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What do you think about the Eagles? How about the The Divinci Code?
I like The Eagles. Can listen to much of their stuff. Especially lately as I've been playing a bunch of Alt Country due to the influence of my playing Partner. I can appreciate their influence on Billy Bragg, Uncle Tupelo (and of course Wilco and Sun Volt), The Jay Hawks, and others.Have neither read nor seen "The DaVinci Code"...I can appreciate Pop Mainstream culture and at the same time enjoy more "fringe" art, literature, music, etc. Sometimes I am a little stuck in time in the era in which I developed my tastes, and am certainly a child of AOR Radio and Prime Tie TV from the 70s, but haven't stopped finding new stuff that I enjoy - stuff that comes from a variety of sources, not just the asile and checkout end caps at Target.
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Are the Coen Brothers doing a Fast and Furious movie? Because that would be...I don't know what that would be.

I would like to point out that I took this advice about 6 months ago, and DAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMNNNNNNNN!!!!!! That's all I will say. DAMN!!!

He didn't say not to watch it. In fact, he specifically said, "Now go watch it." He was just trying to lower my expectations.

I like The Eagles. Can listen to much of their stuff. Especially lately as I've been playing a bunch of Alt Country due to the influence of my playing Partner. I can appreciate their influence on Billy Bragg, Uncle Tupelo (and of course Wilco and Sun Volt), The Jay Hawks, and others.Have neither read nor seen "The DaVinci Code"...I can appreciate Pop Mainstream culture and at the same time enjoy more "fringe" art, literature, music, etc. Sometimes I am a little stuck in time in the era in which I developed my tastes, and am certainly a child of AOR Radio and Prime Tie TV from the 70s, but haven't stopped finding new stuff that I enjoy - stuff that comes from a variety of sources, not just the asile and checkout end caps at Target.
I wasn't really trying to judge your art cred, I was just seeing if you passed or failed my litmus test. People who like the eagles and the diVinci code and dislike the big lebowski usually are poorly correlated in me liking them. The test is incomplete since you haven't read the Di Vinci code.
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I wasn't really trying to judge your art cred, I was just seeing if you passed or failed my litmus test. People who like the eagles and the diVinci code and dislike the big lebowski usually are poorly correlated in me liking them. The test is incomplete since you haven't read the Di Vinci code.
I like Big Lebowski and the Da Vinci Code.....although Angels and Demons was a much much better book. Da Vinci code had an interesting plot but the writing is awful. Really Dan Brown is just a bad writer but he is fantastic at finding/researching interesting material. He makes a good airplane book.I dont like the Eagles much....though I would not yell at my cab driver if he put them on.as for the Coen Brothers....I am a sucker for greek mythology so I love O Brother Where Art Thou? the most. Fargo was....different. I think I liked it but.....those minnesota accents. I dont know they just bother me. Obviously, that is my issue not theirs. I like No Country for Old Men more as time passes. At the time I was angered by the ending but I think I appreciate more now what they were trying to do there.I enjoyed Hudsucker Proxy....Ladykillers I cannot grade fairly as I rented it off OnDemand and was so tired that I fell asleep 30 minutes in. Perhaps that means i didnt enjoy it though. Have not seen the others.....
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I just watched The Hudsucker Proxy again last night - it was way better than I remembered it. Also I have a crush on Jennifer Jason Leigh (when she was like 20), but overall just a really really funny movie. The scene where the kid hula hoops for the first time ever is among the funniest things I've ever seen in a movie.

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I just watched The Hudsucker Proxy again last night - it was way better than I remembered it. Also I have a crush on Jennifer Jason Leigh (when she was like 20), but overall just a really really funny movie. The scene where the kid hula hoops for the first time ever is among the funniest things I've ever seen in a movie.
So true. Maybe because Hudsucker was a comedy, it didn't receive the respect that Barton Fink did at Cannes. I dunno. I think they both are excellent, and honestly I need to see Fink again, as it's been too long since I've seen it. the Coens are my favorite move making team that is still making movies right now and not far past their prime ( IE Scorsese and Spielberg.)
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I just watched The Hudsucker Proxy again last night - it was way better than I remembered it. Also I have a crush on Jennifer Jason Leigh (when she was like 20), but overall just a really really funny movie. The scene where the kid hula hoops for the first time ever is among the funniest things I've ever seen in a movie.
My favorite part is when the manager is giving Tim Robbins is "orientation" and the scene immediately after that."A576492184, THAT IS YOUR EMPLOYEE NUMBER. IT WILL NOT BE REPEATED. YOU MUST HAVE YOUR EMPLOYEE NUMBER TO RECEIVE YOUR PAYCHECK!!!"The then just after with "Old Man Blue" from Old School."What do we do if the mail doesn't fit in the mailbox?""I usually just throw it out. If you fold it, they'll fire 'ya."That is so amazingly funny I can't even stop laughing as I type it out. BTW, Hudsucker is in my DVD player right now. I watched it Sunday night.
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So I just watched The Big Lebowski for the 20th or so time, and it was better than ever!The Dude: It's like what Lenin said... you look for the person who will benefit, and, uh, uh...Donny: I am the walrus.The Dude: You know what I'm trying to say...Donny: I am the walrus.Walter Sobchak: That ****ing bitch...The Dude: Oh yeah!Donny: I am the walrus.Walter Sobchak: Shut the **** up, Donny! V.I. Lenin. Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov!Donny: What the **** is he talking about, Dude?I love that part.

