190: The Coen Brothers

What’s the rumpus? Joel and Ethan Coen have written, directed, and edited 18 films together, and Alex and Nick are in their element when discussing them. From “Blood Simple” to “Buster Scruggs,” here’s a breakdown of two of the most singular, hysterical, and intelligent voices in modern film.

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It is one thing that you have to use so many cuss words. The fuck are you talking about? When the truth is found to be lies and all the joy within you dies? Don't you want somebody to love, goat? You need somebody to love. Wouldn't you love somebody to love? You better find somebody to love. Hey, everyone. Welcome to. What are you watching? I'm Alex with throat. I'm joined by my best man, Nick Dostal. What's the rub? Is there Barton Fink? Oh, whoa, whoa. We got like that, too. Thank you for giving me that one. That's a that's that's two in a row where I've gotten I've gotten I've got. I didn't know if you would take Barton Fink as a compliment or not because he's he's a bit of a lost man. Well, he sure is, but I but I suppose I wouldn't, I wouldn't not relate to him. But it's so funny because I remember I texted you this whole entire, like, hubbub about what's the rumpus? As I was pondering such, you know, important questions that one has in life is when I put on Miller's Crossing and then, dude, they're all they're saying is, what's the rumpus? Wow, that is hilarious. I you sent me a voice memo. I thought you sent that voice memo after watching Miller's Crossing. Nope. Well, that's weird, because. Yeah, if for those who, you know, haven't seen Miller's Crossing or haven't seen in a while, that's their common catch phrase. It's as common as oh yeah, from Fargo. Like it is every pretty much a lot of people in the movie. That's how they start every conversation. What's the rumpus? So that is hilarious that you did yeah I know. Can you imagine? We are here today to talk about the Coen brothers, who made 18 films together so far, Joel and Ethan Coen. We're going to do Blood Simple 1984 through 2018, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. We will leave the So far three solo films for. And maybe we can talk about them on Patreon because we'll do our Patreon Coen Brothers Oscar episodes, but episode rather. But today we got 18 features and I am excited. I know you're excited. It's fun to talk about the Coen brothers because they're so popular, and just about everyone has seen at least a movie by them, whether or not they know it was them. A lot of people, not movie freaks like us, but like, you know, the normal folks out there may have seen two of their movies, and there are people who could have seen Big Lebowski in No Country and have no idea that's by the same again filmmakers, and I love that. So one of the reasons why they're going to be so fun to talk about 18 movies, here's what in terms of they've tackled neo noir, legit noir, screwball comedies, satires, farces, dark comedies, crime comedies, gangster movie tone poems, musical bona fide western anthology film. They have remade Hollywood classics. They've adapted Homer and they won Best Picture. I guess I didn't say horror, but there are aspects of No Country for Old Men that are like a horror movie. They have done it all very, very successfully. I don't flip out over all of their movies, but even I rank them on letterbox in like a private list. The lowest one I like the lowest ranked one, number 18. I gave three and a half stars to like, that's not bad, and it doesn't take long to get to the five star area. Four and a half, five star, and then you just coast for like ten movies. I love this filmography. Loved them since I was a kid. Well, I mean, I think if you're our age, then you really grew up with these guys. Yeah, yeah. You started to become very familiar with the Coen brothers around the early 90s. Like it started to become a thing. Then, of course, you get the success of Fargo. And that was the sensation. Yeah, that was an indie. That's one of the biggest indie films of the 90s, right up there with Pulp Fiction, huge sensation, and that it was like it almost. I remember even before I was really, you know, quote unquote into film that that was the movie where I would just hear that it was the most popular thing. And then and then there's cruisin from there, and they kind of developed their, their sort of brand, I suppose, but it's not really a brand because it's just who these guys are. I did like a couple of like I found like these words that sort of kind of encapsulates what they sort of do or what they bring to the table in terms of their artistry and their creativity and intelligence. Very intelligent, historical, religious America. They may be one of the most profound contemporary filmmakers that are attracted to American landscapes and stories all over. Yeah, mostly, you know, in the kind of weirder areas of it. But nonetheless, they are America eccentric, fatalistic, ironic, foolish, which also goes around with humorous but different because their humor is unlike really anybody else. And then I'm fucking hungry now, you know. And then what makes the Coen brothers so special on top of all of these? Language, language, language. And yeah, very good that you repeated that three times because that is part of it. And hence what's the rush? You know, they have this repetition of language that is so, so funny. And I yeah, I would add one word to what you said. But continue your, your no. That was I ended with the language. So give it to me horny very. What is you. I okay you said to me a one time that the Lady killers was the most horny movie that. No, no, no, no, Ladykillers is the Crassus. Crass is not Crassus. Crass is like you brought your bitch to the waffle House. That is crass. Like that is insulting. I'm saying that the Lady Killers is. That is the one that I probably would put in number 18 if I was ranking all of them, but that is. And it's not. They made two in a row, intolerable Cruelty and Ladykillers back to back that, you know, kind of miss people a little bit. So I was not necessarily looking forward to rewatching The Lady Killers, and I put it on and I went, oh, this is a hard r crass movie. They are dropping ton of racial language like it is. It's intense, but it's not. No, I mean, the horniness is there's no one in the world watching Burn After Reading who can assume that George Clooney's making what he's making? There's no one. Oh, there's no one that can assume that he's doing that. The horniness becomes way more prevalent when you start looking at Ethan Coen solo director career, because that's when we realize, oh, I see where it is now. But yes, these are with their sense of humor comes a devilish horniness that is accompanied with most every movie. Think about how horny the characters are in Blood simple and how much that gets them into trouble. Miller's Crossing, Jesus Christ, everybody sleeping with everyone, including a lot of the men, on and on and on. It is a constant. I mean, Fargo, what gets them in trouble is that they want to get laid. And, you know, that's who margins up talking to. It's so many of them I could Big Lebowski what does Tara Reid say. It goes the man who wasn't there. What is Scarlett Johansson do. There are many, many, many things where they are inserting this stuff where they do not need to and they are doing it because they think it is funny. And I love that shit. Well, I think it's also because because they also don't they don't make it very pronounced like there's not much. Well, that's what I mean. There's not. That's what I mean. Horniness is not there's not a lot of actual frank sexual activity. All the sex scenes. I can think there is no, like, piano playing, wind blowing the curtains. There's none of that. They look at this stuff with such this objective lens. They're funny, is sexy, and one of the funniest sex scenes in the history of film is Fargo. When they're like, you know, I could like, I know where we can get pancakes and get late, okay? And then we just see them, like with their girls right next to each other, fade out, fade up. And they're watching The Tonight Show. And that's all from these master shots in the corner of the room. It's fucking hilarious. But there's no one who would make Fargo, especially before Fargo, where you have these two sociopathic hitmen and we have to stop for three minutes just to see them get laid. And then it comes up again because the police investigating them. The officer has to talk to the two prostitutes. Fucking hilarious. Yes, these two are very, very horny directors. Extremely. And there is a case to be made that the whole entire reason why. Llewellyn in No Country for old men parishes is because he might be distracted with a bit of horny beer leads to more beer. You it's in. Look what happens even in a serious man. The neighbor on the like. There's so many things I'm not saying. It's everywhere. Like True Grit is not an inherently horny movie. It's, you know, raising Arizona. They bring up swinging like there is. Come on now. You don't have to look that hard to see. We've covered all the directors who have 18 movies or more. Steven Soderbergh is not a horny director. Jim Jarmusch is not pointy. They are not. These guys think sex can be hilarious. All right. I love that about them because there are very, very few mainstream directors who are like, no, I'm going to do like this epic sex scene. No, not that. But even what they suggest with I always okay, I always got mad that the man who wasn't there was rated R, because when it says it's rated R for a scene of violence, and that's the one killing in the movie that you see. And I'm like, oh, come on now. I've seen worse than that on TV even in 2001. But then you get toward the end and I'm like, no, this movie's rated R because it suggests that a teenager was about to perform fellatio on a grown man while he was driving. That is why this movie is rated R. It's very horny. You never see Ed Crane animated at all. He's talking to that girl. Horny directors, man, they're fucking hilarious. I love to Betsy. Loving having somebody. So that's another reason why. You're right. I love him. And and yeah, we did grow up with them because Fargo was, you know, I'm 11 when Fargo comes out. My parents didn't take me to see that in a theater, but they went and saw it and they were talking about it nonstop. And I'm just hearing all of my parents and or my parents and all of their friends, you know. Oh, yeah. Oh, don't you know, all the time I'm hearing, like, they're laughing about a wood chipper and I'm like, what is this? And then when Fargo came out on VHS, it was a blockbuster mainstay. This was one of the movies in my parents were like, this is fine. There's nothing too bad at it. So maybe that gives some insight into what I was allowed to watch. And we watch it together all the time. Fargo was one of my mom's top ten favorite movies, watched it constantly. So that is when I become Cohens aware. Between 96 and 98, I watch their previous work and I understand some of it. I don't understand a lot of others. I don't see Big Lebowski in the theater. I rent it the weekend it's out and I turn it off because I don't understand it at all because I'm 13. Like, what the fuck is going on here? Not there are a few instances of Coen brothers movies that I watched the first time it went, I don't get it, okay? And everyone says, this is funny. Now, of course I love Big Lebowski. They've yeah, they have been with us forever. And I've loved tracking their horny career. And you and you and I just always think, imagine what that word. That it's just something really raunchy. But no, you're right, there's there's a lot of undertones to it. They don't make the same movie back to back. Like I remember being thrown when No Country for Old Men came out, and then they followed that up with burn after Reading, I was expecting, and this is also what we talked about in this pod. Never go into a movie with expectations. They know these guys, especially not these guys. But I remember not liking Burn After Reading because I was like, wait, these are the guys that just made No Country for Old Men, and now they've given us this comedy. And but then, like, I didn't think about how the majority of their career has been rooted in comedy. Oh, yeah. You know, when you kind of look at these 18 movies, they were probably in these places where it's like, well, we want to have fun now. We want to put on the fucking boots, and we want to go and make something that we've never made. And like, you can proxy. Yep. Yeah. Is them going okay? We have a little more money. We we want to have fun. It does not do well. It does okay with critics. It's it's really there. It's their biggest bomb of their career. And then yes they go okay we got to kind of get serious and make something. Then they make Fargo. And then with the goodwill of that to go, let's fuck her out again. Lebowski. The Lebowski doesn't do well. Let's now tober into some, like, farcical musical comedy. Oh, brother. It's an absolute smash sensation. The soundtrack wins album of the year Grammy next year. Man who wasn't there. Ice cold like a new bar. Black and white doesn't make money. Yeah, they keep doing this. The biggest example of this is Intolerable Cruelty in 2003 and The Lady Killers in 2004. Both movies they wrote but were not planning to direct. They got so much more money for those movies because they're huge studio ventures. And I am telling you, I was there for all of it. But Oh Brother is the first one I see in theaters. I've seen all of them in theaters since the narrative around The Lady Killers was, have these guys lost it? Yeah. Are they like, did they just give us a little bit? And now it's like, okay, where it is? This what they are reduced to now is remaking, you know, not like terribly well known, but somewhat well known Hollywood old Hollywood movies like The Lady Killers or taking like the screwball comedies of the 30s and 40s like With Intolerable Cruelty. These movies didn't really do that well. They take three years off. No one expects no country, no one. That's another absolute sensation that a lot of listeners of this pot are probably now aware of, because I bet a lot of people were around in 2007. And it just I mean, it won all those Oscars, it won Best Picture and it's and then, yeah, you get burnt after reading and then after that an even weirder one, a Serious Man, that's nothing. And then you get a dead serious western, True Grit. They are making these year after year after year, and doing it constantly their own way with little to no studio involvement. And it's always like a swing and a miss thing. That's why when they make take big swings, Hudsucker Proxy is a big swing. Intolerable cruelty. Cruelty as I go, I appreciate it. I don't know if I'm going to rewatch it all the time, but I get it, I appreciate it, and they really don't actually have almost any movie that is not rewatchable. You're right. I was dying laughing during The Lady Killers and again, that's my 18. And I was like whole in 2004, in the theater. Everyone talked like that in movies, like we just weren't used. Now when I go back, I'm like, Holy shit, this, this is a fucking Tom Hanks movie, like Atomic Studio movie. And there is, you know, there are some very charged language and it just would never get made today. Honestly, I, I was stunned. I did not remember that. Hadn't seen it in like 18 years maybe. So. Yeah. Well that that it's so funny because that was one of the notes that I wrote down for The Lady Killers. I was like, this was definitely a 2004 movie. Yeah, yeah, just all the that's how that's how movies talked back then. And it is like a place in time. It's a relic of time now, for better or worse. But it is. Oh yeah, it really is. So to prep for this pod, this is the only time I've done this. Last year we we were we didn't know if we were going to do Jim Jarmusch or the Coen brothers. And I started for no reason, just rewatching all the Coens, and it was up in the air. And then I'm like, no, we'll do Jarmusch like, you know, that's your guy, let's do that. But I watch. So I watched all of their movies last year, the Coens in order, and then I did it again this year to prep for this. So I am I am ready, and that's another thing. Like, I was never, okay, I got to do this one now. It's not like that. I enjoy rewatching all of them all. Like genuinely, these are really even like for any of them, they are easy watches. There is not a Coen brothers movie that feels like a slog to get through. It's never too heavy to where you got to be in the mood, I suppose. No Country for Old Men might be the only one where if you're kind of like, all right, like I because. Because there's no music, there's not a lot of dialog, you know, like it's a very specific type of movie. But I mean, two hours is almost like the like, like ballad. They rarely Buster Scruggs because it's an anthology, but still, like, you still have all those Netflix credits at the end. They if they bump up at two hours, that's a long movie. It's a long it is. Yeah. They they know what they're doing. They know how to tell a story, how to string it, how to move it. Rather, without going over two hours, it's kind of incredible. There is something for everybody. I don't know a single person. And this is true. I have never met a single person that says that they don't like the color brothers. If I met someone who said that I'd been, I'd be like, you've only seen 1 or 2. Like, what kind of movie do you like? I just, yeah, I saw No Country. I tend to like screwball comedies. Step this way. I got a bunch for you. Yeah, there's. There is something for everyone. Not. And we're not saying that every single person who watches, I don't know, Blood Simple will love it. No, but you can have people who watch Blood Simple and don't really like it, but then watch their next movie, Raising Arizona, and it's one of their favorite comedies of all time. This is very common when discussing the Coen brothers, and this is also where I think there are two biggest strengths come into play, which was what we did talk about, which is language and humor. I don't know a single person that does not find humor in the Coen brothers movies. What? Whether it's like, you know, No Country for Old Men or Raising Arizona, where you get to completely different types of comedy, but they are very, very high brow, intelligent people that know a lot about America history. And they often showcase the lesser intelligent people of this country, but yet they're still so smart about the way that they depict them. It might not be in the language that that particular character uses. Well, you look at William H. Macy in Fargo. That is not an intelligent man whatsoever. Mean the heck do you mean? But but you can feel the intelligence of the movie. This is their stamp, I think. I think when you talk about what directors have that makes them so unique, is that you cannot really get away from the intelligent humor and language of the Coens. The Coens do not really do a lot of interviews. They don't like to really kind of do a lot of stuff to let people know about them, and when they do, they are very intentionally fucking with us. If they are being asked a question like, so what does Barton Fink about? Like, I feel a lot of, you know, philosophical references. I don't know, we were just writing. That is nonsense. They know what they're doing. But no, they have a very. Oh, just a very careful jabbing way with the press where they don't they just never let on more than they need to. It's like they have discussed this before the press cycle begins. Like Ethan rarely talks. You can see this. And the No Country for Old Men Oscar wins. It's hilarious. And yeah, I it's that is part of their allure and mystery. And for anyone who ever works with them, they love it. They it seems to be the most efficient team that's almost like ever existed. Everyone, they work with a lot of the same people all the time, which again, is very common for I mean, I think every director that we have covered has their team in terms of like they've found their people and that's who they work with. These guys like they finish each other's sentences. They're basically one person. That's the biggest thing. You always hear their one the same. Yep, same person with two heads. Another thing about their intelligence is that they don't. They never very rarely hold the audience's hand. Fargo is the best example of this. No one can watch Fargo and tell me or explain why does William H. Why does William H. Macy need money? No one knows. Like it's never explain because he he's trying to get you know, he's done all these numbers wrong and he's gotten this huge loan out. So would we meet him? He is trying to make to get money fleece over his father in law to pay off these loans. Loans for what? What is this guy done? So you're always being strung along and never. You just have to watch and pay attention and know that things are going to land or they're not. And my God, I've talked. We did a whole commentary on No Country for Old Men. There is a scene I wrote about it on my blog more than ten years ago. It still gets active comments. When Tommy Lee Jones goes back to where Josh Brolin was killed, and he's waiting outside that motel room, we cut inside and see Javier Bardem waiting for him, and he kicks in the door. Javier Bardem is not there. He is not behind the door. That's ridiculous. So where did he go? I've listened to entire podcast episodes just talking about this scene, and it's never been explained. And that shit I love, I love that like, you know, figure it out. Whatever. Whatever you think I, I've, I've come up to my own definitive conclusion, which we'll get to when we talk about that scene, but I've figured it out. Okay. Yeah. If it is, he's a manifestation of editor Tom's fear doesn't really track because he has no idea what Anton Sugar looks like. So I know there's this. Believe me, I've gone frame by frame and studied that scene. He's not in the next room. It's so I actually do believe it's just a manifestation of his fear. But then they are giving it that little credence of, like he thinks he could be behind the door. So we as an audience just have to go, okay, whatever he assumes, that's what he looks like. Maybe I shouldn't think too much of this stuff, but the people who think he's on the other side of the door is absurd. Because if you've ever tried to stand behind a door, when someone kicks it open, it hits you like he's a huge man. So that's what I mean. It's more absurd to think that he was in the room than it was a manifestation. Right? But he was in the room at some point because he's taken a he's taken apart that whatever vent. But even still, I've read reviews still to this day about Inside Llewyn, not Llewellyn, Llewyn Davis, that those that family that he's going to visit, that husband and wife are the parents of his bandmate who's died by suicide. And I'm like, no, they aren't. And people go, yeah, they are. And I go, no, what? And so this again, it's all these little things that make talking about their movies really, really fun. And I'll bring up a big one when we get to True Grit, because you want to talk about not taking an audience for granted, the, the language alone that they are writing with in that movie. Brilliant. Well, it is it is it I think I actually think that's their most brilliant written movie that they've ever done, actually, in a lot of ways, because of how specific it was to that time period. But it's almost harder than Shakespeare because Shakespeare like, yes, there's a rhythm and you're not going to get certain words, but you can kind of put together there are some phrases and sentences that these people in that movie use. They're not even words that we are even familiar with anymore. And you're like, no idea what he just said, literally and like, audibly, I don't know what you just said. And when I saw the subtitles, I go, couldn't even in a million years put together what that sentence actually means. But that's again how smart they are. She should have won the Oscar for that. She when she talks that like horse trader or whatever into that. No. You owe me this about this about you're like what the guy. Then she comes back and he's like, no, no, no not this. Yeah, it's a great. And then you get all the way down to Josh Brolin, like, who are you girl? Yeah. Oh yeah. So much that I did not do that. All right, let's get into the filmography though. We got 18 flicks to punch through, starting with a fantastic debut 1984. Indie film makers are trying to break through. It's like, what? How do we. How do we do it? These two yokels get it in their head. Hey, because their buddy Sam Raimi had made Evil Dead and they were, you know, friends with him. And they said, what if we create a fake trailer and then shop that trailer around to try to get investors for this script we wrote called Blood Simple. And it works. I mean, they had, you know, they had a lot of trouble getting the money together, and they're getting it from like dentist, literally. And they're just getting it where they can. And I remember seeing this movie for the first time and being like, whoa, because it was after Fargo, I had seen Fargo. This is an extremely layered neo noir that I have had a really interesting time with just in the year of watching it, rewatching it, the whole movie is about what people don't say. It's all about the lack of communication, and now everyone in it thinks this is what we're talking about. They all think they are smarter than they are, and they write down until the very last, the last line that is said and is a laugh, and we're talking about humor like this is not an out and out humorous movie, but it's the irony of the very end of this. Besides, it's so I, I love this movie, I