Hail, Caesar!

Hail, Caesar!

Universal

February 5, 2016

Historical Comedy
DVD
D+

Unfunny story about a '50s movie studio, with some nice design elements.  The Coen brothers co-wrote and co-directed.

Fargo

Fargo
Gramercy Pictures
April 5, 1996
Crime Drama
DVD
D+

After hearing how wonderful this movie is for years, this turns out to be a Coen Brothers flick I can't get into.

Blood Simple

Blood Simple
Circle Films
January 18, 1985
Crime Drama
DVD
B-

On the one hand, I enjoyed this Coen Brothers premiere more than I expected, since it's not one of my usual genres.  On the other hand, I felt like there were maybe too many plot twists and possibly plot holes.  (Is Marty actually dead?)  The film is well shot and the small cast works well as individuals and as a group, and I did like the quirky sense of humor, like with the "Employees must wash their hands" sign.  I can see why the film got such acclaim, then and later, but it just didn't quite do it for me, and it was, well, bloody.

The Big Lebowski

The Big Lebowski
Working Title Films
March 6, 1998
Comedy
DVD
C

I gave this Coen Brothers movie a half hour because I just honestly didn't know how I felt about it.  I'd heard about it for years but I think that's part of why I hesitated to watch it, that it wouldn't live up to the the cult status.  I can see why people like it, and certainly I had high hopes with this cast.  The opening narration by Sam Elliott was fun, but I just couldn't connect with this particular form of quirkiness.  Note that it's technically a historical comedy, being set around the time of the Gulf War I, but that was also the '90s, so I'm tagging it as just comedy.