Most Coen Brothers films find their main characters searching for answers in a meaningless world, indirectly making their pursuits more hopeless as they continue onward. Joel and Ethan Coen themselves, however, are anything but fruitless in their efforts. In fact, since their towering debut, 1984’s “Blood Simple,” they’ve unquestionably become among the most well-versed, striking and assured filmmakers of their generation. Only rarely have they failed to bring their perverse, singularly inspired and askew vision to life. Their vivacious, wickedly funny and/or hauntingly bleak accomplishments are practically endless at this point, but Vice put themselves to the task of tracking down each and every one of their triumphs with the newest episode of their freshman web series, “Vice Guide to Film.”
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Through interviews from past collaborators like actors George Clooney, Alex Karpovsky, John Turturro and Jeff Bridges (rocking an exceptionally wicked wizard beard, by the way), composer Carter Burwell, costume designer Mary Zophres and film critic Scott Tobias, to name a mere few, this new addition to the film buff-centric documentary explores the rise of the philosophy majors and how they incorporated their love of screwball comedy, old Hollywood and “useful idiots,” as noted by regular offender Clooney, in order to shape their poetic tales of dry comedy and Middle America suburban drama. And as they continued to challenge themselves, hone their skills and diversify themselves through “Raising Arizona,” “Barton Fink,” “Miller’s Crossing” and, later, “The Hudsucker Proxy” and “No Country For Old Men,” they only cemented their status as two of the greatest, most respected and inspirational independent filmmakers of all time.
Though they’ve evolved throughout the years, and changed the landscape of cinema (and now TV) in numerous ways, some things never change. As made clear here, they’ve always remained an inseparable pair, a two-headed filmmaking monster that can give actors the same notes unknowingly (or not), write together until the crack of dawn and finish a film without hardly even consulting the other — with one able to start the editing process while the other can finish the second half without missing a beat in the process. They’re an extraordinary pair, undoubtedly, but you likely already knew that. But if you’re looking for another reminder of their genius, you should definitely check out this documentary.