RIFLE RANGE BOY

A Serious Man (2009) Written, Produced, Directed by: Coen Brothers You follow all the rules laid out by elders before you. You think living should be easy when you stick to the teachings of your religion of your belief. You know that God should pave a beautiful life when you follow His teachings. You think you made it when all these are followed and you are in the upper crust of society. Then it hits you; one malady after another - people whom you are under your wings are beyond control; values that you taught to your offsprings go to the drain; the humility that you think is a virtuous trait that makes a man is taken advantage of; you lose grip on the things you hold dear and then you start questioning, “Why God, why are doing this to me? Have I not followed all your guidance?” Professor Larry Gopnik thought he had a leash on everything in life, just like his ability to explain mind boggling equations in physics and to solve the equation of uncertainty! Almost overnight, everyt...

The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001) Written: Coen Brothers; Direction:Joel Coen Another quirky movie from the Coen brothers, only, this time, it in black and white. The trademark is their story is written all over. It is a story set in the late 1940s of a small town barber who is a loser, who does not say much but does all his talking in soliloquy. He is so withdrawn and is living in his world, still trying to make out the meaning of life right till the end of the movie. (Spoiler Alert!) At the end of the film, as he sits in the electric chair, he hopes that his uncertainties would all be answered in the afterlife, he hopes, if there is one! Ed Crane (Billy Bob Thornton), the chain-smoking barber, like he says, “is just a barber” who works as an assistant to his brother-in-law. His wife, Doris, is a book-keeper who has an illicit affair with her boss. A mysterious customer hoodwinks the gullible Ed into investing $10,000 in a dry cleaning business venture. To procure the cash, he bla...

Barton Fink (1991) Written, Directed by Coen Brothers Another quirky unconventional movie which escapes any genre by the Coen brothers. It is supposed to a satire of some kind which unfortunately passed me by. My research shows that it a swipe at the politicians, Nazi, showbiz and the religious institutions. Some of the symbolisms and metaphors it refers to remain left in viewers' discretion. Barton Fink is a successful playwright who just feels unhappy with life who yearns to hit it big in Hollywood. He gets a stint to write a screenplay in LA. The story, in essence, is about his misadventure getting things written on paper. Fink, stuck in a strange hotel with strange staff and next door neighbour, an insurance agent who is actually a serial killer. Having writer's block, he wonders around meeting other successful screenwriters. He befriends one's secretary and hold behold she is stabbed. Barton's neighbour (John Goodman) helps him out and puts him back on his tr...

Fargo (1996) Story, Production, Direction: Joel and Ethan Coen Homespun murder story on embroidery frame? Get the punch line? This movie can be said the most successful one coming from the Coen brothers with their special brand of quirky dark comedy. They start the film with a caption with says... "This is a true story. The events depicted in this film took place in Minnesota in 1987. At the request of the survivors, the names have been changed. Out of respect for the dead, the rest has been told exactly as it occurred." At the end of the credits, however, the usual inter-title claiming that the characters are all fictitious still appears. Now which is which? It is set in dead cold winters of Minnesota. People who are native to Minnesota who are well versed with the Minnesota accents will appreciate the sing-song nature of their speech. The film goes at length to poke fun at their accent and some mannerism which sounds more like Swede or Norwegian - with the yaa...

Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) Written and Directed by: Joel & Ethan Coen The Coen brothers are known to have made many quirky movies with plenty of toilet humour which may satisfy the need of most movie buffs. This particular offering seem to stray from their usual fare but ended up as a dark biography of a folk singer. It takes a certain kind of madness to be able to repeatedly withstand the frequent hard knocks of life and still hold steadfast to your belief that you may indeed change the world one day. Most would follow the path of least resistance and the path frequently travelled on, especially when you next meal is a question mark. I suppose that is the difference between a socialist state than one that does not compensate for their jobless citizens. In a social state, the country at least takes care of their basic needs whilst the individual can dwell into non-rewarding careers like developing the arts, music and talent. In a country like us, artistes have to kowtow to cap...