Quote:Well I don't know who the Cohen brothers are and I'm not interested in learning either.
george,
Are you feeling a little bit grumpy lately? Your statement above seems arbitrary and somehow not like your usual willingness to explore what another person means by what they say.
Joel and Ethan Cohen are master movie makers and the scene Bernie quotes from
The Big Lebowski is one of the funniest I've ever seen in the movies. John Tururro's delivery of these lines is marvelous. He's a very accomplished actor. Maybe Bernie didn't set it up well enough for you to understand what he was saying.
How about if we go out and come back in again on this one?
Take a look at this:
http://www.miserablelie.com/turturro/biglpics2.html
especially this one:
http://www.miserablelie.com/turturro/pictures/lebowski/Image25.jpg
"Nobody fucks with the Jesus"
The Cohen Brothers have written and directed many movies which include Miller's Crossing, Fargo, Oh Brother Where Art Thou (my favorite), Raising Arizona, The Big Lebowski, Barton Fink .........
george
As the 2003 site winner of the prestigious "Most Effusive Lover Of All Things American" award, you are remarkably derogatative of modern yanqui culture.
The Cohen brothers are film-makers, and you really ought to acquaint yourself with their work. The quote above is from The Big Lebowski, a truly exceptional example of writing, directing, and acting.
I'm tempted to suggest that you become more familiar with this present decade, but I think such a study would be most valuable if you also, in the manner of prerequisite study, went back and covered those decades you skipped over...every one since the fifties.
Me grumpy?!? Well I am a bit weary of osso's coercive restaurant litanys and I did sit through a tiresome four hour deposition yesterday and miss my workout. ( A large Washington Democrat law firm - Clinton's blow job firm - is trying to set up a corporate class action suit and is using a friend's company as bait. I am an "expert witness". My interrogator was polished little fairy with laquered fingernails: fortunately his day was far worse than mine.)
I have never heard of the Cohen brothers or of any of the films or actors you cited. I am not at all aware of the context of Blatham's quote and probably, as a result, could not appreciate its merits. Perhaps that just illustrates my contemporary cultural backwardness, but I for one am comfortable with it.
Bernie is a good guy and I would not wish to offend him. (Well maybe piss him off briefly, but not really offend.) I'm confident my feelings are reciprocated. Hell, I like him.
OK, I'll "go out and come back" (Goddamn shrinks - when you disagree with them they just say "How long have you felt that way?")
Allright, I'm back! Now what?
Bernie is being generous. My current focus in literature is the late 19th century, and in films it is mostly in the '30s. The most recent film I really like is "The Wind and the Lion" starring Sean Connery as Raisuli, a Berber chieftan with a brogue; Brian Keith as Teddy Roosevelt; and Candice Bergen as an American (Mrs. Pedekaris) in Morrocco kidnapped by the Berber chieftan and held for ransom by the U.S. government. Many truly great lines
"If you so much as harm one hair on their heads, thoughI am but a woman I will fight you, and with my last ounce of strength, I will curse you to God".
"And God will listen"
"Do you play checkers?"
...
"Mrs Pedekaris, you are a great deal of trouble"
...
"Why should I listen to you, you aren't even one of my wives"
...
"What is that"
"A tongue"
"My God, how awful"
"Perhaps its owner had nothing good to say with it"
...
"What America wants is Pederkaris alive or Raisuli dead"
...
"Excuse me gentlemen, I want to be alone with my bear."
...
"The comfort of others is not the concern of the Sultan"
"Ahh Raisuli, we've lost it all: everything is gone away with the wind."
"Yes Sheriff, but isn't there anything in your life that wouldn't risk everything for?" Laughter.
"Heyyyy, man; there's a beverage here!"
and
"Shut the **** up, Donnie; you're out of your element..."
Dialogue buffs....gotta love em.
From 'Brother Where Art Thou' (another Cohen brothers film)
EVERETT
What'd the devil give you for your soul, Tommy?
