Is there any movie we ALL would agree is good (if not great)?

Cafe Society
341

Well, I know that almost everyone will have their own picks of the best of the Coen brothers and will disagree with mine, but here they are anyway:

  • For drama, their first film, Blood Simple.

  • For drama with comedy, Fargo.

  • For sheer fun and laughs, Intolerable Cruelty (not as highly rated by critics as most of their other films, but I don’t care – I absolutely loved it!)

  • For a melancholy and nostalgic retrospective on the folk music scene, some comedy, and a terrific soundtrack, Inside Llewyn Davis

342

I’d say for comedy, Raising Arizona.

343

During the Pandemic, my wife and I did a Coen Bros film fest and ranked them all (we did this for a few directors). Basically, it broke down in thirds. The top thirdish were great, middle thirdish were very good and bottom third were actually not very good. Here’s our list ETA this list is fluid and things can move up or down.

  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

344

I’d put Hudsucker MUCH higher than that.

345

Raising Arizona was great, but there’s something about Intolerable Cruelty that really tickles my funnybone! I love the courtroom scene with Heinz, the Baron Krauss von Espy! :grin: And George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones are just great in it!

346

Did you edit the post above mine (#341)? I’d swear it originally said “For comedy, Fargo.”

347

If you mean my list, no, it always said “For drama with comedy, Fargo”

Though in retrospect, maybe I should have said “drama with touches of humour”.

348

Do you mean the 1946 version with James Stewart and Donna Reed or the 1951 version with James Dunn, Allene Roberts, and Arthur Shields? If the former, I have already stated what I think of James Stewart (gives me the creeps), if the latter, I have never seen it, so I abstain.

Maybe he was, but I can’t stand him.

But not repulsion!

349

Come on, now. Which do you think?

350

Then I am against.

351

Don’t mind me. I used to have a brain. Or maybe being on Jeopardy! was just a dream I had.

352

I think it’s hilarious but I guarantee some will dismiss it purely because it’s ‘old and in black and white’.

353

I tried to watch that once and I’m not sure I even made it to halfway.

354

It’s not a bad film but I don’t get the adulation it receives. It’s…fine.

355

Me too

356

Someone mentioned Pixar and I think that is a very good pick. Their best films are just so solidly crafted it’s hard to see anyone disliking them. If I had to pick just one, as a candidate for least likely to be disliked I think I would go with Toy Story 2.

357

Did we have The Life of Brian yet?

358

I’ll nix this one, but not because “it’s old and in black and white”. I love many old movies, and some old TV shows as well. After watching all of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, I just spent a delightful few weeks watching The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.

No, the thing that’s dated about Some Like It Hot isn’t the dated film format, it’s the dated humour. I just don’t find it funny.

359

Never saw it, how about Up?

360

Pixar has made some great stuff, but why on earth would you pick the sequel to the original Toy Story? I thought that was a beautiful movie. I saw it in the theater with my son when he was little, and I was a sucker for the inevitable merchandising. What better movie to market toys than a movie about toys! I’m pretty sure we had them all, and some were really fun to play with!