5by5's new engineer Zak Holden joins me for an impromptu bonus episode to talk about Coen Brothers movies that deserve just as much recognition as The Big Lebowski and Raising Arizona. It's a fun, brief chat wherein we discuss a few favorites at varying length before cutting to an interview with newly Golden-Globe-nominated Inside Llewyn Davis star Oscar Isaac.
The Big Lebowski
Like many Coen Brothers movies, it rewards multiple viewings. You don't have to be intimately familiar with every line and nuance of the relationships between The Dude, Walter, Donny, Maud, and the rest of
Raising Arizona
For $20, you can get four of the Coens' best movies on Blu-ray, including this one and the unmentioned-on-the-show Fargo and my beloved Miller's Crossing. A twenty is a cheap price to pay to find out what, indeed, the rumpus is.
The Hudsucker Proxy
Under-appreciated and unfortunately impossible to find for some time, the lovely people at Warner Archive Collection recently remastered and released this screwball comedy-of-industry (a sibling to Trading Places and Putney Swope). Tim Robbins and Paul Newman are at their best here. Amazon has it, but it may very well cost less direct from WBShop.com thanks to the frequent sales and discount offers they run.
Harold Lloyd in Safety Last!
Briefly mentioned in an aside is classic screen comedian Harold Lloyd. Criterion recently dropped their first in a series of Lloyd classics. If the box art in this post looks familiar, whether you've seen the movie or not, his style and signature have somehow filtered down to you through the years.
Blood Simple
Included in the four-movie box further up, this Austin-set southern noir story is a crackling, uncompromising, and intense ride for a first feature. If you're ever in Austin, you should look up the old Dessau Hall, which is often vacant as of the last few years. I once organized a screening of the movie outdoors in the parking lot of the bar, which features prominently.
Intolerable Cruelty
This movie includes a character named Heinz the Baron Kraus von Espy on top of giving George Clooney an opportunity to go completely screwball madcap goofy, on top of what is a delightful and at once ridiculous look at the world of gender relations, marriage, and divorce. Some would say it's terribly cynical (a word used to describe various Coen-ings), but I think it's delightful, honest, and fun.
A Serious Man
Richard Kind really did ask me if I was sure I wasn't Jewish when I told him I had seen this four times. You don't have to be Jewish (I'm not) to understand nor appreciate nor enjoy this dark, funny, and bewildering parable of fate.