herbiehancock

No 43 – The Big Lebowski Directors – Joel (and Ethan) Coen When I was a lad, Nu-Metal was all the rage; and though it tickles me to think of it now (as my musical tastes fall much more in to the twee and lo-fi bracket), at the time I would take great pleasure listening to the big, loud, discordant, screamy people. Besides the bands one might have listened to on Kerrang ! there were also the local bands of Oxfordshire . Namely, Centre Negative (too weird, even for me) and Coma Kai (who I quite liked). ‘But how does this fit into a whimsical sweary comedy about identity?’ I hear you ask… Well, when I bought the Coma Kai EP , the first track opened (after a prolonged Peter and the Wolf remix) with Walter’s insane shouting. “Do you see what happens Larry? Do you SEE what happens Larry? Do. You. SEE what happens when you FUCK a STRANGER in the ASS?” So those tenuous elements of my fifteen year-old life lead to my first aural dabble with The Big Lebowski . It ...

No 198 - Fargo Directors - Joel Coen and Ethan Coen When a horror film states that the film is nothing more than 'found' footage, you kinda know that it isn't true. Cloverfield , Paranormal Activity and The Blair Witch Project are all obviously not real. We know that; but is part of the story telling. It is part of the fun. However, when a film begins with a disclaimer that it is based on a true story - you kind of expect it to be at least partially based on a true story. I think it takes a certain ballsiness and a pretty weird sense of humour to put that in - and Fargo begins with a disclaimer stating that only the character's names have been changed. But then, the Coen brothers are ballsy people with a very odd sense of humour which is littered throughout this film, despite the dark subject matter. I mean in the closing credits, Prince is listed as having a cameo in the film. He doesn't. Beyond the really odd (and essentially nonsensical) additions before and a...