No Country for Bobby Goldsboro

I always wondered where the Coen Brothers got the inspiration for Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men.

Then I saw that it was Bobby Goldsboro‘s 70th birthday today.

Oh Honey …

 

So, happy birthday Bobby Goldsboro! I’ll never listen to 70s pop country the same.

What films should Nicolas Cage be known for?

Ok, so Nic Cage was arrested over the weekend after a drunken argument with his wife allegedly led to domestic violence charges.

While the charges are bad enough, when CNN first reported the incident, the article ended with something like:

“Cage is known for such films as Raising Arizona and Leaving Las Vegas, for which he won an Academy Award …”

In subsequent updates to the story, the paragraph has disappeared. However, on the Today show site, there’s a similar pair of paragraphs:

Cage … is best known for such films as “Raising Arizona,” “Gone in 60 Seconds” and “National Treasure.”

He has twice been nominated for an Academy Award, winning the Oscar for his portrayal of a down-and-out alcoholic in the 1995 film “Leaving Las Vegas.”

So there it is. The man has starred in some 66-odd films and this is his film legacy. Are these his truly “best-known” films? Which would you put?

Of course, the Oscar role is a gimme, but the power in the statement is the quirky gem Raising Arizona (1987). Its consistent mention underscores a couple of things:

1. This 25-year-old film is a great piece of work
2. The writers of these articles are a certain age, namely, those who would be old enough to have seen this film when it came out.

What about people who were born after Raising Arizona? What percentage of Internet users 25 and under have even seen this film (which calls into question the quality of the reference)?

If you’re writing an article for those youngsters, which films do you put?

While you think about it, enjoy this morsel of a movie that should be experienced annually, whether you think you need it or not!

No Oscar for Two Men

What do Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and Joel and Ethan Coen have in common?

Going oh-fer on Oscar night. Each of the filmmakers were shut out on Oscar night despite having 10 or more nominations.

The brothers’ True Grit had 10 nominations, winning none. Ouch. 0-10

Scorsese’s Gangs of New York also went 0-10 in 2003. Spielberg’s The Color Purple went 0-11 in 1986. A fourth film, The Turning Point (1978) also went 0-11.

So … if you’re looking for a weekend film festival, there’s an intriguing lineup.

So why did this happen to the Coens? A strong field? Better marketing? Popularity? Here’s 10 reasons why the Coen brothers were blanked in the 2011 Oscars.

1. Jeff Bridges already won an Oscar (and it was just the previous year)
2. People have a hard time remembering Hailie Satterpelt Sattinfeld Stenfeld Steinfeld. (But not for long.)
3. People are still upset that Brad Pitt went out early in Burn After Reading.
4. That whole Roderick Jaynes thing.
5. The Ralph Nader effect: Bridges’ work in both True Grit and Tron: Legacy split the vote in sound editing.
6. The Academy regrets the whole John Wayne gimme.
7. We can’t be bothered by True Grit because we’re still trying to figure out the allegorical meaning of the opening scene in A Serious Man (heck, some of us are still processing Barton Fink!)
8. There’s some secret anti-Deakins movement afoot.
9. A guy wearing a bear rug? Really?
10. Speech impediments trump eye patches. Every time.

Lebowski Fest Tampa Poster

I’m kind of late to the party here, but the great thing about this Lebowski Fest Tampa (February 25 & 26) is that it combines two great Coen Brothers’ movie.

The Big Lebowski Valkyrie is obvious, but what really geeks me out is the setting, which hearkens back to one of my top-five, desert-island movies: Barton Fink.

See the resemblance?

Barton Fink hit me at just the right time. I was in my first apartment, living on my own for the first time (which, obviously, mean HBO) and this movie was so weird, so quirky, so different, I just knew it had to mean something. I mean, “I’ll show you the life of the mind!” just drips with meaning, doesn’t it? Right?

Maybe not to you … but to me, it applied to nearly everything. Ever had a movie hit you like that?

Anyway, back to the poster. This art was designed by one Bill Green, who was one of our first subjects of a 5 Question Friday. He’s a good man. And thorough.

The best part of “The Social Network”

The best part of The Social Network, posted with vodpod

 

Probably the most memorable part of The Social Network was the full trailer to True Grit.

The movie looks most impressive. However, the trailer pretty much told the whole story. The whole thing.

That’s the double-edged sword of remaking a classic film that canonized a revered actor: most people already know the story.

So why go to the film? There are still plenty of reasons: the directors have a little bit of a reputation themselves. So do the cast.

But watching True Grit (2010) will be a different experience because most viewers will go into the film feeling like they’ve already seen it.

And watching a film the second time is a different experience than watching it the first time. It changes everything.