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Joel Coen and Ethan
Coen |
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Director / Screenwriter /
Producer / Editor |
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Joel 1954 -
| Ethan 1957 - |
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Joel Born November 29,
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA | Ethan Born September 21,
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA |
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Key
Production Countries: USA, UK, France |
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Key Genres:
Comedy, Crime, Crime Comedy, Black Comedy, Screwball Comedy, Crime
Thriller |
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Key
Collaborators: Carter Burwell (Composer), Roger Deakins
(Cinematographer), Frances McDormand (Leading Character Player), Dennis Gassner
(Production Designer),
Steve Buscemi (Leading Character Player), John Goodman
(Leading Player), Jon Polito
(Character Player), John Turturro
(Leading Character Player), Jess Gonchor (Production Designer), George Clooney (Leading Player) |
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Highly Recommended:
Blood Simple (1984)*, Raising Arizona (1987)*,
Miller's
Crossing (1990)*, Barton Fink (1991)*, Fargo (1995)*, The Man Who Wasn't There (2001), No Country for Old Men (2007)^ |
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Recommended:
The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), The Big
Lebowski (1998)*, O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)^, True Grit (2010)^ |
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Worth a Look:
Intolerable Cruelty (2003), The Ladykillers (2004), Burn After Reading
(2008), A Serious Man (2009)^ |
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* Listed in TSPDT's
1,000 Greatest Films
section; ^
Listed in TSPDT's
21st Century's Most Acclaimed Films
section. |
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Links:
[
Amazon
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[
IMDB: Joel ] [
IMDB: Ethan ] [
TCMDB: Joel ] [
TCMDB: Ethan ] [
All-Movie
Guide: Joel ] [
All-Movie
Guide: Ethan ] [
Senses
of Cinema: Great Directors ] [
Film Reference ]
[
Cinepad Interview ] [
You
Know for Kids!: The Movies of the Coen Brothers ] [
Coenesque ]
[
Guardian
Article (2004) ] [
Flickering Myth Profile ] |
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Books:
[
The Philosophy of the Coen Brothers ] [
The Brothers Grim: The Films of Ethan and Joel Coen ] [
The Dude Abides: The Gospel According to the Coen Brothers ] [
Coen Brothers (Virgin Film Series) ] [
The Brothers Coen: Unique Characters of Violence ] [
The Coen Brothers (Ronald Bergan) ]
[
The
Coen Brothers: The Story of Two American Filmmakers ] [
Brothers
Coen: Joel and Ethan Coen ] [
The
Films of Joel and Ethan Coen ] [
Joel and Ethan Coen (Contemporary Film Directors) ] [
Joel & Ethan Coen: Blood Siblings (Ultrascreen Series) ] [
Joel and Ethan Coen ] [
The Coen Brothers: Interviews (Conversations With Filmmakers Series) ] |
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"For all
the visual flair and deft performances on display in their
films, the Coens' greatest virtue lies in writing. In terms of
pacy stories, witty dialogue and the creation of a coherent,
plausible fantasy world peopled by vivid characters, their
ability to work original and entertaining variations on a genre
bodes well for the future."
-
Geoff
Andrew (The Film Handbook, 1989) |
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"I am
still unresolved, I liked Fargo nearly as much as its
many fans, but then Lebowski felt too cute by half, like
a film watching itself, more intent on being droll than life. Is
it just my shortcoming, or is there something in fraternal
support that means they need never feel alone? I can't shake the
feeling of one dude showing the picture to the other, and then
chuckling together." -
David
Thomson, (The New Biographical Dictionary of Film, 2002) |
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"The
Coens appear to have abandoned for good the stylized realism and
Aristotelian narrative that made Blood Simple such a
success. But in an era that has witnessed the commercial success
of cartoonish anti-naturalism (Dick Tracy, the Batman
films), their concern with striking visual and aural effects may
provide the basis for a long career, though difficult films like
Barton Fink, despite critical acclaim, will never gain a
wider audience." -
R.
Barton Palmer (The St. James Film Directors Encyclopedia, 1998) |
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"Generally
we work with our own material, so why would they want us to do
it but then get their hands in it? It's different when the
studio is doing some teen film. It's a studio product, and maybe
in that case the director is driven crazy. But we don't do those
kinds of movies." -
Joel Coen |
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"I mean,
Joel talks to the actors more than I do and I probably do
production stuff a little more than he does." -
Ethan Coen |
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"Given
the stability of the Coens’ core personnel – their works
have been written, photographed, scored, produced, and
directed by a total of five technicians, and they have
returned repeatedly to cast such favorite actors as John
Goodman,
Steve Buscemi, John Turturro, and Joel Coen’s
wife, Frances McDormand – it is no wonder that their films
have been so distinctive." -
Thomas Leitch,
Crime Films (Genres in American Cinema) |
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●
Top 250 Directors |
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21st Century Top
50 |
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100 Essential Directors (Pop
Matters) |
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Ranked 21st on Film Comment's list of the 25 Best
Directors of the Decade (2000-2009) |
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Ranked
3rd on The Guardian's 2004 List of the World's 40 Best
Directors |
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501 Movie Directors: A
Comprehensive Guide to the Greatest Filmmakers |
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See Also |
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●
John Dahl |
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Bobby Farrelly
& Peter Farrelly |
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Howard
Hawks |
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Spike Jonze |
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Stanley
Kubrick |
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Roman
Polanski |
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Sam
Raimi |
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Preston
Sturges |
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Frank
Tashlin |
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Jacques
Tourneur |
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Orson
Welles |
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Billy
Wilder |
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Joel Coen's Favourites |
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Dames (1934)
Ray Enright,
The Fortune (1974)
Mike Nichols,
High and Low (1963)
Akira Kurosawa,
Separate Tables (1958)
Delbert Mann,
Where Eagles Dare (1969)
Brian G. Hutton.
Source:
Time Out (1995) |
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Ethan Coen's Favourites |
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Bad News Bears (1976)
Michael Ritchie,
Il Bidone (1955)
Federico Fellini,
Brother's Keeper (1992) Joe Berlinger & Bruce Sinofsky, The
Fortune (1974)
Mike Nichols,
Salesman (1968) Albert Maysles/David Maysles/Charlotte Zwerin
Maysles.
Source:
Time Out (1995) |
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