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I'm undecided either way,As The only Coen movies I have seen have been ''Burn After Reading'' and ''A serious Man'' Problem is I have found both of these movies overrated and forgettable,I'm soon going to watch ''No Country for old men'' So far, I'm really failing to see the big deal about The Coen Brothers

Raising Arizona is such a classic film.

Fargo is an awesome watch, too.

Yes and YES.

They've made enough good movies that it's hard for me to say they're overrated. No country for old men is great, raising arizona is great, and The Big Lebowski is one of my favorite movies of all time and they've done a couple of other really good ones. Not to mention True Grit looks like it'll be up there as one of their best. They do have some duds, burn after reading is one of my most hated movies of all time, but who doesn't have a bad movie every now and then?

Originally posted by General_Iroh
They've made enough good movies that it's hard for me to say they're overrated. No country for old men is great, raising arizona is great, and The Big Lebowski is one of my favorite movies of all time and they've done a couple of other really good ones. Not to mention True Grit looks like it'll be up there as one of their best. They do have some duds, burn after reading is one of my most hated movies of all time, but who doesn't have a bad movie every now and then?


What were your thoughts on ''A serious Man''?

I've actually never seen it, I've seen the synopsis for it and it just never seemed like something that would catch my interest

A Serious Man was one of the least entertaining Cohen Bros. films and Burn After Reading was fun, though silly. You can't really judge them after just seeing those two films when they have had such great movies as The Big LeBowski, Fargo, Raising Arizona, and Miller's Crossing. I thought No Country For Old Men was overrated with its best picture award, but it was still worthy of being nominated IMO. Other good ones to check out are The Man Who Wasn't There, and O Brother Where Art Thou. I've yet to watch Barton Fink, but it has a 90% rating on RottenTomatoes and True Grit is currently sitting at 96%. The Lady Killers is the only movie of theirs that I've watched that I came away from truly thinking "that was bad." So having several great films, a few just really good films, and one bad film is worthy of a decent amount of praise in my book.

Fargo was good I did not know that they were the same writters.No wonder they are both strange!

The Big Lebowski, Fargo, No Country for Old Men, Raising Arizona and soon to be True Grit are great. I dont like some of the others.

No, of course not. Now go and watch some of their older films and come back and say they are overrated...

No Country For Old Men is a masterpiece.

Hardly. Their movies have fleshed out characters and believable stories, conflict to die for.

No Country For Old Men was such a slllooooow start for me, I've tried to sit down and watch it several times, but I just can't seem to make it more than forty-five minutes in. Does anyone else have this problem, or is it just me... ?

Obviously, their early movies are set-in-stone classics, and they haven't lost their touch yet...

I'm seeing lots of things on TV about True Grit, and it reminds me so much of this Gary Cooper western where Gary played this anti-hero... I just couldn't take my eyes from the screen. I'm a hard judge of westerns, probably because I watched all those Alan Ladd and Roy Rodgers - etc, when I was really young. Oh, and because Audrey Hepburn was apparently the "model Indian." Bleargh.

Originally posted by MildPossession
No, of course not. Now go and watch some of their older films and come back and say they are overrated...

I definitely will check out more of their movies,and then I will make my decision,I have ''No Country for old men'' sitting there,which I will get around to seeing soon

Originally posted by K.Diddy
I'm undecided either way,As The only Coen movies I have seen have been ''Burn After Reading'' and ''A serious Man'' Problem is I have found both of these movies overrated and forgettable,I'm soon going to watch ''No Country for old men'' So far, I'm really failing to see the big deal about The Coen Brothers

So you start a thread asking if the Coen brothers are overrated despite only seeing 2 of their 15 films?

Bit odd really.

I don't really think you can be overrated if you made The Big Lebowski...

Originally posted by Bardock42
I don't really think you can be overrated if you made The Big Lebowski...

SHUT THE **** UP, BARDOCK!!!

Originally posted by jaden101
SHUT THE **** UP, BARDOCK!!!

I guess I was out of my element...

The Coen Brothers are absolutely genius, but they are so genius that at times they don't understand what you don't do. I despise "No Country For Old Men" for it's absolutely insulting ending, and yet the movie was so incredible prior.

I think Fargo is base on something that really did happen.I could be wrong but I think they said that in the begining of the movie.Am I right?

Originally posted by K.Diddy
I'm undecided either way,As The only Coen movies I have seen have been ''Burn After Reading'' and ''A serious Man'' Problem is I have found both of these movies overrated and forgettable,I'm soon going to watch ''No Country for old men'' So far, I'm really failing to see the big deal about The Coen Brothers

No. If anything, they're underrated. They make great films and the characters in their films are superb.

Also watch:

The Big Lebowski
Raising Arizona
Fargo
Oh Brother Were Art Thou
Miller's Crossing
The Hudsucker Proxy
Blood Simple

Ones I didn't care for:

Intolerable Cruelty
The Lady Killers (though only watched 1/2)
Burn After Reading (I'm torn on this one, but overall, it was a let-down)

Originally posted by ADarksideJedi
I think Fargo is base on something that really did happen.I could be wrong but I think they said that in the begining of the movie.Am I right?

Story is fictions, though they did use elements from real crime cases in the film.

Originally posted by jaden101
So you start a thread asking if the Coen brothers are overrated despite only seeing 2 of their 15 films?

Bit odd really.

Why is that odd? I'm simply just throwing a discussion out into the forum

I've had this debate on another message board regarding No Country For Old Men...

BUT am I in the minority that missed the pivotal point where the "hero" (Husband) is killed 3/4 into the film?