really do, and I just, I bought the criterion and watched the For Cane special features. Moto Toro was interviewed on one of these special features, says it brilliantly. He says Blood Simple is the best type of film debut because it gives you something to aspire to while still seeing, you know, the crumbs of what made them good directors. He's like Citizen Kane masterpiece movie. That's a terrible first movie because you can never get back to that again. That. So it's a really hard first movie for a director. Blood simple is like, it's not perfect, it's not a perfect movie, but it is a great first movie. And I never really thought about it that way. And I think he's right. I love this movie so much. This movie is a bit of I. This was not my favorite of of how many times have you seen it? Once. So you know, okay. So you just saw it? Yes. So I saw this for the first time when I was like 11 and have seen this upwards of 20 times, so oh man, first viewing is not very rewarding because you're like, what the fuck is like, what is going on here? It's like 96 minutes, double, triple, quadruple crosses. But again, it's all it's yeah not said. So let's hear it. Well and I and I and I definitely like I said like there isn't a movie on here that I didn't enjoy. There's a law behind this movie that I have heard about forever. And I'm like, all right, let's see what this is all about. Now again, I also knew, especially when we like the opening sequence, which was very, very cool. I was like, all right, we have like no budget, absolute 1984, trying to make a movie that is a whole different time. So I loved and respected all of that stuff and I did dig it. I the, the lighting, the neons, the colors. I love the look of everything. Dan Hedaya I fucking love that guy. He is out of his mind. And there's like one particular shot where she kicks him in the nuts. Oh yeah, it's one of the most realistic nut shots I've ever seen. Like vomit. He can happen. Yes he can. Oh, oh, I've seen it. I've. I've witnessed in all that soccer field. Oh, God. But this, this movie did the thing that you already know where I'm going with this. Where, where I go. Why are you doing these things? Like what? Like. Yeah. Like so. So this kind of graded at me a little bit, like, they're like, why didn't when, when the main guy was Rex right. Rex or. Yeah. Yeah John gets John gets. Yeah. You know I'm jumping around here but this is an example. Like he's trying to move the body of somebody and he has like an incinerator that he goes and dumps something. I go, just shove the fucking body in there. You're going to put yourself into a twist. If you start asking the why didn't they do this of blood? Simple. And this is the point. They're all stupid. That's the thing. I know all fucking idiots who think that their competency is so much higher than it is, and they think that they're so smart that they can walk into a back office, witness a crime scene that maybe happened an hour ago, and know why it happened, who did it, the motivation of it. And because they know this for certain, they don't have to ask. They just know. But they're dead wrong about everything. Yes, they are literally blood simple. They're stupid because they're so fucking fixated on money, sex or violence. They are like these simple people. That's what. That's what it means. But I do believe me, every single thing you have to say about it just I'm like, hey, I get it. And I had that when I rewatched it a year ago. I was like, damn, this. The entire movie can be solved with just a few sentences. Hey, I went and I went ahead and killed that guy for you. What? That is the thing of the movie. And when you go back and watch these old noirs that I love, they're doing this all the time. The men always think they are so smart and they can take care of everything for the poor little girl, for the poor little damsel in distress. And they're they're usually 2 or 3 steps behind and it ends up getting them mortally wounded, I'll say. But yeah, I'm not disagreeing. I'm not disagreeing with you. I get, but dude, how about I mean, that fucking ending that oh my God, the whole staging of it. The silence, the hand, the gunshot. Jesus Christ. Well, but again, like I like. Girl. Get out of the house. What are you doing? Why is she lingers around there forever? And I'm like, well, we've rights, but. And I'll believe this part out because she. So she has to like, finish it. It's not a movie you can fully grasp with one viewing. It's not. I didn't know you had only seen this once. It's it's. And and if people want to be like, well then that's not a good movie. If I have to rewatch it multiple times. The Big Sleep, the Howard Hawks movie, which is a big inspiration for them. That movie does not make fucking sense. I've seen it so many times, it doesn't make sense. They did. Faulkner wrote it. It's like, you know, Barton Fink is connected to it as well. So Blood Simple makes sense. You just have to understand like, no, it makes sense. So many things that are not being communicated here. And dude, even if we're talking about dumb stuff, it is so fucking moronic to do. Would bring back those fish and just put them on his table. Fish smell fish out of the water, smell like it would. That doesn't make any sense. But again you and then like he's obsessed with his lighter, but he leaves it there. It's all these little things, man. I and oh, man, in the fucking burial. God. The burial scene is so like the burial scenes. Really great. Mr.. Oh, yeah. I did all this perfect. Like, I brought him out here, buried him, and then that wide shot of him trying to leave for the car will start and look at these tire tracks. You didn't bury him at a in a. It was a very shallow grave. Like this dude is a fucking idiot. I mean, absolutely. And but that that whole sequence is really, really something. And you can actually even see when you're talking about what Guillermo del Toro was saying, how like you fast forward ten years later and you have the Fargo like with the like like all of that was blood simple. But now they're like, all right, well, we're more refined now. We've got a budget. That is what Gambo Toro was talking about. Like they started with this neo noir. They never really use neon again in any of their. No, they never really have. There's a fantastic special feature on criterion with the Coen brothers and Barry Sonnenfeld, who was a cinematographer of their first three movies before he switched to directing. He did Addams Family, Get Shorty, Men in Black, very big director. They're sitting there with like the oh God, like the Madden John Madden type pen, where you can highlight stuff on the screen and they're like, they're like, Barry, where did this light come from? What's motivating that? They're just making fun of how bad the cinematography is in the movie. And I watch and I go, Jesus, I think this thing looks great. But there's like, where is this neon coming from? It's so funny. But again, refinement, refinement. Well and yeah. And so I actually dug the look of the movie I actually too, I thought it looked really, I thought that was one of the actual like strengths of it. Yeah. Yeah. You know, you know, this would be a good commentary to do. And then for, for someone who was going to walk in and be like, all right. Mister, Mister, Mister man, it'd be a good one for us to kind of, like, work our way through scene by scene. I would be interested, like, in a few months, if you go back to and go, you know, it's only like it's 90 minutes with credits and stuff. So let me just, like, put it on. I want to listen to the Four Tops a little bit. Keep hitting that song. I love it so much. Like all good noirs Maus reveal to you the more times you watch this and out of the past, one of my favorite film ever. I talking to you right now. Maybe if I think about it, but I don't have every beat of that movie memorized. I forget some of them. And then when I rewatch, I'm like, oh yeah, and there's there's a lot of good shit in blood simple about now we're, you know, we're with this character and we know just enough. So we get moved over to this character. We know just enough. Yeah, but I totally understand how someone seeing it for the first time, I'd be like, whoa, there's a I got I got questions about this. Yeah, that that was sort of how I left. I go, all right. This was their first effort. I see the beginnings of like really great filmmakers here. But as like they were just a couple things where I was like, I just don't really. What do you mean? That was her? She heard him yelling, see, this is why you need to watch it again. I'm telling you, when you go back and watch it, everything tracks based on what is not said. It is. It's not miscommunication. It is a complete absence of communication because everyone thinks they have everything figured out. That little poison that Dan Hadiya puts in John Gates's head. You know, I didn't do nothing. Or what I do. Wait till she says that to you. And then she says it in his face, like melts and changes. And instead of going like, have you been out fucking around on me? Like, no, it's not. When the movie begins, they have not had an affair. They are starting that affair, that they only sleep together, that once and then lack of communication. By the end of that, they're like sleeping in different areas of the bed and you're like, what the hell is going on here? Well, and John gets has a great monologue when he comes back from that whole entire lake thing. Yeah. The shock that he wears during that monologue is really great. Really. And all he needs to say is, hey, I just yeah, what he wants to say is, I saw your sloppy crime scene. If they. That's two sentences, and then she's going to go, what the fuck are you talking about? And then they can calmly explain the movie. But that's not what this movie is, because this is Texas, and down here you're on your own amendment. Walsh thinks he's smarter than Dan. He's not. It's. It's this whole thing. Everyone is blood simple. Everyone is either money, blood or sex symbol in this movie. So yeah, please, everyone and yourself try to go watch it again. Because that man, that final scene in that final line, the irony of it is truly exquisite. She has no idea why any of this is happening. Next one. Now we're going to change a little bit. I think so actually, because I was raised with blood sample raising Arizona. This is an outrageous comedy that if you did not grow up with, I don't know if it hits you as hard as when you did grow up with it. So here's the thing I saw Raising Arizona for the first time in my early 20s. Never saw it, never saw it. Girl wow was not on in the house. We have never saw it on TV. Never. So when I came to it, it's just what you're saying about blood simple. I was like, oh, this was what I've heard about all like, so, so much one of the best comedies ever made. And I'm like, this is it's really slapstick and madcap and all this. And I did not like Raising Arizona the first time I saw it, because I just didn't. I didn't get it. I'm like, what the fuck is this tone? What's going on now? I have come to appreciate it a great deal and think a lot of it is really hilarious, but this is going to be a common theme. I feel we're already, you know, first movie, now second movie. We're one of a solid at a time, you know, different from the other person and had this huge impact on us. But yeah, this is one that I like now. But in in the moment, like so I have no culture. I did not see this until after No Country for Old Men came out. Seriously. And and then you bring up an interesting thing is I wonder what people would think of this movie now. Like, if you've never seen it, I think people would be like, what the fuck is this? Like, this is so crazy. And it is a it is the highest slapstick tone you can basically get in a movie. And we don't really do movies like this anymore, but it is. I mean, again, there's a lot of shit in this that happens that could be, you know, resolved with just a simple conversation. But that's not these are also not very intelligent people that we are dealing with. No, not at all. And this you know, it's funny that I know I have brought this up, but this is my earliest movie memory of all time. I know, and that is that is crazy. Yeah. It's crazy. Yeah. The earliest movie memory I had was when Nicolas Cage is running through the supermarket with the diapers. So, like, it was like the first, like, visual I ever retained from watching something on a screen was this this is a I think this is the funniest movie that the Coens have made. This is my particular favorite comedy. I will be laughing from start to finish with this movie. Yes. And that is. This wouldn't make my like, top eight favorite comedies by them. Oh, it's because you either grew up with it or you didn't. Yeah. So that's that's funny. It's very amusing. And this is one of my all time favorite Nicolas Cage performances. Like, he he is so damn like he's so dumb, but he's also so charming. Yeah. He's sweet. He's. And he really doesn't believe in himself at all. Like, he really like, he's sort of like. Like there's a ceiling to his to to his capability that he thinks that he has is what is kind of what the arc, I suppose, of his, of his character is because he eventually thinks that he needs to leave because he's not capable of being a dad and a husband and all that. But man, I like when he when he says to her, you're a flower. You are in the beginning when he's getting arrested. That's just that's just a great line. But like, he makes all of these ridiculous lines work and like the hair, the outfit, everything. But I fucking love it. It's interesting to note that as each centric as Nicolas Cage has gotten in his performances, he did not have a good time making this because he did not understand. You know, he didn't. The Coen brothers didn't have like a relationship with Hollywood, yet he didn't really know what they were going for until after when he saw the movie and he went, oh, okay, okay, I kind of I get it now. I should have said Frances McDormand. Like, that's in blood. Simple. She's in blood. Simple. That's her. And Joel Coen get married that same year. And she shows up in this as, you know, supporting performance. But Holly Hunter is as editor, that Nicolas Cage is high aged. McDonagh. It's great. And I mean my favorite aspects of the movie now, when I watched her, Goodman and John Goodman, William Forsythe, oh my God, Goodman is breaking out of that fucking escape tunnel. And that raw is just one of the that is like top five funniest moments in a Coen Brothers movie. To me, that thing is the raw just in pulling him up by speaking like they make any sense. And yeah, we start to get these things of like, what the hell is going on? This does like the guy on the bike, like the the mad man on the bike chasing them. These lone figures start to become important to the Code Brothers movies. You're like, who the fuck is this guy? Why is this guy here? And and all this is being done in, I would probably guess maybe 97 minutes, less 94 minutes breeze by. But and again, I do not want to say just because like, oh, it's not my favorite comedy or I, oh, I came to it late. Doesn't mean it's not a great movie. I still really, really love Raising Arizona. I'm glad this one is so funny to you. This seems like you told me you and your mom watched it a lot too. It was just like on. It was just on, but I, I still that's the thing is, like, I can't even really compare this movie to another movie of its type in terms of both, like the way that people are performing the tone and some of just like the like the actual action like that, that fight sequence that happens in the house. Yeah. It's like it's like what? Like like we've we've we're bouncing back and forth between all these different types of tones. In terms of the comedy. It's funny because when I think about the Nicolas Cage is that I imagine, like for him to be struggling during the filming of what he was doing, but there is something that he is very grounded and he's very honest in this work. I think he's very honest for being so silly. He's a sweet person, but he just had and he has his own belief system in terms of how he operates in the world. But when that's confronted with the slightest bit of doubt, he's done like he just he just like he just like crumbles. But like when he's got that thing, I do it. Anytime someone's about to take a picture of me and they're taking their time with it, you will always hear me say, we're about to pop. Honey, honey, we're about to pop. Pop. Like, why is he. He's making his family picture and she just talking. He doesn't care to all. He's like, we're about to pop. He's got like, so funny. Yeah. He's like, all right, let's go back to pop. This whole question of the next movie, too. But Nathan Arizona senior in this film is played by Trey Wilson. He's really funny, just like a very good presence. Everyone in the cast is great. Frances McDormand shows up for a little bit. She's great. But then Trey Wilson was actually cast as the Albert Finney character in Miller's Crossing, and it was go! And he died unexpectedly two days before they began filming. So it's not just like that is really sad because he would have been great and and the Albert Finney part. But to get Albert Finney that quickly who comes in and you know they hold for a few days. And then he crushes this part in Miller's Crossing. That's another thing of them. They can pivot really quickly. They can get confused or bored with the script, as they did with Miller's Crossing, and literally put it in a drawer and just go make a movie about because they have writer's block with Miller's Crossing. So then they go make them write a script about a writer with writer's block called Martin Fink. It's crazy that they do this shit. But first up is Miller's Crossing, released in 1990, came out exact same time as Goodfellas, which is a much more modern, gritty, urban take on gangsters. And this is a prohibition era masterpiece of sorts because of all the twists and turns. And there's some Kira Szabo, and here's some Yojimbo about one guy trying to manipulate two gangs in one town. But I don't know how familiar you were with Miller's Crossing either, but this is another one. Watch it. After Fargo and Mad, I took this one to college and we just. God, we watched this movie so many times. I'm going to explain this, but we watched Miller's Crossing so many times that I cannot upgrade to the criterion, and I'll explain why I have to hang on to my DVD. Oh yeah. Yeah. This isn't this is just another one that, like Blood Simple every time I watch it. If it's been a year or so, I do not remember everything. And there's a lot that is said in dialog that we don't see in terms of like physical relationships. People are having all that stuff. Yes. This is another one that I liked right away. But does a term that neither of us have said yet that you're going to hear a lot, a lot of Coen Brothers movies when they were first released did not rub people the right way. And they were like, what is this? The most famous example is The Big Lebowski, because when that was released, no one understood it and then it gained steam. It doesn't go away and it develops this thing called a cult classic, and a lot of their movies have transformed into cult classics. Raising Arizona Blood simple. That's very important to their career. Called classic, it means a bunch of weirdos somehow found this movie and they were like, what the fuck are you all talking about? Stupid critics. This movie rules. Miller's crossing kind of did well when it was released, didn't make a lot of money, but it again has gone on to live in reputation. But yeah, I love this one. Gabriel Byrne in the middle, trying to mix it up between the Italian mob in town and the Irish mob in town. It's great. I mean, and this is also one, two where you you really do have to pay attention. Like this is very much from the start. Like if you're if you're not tracking the names of people like, this is what I mean with that intelligence. And I feel like we lose a lot of this nowadays where like, you need to explain so much where the Coens are sort of like, no, we haven't even met for people that Gabriel Byrne is going to be dropping names of, but you're going to remember them and then start putting it together for yourself as it goes on. But one of my favorite things I liked about this movie, when you talk about, like, opening shots, the Coen brothers are fantastic filmmakers for these opening shots because it's an opening shot of whiskey, so we immediately understand something about this movie right now. We understand that alcohol is an important part of what this is. And then yet the prohibition times and all that. So it's a it's a very it's a very, very good way to start it. And then yeah the, the language that these guys are using, it's fantastic. Yeah. It's so intricate and appropriate for the time. I mean, they cast Steve Buscemi specifically because he could do the Reddit etc.. He could just spit those lines out quick, quick, quick, quick. You got to keep track of like, the Dane mink, Bernie Birnbaum, and then apparently everyone's gay as well. So you have to be tracking that. You're like, there may be some incest going on there. Everyone's sleeping with everyone. It's so crazy and out there. But yeah, you do. You have to pay attention and test loyalties. And it's like, was Tom, did he have his finger on the pulse of all of it? Is he? It's just it's great for that reason. And, you know, the first two movies had really good casts, but now we're jumping into they they're making a name for themselves and they can just cast these lights out. Amazing character actors that largely have been have had bigger careers because of them. John Totoro, Steve Buscemi like there are a ton that fit this bill, and a lot of them are in this. And I even love that one scene with Steve Buscemi because they, you know, you get that, that personality. But even in the writing, Gabriel Byrne calls him, he's like, you're a fickle boy. So you so you're getting information already because we don't even see much of Buscemi much know. It's like he's not he's not important. Yeah, but that's how specific that they are. They're letting you know all even about this little guy right over here. It's like, oh, maybe don't trust him because he's fickle. Also, one of my favorite actual shot sequences in this movie. The sunlight is beautiful, but it's like morning. We see the dog and then it cuts to a kid, then it cuts to a dead guy, and then it cuts in. The master of all of it. It's just tiny, tiny little things like that. It just it's just speaking that cinematic language, which this movie does very, very well. Yeah. And even the what it withholds, like someone shows up at someone's door, there's a conversation, then the door closes, they go into a bedroom. Whoa! Look out. Gabriel Byrne gets home and there's just that small little as I've come to know it. It's called a cock chair. Small little cock chair just sitting there. And he goes and he answers the phone or doesn't. And then who's in the cup chair? And you're like, oh, wow. One reason why this was such a hit in college is, you know, a lot of us had seen Fargo, so I was, I was I've always been the guy who's like, oh yeah, you like Fargo? I got, I got one for you. That was a little earlier. Watch this. This movie has some fantastic and hilarious set pieces that you graduate to be. I mean, the oh my God, just Albert Finney with that fucking Tommy gun and the way he, like, runs from puts on the slippers, runs from one room to the other, two jumps out the window. It's amazing. And then, Gabriel Bird kind of does the same thing when he's chasing after birdie jumps out, you know, no shoes on. And then the Tommy thing, you get the classic gangster thing of this gun will not run out of bullets. It's just going to have an unlimited amount of bullets. It's a Top Gun, baby. Oh, daddy. Boys playing. Then the cops come and blow the ever loving hell out of the bar. And then not even an action set piece, but look into Your Heart is maybe the first true Coen Brothers like stand out set piece scene that people are now quoting and they're remembering like John to tour. I mean, it's the cover of the box. It gets its reference in Ocean's 12 like it is a huge cultural landmark of a scene, really, announces John Turturro as the strong actor. I mean, Gabriel Byrne had never starred in a movie, and he's fantastic in this, so you have that, and then it's just one of those things how you're saying you got funny lines from Raising Arizona. There's a scene when Gabriel Byrne needs is going to have the shit kicked out of him because, you know, he's pissed off John Polito and it's just it's its way. It's got to go down. So they're going to send in big old Mike star there to go kick the shit out of him and everything's, you know, nice. And Gabriel Burns like, hold it takes off his jacket, his hat. And he just picks up this wooden chair and whips Mike star in the face with it. And Mike star takes his paws and goes, Jesus, Tom! And then like, saunters out of the room and goes and gets this older guy who just walks into like, points at Gabriel Byrne. They give him a beating. I, you know, director. It's their movie. They're allowed to do whatever the hell they want with it. But I have learned that in their criterion releases, the Coen brothers have combed through their movies. I guess all of them. This is the most egregious one they took out. Jesus, Tom. They just took it out like they edited it out of criterion. And when I heard that, I went, well, wait a minute, because my oh my God, I've not talked to my college roommate in probably 18 years, just not at all. If I had his number and texted him, Jesus, Tom, he would know exactly what I'm talking about. Exactly. Like there's just no question