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Am I the only one who really, really likes Intolerable Cruelty? I think Clooney is hilarious in that movie. I mean, granted, being at the bottom of the Coen Brother's list is certainly doesn't mean it's a bad movie, I just want it to be clear that Intolerable Cruelty is great.

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Am I the only one who really, really likes Intolerable Cruelty? I think Clooney is hilarious in that movie. I mean, granted, being at the bottom of the Coen Brother's list is certainly doesn't mean it's a bad movie, I just want it to be clear that Intolerable Cruelty is great.
I liked it, but didn't think it was anything special. Granted, I have only seen it once, and I can't think of one Coen movie that I haven't liked more on repeated viewings.Also, I never made a list:1. Fargo2. The Big Lebowski3. No Country For Old Men4. The Hudsucker Proxy5. Miller's Crossing6. Barton Fink7. Raising Arizona8. Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?9. The Lady Killers10. Intolerable CrueltyYet to see Blood Simple and The Man Who Wasn't There
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Am I the only one who really, really likes Intolerable Cruelty? I think Clooney is hilarious in that movie. I mean, granted, being at the bottom of the Coen Brother's list is certainly doesn't mean it's a bad movie, I just want it to be clear that Intolerable Cruelty is great.
The following interaction makes the entire movie, the rest could be a pile of crap and this would save it:Miles Massey: All right, so much for the ice-breakers. What are you after, Freddy?[takes a drink of water]Freddy Bender: My client is prepared to settle for 50 percent of the marital assets.[Miles spits out some water]Miles Massey: Why only 50, Freddy? Why not a hundred? While we're dreaming, why not 150? Are you familiar with "Kershner"?Freddy Bender: "Kershner" does not apply.Miles Massey: Bring this to trial, we'll see if "Kershner" applies.Rex: What's "Kershner"?Miles Massey: Please, let me handle this.Freddy Bender: "Kershner" was in Kentucky.Miles Massey: "Kershner" was in Kentucky?Freddy Bender: "Kershner" was in Kentucky.Miles Massey: All right, Freddy, forget "Kershner". What's your bottom line?Freddy Bender: Primary residence, 30 percent of remaining assets.Miles Massey: What, are you nuts? Have you forgotten "Kershner"?
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Bunny Lebowski: I'll suck your co.ck for a thousand dollars. Brandt: Ah hahahahaha! Wonderful woman. We're all, we're all very fond of her. Very free-spirited. Bunny Lebowski: Brandt can't watch, though, or he has to pay a hundred. Brandt: Ah haha. That's marvelous. The Dude: Uh, I'm just gonna go find a cash machine.Another...Jackie Treehorn: People forget that the brain is the biggest erogenous zone. The Dude: On you maybe. Another...Walter Sobchak: You want a toe? I can get you a toe, believe me. There are ways, Dude. You don't wanna know about it, believe me. The Dude: Yeah, but Walter... Walter Sobchak: Hell, I can get you a toe by 3 o'clock this afternoon... with nail polish. These fuc.king amateurs... Another...Walter Sobchak: I'm saying, I see what you're getting at, Dude, he kept the money. My point is, here we are, it's shabbas, the sabbath, which I'm allowed to break only if it's a matter of life or death... The Dude: Will you come off it, Walter? You're not even fuc.king Jewish, man. Walter Sobchak: What the f.uck are you talkin' about? The Dude: Man, you're fu.cking Polish Catholic... Walter Sobchak: What the fuc.k are you talking about? I converted when I married Cynthia! Come on, Dude! The Dude: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah... Walter Sobchak: And you know this! The Dude: Yeah, and five fuc.king years ago you were divorced. Walter Sobchak: So what are you saying? When you get divorced you turn in your library card? You get a new license? You stop being Jewish? The Dude: It's all a part of your sick Cynthia thing, man. Taking care of her fu.cking dog. Going to her fuc.king synagogue. You're living in the fu.cking past. Walter Sobchak: Three thousand years of beautiful tradition, from Moses to Sandy Koufax... [shouting] Walter Sobchak: You're goddamn right I'm living in the fu.cking past! Lebowski rules ..... period.

