For Coen Brothers fans: Is This A Good Set? (1 Viewer)

[JohnRice]

Ordered for under $9. Thank You!

It's unlike any other Coen movie. I like it a lot, but it doesn't have a big following. It's probably their most visually stunning movie, along with Miller's Crossing.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

It's unlike any other Coen movie. I like it a lot, but it doesn't have a big following. It's probably their most visually stunning movie, along with Miller's Crossing.

I love threads like this! I wasn't familiar with The Man Who Wasn't There, but love most of the Coen brothers films, so for $9 the BD is on its way.

 

[Bryan^H]

I might upgrade to BD of 'The Man Who Wasn't There'. I still have the DVD.

EDIT: Just ordered. I have been itching to watch it again anyway

 

[TonyD]

I only have that on dvd too.

I do have Hudsucker Proxy which I recommend. It's a Warner Archive bluray.

Looking forward to when you watch Miller's Crossing, Ron. Might be my favorite of their movies.

 

[DavidJ]

The cinematography in The Man Who Wasn't There is beautiful. It'll be interesting to see what those who haven't seen it think of it.

 

[Randy_M]

Personally, I find Intolerable Cruelty absolutely hilarious. Can watch it over and over. ("Nailed his ass!")

 

[Interdimensional]

I absolutely loved A Serious Man, Burn After Reading, and Hudsucker Proxy.

I saw Big Lebowski on release, before it had acquired its cult reputation, I enjoyed it tremendously, but didn't forsee it becoming such a big deal. I like everything I've seen that they've done, the only distinction I draw is between those I love and those I merely like a great deal. I only wish there were more filmmakers with their taste and skill.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I only have that on dvd too.

I do have Hudsucker Proxy which I recommend. It's a Warner Archive bluray.

Looking forward to when you watch Miller's Crossing, Ron. Might be my favorite of their movies.

I have seen that and Blood Simple. Both rank as their best efforts, in my opinion. Those were part of the original BD set, all the movies for which I have seen.

 

[JohnRice]

Ron, I'm a HUGE Coen fan and have been ever since I saw Miller's Crossing in the theater almost 30 years ago. Miller's Crossing is still my all-time favorite Coen movie, and as close as I can come to my favorite movie of all time. I've probably seen it 30 times. The Man Who Wasn't There is just a stunningly beautiful movie, visually (one of Roger Deakins' best works), with a great soundtrack that has a lot of Beethoven, believe it or not. The movie opens with Beethoven's Archduke Trio. I'm an even bigger Beethoven fan than a Coen fan. It's a basic noir mystery, with some of those bizarre Coen touches. It gets downright weird.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I'll admit, the first time I watched THE BIG LEBOWSKI upon its DVD release, I think I turned it off less than halfway in.

At that time I was not familiar with the Coen Brothers. It was probably my first foray into their world, and I just didn't get it.

So now, watching this film again some 18 years later, I am doing so with fresh eyes.

What a difference time and knowledge make!

Absolutely LOVED this film as most of you would have expected. Like all other Coen Brother projects, it just puts a bunch of oddball characters put into insane circumstances. The best way I can explain the film is that the rug really tied the room together.

Is this my favorite Coen film? It's right up there with all the rest, but I still love the violence of films like Blood Simple.

BTW, if you watching the third season of Fargo, the villain Vargas is featured here as a giggling character in Maude's apartment by the name of Knox.

I am so happy I had the guts to watch this film again. Totally different than from what I remembered. And yes, John Goodman's performance here is just a notch better than Barton Fink.

​

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I'm glad you gave The Big Lebowski another chance with an open mind, Ron. It really is quintessential Coen Brothers. For some reason, my wife doesn't like this film, so it's one I end up watching alone whenever I am satisfying a Coen itch.

 

[John Lee_275604]

Any time someone badmouths The Big Lebowski, my first question is 'how many times have you seen it?'

Precious few liked it a great deal the first time they saw it. Almost everyone likes it more the more they watch it, and the more time they have to accommodate their expectations to its unique rhythms.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I guess I'm going to have to give it another try then!

I watched it once with my daughter several years ago (don't know why my daughter was my viewing partner for Lebowski...but, she was!). Neither one of us came away liking it--which surprised me since I had heard so many good things about it.

