O Brother, Where Art Thou? | Canadian First Time Watching | Movie Reaction | Review | Commentary
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 ก.ค. 2024
- Simone & George are reacting to O Brother Where Art Thou for the first time! Canadians React!
For unedited full length version go to / cinebinge
Merch Store: www.cinebinge.ca
00:00 - Intro
01:11 - O Brother, Where Art Thou?
28:17 - Discussion
Subscribe | Like | Share | Comment
Early Access & Full Reaction available on Patreon!
#moviereaction #moviereview #georgeclooney
Instagram: @cinebingechannel
Instagram: @simone.swan
Movie Reactions:
• CineBinge Movies
The Witcher Reactions:
• The Witcher
Squid Games Reaction:
• Squid Game
Band of Brothers:
• Band of Brothers
Blind Playthrough:
• Blind Playthrough
Fun Fact: George Clooney sent the script and a recorder to his southern preacher grandpa to read all of his lines, so he can learn the script without reading it and also to learn the accent authentically. His grandpa started the recording with, "well George I don't know if we talk like this, but I'll give it a go." After they wrapped the movie, Ethan Coen asked him why he removed all the curse words. His grandpa had switched all the curses with "darn tootin" and other PG phrases. So his grandpa is technically one of the only people to edit a Coen brothers script.
Also, I love how they make Delmar's character consistent after he gets baptized. You can tell really did believe what happened there and tried the rest of the movie to do his best.
I’ve always loved that they let that moment be genuine for Delmar.
If I recall correctly they did steal a car though at some point after Delmar was baptized, and he didn't seem too bent out of shape about that. I felt like that didn't fit in with his behavior in the rest of the movie (like leaving money for the pie).
One of the best behind the scenes/fun facts I've ever read. Thank you!
That's adorable. And period appropriate for God fearin' folk.
My buddy named his big, dopey basset hound after Delmar and it was the perfect fit for that dog lol
This movie was filmed in rural Mississippi, and snakes were a constant issue on the set, so the filmmakers hired a local man who used a golf club and a bag to get rid of them. When they asked him what his job title was, he replied, "an idiot".
Lol I hope this is true.
Also, filming started right after a rain storm so all the plants were vibrate green. So they added the sepia tone in post to give it it’s dusty look.
@@TheJabbate1 Wasn't it one of the first movies to use color grading in this way?
@nathanhall9345 I learned recently that Jason X of all things was the first film made which incorporated that technique. O Brother was released first, though.
I had that job once, when I was in Mississippi around that same time, but all I used was a shovel. Six bucks an hour. Should've worked on a movie instead.
There was an actual bank robber from this era named George "Babyface" Nelson. He died in a shootout with police, after his car broke down while escaping one of his bank heists.
Although the Babyface Nelson in this movie is wholly fictionalized. The movie takes place in Mississippi, whereas Nelson focused on the Upper Midwest. He was also dead three years before this movie was set (the movie is set in 1937, whereas Nelson was killed in suburban Chicago in 1934). What the movie gets right, though, is that Nelson was a raging, out-of-control psychopath who killed many people -- he still holds the record for most FBI agents killed by any one person.
@@gregghelmberger Pappy O'Daniel was also a real governor, but in Texas not MS.
Pappy O'Daniel and his rival were both real politicians from that era as well
The most famous legend is that the blues musician Robert Johnson met the Devil at a crossroads and sold his soul in exchange for being a legendary blues musician. Considering people still play his music to this day, who knows, maybe he did.
Crossroads (the Ralph Macchio version, not the Brittney Spears version) was based on this legend as well (as well as the song Devil Went Down to Georgia). It's not a bad movie, loved Steve Vai playing in it!
It was actually Tommy Johnson who claimed that. Robert Johnson’s song “Crossroads” confused the matter.
So famous that universal adapted it for a haunted house.
A Baroque musician had a similar story. It's not that unique
@@koki84ji7you mean Tartini?
The broken rock was mainly used on railways, the gravel ballast under the track. As well as building materials and road construction.
And once again - this comment section is gold.
@@VoluntaryistJapanso true
Let's not forget driveways and gravel roads. When rainy season comes on dirt only roads, cars will get stuck in the mud.
But the act of breaking rocks with picks and sledgehammers was a punishment. You’d be sentenced to “20 years of hard labor” or such. Not just sitting around in a cell. It’s a hard, tiring, and hot activity to break rocks all day long. The threat of it was to keep prisoners in line or they’d be put on the chain gang and be forced to do backbreaking work all day.
@NotSoFast71 you're 💯 correct the odd thing was prisoners lived longer because of the so called exercise 🙄 the cell confinement was actually harder cause the day drug by ..not that anyone got fat a sassy in prison back then ( very poor nutrition) but there were alot of smokers and bad lungs as well . I read somewhere that the labor helped clear the lungs...not sure if that's true though
Believe it or not. Tim Blake Nelson can actually sing pretty well. He recorded some songs for the Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Great cowboys musical :)
also, him and turturro both actually sing in this one... clooney and the guy playing the kkk leader were the only ones that didn't iirc
His singing in this film got him some major money with the royalties from the soundtrack sales.
