# Coen Brothers poll
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coen-brothers-poll/769528
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [October 23, 2016, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coen-brothers-poll/769528 "2016-10-23T21:23:24Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2016, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coen-brothers-poll/769528/1 "2016-10-23T21:23:24Z")
Which film by the Coen Brothers do you think is the best?
I only listed the ones they wrote, produced, and directed but I left a option for others.
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### Author:  [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2016, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coen-brothers-poll/769528/2 "2016-10-23T21:25:51Z")
I seen 'em first!
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### Author:  [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2016, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coen-brothers-poll/769528/3 "2016-10-23T21:34:56Z")
I haven’t seen them all. I’ve seen the majority of them, but I still haven’t worked up the courage for _No Country For Old Men_. That’s the biggest gap in my viewing. Of the ones I have seen, my vote goes to _A Serious Man_. Lots to think about, great performances, hilarious and disturbing dark comedy, and a gut-punch ending. I left laughing and feeling miserable.
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### Author:  [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2016, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coen-brothers-poll/769528/4 "2016-10-23T21:57:51Z")
_Fargo_ and _The Big Lebowski_ are too obvious, so I decided to give _The Hudsucker Proxy_ some love.
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### Author:  [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2016, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coen-brothers-poll/769528/5 "2016-10-23T22:40:34Z")
The Coen’s work provides an embarrassment of riches; very tough choice. But in the end, like Bayard, I went with _A Serious Man_. It’s profound, and consistently, well, _interesting_. There’s not a moment that rings false, and yet it’s heightened and deeply emotional. And funny. Just a wrenching, masterful movie.
I have great and sincere love for _Fargo, Raising Arizona, The Big Lebowski, Barton Fink, O Brother Where Art Thou, The Hudsucker Proxy_, and even _Burn After Reading_. The others are wonderful, too (though there are three on the list I haven’t yet seen).
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### Author:  [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2016, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coen-brothers-poll/769528/6 "2016-10-23T23:09:54Z")
_Fargo_, simply because it put the Minnesota accent on the map (if that makes sense).
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2016, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coen-brothers-poll/769528/7 "2016-10-23T23:53:55Z")
_Fargo_ set a high bar, but I was extremely impressed by _Hail Ceasar_ and there are several others that are great films.
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### Author:  [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2016, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coen-brothers-poll/769528/8 "2016-10-23T23:58:37Z")
My fave has always been **Miller’s Crossing**. **Fargo** running a close second.
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### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2016, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coen-brothers-poll/769528/9 "2016-10-24T00:49:46Z")
\*Fargo \*or _Big Lebowski._
\*Oh Brother \*running third.
\*No Country for Old Men \*is their worst.
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### Author:  [@tenacious\_j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tenacious_j)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2016, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coen-brothers-poll/769528/10 "2016-10-24T01:22:31Z")
I love so many of them, and they are all different, which is unusual for someone with so many films to their credit.
Voted for O Brother, but it took a minute to choose between that and Fargo. And Lebowski. And Hudsucker.
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2016, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coen-brothers-poll/769528/11 "2016-10-24T01:27:14Z")
I found _O Brother, Where Art Thou?_ just a tad weak and am surprised it’s leading in the poll now. I’d say _Fargo_ by a nose, with _Miller’s Crossing_ and _Blood Simple_ tied for second, with several really close behind for third.
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2016, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coen-brothers-poll/769528/12 "2016-10-24T01:48:37Z")
The Dude abides. _Lebowski_, forever and ever, amen.
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### Author:  [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2016, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coen-brothers-poll/769528/13 "2016-10-24T02:10:45Z")
While _Blood Simple_ is less polished than their later films, it has a smothering noir perfection that few films can touch. My only dislike is that I think the VHS version, which used “I’m a Believer” as the jukebox tune, works better than the theatrical/DVD version of whatever goopy song was originally chosen.
Four Oscar-worthy performances, dead black humor delivered with precision timing, and one of the most wonderful confusion plots ever penned. It’s not until the third time you watch it that you realize _not one of the four characters knows what’s happening_… ever.
“I ain’t afraid o’ you, Marty!”
ETA: I absolutely don’t get the love for _Lebowski_. Leaves me completely cold.
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### Author:  [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2016, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coen-brothers-poll/769528/14 "2016-10-24T02:46:10Z")
Tough choice, but I went with _O, Brother?_ It was a combination of story, acting, period, and music that’s a very tough combo to beat.
I still have mad, mad love for _Fargo_, _The Big Lebowski_, _Raising Arizona_, _Miller’s Crossing_, and _No Country For Old Men_.
_ETA: True Grit!_
Haven’t seen all of the others, so it may be possible at some point that I’d change my mind.
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### Author:  [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2016, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coen-brothers-poll/769528/15 "2016-10-24T03:54:12Z")
Close for me between _O, Brother_ and _True Grit_. But since I bought _True Grit_ (and rewatched it a couple of times) when it came out but did not buy _O, Brother_, I guess that means it is _True Grit_. I also like _Hudsucker Proxy_.
Of course, the funny thing about them is I find everybody has movies they like of theirs and then some they hate. For example, I can’t stand _Fargo_.
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### Author:  [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2016, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coen-brothers-poll/769528/16 "2016-10-24T04:07:06Z")
I’m very fond of Fargo, Inside Llewyn Davis and Intolerable Cruelty and enjoy almost all the others as well. But O Brother wins by a whisker because I just loved everything about it: The dialogue, the music, the story, the Iliad framework, the actors, the characters. It delights me from beginning to end.
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### Author:  [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2016, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coen-brothers-poll/769528/17 "2016-10-24T05:43:03Z")
I’ve re-watched The Big Lebowski more times than I’ve re-watched any other movie. I know It’s got a reputation as a stoner movie to watch with your inebriated friends, but I strongly recommend watching it sober, by yourself. (Not that it isn’t fun to watch with your buddies and yell along with all the well known lines.) Every time I watch it I see something new.
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### Author:  [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2016, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coen-brothers-poll/769528/18 "2016-10-24T07:37:33Z")
_Raising Arizona_ only just edges out _Fargo_ for me. Possibly because it contains one scene that never fails to have my in stitches no matter how often I see it. _“Son, you got a panty on your head!”_. Laughing just thinking about it.
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### Author:  [@WilyQuixote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WilyQuixote)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2016, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coen-brothers-poll/769528/19 "2016-10-24T08:06:09Z")
Expected the love to pour in for _Fargo_ and _The Big Lebowsk_i.
Kinda surprised to see _O Brother Where Art Though_ in the lead though.
I’ve seen most of the above films and the only one that really, truly felt “meh” was \*The Ladykillers. \*
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### Author:  [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2016, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coen-brothers-poll/769528/20 "2016-10-24T09:08:29Z")
When Hail Caesar! came out, my wife and I re-watched all the Coen Bros movies in preparation. Here is our ranking, although it’s only really the bottom few that we actually didn’t like and wouldn’t watch again.
1. Big Lebowski
2. Fargo
3. No Country for Old Men
4. Raising Arizona
5. True Grit
6. Barton Fink
7. Oh Brother Where Art Thou?
8. Man Who Wasn’t There
9. Blood Simple
10. Llewelyn Davis
11. Millers Crossing
12. Burn Before Reading
13. A Serious Man
14. Hail, Cesar!
15. Intolerable Cruelty
16. Hudsucker Proxy
17. Lady Killers
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