The Coen Brothers. Why are they so cool ?

There has certainly been more then a plethora of Directors of film on the big screen who make going to the theater worthwhile. Even when some Idiot is talking on their cell phone with no regard for the rest of the viewing public ! But before I get off on some rage filled rant I want to get back on point. Anyway there are many Directors of movies who just consistently hit home runs when they make a movie. Among some of my favorites include , Scorcese , Tarantino , Robert Rodriguez , the epic Francis Ford Coppola and the great Clint Eastwood. And I am sure a bunch of others I cannot bring to mind at the moment. My attention span never has been very long anyway. Now with many of these directors you are probably gonna know what you may get , when you hit the theaters. With James Cameron you know you are going to get the uber big production epic. Steven Speilberg also will put out the uber epic very smartly done and he too ranks among my favorites. George Lucas will give us the Sci Fi epic , and Scorcese will probably give us something Mob related. And all of these guys are fun to watch. But there is a pair I hold In high regard and I consider them to be the modern day Frank Capras because of their quarkiness , and that would be the Coen Brothers.

I rarely go to the movies anymore because for one , there just are not that many great movies to see. One more reason is because I am a cheap bastard and to get a Coke and a bag of popcorn nowadays would mean me having to sign a contract and make Installment payments. However the Coen Brothers will actually make me willing to go through all of that to see one of their films. And I often ponder what sets these guys apart from the rest ?

Joel and Ethan Coen are both in their early to mid fifties now. They hail from the great state of Minnesota. Joel went to NYU and Ethan went to Princeton where both studied the process of making film. Joel is also married to actress Frances Mcdormand a frequent actress in many of the Coens major films. Thus far the Coen Brothers have thirteen films that have hit the theaters. They have two more in the can right now that will be out in the very near future. And for this collection of films the Coen Brothers have recieved , 23 Academy award nominations , 6 Academy Awards , 17 Golden Globe Award nominations and 3 Golden Globe Awards. Their first film came out in 1984 " Blood Simple " a very tense and unusual thriller , which Included M Emmet Walsh and introducing us to Frances Mcdormand. Then in 1987 they produced the comedy " Raising Arizona " with Nicholas Cage and Holly Hunter an absolute outloud funny movie. And once they made that movie in my mind they made their mark , and now the rest Is chronicled history.

The art of making movies from a technological standpoint has made significant strides over the last 30 years . The advent of the blockbuster production has been around since Speilberg made " Jaws " and George Lucas gave us " Star Wars ". And from that point forward the producers in Hollywood have focused primarily on the blockbuster formula to fatten up those profits for their studios. And of course now with absolutely no originality left in the movie business we live in Sequel land now Including " SAW 75 " and Will Smith is even remaking " The Karate Kid " which quite frankly seems like blasphemy to me. How many remakes do we have now ? They are even remaking " Bonnie and Clyde " which was one of the greatest American films ever made. I suspect both of these are gonna be stinkeroos ! My point here being there are not many in the movie business that have the ability to be original any more. That is the first thing that makes Coen Brothers movies so cool. You have no Idea what to expect. And the writing and plotlines are completely unique in each film.

Also these days we are saturated with explosions , fight scenes , and an abundance of special effects that have basically replaced the actors as the driving force and centerpeice of the movie. Now don't get me wrong I love my testorone filled action caper with lots of hot girls. I mean everytime I see " Bloodsport " with Jean Claude Van Damme I will usually park my backside on the couch even though I have seen it like 40 times. But quite frankly the modern movie has become nothing more then empty calorie junkfood. This is another reason why the Coen Brothers movies are so much better then most anything else that comes out these days . The Coen Brothers gimmick to get you to the theater is the landscapes of whatever region they are making the film in. Like the remote West Texas landscape in the movie " No Country for old men " or the blustery and cold tundra of Minnesota and North Dakota in " Fargo ". But the main gimmick in the Coen Brothers movies is the characters and the Interactions between the characters. They are dark , Interesting , Scary , and most of the time funny ! This is the essence of a good movie to me acting. Imagine that ! Actors acting in a movie . Who woulda thunk it ?

Now for me personally there are four films in particular from the Coen Brothers that I can watch multiple times without being bored. My four favorites are " Raising Arizona " , " Fargo " , " No Country for Old Men " and my all timer " The Big Lebowski ". All of the Characters in these films in particular I just found utterly fascinating. In Raising Arizona you had a young Nicholas Cage and a young Holly Hunter as Herb Mcdonough and Edwina " Ed " Mcdonough . The Interaction between these two is just laugh out loud funny.

One of my favorite characters though is definitely " Anton Chigurh " the dark , sadistic and scary cold killer in " No Country for Old Men ". Javier Bardem won the best supporting actor award for his role in that movie. And from where I sit he was the engine that ran that movie. And it was also by far and away the most commercially successful of the Coen Brothers films. Watch it and you will know why

Fargo with William Macy as Jerry Lundegaard is just so painful as he flails throughout the movie in abject failure on his plots. And the ever present Frances Mcdormand is excellent as " Marge Gunderson " the pregnant Sheriff tracking down the bad guys. And her acting in that 1996 film is nothing short of outstanding.

But for me my personal favorite was " The Dude " as played by Jeff Bridges in " The Big Lebowski " simply one of the funniest and most colorful characters in modern film. And the other cast members are all equally excellent in their supporting roles. John Goodman the wacked out vet, Steve Buscemi as Donny and Julianne Moore and Phillip Seymour Hoffman . Geez what a cast ! If you only watch one Coen Brothers movie this is my recommendation. I laughed so hard through the whole movie my face hurt ! I guarantee you if you watch this film , you will be renting the whole Coen Brothers collection in no time. So if you want some five star entertainment and some real acting I suggest you invest your time into the coolest duo in Hollywood , the Coen Brothers !