Swamp Movie Club: The Coen Brothers, O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU, 4/1, 9:30 pm ET

[L-Jam3]

Let's set this bad boy up.

What I'm thinking is maybe we can do a Monday night screening, and then have the discussion for the rest of the week. If you wouldn't be able to do the group screening, then you could try and check it out on your own.

So the first Coen Brothers movie is Blood Simple (1984). It's streaming on FuckZaslav, sorry, HBO Max. Say preliminarily we can make the first group viewing night Monday 2/12.

[Shirley]

I like the suggestion of scheduling a due date. Like, give folks a week and say watch it by this day (one-ish week out) and we'll start discussing the next day.

[The Sybian]

I like the suggestion of scheduling a due date. Like, give folks a week and say watch it by this day (one-ish week out) and we'll start discussing the next day.

This is a great idea. Like others said, I can't commit to a set time, but I'm down with a book club type discussion.

[P.D.X.]

Can’t remember if I’ve seen this one and the library has the dvd so I’m in.

[L-Jam3]

It looks like we can get some traction on this, so let's go with it.

The idea is we have a group viewing night of the Coen Brothers canon, in order, making it Monday nights. You can watch it prior if you don't think you can make it. And then use this thread to discuss. Here's the preliminary schedule through early April:

2/12: Blood Simple
2/19: Raising Arizona
2/27: Miller's Crossing
3/4: Barton Fink
3/11: The Hudsucker Proxy
3/18: Fargo
3/25: The Big Lebowski
4/1: O Brother, Where Art Thou?
4/8: No viewing, it's the NCAA Final

I don't remember who handled the Google meetup screens for group watching, but if you're him and you're up for it, send me a line.

And can I request a sticky here?

[The Sybian]

I can't see "Barton Fink" without reading the name in a cheer.

[sancarlos]

I saw Blood Simple decades ago and remember very little of it. I ordered the dvd from my county library system, and will have it in a couple days, so I’m in.

I’ve seen Raising Arizona literally dozens of times and own the dvd. I love it and can recite the lines along with the characters. So you know I’m looking forward to that one.

[Shirley]

Don't know if I'll watch it live with y'all, but I'll try to get a rewatch in before then. I've seen this one once, many years ago. It's not one of their absolute bests, but it's still quite good.

BTW, while No Country may be the Coen's "best" movie, Raising Arizona will always be my favorite.

[Nonlinear FC]

Quasi-Pro Tip: If you have Prime and you have racked up some credit, you can rent this pretty cheap. (It was $0.00 for me because my wife is fastidious racking up credit with them.) We just canceled Max, so that wasn't an option for me.

Just finished watching. Looking forward to the discussion. (Confession: I had to go back and read a good summary because I was folding laundry and some of the plot points got missed. Definitely hadn't seen this one, which made it fun, nonetheless.)

[sancarlos]

I haven’t seen Blood Simple in many years, and I don’t have Max, so I rented a dvd of the film from the library. The dvd is a restored version with an improved digital transfer and a bonus dvd full of interviews and discussions. It also includes an interesting essay about the film and all the Coen Brothers’ works, by film critic and novelist Nathaniel Rich. I think it’s a good essay. If you want to read it, I found a link to it on the internet, HERE.

[L-Jam3]

So I'm going to start watching now. I haven't taken the time to review how to do a Google meeting for more than an hour. If you guys want to do a meeting, I'll keep an eye on this board.

[sancarlos]

I rewatched it and really enjoyed it. Amazing to think that was released 40 years ago.

[Shirley]

I watched it again last night as well. It's certainly not as polished as later Coen works, but it kind of gets better and better as it goes along. Definitely a slow, but satisfying burn.

I didn't really care for some of M Emmet Walsh's acting - his random laughing seemed forced - but otherwise he and most others were great.

It's interesting to think about how Joel Coen married Frances McDormand and she's in so many of their movies. She's awesome. Would their movies have been as good if he'd married a lesser actor?