@@stefanforrer2573 When did the KKK leader character sing? I don't understand that part of your comment. I mean, I'm pretty sure the actresses playing the sirens didn't sing their parts. Goodman didn't sing. Root didn't sing. I think the only ones who DID maybe sing are Nelson, the little girls, and the gravediggers (not Turturro).
@@clh35 He sang "O Death" at the beginning of the rally. The song is an old one by Ralph Stanley and his version was used on the soundtrack. Wayne Duvall (cousin of Robert) played Homer Stokes but did no singing.
This soundtrack was a monster hit, folks today don't even know.
bought the dvd 2 years ago on ebay, my fav is still Angel Band by the Peasall sisters
Still is one of my favorite soundtracks ever.
I listened to it a lot in my teenage years and I'm not even American. It won a Grammy.
Yes, yes it was. Is.
I blissed-out to the music when watching this in the theatre! One of the most memorable experiences in my many years of theatre attendance.
It was the first digitally colour corrected film to give it a sepia-tinted look. The actual set was "greener than Ireland".
Yes, the first color graded movie. A little unconfirmed trivia is that the movie Jason X (friday the 13th) was color graded a year earlier, but got shelved until 2001. Sort of a fortunate coincidence to have a Coen brothers get that accolade instead of a slasher, if this was true
I always thought What Dreams May Come was the first to use digital color correction. It was the first do digital something or other.
Man, this comment section is gold.
@@woeshaling6421Learned this fact from RLM such an interesting turn of events
Didn't the Coen brothers also make a movie that they wanted to be black and white, but had to make it in colour? The DVD release featured a black and white version that they had converted in some process so it really looked like it was shot that way too.
Bonafide is just another way of saying someone is established and genuine.
word etymology coming from bona + fide or "in good faith"
Genuine. The real deal.
I’ve also heard bona fides (pronounced “fee-deez”) to mean one’s qualifications or credentials, sort of like a curriculum vitae.
@@MarcosElMalo2 Yes, as in present your bonafides. Proof of authenticity.
It's a term gold diggers use, lol.
@@terrysperman304 It's a term people with credentials use. What are you talking about?
"Ain't this a geographical oddity! Two weeks from everywhere!"
One of my favorite lines in the movie. Great delivery by George Clooney.
The flooding scene was Odysseus apologizing to Poseidon for mocking him and Poseidon allowing him to go home.
Man I’m impressed with all the parallels George found to the Odyssey.
The idea for the movie is from Preston Sturgis' movie Sullivan's Travels. Please enjoy that too. The brothers worked in several parallel scenes from ST.
His constant musings about it got annoying fast.
@@timlanteigne298 to you maybe, not to me. It's things like that, that make their reactions so good. The ehitre movie is based on the Odyssey (something that clearly clearly went right over your head...🙄)
I actually had a literature class in college where we studied this film and its parallels to the Odyssey. George pointed out at least one (hiding under the sheep) that I'm pretty sure the professor missed.
I was forced, against my will, to study Latin for four years in school, including translating long passages from Homer into English. I never thought it would be of any use later in life. Then this movie came out and I had the overwhelming sense that one of life's purposeful circles had been drawn to completion. Now, I'm just begging for the Coen Brothers to follow this up with The Oresteia Trilogy.
Qui custodet historia? Vtre Felix, bro.
I do believe we all start any story relating to Latin class with "which I was forced to take against my will" 😅
@@debbyemerson3877 yes, two years compulsory in my school, most did three and some crazy kids did five but I got out after two by switching to an art class. I'm bad at art but worse at Latin (eheu!)
Also comes in handy when watching Tombstone
So you in your Latin lessons you translated ancient Greek?
The title comes from Sullivan's Travels, which was a movie about a Hollywood director trying to make a move called "Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou?"
The movie theater scene here is a direct reference to a scene in that movie, where prisoners are allowed to see a movie.
I was looking for this comment before I made it myself! Sullivan’s travels is sadly a mostly forgotten comedy these days.
And the author of the book that Joel McRae’s character was wanting to adapt was was Sinclair Beckstein, a portmanteau of Upton Sinclair, Sinclair Lewis, and John Steinbeck. All great depression-era novelists.
The Coens are big fans of Preston Sturges, who had a streak of hit movies in the early '40s. They also paid tribute to him in "The Hudsucker Proxy," which features witty, fast talking characters.
Loved Sullivans travels where the lead character goes off four times on his adventure.,.
The Veronica Lake Hair Brush scene, would kill George! @@leonh.kalayjian6556
Dan Tyminski is a guitarist in Alison Krause's band, and the vocalist for "Man of Constant Sorrow." He recalls that when he took his wife to the premiere of the film, he was telling her "you know I'm not actually in the movie, right? You're just going to hear my voice coming out of George Clooney."
To which his wife instantly replied "Well, that's always been my fantasy."
I always thought George Clooney, like Cary Grant, worked better as a comedic actor than a romantic lead.
This is why George and Simone need to react to Soderbergh's Out of Sight, in which Clooney is both, and which is easily his career-best role.
@@cjcoakeSeconded ... hugely! Clooney is phenomenal. Jennifer Lopez does her best work in that film. Great support from Don Cheadle, Ving Rhames, Steve Zahn, Albert Brooks (!), and Dennis Farina. PLUS, an all-time great reprises his character from Jackie Brown; he just plays it ... dumber.
