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And to All a Good Night!

Here’s hoping you all have a great holiday no matter what you are doing. I had a terrific pastrami sandwich today in Brooklyn and then saw “True Grit.” I enjoyed it–it was really funny and also brutal–though I don’t think it makes my Coen Brothers Top Five (which is, in no order, “Raising Arizona,” “Miller’s Crossing,” “Fargo,” “The Big Lebowski,” and “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?”).

Now happy to be home with the Mrs and our kittens.

Merry Everything, folks.

4 comments

1 The Mick536   ~  Dec 25, 2010 10:59 am

terrific flick. watched the original last night. to prepare, saw Blood Simple, Fargo, Big Lebowski, and Burn Before Reading. today, Serious Man and The Man Who Wasn't There.

need to talk more about the differences, but, for a starter, the banter between the stars is the best dialogue of any of the Coen's work.

not hunkering for a drag out discussion, but I am not a Raisin Arizona fan or an Oh Brother fan. I even liked Intolerable Cruelty. Hard to ignore Blood Simple and Barton Fink in my top five, though I be on board with the others. Damn, I also liked Ladykillers, especially when watching it back to back with the original. And what about the bad guy in No Country or the serious man in Serious Man.

i'd prefer to discuss the characters and avoid lists. like, if you were to do a short of just scenes, like the one on you tube with the f bombs in Big Lebowski, which would you start with? And I love the sound of whales when I bathe.

2 Cliff Corcoran   ~  Dec 25, 2010 7:56 pm

Ladykillers: unwatchable crap.
Intolerable Cruelty: probably better than I remember, but the title feels like an apt description
Miller's Crossing: I desperately need to rewatch that one

My top five? Raising Arizona, Fargo, Lebowski, Barton Fink, and . . . gee, only five? Blood Simple, No Country, Serious Man all get consideration for that list. I need to see Man Who Wasn't There again, too, but I dug that one a lot as well.

Looking forward to True Grit, though whereas Becky and I used to see almost every well-reviewed film in the theaters during it's first few weeks, now that we're parents we've been to the movies like three times in the last year.

Crank up the netflix, Beck!

3 Matt Blankman   ~  Dec 26, 2010 11:45 am

Wait - Alex liked a western? Stop the presses!

Looking forward to True Grit. I have mixed feelings about seeing someone else play Rooster Cogburn, but I'm excited to see a good western.

Top 5 Coens? No Country, Raising Arizona, Fargo, Big Lebowski, Barton Fink? Hmm...I feel solid with at least 3 of those. A Serious Man might sneak in there.

4 The Mick536   ~  Dec 26, 2010 4:55 pm

[2] So hanks be doing his gump routine. rent the original with alec guiness and peter sellers and get back to me so I don't feel so uncultured. Glad you liked Serious Man.

I will rewatch Raisin Arizona.

As for the original True Grit compared with this new one. The girl's are a wash. I have to hold my breath and say both Duke and the Dude are a wash, too. But I'd take Damon over that idiot Glen Campbell anyday. And Strother Martin over the new auctioneer.

What I would also like to hear is a serious discussion about Turturo's various performances.

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