Outside of Quentin Tarantino right now, are there writers that enjoy all that there is about the “American-English” language more than Joel and Ethan Coen?
I will admit, I didn’t really have a clear understanding for their genius with writing on my first viewings, but they eventually won me over and have become one on a short list of my favorite American Filmmakers.
I wasn’t ready for “Raising Arizona” the first time I’d seen it, mainly because it was unlike any comedy I had ever seen before. I feel that some works of genius are rewarded later. This film definitely falls into that category.
My mom and I watched it together, and we had a difficult time concentrating on the dialogue because we were so involved in watching Nicholas Cage, Holly Hunter, John Goodman, William Forsythe, and Randall “Tex” Cobb display their physical talents. The hair and makeup people for Nicholas Cage did not get paid enough money.
This is a movie that was packed with criminals, prison breaks, kidnappings, bounty hunters, car chases, shoot outs, and explosions…did I mention that it’s a comedy?
The premise alone makes me giggle.
Our convict, H. I. “You can call me Hi” McDunnough (Cage) meets our cop Ed “short for Edwina” (Hunter) as he is being booked. She (Ed) takes his (Hi’s) mug shots. This extremely odd couple decides to get married and later finds that they cannot conceive children. Hi decides to take matters into his own hands instead of waiting for the adoption process to work and kidnaps the 7th child of a wealthy furniture store mogul, Nathan Arizona. Hence, “Raising Arizona“.
Prior to watching this, my mom and I made guesses based on the title as to what the movie could be about.
“Are they going to make mountains in the Arizona desert?”
“Is Arizona going to float off into space?”
There was none of that in this movie….maybe that is why we were disappointed at first….hmm.
I don’t think I will ever be able to forget the “Huggies robbery” sequence. I remember not being able to stop laughing from the moment he slid his panty hose over his head, until he reached out the door of the moving car and picked up the diapers on the road without stopping the car. I have a smile that is stretching across my face as I remember and write about it.
In the end, as many Coen Brother films were in the 80s and early 90s, this movie was ahead of it’s time and can now be appreciated for what it is. An original comedy that the talent lost themselves inside of.
It was this movie that gave us a heads up for “Barton Fink” “Fargo” “The Big Lebowski” “No Country for Old Men” and the better “True Grit“…and I left a lot of REALLY great films out, because “factually” I want you to research all of them and get to love them for the first time.
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I remember watching Raising Arizona when it came out, in the cinema, and loving it. Yes, they are quite special. There are moments in all of their movies that will remain with me for life…:)
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I was tweeting back and forth with Amber @acaprice20 and she said, “but all their movies have a poetry to them that I love!” I thought that was a beautiful way to describe an experience watching the Coens. You should give her a follow on Twitter. She is very intelligent, sweet, and engaging.
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“I don’t know what his damn jammies looked like. They had Yodas and shit on ’em!”
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…or maybe it was Utah.
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Well, unless round is funny…
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Everybody freeze. Everybody get down on the ground.
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Son, you got a panty on your head.
(I could do this all day!)
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There’s what’s right and there’s what’s right and never the twain shall meet.
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Would you buy furniture from a place called ‘Unpainted Huffheinz’?
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That sumbitch. You tell him, I think he’s a damn fool, Ed.
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Mighty fine cereal flakes, Mrs. McDonough.
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I’m here on my knees, Ed, a free man proposing. Howdy, Kurt.
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Or my name ain’t Nathan Arizona!
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Ha! I love that one because technically he changed it! The layers are so amazing. Anyways:
Rollie! You take that diaper off your head and you put it back on your sister!
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Last one before I take a break from the computer for awhile…
Hi, I’m BEAR-UN!
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What happened to “all day”? 😉
Hell, they’re all disgruntled. I ain’t running no damn daisy farm. My motto is, “Do it my way or watch your butt!”
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I found myself driving past convenience stores that weren’t on the way home.
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Does the pope wear a funny hat?
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He’s gotta have his dip-tet, honey.
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You’re not that bad…
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You ate SAND?
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You and me’s just a fool’s paradise.
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Turn to the right!
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Well… it ain’t “Ozzie & Harriet.”
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I’ll be taking these Huggies and whatever cash you got.
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…he just had hisself a little o’l rest stop.
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(You’re cutting into my nap time, dude, but this is too much fun…)
Well, sometimes I get them menstrual cramps real hard.
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Damn. That was going to be my next one!
Oh well, plenty more: Why ain’t you breast feeding? You appear to be capable.
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Give me that baby, you warthog from hell!
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Right on! Super fun movie.
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😊
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LOL great movie! also fun reading the comments!
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Yes. The quote chain is pretty amazing. We didn’t even make a dent in memorable lines from that brilliant script. I L-O-V-E the Coens!!!!
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Love this movie. I had to watch it several times to take it all in. Hubby doesn’t care for it, but I don’t think he “gets” the humor.
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It’s an acquired taste. I think it’s a masterpiece.
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