we said this all the fucking time to each other. There were like four of us. We said this all the time and they edited out and I go, well, I can't buy that criteria. No way. Like they took out one of my favorite lines. It's I don't know I don't know why directors do this. It makes me mad. But Jesus Tom. Like I love that line delivery. I love it so, so much. Oh my God. Well, I do too, because I didn't even know about all that I didn't either. I heard it on a podcast and I went, wait. And then I looked it up and they did. I guess when Gabriel Byrne rushes into the the women's room and all the women are screaming, we get a close up of a woman, like kind of screaming, oh, they took that out. Albert Finney is also in that scene, by the way, dressed in drag for no reason. He just wanted to. Oh fuck you. Let's go. If you go frame by frame, he's one of the first women that steps up and runs out of the bathroom. Fucking great. That's ridiculous. That's amazing. But no. Yeah, the Jesus Tom thing that I. I resonated with that scene because, well, one, it's it's so humorous. It's so funny, but like you, like you there's also like a real human element to that. Like, regardless, would you hit me for. Yeah, exactly. And you know, this is a guy that can take care of himself too. You know, it's like, you know, he's not this is not a guy who's never been hit in the face before. But yeah, but there was just such a vulnerability and an honesty to that. Well, Jesus, Tom, you didn't have to fuck has to go get the smaller, older guy. Yeah. It's like what? I don't know, man. I think that's a huge error on their part, because it's such a deep little cut that no one would probably even recognize. But I think it matters a lot. And so, yeah, I think it's super that they cut that out. Yeah, I agree, but just universally great cast. Jon Polito is going to show up a few times in your movies. And I love him as Johnny Casper. Just, you know, he smacks his kid. Oh yeah, you gotta have a strong in. Did somebody hit you? You're like, Jesus Christ. Oh, yeah. He's like kids. You gotta be firm. You gotta be firm with him. And he's like, in the one of the expressions that I love in this movie, besides, what's the rumpus is he's giving me the high hat. You give me the high at here. Yeah. As Tom plead, at the whole entire time, everyone's giving him the high hat all the time you get. So you think he's gonna have a heart attack? It is in his speech. Is there? Like he's going to just pass out and. Well, that's just Jon Polito that that that is a that is a staple from 80s and 90s. I fucking love Jon Polito, one of my favorite character actors of all time. He didn't know that. Oh, I what do you love him in The Rocketeer? Oh, yeah. God. I mean, dude, anything because he's always kind of the same guy. Yeah, like like there's different versions of him, like, because, like, even when you get to him and the man who wasn't there, there's I mean, that's actually a pretty layered kind of performance from him, but you can't look like that man and work in this business and not be cast similarly, because you are the small like chubby, bald guy with that pencil thin mustache, the crow, he's in the crow like, oh, he's always the guy that's going to be kind of looking for some type of power that can't get it. Like that's just who he is. And and he's got such a mouth on him that, God, he really does that. He can he can do it all like I fucking loved. Yeah. Because he because he because he actually gets this is one of his bigger roles like in his career. Like, you know, he he pretty much kind of gets things like The Crow or like The Rocketeer where he's a those are the two movies that are coming to my mind right now. But like, he's not the main heavy. He's a nuisance to to somebody in some way. Right. This is one of his biggest, bigger roles, which is again, what I'm talking about. They see this character actor and they're like, no, let's give him let's give him, you know, a juicy party. I wish he was nominated for this. Oh, I wish he was too. Yeah. But again, this is also a movie that you actually like. You you listen to as much as you see because it's it's really all in the way that these guys are talking to each other and, and just like the snide little comments, it really is. And Marcia Gay Harden does a great job of the dame. Fantastic. Yeah. Yeah, that's a layered performance too. There's a there's a lot going on there. The more times you watch it you're like oh she's she. Yeah she has her. She is playing the game as well I guess I'll put it that way. But yeah. And then the I mean the set piece like what Gabriel Byrne doesn't end how that all resolves itself. And you know what Hart. Oh it's great man. This is also a movie where you brought it up earlier where plays do this a lot because they kind of have to because you can't really see the action in a lot of plays, like. So it's always it's always the next scene. You find out information. It's tricky to do that in a movie because very you hear the plan and then that plan happens off screen, and then we hear about it in like maybe the next scene or two scenes later and then you put together, but you can't just run over that information, like because we as the audience need to understand it. Like it can't be a subtle kind of like information, like it's got to be like, oh, the biggest one is we know when they went out to Miller's Crossing and he was sent out in that field, we know he didn't do what he was supposed to do. So when he was being taken back out there, we're like, oh. And they find a body and we along with Tom are going, who the fuck is that? Like we and this is what blood Sample is really good at to a frustrating degree sometimes, is like when we are passing off that information. So how much do we want the characters to know and the audience do we want the audience to know just a little more than Tom? Do we want to know less so that we can't figure him out? That and all this is so twisty and turny. This is why when they're writing it, they kind of put their hands up in the air and they're like, we don't fuck. We don't really know. Like how this resolves or how many twists and turns here. So they put it in a drawer. Right? Barton Fink very, very quickly. That's that's what they do. They usually talk about something for a while. And I think Barton Fink they wrote in three weeks. So they they're sitting there going boom, boom. And then when that's done they put that in a drawer. They finish Miller's Crossing film, Miller's Crossing. And when that's going to the studio is like, what do you want to do next? And they go, boom, we got Barton Fink, let's do it. And so it's already it's ready to go. And yeah, this is a that's a good way to just to move on to it segue. I mean the most there might be the most here of any Coen brothers movie. I've, I watch this, I own it, I've seen it a few times, but I watched this when I was doing my Cohen Ben binge last year, who would have been a wild been over a decade. And I went, okay, there's way more here than I remember. And this is the one in the year that we've been kind of loosely prepping for this that I've actually gone back to the most, because to me, it's always been an A or an A+ movie, but there's just so much every time I can't even we could we could do a three hour deep dive about I mean, just go on the fucking Wikipedia. It just keeps going and going and going. Like inspirations, allusions, themes, Reagan like World War two, fascism, so much stuff. Most special to my heart is that for the first time, the Coen brothers are going back to Old Hollywood and they are telling an old Hollywood story, and they're doing it in a marvelous black comedy satirical way. And I, I love Barton Fink, and I really I don't really think there's a 1 to 1 with this. We can think of some other movies that they based it on and other inspirations they got, but this is a a completely singular film that we're talking about intelligence and not treating your audience like an idiot. Just go watch the final 15 minutes and then come have a conversation with me about what does it all mean, professor? Because I mean, how can you explain it all? And, you know, a movie they made for 9 million and are saving the majority of that money for that hallway scene, like they're putting probably 50% of their budget into that. And that thing, as baffling as it is, as the final closing light of the seed is highly Hitler. Why, I don't know, but it just go. And that is the scene that will live in Coen Brothers infamy. The hallway scene. John Goodman this is a fucking this is a movie right here, man. I fucking love Barton Fink so much. Yeah, there there is. So yeah, I, I don't even you hit the nail on the head. There's so much going on in this movie. And at the heart of it really is about a guy who are he is completely conflicted artistically. He like he his his heart belongs in one part of the world in one of theater. But then he's being tasked to write a screenplay for a boxing movie. He knows nothing about boxing, and he's always talking about, like, the common man, you know, like, that's. Yeah, you know, like that's his. I write for the common man, but then he doesn't even understand how to read a common man story. Like a wrestling picture. Yeah. He doesn't like. Yeah. And but he. And then but he's going through like, the throes of what I think, like a writer goes through like it's a, it's a very singular experience for John Turow who were following pretty like he's he's our guy. But I mean, yeah. Then there's all this other stuff that you're talking about that's like peppered into this movie, and none of it kind of comes to a real, actual conclusion. It can't be. I'll put it this way. It's not going to be packaged up in a little box. No, I'll put it. No. Not nothing. You can't just, like, open this little magic box and have everything unpack. That is right. I mean, more so than any movie they've done so far. They're like, here we go, folks. Here's our in, here's whatever it is. But we are not going to sit here in the press and take tedious amounts of time to explain all this to, you know, in damn near every single Coen brothers movie. I believe they have a running. There is a man with power behind a desk. They do? Yeah. I mean, the Coens are fascinated with people with power, with capitalists structures. I mean, you even go to. Yeah, I mean, Jonah Hill, even in hail, Caesar! But I mean Josh Brolin and hail, Caesar! Yeah, it's a big I mean, Hudsucker Proxy, that's like the thing. It's the boss behind the desk. So, yeah, it's a great observation. They all have it. Gatekeepers behind the desk? Yep. Yeah. The Malibu sheriff in Big Lebowski. I don't like your stupid name. Yeah, yeah. Oh, well. Well, even The Big Lebowski, the actual about, like. Yeah, yeah, I'm going for, like, these really small examples. Yeah, there's these huge ones like that. Exactly. The Big Lebowski behind intolerable Intolerable Cruelty even has it with the guy with the tank. A serious Man like even No Country Has it. It's. It's something that I've really started to notice with this one because you have lunch, the main guy who's like the movie producer Michael Lerner, and he's so fucking great, but I, I love that idea because, like, there is something what the visually the way that they film it, that is always there and it's living and I think that's so great. He he got nominated for this and it, it felt like kind of felt like the nomination they should have given John Pluto the year before, you know, the fast talking. But then Michael Lerner, I can't even fathom how fast he's going with. He's just like, you know, you're you're the writer. You'll figure that out. Maybe coffee, you know, offering same coffee in the same breath and like, yeah, give us a coffee. How dare you, Lou? And you know the nasty Jewish language that it said you almost always buy Jewish people. You know, the detectives are not. But there's this there's all these weird things going on within it, and you're trying to always grasp what's going on. Using so many different sources for inspiration helps, because Barton Fink himself is very loosely based on Clifford Odets, who wrote plays for things like Golden Boy and Clash of Night, which were both turned into fantastic Barbara Stanwyck movies. He also wrote the script for Sweet Smell of Success. John Mahoney is loosely based on William Faulkner, and I say loosely because they're showing him as like, you know, a lush and everything and a drunk and all that stuff closely based, because these two look exactly alike. If you look up John Mahoney in this movie, he looks exactly like William Faulkner. It's fucking crazy. That is exactly what he looked like. And I went, oh, like I thought a picture of William Faulkner was John Mahoney from this movie, but he's great, I love that. Apologies about the Oda. Oh my God. This thing vomiting. I mean, you get Tony Shalhoub coveted there. I love that he's Geisler. It's like he keeps correcting. But then sometimes they'll get the wrong. It's. Yeah I mean it's perfect. It's. John Goodman says the easiest thing in the world at some point, which is. Yeah, what J.K. Simmons says A lady killers. There's so much. But the studio bosses, they they base that guy Lipnik on the studio bosses at the time. And one of them, I don't remember which one, started dressing in a military uniform after we started World War two, like in his office is Christ God. You can see that. Like, these weren't even Americans. They weren't even Americans, he says. I'm from Mexico originally. Like they're not. It's the whole thing. They're touching on all of this without explicitly going into it. And you just have to keep watching and have it let it wash over you. And then there's a couple of themes that I wanted to kind of point out, just in some of these specifics that I picked up, the one you got, this color palette, which is just awful, like these first Roger Deakins movie with the Coens. And it is a nasty, gross palette, and it's still looks great and it looks amazing. Yeah. Brown like these these browns. Yeah. Pay attention to the specificity of John Tetras physicality that he brings to this. Like there is there's a hunched over like finger grasping that he does. He's just very nervous. Twitchy. Yeah. Yeah very twitchy. And and then John Goodman is so sincere. But he's also dangerous and charming. I love their scenes because two guys who just want to talk about themselves. Yeah. And then they, they like, in every single scene, it's about what they want to talk about, but they position it as if they are there for the other person. It's it's just really fucking great shit. Like the first meeting with them. It's just this grooming thing of like, writers are the most important thing. Their opinion matters above everyone else. And then you jump to his last seated. He's like, if I wanted your opinion, I'll. You know, I would pay someone better. Like they don't care. And it's this constant hustle of the writer doesn't mean anything. It's just, oh, the different layers of it are great. And then after the movie comes out, this is actually a really big deal. So what they use a lot for the inspiration in those rooms, the peeling of the wallpaper, the mystery of everything. That's all early Roman Polanski, all of that, the tenant repulsion, most of all cul de sac, that is. That's him. And that's what they're, you know, using as their basis. So they do that. They're not they're not hiding that that you know, it's pretty obvious. So they take Barton Fink to the Cotton Film Festival. It does so well at the Cotton Film Festival, winning picture director and actor that they changed their rules. And from that day forth, you are not allowed to have no movie. A con can win more than two awards, which is really interesting. So they did that with Barton Fink, who was the jury president that year. Roman Polanski, dude. So Roman Polanski ends up very coincidentally being the jury president of that card. And he sees this and he's like, what the fuck? These boys like, yeah, here we go. So they give it, they shower it with praise to the point where they have to redo the Con Film Festival awarding rules. And I just love that story. Joel Coen said it was extremely embarrassing that they had no idea Polanski was going to be the jury president. He's like, oh my God, this is. And I probably thought it was going to backfire, but, you know, it was the opposite. It did win over like gangbusters. I did manage to find the Coen Brothers top 30 favorite movies and in their top ten, six of those movies are Roman Polanski movies. I've been spending the past year filling the gaps of watching a lot of that stuff, like a lot of Preston Sturges, a lot of Howard Hawks screwball comedies that I hadn't seen. So, yeah, the movies I like, Sweet Smell of Success is a huge inspiration for them. That's what's interesting is when you think of plants, it's like it's very eerie, moody tone, and the Coens can do that, but they just tend to inject a little more humor into it. Yeah. So it's it's kind of this funny fart. So again, you just see these inspirations of like, no one's going to say that the Coen brothers are the modern day Polanski's. That's not what they do, but they can take these little inspirations, put it in here, you can take Curacao, put that into Miller's Crossing. It's all these different threads of, yeah, it's it's movies that they're inspired by, but probably more than anything, it's books. It's writers that I've never read anything by Clifford Odets. I don't want to say that I have. I just know his film work a little bit. But these these are two extremely intelligent, well-read men, Joel and Ethan Coen. They. So they're putting all of that into it. And this fascination with just America in general, like we're talking about the grand, sweeping history of this fucked up country. Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, when we're talking about, like, exactly like all these references where as clear as day is what they're doing, but yet they do not feel like rip offs in any moment. No, you're right though, it's because they're infusing it with their humor and their intelligence that's giving these things that are clearly from Polanski, from Preston Sturges and all this, but it's so uniquely them. This is this is what it means to be an artist. Yeah. I mean, from something as kind of internal as Barton Fink to moving on to something you like this one a lot as big and as external. Yeah. I knew this one wouldn't be for you. So The Hudsucker Proxy is probably the in the immediacy of watching it, because again, I watch this right after I saw Fargo. So as a kid I just went, I really don't get this. And the lure of it is, you know, it was this bomb. Critics didn't get it. Audiences didn't get it premiered at Sundance Studio, dumped it out a few weeks later. It is not really talked about that much. It gets talked about more now, and it has developed a bit of a cult following. I watch it once, maybe a few times, wrote about the Coens in 2012 on my blog. It was like, yeah, you know, okay, here's what I'll say about it. This movie is so much better if, like me, for some reason, you've decided to become obsessed with films of old Hollywood in the screwball, farcical comedies of old Hollywood. And that is that's just what they're doing here. They're doing a Howard Hawks fast talking comedy, and you can either get on board with that or not. But far from my favorite Coen brothers movie. Let me be clear, but I really do love the oddball humor of it. That is just so. I mean, even the double stitching flashback, I don't even know what the hell you come up with that you're like, what the fuck? This doesn't even involve any character. Like, we should not know that this guy. Like, why are we going? And then we double back, oh, I like him so much. I will give him a double stitch. Like what? You know, for kids. Like, the whole thing is this madcap tone that's mixing in, like, Fritz Lang Metropolis style architecture. And it may not work for you. And it certainly didn't work for me the first several times. I just have a newfound appreciation for it. That's where I land. But it's not my top ten. This one. It hooked me at it like it took a little bit to kind of get into, because by by the time we were like midway through, I think it was probably like this. The they had the single stitch, double stitch flashback where I think, like the movie had finally kind of kicked in for me because we like the blue letter is a big is a big one, like the blue like that. That's like a big like I remember that being on me, like, okay, I see what we're at right here. We're we're complete farce with this. And then from there, I thought the movie really started to cook. And I loved Tim Robbins. When he gets into like, the the fight song for this, for his his high school. It's a Muncie, a Muncie girl. Muncie. Muncie girl. Yeah. Muncie song. Yeah yeah yeah. Muncie. And Jennifer Jason Leigh is just doing his girl Friday. Like she's just doing right. And even with the voice and talking like the voice and the movie, it's perfect. I don't I actually don't know how many people are familiar with this one. The setups kind of. It's easy. This guy Hudsucker just, you know, does himself in one morning. And then the new kind of guy in charge, Sidney J. Musburger, played by Paul Newman. Love Paul Newman to this decides, you know, we need to bring this stock all the way down of this company so that we can sell it back, you know, blah, blah, blah. So they hire some dope. Tim Robbins to head the company to be a proxy for Hudsucker, knowing that this guy will steamroll the company into the ground. But he has an idea. He has a circle paper, you know, for the kids and what's going to happen. So that's that's the world we're set into. But yeah, it's a very even, you know, it's like a fantasy movie. Two with the the clocks and New Year's Eve and the jumping and the stopping like, yeah, it's it is a very strange film where they are flexing one of the oddest sides of their sense of humor with. No, there's not much to really, like latch onto. You either get the tone or you don't. Idaho out of rope out of ten. So did you. Have you only seen this one once? You just watch it for the first time for this. Okay. Yeah, I watched it for this one. You're exactly right. I like that Fritz Lang kind of like combination Metropolis with that Howard Hawks. That's exactly what this is. And I think, Tim, I really can't say enough good things about Tim Robbins. Like, he plays that dope so well, wide eyed and dumb. It's just the right amount of over the top, but it gives him room to actually care because you do kind of like hope that things go well for him. But he's got some like like the ridiculous lines, like when they first kiss, like, what would they come back as, as an animal? And he goes, that kind of person would come back as a wild or beast. Yeah. It's just it's just like it's the humor of the writing. Yeah. The writing is always so good. Yeah. It didn't. When it comes out, it doesn't really do that. Well, I think I think people honestly in the beginning part of their career, I just don't I don't think they can get a handle on these guys. And that's annoying. The mainstream critical consensus. And you can see this if you go back and read a lot of the early reviews that people just aren't getting them well. And honestly, I can't really blame them because up to this point, what's to get like, you've got you've got these guys who make this cartoon of a movie in Raising Arizona, and then you get this gangster movie that is so intelligent and well done, and then you get this artsy fartsy movie in Barton Fink, and then you get this. I think there's also like a part of it where, like, is this based on a true story? Is this a movie about the a certain invention? Because I don't want to spoil it for new ways, and seeing it because that the reveal of the circle is honestly brilliant. Yeah, yeah, I'm glad you like that. I have no idea. The first time I saw it and you're like, oh, that's it's so obvious that it's hilarious. It's hilarious. And but I could imagine there because like, that doesn't come up until like, you know, three quarters into the movie. And so when you actually find out, like what this actually is, my understanding of the movie was, was that this was a movie about this invention. And then I'm watching it and I go, when the hell is this invention going to show his face? And then you realize, oh, this isn't movie. It's not about that. It's a part of it, for sure. But it's not about that. Yeah. And that again, I kind of, in the intro talked about how they're going back and forth like, Barton Fink wins the Palme d'Or con. That's a big deal. But then yeah, now they're giving Hudsucker Proxy and there's this consensus of like, because we can't get a handle on them, we don't know what to do with them, so we don't know how to review them. We don't know how to talk about them. Whatever. I guess every every Coen brothers movies, just since this open gamble, we don't know what we're going to get. They just are always making the movie that they want to make. And that brings us right to. Because if you watch all these movies in order and you're going and you're like, yeah, you know, I like this one and that one, it's really hard to adequately explain how important Fargo was for the American independent film movement. It was a cultural sensation. Everyone was talking about it. Everyone took the country by storm, just like Pulp Fiction in 94. Just, you know, like a Usual suspects. And leaving Las Vegas did a lot for this for Indies in 95. And then by 97 we got you no good Will hunting. And it just goes on and on and on until we get to what we get. These are two directors chiefly responsible for making this movement so big. And you have this conflict. I don't even know how to explain how good