The Coen Bro's

I loved this unit. We saw many sides of the Coen's with the three movies that we watched. Raising Arizona gave us a comedic look at the American Dream, Fargo gave us a northern Minnesota greed crime, and No Country for Old Men gave us a suspenseful and 'think what you want' masterpiece. I had never seen Raising Arizona or Fargo before this unit and No Country only once which is certainly not enough. I'm really glad that we decided to study the Coen's this year I think they really made a staple in what i've learned this year about film direction. I think it's great the way that they have the talent of keeping the audience engaged with the movie the entire way through. There was never a dull moment with the perfect blend of suspense, comedy, and cinematography in each film. Every time I think about each of the films I feel tempted to revisit them again for further analyzation, and I'm sure it won't belong until I finally give in.

Robert Altman

Out of all of the directors we've watched this semester, I've been most impressed by Altman. I had never heard of him before this year and I was very pleasantly surprised when I first saw The Long Goodbye. It was my favorite out of the three we watched (The Long Goodbye, Nashville, The Player). I also enjoyed The Player a lot, but Nashville was one of my least favorite of the semester. I liked how Altman really made you feel like you were as much as a part of the movie as the characters were. The audience wasn't only watching the events unfold, but experiencing them. He wasn't afraid to let his audience be exposed to all things as if they were there themselves. With camera movement, script, and what seemed like actor-improvisation, I felt like I was along for the ride. I think the reason why I didn't like Nashville so much is probably because I wasn't allowed to do that as much. With so many characters and such a long plot, I became detached and even dosed off a time or two. Overall I think I would really enjoy seeing more of Altman's work, hoping for more jems like The Long Goodbye.