TOMMY
He taught me to play this guitar real good.
Delmar is horrified:
DELMAR
Oh, son! For that you traded your
everlastin' soul?!
Tommy shrugs.
TOMMY
I wudden usin' it.
Not bad! For me the ultimate is from Hemmingway's "For Whom the Bell Tolls" - a result of his attempts to mimic the Spanish intimate form of address and, as well, some then inadmissable profanities.
The scene; El Sordo and his Loyalist fighters are surrounded on a small hill by the Nationalist soldiers who are slowly moving up to attack. El Sordo muses that the hill is shaped like a chankre (a metaphor fit only for Hemmingway). He then warns his men to hold their fire until they can clearly see the eyes of the enemy. Suddenly a burst of gunfire--
Bam, bam. bam
El Sordo: "Why dos't thou fire so indiscriminately Juanito. I warned thee."
Juanito: "One of the sons of the great whore tried to move from behind that rock to the other."
El Sordo: "Did'st thou get him?"
Juanito: "Nay, the fornicator ducked back."
Oh well, Beth, I guess we got them confused with Leonard.........easy enough.
You mean you guys don't even know the right name of the directors you have been haranguing me about! Hell, I even "went out and came back in again" (to quote Lola) over it, with no perceptible effect
Did Leonard Coen sing/produce/direct "The Blues Brothers"?
That was an enjoyable romp. Has hollywood produced anything worth seeing since? Some while back a friend gave me a copy of Resevoir Dogs. Watched it twice, back to back. 4 hours of watching someone bleed to death. Hopeless.
Meanwhile from the Life of Brian
The adoring crowd find out where Brian is hiding. Brian's Mum (Terry Jones) goes to the window and shouts
Look! He's not the Messiah. HE'S A VERY NAUGHTY BOY. NOW PISS OFF.
ehBeth wrote:errrr, Coen, not Cohen.
Those Jewish people...even tricky with their names. Thanks bethie, and of course you are right.
Steve (as 41oo) wrote:Did Leonard Coen sing/produce/direct "The Blues Brothers"?
That was an enjoyable romp. Has hollywood produced anything worth seeing since? Some while back a friend gave me a copy of Resevoir Dogs. Watched it twice, back to back. 4 hours of watching someone bleed to death. Hopeless.
steve the football hooligan
Definitely DO go and rent "The Big Lebowski" by Joel and Ethan COEN. You will not be disappointed and I guarantee it. The last decade has been something of a rennaissance in American film, and it's a damned pity that Pauline Kael has missed it. Along with all the predictable high cost garbage planned and executed by actuaries with sunglasses, there's truly delightful works being produced too. I'm particularly partial to these brothers because of the quality of all aspects of their work, and because their subject matter, intelligence and humor are such that one could quite validly make the claim that if Twain were alive today, he'd likely be doing pretty much what these boys are up too.
Quote:"What is that"
"A tongue"
"My God, how awful"
"Perhaps its owner had nothing good to say with it"
george
The Hemmingway example, and this one above, are lovely! thank you kindly.
george, you're so funny. You did go out and come back in again very politely and thank you very much for it. But I can hardly be held responsible for the misspelling of a name. I can't spell anything, being dyslexic, as I am. It's a trait I share with our revered President. I'm highly dependent on spellchecker and the internet.
Steve,
See Oh Brother, Where Art Thou. It's based on Homer's The Odyssey with John Goodman as Cyclops and there are sirens and everything. Excellent! It's much better than Reservoir Dogs.
george
I'll go along with the others and recommend just about any Coen brothers film.
KP
That's right, KP. I'm partial to
Raising Arizona, myself. If you wonder about America, that will explain all.
OK, I an overwhelmed: I'll go see a goddamn Cohen, Coen (or is it Cohan - He could be Irish!) film. Please give me names of (say) the top three.