this movie is. Fargo is an American classic. It's a masterpiece. It is one of my favorite movies, I think just of all time. I watch it prepping for this episode. I watched it three times last year in a week for no reason. I just kept watching it. I love this movie. I would love to do a full episode on Fargo. I still think that's the plan if you want to. That's what we had scheduled. You're the doc, doc. All right. Good. So we're going to unpack it more because there's so much to say. But every single time I put this on every single person I've shown it for, it just works. And talk about college sayings. I mean, you're a bald faced liar, a fucking liar. I mean, oh my God, just every every line is quotable, every scenario. And when we fully unpack the movie, I'm going to get into like how important the Michiana scenes are and how important the, the bartender that the cop just goes and talks to on the street, all that stuff. But this is this is as good as American movies get, certainly in the 90s. And you even saying that like Hudsucker, you thought that was based on a true story. This movie just starts with these title cards saying, this is a true story. They changed names at a respect for the victims people. Let me tell you, while the internet did exist in 1996, it was not on a mass level. People believe this was a true story for damn near ten years. It's like it just kept going that this law actually did happen. And they just did that because they thought it was funny. That's a great place to start talking about Fargo, because yes, everyone, this movie was not based on a true story. And but it works so well. But you could also believe it. And that's their point. Like, their point is like, this country is so dumb. People like this exist. And it's more common for people like this to exist than the opposite. But like, what is an accent that exists that sounds so ridiculous that it's just going to enhance this thing that we have now, I don't know which came first, the idea of shooting it in Minnesota or the or the story itself. But so they grew up in this area, in the Minnesota area, and they always wanted to make a movie that was kind of set there. But moreover, you know, they love contrast. So they wanted this juxtaposition of like this horrible, not based on a true story, but true story crime mixed in with this idea of Minnesota Nice that everyone in this area, their default setting is nice, maybe to a fault, and we meet someone half hour into the movie, our main character, Marge Gunderson. But we meet her and she is the epitome of this. She's so nice that it takes this weird again, all unpack all this in the deep dive, but it takes this weird like lunch date of sorts with this old classmate of hers for her to realize. Oh, and it's not even that meeting. The meeting is weird. It's a phone call she has with her friend. Later, when she learns that former classmate has been lying the whole time and she's like, oh, people can lie like this, they did. This is not how my husband and I are. This is. But I'm an officer. Like, I'm not naive. And then she doubles back to William H. Macy's office, and that's when she starts putting stuff together. But again, none of this is ever explained. None of this is spelled out like. Marge. What what made you realize that Jerry Lundgaard may have been, you know, not telling the truth? That that's a whole. That's like a 20 minute scene now in a movie. But no, there's none of that. She just puts the pieces together. And then the whole ethos of the movie that you already talked about, about how like, this is America and people do this shit all the time. I watch and listen to a lot of true crime. Husbands have been doing terrible shit to their wives for a lot less money than this for, you know, a lot longer than this movie is existed. So yeah, these stories happen. Absolutely. And they know that. But again, putting it in this Minnesota nice thing is just it's a brilliant way to cancel the movie. And you have these, these warring factions that are battling. Heck do you mean it's it's that verse like I'll shoot you the fucking face. You know, that's what it's that's what we're battling up against. And William H. Macy is so good in this like he he is so aggravating. Oh my God he's such a fucking idiot. But like there's also a really good conversation. I think he actually goes more into the realm of psychopath than I think he does sociopath here, because he I don't believe he actually cares. I yeah. And the way he switches it, there's just some I'm just saying there's some of that there know for sure he to me, I mean one of the main characteristics of either of those people, sociopath or psychopath is there. They are narcissists like they they cannot receive help because there are these egomaniacal and he is to like he thinks, know if I can just get this and then get this loan with these cockamamie schemes he's coming up with and do all this stupid shit that I can figure it out. I can dig myself and my family out, when again, we don't even know where the real trouble is started from. Like, why did he borrow all the money against those cars? We don't know, is it? I've heard people theorize it's gambling. Like we see golf trophies in his office. Is that we don't know. We never get that. So I mean, so he's definitely got narcissistic tendencies. He's almost got like some borderline thing where, I mean, probably best realized when his father in law's, like, right hand man assistant is like, so, you know, what about your kid? And he's like, oh yeah, Scotty G's like, yeah, you haven't even thought about your teenage son and how he might react to his mother getting kidnaped, like, oh yeah, G. No, he's just thinking about his his money. You know, he's that's exactly it. Like, and I don't like I one of the most interesting questions that I would actually have for him. What was your opinion of your wife. Yeah. She seems just like she's a pawn and he absolutely is playing some type of thing where there isn't really love there. Like there couldn't be because you. Well, one, if you really love someone, you probably wouldn't put them in this position. And then as it doubles down and keeps getting worse and worse, you can clearly see he actually doesn't really care about her. He only cares about her. He he says lines, don't you hurt a hair on her head. I can't do the accent, but well, he does that in front of. It's performative. Yeah, yeah. And otherwise he puts that phone down. He goes, I don't really care. Like you can just see it like there's no caring there. But that's a very, very like specific thing that he has to be playing. It's so great. Oh geez. Oh I mean he's practicing the call like oh yeah, he's the Jerry. Oh geez. Perfect. Yeah. And it's because yeah, yeah. If you if you love someone you don't like first. That's the whole thing about the movie. Like, why not? If there's love. There you go. Hat in hand to your, by all accounts, extremely loving, nice, kind wife who has this richer than hell father who happens to adore her. And you go, look, sweetie, I got myself into a jam and you asked for the money. But he can't do that. It's this whole scheme of, like. First of all, he does. He is not fully aware. He's just meeting these kidnapers for the first time. He doesn't know what they're capable of. We never hear him say, yeah, so just don't, you know, don't hurt her. Don't do anything. Because they're pretty rough with her. And he. Yeah, he does not care. The last time he sees her is the last time we see him. See her is at that dinner. He never sees her again. Nor does Scotty. It's. Yeah. So he is one character. And then you have this complete beacon of light, Frances McDormand, who comes in. But when you were like, what is the point of all this, like just a little bit of money? That's what she says. Like she crystallizes that at the end. And it's a beautiful day. Like, what was the point of this? This is so stupid. And that must have been your accomplice in a wood chipper there. She she's so good. I mean, all the characters, like, I could talk, I could sit here and talk about Buscemi and Stormare back and forth for an hour. Just all there, you know? Total fucking silence. Two could play that game. All of it, man. It's oh, every bit of it is perfect. And it's like 96 minutes. It's just it's it's so it's a perfect like bow. Like it really is. Yeah. But in talking about the end of that movie, like for what I think those two words with it poses a question that is what the Coens are after and damn near almost everything. It's one of those things where this idea of for what? This is something that is coming up. I mean, No Country for Old men, I mean, Jesus Christ, that's that's that's that's all what it is. Burn after reading, they even end the movie. What the hell? Like, well, like, yeah, like, I guess we should never do this again. This idea is really permeating through almost everything. Raising Arizona has even got a little bit of in there. Like, what did we actually do all this for in terms of this kidnaping? Yeah, man who wasn't there? Big love has a big money scheme that, like, doesn't go anywhere. Yeah. And then the other thing I wanted to kind of highlight is you talk about the casting. I don't know how the Coen brothers do this, but there is never a movie that is miscast like they and there is never not not one performance that doesn't work. These Coen brothers get the absolute best of these actors for what they need them for. These are down from your stars, down to like the guy in Fargo who tells the story. Yeah. Mr. Mora and I said, what do you think? I'm going crazy up at the lake there? What do you got? You got going on? And I just thought I'd call it in, so I called it in. Yeah. There's. Yes, I mean casting they, they tend to I mean once they hit their stride certainly by Fargo on they have the ability to write for people. They're writing for friends of theirs also. But then also being like, I mean, horror. Now who plays Wade in this hadn't been in a movie in decades and they brought him back for that. And then, you know, he's the boss in a face off, like he's he comes back and starts to have a proper career again. So they know. So there's that aspect of it that they're very good at casting. And then these are some of the writer directors who go say what's on the page. Don't say it's on the page for we they write pauses, they write ums, they write odds. And if you and they act all of them out there, like if you do the musicality to this, it will it can go back and forth and kind of play. Even Peter Stormare saying he thought there was a typo in the script and his first few takes, he he's like, Where is pancake House? Because it's, you know, and he's like, no, where is pancakes? They're like, you have to say pancakes house. And he's like, well, that's not correct. And they're like, we know. Yeah, yeah, we get it, we get it. That's that's what makes it funny. Where where is pancakes? House. You know, fucking pancakes for breakfast. Are you kidding? Shade smoking. And so all this stuff we're talking about often with their movies, like great casting, great acting, dialog, dialog, all the language, language, the plotting, all this stuff that's, you know, kind of like the big movie podcast stuff to just speak very basically and very generally. This movie has a ten minute sequence in a car where they get pulled over. That is second to none. It is just a fucking brilliant ten minute set piece of our bad guys are getting pulled over. The woman they have kidnaped is in the back. Don't say anything or will, you know, shoot you. And again, these big bad criminals are so smart. Beginning with Steve Buscemi holding his face up to the glass because he can't see the reflection. Oh my God, yeah, you forgot to change the fucking dealer plates like you idiot. And then I'll take care of this. Yeah, I thought we could take care of this right here in Brainerd. Trying to the honest Minnesota nice cop, trying to, you know, fade him off of the $50 bill and everything goes wrong. And then now you got to clean up the body. Now that car is fine to you, that it's just great. And Carter Burwell, who does all the score. Oh, yeah. Boom boom boom boom boom. And we're going in storm air. Like flicking the cigarette out the window. And he's into it. Like when he's, he thinks he's gaining on him. Like he's fucking moving it back and forth like he's excited. And then where the car go, just the whole thing is. And I mean, we're really getting there like, oh, this this guy in particular does not fuck around. And when it has to get to it. He'll shoot a cop in the head. He doesn't give a shit at all. Yeah. So that that is who this Jerry Lundgaard, you know, had willingly kidnap his wife. These fucking psychos. I'm not going to debate you, Jerry. Yeah, I'm not going to debate you. I'm not going to sit here and debate. But I just wanted to call that out, that when they when they want to need to or have to, they can put on a banger action set piece that. Oh yeah. So show that to anyone in there like, whoa, I'll watch this movie. Oh, shit. This is great. And they're never flashy. That's what I mean. No, it's action done where it's just like down like in dirty on the ground with it, but done very well. So you understand everything. Conversations not done on Fargo. It just is for this episode. But I imagine we'll talk about it later because there's so much to unpack there. We I mean, we didn't even mention John Carroll Lynch, who's like one of the most believable, terrifying serial killers ever in Zodiac. But this is just this ball of, like, love and joy. It always. You went ahead and married Norm, son of a Gunderson and son of a Gunderson. But yeah, let's move on to. Oh, boy. I'll start this. This may be the biggest cult classic of their career, and just one of the biggest cult movies of all time, the Big Lebowski Fargo is a sensation. It wins two Oscars, it wins them best original screenplay, and it wins Frances McDormand, best actress to Big, big deal in their next movie is The Big Lebowski. Which is this like Weird Raymond Chandler s comedy that opens all these doors and it's like this LA shaggy dog thing. And yeah, I didn't see it in the theater, but when I rented it when it was out, it's just what we talked about. Like maybe you go, you know, watch Barton Fink and you're like, oh yeah, let's see what's next. And see Hudsucker. You're like, what the fuck is this thing? And with me, with Big Lebowski, way too young. When I saw Just Way Over My Head. And this, I think, is a really common theme. Most people I know who saw this movie in 1998 or 1999, really, it didn't connect with them right away. Go read reviews of it. Critics did not get it. They did not get it at all. I've read some of the most scathing film criticism for this movie. And then just a few years later, those same critics be writing another piece, going, I got this wrong. This movie is fucking hilarious. And I was just, I missed it. There's so much in it. It's packed. Yeah, that's a weird thing to say with The Big Lebowski, the subtlety of it, because there is some there's quite a bit of subtlety that is fucking hilarious to me that the bigger stuff gets mentioned, of course, but let's just, you know, all this to say, I quickly grew to love the film. Another big college movie. We had it on all the time. I mean, you know, shut the fuck up. Donny is immortal. It just lives forever. But all of it, like, oh yeah, which one's log jam? And that's what I mean. Like the subtlety of it, it's. God, I love this. I didn't know that. You know that that was Ben Gazzara the first time I saw it. Now I love so stuff. But yeah, this is talk about a rewatchable movie. We've watched this one a few times together. I feel like I think that this is their most rewatchable. Really. Wow. Like you just can't like there's something so easy. So you could choose to do 1 or 2 things with this movie. You could either really sit down and pay attention to it, or you could just sit back, relax and just hang out with it like there really isn't a bad time and the tone is so perfect. It might not be their most accessible, but maybe it is. Maybe no. Maybe that is not because part of the part of the day. Don't think so. Arms. No no no no, this is this is an inaccessible movie because I've shown it to so many people for the first time, and they have the same experience a lot of people do, whereas they don't get it. And if you're sitting there watching it with two other people who are laughing at every single line and they're like, what the fuck is funny about this? And you go, that's it. Like, it's just it's just funny. So I have had some difficulty showing this to someone for the first time at least. Then if they get on board with it, you can go back and rewatching it. But this is not an accessible movie. It's not. Maybe still talk to people who are like, what the fuck was that? I got one of the best. It was a crowning achievement in my movie life. I got into a spirited debate with a lady once, about ten years ago, about this movie, and she's, you know, she hated it, said it was dumb and all this stuff. And she's like. And part of the thing is, it's way too long. Like, why do you need to make a movie like that? That's 2.5 hours. And I went, oh no, it's under two hours. And she was so emphatic that I was wrong that we ended up betting kind of a substantial amount of money on it. And I was looking at her going, what you're doing right now isn't fair to you. How did you possibly know that? And I go, you don't understand who you're talking to. Like I'm out of my mind. So then we looked it up and I was right. So that's another thing. Like people who don't, you know, like it. They just think it's this, like, long slog and it doesn't necessarily land anywhere. But all again, all that to say that this is like one of the most beloved comedies of our lifetime. Well, you're right, though, because, I mean, you are sort of almost on like an inherent vice like type journey. Yeah, but it doesn't feel to me because, like, I have problems with that movie because of the misdirection that it goes to where it doesn't lead to anything. I mean, in that's essentially what this entire movie is, this entire movie is everything that they choose to do. They're wrong about. Like, my favorite is the is Larry's homework, the one of the funniest things I've ever seen in my entire life in a movie. But but when you're looking at, like, the plot of that whole entire thing is like, he gets his car back and he just finds this sheet of paper that's got this homework in it, and they follow that trail as it that is going to go to the home of Arthur Digby Sellers, that he's so proud and leads back in the church. He's like, the fuck is Arthur Digby Sellers? He's so pleased with himself. Like, who is Arthur? Oh my God, it's amazing. You're you're killing your father, Larry. Have you ever heard of Vietnam? Oh my God. I've made reference to some of my favorite movie characters of all time. Not exactly performances, but characters. Walter Sobchak oh my God is one of my favorite movie characters of all time. I love John Goodman's performance. This is my favorite John Goodman performance I've ever seen. This is a guy who really only cares about being viewed upon by everyone is being right. It's like, am I wrong? Am I wrong? Am I wrong? Whatever. You're not wrong. You're just an asshole. You're just an asshole. My favorite line. He goes, why does everything have to be such a fucking catastrophe with you, man? Those brave men who fun and the ashes, I mean, oh my God, knowing that this is one of your favorite characters, is he an actual veteran? I've heard this tossed around a lot. Was he actually in Vietnam? I've heard a lot of people say no, I think he was, but I think he was. Yeah, there's a read on it that he's just like, you know, this big talker. Basically. I could wrap my head around that theory. I think he definitely was because there is an honor to him. He, like he does stand for things. I don't think he's a perpetual liar. I don't think he's just a talker. For like, that would be more the Barton Fink guy. I would go on more in the line that there's your liar, there's your guy. Like, I don't think Walter's lying about anything. I think he's wrong. I think I think he's I think he's incorrect. Like the weirdness of him probably comes from being a guy who was at war. Yeah. The idea of carrying a gun in your bag and pointing it at someone. Meaning with every fiber you're being to kill them and not seeing it as a big deal over the rest of the world thinks that you're crazy. That tracks when you go back and rewatch it. We're talking about the language and how good it all is. A lot of the stuff is are in these master shots, like these long shots where it's the three of them, it's going to talk about it. And you know, Steve Buscemi like has to be waiting to interject like just at that right time. Yep. Yeah. There is a language and a poetry and a musicality to it of like that. That rug tied the room together, did it not. And knowing that that line is going to, you know, be the button of the scene, you know, did it not what really the walrus. I know the fuck up Donny and the boom boom boom boom boom. Oh, the three of them talking about casting. What a combo to put these three together in the different roles that they play. And just, you know, you got the perpetual stoner, the hot headed veteran, and then the nice, nice little meek Donny who I'm throwing him tonight and someone getting strikes. Oh man oh man. Yeah. There's so again. That's so much to unpack. Like how I love how Walter is not fazed by Jesus at all. He's just like, kind of sitting there like, yeah, whatever. But then when he hears the word that they're nihilist, he's like, nihilist. Oh, yeah. Oh, geez. That's why I love him so much, is because you do see the things that do bother him and the things that don't. And it's so interesting to start to track all of them exactly like, but and then the way he gives the information about Jesus, he goes, yeah, well, he's a pervert. And he's like, what do you mean? What do you mean? He goes, no, I'm serious. Registered sex offender, registered sex. And this is right after we've got the most brilliant character introduction ever. You've got John de Toro dressed in this ridiculous purple outfit with the fucking hairnet, the glove, the dance, the like lick of the ball. Like everything about, like, what you would just visually take in with this guy just to find out that he is a registered sex offender and that they have this, like flashback clip of John Turturro in normal clothes, walking around from house to house, having to go and knock on people's ers and tell him that he lives in the area. And then you get this one big guy, and then you just see John to take this breath because he has to go and say this. And they cut. It's just it's just a brilliant thing because you just imagine what the rest of that scene. It's more funny to imagine that that scene did take place, and we don't see it than if we actually did. I mean, and his and he's like this iconic character and he's barely in the movie. Nobody in two scenes, he's like, exactly. He's barely in it. I mean, Philip Seymour Hoffman is great, and he's like, like the eighth lead of the movie and just all of his reads are up fucking. David Thewlis shows up his Knox Harrington. What the fuck is with this guy? Oh my God, I fucking love that. And really, the dude, he's just really being taken around by everything. Like, he doesn't really make any choices himself. Walter is usually the one that kind of gets him into things. He just kind of goes with it. But Phil's character is that very specific type, like everything about from his, like the way that he like, talks or like my favorite is when when he brings the dude over and there's going to be the news that bunnies been kidnaped and he's but he basically says Mr. Loki has been like inconsolable. And he does this really long arm stretch and the doors. Yeah. Opens the door and he goes, just, just you can't even look at it like it's just so fucking good. Yeah. He's the only one who calls like, we're incredibly concerned. Dude, this is our concern, dude. He's so concerned. Yeah, matter of fact. And he repeats that line when he's showing him around all the like the. I don't remember what the light is, but the you know, this is the this is the please don't touch that. The Coens kept that in like so yeah, he's got an answer for everything. He's just here to maintain the ruse of The Big Lebowski, which he himself is totally full of shit, as we learn from his daughter was, which is hilarious. We got to talk about Sam Elliott, who better to narrate a story about a guy named The Dude than Sam Elliott? And then you actually put him into seeds of the movie, and they're just, again, all the legs. They're saying like, take a SaaS Birla dude flies in a couple of oat sodas. Gary, like, you have to use so many curse words. What the fuck are you talking about, man? I didn't like seeing Donnie go, but it makes me feel better that there's a guy. Yeah. Like so they're they're very much is like, this sort of idea that this there's a God type figure that's that's kind of carrying us through this whole ridiculous story. And it's it's a movie full of these red herrings, like the car. Larry's, you know, the car. Oh, why would Larry have that car, Walter? That doesn't. And that's exactly right. That's why it's so perfect. And what's truly one of the one of the greatest fucking lines in history is like, this is what happens, Larry, when you fuck a stranger in the ass and then saying it over and over and over. That's what I mean. That is the Coens like. It's the repetition. It's but it's of the language, and it doesn't even make any sense that he's just going off. It doesn't make any sense. Yeah. Like these lines, like, like, was he even saying