List by Jordan Harper Pro
Best of the Coen brothers
In order of how much I love them, even though it's really not right to compare films like The Hudsucker Proxy and No Country for Old Men.
-
1
-
2
-
3
-
4
-
5
-
6
-
7
-
8
-
9
-
10
-
11
-
12
-
13
-
14
-
15
Crew
Woohoo!! Three films here I didn't even know about. My watchlist is now groaning under the weight. Thanks for the tips!
I've already re-arranged the top five as No Country for Old Men is on TV and I'd forgotten how good it is. Which ones didn't you know about?
Crew
Miller's Crossing, Blood Simple and Lady Killers are new to me.
I'd put Fargo first, then No Country and Big Lebowski. Raising Arizona and Burn After Reading deserve to jump ahead of A Serious Man and The Man Who Wasn't There, and probably even True Grit.
Damn, these are some fine movies. Those boys really know what they're doing.
Crew
I watched No Country For Old Men without blinking once, and then I immediately played it back again. I think this is the most "studyable" film I've ever cared to dissect, in terms of literary devices - foreshadowing, symbolism, and all that malarky. Just so intelligently created. A work of genius.
Ace list. Fargo's my No. 1. Now I love Canadian's, Peter Stomare and Woodchippers. I agree with your last three - Burn After Reading, Intolerable Cruelty and Ladykillers are bad - are they really Cohen bro films?
Crew
Burn After Reading wasn't bad. It was no O Brother, but it let Brad Pitt take the piss out of himself really nicely. I think I might need a rewatch to get the most out of it.
Miller's Crossing is wonderful, Blood Simple is a good film, but it's very early in their careers so lacks the polish of their later work (I've probably been a bit harsh on it in my list). Ladykillers I wouldn't worry too much about, but if you're a completist!
I found Burn After Reading a little tedious. It was a bit too farcical, even for the Coens. It's no Hudsucker, that's for sure.
I enjoyed A Serious Man in much the same way I enjoyed No Country: a great film to study and absorb.
As for Raising Arizona, I enjoyed it, but it didn't stay with me in the same way the ones I've ranked higher did. I never really took to it.
I always stick up for the Coens' earlier films; there's a lot going on there too. Barton Fink in particular rewards multiple viewings. The Man Who Wasn't There is also highly underrated, and even Intolerable Cruelty (as one of their most flawed films) is still quite good when you stack it against the majority of movies out there.
Is should probably give Barton Fink another go. I have to say that it didn't do much for me when I first watched it, but I could see there was something there. Big fan of The Man Who Wasn't There.
As you say, the thing about the Coens is that even the films in the middle of lists like this are brilliant.