A Serious Man

[Ms Thrifty]

I read it and was surprised to find how few of their films I had actually seen. Presumably I read the reviews at the time and didn't fancy them, but now I am thinking of renting them on DVD to see if I missed anything good. I stand by my decision to avoid the really violent films, though!

[ciro22]

@ AYBG:

You see, people don't just lie to other people, sometimes they also lie to themselves...

There's a little story called "The Emperor's New Clothes" - sounds like you could do with reading it sometime

[AYBG]

And maybe you should read "The Banned Member Who Wouldn't Get a Life"

[TheyCallMeMrGlass]

This thread is reading like a Coen bros script, a descent into the dark and sinister...

If they can write "The Dude" into all their scripts, I'd rate them all a 10.

[TheyCallMeMrGlass]

I read it and was surprised to find how few of their films I had actually seen. Presumably I read the reviews at the time and didn't fancy them, but now I am thinking of renting them on DVD to see if I missed anything good. I stand by my decision to avoid the really violent films, though!

Try rent Big Lebowski, Raising Arizona, and Hudsucker Proxy. They're my favs and of the non violent type except for Raising Arizona whose violence is of the surreal comical kind but there's no gore at all.

[Ms Thrifty]

I read it and was surprised to find how few of their films I had actually seen. Presumably I read the reviews at the time and didn't fancy them, but now I am thinking of renting them on DVD to see if I missed anything good. I stand by my decision to avoid the really violent films, though!

Try rent Big Lebowski, Raising Arizona, and Hudsucker Proxy. They're my favs and of the non violent type except for Raising Arizona whose violence is of the surreal comical kind but there's no gore at all.

Thank you for the suggestions; actually I've seen the first two but will certainly consider the third one. I can always refer to the Time Out guide to check the nature of the others I've missed.

[RioBravo]

A Serious Man is a real gem. One of the finest Coen Brothers films to date, and that is saying a lot. Its so difficult to pick favourite films of the Coens. but I'd put this right up there just below my two favourites Fargo and Miller's Crossing. Similarly, for films of the year it is getting difficult with my top 10 becoming cluttered, but this film is possibly my second favourite after Let The Right One In.

What an incredible filmography they have. I like them all, even the remake of The Ladykillers is good, and only a disappointment by their own high standards. The top 6 or 7 are classics.

• 1) Fargo
  2) Miller's Crossing
  3) A Serious Man
  4) No Country For Old Men
  5) Raising Arizona
  6) The Big Lebowski
  7) Blood Simple
  8) The Man Who Wasn't There
  9) Barton Fink
  10) The Hudsucker Proxy
  11) O Brother, Where Art Thou
  12) Intolerable Cruelty
  13) Burn After Reading
  14) The Ladykillers

[ciro22]

@ Ms Thrifty

I think you might be better off choosing the Coen films that you want to watch according to the kind of films that you enjoy the most as they all differ in their tone, content and message (and that's precisely one of the things that I like most about them as filmmakers) but you can make a rough split between their comic films and their crime / noir dramas

I also wouldn't worry too much about the violence in any of their films as with most of them there are only brief incidents of violence and it is usually done within a proper context. If you're particularly squeamish then you could give Fargo a miss for one scene towards the end, but even then I would suggest just hitting the fast forward button and enjoying the rest of what is a great film.

So I guess you might be better off looking at the films in this way:

Comic: The Big Lebowski / Raising Arizona / O Brother Where Art Thou / Burn After Reading / The Hudsucker Proxy

Crime or Noir: Miller's Crossing / Fargo / No Country For Old Men / Barton Fink / The Man Who Wasn't There / Blood Simple

Hit-and-miss: Intolerable Cruelty / The Ladykillers