Fargo

It was long overdue for me to watch the Cohen brothers' film, "Fargo".  After a long editing session in the library, I headed back to my room and pulled it up on Netflix.  This 1996 film was billed as a "homespun murder story", but it is so much more than that.  The Academy award winning screenplay written by Joel and Ethan Coen fires on all cylinders.  It can readily be described as a thriller comedy, featuring both very dark and very hilarious moments.  It definitely satirizes and turns a mirror to the Minnesotan lifestyle that the Coen brothers grew up in.  "Fargo" currently has a rating of 94% on Rotten Tomatoes, holds two Oscars (one for the original screenplay and one for lead actress Frances McDormand).   Joel Coen also received the award for best director at the '96 Cannes Film Festival.

This film takes place mainly in Fargo, ND and Brainerd, MN.  It follows the story of Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy) as he pays two criminals Carl Showalter (Steve Buscemi) and Gaear Grimsrud (Peter Stormare) to kidnap his wife.  Lundegaard's big plan is to get his very wealthy father in law to pay off Showalter and Grimsrud to get his daughter back.  Then the kidnappers would receive half the ransom, while Lundegaard receives the other half.  Lundegaard is in financial trouble and is in desperate need of the money.  Well as one would imagine, things don't go quite to plan.  As the kidnappers make their escape things are all well and good, until a trooper stops them on the highway in Brainerd, MN for not having plates on their car (a car Lundegaard gave them from his father in law's dealership).  It is at this point that the shit hits the proverbial fan and guns start blazing.  I won't get much further into specifics (spoilers!).  Once the dust has settled, Brainerd police chief Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand) proceeds to investigate the situation.  In this pregnant police chief, we see a lot of the satirizing of Minnesotans that the Coen brothers' script is filled with.  These four actors pull off truly amazing performances, made easy by the beautiful script.  Macy did receive an Oscar nomination as best supporting actor.

"Fargo" also pulls a lot of it's power from the beautiful cinematography.  All credit here goes to the great Rodger Deakins.  Every shot in this film is very intentional and well crafted.  Deakins has incredible wide shots, as well as strong close ups/reverse shots.

I could post even more stills from this film, hundreds of stills.  The shot composition is consistently strong, with everything being lined up with such care.  Deakins is also well known for playing with light in a profound way, which we see in all of the above images.  In particular I love the way the light falls on Buscemi and the way car lights play in the dense snow.  The focus pulling that occurs during the heavy snow is incredibly beautiful as well.  Overall I can not recommend this film enough!  Take a look at the trailer (best quality I could find) and then head over to Netflix to watch!! Don't wait for it to be taken off Instant!  

Moonrise Kingdom

In my small suburban town in New Jersey, there is a theatre that plays only low budget films; the movies that wouldn’t exactly be a blockbuster hit. This past summer I saw a lot of great independent films there: To Rome with Love, Friends with Kids, etc. But one movie I saw I am still thinking about today. And that movie is Moonrise Kingdom. I did go into this movie a little biased since I love Wes Anderson and the cast also drew me in; Bill Murray, Ed Norton, Bruce Willis, Frances McDormand. The movie blew me away, it exceeded my expectations. It takes place in 1965 and stayed authentic to it’s time throughout the whole movie. The costuming was detailed, and the soundtrack was flawless. The island that the characters lived on was beautifully designed and it didn’t confuse me at all, and made sense location wise. 

Moonrise Kingdom is about two preteens who fall in love with each other via snail mail and attempt to runaway together. Their romance is only one aspect of this plot, with the chaos of the dysfunctional adults handling the situation making up much of the story. (Bill Murray of course played his usual depressing, alcoholic character who is the father of Suzy.)  Sam, the male protagonist is an orphaned boy scout living on an island with his troop for the summer. Although his romance with Suzy was adorable, I wasn’t too fond of Sam. It’s usually very hard for me to enjoy a movie when I can’t sympathize or relate to the main character however, the other characters made up for his lack of connection. 

Basically, I highly recommend this movie to anyone who hasn’t seen it. It’s not only aesthetically pleasing but the hilarious quirky characters make this movie very enjoyable.