[Shirley]

BTW, whenever I see Walsh, I picture him as his character in Raising Arizona - forever chewing gum and talking incessantly at work.

[The Sybian]

I'm off to a great start, completely forgot to watch. Looks like I'm not too late to catch up with the discussion.

[Shirley]

Well, I thought this was a good idea. It seems like not a lot of folks agreed.

[L-Jam3]

I watched Monday night, and I was a little busy earlier this week, so here are my thoughts on Blood Simple:

1. Frances McDormand. Man. She could act from Day One.

2. I like that Dan Hedeya has been the same face for the last forty years, simply aging. I like to think he had that look at birth.

3. The burial scene. It was about 15 minutes long, with no dialogue or score except for the radio. And yet totally engrossing. Just a great piece of camera work.

I can see already that these guys had a great style. I've always been a sucker for neo-noir, so I certainly enjoyed it. Solid B+.

[L-Jam3]

So next on the list is Raising Arizona. It'll be a good refresher for me. It's been decades since I saw it, so I'm looking forward to it.

Does anyone know how to have a Google meeting last more than an hour? If people are good, I'll learn to host it.

[sancarlos]

I’ll try to make a meeting. I can damn near recite the whole movie along with the cast. So much great deadpan humor. Holly Hunter is super cute, and Nicholas Cage was way funnier here than ever again. John Goodman, William Forsyth, Sam McMurray, Trey Wilson, and Frances McDormand all great in supporting roles.

[+] spoiler

In the recently completed Fargo series, they had a sly callback to Raising Arizona, when Lorraine Lyon chastised the cops, saying “Are you going to find my granddaughter, or are you going to sit around drinking coffee in the one house I know that girl ain’t at?” Almost a direct quote of what Nathan Arizona yelled at the cops.

[Shirley]

2. I like that Dan Hedeya has been the same face for the last forty years, simply aging. I like to think he had that look at birth.

Loved the shirtless pic of him. Looked like he was wearing a rug.

[L-Jam3]

I don't know if I'll be able to start this at 9:30. I'm over my parents' for some things, and I'm nor sure I can stream here. Still looking forward to rewatching this.

[Shirley]

I'm not sure it's included for free in any streaming services. At least not ones I have. It's $4 on Amazon Prime though.

[L-Jam3]

Yeah, I'm doing the rental option. Money well spent.

[sancarlos]

Raising Arizona may not be one of the Coens’ five best films, but it’s one of my three favorites.

[Shirley]

Raising Arizona may not be one of the Coens’ five best films, but it’s one of my three favorites.

I'd be curious to see your top 5 is RA isn't in it.

[sancarlos]

Raising Arizona may not be one of the Coens’ five best films, but it’s one of my three favorites.

I'd be curious to see your top 5 is RA isn't in it.

It is in MY personal top five, but I meant that I’d guess many critics prefer (not necessarily in order) No Country, O Brother, Fargo, True Grit, Miller’s, Lebowski…)

[P.D.X.]

I'm not sure it's included for free in any streaming services. At least not ones I have. It's $4 on Amazon Prime though.

Streams on Hoopla if you can access with your local library credentials. (started it last night)

[The Sybian]

I'm not sure it's included for free in any streaming services. At least not ones I have. It's $4 on Amazon Prime though.

I just rewatched it about a month ago. Maybe on HBO Max?

[wlu_lax6]

If you dont' have JustWatch installed or first stop (https://www.justwatch.com/) for where to watch stuff you are making a mistake. Tells you what services you can watch most stuff on.
Currently streaming via youtube (subscription), hoopa, directv, starz, appleTV

[sancarlos]

So, any new reviews?

Personally, very few movies make me laugh as much. So many great lines.

[Shirley]

If you dont' have JustWatch installed or first stop (https://www.justwatch.com/) for where to watch stuff you are making a mistake. Tells you what services you can watch most stuff on.
Currently streaming via youtube (subscription), hoopa, directv, starz, appleTV

Google search has that info as well, fyi.

