands out. I greatly appreciate Blood Simple and Barton Fink however this one hits a little closer to home for me. It's a genre that I enjoy and is yet another great demonstration of the range that the Coens have in their storytelling abilities. The only thing that makes me disappointed is that I didn't watch this before, it's certainly helping me raise my opinions of the Coens.
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SnoBorderZero
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Post by SnoBorderZero on Jul 29, 2016 13:32:01 GMT -5
I need to watch it again. I really enjoyed it when I saw it, but I can't remember a lot about it. Very good film, and this and Miller's Crossing are probably their most underrated works.
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Jul 29, 2016 13:59:29 GMT -5
one of the best movies I've seen in a very long time. I can't remember a lot about it. I saw it when it premiered on television and don't remember jack shit about it. Intolerable Cruelty and Lady Killers are often cited as the Coen's low-point, but I think Man Who Wasn't There was kind-of lumped in as well for a while. Like Doomsday said, it's their most under-the-radar movie, but that's cause it didn't leave much of an impression when it was released. 2001 to 2006 were definitely the Coen's dark years. I remember, around that time, IFC had a countdown of the best Indie filmmakers, or maybe it was best indie films, I don't remember. I just know Chris Gore and some girl there hosted it and they spent a few minutes discussing what the fuck happened to the Coens. I think this was around the time Lady Killers was released and I think they did lump in Man Who Wasn't There and PROBABLY O'Brother as well. |
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Jul 29, 2016 15:19:28 GMT -5
I can see being pissed about Intolerable Cruelty and Ladykillers but O Brother was at least entertaining while being something different. That warrants enough credit so as not to lump it in with Intolerable Cruelty. Also TMWWT is just a far, far superior movie to those other ones.
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thebtskink
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It puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again.
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Post by thebtskink on Jul 29, 2016 23:13:56 GMT -5
I'm probably one of the few that really likes The Ladykillers here.  |
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Deexan
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Post by Deexan on Jul 29, 2016 23:38:18 GMT -5
Never saw Ladykillers... but I will stand by Intolerable Cruelty 4Evaaaaa! One of my favourite Coens.
I digress...
Big Lebowski is in the top 10 movies of any kind, ever made. It is perfect.
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Deexan
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Post by Deexan on Jul 29, 2016 23:39:10 GMT -5
FUCKING LOL!
Finally found my favourite scene!
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Deexan
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Post by Deexan on Jul 29, 2016 23:41:40 GMT -5
The Dude's karate manoeuvers are unreal.
"C'mon fuck head!"
"Like an Irish monk?"
Oh my fucking God.
This movie.
"Who the fuck are the Knutsons??"
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Jul 30, 2016 1:29:35 GMT -5
I'm probably one of the few that really likes The Ladykillers here. White Chicks and Lady Killers have their supporters. I will stand by Intolerable Cruelty 4Evaaaaa! One of my favourite Coens. I don't hate the movie. I liked it more than O Brother and Man Who Wasn't There, but it was definitely very shocking when it was released. It genuinely felt like the Coen's had sold out and then they followed it with Lady Killers which may have been the worst movie I saw that year - or one of the worst. It was dark times for the Coens. |
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Jul 30, 2016 11:32:17 GMT -5
Yeeeeesh, I would watch Man Who Wasn't There and Intolerable Cruelty again before saying which one you liked better.
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Jul 30, 2016 11:41:13 GMT -5
FUCKING LOL! Finally found my favourite scene! 'Brother Seamus? Like an Irish monk?' That's one of my favorite lines in the whole movie. |
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Aug 3, 2016 8:56:56 GMT -5
Intolerable Cruelty (2003)
View count: First time It was bound to happen. While wading through the films of Joel and Ethan Coen, while seeing gems that I hadn't seen before like Blood Simple and The Man Who Wasn't There, while picking up new bits and pieces from old favorites like Fargo and The Big Lebowski, I was certain to find one that missed the mark. No great filmmaker is without their stumbles. Every director, writer or producer has a movie they wish they could take back or at the very least go back and tweak. Intolerable Cruelty is that movie for Joel and Ethan Coen. It has to be. It must be. The plot of this movie is almost asinine. Miles Massey (George Clooney) is a wildly successful divorce attorney known for getting huge settlements for his clients. He's also missing something, he isn't satisfied with his life and he's not quite sure why. Enter Marilyn Rexroth (Catherine Zeta-Jones), an 'innocent' housewife whose rich husband Rex has been caught cheating. Miles takes Rex on as a client and ensures that Marilyn doesn't receive a penny from Rex. Ruined, Marilyn marries yet another rich businessman (Billy Bob Thornton) which makes Miles jealous with envy. Months later, Miles runs into Marilyn at a Las Vegas convention. He learns that Marilyn is again newly divorced and in a fit of passion they run off and get married at a Scottish wedding chapel. In the morning Miles finds Marilyn packing her bags and learns he's been duped, her previous marriage was a hoax and she's out to destroy Miles. It was her plan all along to ruin Miles and just like that she's entitled to half of everything he owns. What's a man to do?? You don't need to be Clarence Darrow to know how insultingly absurd this story is. Just because you're married to somebody doesn't mean you instantly become entitled to half that person's previously acquired assets. That would be even more apparent if one of those people is able to prove that the other has perpetuated massive fraud and therein lies the main issue with Intolerable Cruelty. Well let me take that back, the main issue is that it's hardly funny and in no way engrossing or entertaining. The issue I'm talking about though is how stupid it treats its audience. We're supposed to buy this whole 'revenge marriage' scheme? That only happens in one kind of movie; chick flicks. After thinking it over for a second it occurred to me that Intolerable Cruelty is exactly that, a chick flick. It's not some offbeat or screwball comedy, those require intelligence and comedic timing. Only a chick flick can present a set of circumstances so idiotic and equally devoid of humor. So I guess we can sadly cross that genre off the list for the Coens to tackle. Joel, Ethan, what happened? As of now, Intolerable Cruelty is without a doubt the low point in the film career of the Coen Bros. It's standard, generic and doesn't even know what it's trying to say. There are a handful, a handful of tell-tale Coen moments of satire or funny characters but these vanish amidst a sea of mediocrity and telegraphed jokes. I don't know a lot about the production of this film but I can't help but think this was made for the studios, a 'one for you, one for me' type deal that the Coens made so they could get their next passion project off the ground. It's the only explanation I can come up with. The Coens have made comedies before and after and almost all of them are miles beyond whatever Intolerable Cruelty is supposed to be. A clear miss for the brothers Coen that hopefully taught them some scripts should stay in desk drawer.
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Aug 3, 2016 9:49:37 GMT -5
Brace yourself for the Ladykillers.
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Aug 3, 2016 12:30:25 GMT -5
I find it hard to believe that I'll dislike it as much as I disliked this.
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Dracula
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Post by Dracula on Aug 3, 2016 12:31:48 GMT -5
I find it hard to believe that I'll dislike it as much as I disliked this. It's substantially worse, it will make you realize that Intolerable Cruelty was not that bad. |
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Post by Neverending on Aug 3, 2016 12:36:59 GMT -5
I find it hard to believe that I'll dislike it as much as I disliked this. It's substantially worse, it will make you realize that Intolerable Cruelty was not that bad. What he said. The Ladykillers was one of the worst movies I saw in 2004. Intolerable Cruelty was one of the most mediocre movies I saw in 2003. There's a difference. |
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