Ranking the Coen Brothers

Joel and Ethan Coen have worked together to make 14 feature films. This blog to apply a ranking for those 14 films comes from The Judge's comment that their most recent, Burn After Reading, was their best work ever. I will also categorize them according to their quality and add a tag line for each. And without further ado, here we go....

THE VERY BEST
1. The Big Lebowski (1998)- Not a man, a way of life[1].
2. O' Brother Where Art Thou (2000)- Sometimes, you have to lose your way to get back home.

GREATNESS
3. No Country for Old Men (2007)- You can't stop what's coming.
4. Burn After Reading (2008)- Intelligence is relative.
5. Raising Arizona (1987)- Their lawless years are behind them. Their child-rearing years lay ahead...

REALLY GOOD
6. Fargo (1996)- A lot can happen in the middle of nowhere.
7. Miller's Crossing (1990)- Up is down, black is white, and nothing is what it seems.
8. The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)- They took him for a fall guy... but he threw them for a hoop.

AVERAGE
9. Intolerable Cruelty (2003)- Engage the enemy.

FAIRLY BOORING
10. The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)- The last thing on his mind is murder.
11. Barton Fink (1991)- Between Heaven and Hell There's Always Hollywood!

HAVE NOT YET SEEN
Crimewave[2] (1985)- Extermination is not just a business. It's a way of life.
Blood Simple (1984)- Dead in the heart of Texas.
The Lady Killers (2004)- The greatest criminal minds of all time have finally met their match.



1. This was the tag line for its release in Israel.
2. Crimewave was written by both Coen brothers but was directed by Sam Raimi.

"A Truck Full of Mexicans"

My mom got her car back today from the body shop. Before she went to pick it up she called out insurance agent to verify how much of a deposit she would have to pay, if any. We have a $500 deposit, but if we are hit by an uninsured motorist the deposit is only $250. However, according to our insurance agent, "there's a clause that kicks in when you get hit by a truck full of Mexicans."

What he meant to say is our insurance has a special policy if we are hit by someone who isn't a legal resident then we will get reimbursed for the deposit. The nationality of the driver[1], the vehicle[2], or the number of illegal residents in the vehicle[3], are actually irrelevant.


1. Mexican
2. Truck
3. Full of 'em

Vicious Battle Raps

Vibe Magazine held a contest for Best Rapper Alive and they gave the award to Eminem. I was unaware of the contest and thus, did not vote[1]. But had I voted then this is who I would have voted for.





1. Because I don't read stupid things like Vibe Magazine.

And this is an after thought, but some things are just too good not to post on your blog. Enjoy.

Since When Did the Pigeons Stop Giving a Shit?

A couple of days ago I went to Sam's Club to buy some groceries in bulk. I was fortunate enough to find a pretty close parking spot. But as I started to pull in a noticed a pigeon just sitting there in the middle of the parking space. Being the humane person I am, I didn't want to hurt the pigeon, so I pulled forward slowly assuming I would see the pigeon fly off any second. As I continue to pull forward, the sight of the pigeon now obscured by the front of my truck, I decided I had better angle to make sure I straddle the pigeon just in case he didn't fly away. I got out of the truck and looked underneath. The pigeon was still sitting there with my tire right next to it. My first thought was the pigeon must be dead, but oddly sitting in that normal way pigeons sit. But then, he rotated his head and looked at me. Obviously this freaked me out, so I jumped up and hurriedly entered the store. When I came back out I did not check to see if the pigeon was still there. but I backed out in such a way to avoid hitting the thing if it was still there. The pigeon was gone but the whole way home I had that creepy feeling that an ax murder[1] was hiding in my back seat, and I don't even have a back seat.

On an unrelated note, as I left for work at about 4:00am this morning, I opened my door to discover someone urinating in the parking lot just outside my apartment. Since when did people stop giving a shit?


1. Or ax murdering pigeon, as the case may be.

"She just proves that anybody can be Vice President"

The quote in the title, which clearly is referring to Sarah Palin, comes to me via The Judge, though I believe it was actually Mel who heard the quote first hand.

Sarah Palin's popularity gives me a grave concern. I know of at least two people who are going to vote for John McCain because Sarah Palin is a woman[1]. Never mind the fact that the VP hardly has any real power and therefore shouldn't hold much influence over a person's vote. The greater problem here is the blind ignorance of the voting populace. Even if Palin strongly supported every single women's rights issue (which she doesn't) that still shouldn't be enough to vote for a party which consistently does not support most women's rights issues.

However, I shouldn't make it seem as if only women voters have a tendency to bias ignorance. Obama is young and black, thus he will get votes from the young and black because he must, obviously support what they care about. But is that really true? Does Obama support the issues that are important to young people and black people? We don't know unless we ask. And I don't mean to ask the politician directly, but rather to take a look at his stance on the issues as well as his parties stance. As voters we have to realize we are never voting for just one man, but rather we are voting for a ideology.

It isn't necessary to study every move of a politician or spend hours researching their parties platform. But it is necessary to seek some information beyond just their appearance. And it is also necessary to put forth some element of logical thought[2] and (to at least try) to remain open minded as the election day nears.

But, I am too realistic (pessimistic) to every believe voters will do this. So all I can really do is pray that God will but in the right man in power[3].

1. It's this type of thought that make me think the movie Idiocracy may be more clairvoyant than we give it credit for.
2. By "logical thought", I mean not believing crap like this[4].
3. But God has let us down before.
4. Which can be disproven here[5].
5. Hyperlinks are fun!