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So at the urging of BigMcGee I bumped Barton Fink to the top of my netflix queue and I have to say I really liked it. That being said, I really don't understand how it swept the awards at Cannes. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's amazing. Were Charlie and Barton the same person? Was the hotel hell? Or was it just the floor they lived on? (666) Maybe hell was just Charlie's room and Charlie was the devil. The President of the film company was really good. All the performances were really good. But I didn't think the story was even close to as good as The Hudsucker Proxy or No Country For Old Men, and Hudsucker didn't win anything at Cannes in 1994. Sure, it was up against Pulp Fiction for the Golden Palm, but I mean... COME ON! It didn't win anything! Last year, same thing for No Country.... no wins at Cannes. What do Europeans love about Barton Fink that they didn't understand about The Hudsucker Proxy or No Country For Old Men?Does anyone else have any thoughts on Barton Fink?Here are my list of Coen Brothers movies in the order that I love them....1. No Country For Old Men2. The Hudsucker Proxy3. The Big Lebowski4. Raising Arizona5. Fargo6. Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?7. Barton Fink8. The Man Who Wasn't There9. The Lady Killers10. Intolerable CrueltyI just receiving Miller's Crossing today, and I'll be watching it for the first time tomorrow, so this list may change. I also haven't seen Blood Simple, but it's saved in my netflix queue.
Does anyone have ANY thoughts on Barton Fink... many of you put it high on your list... but NO ONE has said anything about it.....
Am I the only one who really, really likes Intolerable Cruelty? I think Clooney is hilarious in that movie. I mean, granted, being at the bottom of the Coen Brother's list is certainly doesn't mean it's a bad movie, I just want it to be clear that Intolerable Cruelty is great.
I love all the movies the Coens have made. The bolded part is correct.Since seeing Miller's Crossing (the forest scene with John Turturro is absolutely amazing... stunning.... unbelievable)1. No Country For Old Men2. The Hudsucker Proxy3. The Big Lebowski4. Raising Arizona4.5 Miller's Crossing5. Fargo6. Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?7. Barton Fink8. The Man Who Wasn't There9. The Lady Killers10. Intolerable Cruelty
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Am I the only one who really, really likes Intolerable Cruelty? I think Clooney is hilarious in that movie. I mean, granted, being at the bottom of the Coen Brother's list is certainly doesn't mean it's a bad movie, I just want it to be clear that Intolerable Cruelty is great.
Hmm, based on this I think I will watch it. That and the Ladykillers are the only ones I haven't seen.
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Does anyone have ANY thoughts on Barton Fink... many of you put it high on your list... but NO ONE has said anything about it.....
I just thought it was really well made, funny, interesting, and curious. Is it all in Fink's head? Is John Goodman the devil? I think it's just like a lot of their movies - it takes place in a slightly more entertaining place than reality. It's a satirical look at screenwriting, and since it's a Hollywood screenplay by great screenwriters about a man who is a great writer and goes to Hollywood to start writing screenplays, I just find it really funny and personal to the Coen brothers.
Garland: The common man will still be here when you get back. Who knows, there may even be one or two of them in Hollywood.Barton: That's a rationalization, Garland.Garland: Barton, it was a joke.
Barton: Have you read the Bible, Pete?Pete: Holy Bible?Barton: Yeah.Pete: Yeah, I think so. Anyway, I've heard about it.
W.P. Mayhew: Mister Fink, they have not invented a genre of picture that Bill Mayhew has not, at one time or other, been invited to essay. Yes, I have taken my stab at the rasslin' form, as I have stabbed at so many others, and with as little success. I gather that you are a freshman here, eager for an upperclassman's counsel. However, just at the moment, I have drinking to do. Why don't you stop by my bungalow, which is number fifteen, later on this afternoon, and we will discuss rasslin' scenarios and other things lit'rary.
W.P. Mayhew: I close my eyes I can almost smell the live oak.Audrey Taylor: That's chicken fat Bill.W.P. Mayhew: Well my olfactory's turning womanish on me, lying and deceitful.
I think this is my favorite:
Charlie: I pulled off early today. Took your advice, went to a doctor about this ear. He says 'You have an ear infection, ten dollars please'. So I says 'I told you I had an ear infection, you give me ten dollars!' Well that started an argument.
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  • 6 months later...
I still have to watch Miller's Crossing, looking forward to it.Of what I've seen:1. Fargo2. O Brother Where Art Thou?3. No Country For Old Men4. Barton Fink5. Burn After Reading6. Big Lebowski7. Hudsucker ProxyI've seen Intolerable Cruelty too, but I don't count it... it's not Coen enough.
This order is incorrect.
1. No Country For Old Men2. The Big Lebowski3. Hudsucker Proxy4. O Brother Where Art Thou?5. Burn After Reading6. Raising Arizona7. Fargo8. The Man Who Wasn't ThereThe Ladykillers and Intolerable Cruelty didn't happen. I'm sure Fargo is the one that will get the most disagreement. I watched it when it first came out and thought, "meh." Then it got such high critical acclaim and I thought, "really?" Then ten (?) years later I decided I needed to watch it again and after watching it a second time I thought, "meh." It just didn't resonate with me for some reason.
How YOU doin', Cindy? Busy Friday?(I would switch 4 & 6)
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So, I read about the new Coen bros movie, A Serious Man, which looks to be Jew-tastic. From IMDB...

