ROTTEN TOMATOES: Coens Aim to Tackle New "Country"

Coens Aim to Tackle New "Country"

by Scott Weinberg | February 02, 2006

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Joel & Ethan Coen's next film will be an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's "No Country for Old Men." Word is that Tommy Lee Jones will play one of the old men.

"Joel and Ethan Coen are in advanced talks to write, direct and produce an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's 2005 novel "No Country for Old Men." Tommy Lee Jones is in negotiations to star.

Jones will play contemporary Westerner Llewelyn Moss, an antelope hunter who discovers a pile of dead men along with $2 million and a sizable stash of heroin. Violence ensues when Moss decides to play finders keepers. Heath Ledger had been in talks to co-star, but the actor, who withdrew his interest in the project, has said he plans to take "some time off.""

--

Any Coen-related news is good news, far as I'm concerned. So let's take this thread as an opportunity to name your favorite Coens flick.

1984: Blood Simple
1987: Raising Arizona
1990: Miller's Crossing
1991: Barton Fink
1994: The Huduscker Proxy
1996: Fargo
1998: The Big Lebowski
2000: O Brother, Where Art Thou?
2001: The Man Who Wasn't There
2003: Intolerable Cruelty
2004: The Ladykillers

(Tough decision, but I'm still stickin' with "Raising Arizona" ... or "Miller's Crossing." I just can't pick.)

Related Items

Celeb:	Ethan Coen
	Tommy Lee Jones
	Joel Coen
Movie:	Blood Simple
	The Hudsucker Proxy
	Barton Fink
	Ladykillers
	Miller's Crossing
	Intolerable Cruelty
	Raising Arizona
	The Man Who Wasn't There
	O Brother, Where Art Thou?
	The Big Lebowski
	Fargo

(1-20 of 22 posts) | Reply

Rorsky writes:
on Feb 02 2006 11:46 AM

[b]Best Coen[/b]
Coens have yet to make a bad movie or even a below average one, but Raising Arizona ties for their worst, if you ask me. Ok, its probably better than Intolerable Cruelty, but only because Cedric the ENtertainer wasn't there to dumb it down.

I'd say either Fargo or Barton Fink. Fink is more powererful and haunting, but Fargo was more entertaining and hit closer to home. They're neck and neck.

(Reply to this)

Rorsky writes:
on Feb 02 2006 11:52 AM

[b]Tommy Lee Jones/No COuntry for Old Men[/b]
This plot sounds awfully similar to A Simple Plan, which the Coens could have easily directed too. I'm so sick of Tommy Lee Jones. He always plays grizzled old hermit Westerners or old fashioned government employees, yet he manages to play them all EXACTLY the same. He's exceedingly dull lately. Blown Away may not be his best performance (or even his sixth best), but at least the broken Irish accent forced him to change his acting style a bit.

(Reply to this)

Roadhg67 writes:
on Feb 02 2006 12:36 PM

I don't know... Intolerable Cruelty wasn't all that good... I have to say my aboslute favorites (I still have a few to see) are the Big Lebowski, Fargo, and Raising Arizona

(Reply to this)

IMAmoose24 writes:
on Feb 02 2006 01:04 PM

Those are my favorite 3 also. The Big Lebowski probably takes no. 1 though. Its just.. hilarious.

(Reply to this)

Henry Gondorff writes:
on Feb 02 2006 01:23 PM

In reply to this comment (#830701)
[b]Best Coen and more[/b]
I have to disagree with your statements about Cedric the Entertainer. I thought the weezing guy and Cedric were the best parts of "Untolerable Cruelty." I didn't like that movie at all the first time I saw it, but I watched it again recently, and it has grown on me. I'd have to say that "Lady Killers" was worse than "Untolerable Cruelty" as well.

As far as my favorites:
1. Blood Simple
2. Miller's Crossing
3. Fargo
4. Hudsucker Proxy
5. Big Lebowski
Honorable mention: Raising Arizona, O Brother ...

(Reply to this)

Rorsky writes:
on Feb 02 2006 01:48 PM

In reply to this comment (#830705)
[b]Yeah[/b]
Bravo for acknowledging Hudsucker. That's their most underated. Cedric was boring in Intolerable Cruelty. Clooney was what made that movie good. He had a real scrwball charm. It's a pretty average movie that the Coens made better than it could be. Zeta Jones was boring too. Ladykillers got a bad rap, but it was fun just to see Tom Hanks goof off and Irma p. Hall ran the show. I just hated the rectal disfunction jokes. They belonged in a Chris Klein movie.

(Reply to this)

Rorsky writes:
on Feb 02 2006 01:51 PM

In reply to this comment (#830703)
IC is probably their worst, as I stated before. I just don't think it's that bad. Lebowski doesn't make me think too much, but, who cares? It's hilarious! I like Raising Arizona, it just doesn't make me laugh as much as Lebowski (or even Hudsucker) or think/feel as much as Fink.