I don't like George Clooney. But he is so believable in this role, and absolutely lovable, that I dare say this is the real George Clooney in his heart of hearts. Or he sold his soul to the Devil? ;) I dunno.
He's got a great line delivery for tough guy roles too. I always thought it was a shame that From Dusk til Dawn was his only chance to be a hardened criminal. I think ER kind of type cast him for a while. Then he started directing and we got to see less and less of him.
@@notabritperse Lol, he was kinda dumb in Jackie Brown, too. Those movie were released like 6 months apart, so it's cool that he was able to do both. They should put him in future seasons of the new Justified series, since it's all part of the Elmore Leonard universe.
Fun fact, the woman who requests the Soggy Bottom Boys' record was Gillian Welch, an artist and singer who is featured on the soundtrack.
Amd one of the songs she sang was the sirens' song.
@@almightycinder Yes, I forgot about that! The only name of those three that I remembered was Emmylou.
George Clooney stated in an interview his Soggy Bottom Boys goofy dance was supposed to be a scripted thing, but he went off script for that goofy hick dance he wanted to do. It made the Coen brothers laugh so hard they kept it in the film.
30:23 'Are there any more movies like this, that take really old stories and do a modern day adaptation?'
My first thought is The Warriors (1979). A modern retelling of Anabasis by Xenophon. The text told of Greek mercenaries stranded 1,000 miles behind Persian lines trying to fight their way back home. The movie tells the story of a New York gang. The 'ultimate director’s cut' integrates a new intro to the movie that describes their plight specifically linked to the Ancient Greek story to make it clearer.
Come out and play-ay!
The Warriors is probably the closest comparison to this. It's not particularly a direct adaptation, more of taking the core conceit and building around it. O Brother has more direct lines to The Odyssey, but it's obviously not one-to-one throughout.
And it's a FANTASTIC film.
Not the same, but what about _10 Things I Hate About You _
or she's the man
As others said, Nelson can sing. In an interview he commented that the other two tried, but "it was sad".
Fun fact: the clan rally "dance" and the way the trio infiltrated is an homage to "the March of The Winkies" in Wizard of Oz when the 3 reach the Witch's castle to try and rescue Dorothy. Not everyone picks up on that but it is obvious when you compare the two.
I thought so! I thought it reminded me of the song the henchmen were singing outside of the witches' castle.
Also the term "Wizard" comes from the founder of the Klan, Nathan Bedford Forrest. He was known as the "Wizard of the Saddle" because he was a cavalry commander in the Civil War.
From a mythical perspective, the theme song is perfect for this movie. The name Odysseus (aka Ulysses), literally means “bringer of pain”.
He causes suffering to everyone including himself, so he’s literally a man of constant sorrow.
There are some blink and you'll miss it moments where they say characters' full names, like Menelaus Pappy O'Daniel, or Ulysses Everett McGill, to further make that Odyssey connection. Glad y'all liked it! Love this one.
This is tied with "Raising Arizona" as my favorite Coen brothers movie. I grew up listening to bluegrass, so this soundtrack really brought me back to my childhood. It's not only a great retelling of "The Odyssey", it's also a great showcase of Depression-era America. As for other adaptations, "William Shakespeare's Romeo+Juliet" is fantastic. And I will second "Roxanne", with Steve Martin. It's such a great movie!
20:40 The klan scene is another departure from Odyssey - it's largely based on the Winkies march from The Wizard of Oz, with similar chants and prominent marching sounds, and even includes the heroes stealing three uniforms so they can infiltrate the march and save one of their companions
I also think the flood scene is similar to the tornado scene in Wizard of Oz.
6:30
Tommy Johnson was an actual blues guitarist who would travel from town to town in the Delta, as depicted in the movie. He wrote Canned Heat Blues, for instance, after which the band "Canned Heat" named itself. The "selling his soul at the crossroads" in exchange for guitar chops is an old blues legend--many, many players have been attached to it. Most famous of them would be Robert Johnson, although he never claimed to have done so himself; he was only said to have sold his soul in exchange for his skill after his premature and tragic death (most likely by strychnine poisoning), when he was 27. The tune played around the camp fire is Hard Time Killing Floor Blues, by Skip James--another fantastic guitarist from the 1920s and 1930s, who then got rediscovered during the blues revival of the 60s.
All of these folks are well worth looking into!
Making Robert Johnson the first member of the infamous 27 Club.
Actually, if he was poisoned, some think it was more likely naphthalene from dissolved mothballs (which was a common way of poisoning others in the South). Strychnine kills much quicker. As it was, the naphthalene may only have killed him because it caused his ulcer to hemorrhage. What's _more_ terrible is that the man who owned the plantation he was at wouldn't pay for a doctor because Robert Johnson wasn't an employee of his. Johnson might have been saved, if not for racism and capitalism.
Hands down my favorite Coen Brothers movie. Gets better each time I watch it. I'm glad you two gave it a go!
As for movies of modern adaptations of older works, the only one I personally know of is a movie written by (and starring) Steve Martin that is based on Cyrano de Bergerac called "Roxanne." It's a pretty solid romantic comedy even if you don't know any of the source material.
