The Coen Brothers, Second EditionBrought 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 27
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... star, male or female. But they were skeptical. “Actually, to tell the truth, we don't want a book written about us.” “Come on,” I thought, “we're not talking J. D. Salinger here!” However, there was one condition on which they would ...
... star, male or female. But they were skeptical. “Actually, to tell the truth, we don't want a book written about us.” “Come on,” I thought, “we're not talking J. D. Salinger here!” However, there was one condition on which they would ...
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... star of Preston Sturges's Sullivan's Travels, from which the Coens took the title O Brother, Where Art Thou? Joel and Ethan might be considered silly names by some, but they are not nearly as silly as the ones they have invented for ...
... star of Preston Sturges's Sullivan's Travels, from which the Coens took the title O Brother, Where Art Thou? Joel and Ethan might be considered silly names by some, but they are not nearly as silly as the ones they have invented for ...
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... , and D. W. Griffith, formed United Artists and published their aims. “A new combination of motion picture stars and producers was formed yesterday, and we, the undersigned, in furtherance of the artistic Kings of the Indies.
... , and D. W. Griffith, formed United Artists and published their aims. “A new combination of motion picture stars and producers was formed yesterday, and we, the undersigned, in furtherance of the artistic Kings of the Indies.
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... stars,” passed out of their hands and into those of producer-businessmen. United Moguls might have been a more appropriate name. In the 1930s and 1940s, the major studios consolidated their grip on the movie industry, despite the ...
... stars,” passed out of their hands and into those of producer-businessmen. United Moguls might have been a more appropriate name. In the 1930s and 1940s, the major studios consolidated their grip on the movie industry, despite the ...
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... Star Wars, Taxi Driver, and Jaws came out, and when Woody Allen's sophisticated and hilariously angst-ridden cycle of New York movies took off with Annie Hall, introducing the most persuasive and pervasive strand of Jewish neurosis yet ...
... Star Wars, Taxi Driver, and Jaws came out, and when Woody Allen's sophisticated and hilariously angst-ridden cycle of New York movies took off with Annie Hall, introducing the most persuasive and pervasive strand of Jewish neurosis yet ...
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
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