Showing posts with label Frances McDormand. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Frances McDormand. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Blood Simple Is A Sublime Inaugural Directorial Effort For The Coen Brothers

Though Blood Simple may be the very first feature-film directorial effort from The Coen Brothers (like all their earliest works, only Joel Coen is credited due to DGA regulations), this movies does not come off as some sort of watered-down version of the duo's later filmmaking. There's already a noticeably assured hand behind the camera that brings to life a Texas-set noir with real flourish. To boot, it's interesting to note how Blood Simple feels like a combination of two of the Coen Brothers best works that would arrive more than two decades after Blood Simple arrived into theaters. Specifically, Blood Simple combines the grim Southern crime aesthetic of No Country For Old Men with the inexperienced criminals getting out of their element aspect of Burn After Reading.


Friday, December 8, 2017

Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri Pokes And Prodes The Audience With Realistic But Occasionally Shallow Vulgarity

Expectations are a funny thing. I walked into Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri certain I knew just what kind of film I was about to watch and walked out of my screening having just witnessed a feature that played against my expectations in many respects. The premise of this new Martin McDonagh motion picture had me expecting a film that was rife with relevant social commentary and instead the final project itself starts out by positioning itself as something akin to that before transitioning into a story that's more about dealing with general themes of loss and grappling with said loss.

Friday, October 9, 2015

The Future Has Arrived In The First Trailer For Hail Caesar!

Alright, let's just get past the introduction folks, I know what you wanna see. Behold, the first trailer for the next film from Ethan and Joel Coen, Hail Caesar!


Friday, January 30, 2015

Fargo Review (Classic Write-Up)

The snowy environment of Fargo, North Dakota makes the landscape look massive, sprawling, unending. It's a winter dominated setting populated by folks whose vocabulary is as polite as it is upbeat. It seems like a cheerful, serene location....which makes a sudden kidnapping that escalates into murder all the more shocking. Juxtaposing this wholesome location with such a vicious crime is the framework of The Coen Brothers 1996 feature (which is directed solely by Joel Coen) Fargo, which has rightfully become a well-known classic.