I too enjoy the Cohen Bros. movies -
Raising Arizona, Big Lebowski, Oh Brother Where Art Thou etc.
Anymore big fans?
I don't know about being a big fan, but I did like two of the three films you listed (I haven't seen The Big Lebowski yet)
I've liked most of their films--didn't like BARTON FINK much. They're some of the few people out there whose movies I will immediately go see without caring what the movie is about or who's in it.
Love The Coen Brothers!! The Big Lebowski and Oh, Brother Where Art Thou are great flicks. As are:Fargo, Raising Arizona, The Hudsucker Proxy, and The Man Who Wasn't There. Hope tom see Blood Simple soon.
I just recently started getting into them, but they're great; My favorites are The Big Lebowski and Barton Fink. Oh, yeah, and I HIGHLY recommend the commentary track on the Blood Simple DVD; the whole thing is a Coen-scripted takeoff on "film historian" tracks, and it's one of the funniest things I've heard in a long while (The "historian" describes, among other things, a deleted subplot in which the private eye is the son of Bulgarian dictator Todor Zipkopf (sp?), and that the lead roles were written for Fred Astaire and Rosemary Clooney)
I think the Coens are simply amazing, with a great understanding of cinema & history & literature per se.
I also enjoyed Fargo & O, Brother, Where Art Thou & am damn glad that they were big hits, as it shows the general public CAN digest & approve of genuinely strange movies if given the chance. I believe the Coen's films paved the way for mainstream acceptance & approval of a film as strange as Memento.
I got to do a radio show with one of their stock players, John Goodman. Sadly, didn't get a chance to talk Coens with him, though, as we were too busy talking about modern radio & old-time radio drama.
"You know -- for kids!" is one of my wife's & my stock phrases for when we see people not getting something that at least one person in the group gets implicitly, eg. eccentric sports, etc. We also use the "Fetch me a toddler!!" line from Raising Arizona when we're not getting things our way.
peter j.