SCFZ poll: The Coen Brothers

[flip]

Polling the films of directors The Coen Brothers

The rules:

- your list can include no more than half of the Coen Brothers films you've seen, up to a maximum of 5. So if you've seen seven of their films, for example, you can list only a top 3. It's only if you've seen ten or more of their films than you can list the maximum of five.

- i'll assume ballots are ranked unless you tell me otherwise. unranked ballots are fine.

- deadline for ballots: next Tuesday, in seven days, whatever day that is

- if anyone is watching films for these polls, then i'll extend the deadline up to three days, if someone requests an extension

- next poll: whoever posts the first ballot in this thread is free to nominate the director we poll next, unless you've nominated in this round already (everyone should get a chance). Already nominated this round: wba, greg x, ofrene, greennui, evelyn, bure, mesnalty, umbugbene, roscoe, st gloede, brian d, kanafani, silga

umbugbene created an index on letterboxd of all of our previous polls here: letterboxd.com/umbugbene/list/index-of-all-scfz-director-polls/

one rule for nominees: at least 3 scfzers need to have seen 10+ of a nominee's films, or at least 4 scfzers need to have seen at least 8 of the nom's films, so if it isn't clear if that will be the case, we'll confirm that's true before moving forward

if 24 hours pass after a poll opens, and no one eligible to nominate has posted a ballot, then i'll nominate someone, and then we'll start over, and everyone will be able to nominate again

[flip]

No Country for Old Men
Hail, Caesar!
Blood Simple
The Ladykillers
The Man Who Wasn't There

seen sixteen, i liked hail caesar a lot more than anyone else here seemed to...

[Roscoe]

The pre-credit sequence of RAISING ARIZONA
BLOOD SIMPLE
THE BIG LEBOWSKI

Seen enough to rate more. They're not worth the effort any more.

[oscarwerner]

Seen 17:
1. Fargo (1996)
2. The Big Lebowski (1998)
3. Blood Simple (1984)
4. Barton Fink (1991)
5. No Country for Old Men (2007)

[brian d]

seen 12

no country for old men
intolerable cruelty
o brother where art thou
fargo
raising arizona

[greennui]

The Big Lebowski
Barton Fink
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Miller's Crossing
Inside Llewyn Davis

[thoxans]

the man who wasn't there
miller's crossing
barton fink
blood simple
no country for old men

*seen fourteen

[liquidnature]

Seen many, can only heartily endorse:

1. Fargo

[wba]

vote for none

seen: who cares

[Curtis, baby]

No Country for Old Men (Joel Coen/Ethan Coen, 2007)
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Joel Coen/Ethan Coen, 2018)
Inside Llewyn Davis (Joel Coen/Ethan Coen, 2013)
Fargo (Joel Coen/Ethan Coen, 1996)
The Big Lebowski (Joel Coen/Ethan Coen, 1998)

seen 12

[rischka]

miller's crossing
blood simple

i've seen 18 but don't rate them much these days aside from these valentines to film noir

[Silga]

Seen 18:

Fargo
The Big Lebowski
The Man Who Wasn’t There
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs


My favorite directors. My adoration of the Coens started early and continues up to this day. As I see it, they have never made a bad film. And I always try to approach every new one without any prejudice that they can't have a misstep. I think that Miller's Crossing could have been a lot better and in terms of directing it is probably their weakest film.

I admire Coens ability to write stories that boast some of the most beautiful dialogues in contemporary cinema. Their use of vocabulary is nuanced and rich. One can clearly feel their presence even in the scripts they doctored for other directors.

They collaborate with some of the most talented people in the biz. Composer Carter Burwell always delivers subtle original scores with the help from the great T Bone Burnett.
Their long-term partner Roger Deakins is one of the best cinematographers working today. The Man Who Wasn’t There is among the most beautiful films I've ever seen.

Coens ability to include mythology in their films is spectacular and always brings originality to the well-known myths and tragedies. Barton Fink stands as a fine example.

Also very few directors start their careers with a debut feature like Blood Simple.

But their biggest strength is in the casting. Throughout their entire career, Coens worked with some of the most talented American actors.

Furthermore, I will always defend the much maligned remake of The Ladykillers. Great modern adaptation of the classic story with the wonderful, Cannes awarded performance by Irma P. Hall.