Yes! Came here to say Roxanne was a good example, and a fun movie.
Another Steve Martin movie based on an old story is "A Simple Twist of Fate". It is a retelling of Silas Marner by George Eliot. Good movie but Roxanne is better.
12:40 - "People just buy one song." Actually, even when I was young (back in the 1970s), you could buy a single record called a 45, or an entire album called a 33 (those are the RPM speeds you needed to play them at). Thanks for another great reaction.
You could but there would be another single on the B side when you flipped it over. Sometimes the B side outperformed the intended hit song on the A side.
In the 30s records were 78 RPM and each side had only one song.
My first record player had 78 rpm setting.@@patmacmanus
George got most of the references to the Odyssey correctly, except maybe Stephen Root's character (the blind radio station manager), who refers to Homer. Meanwhile, Tommy Johnson is a reference to Robert Johnson, one of the greatest blues musicians in history, whose talent was sometimes attributed to a deal with the Devil - it is an urban legend at this point. The actors are indeed dubbed, except Tim Blake Nelson, who is the one who performs “In the Jailhouse Now” (the first song they perform with fake beards).
I cannot express how happy I am this film won the poll, it was the best in the selection by a wide margin.
Edit: I forgot to mention films that reinterpret an older story in a modern setting. Here are a few examples:
“10 Things I Hate About You" - based on Shakespeare's “The Taming of the Shrew”
"Cruel Intentions" - essentially a reimagined "Dangerous Liaisons", an 18th century novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
"Easy A" - a modern version of "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne
"The Lion King" - it is loosely based on "Hamlet", though without Hamlet's personal troubles
"My Fair Lady" - it is loosely inspired by George Bernard Show's "Pygmalion"
"West Side Story" - this is essentially a retelling of "Romeo and Juliet"
"She's the Man" - again a play by Shakespeare, this time "Twelfth Night"
"O" - Shakespeare is here again, this time with "Othello"
My Fair Lady and Pygmalion are both set in the same time period, but inspired by the original Ancient Greek myth of the same name.
@@timhibbard4226 Of course, I should have referred to the original Greek myth rather than to George Bernard Shaw's work. Well, you could throw in "She's All That" as a modern work example.
they definitely need to do My Fair Lady! it's a classic, even tho I'm not super fond of musicals
And Romeo and Juliet with Danes and DiCaprio
So, funny story: the Coen Brothers later claimed they've never read The Odyssey, and they just did versions of the parts they knew/that everybody knows.
The governor who pardoned them was played by Charles Durning, who was a dance instructor and great character actor. Another of his big roles was as another southern governor in "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas". Which isn't what it sounds like.
I’ve found people either love this movie or hate it, no in between. I happen to love it!
I don’t think I even know anyone who hates this movie, and I don’t think I want to know them, either.
I really love the way this film blends so many mythological figures and concepts into something familiar without it feeling stale or predictable, or out of place in the time and setting of the story. The Sheriff (played by Daniel von Bargen) is a blend of Poseidon, the Christian Devil, and a nod to Walking Boss Godfrey, "The Man With No Eyes", from Cool Hand Luke, another film about convicts on a chain gang. And yet he still feels iconic in his own right. Just a brilliant movie all around; it was so fun to see you guys watch it.
Original SNL satire of Cool Hand Luke: "What we have here is a failure to communicate bilingually." Bill Murray gets a beating for not speaking French.
Shakespeare has been adapted into modern-times movies a few times. The ones that I recall are "Ten Things I Hate About You" (The Taming of the Shrew) and "My Own Private Idaho" (Henry IV & Henry V). There's also an adaptation of Richard III but the setting is alternate-history Britain in the 1930s--Ian McKellan and Robert Downey Jr are in the cast.
I would really like to see 10 Things I Hate About You on the channel.
The one that pops into my head is Macbeth with Patrick Stewart. Set in the 60's in Romania.
There was also Romeo + Juliet with Leonardo DiCaprio, and a modernized Hamlet with Ethan Hawke.
Clueless was based on a Jane Austen novel
Othello was also turned into a movie with Julia Stiles with the simple title O.
This was the first Hollywood movie that was completely digitally color graded from start to finish. Roger Deakins did the cinematography and worked for 6 months to figure out how to digitally color the movie to get the desired look. He got an Oscar for his work.
Id just like to add the important distinction; Deakins was NOMINATED for the Oscar for this film. In fact hes been nominated for so many Oscars without winning that it became a sortve inside joke. He got up to damn near 20 before winning if I remember right lol. But he never actually got an Oscar until Blade Runner 2049 and then 1917 was his 2nd I think.
@@sergeantbigmac You are right, my bad.
we thought
you
was a toad.
I was a kid in the South when this came out. Believe me when I say this was one of the most popular things in the WORLD. We watched it in school on the days before ANY holiday break, everyone knew the songs, everyone said the quotes. It cannot be explained how much of a cultural staple this is/was. Glad one of my favorite channels got to this gem!
Gravel for roads.
Pappy O'Daniel was a real Texas Governor.
Union Station was the group who sang for the Soggy Bottom boys.
Charles Durning who plays Pappy O'Daniel, was the governor who "Danced A Little Sidestep" in Best Little Whorehouse.
