Brothers Joel and Ethan Coen are among the greatest filmmakers of the past 50 years, with most of the 18 films they have co-produced making it onto their greatest hits lists The Coen brothers have won Oscars and directed actors themselves to Academy Awards, and their films frequently appear on lists of the best and most influential films of the past few decades

They have not made a film together since 2018's The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, but both Joel and Ethan have been busy with separate projects, including Ethan's new film, Drive-Away Dolls, and they There is always hope that they will collaborate again Either way, they often have a wide range of work within the same film, from goofy comedies to dark thrillers Here are some must-see Coen Brothers films, from the best of the best to the best of the best

The Coen brothers' first film was made on a shoestring budget and with few locations, but it is as original, both visually and narratively, as any of their larger, more lavish works Frustrated housewife Abby (Frances McDormand) leaves her bar-owning husband Julian (Dan Hedaya) for his employee (John Getz)

The plot is not complicated, but it is certainly complex, and the Cohens convey it with style and economy, including long stretches without dialogue The film strongly conveys both the delightful cynicism and love of the absurd in later Cohen films Blood Simple may be the brothers' feature-length debut, but it is the fully formed work of their artistic vision"

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In Miller's Crossing, a period piece set during Prohibition, Gabriel Byrne plays gangster Tom Reagan He finds himself in the middle of a war between boss Leo O'Bannon (Albert Finney) and Leo's emerging rival Johnny Casper (John Polito) Much of this, of course, is due to a woman (Marcia Gay Harden) with whom both Tom and Leo have fallen in love

John Turturro, the first of the Cohens' many roles, makes a strong impression as the sleazy operator who ignites the strife The rules of the Byzantine underworld force violent confrontations regardless of the characters' intentions Cohen pays homage to classic film noir while creating his own strange, stylized noir world that seems to exist in another dimension It is often puzzling, but always exactly what they intend

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While "Miller's Crossing," another noir pastiche, is about big-city gangsters, "The Man Who Wasn't There," set in the 1940s, is about a man who becomes involved in murder and blackmail as a way to escape his humdrum life The Man Who Wasn't There, set in the 1940s, portrays an ordinary small-town resident who gets caught up in murder and extortion as a way to escape his mundane life Billy Bob Thornton is perfect as Ed Crane, a laconic and amoral barber He is unable to accept his mundane existence and completely ruins it in the process of trying to make it better

Shot in luminous black and white by Roger Deakins, who often collaborates with the Coens, the film acquires an eerie, otherworldly calm as it progresses, and Ed's impulsive decisions, both for himself and his wife Doris (Frances McDormand), leads to further violence and tragedy Thornton's light, hard-boiled storytelling style gives every action, from blackmail to imprisonment, a sense of weary inevitability

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Singer/songwriter Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac) is a fictional character, but there is a strong sense of time and place in this melancholy film that makes us believe he is a real person from the New York folk scene of the 1960s You could be forgiven for thinking he was a real person from the New York folk scene of the 1960s Although partly inspired by the real-life musician Dave Van Ronk, he is entirely a Cohens creation, experiencing the same existential crisis as many of the other Cohens protagonists

Llewyn causes much of it to himself by the stubbornness that hinders him in both his personal and professional life Trying to save the rest of his career, Lewin drifts among various acquaintances, lovers, and family members and manages to alienate almost everyone The film and Llewyn's music convey a depth of emotion that Llewyn has difficulty expressing elsewhere

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Cohen's only film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture is a bleak and profound blend of their darkly humorous sensibility and the sparse nihilism of writer Cormac McCarthy Welder Llewellyn Moss (Josh Brolin) discovers a briefcase full of gold abandoned in the desert along with several dead bodies The theft of the money throws his life into chaos and brings him to the attention of a sadistic hit man, Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem)

Chigurh becomes an unstoppable force of nature in his pursuit of Moss, balanced against the honorable intentions of Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), who is one step behind the criminal McCarthy and the Cohens present a harsh moral world, but the story defies the expectations of a crime thriller and presents open questions rather than simplistic justice

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Although a commercial and critical disappointment upon its release, The Big Lebowski has since developed a cult following and its own subculture, surpassing any other Coen film Fans attend the convention dressed as Jeff "Dude" Lebowski, an affable cannabis addict played by Jeff Bridges, and the strange characters he meets on his wandering journey to replace his soiled carpets

It is easy to see why "The Big Lebowski" has such an enthusiastic following, with its unique characters, amusing and quotable dialogue, and deliberately labyrinthine plot that has little to do with its hopelessly complex yet laid-back atmosphere The film is pure comedy at its best for the Cohens, but it also captures a meaningful truth about approaching life with openness and curiosity, about suspending judgment and accepting people as they are Dude is both a prophet and a man who just wants to go bowling

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The Cohens are at their absolute best in this masterpiece that balances pitch-black comedy with startling violence Set primarily in Minnesota, "Fargo" begins with a botched kidnapping attempt orchestrated by a devious car dealer, Jerry Lundegaard (William H Macy), as a means to extract money from his wealthy and condescending father-in-law Jerry hires a pair of criminals to kidnap his own wife and hold her for ransom, which he himself recovers, but the plan soon falls apart, with deadly consequences for nearly everyone involved

The plot is fascinating and often unpredictable, and Cohen contrasts the despicable nature of Jerry and his associates with the refreshingly wholesome nature of Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand), a pregnant small-town police chief who proves surprisingly savvy as the investigation proceeds The film is a delightfully funny and well-constructed film This brilliantly constructed film is funny, shocking, and, in the end, strangely heartwarming

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