[grabmymask]

No Country for Old Men
A Serious Man
Fargo
Burn After Reading
Blood Simple

[rischka]

yeah i don't deny they are very great craftsmen. their casting is one of their greatest strengths.

i think it's that...their cynicism used to suit me more. little wonder they love film noir (i still do too)

miller's crossing is their most sincere film i've seen, a love letter to old warner brothers gangster pictures w/gabriel byrne and albert finney, it's like it was made just for me it's a loving exercise in genre filmmaking. and blood simple was just so surprising (frances macdormand should get equal credit)

[nrh]

seen everything but the last two, but most have been such a long time ago that i'll only vote for -

true grit

which nobody else seemed to like but i thought was wonderful, the last few sequences being up there with the best work of their careers. llewyn davis is just a little too uneven for me; it gets kind of great around the time goodman shows up, but is oddly tentative until then... definitely need to rewatch miller's crossing, which i only saw as a kid and remember the plot going way over my head.

[Roscoe]

All those years ago, I was one of the ones who thought BLOOD SIMPLE was something special (I still do), and I dug RAISING ARIZONA a lot (and I still do), they seemed to have a fresh take on movies and material. Then came the ponderous self-importance of MILLER'S CROSSING, and they've been more miss than hit with me ever since. They seem to be on surer ground with neo-noir plot gimmicks, recycling BLOOD SIMPLE into the staggeringly overrated FARGO and then FARGO into the tedious NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. I'll cop to digging THE BIG LEBOWSKI, but TRUE GRIT was the last straw for me. An utter waste of time and resources, with a lazy performance from Jeff Bridges, the easiest paycheck not collected by Kevin Spacey. They've wasted enough of my time.

[mesnalty]

Seen 16:

1. Barton Fink
2. Burn After Reading
3. Blood Simple
4. The Big Lebowski
5. Miller's Crossing

[DT.]

1. O Brother, Where Art Thou?
2. A Serious Man
3. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
4. Intolerable Cruelty
5. Burn After Reading

[kanafani]

O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Fargo
The Big Lebowski
Blood Simple
Burn After Reading

[john ryan]

Seen all

1. A Serious Man
2. Miller's Crossing
3. Fargo
4. No Country for Old Men
5. Inside Llewyn Davis

[Umbugbene]

Seen 10

1. The Big Lebowski

[oscarwerner]

Not so many Coen brothers fans ?

[...]

Oh, almost forgot about this poll.

Blood SImple
Raising Arizona
Inside Llewyn Davis
O Brother, Where Art Thou
Burn After Reading

My feelings for the Coens vary. Some of their movies I don't much care for at all, Hudsucker, Fargo, Lebowski, Ceasar, while others I more grudgingly adimre in some ways, but don't have any strong affection for, True Grit, Serious Man, No Country, Barton Fink, and some I still like, though maybe haven't seen for years, so feel a bit distant from, the above list and Miller's Crossing, because of how little I like the Coens' worst tendencies. Even the one's I like have stuff I'm not so keen on, like the Klan rally scene in O Brother. The movies I'm not all that attached to all tend to have plenty of good to excellent craft about them, but I guess the ones I don't like really cast a heavy shadow over everything else for how intensely annoying their attitude can be at its worst. It's not all that different than I feel about David Lynch's movies I suppose, admiration for the talent mixed with dislike of how some of it is put to use.

I will say that Blood Simple was possibly the single best theater experience I've had for being part of a large audience. I saw it in a huge theater with a packed house in Minnesota when there wasn't anything else really like it in terms of tone that was seen by big audiences. The sounds of the crowd at scenes where they didn't know whether to laugh, gasp, or be offended was pretty great.

[flip]

Seen 17:

sorry, i again forgot to ask for a nomination! oscarwerner, you can pick the director for our next poll if you like.

[oscarwerner]

Thanks. With great pleasure i offer:
1-Louis Malle
I like him and have seen 10 + films
I will be unhappy if we not gather enough views:) I think he deserves our votes.
In a case Louis Malle doesn`t fit,
I suggest alternative:
2-Sam Peckinpah (also like him and seen 10+ films)

[flip]

thanks, there's no question malle will work, i've seen 11, so i'll start that poll now!

[St. Gloede]

Seen 18:

The Big Lebowski
No Country for Old Men
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Fargo
A Serious Man

[ofrene]

seen 12

No Country For Old Men
Miller’s Crossing
True Grit
Fargo
The Big Lebowski

[Curtis, baby]

any of you folks ever encountered someone who pronounces it "the big leboVski"?

[wba]

Yeah, me, and most people in eastern Europe.