Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Pagan Sphinx Entertainment Highlight: The New Coen Brothers Movie

If life is just a series of small, pleasurable amusements, I think I'll take it.   ;-)

Film makers Ethan and Joel Cohen Coen prove that good American films can still be made. Here is the trailer from their latest movie A Serious Man. WP, Lovely Stepdaughter #1 (visiting from San Francisco for the weekend) and I went to see it on Saturday night. We got there late and had to sit 12" from the screen but well worth it, since the offering from the creators of Fargo, is always likely to be entertaining.

That all religions often fail us than not, is an under-statement. Not to mention the god of Mathematics.



And because there's not a bone in my body that can resist the song in its entirety - Grace Slick and Jefferson Airplane:

16 comments:

  1. Love the Coen boys....as my last post today alludes to....and I can't WAIT to see this movie!! Lucky!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Coen Brothers are, by far, the greatest filmmakers
    working today. From "Blood Simple" onwards they have consistently produced nigh on perfect films making them easily comparable to giants like Powell/Pressburger and Hitchcock.

    I am always particularly impressed by the performances they get out of the actors (often, creatively, casting them against type). They are the Royal Shakespeare Company of the movie industry.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I like their movies too--their comedies rather than their violent films though.

    ReplyDelete
  4. There are (I think) Robert Altman touches in their movies - I'm sure there are countless filmakers who've been influenced by Altman but none as good as these guys.

    Thanks to all for the comments.

    Liberality: Hi! I hope you're well. Good to "see" you. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Lemmi: I'm going over to check out your film post!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh. Wait. MadPriest: Blood Simple remains my favorite. It has its own charm, doesn't it? Love it. Feel free to flesh that thought out, by the way. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love the Coens brotthers' films although some of their comedies did irritate me a little (not a fan of Raising Arizona or the Hudsucker Proxy) THeir dramas are among the best films made

    ReplyDelete
  8. I haven't seen "A serious Man" yet, but I plan on it. I worked on "Fargo" when I worked in the film business back in the 1990's. All Coen Bros. movies have been great in my opinion. Serious Man was filmed a lot nearby in St. Paul, MN, as was Fargo.

    Peace.

    ReplyDelete
  9. In order to complete our record of seeing every Coen Brothers movie we recently watched The Lady Killers. It wasn't nearly as good as the original but they've still never made a bad movie. Nevertheless, it's hard to pick a favorite, isn't it? We'll be seeing this one too.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Susan: I have several favorites but you're so right, it is hard to pick a favorite. Fargo is excellent, even though when it first received the Oscar, I didn't think it was as highly deserving as some of their older films may have been. After watching it many more times, it probably is their best movie. I have good memories of great films, dinners and conversations with good friends from that the year Blood Simple was released. It's a sort of cult favorite of mine, in general.

    And Barton Fink is another one I really like.

    I haven't seen Lady Killers and I think one more I can't think of right now.

    Great to hear from you, Susan. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  11. "Raising Arizona" was one of the first films Mrs MadPriest and myself saw when we started a courtin'. And it has always been one of our favourite films.

    I think Mrs MadPriest would go for "O Brother, where art thou." I loved "Fargo" but I watched "Burn Before Reading" and haven't laughed at a movie so much in years. But then I am quite sick.

    ReplyDelete
  12. MadPriest: Burn After Reading was really funny. WP and I both really liked liked it. I liked how Brad Pitt wasn't really Brad Pitt anymore with a really good script to act to.

    In Blood Simple, I was a bit disconcerted over the fact that violence can be humorous - but that is not a new theme in films or in the arts, in general.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Yes, PS. I'm afraid I even sniggered at the axing.

    And I loved the bloke out of "The Closer" (TV) as the department head. I know it was just his "Closer" role writ large but it was still a classic performance.

    ReplyDelete
  14. MP:In Fargo, where one of the thugs is committed to the wood chipper machine; that's one of my favorite movie moments in a Coen film. As far as the actor from The Closer, it's not ringing any bells. I've watched a couple of episodes of that program but the police boss lady character gets on my nerves.

    ReplyDelete

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