[Shirley]

So, I just finished my rewatch. Still just a brilliant movie. I've seen it many, many times and I love it every time. Watching again, I realized that among the many great lines ("her insides were a rocky place where my seed could find no purchase"), there are a couple that I regularly use. The most common is "Well, okay then" in that same inflection that the parole board guy (and at least two others) uses. The other one, since this term comes up in programming from time-to-time, is "you hear that hayseeds? We're using codenames."

[sancarlos]

So, I just finished my rewatch. Still just a brilliant movie. I've seen it many, many times and I love it every time. Watching again, I realized that among the many great lines ("her insides were a rocky place where my seed could find no purchase"), there are a couple that I regularly use. The most common is "Well, okay then" in that same inflection that the parole board guy (and at least two others) uses. The other one, since this term comes up in programming from time-to-time, is "you hear that hayseeds? We're using codenames."

Just seeing you quote them makes me giggle.

When I eat cereal, I often say to my wife, "Tasty cereal flakes, Miz McDonough!" And, if she's cutting something, "Mind ya don't cut yourself, Mordecai!"

[The Sybian]

So, I just finished my rewatch. Still just a brilliant movie. I've seen it many, many times and I love it every time. Watching again, I realized that among the many great lines ("her insides were a rocky place where my seed could find no purchase"), there are a couple that I regularly use. The most common is "Well, okay then" in that same inflection that the parole board guy (and at least two others) uses. The other one, since this term comes up in programming from time-to-time, is "you hear that hayseeds? We're using codenames."

Just seeing you quote them makes me giggle.

When I eat cereal, I often say to my wife, "Tasty cereal flakes, Miz McDonough!" And, if she's cutting something, "Mind ya don't cut yourself, Mordecai!"

It’s amazing they stay with us. I fixed something the other day and threw my hands in the air and said O’Doyle rules! The look in my daughter’s face… my wife appreciates it though.

[P.D.X.]

Probably the tightest intro/backstory sequence of any movie. Could teach a whole film class on that alone.

New favorite shot: the low-angle motorcycle perspective when the bounty hunter is ripping through the bank and the slow yokels are suddenly ninja-rolling out of the way. Slayed me.

[L-Jam3]

Really great movie. Glad I caught it again after all these years. Couple points:

1. Nicolas Cage gets ragged on, but he is a damn good actor, albeit a little over the top at times. For a screwball comedy like this he’s perfect.

2. Holly Hunter. She looks great in this. I’m trying to think of where she looked better and I can’t come up with one besides the obvious The Incredibles. I like butts.

3. The prison escape scene where John Goodman and William Forsythe emerge from the sewer and exalt in the pouring rain, and only now I realized that’s where Shawshank got it from.

4. The camera work. I love the low shots. For all their skill in writing plot and dialogue, these guys are really phenomenal with the camera.

5. And their change in tone from their first one. For a movie where a guy gets grenaded, it’s really kind-hearted. The fact that they can change genres basically at will. What talent.

I’m going to give this one a strong A.

[Shirley]

Probably the tightest intro/backstory sequence of any movie. Could teach a whole film class on that alone.

Absolutely. The pre-credits stuff with Hi and Cage's narration is just incredible. When the credits finally kick in - it's probably more than 10 minutes into the movie - it just cracks you up because you've forgotten that they haven't shown the title yet.

[Shirley]

5. And their change in tone from their first one. For a movie where a guy gets grenaded, it’s really kind-hearted. The fact that they can change genres basically at will. What talent.

That's a great point. Other than the crime subplot, these two movies couldn't be more different. That's a hell of a start to a career.

[DaveInSeattle]

Probably the tightest intro/backstory sequence of any movie. Could teach a whole film class on that alone.

Absolutely. The pre-credits stuff with Hi and Cage's narration is just incredible. When the credits finally kick in - it's probably more than 10 minutes into the movie - it just cracks you up because you've forgotten that they haven't shown the title yet.

And when it breaks into that cowboy/yodel music, its hilarious.

[Giff]

I haven't re-watched either yet dammit. Hope to change that this weekend.