Tennessee Valley Authority still produces electricity. They flooded a bunch of land to build the hydro plant.
A WW2 vet and an Oscar nominee, Durning was in another Coen Bros' film, "The Hudsucker Proxy".
@@Madbandit77
Home For The Holidays with Holly Hunter and Robert Downey Jr.
But I love when Mr Durning danced in Best Little Whorehouse. 🙂
Durning was in a ton of stuff, including The Sting. Can't remember if these guys have watched that or not.
@@barn_ninny Also Jessica Lange's dad in Tootsie.
The Coen Bros. loved making George Clooney the biggest idiot they cvould every time they worked with him, and gosh darn if he doesn't crack me up in every one of their movies! Burn After Reading is my favortie Coen Bros. personally anyhow, and he is so darn funny in it (especially with the secretive project he's working on in the basement).
Yeah, _Burn After Reading_ is absolutely sublime. Probably MY favorite Coen Bros. movie, too.
Burn After Reading is very underrated
Brad Pitt in Burn After Reading is hilarious as well. They should watch it!
@@la_beatrice Oswald Cox? I wanted you to know your shit is secure.
-and-
You think that's a Schwinn?!?
Papists are Catholics, you're right George. It's used as a bit of a slur sometimes.
Definitely at that time, there is a reason that we didn’t have a Catholic President in America until the 60’s.
@@timhibbard4226 And even then it was controversial.
this topic would be a good segue into "gangs of new york"
A "bit" of a slur? More of an out and out slur, meant to demean Catholics.
Have to remember the Klan was in the Baptist South, and Baptists were a specific flavor of Protestant.
The Klan hated/hates Catholics, Jews, and 'coloreds' and the word 'colored' meant non-white (so, Black, Asian, and Native American). The Klan didn't consider Catholics to be Christian.
Not only was it fun for the references to Homer, but also a display of a music that is almost dead and gone. Love that film.
My late widowed mother loved this film. This and Out of Sight (1998) mostly because of George Clooney. I have such fond memories of this film and this will always have special place at my heart.
I heartily endorse all of the mentions and suggestions of 10 Things I Hate About You.
One of the best Coen brothers films with the best soundtrack! Used to listen to the cd all the time when I was a kid.
Clooney took singing lessons for weeks and actually sang during shooting which is why his facial expressions match the song so well.
Singer Rosemary Clooney was his aunt.
The way the Coen Brothers do comedy is just so amazing. They have 100% confidence in their audience to catch all the subtle humor and irony, probably knowing that a lot of people aren’t going to catch everything on the first watch. Even in their non-comedies, they don’t dare spoon-feed their audience with unnecessary explanations or predictable story arcs and just let the stories and characters speak for themselves. Their films all have so much wit and authenticity, which is a quality you rarely see in movies nowadays.
This is probably my favourite Cohen Brothers movie and George’s explanations of some details that I wasn’t aware of made it even better. Stephen Root has got to be one of the best character actors working today. Two other films that come to mind that you should watch are “Cool Hand Luke” (chain gang reference) and “Deliverance” (reference to flooding at the end.)
Miscegenation is the relationship between people considered members of different races. So when he was saying they are miscegenated he is saying they are mixed race which in the 30s would have been a bigger thing. Still a thing now I can say from personal experience but much worse back then.
In the 30s, it was a criminal offense and I’m some places it would have been an excuse to be lynched before you saw the inside of a courtroom. Those laws stayed on the books until the civil rights movement, although by that time they weren’t being enforced outside of the South. Still, it’s interesting that my parents married illegally by the laws on the books, and I was a product of that “officially” unlawful marriage.
In the ‘30s and ‘40s miscegenation was explicitly forbidden by the Motion Picture Code (along with any mention of drug use or “sexual perversion,” I.e. homosexuality). Interracial marriage was illegal in about a third of the states of the US until 1967.
Misc + Genes
Yeah this was a pretty nasty part of the history of the former confederate states after the civil war, along with the klan and lynchings and segregation.
The chain gang appears to be making gravel.
I had an officer I worked with in the military and prior to getting his commission, he was a guard at the military prison at Ft Leavenworth.
According to him, they would have prisoners sentenced to "hard labor" meaning they had to work, even if there was no productive work available. Again - according to him - they had a huge gravel mound in the yard and the prisoners sentenced to hard labor would have to move it basically just with shovels and wheelbarrows to the other end of the yard. After they finished, they would move it back.
Not sure if a similar situation is happening here.
"Turning big rocks into small ones." For gravel, and field-clearing.
In this case, I believe they are breaking down the gravel in place as a means of creating a road. Rural roads during this time period were often just gravel that was broken down then covered with a top layer of tar to hold it together.
@@BigRiggBlues That makes sense. I didn't know that.
the guitarist at the Crossroads is Robert Johnson who sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for his talent. he went on to record an album that started the Blues.
Glad George was able to make connections. I had no idea what to look for in this movie until they gave us the MASSIVE clue in the credits. It made my experience so much more pleasurable. I wish there were more of these movies. It's like if Weird Al was a movie concept guy. I love it. Stunning as ever,Simone.
