Or I could write this.
So today, here’s my definite rating of each Coen flick, under the central question of, “How good of an idea is it to put this film on at a house party?” To briefly set the scene, you’re hosting a small party at your house, apartment, domicile of choice. Beverages have been consumed, and the guests are ready to settle in for the long haul. Maybe you’re a film buff, maybe by some freak coincidence you only have the collective work of Joel and Ethan Coen to choose from.* So which film do you select? Today, I answer that weirdly specific question once and for all.
*I haven’t seen The Hudsucker Proxy, The Ladykillers, or Intolerable Cruelty, so they’re excluded here.
Blood Simple (1984)
Party Potential: 1 / 5 Solo Cups
Raising Arizona (1987)
Party Potential: 4 / 5 Solo Cups
Miller’s Crossing (1990)
Party Potential: 2.5 / 5 Solo Cups
Barton Fink (1991)
Party Potential: 3.5 / 5 Solo Cups
Fargo (1996)
Party Potential: 3 / 5 Solo Cups
The Big Lebowski (1998)
Party Potential: 5 / 5 White Russians
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
Party Potential: 4 / 5 Solo Cups
The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001)
Party Potential: 0 / 5 (Just please, don’t… )
Party Potential: 2 / 5 Solo Cups
Burn After Reading (2008)
Party Potential: 3 / 5 Solo Cups
A Serious Man (2009)
Party Potential: 1.5 / 5 Solo Cups
True Grit (2010)
Party Potential: 2 / 5 Solo Cups
Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)
Party Potential: 1 / 5 Solo Cups
Hail, Caesar! (2016)
Party Potential: 1.5 / 5 Solo Cups
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)
Party Potential: 3.5 / 5 Solo Cups
Image & Info Sources!
Miller's Crossing image:
images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59021a94c534a5e9a182017c/1525281846590-S24B2BL8CJ2K96CFSFYK/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kD0B1S5xnCADibgq1ZkQHuB7gQa3H78H3Y0txjaiv_0fDoOvxcdMmMKkDsyUqMSsMWxHk725yiiHCCLfrh8O1z5QPOohDIaIeljMHgDF5CVlOqpeNLcJ80NK65_fV7S1UVWPB5qM_2lEQtKca5Y
0nqvFjhLEqlaI5S1XuXSJfuWI6ocgBwzfqAGPb50PTeYDYw/millers_crossing_gabriel_byrne+copy.jpg
The Big Lebowski image: i2.wp.com/bevvy.co/articles/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/lebowski-white-russian.jpeg?ssl=1
Burn After Reading image:
cdn.theatlantic.com/assets/media/img/mt/2014/09/Brad_Pitt_Dance/lead_720_405.jpg?mod=1533691705
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs image:
cdn.theatlantic.com/assets/media/img/mt/2018/11/the_ballad_of_buster_scruggs_image_credit_netflix/lead
_720_405.jpg?mod=1541698261