Salutations, traveler of The Internets! Welcome to William's Bloody Hell, so named after our founder, Sir Bloody William.
He is seen in the likeness above in a rare, 19th century woodcut. This
image was rumoured to have been
commissioned after a bout of unpleasantness
in the White Chapel district of London. Do enjoy your stay and peruse our many, varied offerings, much of which cannot be found elsewhere!
:: The Ladykillers ::
by Forrest Grump
Ahhhh the Coen Brothers, purveyors of
fine comedy, arguably some of the best out there, be it the screwball antics of
The Big Lebowski, or Intolerable Cruelty, the black as hell
offering of Fargo or Blood Simple, or the cock your head to one
side and say "What the Hell is this?" Oh Brother.
So, the boys take a huge star (Tom Hanks) and team him with some eccentric
character actors to make a screwball comedy about a riverboat heist.
This is a great movie, or at least it should be. Don't get me wrong, there are a
few laugh out loud moments. But there are multiple problems with the film as
well, ordinarily overlookable, but these are the Coen Brothers for the love of
Pete.
First problem: This movie tries to do for gospel music what Oh Brother
did for Bluegrass. As that kind of music was so central to the plot of
Brother, it simply does not work here. The story is such that it does not
have that Odyssey feel of Oh Brother, so it don't get away with shillin'
bad music on me.
Secondly, the supporting characters. J.K. Simmons (The Evil Vern Schillinger
from Oz) plays and works well as the edgy Garth Pancake, and the General
character is also funny, but Marlon Wayons as the Gangsta thug type just does
not work. Someone needs to tell this turkey that he is not in Wayans movies
anymore. The Coen brothers are above this kind of one dimensional goofiness,
their characters are deeper and have more than one simple trait.
Grievances about soundtrack and Secondary cast aside, Tom Hanks is very funny as
an out of character villain, the old lady is certainly great as.... The Old
Lady.
Another incredible thing about this flick... Still pictures. An election sign
for the sheriff, and the evolving photo of the Lady's widowed husband speak
volumes of what the Coen's can do with just background. With more that two or
three real actors, they could have a classic. I leave it with a
B-
then again... It is a Coen brothers movie, it'll probably grow on me
