There aren't that many movies better than.....

F

FAST FRED

500+ Posts
...."Fargo," made by the Coen brothers and starring Frances McDormand and William H. Macy.

Even with some of the violence and sex cut out for TV, it was worth a watch.

I hadn't seen this movie again, since its theatrical release, until tonight.

Once again, it held my interest with all the commercials sped up.

It was still very entertaining and, IMHO, displays movie making of the highest order.

Especially in its genre.

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So, I'll give the TV series of the same name, which begins tomorrow night, a chance.

We'll see if that's worthwhile.

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Fargo is a good one. The Big Lebowski is another. The Coen brothers create good characters and good dialogue. They are not over the top or unbelievable, but they are close enough to be funny.
 
True Grit is my favorite by the brothers. Great characters, entertaining dialogue and action.
 
They've made several classics that are among my favorites that I can watch time and again. Blood Simple, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, No Country for Old Men, True Grit, and most recently Inside Llewyn Davis among them.
 
One of my favorite things about "Fargo" is William H. Macy and Frances McDormand and many of the other actors speaking with broad, Midwestern/Scandinavian accents.

"Ja."

The expressiveness, thoughtfulness, thoughtlessness, naivity, emotion, cluelessness, miscalculation, frustration, despair and, in the case of the bad guys, their pure evilness all came through so well, both audibly in their tone and manner and visually on the actors' faces when they spoke so slowly and deliberately, using regional speech.

I thought this patient pace of talking happily gave them some extra time to deliver their acting.

"Ja," it did.

"You betcha."

Even those characters who weren't slow talkers, like Steve Buscemi, clearly showed their feelings on their faces and in their vocal tones.

Buscemi's criminal cohort Peter Stormare, who never, ever, said anything much, and the other characters were given ample time by the slowness of this movie's talking, the bored sameness of the dreary, stark, wintertime locale and the tempo of a generally more relaxed life style in the Heartland and were thus enabled and allowed to go from an outwardly calm demeanor very suddenly, rapidly and effectively into contrasting modes of terror, confusion, action, inaction and/or reaction.

Even those whoring ex-cheerleaders from White Bear Lake were given time to wander as witnesses from pretty non-descriptive descriptions of their coital partners to an endearing show of good high school memories in their edited for TV time on the screen.

"Go Bears!!"

It was my pleasure to watch all these thespians have time to get thespy without overacting.

In retrospect, they often were been cartoonish characters, but they were all still totally believable and very convincing during the movie.

A great script, great direction, great acting, great cinematography and great editing....all there on display without ever seeming forced or overdone.

In a pure action movie, without this film's pace, depth and quality of characterization, much of that would usually have been shortchanged.

"Ja."

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I also watched "Les Miserables" via NETFLIX for my second time.

When I initially reviewed it, I said I was at first a little put off by the predominance of facial closeups in the cinematography and editing, but I came to enjoy this intimacy because it gave such increased presence to the actors and truly made each and every viewing seat the best in the house.

Watching this time, I appreciated having subtitles because I understood the words that I had missed in the theater fully

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"Les Miz" was very good again for me and once more I appreciated seeing all those A list Hollywood stars vocalizing and emoting on the big screen, even if this time it was on my wall.

The live singing, while the acting was being filmed, was a big production risk, but it was rewarded with the Oscar for sound mixing.

As I predicted it would be and as I believe it should have been.

All the many closeups and that live singing certainly did the job for me.

I really enjoyed the movie, even though it's not one of my favorite musicals.

The film is very, very, very good and well-realized with its Hollywood cast and it will satisfy me without my seeing an onstage production or hearing a Broadway cast recording unless one of those becomes very available to me.

IMHO, "Fargo" and "Les Miserables" are each great movie entertainment.

Your thoughts?

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My favorite Coen Bros movie is No Country for Old Men - Fargo would be a strong #2 - I bet I have watched No Country 20 times...
 
Fred,

I had a thread on here once called LA Confidential and Fargo vs Shawshank Redemption and the Usual Suspects.

This was born from a discussion I had with a coworker about two of the best movies of the 90s (and IMHO, two of the best movies of the last 30 years). I went with LA Confidential and Fargo, and she countered with Shawshank and Usual Suspects.

What say you thy wise cinefile?
 
I liked "Fargo" and "L. A. Confidential" better than either "The Shawshank Redemption" or "The Usual Suspects."

Both personally and cinematically.

JMO.

Different strokes......

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I like subtitles at home, not in a theater, unless it's a foreign language film.

I thought everyone but Russell Crowe sang pretty well, especially Anne Hathaway.

However, Crowe was playing Javert, a flawed, bad guy.

So that made his flawed, even when bad, singing more acceptable to me.

A bad guy trying to do his duty/a bad voice trying to sing its best could be argued as being in character. and, even in some ways, adding to the performance

Hey, it worked for Lee Marvin in "Paint Your Wagon."

Such a flawed guy having a really great voice might have been too much staged theatrics for a simple moviegoer like myself, while an opera or Broadway afficionado would need, expect and deserve it.

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"I Dreamed a Dream" was the best song and the best vocal performance for me and Eddie Redmayne as Marius singing "Empty Chairs at Empty Tablets" gets my second place.

In general, the reciitative vocalizations were more pitchy and uneven, IMHO, than the full voice singing.

Seeing the movie the first time, I left the theater thinking "Les Miz" had a lack of great songs compared to my favorite movies and shows.

But, I enjoyed all the songs more during my second viewing at home, partly since I could understand all the words with the subtitles.

And partly because the music grew on me.

I can even hum some of them now.

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Good discussion.

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I have to say that I too liked Fargo and LA Confidential for multiple viewings over the other two, although I do consider Shawshank one of the best films made.

I did enjoy The Usual Suspects, mainly because I really admire Kevin Spacey's work. A lot of folks probably won't agree with me, but I actually liked American Beauty more.
 
LA Confidential, American Beauty, Shawshank Redemption and Godfather I & II...if I was marooned on a desert island with a DVD player and a power source and just these 4 films on disc, I would be A-OK until my rescue.
 
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