(Reply to this)

rockstarfrank writes:
on Feb 02 2006 01:58 PM

[b]We must eat waffles post haste[/b]
1.) The Big Lebowski
2.) Fargo
3.) The Ladykillers
4.) Raising Arizona
5.) O Brother, Where Art Thou?

I love the Ladykillers. It gets better everytime I see it...

(Reply to this)

lovelykeira writes:
on Feb 02 2006 02:37 PM

This sounds good, I thought they were going to do another film with Clooney next though. I always look forward to the Coen brothers films. I have only seen 6 of their 11 films but I thought that all of them were definitely worth seeing. My three favorites are O Brother, Where Art Thou?, The Big Lebowski, and The Man Who Wasn't There.

(Reply to this)

Now it's dark writes:
on Feb 02 2006 05:12 PM

Dude.

(Reply to this)

cowsfan writes:
on Feb 02 2006 07:49 PM

In reply to this comment (#830701)
QUOTE Coens have yet to make a bad movie or even a below average one, but Raising Arizona ties for their worst, if you ask me. END QUOTE

OMG, WTF! Raising Arizona is a classic. One of the funniest movies ever made. Randy Quaid owned that movie.

I hated both Intolerable Cruelty and The Ladykillers. Intolerable Cruelty couldn't have been less funnier. The original Ladykillers with Alec Guinnes and Peter Sellers is a masterpiece and the Coens destroyed it.

I'll be looking forward to this one, though. I have read several McCarthy books (not his latest, though, which this is based on) and it should be interesting.

Cheers,
Kevin

(Reply to this)

cowsfan writes:
on Feb 02 2006 07:55 PM

[b]The Coens[/b]
My favorites are Raising Arizona, The Man Who Wasn't There and The Hudsucker Proxy.

I hated both Intolerable Cruelty and Ladykillers and though alot of people like The Big Lebowski, I thought they tried too hard to be abstract and arty, something that usually comes so easy to them.

However, my favorite scene in a Coen's movie is in 'Barton Fink' when John Goodman is running down the burning hallway of Barton's apartment building, with a gun in his hand and shouting 'This is the life of the mind, this is the life of the mind'....classic!

Anyone read Ethan Coen's book of short stories? Pretty good. Adaptations would be interesting.

Cheers,
Kevin

(Reply to this)

wiggins writes:
on Feb 03 2006 03:53 AM

overrated: o brother where art thou
underrated: miller's crossing... watch it.

(Reply to this)

amamamy writes:
on Feb 03 2006 06:30 AM

In reply to this comment (#830711)
[b]Randy Quaid?[/b]
QUOTE OMG, WTF! Raising Arizona is a classic. One of the funniest movies ever made. Randy Quaid owned that movie. QUOTE

You had me then you lost me. Raising Arizona is definitely a classic. But Randy Quaid wasn't in it. Or do you mean that he owned a copy of the DVD?

(Reply to this)

Kenny Gamma writes:
on Feb 03 2006 08:14 AM

I'm glad to see that the Coen brothers might be returning to their noir roots. While I found IC to be entertaining, it really didn't feel like a Coen movie. Maybe I need to see it again. Never saw Lady Killers. It just didn't interest me, and I heard and read too many bad things about it. I absolutely love Millers Crossing, Blood Simple, Barton Fink, and Raising Arizona. Fargo is probably in my all time top ten.

(Reply to this)

Ashron writes:
on Feb 03 2006 09:04 AM

In reply to this comment (#830714)
I'm thinking he probably meant John Goodman, who in Raising Arizona looks a bit like Randy Quaid. Raising is probably my favorite of the Coens' movies also, with Hudsucker being next. Miller's Crossing was okay. Big Liebowski and Barton Fink however, did absolutely nothing for me except waste my time. I know that is probably heresy, but there it is.

(Reply to this)

245_trioxin writes:
on Feb 03 2006 09:52 AM

rasing arizona is by far my favorite. you just can't live in the south without saying the phrase "son you got a panty on your head" and not get the giggles cause you know someone who has really said it! hahaha!

1.raising arizona
2.fargo
3.big lebowski
4.oh brother where art thou
5.hudsucker proxy

but sorry kevin randy quaid was not in raising arizona

(Reply to this)

cowsfan writes:
on Feb 03 2006 01:15 PM

In reply to this comment (#830717)
QUOTE but sorry kevin randy quaid was not in raising arizona END QUOTE

Oops, my bad. I was thinking of 'National Lampoon's Vacation' when they go visit redneck Randy Quaid and his family. Somehow I mistook that scene for being 'Raising Arizona'.

Cheers,
Kevin

(Reply to this)

siskel_is_balance writes:
on Feb 03 2006 10:04 PM

Fargo any day. The Coens are overrated, but that film is underrated.

(Reply to this)

Henry Gondorff writes:
on Feb 04 2006 10:04 AM

I totally forgot about The Man Who Wasn't There. That was a good movie, but it still wouldn't crack the top five.
And I just can't believe that anyone liked Ladykillers? I thought it was horrible. I don't know? Maybe because I had such high expectations.

(Reply to this)