Barton Fink because he's running down the hall? I'll show you like the the mind of a man or the life of the mind. I'll show you the life of the mind. Life of the mind. I'll show you the life of the mind. But yeah, you never keep saying you never heard character say this stuff in a movie before. Like ever. No. Yeah. And what would possess someone to say what Walter says to Larry? Right. They're like, what the hell is this have to do with anything? Do you see what happens when you fuck a stranger in the act? God, I must have been fun for him just to beat the shit out of that car. God. Oh my God. Yeah, the neighbor comes out and he's like, oh, oh, sorry. And it's great because then he starts beating up the dude's cars. That's not that's not his car, man. Fuck, man. And they drive off the car. We didn't even talk about Jeff Bridges, who's really the one who is actually most known for this. This is probably his most his most famous role. I mean, yeah, the dude, the dude abides it. It really brought Jeff Bridges, who had been around for a while, but into like the the cool public conscious. And now he could get kind of whatever role he wants and people are going to be on board with it. But yeah, just he constantly says is the only direction he needed is he would go up to one of the brothers before he'd say, did the dude burn one down before this scene? And they'd say, yes or no, and he'd go, all right, good. Like, thanks. That's all I need to know. All right. O brother, where art thou? The year 2000. Still the best adaptation of Homer's The Odyssey. Obviously, that's a joke. My God, I know this thing was obscene, though, largely because of the screenplay or sorry, largely because of the soundtrack. The thing just kept playing over and over. This movie stayed in the theater. I remember I saw this movie when it came out, and then I saw it like it was still in the theater the next summer in 2001, and I was seeing it summer 2001 taking people, and it was such a hit. And then, you know, it's a huge movie. A lot has been talked about it. Two things I want to talk about is that they loosely adapted it from Homer's The Odyssey, which is having a huge pop now thanks to Christopher Nolan's film. And I had a lot of fun going back and seeing the parallels, some as obvious as the sirens to John Goodman, as, you know, doing Cyclops. But then there's a lot of stuff. There's, you know, being turned into a toad as kind of the same as being turned into pigs. Pig. There's a lot of, yeah, similar parallels. But then also, one thing that I really love about this movie is that it was the first mainstream American movie to use to digitally alter the look of the film, because they shot this straight like it did not look like that. You can go on my DVD. They have some great special features about how in post-production, they had this digital intermediate to where they could go and touch up all the shots to make it look yellow and sepia, and it's crazy to go look at like, you know, that water was blue, all the grass was green, and you can see all these different colors in the sky. And they just took all that out and muted it to this yellow sepia thing that I love. But this was really the first movie to do that. And so many movies have done it since, like so, so many. And this was the first time and it it paid off. Well, they've done it elsewhere where I don't think it's paid off, but it paid off well here. Oh yeah. I mean, that's the thing is like this movie looks so amazing for its artificiality in that way. Like like it doesn't it doesn't look bad. It looks great. Like as soon as anyone says to me, O brother, where art thou? The first thing that pops into my head is the visual look of the movie. Like I see his colors. Yep, right before anything else. And there's so much to go with. Like the soundtrack, which is what it was famous for. You have George Clooney's best performance here. I think a lot of people would say that this is up there for him. It's one of his most well seen. Yeah. It's just so funny that, like Clooney as his stars rising like out of sight, Ocean's 11, this is a guy being branded as Mr. Cool. Yeah. And the Coens are like, yeah, we see all that. We just want to cast you as fucking morons over and over. And it works. It works? Yeah. He's Everett McGill. Or. No, it's it's you. Yeah. Ulysses. Ulysses. That's what it is. Ulysses. Everett McGill. You know, that's exactly like a window into what the Coens think is funny is let's take, like, the coolest guy in Hollywood and just make him look like an idiot as much as we can. Like that's they. You can tell that they just get a kick out of that. And. And George Clooney is up for it. Exactly. That's what that's what I was going to say. If you get a huge movie star who's game perfect, awesome. Go for it. And he does, because Clooney does not perform like the way that he performs with the Coens and any other types of roles, even when he's doing other comedies like there's there's something. Clooney is totally on board for for being like, it's with his eyes, like he has such these funny expressions he does that are just completely like over-the-top film acting. But they work perfectly for the Coens material, what they need him to do. It's great how big they can go, and moving his face all around and just all these, you know, and then I love when they get caught and the repetition of, damn, we're in a tight spot. You just type spot for and over. I love it would be every time he wakes up here. Yeah. My hair, my hair and yeah, getting him to Toro and Tim Blake Nelson together. They cast him like Nelson because they really like his voice. But I mean, seriously, rewatching Nolan's movie, there's so many parallels. Like Ray McKinnon when he gets back, that's like a suitor for his wife, Penelope. Like, there's there's the blind guy in the beginning is, you know, sending them on their journey. So I, I like envisioning all that stuff too. And then it just has some. This is a weird sentence. You know, we're talking about the look of the moving Deakins. Deakins is on fire. The Clue Klux Klan scene is like one of the most amazingly well shot sequences. And you're like, Holy shit, when the hell did we come across this? And again, just out of nowhere, you get this, like, brilliant set piece that under the auspices of something really, really terrible, like they're about to kill this poor, this poor guy. It's just yet another thing that makes the movie keep going. It's great. Yeah, absolutely. Do you think that in a weird way like that is sort of like the the Battle of Troy? It could be a little bit like. Yeah. Because they because they, they sneak in the Trojan horse like one of them. So yeah, there's. Yes. I mean there's, there are so many reads on they, they said again, I don't know if this is true or not that they didn't, they never read the Odyssey. They were just using things. They heard about it. I don't believe that. I think maybe they could have read it when they were young or in college, but I don't know if they, like, had it open on their debt to tell us. Yeah, I don't think they had it open on their desk as they're writing, and they just do the shit that they think is funny. Do not seek the treasure. You know, that's the best ever. But then yeah, so they I mean Big Lebowski not necessarily hit. Oh brother huge hit musical. What are they going to do next. They go to this stark, ice cold noir. The Man Who Wasn't there is not a neo noir like Blood Simple. It is a legit fantastic war that is filmed like one what we see and don't see in the stories that we hear in the different faiths. It is just it's great. A newer and I, I forget how much I like this one every single time. And then when I put it on, I'm like, man, all the twists and turns of it. I love the man who wasn't there, dude, I do too. This movie is so good and I cannot think of another working actor that is as able to be as disgusted with his station in life than Billy Bob. His absolute like disgust with himself. Like, if it wasn't for kind of like what Billy Bob brings to the table. He's such a good actor. I love him so much in this. I don't think anyone else. I don't think this movie would work the way that it does if it wasn't for him. Yeah, it's perfect casting. He's so down and like, the narration is perfect and the way that he's. Yeah, you know, seeing everything and just and again back to this Cohen's thing of just a little money like he gets a little whiff of like oh could I. Yeah. So I just have this money and like go into this new business of dry cleaning. But yeah, it, it really has a classic setup of like, he thinks that his wife is involved with her boss, but he doesn't really care until that becomes a thing. And and also when I'm watching, it's impossible to predict where it's going, especially up toward the end. And talking about casting again, we got Jon Polito back as I mean, that's a great scene that they have. Was that a pass? You're way out of line. Mr.. Way out of line. Wait a line. Wait a line. And oh, yeah, this is my this is, I'd say, my second favorite, Jon Polito with with the with the Coens. Yeah. I love him in this. I've always really loved him. There's just things that are going on in this movie that are so good with the look of this movie is absolutely gorgeous. The black and white, the shadows, the composition, the setup of everything. This is one of my favorite looking Coen Brothers movies. This, you know, when we get to our Coen Brothers Oscars, this is right at the top for being my favorite. Looking like this is. And this is in an era when this movie didn't make a lot of money because, like, people did not want to go see a black and white movie. Now that's it's that's lessened a little bit. But at the time it was like, no, we're not forking out money to go see this. And Billy Bob, as great as editor Crane, Frances McDormand as great as his wife. But then we get old Tony Shalhoub. There is Freddie Reed and Schneider. Oh, yeah, the back to that. Like really fast talking, Cohen said. He's he's so good. It's kind of a version of what he's doing in Barton Fink. But I love you know, he orders that big meal and he's like, I'm going to eat when we talk to you, mind you don't mind. And man, it's great. And then like the interrogation when Billy Bob says, well, I killed him, you know, just throwing that out there. And then Francis picks up on it. Oh it's great. It's why it's a perfect thing for the man who wasn't there, because he essentially gives away Billy Bob right then and there. The truth. And then for the lawyer. He he wouldn't care at all if that was the truth. But he's like, that's not going to play because that's what doesn't work. You're going to be that you're going to be that doesn't work, doesn't work. We need something better than that. He's like, come on people, you can't help each other out like that. Yeah, like what a thing to say. Like like that's you just gave him the truth. And he goes, people, you can't help each other like that. It's so good. And yeah, I litigate, I don't capitulate. Yes, I love the I don't want to say what it is, but the first court case, how it resolves itself and his dissatisfaction, he's just shaking his head at the table. And Billy Bob doesn't know what's going on. He's like, we really could have had this one. We really good at it. But yeah, when he's. Yeah, when he's being told the truth by the husband, like, why cut him? Why'd you do it. Did it. How did he doesn't it doesn't believe it. It's just again it's like this pop in the middle of the movie and then he's just going to go away. Now we get Scarlett Johansson who shows up. It starts out one way, and you're really kind of following a very kind of traditionalist noir. There's so much really more happening throughout this movie than I think it lets on, and it just starts to reveal itself more and more as it goes. Yeah, you again, like bringing up where the back half of the movie, you're like, oh, I didn't expect that stuff. And like James Gandolfini, Zenit, he has a few great scenes and the woman that plays his wife, she shows up and it gets really weird and like awkward. But yeah, it's a very mysterious movie. I can see why it didn't do that well when it was released, but it's weird in a good way. Richard Jenkins I love his performance. He is teetering between passing out from being drunk and being like a really helpful person. Yeah. And he's going to start showing up a lot more in their movies and I yeah, he plays. He's Scarlett Johansson's dad. But again seeing like Editor Crane now get a little interested when he meets Little Birdie. It's so like in her music and then being told she's, you know not that good. It's great. Oh yeah. Like that's what I mean. Like, you're kind of hit in the head with some things and but he believes so much in her. It's why it's really it's heartbreaking for him because he's just a dope. At the end of the day he is just a dope kind of lost in himself. The man who wasn't there, the man who wasn't there. Oh, I love it. So that I saw that one in the theater, liked it a lot. And then we get two odd ones for them in a row, because Intolerable Cruelty was not was one that they wrote and not one that they were going to direct. And that's the same with the lady killers. And it just so happens, like things fall through, there's directors involved. It doesn't it doesn't work out. So what makes intolerable cruelty so odd is that it is their most expensive film by far. By that's a huge amount. They made it for 60 million because this is like a Brian Grazer movie. So when you watch it, it's just guys who don't need a lot of money who were given all of the money. Another madcap, very like high glossy thing. But again, same with Hudsucker Proxy. The more I go back and watch old Hollywood screwball comedies, this is what they're doing. It's just a version of that. And this is really like a Barbara sandwich movie. It's like the lady Eve or just the the rat a tat tat back and forth. The woman who's got it all figured out, the dope at the center. Me, as someone who also loves process and bureaucratic nonsense, that's what all of this is about. Like you have all these people who have kind of talked themselves out of love because they've come up with so much bureaucracy around it, so it's still entertaining. I enjoy the film. Yeah, I enjoyed it. I had a great time with it. But you know, you're right, these are the lesser two back to back ones. There's nothing really at stake for George Clooney's character until we're too far in. He's just watching and observing and he's falling in love with her. But when you finally meet, what he can put up, to lose, to love were too far in. But there's some great I laugh my ass off in this movie. There's some really funny side characters that are going on. I think so too. The movie has a big tone. Ladykillers has just. Yes, it's a big kind of farce, farce tone. There's not there's not too much subtlety in it. But yeah, I do laugh aloud at both movies. I own Intolerable Cruelty. I bought it ages ago for, I don't know, for whatever damn reason, and I just have fun rewatching it. I mean, there's some good twists and turns. Billy Bob is hilarious in it. Oh, I love you like a son of a bitch. Doyle oil. He just keeps going wind him up. It's so funny when you watch that based. I mean, he says more words in one scene and intolerable cruelty than he doesn't. All of the man who wasn't there, I know. Seriously, it's so funny. And I love how everyone liked. One of the big themes is like, you're exposed, you'll be exposed and like that. Everyone keeps saying that. Like in terms of not having the right kind of like contract, you're exposed, you're exposed. And George Clooney really does have like, you know, I mean, again, you know, you're talking about like one singular monologue that he's got between like love versus cynicism, the next out of the park because he's George Clooney. It's what he does. But like that, I love that monologue. I was like, it's a great fucking little scene right here. There's stuff to like, I think in in Taliban cruelty amidst what, you know, some of those things that kind of get in its way. Yes. Same with the lady killers, too. Now, I actually don't know how you think about this one either. And yeah, there's a lot that I'm like, there's a lot of silliness in The Lady Killers from hiding under the bed to all this stuff, but yeah, you just you kind of have to give in. We have two movies in a row here that are not the best of what they're capable of. I'd be extremely surprised if these two movies were anyone's favorite Coen Brothers movies, but when you watch them and you go the context and then they weren't supposed to direct them all that. But like I said in the beginning, there's still a lot of shit that I laugh out loud at at the Lady Killers. Oh yeah, like you're right. I don't think anyone would say that these are their favorites. But if you kind of just go into it with all of that, there is a lot of enjoyment here. I think the biggest thing for the lady killers that gets in its way, it's the specificity of this heist. I think this movie could have been a lot better if there was just a little bit more of, let's have fun with heists, because every heist movie, it's always the fun of it. Is is in the how is in the process of the heist. This movie kind of kind of goes over that, and then we're spent with the second half, which is how do we hide it all? Both are very, very comical things that didn't really have it, like the best sort of payoff. But my biggest thing is why is this movie called The Lady Killers that the original was then what was that one? You're like, why is that one called it that? I think because that's like what they could do and that that's the that's what's under all of this is that if they did just take her out, it could maybe be smooth sailing here. So I think it's just a play on like that's what these people could be up to. You know, they're going to they're going to kill this poor lady to get this money and that, you know, that becomes a group of the movie. Oh, I agree, it's they wrote this for Barry Sonnenfeld. This was for Barry Sonnenfeld to direct. And if you look at Barry Sonnenfeld career, once we get into the 2000, this feels much more akin to something he would have done as opposed to the Coen brothers. And there, I mean, and Tom Hanks does do an amazing characterization of this guy. Like, he he really goes for it with with what he's putting together and all this, which is really fun to watch Tom Hanks do this. And the hyper articulate again, the language like saying 48 words when two worlds will do. Like yeah, it's it's funny, you have to find the humor in it. And then I love, old lump there, Ryan Hurst showing up his mentor in The Odyssey. He's great. That's how I remember I remember him, he's like, this guy is like playing those type of dudes and he's hilarious. J.K. and J.K. Simmons. Yeah, easiest thing in the world. Garth Pancake is this me and mountain woman here? Dude, dude, that is that I look at burst out. He goes, me and mountain girl and and everyone gives him shit about that. And and then when he blows his fucking finger off his reaction to his finger blown off as the funniest thing. Yeah. So there's good stuff in both of these movies. These are not like, you know, like sometimes we like, we talk about certain directors and we're like, all right, so this one, something happened here. This isn't really the case with the Coens. Like there is enjoyment to be had in both of these movies. It's just not on the level of what they normally do. Right? But yes, we have covered some directors where we get to movies and I'm like, yeah, this one was just a miss, like all around, just a universal objective, miss. I don't have that feeling about any of theirs. Last year when I was like, oh, it's time for the lady killers now. Okay, I'll do it. But then I put it on and went, well, fuck, I'm laughing a lot of this. This isn't like, this is not a bad experience. You can spend your time worse for sure. Absolutely. Oh my God. Absolutely not. But the next. But here's the one where you're. Yeah, yeah. Now with the next one. So yeah, we both had that. That was my Segway. Organic organic organic. Fuck. I'm telling everyone the narrative was that have these guys like, is it just going to be these high comedies where they're remaking stuff or paying homage to slapstick? And then, I mean, we've talked about this movie so much, what can we even say about No Country for Old Men? Episode 71, my favorite book to movie reviews, which this is a such a loyal, great adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel, though there are some differences and I want to go back and reread the novel. But then episode 75, our favorite Films of 2007, where this ranked very highly. Episode 112 are No Country for Old Men commentary. Episode one 48 Hour Top 25 of the century so far. This made Nick's list. We'll see if it does in the amendment episode. It's just it's one of the best American movies made so far this century. Definitely. I can say that. If not, like, ever, it's a damn near perfect movie, and this might just be where I'm at right now. But when I just rewatched this and I've seen this movie like dozens of times, I really connected with with Tommy Lee's character. Oh yeah, I even in the opening scene where he talks about, like in the voiceover, like he's somebody who's always like, wondered how I'd measure up with the old timers, like, what would they do? Like, right now? Like, like his generation, when they got to be their age, they looked up to the past, you know, maybe even the generation, maybe Gen X, they were kind of the first generation to kind of be like, fuck the old timers. Well, and that's where this is. This takes. Yeah, it makes such an interesting case because that has definitely progressed through our millennials. Like we don't really look back at the old timers is something to look up to. Certainly not Gen Z, you know. So just seeing where all that changes. So I thought about that for the very first time watching this and, and how that was. And I just really, really enjoyed that the poetic of this movie, because that lives in it as much as the actual plot. Yeah. The plotting, the violence, the money, that's all like the fun stuff to the psychopath. That's all fun to watch and trek. And then as the movie find, basically after Brolin dies, you know, when it finds its third act, third gear and it becomes more of Tom's story. That's what harkens back to the title. The this guy no longer. I mean, he says, in the very, very beginning, a crime like this, it's hard to even take its measure. He doesn't understand. Like, so this is all just happening for a little bit of money. Okay? Like I get that there is badness in the world, but does this ever get better? No. And then he, you know, goes and visits his uncle and always saw God would come into my life and he didn't. And it's yeah, it becomes this more philosophical thing leading to obviously the ending which is can read so much into. But yeah, I love that the movie intentionally struggles like who is our main character here because none of these three ever interact, which is a fucking brilliant trick in the movie that Brolin, Bardem, and Jones never meet face to face. And then it's like, oh, the last, the last man standing here is Ed Tom, and he doesn't. What was this all about? Like it's the same. It's not a dissimilar ending to burn after reading, just a very different tone. Like, what the fuck did you do here? Did I do anything? Like what? What even happen and what for? For little money on some dead, dead people and some dope like. Oh, okay, I don't get this anymore. This is not like what I signed up for to be a law man. So he's happy to retire. And then what's he going to do now? Think about his dreams. Oh, man. There's a cinematic process to this movie that is just absolutely brilliant. And I kind of just phrased it as we see something as a result of seeing that we know something as a result of that, we see the character, then take action. It follows that pattern, and it doesn't really divert it, because that's the way that we start to track everything in our in our minds. That's why we're so, like, compelled through all this is because if we knew what the character was going to do and then we saw them do it, it wouldn't be as interesting as us figuring out the pieces and then being surprised by what the character does. We're seeing it, we're understanding, and then we're seeing what they do next. And it's surprising every time. And it's letting us know these guys flaws, especially Brolin's Javier Bardem, doesn't really have too many. He does, though. He makes his mistakes, but he's much more strategic in it. His mistake is that he's so zeroed in and like he promised Brolin, if you bring me the money now, I won't kill your wife. But if you don't, then I'm making you a promise that I will. He's. I mean, if he didn't go kill that wife, which he does, he doesn't get in a car accident and have his arm broken, you know, so it is all these things. But this right here. Brolin Llewellyn Moss is a great 1 to 1 with John Goetz from Blood Simple. He's a little more intelligent. You can tell he has from Vietnam training from like, if you did it, you did it in shade. And yeah, I would have walked away, I came. He's not dumb, you know, I need I need a tent of the one with the most polls. Like he knows what he's doing, but he thinks he's smarter than everyone. And he is just like Woody Harrelson says, buddy, you were way out of your league here. You have no idea, like what you're up against. And when he's on the phone with sugar, it's not all right. Cool. Yeah. You become a new project of mine and you're like, all right, buddy? Yeah, yeah, that's gonna fucking work out for you. I really never realized this until this most recent viewing, and this is