Movies that don’t get respect??

[Fire Me Boy!]

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

Blood Simple is up there, but Fargo is, for me the complete package. Like a fine wine, it's just chock full of those little 'notes' that linger, a skotche of macabre, a pinch of craven, a pinch of offbeat, and soupcon of wacky, a splash of mundane. The difference for me between Blood Simple and Fargo is the difference between a competent etude and a life's work culminating symphony. Blood Simple plucks the strings, but Fargo flourishes them.

That said, I'd be KEENLY interested to hear ol' Fraz' take on Blood Simple. It certainly 'pays off' in a more conventional way while retaining the signature Coen quirks.

I like Fargo, but it's pretty far down the list for me. I think they've done much better. Fargo was just what introduced them to mainstream audiences.

I will say, even "far down the list" of Coen's is still very high on my overall list of movies. I'm a huge fan (I'll just pretend Intolerable Cruelty and The Ladykillers didn't happen).

[mikeyis4dcats.]

Originally Posted by Fire Me Boy!

I like Fargo, but it's pretty far down the list for me. I think they've done much better. Fargo was just what introduced them to mainstream audiences.

I will say, even "far down the list" of Coen's is still very high on my overall list of movies. I'm a huge fan (I'll just pretend Intolerable Cruelty and The Ladykillers didn't happen).

ugh, that LITERALLY made me shiver.

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by Fire Me Boy!

(I'll just pretend Intolerable Cruelty and The Ladykillers didn't happen).

UGHH....i hated those. It was like they were trying to go mainstream and it didnt quite work out for them??

Really looking forward to their True Grit remake with Jeff Bridges.

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by Fire Me Boy!

I like Fargo, but it's pretty far down the list for me. I think they've done much better. Fargo was just what introduced them to mainstream audiences.

I will say, even "far down the list" of Coen's is still very high on my overall list of movies. I'm a huge fan (I'll just pretend Intolerable Cruelty and The Ladykillers didn't happen).

I'd seen everything the Coen's had put out when I saw Fargo. It started with the 'cool teacher' in HS [a point where I was presently a mere couple of years past living in a TV-less household] raving about Raising Arizona, and a couple years later having a spirited 'dscussion' after our Church youth group [basically the kids I'd grown up with] had gotten together for a movie night and watched [among other things] Barton Fink. We were split down the middle between 'whatta load of crap' and 'are you kidding that was awesome' and you can guess where I fell.

And the thing that puts Fargo at the top is the staying power of it's 'notes.' Some things strike you rigtht over the head in one viewing, then become dated. I have to admit, Pulp Fiction at times fall in that category. There are some times that I literally CAN'T STAND the opening dialog between Jules and Vince, most notably when Sam Jackson fails to pull off his 'delighted bemusement' at the concept of a Royale with Cheese, then Vince plows ahead with his breathless recounting of the rules of drug possession 'you can own it, but you can't sell it, you can buy it, but you can't . . . .' I sometimes picture the line reading as done by Jackie Mason. But I don't have those feelings ever about The Godfather. No matter how many times I see Don Vito yell 'you can act LIKE A MAN!!!' or Apoc Now, no matter how many times I hear Duvall opine on the scent of Napalm in the morning. And I reliably get the same 'notes' from repeated viewings of Fargo. And they're such wildly varying notes. Like I said, rediculous, wacky, embarassing, embarassed, macabre, violent, tense and on and on, right down to the 'boring' center of the interactions between Margie and her husband.

And as 'reeruned' as the scene with the Asian guy was, it's still, for me, fascinating to ruminate on the desperate unhappiness of a middle-aged single man of ethnicity in a land such as created by the Coens in Fargo that would drive one to such an empassioned bid. That someone of such apparent nerdy blandness would/could prove so 'exotic' and 'other' in such an amalgated place that any woman who paid him any attention would be viewed as such a savior.

[Fire Me Boy!]

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

I'd seen everything the Coen's had put out when I saw Fargo. It started with the 'cool teacher' in HS [a point where I was presently a mere couple of years past living in a TV-less household] raving about Raising Arizona, and a couple years later having a spirited 'dscussion' after our Church youth group [basically the kids I'd grown up with] had gotten together for a movie night and watched [among other things] Barton Fink. We were split down the middle between 'whatta load of crap' and 'are you kidding that was awesome' and you can guess where I fell.

