Coen Bros.
Noah’s Barks pages relating to movie/film directors Ethan and Joel Coen, AKA the Coen Bros.
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Bridge of Spies
The praise Bridge of Spies has been getting is inexplicable. It’s a Steven Spielberg movie with no powerful stills. It’s a Coen bros. script full of terribly misplaced awkward jokes in spite of the story’s drama and risk, and this awful humor makes it obvious every situation ends for the best or it’s in poor… (read more)
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Inside Llewyn Davis
As a folk fan, Inside Llewyn Davis is a heavy disappointment. I can’t buy into it as a portrayal of the early-60s folk scene because the Coen bros’ dialogue is too crass, modern, and maybe simply anachronistic. The intense bitterness of every character being either an idiot hick or a smartass shithead is overbearing, and… (read more)
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No Country for Old Men
No Country for Old Men is the Coen bros. in typical and top form. That is, it’s a thriller of misfortunes that goes without their usual childish snickering at the audience and ironic, blasé mockery of tropes. When it’s at its best, the thrills here are unparalleled. When it’s not, the film is running on… (read more)
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The Man Who Wasn’t There
The “series of unfortunate events” plot and dark humor through irony that’s so constant in the Coens’ writing starts to run very thin. It’s frustrating to know how every scene, how every line of The Man Who Wasn’t There will play out as soon as it begins. Ed Crane is a mediocre character, and even… (read more)
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The Hudsucker Proxy
The only reason I can think of why The Hudsucker Proxy isn’t seen as one of the better films from the Coens is because its spitfire dialogue is so fast and witty that it’s easy to miss a ton of the humor. Yeah, this is funnier than Fargo, and the set and color design is… (read more)
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Miller’s Crossing
Holy smokes, a Coen bros. movie that doesn’t have anything that really irks me. Miller’s Crossing omits the majority of their blandly juvenile humor and it turns out they actually have talent for creating dignified drama. Makes you wonder what could’ve been. Well, I’m happy to have one of the tightest-written gangster movies I’ve ever… (read more)