The Coen Brothers, Second EditionSimon and Schuster, 2016 M01 5 - 360 pages Brought completely up to date, this insightful biography remains "a must for any self-respecting Coen fan" (Screentrade). This fully updated edition of the first biography of the Coen Brothers includes their complete work so far, from Blood Simple to Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), with a reassessment of their remarkable career as a whole. Joel and Ethan Coen have pulled off the ultimate balancing act. Despite having their movies financed and distributed by major studios, they have managed to remain true independents, rejecting commercial clichés and never giving up on their own fiercely idiosyncratic vision. While doing so, they have established themselves among the world's leading filmmakers. From their startling debut, Blood Simple (1984), all of their movies reveal a distinctive stamp: a flamboyant visual style, richly conceived characters, crisp dialogue, and brilliant casting. They have revitalized old Hollywood genres such as noir, screwball, and the western, giving them a contemporary sensibility. In this biography, Ronald Bergan traces the brothers' Jewish roots, their beginnings as film geeks in suburban Minneapolis, their battle to get their first feature made and released, through their early features and the movies of their maturity. He gives blow-by-blow accounts of the making of each movie. New chapters cover all those released since O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), with which the first edition of this book ended. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 61
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... look, the less you really know. It's a fact. A proved fact. In a way, it's the only fact there is.” Freddy Riedenschneider in The Man Who Wasn't There THE REASON I WROTE THE first edition of this biography, published in 2000, was that ...
... look, the less you really know. It's a fact. A proved fact. In a way, it's the only fact there is.” Freddy Riedenschneider in The Man Who Wasn't There THE REASON I WROTE THE first edition of this biography, published in 2000, was that ...
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... look and feel, and yet each carried the brothers' individual signature. This was heartening in a period when Hollywood movies were becoming more and more anonymous and increasingly aiming at teen audiences. Yet the Coen brothers' films ...
... look and feel, and yet each carried the brothers' individual signature. This was heartening in a period when Hollywood movies were becoming more and more anonymous and increasingly aiming at teen audiences. Yet the Coen brothers' films ...
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... Look into your heart,” the younger man pleaded, echoing the words that John Turturro speaks when he is about to be killed in Miller's Crossing. But Joel blasted the .44 Magnum into Ethan's chest two or three times in the manner of some ...
... Look into your heart,” the younger man pleaded, echoing the words that John Turturro speaks when he is about to be killed in Miller's Crossing. But Joel blasted the .44 Magnum into Ethan's chest two or three times in the manner of some ...
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... worked as an assistant on The Big Lebowski. He writes: “I was introduced to Alan J. Schoolcraft, a recruit sent over from Working Title . . . I took one look at the Schoolcraft and thought there just wouldn't be enough for two.
... worked as an assistant on The Big Lebowski. He writes: “I was introduced to Alan J. Schoolcraft, a recruit sent over from Working Title . . . I took one look at the Schoolcraft and thought there just wouldn't be enough for two.
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... type. They looked like grownup babies.” As in Their First Mistake (1932), in which Laurel and Hardy have to look after an adopted baby, Gale and Evelle have Nathan Arizona, Jr., the infant they have abducted, on their hands.
... type. They looked like grownup babies.” As in Their First Mistake (1932), in which Laurel and Hardy have to look after an adopted baby, Gale and Evelle have Nathan Arizona, Jr., the infant they have abducted, on their hands.
Contents
The Brothers Geek | |
First Blood | |
Hi Stakes VI Double Crossing | |
Hollywood Nuts | |
Yah Yah | |
Cool Dudes | |
Odd Odyssey | |
James M Coen | |
Intolerable Hollywood Bowel Syndrome | |
Blood Complex | |
A Comedy of Errors | |
A Good | |
CapraCoen | |
Common terms and phrases
actor American Art Thou asked audience baby Bardem Barry Sonnenfeld Barton Fink Big Lebowski Blood Simple Brolin Burn After Reading camera Carter Burwell cast character Chigurh cinema cinematographer Coen brothers Cogburn comedy Costume Design Country For Old Director of Photography dream Dude Ethan Coen Evil Dead Fargo film noir filmmakers Frances McDormand fucking gangster genre George Clooney going Hollywood Hudsucker Proxy Inside Llewyn Davis Intolerable Cruelty Jerry Jewish Jews Joel and Ethan Joel Coen Joel’s John Goodman John Turturro kidnapped kids kill Ladykillers Larry look Marge Mary Zophres Mattie Miller’s Crossing Minneapolis movie murder Nathan Arizona never Norville novel picture played plot Production Designer Raimi Raising Arizona Raymond Chandler remake Roderick Jaynes Roger Deakins role scene screenplay script shooting shot stars Steve Buscemi story storyboard studio tell There’s thing thought True Grit what’s wife