Author: Godfather

After watching both Barton Fink and Changeling yesterday, I realized that if you know what kind of movies the director likes to make, its easy to spot them without knowing. So here are a few famous directors and how to tell its their movie.

Quentin Tarantino

Probably the easiest to notice, Quentin’s movies have so far always been violent with lots of swearing. But what differs him from most other directors is the way he presents these acts. Kill Bill for example is one of the most violent movies I’ve ever seen, but he shows these acts in a way that doesn’t freak you out like a horror movie would. Instead, these scenes are filled with classic rock and they’re stylized in a way that makes you wonder what the heck is wrong with the guy who made this. If you watch Reservoir Dogs, you’ll never hear the song “Stuck in the Middle With You” the same. Trust me, if you hate violence portrayed in a manner that almost seems to congratulate it, then don’t see his movies, since they aren’t for everybody.

Joel and Ethan Coen

These two normally stay in the boundary of thrillers or comedies, most of the time their movies are a combination of both. In some cases, they do have movies that have no comedy whatsoever, but so far its only happened two times with No Country For Old Men and Blood Simple. Almost all of these movies though have killers, but not ones that you’ll see in other movies. In Barton Fink, the guy lights a building on fire, kills two policemen, and then talks to his neighbor friend who saw the whole thing and keeps complaining about how hot it is. If someone is being killed, and you were laughing just a second before, then the movie is probably by the Coen Brothers.

Stanley Kubrick

Of these directors, he is definitely the least main stream. To watch Kubrick’s movies, you really do have to love films a lot, because they are kind of like abstract art. People who do understand films and why certain things are chosen can respect his films, while about 90% of people would hate them because of the way they’re told. A Clockwork Orange for example, its extremely violent with lots of nudity, and really the only people who can bear it are those who can respect it for how it portrays these scenes, or those who are really messed up in the head. Really none of his movies go like normal ones, with plots that you’ve never seen before, or just a movie that leaves you wondering why people liked it. Well, they like them because Kubrick is an artist with a camera, and if you do have a knowledge of film you can see that.

Clint Eastwood

While he is a great actor too, I still think that he works just as well behind the camera. I’ve noticed that while most of his movies are for a more broad audience, most have the thriller feeling that makes you care for the characters while wondering how things will turn out. He also normally portrays strong characters as the sort of role models we hope we are. Heck, even some of his political views get bounced around a little. When I watched his newest movie Changeling, a mother told her son “Never start a fight but always finish it”. This is just his tendency to lean towards the right shining through without being showy like others. He has changed what movies he’s done though since in the 60s-90s he was mainly making westerns or action movies like Dirty Harry. Now, he’s settled for thrillers with great stories. Since he is so consistent with his quality of movies, I can firmly believe Clint is one of the greatest directors of all time.

So that’s it for now, if I do come up with any more, I might do some more of these in the future. Tell me what you think of these directors and what their best movies are in your opinion.

There are so many great movies out there, and with that comes some of the greatest scenes that I’ve seen. Watching some of these whole movies can get kind of boring, but sometimes there is just one section that makes the whole movie.

Planet Terror (Part of Grindhouse)

This is a new zombie movie by director Robert Rodriguez with the help of Quentin Tarantino, and really is a departure from my favorite types of movies. I’m not really a fan of gore, but when El Wrey, one of the best action heroes I’ve seen for a while goes through a hospital to get to his girlfriend, the scene just had me pumped to go and kill some zombies. He took these knives and just plowed his way through the group, and came out pretty much without a scratch.

Fight Club

While there it doesn’t stick out too far from this overall great movie, there is this one section of the movie that just keeps me laughing every time I see it. Since the narrator has insomnia, he decides to go to some peer support groups to see what real pain is like. After going to one, he becomes addicted to them and just goes to every single one he can find.

Kill Bill Volume 1

I will kind of ruin this one, but hey, I’m not telling you the ending of the series. So after the bride kills another one of her targets, she takes a woman hostage and uses her in order to find Bill. The scene goes between before and after the questioning, and Bill is asking the girl questions about the bride. At the end, he lets loose a secret that just blindsides you, making you beg to watch the second one. The way this scene is shot is why it was so good, too bad the next movie wasn’t anywhere near as good as this scene.

That’s all I can think of for now, but I’ll do some more in the future.

After seeing most of their movies, I really doubt that these directors can ever make a bad movie. I don’t care how bad a trailer of theirs look because they have never disappointed me in any of their films. Their genres range from thriller, to dark comedy, to drama. Each of their films, to me, are special in their own way. Here are my top 5 of their movies.

5. Raising Arizona

If you like comedy, I really don’t see how anyone can not like this movie. Nicolas Cage stars as a criminal who marries a prison guard, but they can’t have kids. So when a furniture seller has 5 kids, they decide that that is plenty for one person, and they go ahead and take one for themselves. Filled with hilarious moments and some serious ones, it is one that I think that everyone could get something out of.

4. Blood Simple

Their first full length film was this dark thriller, and it really is very good. No comedy, but a very complicated story and scenes that will just give you the goosebumps make this one a great movie. Blood Simple is a raw, violent film that should be seen by those who liked No Country For Old Men, they are both very similar.

3. The Big Lebowski

This is really a love or hate movie, since the humor is on the R rated side. Drugs, violence, and sex are all used to get us to laugh, and it works well if you can find humor in these things. While Jeff Bridges plays a great part as “The Dude”, John Goodman stood out as the best character playing a Vietnam veteran who references it every time he’s on-screen.

2. Fargo

How could someone make a Coen Brothers list without mentioning Fargo? It’s a comedy, thriller, and drama all mixed into one crazy movie. Again, this is a dark comedy that makes you laugh when you normally wouldn’t in real life. While it can get very depressing, there are also some scenes that just can make your day. Fargo has everything that a good film needs, and all of it is done perfectly.

1. No Country For Old Men

Tense. This is what you feel when watching this classic story. Much like Blood Simple, No Country is raw violence, but everything happens in this movie for a reason. People hate the ending, but it definitely would be on my list for favorite endings. Just think about everything that happens, and know that the “main character” really isn’t what the story is about.