Joel and Ethan Coen are back in the director's chair this week with their new film Hail, Caesar! A film that sees them return to the comedy genre.
Hail, Caesar!
The Coen brothers are two of the most exciting directors around and have been behind some of the best movies in recent years. As well as being in the director's chair, the duo is also showing off their writing skills by penning the film's screenplay.
To celebrate the release of Hail, Caesar! We look back over the career of Joel and Ethan Coen and pick out some of their best movies.
- No Country for Old Men (2008)
Hard to believe, but it was back in 2008 when No Country for Old Men hit the big screen here in the UK, and it remains one of the best films of Joel and Ethan Coen's career.
The movie was a big screen adaptation of the novel of the same name by Cormac McCarthy - the filmmaking duo adapted the book into a screenplay as well as being in the director's chair.
Starring Josh Brolin, Tommy Lee Jones, and Javier Bardem, the movie is a violent tale of cat and mouse. Llewelyn Moss (Brolin) finds himself the target of a hitman when he discovers and takes $2 million after a drug deal goes horribly wrong. The hitman (Bardem), who decides the fate of his victims on the toss of a coin, will stop and nothing to hunt down Moss, while Sheriff Bell (Jones) is on his tail.
No Country For Old Men is one of the best Westerns to hit the big screen in recent years and is driven by a trio of fantastic performances from Brolin, Bardem, and Jones - all of them representing a different side of the law.
There is an inevitable doom that hangs over this film from start to finish and it is this feeling of dread that really does keep you on the edge of your seat as hitman Chigurh hunts down his next victim.
The Coen brothers balance the brutality with some wonderful character development - all that is brought to life from some wonderful cinematography; it really was one of the most beautiful looking movies of the year.
No Country For Old Men went on to be nominated for eight Oscars. It won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor for Bardem. This was the first time that Joel and Ethan Coen had been nominated in the directing category.
- True Grit (2010)
Two years later, Joel and Ethan Coen returned to the Western genre with an adaptation of True Grit. The movie was an adaptation of the book of the same name by Charles Portis, which had been brought to the big screen for the first time in 1969, starring John Wayne and Glenn Campbell.
This time around, it was Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon who took on the roles of Rooster Cogburn and La Boeuf and we were introduced to the acting talents of the young Hailee Steinfeld, who took on the central role of Mattie Ross.
True Grit follows Mattie, who enlists the help of tough U.S Marshall Cogburn to help her track down the man who murdered her father.
While the movie has a great script and looks fab, the Coen's use the harsh landscape and scenery to beautiful effect, it's the cast that really are the heart and soul of this movie... it is Steinfeld who really steals the show.
She delivers a bold and ballsy performance, commanding the screen and your attention in every scene; it is hard to believe that this was her first film. She banters will with Bridges and Damon and more than holds her own alongside her more experienced co-stars.
True Grit is a Western for the modern era and is a movie that is essential viewing for all film fans. This is a gritty and violent movie on the one hand while being funny and fabulously entertaining on the other. It is one of my favourite movies by the Coen brothers and it is a film that really does not disappoint.
True Grit was nominated for ten Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director - sadly, the film left empty handed.
- Inside Llewyn Davis (2014)
Inside Llewyn Davis was released at the beginning of 2014 here in the UK and was the last time that we saw Joel and Ethan Coen in the director's chair. This was their first film since the success of True Grit and saw them move away from the Western.
Inside Llewyn Davis blended drama with music as the film followed a week in the life of the title character, a musician trying to make his way on the folk scene in Greenwich Village in 1961.
Oscar Isaac took on the role of Llewyn Davis, in what was to be the breakthrough performance for the actor. He was joined on the cast list by Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake, John Goodman, and Garrett Hedlund.
There is a melancholy feel to this whole film but, at the same time, Inside Llewyn Davis is smart and funny and was one of the best films to hit the big screen in 2014. Joel and Ethan Coen tells these character driven stories so well and this is another gem from the filmmaking siblings.
Isaac delivers a terrific and rather sad performance as Llewyn and he really is the heart and soul of this film. Inside Llewyn Davis proved to be a major breakthrough for Isaac and he has seen his star rocket over the last couple of years.
Inside Llewyn Davis was met with critical acclaim upon release but was overlooked for the major Oscars when the nominations were announced that year.
- Fargo (1996)
Fargo is a movie that celebrates its twentieth anniversary this year and it remains one of the best and most loved of all of the Coen's movies.
Fargo was directed Joel and produced by Ethan; they teamed up to pen the film's screenplay once again. They brought together a fantastic cast as Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi, and Peter Stormare were all on board.
A patrolman and two innocent bystanders are discovered murdered in cold blood on a snowy highway in North Dakota, leading a very pregnant policewoman, Marge Gunderson (McDormand) on an investigation that uncovers a conspiracy of greed and ineptitude.
Fargo was one of the movies that really helped to elevate the profile of the Coen brothers and it truly does remain a crime movie gem. The script is packed with twists and turns and the Coen's really show that they can be true masters of suspense.
McDormand is wonderful in the central role of Marge but, for me, it is Peter Stormare who really does shine as one of the best and spine-chilling killers.
Fargo premiered at the Cannes Film Festival that year, where the movie was nominated for Palme d'Or. While the film missed out on that award, Joel Coen picked up the Best Director gong for his work on the film.
The movie was met with acclaim upon release and went on to be nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director for Joel Coen. The film won Best Actress for Frances McDormand and Joel and Ethan triumphed in the Best Original Screenplay category; it was their first Oscar win.
Other movies by Joel and Ethan Coen that you cannot afford to miss include A Serious Man, The Big Lebowski, Barton Fink and Miller's Crossing.
Hail, Caesar is released 4th March.