No Country for Old Men (2007)

 

Violence and mayhem ensue after a hunter stumbles upon a drug deal gone wrong and more than two million dollars in cash near the Rio Grande. 

Congenial adaptation of the Cormac McCarthy novel finds the Coen Bros. at the top of their art spinning a dark, sinister and thrilling tale full of excellent scenes, great photography and top performances all around.

Maltin***1/2: "Crackling tale...Creating tension from the first moments onward (and without the use of music), the Coens' adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel is a brooding tale of fate set against a stark backdrop...but not without irony and humor. Set on fire by Bardem's Academy Award-winning performance; brilliantly photographed by Roger Deakins." 

 

The Big Lebowski (1998)

 

Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski, mistaken for a millionaire of the same name, seeks restitution for his ruined rug and enlists his bowling buddies to help get it.

Easy-going (like its titular character), serendipitous drama, full of black humor and numerous memorable sequences and with a colorful ensemble of eccentric characters is thoroughly entertaining; an instant cult classic.

Halliwell**: "A meandering thriller that provides a great deal of incidental pleasures on a journey to nowhere in particular."

Maltin**1/2: "One big shaggy-dog joke, courtesy of the Coen brothers...Mostly an excuse for off-the-wall character vignettes, some of which are amusing, some of which are just...strange. Minor Coen concoction with a most agreeable cast. Turturro is a standout as Jesus the bowler, but Bridges' Dave the Dude has become a pop culture icon." 

 

The Movies I Watched in November

The Accountant of Auschwitz 2018  7 

 

All the Boys Love Mandy Lane 2006  5 

The Big Lebowski 1998  8

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan 2020  5

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving  1973  7 

 

The Dead Zone 1983  8 

 

Double Cross 1941  5

The Duel 2016  6

The Four Feathers 1978  6

House of Seven Belles 1979  4

The Juniper Tree 1990  7

 

The Killer Shrews  1959  4

Man on the Moon 1999  6

The Mule 2018  6 

Music, Money, Madness... Jimi Hendrix In Maui (2020)  6

My Octopus Teacher 2020  8 

 

Opera 1987  7

Operation Petticoat 1959  6

The Queen's Gambit 2020 8 

 

Ride With the Devil 1999  6

Stridulum 1978  4

Unsolved Mysteries, Season 2 2020  7

 

Wadjda 2012 7 

 

Das Wolkenphänomen von Maloja 1924  7

 

Z For Zachariah 2015  6

True Grit (2010)

A tough U.S. Marshal helps a stubborn young woman track down her father's murderer.

Solid and tasteful remake of a John Wayne classic with a great central performance, but the movie doesn't add anything new or unique.

On rewatching: Entertaining and well-made, but not better than the original; perfect role for Jeff Bridges, though.

Maltin***: "Remake of the 1969 hit allows Bridges to put his own stamp on the role...The Coens' script calls on their love for language..., while cinematographer Roger Deakins fills the screen with beautiful imagery. Entertaining, to be sure, but being as unsentimental as it is, there isn't any emotional resonance when it's all over."

The Movies I Watched in February

Bad Samaritan 2018  6
Before I Fall 2017  6
Beoning (2018)  7

Black Sea 2014  6
The Cabin in the Woods 2011  6
Hell or High Water 2016  7

The Hole in the Ground 2019  6
L'Homme de chevet 2009  6
Hostile 2017  5
Kehraus 1983  7

Marriage Story 2019  7

Morgan 2016  6
The Net 1995  5
Only the Brave 2017  6
Prospect 2018  6
Scarface 1983  6
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers 1946  6
The Thing 2011  6
True Grit 2010  6
Where Does a Body End? 2019  7

The Movies I Watched in December

Anaconda 1997  6
Babylon Berlin 2018  7

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs 2018  7

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)  7

Butter 2011  5
Cam 2018  7

The Courier 2012  5
Downsizing 2017  7

Elektra 2005  5
The Equalizer 2014  6
The Fourth Estate 2018  7

The Gambler 2014  6
It Happened at Lakewood Manor 1977  3
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown 1966  7

The Jungle Book 1967  8

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. 2015  5
Murphy's Law 1986  6
Navajo Joe 1966  6
Nurse 3-D 2013  5
Outlaw King 2018  6
Savages 2012  7

Something's Gotta Give 2003  6
Suspiria 2018  6
Wind River 2017  6
The Woman in Black 2012  6

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)

An anthology film comprised of six stories, each dealing with a different aspect of life in the Old West.