(I've read an article where the Coen Bros were angry about scenes in their movies being deleted without their consent.)

I kept expecting Josh Brolin's character to turn up in the end & save his wife.

Is Blood Simple any good?

I really liked blood simple so I say give it a try.

Ok,there were a few movies that I couldn't manage to find but here are the ones I have eithier just brought or rented

1.Fargo
2.O brother where art though
3.Raising Arizona
4.The Big Lebowski
5.Millers Crossing

After watching these,I guess,I will be able to decide for myself,whether these guys are overrated or not. I seen ''No country for old men'' the other day,and well, I beleive that movie is very overrated, Although I plan to rewatch it again eventually and give it another chance,as it might grow on me

No Country for Old Men is a very good movie but its not an perfect one.

They are very good at what they do, better than most. In-fact they are probably in top 5 directors.

Grit is a very good, another movie that proves the C Bros are in top 5 movie makers and by far from being overrated.

In my humble and unqualified opinion - they truly are film-making geniuses and getting better and better with age. I don't think they're overrated at all. But had you asked that a few years ago I would not have been so clear-minded about them.

One aspect of their craft is consistency. There are better Coen Bro. movies (Fargo, Big Lebowski) and worse (Crimewave, The Naked Man) - but their very worst efforts are still miles ahead of and above the typical pablum schlock that Hollywood churns out.

Their movies are sort of like "deep tracks" from old vinyl LPs you weren't really sure about when you bought them - but then you were too lazy to take them off the turntable so you played those tracks over and over and finally realized how great they were, compared to say.. the one or two "hits" that might have been released from that LP.

This is probably corny - but I think what makes me so appreciate their films is their work process - they get down in the trenches with their actors and crew, like they actually love every aspect of what they're doing.

The most overrated director IMO is Tarantino.
Taking old & obscure movies, remaking them & adding some "zanny" dialogue that does not necessarily fit the plot...& then taking credit is what I consider overrated.

Talent lies with the Coen Bros.

I don't think they are overrated. I watched No Country For Old Men and True Grit of theirs and I liked them a lot. I still gotta check out a lot of their earlier stuff though.

Coen Bros kick ass. I guess some people just don't enjoy the pace at which their stories progress, whether they be dramatic or brutal. I'm not gonna try and change anyones minds but just my two cents.

While True Grit was alright IMO, but not anything special, The Big Lebowski is a classic and NCFOM is a contemporary Usual Suspects IMO. Just like Usual Suspects, the protagonist (Kajun) is nothing special. It's the villain who makes the film worth it. I enjoyed O Brother Where Art Thou and loved The Lady Killers.

so IMO, no they aren't overrated.

They're certainly not overrated. I may not like all of their movies but even the one's that I don't like hold my interest and are filmed well.

Yes they are..so I voted yes

I say that they are overrated in the sense that if they make the film, it's automatically going to get critical acclaim regardless. Ebert was praising The Lady Killers quite heavily in his review for one instance that I can recall off-hand. That said, if The Big Lebowski, Oh Brother, or Fargo were singularly the only good film they had to their names they'd still have done something amazing.

On a side-node, I enjoyed No Country for Old Men, but there were some changes that I felt really took away from the film as a whole.

what changes did you have problems with? I don't there were multiple problems with the movie, there was just one...,there was no point. No message was delivered or analyzed, it was just an open ended story. Looking at their body of work, It might be a good movie if it were the last movie the Coen brothers ever made.

The way the aftermath of the shootout happens at the end was a big issue. The way the sheriff resolves things vs how it happened in the book. Also the scene with Chigur finding Luann in the motel and the chase that follows. There were variations from the book that I just found less enjoyable.

The book had points: some things in the universe are relentless, some things change for the worse, and sometimes there is nothing you can do about either. Some things are the way they are, a la Traffic, Syriana, etc. The flim version was off to me and just wasn't what it could have been.

Oh brother where art thou is a very emotional movie for me. Reminds me of times I spent with my mom.

Originally posted by Esau Cairn
The most overrated director IMO is Tarantino.
Taking old & obscure movies, remaking them & adding some "zanny" dialogue that does not necessarily fit the plot...& then taking credit is what I consider overrated.

Talent lies with the Coen Bros.

You just don't get his style. He's certainly not overrated because with each film his message is clear as day. Agree with it or not, that is a unique style. You KNOW when you are watching a Tarantino movie. When you say, "taking old and obscure movies and remaking them". He's not remaking movies, he's making movies of his own, inspired by what he loves. This is what we all do, especially people in the entertainment industry.

Originally posted by Ascendancy
The way the aftermath of the shootout happens at the end was a big issue. The way the sheriff resolves things vs how it happened in the book. Also the scene with Chigur finding Luann in the motel and the chase that follows. There were variations from the book that I just found less enjoyable.

The book had points: some things in the universe are relentless, some things change for the worse, and sometimes there is nothing you can do about either. Some things are the way they are, a la Traffic, Syriana, etc. The flim version was off to me and just wasn't what it could have been.

Yeah and I definitely picked up on those references of the human condition and how it's affected by environment. I suppose, ultimately the problem I had was the movie focused to much on the antagonist. Although, maybe that was their intention...,to express desparity.

Originally posted by Firefly218
Reminds me of times I spent with my mom.

I agree.

They were special times I spent with your mom too.

Originally posted by jinXed by JaNx
You just don't get his style. He's certainly not overrated because with each film his message is clear as day.

Pray tell what his message/s was for each of his films?