And the thing that puts Fargo at the top is the staying power of it's 'notes.' Some things strike you rigtht over the head in one viewing, then become dated. I have to admit, Pulp Fiction at times fall in that category. There are some times that I literally CAN'T STAND the opening dialog between Jules and Vince, most notably when Sam Jackson fails to pull off his 'delighted bemusement' at the concept of a Royale with Cheese, then Vince plows ahead with his breathless recounting of the rules of drug possession 'you can own it, but you can't sell it, you can buy it, but you can't . . . .' I sometimes picture the line reading as done by Jackie Mason. But I don't have those feelings ever about The Godfather. No matter how many times I see Don Vito yell 'you can act LIKE A MAN!!!' or Apoc Now, no matter how many times I hear Duvall opine on the scent of Napalm in the morning. And I reliably get the same 'notes' from repeated viewings of Fargo. And they're such wildly varying notes. Like I said, rediculous, wacky, embarassing, embarassed, macabre, violent, tense and on and on, right down to the 'boring' center of the interactions between Margie and her husband.

And as 'reeruned' as the scene with the Asian guy was, it's still, for me, fascinating to ruminate on the desperate unhappiness of a middle-aged single man of ethnicity in a land such as created by the Coens in Fargo that would drive one to such an empassioned bid. That someone of such apparent nerdy blandness would/could prove so 'exotic' and 'other' in such an amalgated place that any woman who paid him any attention would be viewed as such a savior.

I can't argue with anything you've written. Much of what you've mentioned is pretty universal for their work, which is why I'm a huge fan. I think Fargo is one of their more mainstream films, and I tend to gravitate more toward their quirkier fare, totally based on personal preference.

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

I'd seen everything the Coen's had put out when I saw Fargo. It started with the 'cool teacher' in HS [a point where I was presently a mere couple of years past living in a TV-less household] raving about Raising Arizona, and a couple years later having a spirited 'dscussion' after our Church youth group [basically the kids I'd grown up with] had gotten together for a movie night and watched [among other things] Barton Fink. We were split down the middle between 'whatta load of crap' and 'are you kidding that was awesome' and you can guess where I fell.

And the thing that puts Fargo at the top is the staying power of it's 'notes.' Some things strike you rigtht over the head in one viewing, then become dated. I have to admit, Pulp Fiction at times fall in that category. There are some times that I literally CAN'T STAND the opening dialog between Jules and Vince, most notably when Sam Jackson fails to pull off his 'delighted bemusement' at the concept of a Royale with Cheese, then Vince plows ahead with his breathless recounting of the rules of drug possession 'you can own it, but you can't sell it, you can buy it, but you can't . . . .' I sometimes picture the line reading as done by Jackie Mason. But I don't have those feelings ever about The Godfather. No matter how many times I see Don Vito yell 'you can act LIKE A MAN!!!' or Apoc Now, no matter how many times I hear Duvall opine on the scent of Napalm in the morning. And I reliably get the same 'notes' from repeated viewings of Fargo. And they're such wildly varying notes. Like I said, rediculous, wacky, embarassing, embarassed, macabre, violent, tense and on and on, right down to the 'boring' center of the interactions between Margie and her husband.

And as 'reeruned' as the scene with the Asian guy was, it's still, for me, fascinating to ruminate on the desperate unhappiness of a middle-aged single man of ethnicity in a land such as created by the Coens in Fargo that would drive one to such an empassioned bid. That someone of such apparent nerdy blandness would/could prove so 'exotic' and 'other' in such an amalgated place that any woman who paid him any attention would be viewed as such a savior.

Great write up. Well said.

Fargo is probably my favorite flick of theirs...but O Brother Where art thou or No Country might be close....either way, they all have their merits.

Oh, and Tarantino films never get old for me. Im an unabashed lover of his films. Probably because i really "get" his B movie sensibility. Alot of people seem to want him to make something deeper and meaningful, but he is what he is and he does it better than anyone.

So having said that, Death Proof and Jackie Brown could go in the no respect category.