bonkers. And I never realized this. He only kills one person with that fucking cattle prod thing. That guy in the very beginning. That's the only time we ever see him do it. It's just weird. And it has such a lasting impact. It's so because we've never seen someone die that way on screen before. Yeah, right in the beginning. I just need you to step out of the car, sir. And then we see him do it with locks. And then the other thing. And then I did not track in that hotel scene when Josh Brolin is, you know, he's checked in and he's waiting, and then he hears sugar going. The only injury Brolin incurs there is the lock hitting him. That's it. Sugar never shoots him. It's just that lot. No, that's what he has to go to Mexico for, to get to the hospital. And I thought he got shot up. And I'm like, no, he didn't. It's just that lock which shows how. Oh, and that grunt when he receives that hit, that like you can feel that. But yeah, I love process movies and this is you get long passages of no dialog of how to dress a wound, how to run away from cartels who have pit bulls. Yeah. Brilliant, brilliant. And it all makes sense. Oh, yes. Yes, I'm sure I've told you that. You know, you've talked about how I have these crazy takes. This is my biggest one. Oh, God. Anton Chagas is some sort of, like, agent of pure evil from hell. Somehow he got out of hell and is now just doing these things. And then you've got the Woody Harrelson character that is, in its way, sent from that big building where you get like that elevation. This is sort of like whatever version of maybe heaven or whatever version. I don't believe this is based on Christianity or anything, but there's someone that needs to be sent to balance this out. Like one of those fuckers from hell got out and is wreaking havoc. We need you, Carson, to go in and just get him out, take care of this like he's done this too many times. That, to me, is the whole entire point of Woody Harrelson character. It's why he's dressed in white. That's why he's the complete antithesis of this. And he is sent from another place to go and do this, and he fails miserably. He doesn't do it right. Who hired Chaga? Because Stephen Root did, though. Yeah, I know, that's why it all kind of takes place in this. Sort of like outside of our realm. I can't not look at this movie with all of that at play. I think it makes it so much more interesting. Yeah, we've this has been brought up a lot on the pod, and I kind of I realized that in texts with you this week or last, this is how some people view movies. They they put a lot into it. And they have these I mean, they're called fan theories. That's all this is like there's and so it's different fan I think mine are not fan theories because I wouldn't expect anyone to gravitate. So these are just sort of things that come up for me that, that, that. But I don't like fan theory because I'm not saying that because theorizing is saying that this is what it is. I just say, I take it this way and it's kind of cool. Well, I don't think you're alone in that. Like Cormac McCarthy making religious allegories. And yeah, the very nature of one is dressed in black, one is dressed in white. Yeah, I, I think all of that is at play at a very minor subtext level. And you're just like, hey, it's fun to I just, I'm just, I'm, I'm elevating it to a whole other. Yeah. Anton Sugar is absolutely the personification of evil. He does not feel like a real entity. I totally am totally with that. So I don't I don't think it's that far fetched. So your theory then, for the hotel thing when he's in there is that that he's just like evil and evil can be anywhere. That is sort of my take on it, because if I'm imagining to give a reason as to why I believe that Tommy Lee Jones is having that manifestation of that idea, even though he's never seen what Anton Sugar looks like, because that is what throws the whole in here, then my exact theory of it would be is that if this is the face of what pure evil is, then that is why Tommy Lee is seeing it is because he is rooted in his own version of what evil is, and he's imagining that that's what's there. And it turns out that he's absolutely right. His fear. Biggest fear, an idea of what pure evil looks like is exactly Anton Sugar. So even though he never ends up seeing him, he is correct in that way. Yeah, my read of it because he goes and has that coffee with the other sheriff and he's like, and then he just walked right back into the hotel. Same one he was in the night before. So that gets Tommy Lee's wheels spinning. And he's like, oh yeah, maybe I'll go back there and maybe he will be back. So my whole read on it is that he's waiting and he's thinking like, okay, that could be him on the other side of the door. Like there's a really high probability that he is, but like, here we go. I'm just going to go check it out. And yes, Shigure has been in the room because we see the vents like he knows the vent tricks. So he now is in possession of the money. That's who has the money. No mention is really made of the body after this, it just. Shocker. Got it back. His job should be done. But it's not. He's. He's got to go kill the poor, the poor wife there. So yeah, I just I think Tommy Lee Jones is basically like, fuck, as soon as I kicked this door and I could be killed because this crazy bastard very well could be on the other side of the store, but he just missed him by a little bit, that's all. I don't I really don't think Anton Chigurh was ever leaning against the wall, looking at the keyhole. That I don't think. I just think those are. That's all in his head. But he missed him by could have missed him by 30s could have missed him by, you know, a couple hours. I just don't think there's any other way to take it because because he goes into that room and the reality is, is sugar is not in there. Well, that's the number one. And the most obvious, right, is that he's behind the door. That's just silly. Javier Bardem is a very large man. Believe me, I have tried this. I've had friends kick a door open with me on the other side of it. I'm not nearly as big as Javier Bardem. You can tell that I am on the other side of it, a door in it. So that's that's the famous one. And then the other one is that he's just in the other room, which visually and narratively makes no sense that they would be cutting to that. So I don't know, because he got what he wanted. He wouldn't. Yeah. And also he wouldn't stay hiding. If he was behind that door, he would just kill you would just kill Tommy Lee Jones because he doesn't give a shit. Exactly, exactly. That's he would have no issue with just blowing this guy away and then leaving. He's not going to hide behind the door. And then what? When Ed Tom goes to the bathroom, Anton gorgeous tiptoes out of the room. No, that's ridiculous, but that's not. This is not a guy who tiptoes. Exactly. Not at all. He might take a shoes off so he can bust into a room easier, but. All right. No country. God, just what a classic. I mean, next up, you win best Picture from this, like, revisionist Western moody tone poem thing. And then you make one of the most outrageous comedies that I've ever seen. Burn After Reading is one of my top five favorite comedies of all time, let alone the funniest movie I think the Coen brothers have made. This is my exact sense of humor. I love everything about this movie. I can watch it any time, and despite not really being filmed in DC, they had some pickup shots. Still a very good DC movie. I love Burn After Reading. This is not one of my favorites. This is. I've never. I've. Yep. I've never I've never connected with this movie and I've I've tried it a lot of times. I really. Wow. I thought you liked it. I mean, I don't I mean, well, again, like we're talking about the Coens, like there isn't a single one of you here that I don't like, but for whatever reason, this one does not hit my funny bone the way that it hits most other people. Wow. Yeah. The funniest thing to me in this movie is George Clooney. But every time this movie is ended, when we get to that whole entire thing of like, you know, what did we all learn? I'm like, I've, I try with this movie as I may, and at the end of it, after every single time, I'm like, I don't know what. I just spent my time doing hot take. Hot damn. That's funny to me because we have inside jokes about this one. I feel this is. Yeah, I mean, this is probably our biggest disparity so far because I just everything about it is like line after line, hysterical to be like, pretty much everything anyone says, including Brad Pitt. It's one of my favorite performances from him. Oh, well he's great. No, I like this movie. It's just it's not my favorite. Yeah, well that's all. It's one of mine. So I'm going to keep talking because I like it. We never had a chance to talk about it before. Jesus. You're like, yeah, it's not what I'm buying next movie. I'm like, I'm talking about it. I'm talking about Burton. After reading great DC set. No, I wouldn't know. You have to talk about I have I have a bunch of stuff I like about it. Again, you have absolute morons who think they know more than they do trying to make a little money, like selling these, these files, man. Selling it back to him. But yeah, this the the humor of it is very like big and broad. I definitely, you know, accept all of that. But all the ins and outs of it I yeah I think it's their best comedy. I mean not even close to me if I'm being honest. No, I mean, it will, it will. It's and it's pretty airtight in that way too. Like, this is everything that they, that they do really, really well. And there is just no doubt that Brad Pitt is an absolute child. Oh, and if you look at everything he does, that's a five year old. And if you track it that way, it makes his performance even funnier, because the way that he doesn't, like, get something that he wants, like he can't get like he doesn't have the electrolytes, so he pouts about it. You know, when he when he gets hit in the face, he's like, he hit me. It's a Schwinn. Like he cares more about the guy thinking he doesn't know that his bike is a shall win. That's a kid being like, you know, oh, no, that's this toy. You know, he is completely operating, playing as like a five year old on the phone, like he's like, oh, you know, like, what was his name? Like something Cox like, born Cox. Well, Oswald Osborne Cox the security of your shit. Shit. Yeah. It's hilarious. It's why it's one of their best comedies. Their best comedy. I can't believe this one doesn't fully work. Well, no. Here's the thing. Scene for scene. Like, the thing is, is like, I like there's movies where I look at the comedy and I'm recognizing it how good it is. It just doesn't make me laugh. That's all. That's like. Like I laugh, but I don't, I don't listen. I think the funniest scene put to tell, to put to movies is when MacGruber is having sex with Kristen Wiig in MacGruber. All right. Yeah. It's hilarious. Yeah, but that's a little different than, like, this highbrow stuff that we're talking about here. This is comedy. Like, like very taught. I have a drinking problem. Fuck you. You're a moderate. Next time you all have drinking problems, I know who you are. Fuck. Yeah. The way the total sweating is such like she's so cold, but apparently, like this minx. And then, I mean, we have really one of the great all time shocking death scenes. I don't even want to say who it is in case someone hasn't seen it. I was like, what the hell? It completely scared the shit out or just surprised the shit out of me. And then you have the, what George Clooney's making in his basement. Another great surprise that I love the two meetings with J.K. Simmons as a CIA superior who's like, what the fuck is going on here? Like what? And the political, bureaucratic stuff of it, of how they're always talking themselves out of like, no, we got to do this one. Well, no, no, no, leave the body there. No, of course no. Dump it there. It's so funny. I this one just it always got right to my funny bone. And I thought the a perfect mix of their crassness, their writing, the humor mixed with the politics of it. Yeah, works for me on genuinely on all levels. Like going to the Russians. Like they just fucking drive to the right. Yeah, they even people are so fucking stupid. Linda Litke and then at the end, it's like she wanted quite a few surgeries to just do it. It's like, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, okay. Each character is actually really grounded in very, very real wants. Like like Linda really like to her. Like in order for her to be happy, she needs to get this work done. Richard Jenkins is just hopelessly in love with her. George Clooney, like he's caught and all. Like Tilda Swinton wants a divorce and wants to be with Clooney. But Clooney just his character is like he he's just so he wants it all, he wants it all, but he also wants none of it like he, because he every time he's like, he's like, so it's me and you, right? And then she goes, yeah. And he goes, yeah, yeah, me and him. And he's muttering that he does in this movie is hilarious. You get John Malkovich, who's just completely grieving his life. Yeah. His his career. You know, he's been let go from the agency and he just like Drake's all day. He's on his boat to a shitty exercises. It's so fucking. It's just so outrageous. And then there's this also this other thing, like, who's watching Clooney? And we're like, oh, this is going to be important. Nope. Just some divorce lawyer. It's like, what, poor Richard Jenkins? So I mean, yeah, like who's watching who? Like someone's watching everyone else that it all comes this conclusion that we don't even see. It's just explained to us, which again, I think is hilarious. But yeah, I mean, I understand how it's not for everyone. I did. Well, no, I think it is for everyone because everyone finds this movie really funny for you. This is no, not for me. But I see the I laugh at it, but it's just it's just not I don't I don't know like it's it's not, it's it's always to me one where I'm like, yeah, I've never really gotten what everyone else gets with it, but I still like it. That's all I'm saying. All right. Fine. This is like you're you're raising Arizona. Yeah. You. That's like they're funny still. Yeah. I guess this is what makes them so fun to talk about, because you're. And I'm actually just going to transition because there are there are two movies in the back half of the Coen brothers career that have reached enormous acclaim. We're talking about best movies of the century so far on More Than I think, for I Saw A Serious Man ranked at least in the top five for quite a few people I know people major critics, who think this is the best film the Coens have made. Now we're full on into religious allegory and all that that entails. And this is this is a well-made movie. It's well shot. It is bonkers. It's just really kind of out of its mind at all, you know, the best ways. But I also think that I'll just put it this way. I know a few Jewish people who say this is the most Jewish film ever made, ever. And I've asked people who were in their 60s, I asked people who were in their 20s, and they go, there's just no question. That is it. I saw this movie maybe around like 2014, and I didn't get it. It didn't connect. And then I just watched it for this pod. I fucking love this movie. I can't even really kind of like, describe why I think, you know, I'm just watching this one guy just kind of going through it like everything is, is kind of going wrong for him. I really, really liked it. I don't know what I can say. I have a bunch of stuff here that I wrote down, but none of it really makes a lot of sense. Well, yeah, that's kind of the movie. And don't get me wrong, I like it too. It's. But yeah, when I first saw it in the theater, I went, whoa, okay, that wasn't okay. There's something there's something kind of else here. But I bought it for this. And because I bought it on Blu ray, because it's never available on streaming, and I wanted to like, watch it a few times and I'm like, man, they are tapping into a tone they really didn't get to, like just committing full on to this, like pitch black comedy. They really haven't made another movie like this. There's not that many other movies like this period. This is another 1 to 1 thing that I am extremely impressed with always. And here's a guy that, by all accounts, does do everything right, and then everything starts going wrong. And then. But these aren't like huge things, but it feels like they are like I imagine like this is probably something that comes up for not just, you know, people, the Jewish faith, but anyone where you've put your stock into a way of thinking and then all of a sudden life kind of says otherwise. And it's like, well, what the fuck? Well, yeah, I mean, my, my, my favorite running thread and there are a lot there's like the three rabbis this, you know, the sun, the damn song. Yeah. None of them know anything. Exactly. But I love Clive, you know, Clive, the student coming in like this decision weighing over, and then when he makes that final decision is when, boom. Like, literally like the hammer of whatever of God or okay, if I grew up in this world, I would understand a lot more of this, but I didn't, and I'm okay with that. And I think that is a huge feat of the movie that you don't have to like, you know, have you don't have to have a have been bar mitzvah to understand. No, I don't think that way. That's an important thing. And then I can imagine if I did have, you know, a connection, you know, much like in that religion in that way, to where it actually makes even more sense or it really is like tailor made. But no, I got a very universal sense of all this in a way where I certainly didn't get the first time. Same here. Yeah, same here. And I think it's also just because, like, I don't know, I think again, like, you know, I saw this movie 12 years ago, I was in my 20s getting older. As he's doing the uncertainty principle in the math equation. He proves you can't figure anything out. The whole entire chalkboard is full. So all of this is to say that you can't actually solve this, which is, I think, a part of the what the movie is saying, like the futility of it. Yeah. All this stuff, putting your putting your literal faith or your trust into these systems. And yeah, the big we get the men behind the desk again like man behind these and and what does he say. Be a good boy. You know like you know falling boy. Yeah. But but there's even like, lines where it's like, everything I thought was one way turns out to be another, except the mystery. And I love the accept the mystery, because that's a great line to say in thematic tone with this movie. But he's also the guy who says that to him is the guy that's cheating on his wife. Exactly. That. He's like the most, like the nicest guy. Calm. Yeah. Sigh. This calm presence. And it's like you're you're sleeping with my wife. He's hugging him. He's like, how are you doing? Because, you know, I am sleeping with your wife, but are you all right? Like, I love that guy. It's like how much disrespected one man take. You can't. Larry Gopnik is a man on the edge. Oh, man. So yeah. So he's great. Michael stuhlbarg yeah, so I really I had a big turnaround to this movie where I think everything that we just talked about is what is kind of existing in this movie. And and I get it, I feel it and I like it. The tornado at the end is, is is an interesting one. I don't know what to make of that. Oh, that's the whole thing. That's like, yeah, I mean, he's caved. He's changed the grade to like what? Now look, you know, here comes, here comes perhaps the hand of God coming down I love it. Yeah. Exactly. And what the weight of that is, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah I've liked it more. I've, I think I've seen it four times now total. But I've liked it more every time I've gone back to it. And that'll probably happen with you the more you go to burn after reading. I don't know, man, I right here I tried for 20 years with this movie Let it go. It's just never reached the point that everyone else has with it, that's all. Now let's talk about a movie that I can't watch without. Subtitles. Well, yeah, you know what I mean, girl. What are you talking about, girl? Oh, man, I love True Grit. First of all, I gotta say, this is not a remake of the 1969 film which won John Wayne his only Oscar. And that was not a well-deserved Oscar. Anyway, that's not really that good of a movie. I've never liked it, but I had seen it before this and I went, that's what they're going to do. And they went back to the book, which I still haven't read, but the language is taken from the book. The end I here is taken from the book. And this is just like how the Man Who Wasn't there is a bona fide legit noir. This true grit is a bona fide Western, not a revisionist Western. And my God, I love this movie, and I really think this is a rare film that actually gets better with like each 20 minutes you're leading to a thrilling conclusion. Yeah, it has this narrative propulsion. It keeps building, building, building. And I mean, how great to see Brolin. Yes, but then Barry Pepper showing up, like, where you been, man? And he's great, girl. You know I will. Oh, man, I fucking love this movie. And yeah, the language of it is beautiful. This is I mean, this is beyond anything. And and I really I really have to kind of say like like when we talk about subtitles. The reason I did put them on was because in the first, like five minutes of the movie, I was just catching words that I would I just kept like double, double checking, like, wait a second, is that what they said? I don't know what that word means. I put on the subtitles, and I was just floored with the brilliance of the Coens because they just wrote a fucking movie of that time period. That is, when you're reading it and you're hearing what they're actually saying. It's some of the most brilliant stuff I think they've ever done. I really do like it is it is tailor made to every character in terms of where they are in terms of like intelligence class, the bravado, the way that Hailee Steinfeld like, handles this character. I can't imagine anyone else doing it. She has this maturity, this capability, this toughness, doesn't ever feel like it's forceful. But she's you also still are reminded of her youth in the best way possible. It's exactly what the movie needs. And but yeah, I did have to put on the subtitles for this, and I'm glad I did, because what I got out of this movie was so much more than I could have ever gotten out of it any other way. Which is why you always say to watch them with subtitles. Yeah. That's true. It's literally true of every movie. But yeah, but I mean, the this doesn't this movie doesn't really work unless they nail Mattie Ross and I don't know how they found her, I don't. And now Hailee Steinfeld is, you know, very famous. My wife has not seen True Grit. I was watching it and she walked in. Josh Allen swipe right. And my wife walked in and I was like, That's Hailee Steinfeld, like as a kid. And she went, really? And then she sat down and watched a few of her scenes and she went, Holy. She can act. And I go, yeah, she was nominated for this. And she had some really, really tough competition. I mean, it would have been it would have been great if she wanted. It just wouldn't have happened. This is the Melissa Leo year she won for The Fighter. Oh yeah. So she's up against something against some heavy hitters. But yeah I mean it is it is a truly star making performance. And she's like 14. You're like what the hell. Going toe to toe with Jeff Bridges who I mean is astounding. Matt Damon, who I always get a huge kick out of just his arrogance. Texas Ranger leaf and sticks. Yeah. So much. Again, talking about your competency thinking it's so much better than it is. But and then also what I love to say about this movie, this is fucking crazy. This movie's PG 13. And you see dudes just like, fucking iced out, like shot to the head over and over. And you know, man who wasn't there being rated R for one scene of violence. And I think that was some other stuff too, but officially rated R for one scene of violence. And you go to True Grit and you're like, Jesus Christ, there's so many. It's a pretty violent movie. But yeah, I love it. And then really like one of the best third acts of their career. I think basically when they meet, when they, you know, run into the gang. Yeah. Up until the end, the snake pit, the all of it, like fuck and just really kind of finds this melancholic gear toward the end that I certainly don't expect from the original movie. And then you're like, Jesus, this is. Oh, man. It's like really beautiful and just melancholic and perfect and the whole thing, like, I want this is one where, you know, in the days leading up to the like. All right, let me try to get in a few more viewings. So I like I did Miller's Crossing, Barton Fink, and I'm like, oh, maybe I'll get another true grip. And then I remembered you just watched it two weeks ago. Like, you don't need to necessarily boom again, but I can watch it any time. I love I love the language of it, the look of it. Their most nominated film ten Oscar nominations. Zero wins, of course. But yes, it deserves all of it. It's it's that good. And it's really like it sets itself up so well too, because you really feel like how long it's taking Matty to get all this together. Like because the amount of days that she's spending and Grandma Turner's, you know, bed and all this. But the bargaining that she's doing, like the process of what she's doing and then trying to get Jeff Bridges to get along with this and they finally embark on the journey. I love the one scene because like, this is one of the ones with like the subtitles on where I was like, without