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Weekend Roundtable: Underrated Films of 1994

Josh Zyber — Fri, 19 Jul 2019 12:00:37 +0000

While The Lion King, Pulp Fiction, and Forrest Gump dominated the conversation in 1994, the year also had a number of movies that were unfairly undervalued or have been largely forgotten over time. This Roundtable makes a case for some of our favorites from that year. Wikipedia has a helpful list of all the films...

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The Ballad of Buster Scruggs Review: How the West Was Weird

Jason Gorber — Thu, 15 Nov 2018 18:00:51 +0000

The Coen brothers’ The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is simultaneously an odd addition to their oeuvre and yet perfectly in keeping with their wild, acerbic tone. The film was birthed as a television anthology of Western tales, a pulpy collection of short stories tied together by little more than the dusty setting. From there, it...

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‘Suburbicon’ Review: Bafflingly Misconcieved

Philip Brown — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 16:00:51 +0000

Sometimes a group of talented people with the best intentions get together and make a failure. Such is the case for ‘Suburbicon’, a film written by the Coen brothers, directed by George Clooney, and starring Matt Damon, Julianne Moore and Oscar Isaac. I’m sure that no one involved wanted to deliver crap. In fact, they...

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TIFF Journal: ‘Suburbicon’

Philip Brown — Thu, 14 Sep 2017 17:00:58 +0000

‘Suburbicon’ is a film made by talented people and with the best intentions that somehow went wrong. It started as a discarded Coen brothers screenplay that was picked up by George Clooney to direct. It still feels like a Coen movie, only with an added layer of unearned self-importance and political finger-wagging that probably came...

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‘Fargo’ 3.01 Recap: “I Ain’t Gonna Lie, It Didn’t Go Smooth”

Josh Zyber — Tue, 25 Apr 2017 12:00:16 +0000

Noah Hawley has been a pretty busy guy this year. In addition to creating and launching the supremely weird superhero drama ‘Legion‘ a few months ago, Hawley’s fascinating and often hilarious spinoff of the Coen brothers’ ‘Fargo’ returns for its third season on FX. Is the show off to a good start so far? You...

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‘Hail, Caesar!’ Review: A Very Coen Goof

Philip Brown — Thu, 04 Feb 2016 20:00:38 +0000

The thing about the Coen brothers is that no matter strange, dark and personal their movies get, they also still enjoy a good laugh. Their latest film. ‘Hail, Caesar!’, comes after three fairly ambitious pictures that wrestled with some hefty themes. This time, the brothers merely hint at intellectual ambitions. This movie is a goof,...

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‘Bridge of Spies’ Review: Tinker Tailor Spielberg Hanks

Philip Brown — Fri, 16 Oct 2015 13:00:34 +0000

Small and subtle by the blockbuster pioneer’s often grandiose standards, ‘Bridge of Spies’ nonetheless continues to make the case for Steven Spielberg possibly being the finest American filmmaker alive. Even though much of this tale of gosh-darn American goodness in the face of Cold War paranoia might consist of guys in suits sitting in rooms...

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‘Fargo’ 2.01 Recap: “Oh, This Is a Deal”

Josh Zyber — Wed, 14 Oct 2015 19:00:19 +0000

The first season of FX’s ‘Fargo’ spin-off was originally supposed to be a limited-run series. When the show proved popular and the network asked for another season, creator Noah Hawley wasn’t sure he even wanted to do one. After weighing his options for how to tackle such a project, he finally settled on making it...

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‘Unbroken’ Review: Unnecessary

Philip Brown — Wed, 24 Dec 2014 18:00:14 +0000

‘Unbroken’ comes from source material so intrinsically exciting and moving that it should essentially makes itself into an effective film. The screenplay was worked on by (amongst a team of other writers) the Coen brothers, who are incapable of writing anything less than brilliant. The cinematography is by Roger Deakins, who only shoots stunning images....

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‘Fargo’ Pilot Recap: “Some Roads You Shouldn’t Go Down”

Josh Zyber — Thu, 17 Apr 2014 19:00:49 +0000

Apparently having run out of original ideas, just about every TV network has gotten in the game of producing new series based on old movies lately. Even among this recent proliferation, I don’t think that I’ve ever experienced the “Uncanny Valley” effect quite as strongly as I did while watching the premiere of FX’s new...

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Blu-ray Highlights: Week of March 9th, 2014 – Please, Mr. Kennedy

Josh Zyber — Mon, 10 Mar 2014 13:00:10 +0000

With Oscar season finally over, this week’s new Blu-ray release slate brings us some awards hopefuls that, unfortunately, walked away empty-handed when all was said and done. New Releases ‘Inside Llewyn Davis‘ – Of all the movies that Oscar ignored this year, the Coen brothers’ acclaimed musical drama was perhaps the most glaring snub. Despite...

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Weekend Roundtable: 2014 Oscar Snubs

Josh Zyber — Fri, 28 Feb 2014 20:00:44 +0000

Regardless of whether they win or not on Sunday, all of this year’s Academy Award nominees have already earned the respect of their peers in the industry and the privilege of announcing that fact on their résumés. (You just know that Jonah Hill will never let anyone forget that he’s a two-time Oscar nominee.) The...

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