I think this was the first Coen brothers film I didn't immediately love, having seen them all in theaters on their original release, but it's grown on me over the years. Seeing this, and knowing how much you've loved all the other Coen brothers films you've watched, I'll make the request/plea again for you to watch "Raising Arizona", a live action Looney Toons comedy with my favorite Holly Hunter performance and one of my favorite Nicolas Cage roles, plus it's the first time John Goodman appeared in one of their film; "Barton Fink" starring John Turturro and John Goodman and maybe my favorite of the Coens' films; "Miller's Crossing" which has John Turturro's first role (and he's fantastic in it) with them in a 1920's gangster film, also featuring Steve Buscemi's first time working with them, and also stars Gabriel Byrne ("The Usual Suspects" and "Hereditary"); and then Tim Blake Nelson (who plays Delmar in 'O Brother ...') stars in the first segment of "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs", an anthology film of shorts the Coens did all based in the western part of America after the Civil War. It also features Stephen Root, Tom Waits, Harry Melling ("Harry Potter"), Liam Neeson, and Brendan Gleeson, among loads of other actors. Also, I love how George says it's been a long time since he's read "The Odyssey" and then seems to remember 95% of it! It was great having his commentary on the adaptation, especially for those who can't remember 0.01% of it!
I totally forgot that they hadn’t reacted to _Raising Arizona_ yet. I think they’d have great time with that.
Raising Arizona is a treat.
The crossroads guitar player was based on a true story about one of the first blues musicians and a song he made called crossroad blues
I think you mean myth, not "true story?"
Yep, Robert Johnson..
Robert Johnson. I think it's important to cite the father of modern blues.
@cshub - where you there? How do you know it’s not true?
@@diatarussoulbanehe's not the father of modern blues. Nobody knew who he was until decades after he was dead. By then Muddy Waters had already invented electricity, the 3 kings were already famous, & Chuck Berry had already recorded Johnny B Goode.
In the 1930s pretty much every record was a single. They were larger than 45 RPM singles, but not as large as an LP and had to be played at 78 RPM.
Simone is very insightful. Sometimes remarkably & shockingly so. She has a kind of rare ability to see into scripts before she sees a film by picking up on clues scattered about by the filmmakers. And George is quite adept at processing information. They are a good duo for this genre.
Most of the shooting locations looked too green and Lush for the depression-era dust-bowl vibe they were going for so they shot it on film, converted to digital, desaturated the color and then moved it back to film
This movie made me love George Clooney. I already loved the rest of the cast, especially John Goodman ❤
Everett McGill is Odysseus (his first name is Ulysses, which is the Roman version of Odysseus)
Delmar and Pete are soldiers who wandered with Odysseus from Troy back to Ithaca
Big Dan Teague is the Polyphemus, the cyclops
Pappy O'Daniel's first name is Menelaus (King Menelaus), but he is more similar to Zeus
Sheriff Cooley is both Poseidon and the Devil/Hades (with his dog being Cerberus)
The Blind Seer is Tiresias
Mr. Lund, the blind radio station manager, is Homer
Penny is Penelope
Waldrip is the Suitor(s) of Penelope
The sirens are the Sirens
The soundtrack for this movie was very popular. Was in heavy rotation on country music radio and won 3 Grammys in 2002, including Album of the Year.
30:33 Well, “really old” is a matter of perspective. There aren’t many modernized versions of stuff as old as the Odyssey, but for more recent stuff, there’s “Clueless” which is based on “Emma,” “Roxanne” which is based on “Cyrano de Bergerac,” “Rent” which is based on “La Bohème,” “West Side Story” which is based on “Romeo and Juliet,” etc.
This movie is a masterpiece. I know it's a term that's thrown around often, but I genuinely think this movie fits. It's infinitely quotable, the soundtrack is fantastic, and the casting was perfect.
Gopher, Everett?
Tim Blake Nelson absolutely killed it as Delmar.
"Well ain't this place a geographical oddity? Two weeks from everywhere!" X'D
Chris Thomas King’s version of Hard Time Killing Floor Blues is beautiful
The black guy who sold his soul was a tribute to Robert Johnson. People used to say he sould his sould in the crossswalk to the devil to learn to play the guitar, and when he played he would turn the back to the crowd, because his eyes would turn red.
In fact it was so people people not copy his playing style and acords.
He had a couple songs about selling his soul: ME and the Devil Blues, Hellhound on My Trail.
His carrer lasted less than 10 years, Acording wth Sonny Boy Willison he was killed by the husband of a women he was flirting in a bar, and the husband poisoned his wiskey.
Odysseus is Ulyssess Everett McGill. He was the Leader, Vain/Proud, On a quest (treasure / wife ), and quick-witted. Pete represents the crew that mutinies. Delmar represents the foolish crew. George Nelson is the Cattle of the Sun God as he was part of the crew for a short time, kills cows, and gets electrocuted (Zeus's lightning). Tommy is Athena helping with their way at a cross roads. Penny is Penelope, who has suitors, believed Odyssues was dead, and makes a task to earn her love. Soggy Bottom Boys is the Beggars Disguise. The Sirens are themselves. Baptism Fellowshop are the Lotus Eaters that all mindlessly follow along, including the crew. The Sheriff is kind of a Hadies/Poseidon stand in. Big Dan is the Cyclops who nearly gets stabbed in the eye, kills some of the crew, has a club and beats them up. Pappy O'Daniels is King Menelaus of the Greeks who is fighting Homer Stokes (Trojans). Homer Stokes and the Klan are the Greeks. Vernon represents Penelope's suitors. Everett's daughters is Telemachus who thinks their father is dead and tells them of the suitors. The blind man is Tiresias and possibly homer as the writer/teller of the tale.