The story follows an ordinary mans search for clarity in a universe where Jefferson Airplane is on the radio and F-Troop is on TV. It is 1967, and Larry Gopnik, a physics professor at a quiet midwestern university, has just been informed by his wife Judith that she is leaving him. She has fallen in love with one of his more pompous colleagues, Sy Ableman, who seems to her a more substantial person than the feckless Larry. Larrys unemployable brother Arthur is sleeping on the couch, his son Danny is a discipline problem and a shirker at Hebrew school, and his daughter Sarah is filching money from his wallet in order to save up for a nose job. While his wife and Sy Ableman blithely make new domestic arrangements, and his brother becomes more and more of a burden, an anonymous hostile letter-writer is trying to sabotage Larrys chances for tenure at the university. Also, a graduate student seems to be trying to bribe him for a passing grade while at the same time threatening to sue him for defamation. Plus, the beautiful woman next door torments him by sunbathing nude. Struggling for equilibrium, Larry seeks advice from three different rabbis. Can anyone help him cope with his afflictions and become a righteous person; a mensch, a serious man?
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Blood Simple is not getting anywhere near as much love as it deserves. I think it's one of the best directorial debuts of all time. It's a film noir, a solid drama and has the usual Coen borther plot hijinks and dialogue, mistaken identity, etc.Excellent movie...Excellent performances by Frances McDormand and Dan Hedaya and M Emmett Walsh.

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Blood Simple is not getting anywhere near as much love as it deserves. I think it's one of the best directorial debuts of all time. It's a film noir, a solid drama and has the usual Coen borther plot hijinks and dialogue, mistaken identity, etc.Excellent movie...Excellent performances by Frances McDormand and Dan Hedaya and M Emmett Walsh.
I've never seen it and Netflix has it in the 'saved' section with DVD release unknown.
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I just saw Blood Simple for the first time.It's good, but pretty low on my overall Coen list. I would put it just below The Ladykillers.I don't really have any desire to see it again. The dialouge was excellent, as expected, but several things annoyed me. It was clearly a Coen Brothers movie, but it had an unedited feel to it for me. I think it's amazing how much better they just keep getting. The whole movie had the feel of a Lifetime TV movie version of No Country for Old Men.It's still better than 80% of the movies put out every week.

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  • 6 months later...
I'll play:1. Blood Simple2. Fargo3. Raising Arizona4. Miller's Crossing5. No Country6. Barton Fink7. Big Lebowski8. The Man who Wasn't there9. Oh Brother10. Hudsucker11. Intolerable CrueltyHaven't seen Lady KillersThe Top Five are awesome Films. The next five were average. And Intolerable Cruelty was painful to watch. Clooney's two worst movies have been Coen effortsI have never understood why they cast Jon Polito in so many of their movies - he always comes across as a cartoonish actor. Sort of a poor man's Danny DeVito
Just Rewatched Big Lebowski for the first time in many years and have to admit it was better than I'd remembered.I'm dropping Raising Arizona a few spots and moving Big Lebowski up between No Country and Miller's CrossingPart of the reason I have such a fondness for Blood Simple is partly because of when it came out, there was just nothing like it. It really was the movie that introduced me to modern film noir and I believe made the world safe for Tarantino. I love it for many of the same reasons I prefer Reservoir Dogs.
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Just Rewatched Big Lebowski for the first time in many years and have to admit it was better than I'd remembered.I'm dropping Raising Arizona a few spots and moving Big Lebowski up between No Country and Miller's CrossingPart of the reason I have such a fondness for Blood Simple is partly because of when it came out, there was just nothing like it. It really was the movie that introduced me to modern film noir and I believe made the world safe for Tarantino. I love it for many of the same reasons I prefer Reservoir Dogs.
Yeah, many people love the big lebowski, but I think it's underrated as a serious film. I think it's just about perfect. I can totally understand the blood simple thing, right place right time thing. I just don't think it compares to their more polished work that came later.
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