Blood Simple vs No Country for Old Men

[BrandonKendall 2]

I think these two in particular lend themselves to an interesting, unique convo. They're comparable but wholly unique from one another. It's also a battle between Cohen endings. One is wholly satisfying, the other is the most notable example of "Wtf?"

 

I'm also just a HUGE fan of Blood Simple, so thats my bias.

[KickMuncher3 46]

I love Blood Simple, but it's No Country no question for me. No Country for Old Men is Top 5 Coen Brothers as far as I'm concerned. Blood Simple was a hell of an introduction to a new creative voice, but No Country is those creatives at the top of their game.

[Philly Cheesesteak 92]

I love Blood Simple, but it's No Country no question for me. No Country for Old Men is Top 5 Coen Brothers as far as I'm concerned. Blood Simple was a hell of an introduction to a new creative voice, but No Country is those creatives at the top of their game.

 

I'm with him on this. Blood Simple's a raw first entry, while No Country shows off how far they've come as filmmakers.

[SiSquires-Kasten 37]

I love Blood Simple, but it's No Country no question for me. No Country for Old Men is Top 5 Coen Brothers as far as I'm concerned.

 

What are those 5? Mine would probably be:

 

A Serious Man

O Brother WHere Art Thou?

The Hudsucker Proxy

Fargo

Inside Llewyn Davis

 

...but I admit that my fondness for Hudsucker is probably irrational

[KickMuncher3 46]

What are those 5?

 

It's a hard list to make once you really sit down to do it, but I'll say:

 

Fargo

Barton Fink

No Country for Old Men

Burn After Reading

The Big Lebowski

 

...I'll forgive your inclusion of Hudsucker, if you forgive my inclusion of Burn After Reading. I find that film incredibly funny and rewatchable. It was just a really fun theatre-going experience

[Head Spin 112]

Ooh, are we doing Coen rankings?

 

First off, I have to say that I've never really understood the high praise of Blood Simple. I like it a lot, but it's always felt to me like, (as many directorial debuts), the prototype version of the Coens that they'd top almost every time subsequent. I love Walsh and McDormand in it, and there's some really cool nighttime scenery, but it also has that "Creative Writing 101" feel of spending a lot of time watching brooding characters smoke.

 

It's good, no doubt, but I just feel like they outperformed it over and over again with their later work.

 

My top five:

 

1) Inside Llewyn Davis

2) Fargo

3) No Country for Old Men

4) Barton Fink

5) Burn After Reading

 

That's painful. You have to leave a lot of great movies on the table for that.

 

I know people don't think super highly of Burn After Reading, but there is something perfect and quintessentially Coen about that film. Seems almost wrong to put it over Lebowski, A Serious Man, Rasing Arizona, Miller's Crossing... but I do love it that much.

 

EDIT: Hey, twinsies on Burn After Reading, Robert.

[groovy-guy 24]

wrt ranking Coens: i'm still blown away by how gosh darn good Inside Llewyn Davis is, it immediately became my favorite Coen picture after something like a lifetime of watching and loving their films ... a masterpiece reflection on the world of the artist, struggling with themselves to see if they have ' what it takes ' .. artistic success as governed by almost as much luck as talent or authenticity. that dylan in the end comes from the same unassuming place as llewyn nails the whole thing home. it's like the Coens' trying to work out how they ever got so lucky to be directors for a living.

[RobertBoberts 62]

Not going to rank these right now but I have to agree with including Burn After Reading near the top of such a list. It's one of my favorites of theirs. I think maybe Coen fans appreciate it more than the general audiences and it suffered from people expecting another "No Country..." It was actually one of their top grossing films. And unfortunately that seems to be related to the dislike from people unfamiliar with their comedies.

[NathanGordon 1096]

What, no love for Raising Arizona? It's one of the greatest comedies of all time! It's the Coens at their cartooniest (that yodeling soundtrack!), Cage doing his shtick before he lapsed into self-parody, and still manages to say thoughtful things about parenthood and mortality. The diapers chase sequence is Merry Melodies level. I still crack up thinking about:

 

 

"What kind of pajamas?"

"They were jammies! They had Yodas and shit on 'em!"

[KickMuncher3 46]

What, no love for Raising Arizona? It's one of the greatest comedies of all time! It's the Coens at their cartooniest (that yodeling soundtrack!), Cage doing his shtick before he lapsed into self-parody, and still manages to say thoughtful things about parenthood and mortality. The diapers chase sequence is Merry Melodies level.

 

Totally agree! I love Raising Arizona and I'd definitely vote yes for the canon. It's just so hard to make a Top 5 Coens list. It's an embarrassment of riches.