Sometimes that just happens. But I guess I'll have to dig in for another helping.

 

[Matt Hough]

With all the talk about The Man Who Wasn't There, I decided to haul out my DVD that I haven't watched in at least a decade and look at the movie again.

First, even on an upconverted DVD, this is some of THE most amazing cinematography I've ever seen. It helps that I watched it on an OLED known for fabulous black levels, so even on DVD, this looked beyond fabulous.

The movie is such a tongue-in-cheek, low key twisty noir drama that the fun is never knowing quite where it's going next. A couple of little turns I thought were a bit much, but this kind of film is definitely in the Coen droll wheelhouse, and those who liked Barton Fink or A Single Man are certainly going to appreciate this, too. And BOY do they do a lot of smoking in this movie!

 

[JohnRice]

It's a beautiful movie. And, yes, there's a WTF moment that's extreme even for the Coens.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Not part of the Coen Brothers set in question. This was actually recommended as an add-on watch.

Watched it this morning. My feelings? I am a little numb. The film is just under two hours in length and one really feels every single minute ticking by. The story moves at a snail pace, taking its time to introduce you to its characters and plot.

It's great to see Jon Polito, who has starred in just about every Coen Brothers movie made. Looking him up on IMDB I was saddened to see that he passed away in 2016. Didn't know that.

Getting back to the film at hand....

This Coen Brothers effort is mostly boring. Yes, it looks visually striking and the B&W photography is beautiful. However, the film just takes forever to get to where it's going, and when it does, it's a bit of a letdown.

I didn't hate it. I didn't love it.

Not one of the better Coen Brothers films.
​

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

View attachment 38894

Not part of the Coen Brothers set in question. This was actually recommended as an add-on watch.

Watched it this morning. My feelings? I am a little numb. The film is just under two hours in length and one really feels every single minute ticking by. The story moves at a snail pace, taking its time to introduce you to its characters and plot.

It's great to see Jon Polito, who has starred in just about every Coen Brothers movie made. Looking him up on IMDB I was saddened to see that he passed away in 2016. Didn't know that.

Getting back to the film at hand....

This Coen Brothers effort is mostly boring. Yes, it looks visually striking and the B&W photography is beautiful. However, the film just takes forever to get to where it's going, and when it does, it's a bit of a letdown.

I didn't hate it. I didn't love it.

Not one of the better Coen Brothers films.
​

With the Coens sometimes it takes more than one watch. I really enjoyed A Serious Man much more the second time. So, you may want to try it again at some point. Polito is great in The Man Who Wasn't There...as usual for him.

 

[Matt Hough]

I agree with you, especially in regards to this film, Gregory. My feelings were similar to Ron's after my first viewing, and I didn't rewatch it for a number of years. When I rewatched it a few weeks ago after the discussion about the Blu-ray pricing (I have it on DVD), I found I enjoyed it much more the second time around. I didn't remember any of the twists and ironies in the narrative, so I got hooked on seeing how the house of cards came tumbling down.

Is it among their greatest? No. But it's better to me than I initially gave it credit for being.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I just received my copy of the Blu from Amazon. I had put it in my cart based on this thread. And, then the price dropped to $7.75! Now the challenge will be to find time for it.

I also ordered the Coen set (with which Ron started this thread) from the UK as I only had two of the films on Blu (Lebowski and Serious man), knew nothing about Intolerable Cruelty, and had one on DVD (Burn After Reading), and had been hankering for years to upgrade my DVD of Barton Fink. I knew Kino had a release of BF coming this summer, but the Amazon.uk price for this entire set was just too good to pass up.

 

[bigshot]

I screened The Big Lebowski last weekend, and I suspect that the Coen brothers may not end up being favorites of mine. The acting was great and the cinematics were all very well thought out, but other than the lead character, there was no letup... every scene was pushed to 10 on a scale of 1 to 10. It reminded me a lot of Oliver Stone, just not as ignorant. Everything worked, but the pacing felt pushed. The actors did a good job of maintaining that energy without flagging. I just wish there were places in the film where I could catch my breath as a viewer. Because it was so amped up, I never really fell into the picture. I can objectively see that the film was very well made though. I'll watch more Cohn brothers films, but the with two I've seen so far (Lebowski and Barton Fink) I'm probably not going to watch them again anytime soon.