Showing the Big Dan get impaled in the eye by the flag would also be very violent for a PG-13 movie and isn't very much in the Coen's style. So turning to see the cross fall and implying death was a bit more fitting.
The Devil, Tommy, and the crossroads is a separate myth, mixed into this movie. There's actually a movie called Crossroads, starring Ralph Machio (the Karate Kid, I can't spell it,) that explores the myth further.
I love this movie so much. As a roots player and massive music history buff this movie is LOADED with history. Tommy Johnson, all the traditional music, Ramblin Bob, hinting at the payola scheme in the budding music industry, Baby Face Nelson and on and on. It is insanely accurate and detailed and that isn't even talking about the Odyssey stuff.
The XXX on the bottle of moonshine represents that the shine has been through a three step distilling process rendering it more smooth and stronger than the regular process.
One movie that does a modern day interpretation of old material is Roxanne starting Daryl Hanna and Steve Martin. It is a loose retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac
Aside from the dangers of the contaminants that may be found within the moonshine, the high alcohol content of moonshine also poses risks, such as alcohol poisoning and liver disease. If someone drinks moonshine, the people around them must understand the signs of methanol poisoning and alcohol poisoning.
for the song recording scene, George Clooney wasn't lip singing. although it wasn't his voice we hear in the movie. He wanted it to look real, so he actually sang the song into the can that whole scene and later, they edited to actual vocalists over.
If you remember Fargo's notorious text identifying it as a true story, the story that this is based on The Odyssey. is the kind of thing that gets them labeled as trolls. Although the movie is credited as being adapted from Homer, the Coens later said that they weren't sure if they'd even read it. And who knows which version of events is true? Either way, it's pretty funny.
Simone is correct at the end about the repeating dialogue. That is a hallmark of Coen Brothers films. For instance, "that rug really tied the room together," or how many times Walter says "This is what happens, Larry! This is what happens when you f--- a stranger in the ass!"
Holly Hunter is actually a recurring player in the Coens' filmography. She was someone the Coens considered for the lead in their first film, Blood Simple, but she was committed to a play and wasn't available, so she recommended her roommate, Frances McDormand for the part instead. After meeting on the film, Joel and Frances got married the same year, and are still married to this day. Meanwhile, they would get to cast Hunter as the second lead in their second movie, Raising Arizona.
Also, as a nod to the fact that Joel worked on The Evil Dead with Sam Raimi, and then the three of them wrote Raimi's disowned second film Crimewave and the Coens' underappreciated masterpiece The Hudsucker Proxy, the cabin that they go to at the end is meant to look just like the Evil Dead cabin.
As I will say with every Coen video until you get through them I definitely hope to see more of their movies on the channel. In particular, the early stuff has some gems that don't get reacted to often, like Blood Simple, Miller's Crossing, and the aforementioned gem The Hudsucker Proxy. Those three, in particular, I really hope you do. (Hudsucker Proxy is a great New Year's Eve movie...)
Well, it is definitively based on The Odyssey (the terms 'based' or 'adapted' can be argued). But it clearly follows elements, as evidenced by George's speculations throughout. And by "who knows which version of events is true", do you mean the Coens' account of the film's origins, or The Odyssey itself? Because the latter, though generally based on real events, is largely fiction.
Can I put in a good word for Crimewave? I know it was a critical and commercial disaster but I loved it. So much so that I bought a DVD copy from Korea, as I couldn’t find any other one.
The Hudsucker Proxy.........a great movie with a terrible title....probably didn't help with the box office
"You know, for kids"
@@Hexon66 I meant whether they actively based it on The Odyssey or if they only did it based on a secondhand understanding of The Odyssey.
Certainly George Clooney’s best role/performance. Love, love love this movie.
Really old stories in a modern adaptation? Spike Lee's "Chi-Raq" is an ancient Greek tale done entirely as rap verse. Absolutely stellar, and very moving. This is my first time commenting, but I have been a loyal fan for YEARS. You guys are GREAT!
So basically thean with the hound is Poseidon, im guessing the suitor is Eurymachys, Tommy is probably Antiflus the flute player, Stephen Root's character maybe Aeolus the god of the wind sending the song in the airways, one of the Siren's plays Sindel Mortal Kombat Annihilation, this movie may be a small snippet of a great epic poem but it was a great film all around.
The girls referred to the guy trying to take his wife as a suitor which is what happened in the Odyssey, there were numerous suitors trying to marry his wife
Odysseus' wife's name in "The Odyssey" is Penelope; Ulysses' (Clooney's) wife's name in the movie is "Penny," a usual nickname for ... Penelope!
Yesssss! This is one of my all time favorites and I was so psyched to see it win that poll.
George remembers a lot more about The Odyssey than I do. I haven't read it since high school over 25 years ago.
