The Ballad of Buster Scruggs demonstrates the Coens’ consummate skill for reinventing classic genre tropes, dovetailing deep affection with inspired re-interpretation.
Coen Brothers
Film Review: “Hail, Caesar!” — A Sharp Tinsel Town Send-up
The Coen brothers, Joel and Ethan, provide an on-target parody in Hail, Caesar!, their funny period comedy set in ’50s Hollywood.
TV Review: “Fargo”: or, Do Contract Killers Get Bored and Create Chaos for Fun?
“Fargo” creates its own world of crime and moral conundrums while delivering a fair share of blood. Whether the TV series delivers on its promise to be in the same aesthetic world as the original movie is an open question.
Fuse Commentary: “Inside Llewyn Davis” — Another Perspective
Among the important things the filmmakers get right — the elemental pissiness of a scene that is far smaller than it is envisioned by the narcissists who once occupied it.
Film Review: A Splendid Homage to the Greenwich Village Folk Scene — “Inside Llewyn Davis”
For many boomers, the film will be a joyous invitation to wallow in déjà vu. For younger generations, it will shine a light on a time when musicians really thought music could change the world.
Film Review: “A Serious Man” Has Serious Thoughts
Reviewed by Justin Marble For all of their acclaim, the Coen brothers have never been considered “personal” filmmakers. Technically talented, stylish, and humorous, sure, but in describing the Coens’ filmography, even their attempts at “mature” pieces deal in fantasy elements. Hitmen, large sums of money, and murder yarns proliferate the Coens’ oeuvre, and while these […]
Coming Attractions in Film: October 2009
By Justin Marble October 1 through 3: Classic Cinema at Museum of Fine Arts: This weekend, the Museum of Fine Arts is showing two classic pieces of cinema. First up is Akira Kurosawa’s “Throne of Blood,” his reworking of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” in feudal Japan. Then it’s Sam Peckinpah’s “The Wild Bunch,” a 1969 Western that […]