The Coen Brothers
                                                          part 1
The Coen brothers, film makers of the weird, remind me of some not-so-legendary hitters of my youth, say Dick Stuart or Frank Howard. When they stepped up to the plate they either struck out or hit it out of the park. Their homers, however, tended to be tape-measure jobs.
Fargo (1996) won them an Oscar for best screenplay. Best described as a comic murder mystery, it is their most accessible film and a solid commercial hit. Frances McDormand also won an Oscar for best actress as a pregnant police chief in a small Minnesota town. Wry observations on the local mores, and terrific performances by McDormand and William H. Macy as a two-bit hustler in way over his head. 
In Blood Simple (1985) a husband hires a seedy private eye to murder his cheating wife. McDormand, Dan Hedaya and especially M. Emmett Walsh are superb, but the best thing is the intricate Coen screenplay that keeps you guessing to the very end. Unusual camera angles and shots strengthen the Coen’s unique spin on film noir.
Raising Arizona (1987) is a bizarre comedy viewers tend to either love or hate.  Holly Hunter and Nicholas Cage are a childless couple who badly want a baby. When they see a magazine article about a couple with quintuplets, they resolve to snatch one  for themselves on the curious theory that no one with five children the same age will notice that one of them is gone. Some of the funniest chase scenes ever.
Miller’s Crossing (1990) is a splendid gangster film, topped only by the Godfather trilogy. John Turturo, Gabriel Byrne and Albert Finney head a fine cast in a movie long on style and story. There are the patented Coen triple and quadruple crosses; you’re never sure what will happen. Slow starting, but stick with it, it’s worth it.
Crimewave (1985) is a real mess about thugs on a killing spree. Barton Fink (1991) starts out being about playwright John Turturo going to Hollywood to write a screenplay then  halfway through it falls down and can’t get up. The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) features Tim Robbins as a know-nothing who mysteriously rises to the top of a heartless corporation. Hard to follow and not worth the effort. 
The Big Lebowski (1998) is somewhere between great and goshawful. John Goodman is excellent as a wacky Vietnam veteran; Jeff Bridges is Jeff Bridges. Call it a solid single.
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. None are suitable for children under 14.
And as they say on TV, but wait, there’s more! Stay tuned for part 2 on the Coens.