13 Aug 2003

Raising Arizona

p. I'm a big fan of the Coen brothers' films, but for some obscure reason, I'd never watched ["Raising Arizona":http://us.imdb.com/Title?0093822]--one of their earliest films. We watched it at the weekend, having taped it earlier in the week, and I don't think that I've laughed so much in ages. It's certainly not as sophisticated as some of their later comedies, but for sheer knock-about humour, it really works. The sequence where H.I. is being chased around the neighbourhood by the police, some dogs and his wife--after he has held up a convenience store for some nappies--is a classic. For some reason, the conversation between one of the other convicts and an elderly shop keeper about balloons also killed me:
EVELLE: Uh-huh . . .  He takes a plastic-covered squirt gun off a display rack and drops it on the counter. He is looking around at the other impulse purchases displayed by the register; he unhooks a bag of balloons. . . .These blow up into funny shapes at all?  GALE is trotting by in the opposite direction: "Weeeeee!" CASHIER: Well no. Unless round is funny. EVELLE is pulling a gun out of his belt. EVELLE: All right, I'll take these too. Now you lie down back there-
p. I don't think that it could ever replace ["'The Big Liebowski'":http://www.thedudeshouse.com/] in my affections as favourite comedy of all time ("the Dude abides, man. The Dude abides..."), but it was a lot of fun.

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    The Big L is simply fabulous. Has to be one of my favs too. Apparently there are even Big L conventions these days, I hear.----- Yeah, there are Big L conventions - one was covered in one of the weekend papers earlier this month - I suspect it was the observer, but I could be wrong. I've loved pretty much all the Coen brothers' films - Fargo, Big L, and Raising Arizona in particular. The only one I really haven't been able to get into is Hudsucker Proxy (and in fairness I haven't seen Man Who Wasn't There yet) but Fargo and O Brother Where Art Thou have been the ones that have caused inappropriate hysterical laughter the most. Then again, the wonderful sight-gag in Big L where he puts blocks the door, and it then opens outwards always means I have to press pause while I stop laughing. (the joys of a childhood of cartoons, I suppose)

    by Lyle @ 14/08/2003 12:08 pm • Permalink

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    i've only watched the big l once, and have to admit i preferred fargo -- but that's mostly because something about william h macy makes me laugh no matter what. oh, and it was the observer's little cousin, the guardian's guide section, with the feature on the 'lebowskifest' -- [see http://www.geocities.com/stevephillips23/index.htm for proof and http://www.lebowskifest.com/ for 'fest details].

    by dvd @ 14/08/2003 3:08 pm • Permalink

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    Oh, I've got to go to one of those conventions! Lyle: That's one of my favourite bits too, along with the 'Busby Berkeley meets Wagner in a bowling alley' dream sequence. That phrase on its own ought to be enough to make anyone who hasn't seen the film want to see it. -----

    by bsag @ 14/08/2003 6:08 pm • Permalink

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    It really is a great movie.

    by Arizona @ 30/08/2007 3:52 pm • Permalink

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