Coen Bros. vs. Wes Anderson

What do you think? These are my favorite film-makers. On the one hand you've got CLASSICS like:

The Big Lebowski
Fargo
Oh Brother Where Art Thou
Raising Arizona, etc.
Barton Fink
The Man Who Wasn't There

Wes Anderson's triumphs are fewer:

Bottle Rocket
Rushmore
Royal Tenenbaums
Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou

While I think the Coen Bros have a wider appeal, I really admire Anderson's approach and overall style too. I think if we give him another 10 or 20 years to catch up we'll see even greater things out of him.

So what does everyone think? Personally a new film from EITHER the Coens or Wes Anderson will get me to run to the theater, what about y'all?

I think you'll find plenty of fans of both sets of filmmakers here. I wouldn't want to choose between them, but if I had to I suppose I'd go for Ethan & Joel if only because they have a larger body of work. But Rushmore is one of my very favorite films of the past decade and I love all of Wes' work, too.

There's a big ol' Coen Bros. thread right HERE. And while Wes has been discussed a lot, includuing threads on individual films (like THIS ONE), I don't believe we've ever had a thread devoted just to him and him alone.

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I'll agree with you in the sense that the Coens have more to offer over a longer period of time. I LOVE their particular brand of off-beat, wry comedy. I think the Coens and Anderson have a LOT in common too though. They both employ the following to GREAT effect:

Stylistic camera work
Excellent characters
Fantastic dialog
Great stories
Perfect soundtracks
Excellent set-design

They BOTH consistently deliver what I would deem "perfect" movies, meeting ALL my criteria.

My hope is that Wes Anderson keeps making movies for a LONG time. When he's got a dozen or so films under his belt, I think his COLLECTIVE work will be just as revered and admired as the Coens. He's got a long way to go though.

Put it this way- they both release a new film on the same day- which one do you see first? For me, it'd be Anderson, cause I prefer him LATELY. I think "Steve Zissou" whooped "The Ladykillers" big time. OVERALL though I like the Coens better.

Completely depends on the subject, the cast, whether one or the other is a remake, adaptation or original material, etc. But the truth is, if there was a Coen Bros. movie and a Wes Anderson movie opening the same day, I'd see both of them. Which I actually saw first would only depend on the showtimes at the theatre.

I would have to see the Coen's on Saturday, followed by the Anderson picture on Sunday....

I would see them both, though...for sure...

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I definately prefer the Coens. Not that Wes is any slouch, and they both make great amusements as a rule, but Wes, IMO has yet to offer anything as awesome as Miller's Crossing.

As much as I liked movies like The Big Lebowski, others like Raising Arizona or (especially) Fargo just didn't do it for me. Just the approach to humour I suppose. Haven't seen all of Millers Crossing admittedly.

On the other hand, I liked all the Wes Anderson (oops, almost wrote Wes Craven!) movies, how there is less definition between reality & the world characters choose to live in plus the often dead pan humour.

This Is easy Coen Brothers. They can do a comedy or action It doesnt matter.But I do like wes anderson but only The Royal Tenenbaums.

Favorites:Millers Crossing
The Big Lebowski
Raising Arizona

Wow, tough call for me. Always loved the Coens. Their movies are the kind you stop what you're doing and watch when you scroll by them on cable. They're the kind of movies I buy on DVD. (I don't buy everything out there -- just what I know I'd like to have handy at a moment's notice to watch when I get the urge.) Raising Arizona will never get old for me. Nor Fargo or O Brother Where Art Thou?

And yet, the first time I saw an Anderson flick was by accident at the drive-in while dating my husband. We went to see an Austin Powers movie but that was sold out so we had to settle for (gaahhh) Instinct (Instinked!) instead. We didn't mind TOO much because, hey, we were dating, and so we just made out a lot.

However, as soon as the second movie of the night kicked in (Rushmore), we stopped smooching and just stared at the screen the whole time, laughing and totally forgetting we didn't even want to stay for a second movie so late anyway.

I tell ya, when a movie can tear me away from some nice smooching, that's saying something.

If push came to shove, though, I'd opt for the Coens. Why? Because if I had to play all the Anderson movies back to back, I'd quickly notice the huge similarities in style (even the fonts on the screen, etc.). But with a Coen picture, they each have their own ambiance about them and I can sit and watch a string of them back to back and not feel like the style's repeating itself too closely.

Good topic, BTW.

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Yeah, that's a good point there Austruck, the Coens try some new combination of film genres with each film, and so even if I pick just a handful of my favorite Coen films (Millers X-ing, Man Who Wasn't There, Hudsucker Proxy, hmm not sure which comes next...) there's a great deal of variety and experimentation. It seems like each film they do expands the film vocabulary a little bit. I guess Wes has done that a bit too in his more measured, personal way, but I really apreciate the Coens's brazenness.

Well Anderson's only made 4 films that I know of:

Bottle Rocket
Rushmore
Royal Tenenbaums
Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

I say give him another decade or so and see what else he cranks out.