this, I wouldn't have caught any of it. But like the first real Damon Bridges argument that they have is they mention the assassination of Jesse James, they mention Billy Boyd Anderson or Bloody Bill, bloody Bill and Jeff Bridges is like, those are American heroes. And David. Oh yeah. And Damon is like, I cannot be a part of this. Like you like, you know, and and then I think this is one of the best, like, Western scenes ever. I mean, it's done in a lot of different types of movies. But Jeff Bridges in Haley are on the roof and they're expecting, like, to have the shootout. But then Damon shows up and we're seeing all of that action from afar. Fucking brilliant. We're trusting in in Jeff Bridges because he's telling her how this is going to go down. But we don't know because we're only watching the action, but we're feeling the safety of the situation because of bridges. But you're imagining like, this must be what Haley's character is feeling because we don't know how this is going to go. But Jeff Bridges is sort of being like, well, see what he does first. Well, that didn't go his plan. So now we're doing this, you know, and it's just it's really, really, really well done. Oh yeah I love that scene, the whole setup. And then you know Damon gets dragged off and we're like holy shit. And then yeah, leading up to that, the final set piece of, you know, on the hill and the screaming back and forth, that's all brilliant too. So yeah, I really can't recommend True Grit highly enough for people who I don't know, maybe there's some people haven't seen it. It's a big hit and it's usually easy to find. And I, I really love all the mechanics about it. And again, not a revisionist western, a true blue western. And that's a cool younger and Frank James at the end that she's talking to. I didn't even realize that until this one. So yeah, that's Jesse James, his older brother. They're at the wild Wild West show. All right. This is a big one. This is a big this is a big for when I was seeing a lot of top 25 of the century so far list or just, you know, favorite movies of the century so far? I'm seeing this pop up a lot. This one I definitely saw hit a couple number one spots, but it's it's not uncommon for it to be very, very loved. Inside Llewyn Davis I always want to say Llewellyn because of No Country for Old Men. Yeah. And yeah, so this is a beloved one, but we've gone back and forth about this one personally, just off mike, and I guess I've talked about it here and there on like in various episodes, but we're going to set the record straight here. But what do you think about this movie? Well, here's the thing. The first time I ever saw this movie, and this was when it came out, and I did not like it. I didn't get it at all. I was so against it. I was like, this movie is just about an asshole, and there's nothing. And I'm not against those types of movies like Five Easy Pieces, basically any Jack Nicholson movie. But I just didn't really see what this movie was after then. Funny enough, I told you about my feelings about this movie, and you were the one that encouraged me to see this a second time and be like, I would maybe suggest going back to it. And then I saw it a second time, and then I did the biggest 180 I've ever done on it, and I really liked it. But something must have happened, because this must have been the time that you and I were working together for the first time. This is the About Face episode that we did. You mentioned this in the About Face episode. Yes. So it's all coming back? Yes. Yes. We okay? Yeah. So and so. Yes. I guess something happened within those like three years of being out here in LA. And I suppose I really under kind of I have really understood this artist's plight that, that Llewyn Davis is going through. He just is a very he's just a dick. That's literally it's not there's no other way to describe it. He is but I really liked it. And then I watched it again this time. And then I had since heard some of your criticisms for this movie, but I now look at this movie. I like it a lot. I, I understand what you're saying, what we're going to hear you say, because I'm looking forward to actually hearing your take on this, because I don't think you're wrong either. I kind of think this is a movie about forgiveness. Oh, okay. That's interesting. Who who's forgiving who? Well, I don't know necessarily if it's necessarily a movie about who's forgiving who, but I suppose maybe the movie is asking, can we forgive ourselves? Do we learn from our mistakes and be better? I suppose there's another way of kind of looking at things, too. It leaves you in a space where I think there's a lot of cool questions to be asking from what we just watched with this. But yes, I like this one a lot. Yeah, yeah. Most people do. I don't, I definitely do, I don't dislike it. I'm going to talk about one specific aspect of it. But to start with kind of the theme, I personally I don't get anything about forgiveness with it. I do get something of can we learn from our mistakes and get better? And I think we're witnessing someone who, at least in the week that we see him, he does not. I mean, there's no that's my read on it. There's a few things here. The first one, when you're talking about he's a dick, he's an asshole. I actually when I watch this movie, I don't know what I am supposed to be left with. If it's nothing, fine. But I don't know what the Coens want me to think about this guy if they ever want me to have, if they ever want me to care about him at all, then that it didn't work for me at all, because I don't. I like watching him get his ass kicked. I like watching him fail because to me, there is no redemptive quality about this guy. And I like movies about characters like that too. But I'm just when when it ends, I'm going, okay, so he maybe destined to repeat himself. Maybe not. But that's I actually don't have a problem with any of this aspect of it. I don't I like the yeah, I've always found it a very difficult movie to talk about, because there are a lot of people who just don't understand that in the beginning, when it fades after he gets punched, all we have done is faded to a week ago. They just don't give us a title card that says a week ago, but I mentioned the loop thing and people are like, what do you mean? Anyway, that aspect I like, I like the narrative deception of like he's a victim of his own mistakes. So that's, you know, his ass wholeness. So yeah, no problem with that. Here's the thing. I and I actually disagree with you. I think I am wrong in this take. And here's why. Because this movie was nominated for two Oscars. And I want to start this by saying that Amelie from 2001 is one of my favorite looking movies ever. I love the saturation of it. I love how it just feels warm and full of life. The cinematographer of that film is Bruno Del Bonnell. I'm probably saying the last name wrong. I'll just call him Bruno. He has a style now. He has a look. It evolved into like what this thing is and I'll just like, cut out the sugar. I think this movie genuinely looks terrible. I think it is the worst looking Coen brothers movie. I don't. And everything I read about it, it's like, you know, Bruno came on board because Roger Deakins, who always shoots her stuff, was busy, I believe with Skyfall, if my if memory serves, which he got nominated for. Yeah. So I and it's not anytime that's happened like Chivo Emmanuel Lubezki shot burn after reading same thing he was I forget what he was on then, but it was it might have been the no country Jesse James one two punch, maybe Inside Llewyn Davis. The more research I do on it, very similar to what they did with O brother, where Art thou? All of that blue Hayes was added in post-production. This heavy, heavy diffusion is all in post-production, and I genuinely think it looks terrible. And when you go on a Coen's binge, as I have two years in a row, you watch True Grit and you're like, God damn, look at this. You watch hail, Caesar! And you're like, okay, this is very intentionally saturated, but wow, look at these colors. And in the middle, I just I don't understand why they wanted the movie to look this way, but why I think I'm wrong. The movie was nominated for best cinematography. That Oscar and Ali's favorite film franchise is the Harry Potter franchise. We took a week watching them all in 4K. We get to Half-Blood Prince and we are both like, what the fuck is wrong with this movie? It looks like shit. It just looks like there's this brown haze over everything. And I went, man, I look it up. Bruno shot that one and take a wild guess of every Harry Potter movie. Only one of them has been nominated for Best Cinematography. Which one? Half blood Prince. This is a personal taste thing. Most people dig it. I cannot get on board with it. That's my. My speech is done. No. And it's. But it's a fair speech though, because I mean, at the end of the day. Listen, I, I, I don't mind the way that this movie looks so I can sit on the other track here of what you're saying, but I can't sit here and tell you that you're wrong in terms of the manipulation that is done with this movie, it does not look real. Yeah, but in the same way. But but it doesn't look as good as O brother, where art thou? Exactly? Where, O brother, where art thou? Is as manipulated, color wise as this movie is, I, I like the idea, and I think it's because there's enough going on. Like if I if I were to stare at every single aspect of the of what's going on in the frame of this movie, what I'm initially hit with is the color in mood. And that is what I dig about the movie. But if you were to and I know because you've shown me text messages, it's so funny. I love getting these from you where you'll you'll because you're paying attention to every single thing that's going on. And then in the closer, it's almost like the man, the man who wasn't there. Like the closer you look like the like, the more like you. In this case it is. The closer you look, the more you do see, because the closer you do look into this movie, you do start seeing how fake so much of it looks. If you start doing that, it does start to take away from the entire what you're trying to experience with the movie. So knowing full well with all of the texts that I've gotten from you and then rewatching this movie, I, I'm like, yeah, you're right. Kind of. And I guess this asks an interesting question is should you have to kind of separate yourself knowing full well how much is being manipulated and then how much can I just like, just keep like almost set up a boundary for and just be like, I like it, but I don't want to look too far into it because then I'm going to see the cracks. Yeah. I mean, fair question. You can say that. You can say that for a lot of things, for just about any movie that we love passionately, we're that's one of the things we have to do is like, defend those cracks, defend the scenes. I mean, as someone who loves Christopher Nolan movies, that's largely when you're talking to someone. What about that? What about that? And you're like, yeah, okay, I get it. Like I yeah. And actually, because you started with your history with the movie, I did see this in the theater and I was like, okay, it was Christmas 2013. And I went, all right, yeah, it's okay. I also saw, I saw like Wolf of Wall Street the next day and went well. So that overtook my thinking. Oh yeah. I mean, so then the next time I saw it, I went, okay, I appreciated this was on a TV. And that's when you, you and I had our conversation in there somewhere. And I was like, no, I think there's a little more in it about latching more onto the themes of it. Like we're talking about kind of ignoring the look. Yeah. And then last year I just I watched it on my nice 4K TV and went, what the fuck is this? But I never watched all their movies in a row, so I was like knocking them out and going, this does not look like I mean, this is crazy. It's not unlike to me what scream For did. And I mentioned that all the time, but all that like hazy, very soft focus is all in post-production and I can just I really wonder if they would, you know, do this now. They released it on criterion, but I, I mean, if they remade the movie, would they do that, those kind of filter and effects. Now, I, I don't know that Bruno also shot Buster Scruggs and I see some of this not really though, but like the final the final one. Yeah is when I'm like this again, this is not the look for me even. But noting noting all of that, all the somewhat negative stuff I said there in the character about Luann. Like, I don't really like the guy. I love Oscar Isaac in it. I love his singing voice. I love the songs. I laugh hysterically every time Carey Mulligan speaks in this like, oh, he's so good. Do you know someone from before? Whatever, Diane. So fucking funny. And so I love her. And then, I mean, we're talking about these standalone set pieces. You get Garrett Hedlund and John Goodman. That's a 15 minutes, ten, 15 minutes of them. Just perfect. Yeah. There's just so much more to kind of unpack with this movie. Much more than meets the eye. That's very true. Very true. It's very personal too, because like, there's an absolute intention to lead with your main character not having any redemptive qualities, not giving him a redemption if he, like, he's sort of more accepts that he's just an asshole rather than maybe being like, maybe I shouldn't be an asshole. So this makes an interesting question. So what is what are the Coen brothers after here that. Yeah. And I think there really is something. And that's what makes the movie really sort of thought provoking in a lot of ways it does not. The Coens are too good to be just making a movie that's about nothing, correct. Because of the constant love this movie continues to receive. It's definitely not a movie about nothing. And I think actually, I think there's a great triple feature parallel with Barton Fink, A Serious Man, and Llewyn Davis. I just these movies that focus on first two are eccentric and I mean, well, Luann is pretty accented as well because he just has this. I mean, he's a narcissist, essentially. But I mean, so is Barton Fink kind of. So I don't know. But yeah. Yeah, they are these parallels of these very oddball characters. But every time I watch it, the next time I watch it, it's not like I'm never going to see it again. I will be chill on the way that it looks now that I've spoken my piece and like, who cares if I decide to rewatch it? It's not like I could change the way it looks, so I just have to accept it. But yeah, I'll I'll study the themes a little bit more. I mean, what if Murray Abraham says to him at the end of that audition is fucking perfect? Because I it is. And I mean, that's what he needs. But instead of taking that and being like, okay, I could change doesn't. It's like, it's hilarious. If someone were to tell me that they don't see any money here, that has nothing to do with whether or not you're talented. No, not at all. Not, but but I think a lot of artists don't understand that. I think a lot of artists who are sort of like, well, then what? What do you mean, this is good? This is money. That's not true. It's not that you're not talented, but there's nothing about you. That's why you don't see that. And that's why it was honestly so great to kind of have the Bob Dylan thing coming at the very end. Because here's a guy who's essentially Oscar Isaac playing the exact same type of music Bob Dylan is. But what makes Dylan money and what makes Llewyn Davis not? There's there's an honest question there. Yeah, I think Llewyn Davis could be money, but he needs to figure out what it is about him that actually creates that thing. It's a very, very interesting assessment and I love that scene because of it. Yeah, I really do appreciate the movie. I do appreciate its tone. I just wonder how much more I would like it if Roger deacon shot it, when he would have never allowed that post-production stuff to be done to it. I really don't think so. So I don't care. I do like the film, though. It's a fair question. All right, let's move on to yet another one that I saw in the theater. And when it was done, I was telling people, you know, hail, Caesar! Yeah, it's like a it's a BB plus Coen brothers movie. And I enjoyed it, but I was not head over heels about it and thought I was kind of missing something. Honestly, the coolest thing about it is I had just shot a few scenes from my music video, fossils in a bar that George Clooney, sorry, in a bar that Josh Brolin keeps meeting the guy in. And I was just good luck bar. Good luck bar. Yeah, we can say, because it's not there anymore. So yeah, but there anymore. I had filled that like a few months earlier. Not yet, literally like a few months, maybe even a few weeks. And then I go see hail, Caesar! And I'm like, Holy shit. So I was just sitting there dying, laughing, thinking of how much the Coens must have paid to get that location. And I went in there, like on a Thursday night and just stole some shots. Anyway, that has nothing to do with anything. This is another one I've come around to and wow, do I love it, man. I love Cohens doing old Hollywood and I fucking love hail, Caesar! I think this movie is hysterical. It's just me, though. This is the Coens thing I love. Yeah, I'm more of your first feeling on it because the first time I saw it, I honestly didn't really think too much about it. It's weird. I mean, it's weird. It's it's like 20 minutes of communist conversation. You're like, what? And he goes, and he's now with, you know, communists. And, but to me, the shining star of this movie is Alden Ehrenreich. Oh, my God, made him a star, I think. I mean it really. He had been in a few things, but wow, he to me is the reason to watch this movie. I would have rather have watched an entire movie about the making of the one scene that he's in with Ray finds, which holds a special place in my heart because Ray finds his portrayal of that director is to a tee my my very first, like, acting teacher slash acting director that I had in college. Really his all. My God, I'm not joking. He's supposed to be like George Cukor, that old school director and my my mentor, Don young Strom was exactly. That was an old time, classically trained thespian. Gay. He would wear the there's a name for it. They're not scarves. The Ascot. Ascot. Oh, yeah, he would wear, he would wear the Ascot. And I just see my mentor right here and it cracks me up. But the other line that Alden has that's just like is when he's like, yeah, look into those extras. When he's talking to just rolling, he's like, you look into the eyes of an extra, you don't know what he's thinking. So yes, I agree. He is the highlight. And this is a movie starring Josh Brolin. In the second lead is George Clooney, and it has a stacked cast. And I don't even know if Aaron Reich is on the poster. Maybe he is. I'm gonna start, I don't know, maybe. Hobby. Yeah, that's his character name. I mean, we meet him with all the horse tricks and he, Alden actually, you know, learned how to do that stuff with the rope, which is like jumping in and out of it. The date he has with the with that girl is so sweet. I could watch a movie about him. About them. Like. Yeah, falling in love, filming the movie. But then, yeah, the crowning achievement of the movie. And this is. I mean, we're talking no bullshit like Fargo, car chase, no country, Josh Brolin getting chased on foot, you know, by the cartels, the all timer Cohen scenes. This is out there for me. You have this veteran pro. Yeah. Doing an amazing portrayal of that type of director up with this actors, his cowboy. And they're just going back and forth of like that. It was so simple for that. It was so simple. And then we're talking about the language and the repetition. The him calling him Mr. Lawrence and then getting, you know, Lawrence and then the one time Ray five switches and he goes, Mr. Lawrence. And he goes, Lawrence, you see? Yeah. Alton. Eric, look off screen and blink and be like, well, I thought it was Mr. Lawrence. And he's like, no, we're on first names now. And he plays it so perfectly. And I remember seeing this going, who the hell is this kid? Because this I know this movie was like spring, I think 2016. No, this movie was February 2016. Jesus. I had just shot my music video. That's insane. Like I shot at the week before I saw it. But yeah, I was like, who the hell is this kid? And weapons Oppenheimer. Like, I love this guy. Now I'm a really big fan of his. And you saw him on On Broadway. What he wanted his Tony for? Yeah, he won his Tony for. Yeah. Well deserved. Yeah. Amazing actor. He's just really, really great. I've never seen him deliver a bad performance even, you know, say what you will about the Han Solo movie. That wasn't. That's not his fault. Innocent. And it's his fault. Like. Yeah. Old and innocent. That was not his fault. I'll talk about a movie that is filmed by a great cinematographer that looks woo! Anyway, man, that guy shot a rival. Like what? What happened anyway? Okay. Hail, Caesar. Christopher Lambert, we get Christopher Lambert. Yeah. Chris Lambert? Yep. Tilda Swinton in dual roles. I mean, everyone, but. Yeah, the extras. You know, I look over there at the lighting grip and I say, that's Bob, the lighting grip. But these actions, you don't you don't know about him. And I mean, he's right. And I love that scene too, because it is like one of those moments where it's like a rare, vulnerable moment for Josh Brolin. Like, I don't think I don't think Josh Brolin knew going into that scene, his character was going to reveal this giant secret to this actor. Yeah. And the way that all the way that he takes it to, he's not worried. He goes, this is bad. She stars everywhere. Yeah, right. That's what he looks at him and he's like. And you know, he decides to trust Toby. Like this is, you know. So yeah. Yeah I love that. Just how he he tags right onto it. And you know, he helps. He starts helping. And one more thing is we're just really, you know, like, glorifying Alden here, that that date scene he has when he's lassoing with the spaghetti, which is real, which is real like that, like that is an actor who did his prep. My God. Oh, he said that was the hardest thing of all the prep in the entire movie. And he trained the practice for ever to try to do that. And it is impressive. But yeah, you're right, it's an actor prepping. It's great. That's an actor prepping right there. Yeah, it's really great. We're not going to have a chance to mention this with the final feature. So I just want to call out like give a little attention to I don't even know what to call him. But the code brothers love these fucking meetings. Like you said about someone behind the desk, like the communist meetings and this. But it's also like the USO dance scene and Barton Fink the Out of Nowhere Princeton reunion and Burn After Reading. They just love these. Like, I don't know, these institutions of white men acting like fucking idiots. And I love it, I love it, so I just because I just wanted to call that not to say the communists are acting like idiots. Don't take me the wrong way here, you know. Don't don't at me. I'm just saying they are. You know, it's a very specific way of thinking. Well, no, but that's exactly what the Coens do. And again, talking about the George Clooney thing, I think the Coens think it's hilarious to dress George Clooney like he's Julius Caesar. And then and then have him be kidnaped and stuck into a room full of communists. Yeah, like that's just the Coen brothers like humor. They're like, who's going to be it's George, that's George, that's George's job. What should it be? Caesar? Yes, yes. We got. Yes, we got it. Yes. So now we come to their final feature together. Although to me, honestly, hail Caesar! Feels like their final like legit feature because they never done an anthology before. I don't know, the anthology thing leading into dual solo careers feels. I don't know, maybe I'm reading too much into it. No. Yeah. No. It's true. I didn't think of it like that. But yeah, they're definitely I mean, they didn't individually direct sum of no no other. And that's that's what I mean. And it's basically an even split for me, you know, premiered on Netflix. I actually think I saw this in the theater. I think like Alamo played it. So I went to see it and I was like, okay. And every time I go back to it, it's just an even split. I like three and the other three. I'm like, it's okay. I gotta say, man, I really like this. Okay, cool, cool. I'm sorry, I'm a fan. I think there is some gold in some of these. That is some of the best work I've ever seen from the Coen brothers, period. This is actually part of the issue with me, because I think The Gal Who Got Rattled is an A+ masterpiece short with a perfect, conclusive ending. Going back to the picture, that is one of my favorite. I get chills talking about it and that is so good. And well, nothing else in the movie lives up to that to me. But then like for second places, all Gold Canyon like. Yeah, that's just like that could be Daniel Plainview is like grandfather or something. And the way Tom waits plays it like it's fucking, it's beautiful. And that the totality of all Gold Canyon is better than that movie The Sisters Brothers, which is about the exact same thing. And it was a full feature. Yeah. And it was not feature. And then I really enjoy the first one because I think Tim Blake Nielson is funny and it's such a Coen Brothers conclusion like that is hysterical because you are the fastest gun in the West. Intel the new fastest gun in the West. The other three, I think, slow it down a little bit and I just don't get much out of them, that's all. So that what you just said is the problem for me. The girl who got rattled. Perfect. That. Well, I think I actually, you know, this is this is a hot take. I