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20 Facts About the Coen Brothers and Some of Their Best Movies

Yes, the Dude abides, but they did more than that.

20 Facts About the Coen Brothers and Some of Their Best Movies

September 23, 2022

Very recently, we discussed the Coen brothers’ Coen brothers movies. Because that’s the thing: The Big Lebowski is flawless, but the Coens’ entire filmography is full of flawless and classic films just asking to get Pictofacted.

In this Pictofact, we comply. We here focus on the Coens, some of their a misguided comedy whose merit was anticipating the sort of awful Tom Hanks roles he’s starting to get us used to. Anyway, the Coens still deserve loving attention, so here are 20 facts about them and their best movies.

20

Their Background

The Coen Brothers and their movies They had an educated upbringing. Their mother and father taught university-level art history and economics, respectively. Joel would later attend NYU Film School and Ethan would get an undergraduate philosophy degree from Princeton with a thesis on Wittgenstein. This all explains a lot. CRACKED.COM — Wikipedia

19

The Coen Brothers

CRACKED.COM The Coen Brothers and their movies Their editor is not a real person. All their movies except for three have been edited by Roderick Jaynes. But there is no such person. The Coens grew tired of seeing their names on title credits and invented a pseudonym. Jaynes has even been nominated for two Best Editing Oscars. — Screen Rant, Wikipedia

18

The Coen Brothers

The Coen Brothers and their movies They always had final cut privileges. Final cut is a privilege studios only give to proven directors, but coming from indie cinema, the Coens have worked like this since the very beginning. They have had final cut privilege since they got it in their indie classic Blood Simple, and up until today. CRACKED.COM — Screen Rant

17

'Blood Simple'

The Coen Brothers and their movies They made a dummy trailer to get investors. The fake trailer was directed by the Coens' collaborator and future Men in Black director Barry Sonnenfeld, and features Bruce Campbell in Dan Hedaya's future role. Blood Simple CRACKED.COM — Wikipedia, WhatCulture

16

'Raising Arizona'

The Coen Brothers and their movies Raising Arizona The movie was intentionally made as the opposite of Blood Simple. For their second outing, the Coens chose a lighter, faster comedy with wacky characters and frenetic camera movements. Raising Arizona was a commercial success, and it helped the Coens not be pigeonholed and set the of their own careers. CRACKED.COM — Screen Rant

15

Nicolas Cage

The Coen Brothers and their movies 5 Raising Arizona Nicolas Cage based his performance on Woody Woodpecker. The Coens' relationship with Cage was not smooth, but they did agree on the cartoon-like quality the film should have. So Cage drew inspiration from Woody Woodpecker, and even managed to mimic his hair, which gets messier and wilder throughout the movie. CRACKED.COM — Screen Rant

14

'Miller's Crossing'

The Coen Brothers and their movies Miller's Crossing The Coens chose to do this movie instead of Batman. Being a new hot commodity, the brothers were offered the directing gig that would eventually go to Tim Burton. They did Miller's Crossing instead - but just imagine Gabriel Byrne playing a tortured Bruce Wayne. CRACKED.COM — Screen Rant

13

Albert Finney

The Coen Brothers and their movies Miller's Crossing Albert Finney plays more than one role. Finney not only portrays Irish mob boss Liam Leo O'Bannon and gets to mow down goons, but he also has a cameo as an older woman during the female restroom scene. CRACKED.COM — Screen Rant

12

Barton Fink

The Coen Brothers and their movies Barton Fink The movie is about writer's block, but was not inspired by it. The Miller's Crossing script was getting too intricate, so the Coens wrote Barton Fink to distance themselves from it. It worked, and they began filming Barton Fink right after the previous shoot ended. CRACKED.COM — Screen Rant, Wikipedia

11

The Coen Brothers

The Coen Brothers and their movies The seagull was a lucky take In the final scene, Barton sits on the beach and talks to a woman. Then, the camera focuses on her as a seagull plunges in the water. That happened by pure chance, and the Coens left it in the finished film. Barton Fink CRACKED.COM — Screen Rant

10

'The Hudsucker Proxy'

The Coen Brothers and their movies The Hudsucker Proxy This film was a dream project of the Coens' for a long time Along with Sam Raimi, they began writing the script in 1981, as a tribute to the fast-talking big-business rom-coms of the '40s and '50s. After Barton Fink's critical success, they dusted off their old script, Raimi tightened it up, and they got it greenlit. CRACKED.COM — Wikipedia

9

'Fargo'

The Coen Brothers and their movies Fargo Fargo is not set in Fargo. The movie wasn't filmed there, and there's barely a reference to the city in it. Originally, the Coen brothers meant to call their movie Brainerd, but as it sounded like a cooler title, however, they eventually chose Fargo instead. CRACKED.COM — Screen Rant

8

William H. Macy

The Coen Brothers and their movies Fargo William H. Macy insulted the Coens into casting him. The Coens were considering Масу, but weren't totally sold on him. Finding out they were filming in NYC, Macy flew there and actually told them, I want to read again because I'm scared you're going to screw this up and hire someone else. CRACKED.COM — Wikipedia, Screen Rant

7

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

The Coen Brothers and their movies o Brother, Where Art Thou? This was one of the first movies to use extensive digital correction. The coloring process couldn't be achieved physically, so the Coens agreed to do it digitall. It took cinematographer Roger Deakins eleven weeks to color-correct the entire movie. CRACKED.COM — Wikipedia

6

'No Country For Old Men'

The Coen Brothers and their movies No Country For Old Men This was the Coens' first adaptation. Why not start with Cormac ? they said. Why not start with the best? McCarthy apparently chuckled when he saw the movie, so that's good. CRACKED.COM — Wikipedia

5

Josh Brolin

The Coen Brothers and their movies No Country For Old Men Josh Brolin had a lucky injury. Brolin fractured his collarbone soon after being cast and tried to hide it, but the Coens found out. Luckily it was his right collarbone, right where his character was supposed to be shot. CRACKED.COM — Collider

4

A Serious Man

The Coen Brothers and their movies A Serious Man The Coens flat-out invented the Jewish parable. It just seemed like starting the movie with a little Yiddish folk tale would be somehow an appropriate introduction ... but we didn't know any suitable Yiddish folktales, so we just made one up. CRACKED.COM — CBS News

3

Burn After Reading

The Coen Brothers and their movies Burn After Reading Except for Tilda Swinton's, every role was written for their performer. Brad Pitt didn't know if he should be flattered or insulted by his part, or how to even play such an idiot. Joel Coen just told him, You'll be fine. CRACKED.COM — Wikipedia

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2

'True Grit'

The Coen Brothers and their movies True Grit Hailee Steinfeld was chosen over 15,000 young actresses. Steinfeld had only been in sitcoms, short films, and teen game shows, but the Coens were clearly onto something when they cast her, as this movie earned her a Best ing Actress Oscar nomination. CRACKED.COM — Wikipedia

1

Present

The Coen Brothers and their movies Have they split up? Joel and Ethan Coen have not worked together in recent years, but the reason is quite undramatic. Ethan grew tired of making movies, saying that the process has become a chore. Joel's last movie is 2021's The Tragedy of Macbeth, and Ethan's is a documentary on musician Jerry Lee Lewis. CRACKED.COM — Collider

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