The Coen Bros. actually make it work it: the often maligned anthology film; each episodes ups the ante from macabre satire to intense drama, brilliantly conceived, perfectly cast, and with wonderful cinematography.

New Stuff: The Coen Brothers

Suburbicon (2017)

As a 1950s suburban community self-destructs, a home invasion has sinister consequences for one seemingly normal family.

George Clooney's satire is clearly and successfully exploring Coen Bros territory, this time there's more darkness and dread than humour; the racism subplot, however, seems grafted and has hardly any reasonable connection to the main story.

Miller's Crossing (1990)

An advisor to a Prohibition-era crime boss, tries to keep the peace between warring mobs but gets caught in divided loyalties.

Highly referential (and entertaining) neo-noir thriller, splendidly staged and cast and full of the Coen Bros' dark humour.

Halliwell**: "Sombre, solidly made thriller, directed with a macabre skill."

Maltin**1/2: "Moody, stylish, and pretentious take on gangster films...Dense and dour, it's almost doggedly off-putting at first, but gets more involving as its serpentine story unfolds. Some bravura moments..."

Hail, Caesar! (2016)

A Hollywood fixer in the 1950s works to keep the studio's stars in line.

Tongue-in-cheek homage to 50s Hollywood is especially convincing in its meticulous recreation of film scenes of diverse genres; in fact, the settings are all excellent, but the story with several subplots doesn't quite thrill, and the humour is sparse.

New Stuff: Hail, Caesar!

Fargo (1996)

A car dealer's inept crime falls apart due to his and his henchmen's bungling and the persistent police work of a pregnant policewoman.

A masterpiece of black comedy and arguably the directors' most perfect work summing up their oeuvre so far.

It's one of the few movies I enjoy rewatching again and again.

Halliwell****: "Deft, witty and original thriller which pits a pregnant, rural police chief against two city slickers; the violence, when it comes, is properly shocking, but it's the humanity that you will remember."

Maltin***1/2: "The Coen brothers put a unique spin on a murder case, layering their story with droll Minnesotans and winding up with a totally disarming comedy!"

New Stuff: Fargo

A birthday gift from my pal Ralf. Actually, he got me a Blu-ray/internet TV device, with which I can play it.

Fargo (1996)

A car dealer's inept crime falls apart due to his and his henchmen's bungling and the persistent police work of a pregnant policewoman.

A masterpiece of black comedy and arguably the directors' most perfect work summing up their oeuvre so far.

On seeing it again I have nothing to add.

Halliwell****: "Deft, witty and original thriller which pits a pregnant, rural police chief against two city slickers; the violence, when it comes, is properly shocking, but it's the humanity that you will remember."

Maltin***1/2: "The Coen brothers put a unique spin on a murder case, layering their story with droll Minnesotans and winding up with a totally disarming comedy!"

New Stuff: The Big Lebowski (1998)

I recently decided to watch this classic again, and with shock I realized I didn't have it as DVD yet.

The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)

A naive business graduate is installed as president of a manufacturing company as part of a stock scam.

Coen Brothers' likable and entertaining homage to the good old days of cinema is a mixture of screwball comedy, newspaper movie and social satire; this time told more straighforward than usual.

Halliwell**: "Clever and enjoyable pastiche of Hollywood comedies of the 40s, close in spirit to Preston Sturges and an ending straight out of Frank Capra. It is stylzed, stylish and civilized entertainment."

Maltin***: "The Coen brothers' most extravagant creation to date, an eye-popping '50s fantasy of big business gone berserk, with Robbins absolutely perfect as the wide-eyed patsy who miraculously rises to the top. Newman is a crafty villain, and Leigh is fun (if a bit one-note) as a fast-talking, Kate Hepburn-ish reporter."

Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)

A week in the life of a young singer as he navigates the Greenwich Village folk scene of 1961.

What at first glance appears to be the day-to-day odyssey of a hapless artist, reveals further puzzling depths of significance on second thought.

Inside Llewyn Davis

Of course I collect all Coen Bros. movies.

Fargo (1996)

A car dealer's inept crime falls apart due to his and his henchmen's bungling and the persistent police work of a pregnant policewoman.

A masterpiece of black comedy and arguably the directors' most perfect work summing up their oeuvre so far.