Directors The Coen Brothers movies - How would you rank them? (1 Viewer)

[Imbi]

Mine:

1.) Fargo
2.) Barton Fink
3.) Miller's Crossing
4.) Big Lebowski

Well, that's all i've seen. How about you guys?

 

[Nick Sievers]

Cool topic. It is hard to rank them, I love every film they have made and shuffle them around a bit but right now I would say:-

1. Miller's Crossing
2. The Big Lebowski
3. Raising Arizona
4. Fargo
5. Barton Fink
6. Blood Simple
7. O Brother Where Art Thou?
8. The Hudsucker Proxy
9. The Man Who Wasn't There

 

[Jim_K]

Top tier
1. Miller's Crossing
2. Raising Arizona
3. Blood Simple

Mid tier (good films but overrated)
4. Fargo
5. The Big Lebowski
6. The Man Who Wasn't There

Bottom tier
7. O Brother Where Art Thou?
8. Barton Fink
9. The Hudsucker Proxy

 

[Walter Kittel]

1. Miller's Crossing - Still the Bros' most accomplished film.

2. Blood Simple - Great neo-noir that combines tension and dark humor to great affect. Tempted to rank it #1.

3. The Big Lebowski - Another noirish film from the Bros. that makes #3 mostly on the basis of Jeff Bridges character / performance.

4. Raising Arizona - Practically a live action cartoon.

5. O Brother, Where Art Thou? - One of the more enjoyable films in the Coen Bros. repertoire. Played more like a series of vignettes, which knocks the film down a notch or two. Still very enjoyable with likeable characters, which moves it above the critical favorite Fargo.

6. Fargo - A highly praised film that honestly has never really resonated with me. Objectively I can see why folks like this film, and it does have its moments, but I'm not a huge fan.

7. Barton Fink - Moments of greatness, but overall a little too disjointed. Some of the scenes would have worked better in a David Lynch film.

8. The Man Who Wasn't There - Technically strong, with great cinematography, but even moreso than Fargo; there is zero emotional resonance with the characters on the screen. The Coens have always had some emotional distance from the audience, but here the cinematography alone isn't enough to compensate. ( And I hated the scene with Scarlett Johannsonn and Billy Bob Thornton prior to the wreck. It really seemed like a cheap joke. ) I am a big fan of noir, and while this film got the style right, it didn't handle the substance.

9. The Hudsucker Proxy - Great production values, but a story that simply failed to engage me. Not a big fan of Jennifer Jason Leigh's vocal performance in this film, either.

- Walter.

 

[SteveGon]

Fargo
Miller's Crossing
Raising Arizona
Blood Simple
Barton Fink
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
The Big Lebowski
The Man Who Wasn't There
The Hudsucker Proxy

 

[Bill J]

1. Fargo
2. Blood Simple
3. Miller's Crossing
4. Barton Fink
5. The Big Lebowski
6. The Man Who Wasn't There
7. Raising Arizona
8. The Hudsucker Proxy
9. O Brother, Where Art Thou?

 

[Andrew_Sch]

1. Big Lebowski
2. Fargo
3. O Brother, Where Art Thou?
4. Miller's Crossing
5. The Man Who Wasn't There
6. Barton Fink

With the possible exceptions of BF and TMWWT, I'd rather watch any of these movies than about 99% of everything else out there.

 

[JonZ]

1.The Big Lebowski (This gets a higher rating becuase its the funniest film Ive seen since Monty Python & Holy Grail)
2.Fargo
3.Miller's Crossing
4.Raising Arizona
5.O Brother Where Art Thou?
6.The Man Who Wasn't There
7.Blood Simple
8.Barton Fink
9.The Hudsucker Proxy

 

[MartinTeller]

Raising Arizona
Fargo
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Barton Fink
The Man Who Wasn't There
Miller's Crossing
Blood Simple
The Hudsucker Proxy
The Big Lebowski

 

[Patrick McCart]

I haven't seen Blood Simple, Miller's Crossing, The Big Lebowski, or Barton Fink yet...

I really would have to rank The Hudsucker Proxy, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, The Man Who Wasn't There, and Raising Arizona at a pretty even level. They're all great movies.

 

[Dome Vongvises]

1. Fargo
2. Miller's Crossing
3. Raising Arizona
4. O Brother, Where Art Thou?
5. The Man Who Wasn't There
6. The Hudsucker Proxy
7. The Big Lebowski

 

[Brook K]

Fargo
The Big Lebowski
Raising Arizona
Barton Fink
Oh Brother Where Art Thou?
Miller's Crossing
The Hudsucker Proxy
Blood Simple
The Man Who Wasn't There

 

[Scott Weinberg]

Eesh. What an entertainingly devious question...

I do agree with something that Nicky S said above:



But I'll give it a go:

1. Miller's Crossing
2. Raising Arizona
3. Fargo
4. The Hudsucker Proxy
5. The Big Lebowski
6. O Brother, Where Art Thou?
7. Blood Simple
8. Barton Fink
9. The Man Who Wasn't There

...Yes, I'm the one who thinks THP is a massively underrated flick. I just love it.

Can't wait for Intolerable Cruelty!!

 

[Simon_Lepine]

I must say I like them all, but here's a tentative ranking.

1. Miller's Crossing
2. Fargo
3. Blood Simple
4. Big Lebowski
5. Barton Fink
6. Raising Arizona
7. The Hudsucker Proxy
8. The Man Who Wasn't There

Haven't seen O Brother yet.

 

[JohnRice]

Huge Coen fan here. I never know how to answer this question. About the best I can do is.


#1: Miller's Crossing

The rest of them at varying levels at different times.



I have this whole Coen, pizza, sex joke I have probably already told just about everyone here.

 

[Nick Sievers]

I have this whole Coen, pizza, sex joke I have probably already told just about everyone here.

I must have missed that one.

 

[Brad Porter]

I group and rank their films as follows:

The straight dramas (albeit with some unique characters)
1a. Fargo
1b. Miller's Crossing
3. Blood Simple

The comedy-dramas (often with classical literary or cinematic references)
2a. The Man Who Wasn't There
2b. O Brother, Where Art Thou?
3. Barton Fink

The straight comedies (probably my favorite category)
1a. The Big Lebowski
1b. Raising Arizona
3. The Hudsucker Proxy

So its Lebowski, Arizona, Miller's and Fargo competing for first; Man Who Wasn't & O Brother in the second group, and Fink, Simple and Hudsucker coming in a close third. So, pretty much like JonZ's list above.

I'm not sure what to expect of Intolerable Cruelty, which is the most favorable attitude I've found to have prior to seeing a Coen brothers film.

Brad

 

[JohnRice]

Ok, here it is then.


A Coen Bros. movie is like pizza and sex. When it's good, it's very good, and when it's bad, it's still pretty good.

 

[Kirk Tsai]

Most people differ from me on TMWWT and O Brother

The Man Who Wasn't There
Raising Arizona
Fargo
Miller's Crossing

The Big Lebowski
Blood Simple
O Brother Where Art Thou?

 

[Sean Dilly]

good poll, i was just thinking about this a few days ago.
For me the list changes..but here goes

1. The Big Lebowski
2. Millers Crossing
3. Fargo
4. Raising Arizona
5. O Brother Where Art Thou?
6. Barton Fink
7. The Hudsucker Proxy
8. Blood Simple
9. Man Who Wasnt There