actually like near us a lot. That's the the James Franco one. Yeah. It's not bad. I like the news thing. I like the whole setup of that. I, I don't dislike any of them. I'm the last one. Doesn't do anything for me, but I don't like, hate it. The reason why the last one does it for me is just because of the the basically the performance from Chelsea. Ross. Yeah. Chelsea. Ross. Yes. The man Chelsea. Ross I mean major league I love Chelsea. Ross. Everything that comes out of that man's mouth in that whole entire short to me is, is exactly what you get when you get really good Coen brothers writing with the right actor to play it. Yeah, not not all of that one works for me. Not all of meal ticket works for me. But there. But there are things going on in all of these where I would never skip through any of them. Okay. Yeah. So to say that about it, like there are ones that are certainly better and I think, yeah, the gal who got rattled in all Gold Canyon, those are A+ shorts. But I wouldn't give any of these any grade less than a B+. Yeah. That's fair. Mortal remains. I'd give like a B, and that's my kind of last place. I'll let you keep going. Meal ticket I love the ending, because that perfectly encapsulates one of the themes we keep talking about with the Coens, which is that capitalism always wins. Whatever can make more money with, you know, takes less time. That's going to win. But but I tune out during it because I think it takes a while to get to that. And then mortal remains, I do. It's not that I want to skip it, but I'm like, I just tune out. I, you know, but but I love, I love Chelsea Ross. Like, I love him, I love him. I think the reason why meal ticket you kind of do is because there is, I suppose, an argument that you could make where you could make that probably five minutes shorter scene. That sequence in particular could use five minutes less, but maybe that's been explored. And the ultimate best version of it is what we have. That was sort of the impulse feeling that I got from it. Yeah, that's all fine. Let's talk a little bit more about the Girl got rattled because it's all God. Yes, yes, yeah. Granger Haynes is who she engages in the fight with. That's Mr. Arthur, I believe. Yeah. And I mean, just the way that he plays that like, we're about we're going to have a fight. And I mean, that's like that old West sensibility that I love. And you see that stuff in like Red River or just where they're like, no, we. And what that dude saying is like a very high possibility that I could die here. And you too, honey. But, like, this is what the Wild West is, sweetie. So here we go. I should have killed that fucking dog. Oh, man, it really is something. And you know, Jeff Bridges exudes a little bit of this and true Grit as well. Yeah. Like. Yeah. Like like when he's explaining to Haley like how this is going to go down. Oh, shit. Well, not like that anymore. Yeah. No the way that he plays this scene is, is fantastic. And then you think you're out of the woods, but you're not as they come back for a second round and he still maintains the composure that he has. And I really love Bill. Heck I do too. I gentleman kind of aspect quality to him. He's not exact. He comes off capable and he's got this maturity to him. But bottom line is he couldn't even kill the dog because like it ran away and he's like shooting like a couple times and he comes back his sensitive little cowboy, you know, that's just like what he is. Yeah. He like, he's not capable. I don't think in the way that Granger Haynes his character for sure it this way. If Granger had to kill that dog, that dog would have been dead, dead, dead many times. It wouldn't have even been. It wouldn't have taken that long. And. And then you've got, you know, Zoe Kazan, who I mean, her eyes are some of the most expressive eyes. I just kept being bowled over by her throughout that whole entire piece of business because it. She just killed me every time I crashed. Every single time crashed. You crashed and burned. Fell in those foxholes or rabbit hole or prairie dog holes, whatever they are. Well, the last one I'll say is Tom waits in all Gold Canyon in terms of his acting, I think that's the best performance he's ever given. That was that was going to be my take. I thought you might have bit my head off. Dude, I agree, he's fantastic. No, there is something so sweet about this man as he was like Mr. Pocket, Mr. pocket like he's scared, but he's also like elated. And he's like, there is so much emotion coming out of him, from joy to fear to like victory. And he's crying it all out is he's just screaming these words that he's saying, and I don't that's that's really good acting. Yeah, it is like it's all of it all in one. It's incredible stuff. We are both fans of a lot of aspects of it. It just sounds like some of the shorts work a little bit more than you, but that's okay. That is just that's a genuine that's the general nature of anthology films. Not all of them are going to hit the same way. So you're never going to have a like ten for ten. That would be really wild because no, of all the ones I've seen, it's yeah, that is very difficult to achieve that. Like ten for ten. That's the filmography. That's it, that's it. That's the Coen brothers. That's the Coen brothers, that's all. 18 from Blood Simple to Buster Scruggs. Real quick before you do the top ten most expensive movie was Intolerable Cruelty. They got a $60 million budget for that. That is way more than they've gotten for other things. And that was just because it was going to be set up for other studio directors, and they just kind of went in and did it. Now their highest grossing films by a huge margin. Number one, True Grit, 252 million. That's crazy for them. And in second place is no Country with 172 million. So that's like 80 million difference. So that's I just wanted to list those. That's pretty cool. True grit was a big, big hit. Got ten Oscar nominations and goose egg wins zero. How many did King's Speech get that year? Was the last time anyone watch King's Speech? Jesus Christ, I didn't even like it when it came out. I neither. All right, top ten cone brothers. We're going to be nice. Everyone's going to be nice. We we've acknowledged that we both like all of their films. I yeah, when I said that the one I would put at 18, I would still give like a B or B minus two. And that ain't bad. Not even because that would be Ladykillers. And I would give that a B, because I think that movie is unexpectedly hilarious and a 2004 time capsule. Well, I mean, it's like I said, like I much to the chagrin, I did not dislike Burn After Reading, but you will not find it on my top ten list. Yeah, you're going to have a few that you're not going to find on mine either, and that's okay. I guess the big question is, is the bet that we should have is how many do you think we're going to share? I think five, yeah. Good question. I mean, I know one for sure that I'm gonna you just admitted one so I know one as well. So that cancels out I think the ones we're not going to have, the eight we're not going to have will largely match up. I'll go with six. I think we'll have six. You think six as well I think okay. We'll go with six. But I guarantee you we're not going to have the same number one. And I think I damn well know what your number one is. I actually have a guess what yours is. I doubt we have the same number one, but my one and two man, the past, like few top tens we've done. Spielberg is tough for me was the last one. We just did it and we read. Didn't know and that's all. My God, that is so difficult for me. This one is too. I mean, people can kind of guess what my one and two are, but I definitively put a two and a one is going to be fun. Yep. So we'll do you know you do ten, I do ten, nine nine. So you go no. And that's the and that's the same way that I feel like it was I made my definitive ones and I and I stand behind them. The Nolan one was harder for that. All right. Starting at number ten with their last one. That's right. I am putting The Ballad of Buster Scrubs in my top ten. I think that there is gold in there more than there's not. And I think some of that gold is some of the best stuff they've ever done. So Buster Scruggs number ten for Nick. Fair argument. I mean, if we were we didn't we don't. This is already going to run long as shit. So we don't we didn't space this out. But if we had like set pieces, if we even had set pieces, the whole standoff with them, you know, with Zoe Kazan and that, that that's, that's in there. Absolutely. That is up there with what I'm saying. Fargo, chase everything. So that's cool. Did it made your list? It's not going to make mine. That's okay. That's all right. What's your number? Ten. What are you starting with? This was kind of a late decision. I had to here and I wanted to bump, you know, had to bump one out. And I'm going with hail, Caesar. I really enjoy it. I really, really did. Wondering if this was going to make it your number nine. You're going to hate my number nine. You're going to hate that it's here. And I'm sorry I thought about it. I can't help it. Well, I don't even think that this is why it's going to get crazy. It's because you're going to hate my number nine. Oh, great. Because you're not going to believe. Well, you're you're going to you're going to appreciate that I have it on here. But you are not going to like that. My number nine is Miller's Crossing. No that's okay. That's I mean no, you own that. So how many times did you have you seen that one? Well, this is my first time seeing it. Oh okay. So yeah, I can tell you right now, like Miller's Crossing and Blood simple. It's just not going to hit on first viewing. But again, no movie should require you to watch it multiple times. So like, your assessment of both films is completely fair. They are fucking twisty ass movies, but it still made the list. Bow no, but it's still made because it's it's kind of undeniable. Like it really is like it's it is that good of a movie. And that writing it reminds me of True Grit a lot in terms of just their specificity. Yeah. In that time period, in the and all that, I mean, that's it. That's hard as fuck. And they do it really well. My number nine I'm sorry Barton Fink I love the film. Oh I know, all right I know I just had to we'll come back. We'll we'll come back to that. We'll come back to Miller's Crossing to your number eight. Number eight. Here we are, a serious man. Oh, good. Okay. Wow. This really had a pop for you because you it really, really looking forward to rewatching it. And I'm so glad it hit. I really am and it really hit from in everyday. Like I was absorbed. Like I was like like like I really got. I was of that very beginning. Like once we got through that because I'm like, yeah, I was like, all right. So all right, all right, all right. Let's see. But then you know, you know, you get that the whole idea of that curse and all of that and and then we're off to the races got Jefferson Airplane. So yeah, they I love the songs in there. I want to make like a playlist of the songs that are just repeated a lot like the Four Tops. One in Blood. Yeah. That one. That's a that's a good call. I didn't remember that. It said there. And I love that last guy. You know, that's what of the judges for Brown, like the very last rabbi is the let's say I'll put you at the top of the list. If you're right. That's that guy. Oh, really? Yeah. Yeah. They just aged and aged him up big time. But yeah, I don't I don't think that's like that. The hell you know. What did you say? The fuck. You know what we all have. All right. Number eight is serious, man. For Nick. My number eight, true grit. And I love True Grit. Let me be clear. So we're we're pretty much an A+ territory for me now. True grit. I'd given a the next one an A, and then I'm pretty much A+. Like these are these are unassailable great films to me. And we are also in the extremely rewatchable category. I rewatch all of these a lot. They might be the most rewatchable directors ever. The most I would venture out to say is True Grit. And that's not even asking a lot. You know, like that's Rooster Cogburn. Yeah. You're just you're just you're just getting into just like a Western. That's all it is, you know, like. Yeah. Number seven, Inside Llewyn Davis. Wow. We have more uncommon than I thought, so that's okay. I know I, I had a feeling this was going to happen. Nice spelling, jackass. I know I spell it like Lou, and I think it's funny. I do that because I think it's funny. Hey. Made you laugh. Okay. My number seven. We have none in common so far is their first film, Blood Simple, which I know did not make your list. It did not. It did not. Yeah. So this is what I mean. This is going to be very interesting to see like what we have like this one. I'm just going to say this was my hardest one was between what was going to be in the top five and what wasn't. But at the end of the day, I had to put this here. I wish it could be in the top five, but my number six is the man who wasn't there. Okay, I love, love, love, love this movie, I do too. Now how many times have you seen this? Now this was probably my third or fourth time. Okay, rewatching, I forgot to ask you that I love knowing just how many times you've seen each movie. I just, I it just helps give me context. I totally forgot to ask for sure. Yeah, yeah, like I will say this, I these are from here on out. I've seen countless times. Same, same. My number six is Miller's Crossing. Are. Oh I would. Wow. I would have actually put money that I don't have on that would have been in your top five. As long as it makes the list, that's all that matters. And that's our first one in common. So here we go. Are we going to get on a tear? I know we're going to have one. I think the the comedies we won't have in common, those will cancel themselves out. And then I think the other remaining ones will have in common. But your top five, number five, top five, baby. And we're starting with their Academy Award winner. We got no country for Old Men. Oh, that surprises me. I thought that would have been, I know, closer to your 1 or 2. Hey, good for you. I it's it's it's kind of it's kind of crazy. It's that it's number five. I agree. That is kind of crazy. My number five, the dude abides the Big Lebowski are. Yep yep yep. See, I actually wondered this was actually going to make your list. I didn't know if you were a big fan of this. I've seen it in so many times. Well, you've met my buddy Brant. This was that. And Dazed and Confused were our movies for a few years, and it was constant rewatching, you know, like hungover on Sunday mornings watching them. We made, Oh my God, the time he had me make White Russians the way the dude does with the fucking powder coffee creamer. We drank them all weekend at the beach once. Yeah, I love that movie. That's disgusting. Yeah. Oh, I'm going to send him this clip all places. Yeah. Oh my God. Yeah. I'm gonna set him this clip. He'll know what I'm talking about. But yeah, I love Lebowski, all right? And I know it's gonna make your list. I'm excited to wear number four from you. Number four. We have got the one I know will not be on your list, but this is an all timer for me. Raising Arizona. Yeah. And it's not like. Yeah, again, if I watched it a bunch more times, I it's just not the Coen comedy I go to first. But it's how we get it. It's what are you going to say? I don't have a sense of humor. Oh, yeah. I don't like good things. Go on, hit me with it. I feel like good things. Big asshole. Is your number four going to be the one where I don't have the sense of humor? Man who wasn't there? It's my number four, my friend. Whoa. Yeah. And I love the man who wasn't there. This is a plus movie. Yeah, I love the there. Wow, this is crazy. This is crazy. I don't know what to tell you, man. You don't know me. You don't know me. You're number three. All right, number three, we've got the Big Lebowski. Okay, good, good, good. I think I think this is the most rewatchable Coen brothers movie of all time. Every time you watch it, it just gets better and better and better. And it's just so well done. Totally agree. I don't know, we'll see what your favorite comedy is, but that's definitely comedy. My favorite Coen brothers comedy, one of my top five comedies of all time. Burnt. After reading it was difficult for me to do the placement with this and the man who wasn't there, but I just I mean, every time I put this on it is my funny bone, just all of it, you know, you really are angry person. Like, I just, I walking out of the house, going up the stairs to get the mattress coming back down, I don't know, I think it's I think it's great, but yeah, I, you know, I totally get anyone's position on it because it's outrageous. Completely. Well, no, I'm the weird one here. Everyone loves this movie. I'm the minority of your shit. All right. Two and one. Give me your two. Oh, I can't believe this. My number two is Fargo. Wow. So my number one that I was going to guess is correct. That's okay. So you really love it? I thought that would be for you. That's why I called you that in the beginning. Just give me your one. It's Barton Fink. That's. Wow, I love that. Yep, I love that. I had a long time thinking about this. Now, here's the thing. Fargo, I think, is their most supremely well-made movie of all time. Like that. Like that movie is a damn near. That's a that's an ND w npm. Damn right. So what are you watching? No perfect movie. But there is something about Barton Fink that the very first time I saw it, it just connects with me on a certain level. There's a weirdness to it. There's this sort of mysteriousness, like everything that that movie does, I just I don't know what I can say. There's I love it, I love it so much. There's something so weird and wrong about it that I can't get it out of my fucking veins. And I've always felt that way. I've always, always had a relationship to that movie in that same way. And I've seen it countless times, and every time I'm do, I'm still in a, in a like in a state of wonderment about it. I love that it just, it taps into stuff. And like we said, there's no 1 to 1 for that. Like A Serious Man. It's good. No, you can watch that with the. But there ain't no 1 to 1 for Barton Fink like it is completely on its own. In and of itself. It is. It's just so. Yeah. Strange and great. So. And that's a really spirited number one. My two and one. I had a lot of trouble with this because I love No Country for Old Man and I love Fargo. I love them both to death. I'll just do it real quick because we're running along. Number two, no country number one, Fargo. And the reason why I ultimately went with that is because I've had some conversations with people about no Country where I have to justify the final scene, the dream, and. Yeah, and justify why one of the main characters that we're following for the entire movie, why we don't see him be killed on screen. You don't have to justify anything with Fargo. It has. I have a 100% hit rate with it. Every single person I've ever recommended it to likes it. It's just perfect and we're not. The conversation on this part is not done with Fargo. It would make. I've always wanted to do a commentary for it, but then would also make for a deep dive. I almost wonder if Blood Simple would be better as a deep dive, because then we have time. It's going to go so fast and a commentary to try to explain things, but we'll we'll talk. We're we're going to do at least a Co and another Coen brothers episode. But yeah, we have Miller's Crossing man who wasn't there, Big Lebowski, Fargo, No Country, Barton Fink. So we did have six. Well look at that. It's crazy. My no country's at five. But I mean, when I look at the rest of them, just for me personally, I'm like, it makes sense. We should watch next summer together a double feature of Raising Arizona and Burn After Reading and just, like, sit. I know that, Bernie. That would actually. Yeah, but that would be for Raising Arizona showing because we've done Burn After Reading together. Well, this was I was going to say, because you and I were talking about this right before we went on air. Well, were you were talking about the separately was that when we did watch burn after reading? I was laughing a lot more than I usually do because of how much you were laughing. And that's a really good point. Yeah, that that makes your experience watching a movie better when who you're with and sharing that company with is really enjoying themselves, you can't help but kind of enjoy your experience more because of that. So I remember that was my favorite time ever watching that movie. I mean, yeah, I die laughing every time I crash. Every time. Every time. Yeah. All right, let's do what are you watching? Let's go as quickly as possible, or, you know, it's going to be happy. Oh, am I okay? Here you are. You go first. Hit me. Well, so, everyone, I'll. I'll make this as quick as I can. But you're faithful in mine. Alex with row has on many occasion sent me movies that that he just felt that I would just like. And me being me, take my sweet ass time getting around to them. And so I was very happy to. Last night, I popped in a 1996 movie that you said, don't don't read the back, don't do anything, don't look it up. Just pop this in your Blu ray and just watch it. And that is Lone Star, directed by John Sayles. And wow, dude, you were right. Did you love it? Really? Yeah, really, really enjoyed this. It just reminds me of you. Like it reminds me of a movie that you would like and that I will it. We will not say what it is, but that final scene. My God, it's really hard. And it's a conversation. Folks. This is not like some big spectacle thing. It's a conversation blows me and just knocks me out. Knocks me out. Well, that's that's the whole movie. The whole movie. Like, you don't expect these individual scenes to kind of start to cut deep, but they do. Yep, yep. And and it speaks so much I mean about like racism and oh big time. And I mean there is, there is. So I did not expect that. But I didn't expect not only did I expect that the kind of content, but I didn't expect the kind of honesty that that movie brings forth in situations when you're dealing with these issues, because it doesn't solve any of these and doesn't try to, but it definitely does just it lets you know that this is how people feel. Really, really something, really something. Okay, way earlier in the pod, you mentioned you found a list of the Coen brothers favorite 30 films. I do want to clarify that these lists are just some writer like has to file an article. So they went and found a bunch of Coen brothers interviews and like, put a list together of every movie they had mentioned. So when you said, like, there's six plants in the top ten, the ranking is completely arbitrary. It's just like what some writer put on it, noting all of that. Well, still the most directors the same direction. That is very true. They mentioned Polanski, which you wouldn't really think of, but they do mention him a lot. And actually knowing how much you love Barton Fink, you got to go watch those early ones like repulsion with Catherine Deneuve. They just took right from that for the stuff in his hotel room. And that's a great movie. I love repulsion knife in the water. Oh my God. Yeah, they're great. But I went a little lighter and I found they are huge fans of Preston Sturges. So I went a little lighter with something called The Palm Beach Story from 1942. I just loved it. I mean, I'm a huge fan of the lady Eve. It's one of my favorite parts, Stanwick movies. That's what Preston Sturges did the year before. And it is. He also did Sullivan's Travels in 1941. Like these directors back then were just cranking them out. Palm Beach Story was great, as like these wild and hilarious book end scenes that I go, yeah, that's okay. So like this is where your bookend scenes come from. It has nothing to do with A Serious Man. It's not like that at all. But I'm like, all right, I see, I see like your inspiration. It's just it was really funny, this madcap thing. And as I get more into old Hollywood Palm Beach story makes me appreciate things like Hudsucker Proxy and Intolerable cruelty. Intolerable cruelty, that's a tough one that much more so, yeah. Fun stuff. I'm so glad you watched Lone Star and liked it. I'm so glad. Yeah, I mean, there are some good special features on there. I haven't yet to see those yet. Good, good. All right. Cool. Well, that was the Coen brothers. Wow, that was fun. Make sure you go to patriarchs. Now we're going to record the Coen Brothers Oscars where we are picking our own nominees and winners. So it's not, you know, we're picking all of our own nominees. It's it's going to be great. It's not just listening to winners. So head over there. Patreon.com also podcast for all of your what are you watching needs. But as always, thanks for listening and happy watching. Your sweet as a honeybee. But like a honey bee stings. You're gonna love my heart and take all your left. All. You had a favorite song? Hey everyone, thanks again for listening. Go to our brand new website, a podcast for everything you can write to us. Donate. If you're feeling generous by our brand new merch and you can find our new Patreon link! What are you watching? Bonus features. We are on Patreon now, so for just a few bucks a month you can get so much more w a w content. Go to a podcast for all of your what are you watching needs? Next time we need a full episode for it. Joel and Ethan Cohen's Fargo. We're going to dive all the way into it. Break down each scene. There are so many subtleties to this movie that are hilarious. It's going to be a lot of fun. Stay tuned. Rolling. Breaking out there. And just to say, oh sorry darling, it it all stars say on song but with a different name. Is said to be the dog.