Popular reviews

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  Review by Todd Gaines ★★★★½ 61

  The story of a bar owner, his wife, her lover the bartender, and the private investigator. 

  Joel and Ethan Coen are just like Mario and Luigi, they're super. With a debut film like Blood Simple, the Coen Brothers do it all and then some. 

  The editing. There's a ceiling fan shot that changes over to a scene In a bed, a finger press of an answering machine turning into a finger in the back seat of a car, and a newspaper that hits the door like a ton of bricks when dark news is delivered. Can you say, fucktastic editing?

  The music. What a mix. One part is early 80's piano pop. I guess it's a piano. You hear the…

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  Review by Josh Lewis ★★★★ 2

  Funny how you can see just about every single career interest here like they thought they might not get another stab at it. The dark, fatalistic sense of humor, the sweaty, southern existential neo-noir/western vibe, the cruel combating forces of self-interest and stupidity, the frequently mundane ambient hum of our existence, and people trapped in farcically brutal contraptions of their own making where a minor miscommunication or impulse escalates into bloody death.

  Full discussion on ep 210 of my podcast SLEAZOIDS.

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  Review by k(arst)en ★★★★½ 10

  I love these Minnesota boys so god damn much.

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  Review by demi adejuyigbe ★★★★ 9

  LOVE Dan Hedaya lookin' like a psychopathic Andy Kaufman and John Getz lookin' like a traumatized John Ritter. Funny how strong the Coens' fascination with dramatic irony has been since the very beginning! Absolutely dig the theme in the score here, too– I feel like I rarely pick up on themes, but Burwell's stands out so well and it's so beautiful. To think this, McDormand's first film, also features three prominent red billboards that are outside of Ebbing, Missouri (as all of Texas is!) Damn, I love her. Love Barry Sonnenfeld too. The way he shoots this series of unfortunate events... marvelous!

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  Review by Lucy ★★★★½ 3

  i can't believe the coen brothers invented anxiety in 1984??? THIS ALMOST GAVE ME A HEART ATTACK.....

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  Review by Molly Laich ★★★½ 7

  Shoulda been called blood complicated

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  Review by #1 gizmo fan ★★★★★ 5

  LITERALLY ONE OF MOST GORGEOUS AND DARKLY HILARIOUS MOVIES I'VE EVER SEEN. I'm so glad the theater I saw this in was completely packed. This was the most fun I've had seeing a movie in a theater full of people!!! I love movies so much oh my god.

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  Review by iana ★★★★

  the tension in blood simple is a slow, ever-tightening screw. the paranoia so overwhelming, it made my skin crawl. 

  also i love seeing frances mcdormand kick men in the balls

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  Review by brendan o'hare ★★★★

  I've always liked the story of how this movie was funded, the Coens going to all the dentists in Michigan and asking for money. I think more movies should be funded by dentists

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  Review by Ethan Colburn ★★★★★ 7

  “Never point a gun at anyone, unless you mean to shoot him. And if you shoot him, you better make sure he's dead. Because if he ain't dead, he's gonna get up and try to kill you. That's the only thing they taught us in the service that's worth a god damn.”

  It’s basically a comedy of errors without the comedy. You’re constantly thinking about who knows what when. Having characters with different amounts of information and often false information builds incredible tension every time two characters meet, because you have to piece together what they do and don’t know.

  The script is perfectly complimented by Joel’s directing, which is independently impressive, especially given the lengthy and gripping silent scene…

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  Review by Will Menaker ★★★★★ 1

  In Russia, they make only 50 cents a day...

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  Review by AmandaTheJedi ★★★★½ 3

  I don't know if I could have stopped myself from yelling if I had watched this in a theatre because here I am yelling 'GET HIM BITCH' in my living room.