Sneelock
god
there's a difference, you know...
Posts: 8,434
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Post by Sneelock on Sept 22, 2020 19:36:45 GMT
guy in Esquire makes his case. guess what? YOU get an opinion too!!!
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Post by Crunchy Col on Sept 22, 2020 19:40:47 GMT
It's refreshing to read someone praise a Coen brothers' film that isn't the fucking Big Lebowski (how many memes has that film spawned? how many lazy references?) or Fargo
and YES I only saw it last year for the first time, but was really wowed by it. So I voted 'yes'. It's a spectacular film with so much going on, wonderfully plotted and scripted and acted.
'Interestingly' I read something somewhere recently singing the praises of Inside Llewyn Davis, something 'high end', too. I enjoyed that one but it falls a long way short of the others I've mentioned.
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Post by DarknessFish on Sept 22, 2020 20:39:56 GMT
It's probably my favourite film ever, or at least it's my default answer to the question "What's your favourite film?" It has a strange cartoony hard-boiled noir atmosphere, both in dialogue and action (such as Leo's 'Danny Boy' escape from attempted assassination), yet some of the violence is also actually brutal and hard-hitting in a way that many films never manage, particuarly the climactic scene with Tom, The Dane, and Johnny Caspar.
How many gangster films have a homosexual love-triangle as part of the main plot? I also find it really weird that there's no swearing in an 18 rated gangster film, but I guess that's part of being faithful to the look and feel of the source material.
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toomanyhatz
god
I've met him/her. He/she's great!!
Posts: 3,219
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Post by toomanyhatz on Sept 22, 2020 21:37:21 GMT
A Serious Man is pretty great too.
Don't know if it's their best, but it's probably their most underrated.
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Sneelock
god
there's a difference, you know...
Posts: 8,434
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Post by Sneelock on Sept 22, 2020 22:33:15 GMT
well, it does my heart good to see (as of now) three people think so. For years I cited M.Crossing as their "best" and B.Fink as my favorite. they've racked up a lot of films since then but, like with music, the loves you've had the longest can run the deepest. I'm not sure why I used to make a distinction between "best" & "favorite". I mean, if it's my favorite then I must think it's the best, right? I guess I grew up reading too much David Denby or something. While I love B.Fink I can see why people don't get it. the same way I can see why somebody doesn't want to smoke a bowl and listen to "Eskimo" I saw "Miller's Crossing" in a multi-plex and it was poorly attended. I got my video store job that I talk about too much around this time. everybody who worked there had seen it. Me and one other guy loved it. we could talk about it for hours. I saw a lot of Nick Ray's "Party Girl" and Corman's "St. Valentine's Day Massacre" in it. He saw a lot of "Big Sleep" and "the Conformist". I enjoyed the "movie-magpie" talk, I still do. this doesn't detract from my finding it a mature and personal film. I don't think it's derivative - like I was saying about Scorcese earlier - I think the influences are flourishes. But, when it's all said and done. I think I like "No Country for Old Men" every bit as much. Paul Newman may have been the star of "Hud" but Melvyn Douglas was it's dramatic center. No Country strikes me as a very similar thing to Hud. T.L. Jones isn't the star but he's the center of the movie. His job and his world has changed gradually but dramatically. He really just can't wrap his head around it any more. His time is passing and he's more or less cool with that. It's easy to sort their movies - fun ones, serious ones and OTHER ones. I think Miller's Crossing & No Country are serious ones and it's nice seeing them both taken seriously.
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Sneelock
god
there's a difference, you know...
Posts: 8,434
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Post by Sneelock on May 23, 2022 15:52:33 GMT
rayge's post about EC's Jerry Lee Lewis movie is certainly good news. BUT it reminded me that you need to read this. rather than hijack HIS thread I'll put this here. Ethan Coen's review of Joel Coen's "Tragedy of Macbeth"
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rayge
Administrator
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Posts: 8,746
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Post by rayge on May 23, 2022 16:37:01 GMT
rayge's post about EC's Jerry Lee Lewis movie is certainly good news. BUT it reminded me that you need to read this. rather than hijack HIS thread I'll put this here. Ethan Coen's review of Joel Coen's "Tragedy of Macbeth"
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Post by A.R. Parsons on May 24, 2022 8:13:06 GMT
No interest in reading the article but I'd say it's up there with their best, though I haven't watched any of their films since that pointless 'True Grit' remake.
Overall I'd rather watch 'Barton Fink' or 'Blood Simple' again.
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Post by DarknessFish on May 24, 2022 8:34:03 GMT
No interest in reading the article but I'd say it's up there with their best, though I haven't watched any of their films since that pointless 'True Grit' remake. Overall I'd rather watch 'Barton Fink' or 'Blood Simple' again. There was a point when I'd have considered myself something of a Coen's fan, but it seems to be a law of diminishing returns after those first few films. After O Brother... (which I do rate), I simply can't be bothered really, they seemed to lose something. There are still moments of style, moments of dialogue, but I just find it difficult to be interested.
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Post by A.R. Parsons on May 24, 2022 15:10:37 GMT
I really enjoyed 'No Country for Old Men' at the time, moreso than 'O Brother...', but I'm just not much interested in any modern film these days.
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Sneelock
god
there's a difference, you know...
Posts: 8,434
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Post by Sneelock on May 26, 2022 15:20:38 GMT
don't worry. there's one thing you can count on - nothing is modern for long.
I liked "True Grit". I like the original too but it has a Disney-esque "Family Film" quality. I think remakes need to have a different sensibility to work for me and that one certainly does. you can practically smell the tobacco and the urine.
my choice for "remake that didn't need to be made" would be "the Ladykillers"
As much as I like "True Grit" I think I like "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs" (despite the title) even better. This one's not a remake per-se but it sure feels to me like "How the West was Won" Cohen Brothers style.
I was surprised how much I liked that one. like Miller's Crossing it gets in pretty deep. deeper than you expect from a couple of well known movie nerds.
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