The Coen Brothers

On Thursday I paid a visit to my belovèd Tempe Public Library for the first time in over a year. They aren’t open for normal browsing just yet, but I was able to pick up The Coen Brothers: This Book Really Ties the Films Together (Abrams) by Adam Nayman.

Let’s be honest: it’s a coffee table book. It has supersized pages with full-spread photos. It weighs quite a bit. But I’m approaching it like any other book, intending to read every word. I recognize Joel and Ethan’s movies aren’t for everyone, but their films (with some notable exceptions) have long been among my favorites.

So far I’ve read the chapters on their first two films, Blood Simple and Raising Arizona. Already I dig the way Nayman grapples playfully with the Large Themes in the Coen brothers’ oeuvre. I’ve got some blind spots in their filmography that I hope to watch in the coming weeks (Barton Fink, The Hudsucker Proxy, and The Man Who Wasn’t There among them) and this book will be my guide. Of course, I’m also eagerly awaiting Joel Coen’s black-and-white The Tragedy of Macbeth, starring Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand, Brendan Gleeson – three all-time greats. It’s slated for release later this year.