"Them sirens loved him up and turned him into a Hhhhhhorny toad!"
Tim Blake Nelson is great in this, but "The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs" is definitely his best movie.
Regarding Buster Scruggs, I saw someone write, "I've always wondered what a Chaotic Evil bard would be like" (referring to the class in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons). Truer words never written.
His work as "Looking Glass" in the Watchmen mini was also stellar. He credits his acting lessons in maskwork for the strength of his performance.
You guys should watch SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS (1941). This movie has many references to it, including the title and a lot of the visual iconography.
Think the baptism scene is a reference to the Lair of the Lotus Eaters.
Much like how the lair muddles with time, Pete holds that his baptism has cleansed his soul for eternity, which the other two point out that it don’t work that way with his convicted crimes.
George was on it when he mentioned hubris as Odysseus’ issue. Here the tragic pride is embodied in the hair fixation. It is through the pomade that the hounds of Hell are able to keep finding our crew. At the end when Everett humbles himself, it is washed away and he is free. Loved all George’s insights- great react both of you…keep’em coming!!
I read that brothers converted to Christianity.
My only exposure to the Odyssey was a 2 part movie that was shown on TV starring Armand Assante. It was pretty cool. Especially when he got back home. recommended viewing if you can.
In terms of movies like O’ Brother that reinterprets old literature into this new stylization would be another Coen Brothers film, A Serious Man (2009), which is black comedy that loosely resembles the Book of Job. (Though the Coen brothers deny thinking of Job while writing it but it’s hard to believe them at their word at times.) It’s one of their best movies and plays into their more absurdist sense of humor but is equally funny.
My dad loved this movie. I remember sitting down with the family on the old bubble screen, watching it..miss you da'. Everyday. 🕊
my grandpa was my father figure in my life and i love sharing this movie with him. it was one of the few moments we shared joy while watching a movie we both love.
i love this movie. ❤😂
To explain the racist jargon you were confused by, "papist" is indeed a slur against Catholics, and "miscegenating" refers to white and black people having children together.
The "Devil's" outfit is inspired by a prison guard from the 60's movie "Cool Hand Luke", which could to some extent be best described as the "Anti-Shawshank Redemption."
“Dang! We’re in a tight spot.”
Please watch the 1994 film Clerks. Clerks is a comedic take on Dante’s Inferno. The Devine Comedy
IMDB says this of Clerks ;
Clerks is loosely based on "The Divine Comedy" by Dante Alighieri. There are nine breaks in the movie to represent the nine rings of hell.
The singer who actually sang "Man of Constant Sorrow" is Dan Tyminski of the group Union Station, famous for their collaboration with Alison Krauss
The governor’s son literally introduced him as “Menelaus ‘Pappy’ O’Daniel” outside the radio station, so yes, the governor is partly based on Menelaus, but also is supposed to be Zeus.
This isn't even the only Odyssey based movie set in the south to exist. There's also cold mountain with Jude Law and Nicole Kidman.
George Clooney actually had a distant relative read his lines to him because he had a pretty thick accent so Clooney used his
It's an old legend in the South that if you stand alone at a crossroads and play the blues, there's a chance the devil will come along. And for the price of your soul, the devil will make you the best blues musician in the world. Anyway, Robert Johnson's guitar playing improved so much overnight that people said that he must have sold his soul. So maybe there is some truth to it after all.
"Yeah, I f*ckin' love pie." Simone, you nearly made me spit out my coffee!
Spike Lee's Chi-Raq is a loose adaptation of the Lysistrata by Aristophanes. While I always hesitate to recommend this movie to those unfamilar (it's REALLY dark) Angel Heart is basically a modern retelling of the play "Oedipus the King" by Sophocles.
The Coens like to put Devil=like characters into their movies. Like the Lone Biker of the Apocalypse in Raising Arizona and Charlie Meadows in Barton Fink.
Regarding old stories set in a different setting: several of Akira kurosawa’s films are adaptations of Shakespeare plays in feudal Japan
Throne of Blood is awesome
I love how they put Robert Johnson, the great blues man into the story with his famous “crossroads reference
It doesn't help now, but you have to remember it's loosely based on. There's not direct parallels to everything. Also, Hades wasn't evil, and he didn't make deals. He was the only god you couldn't make a deal with, ever.
Robert Johnson was a Mississippi blues singer and songwriter, who according to legend, sold his soul to Satan “at the crossroads” in exchange for his remarkable talent on the guitar. In his iconic hit song "Crossroad Blues," the lyrics talk of his being stranded at the crossroads as the sun went down and his pleas to the Lord went unanswered.
Remember George, *LOOSELY* based on...
The Cohn brothers said the film was based on The Odyssey, except they had never read the Odyssey. But that didn't stop them.
They claimed they had read the graphic novel adaptation, but that was it.
Neither did Homer, it’s an oral history bro.
Per Quora: The rock breaking was part of the production of stone for building purposes as well as being converted into gravel used for road or later railway construction.
Tommy Johnson meeting the devil at the crossroads and selling his soul to be able to play the guitar is a reference to a real life Blues musician named Robert Johnson. First member of the 27 club. I'll leave the rest of the research to yourselves.