5 Favorite Coen Brothers Movies

I love movies by the Coen brothers.  For those of you who are not in the know, that would be Joel & Ethan Coen.  Their movies are different, quirky, make you think.  I usually have to see them more than once to truly get everything about them.  The more times I watch them the more subtle little things I notice.  They are fantastic film directors.  Now I have not seen all of their movies, but I would say a good 80%.  For the true fans you could argue I've missed a couple of the best, Millers Crossing, Barton Fink & The Hudsucker Proxy.  They are on my to do list, and when I see them on HBO or maybe Retro I will Tivo (Yes I still have TiVo and not DVR) and watch it at my leisure, until then the list is......

5.

First off the music.  It's phenomenal.  George Clooney, John Turturro, John Goodman, Holly Hunter and Coen brothers staple Stephen Root.  The story line, escaping the chain gang, corrupt politicians, the Soggy Bottom Boys, and my favorite part when they think Pete has been transformed into a toad.  It's awesome.

4.

Raising Arizona, I saw it at the Salem Tri Cinema with my Mom.  Another family walked out about 20 minutes into it, apparently they thought it was inappropriate for their kids.  I thought it was hyseterical even then.  Should have been a sign that something was wrong with me.  Nicholas Cage (Best role ever!), Holly Hunter (again), John Goodman (do you see a trend here with the Coen's?), Frances MacDormand (Phenomenal actress!!!).  Cage & Hunter kidnap a baby from a couple who recently had quintuplets or something like that, since they have not been able to have one of their own.  A Bounty Hunter is on the trail of the baby, while Cage's former jail cellmates are looking to cash in on the reward as well.  One of the best lines ever "I'll be taking these Huggies and whatever cash you got in the register_/

3.

The Big Lebowski.  This could be #1, depends on my mood.  The first time I saw it, I hated it.  Then I watched it again, and again, and again.  And it more than grew on me.  Now I love it.  How can you not love The Dude.  Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, John Turturro, Julianne Moore and many more people.  It's mistaken identity, a missing rug, a faked kidnapping, German nihilists, bowling, Caucasians (white Russians) and The Jesus.  It's just about perfect.

2.

No Country for Old Men.  Another one that could be #1, depends on my day, and today says it's #2.  Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem (perfect villian), Woody Harrelson, Steven Root, Tommy Lee Jones (magnificent).  Brolin stumbles upon the aftermath of a drug deal gone bad, discovers the loot and tries to keep it.  Persuded and then shot with buckshot by another set of drugdealers, he gets away.  A hitman is on his heals, to track down the money and get it back to the druglords.  The hitman, Bardem sporting the best Dorothy Hamel haircut I've seen since my youth, is a killing machine, touting around this captive bolt pistol (yes I had to look up what it was actually called), killing everyone (almost) he comes in contact with.  See with him it's chance, fate, on whether you live or die.  If you've seen the movie think of the scene in the gas station where he has the clerk call heads or tails.  That's what it all boils down to.  Harrelson is another person hired to retrieve the cash, but he offers protection and a cut to Brolin, knowing that Bardem will kill him eventually.  There's a shoot out, followed by a scene where Bardem takes a bullet out of his own leg, yuck, not much bothers me but even I flinced on that one.  By the end nearly everyone is dead, leaving only Bardem & Jones who never even share the screen.  It's an awesome movie.

1.

Fargo.  I think I've seen this movie 100+ times, or at least parts of it.  It's one of those that as I am flipping the channels I have to stop and watch, even for a couple of minutes.  Frances MacDormand, Steve Buscemi, William H Macy, Peter Stormare.  Not a huge cast, doesn't need it.  The starring roles are just perfect.  Frances MacDormand is awesome as Marge, the pregnant police chief (she won the best actress Oscar for this role), Macy as Lundergaard who arranges to have his wife kidnapped so he can steal the ransome from his wealthy father in law.  Buscemi & Stormare are the kidnappers and they make the movie.  I can't think of a cast that was better than this.  From the way the characters are written, to the actors who play them, and the phenomenal story line.  Top it off with Steve Buscemi going through a woodchipper and you have a pretty much perfect movie.