Martin McDonagh: One of the Coen Brothers' Pseudonyms?

Last night, I watched the Golden Globe winning comedy "In Bruges". Directed by Martin McDonagh, the film stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as hitmen hiding in the town of Bruges, Belgium. After watching it, I noticed many similarities to the Coen Bros. films.
One thing I noticed (and the most coincidental of them) was the music, composed by Carter Burwell. Coincidentally, he has composed the music for every Coen Bros. movie besides "O Brother, Where Art Thou?". Another similarity between "In Bruges" and their films was the themes explored. In "In Bruges", one major theme is keeping your word, shown when Henry (Ralph Fiennes) shoots himself after killing a person, haven said earlier that he would do that. This is a lot like "No Country....", where Chigurh keeps his word on who he vows to kill.
A third similarity is the tone. Much like "Fargo", "In Bruges" featured a self-mocking sense of humor which eventually morphs into a bloody (though never gratuitous) ending. This dark comedy is a staple of the Coen Bros. that is also featured here.
So, was "In Bruges" really directed by the Coen Bros. and not Martin McDonagh? Of course not. While there were many similarities, "In Bruges" lacked the Coen Bros. very dry, witty, sense of humor and instead relied on Ray's angst and hate for the town of Bruges for the majority of the humor.

Who Watches the Country Singers?

Despite my affection for The Player and its cynical view of hollywood behind the scenes drama, I was not impressed by my second dip into Altman's filmography. I found Nashville overlong, unengaging becuase of its attempts to create a panorama view of society through twenty-four different main characters.
Sounds familiar. It reminds me of a certain superhero film I saw recently. Watchmen! Just like Nashville, it features an ensemble cast so large that each character is only allowed one characteristic. He's lazy. She's pessimistic. He's a naked and blue scientist. There are so many intertwining plot lines that you can't keep track of anyone's motives and it may be thirty minutes before a main character is seen again onscreen.
However, the most shocking similarity between Watchmen and Nashville is that they both contain blasphemous content. While one contains superheros without actual superpowers (only Batman can pull that off!), the other contains something even worse: country music!

*Let it be known that I actually did enjoy Watchmen, but because of its action scenes, cinematography and special effects, not because of the reasons above.

Sweeney Todd

Tim Burton's most recent film follows the story of a murderous barber named Sweeney Todd (Johnny Depp) who slices the throats of his customers. Wanting revenge for his wife and daughter being taken away from his by the evil Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman), Todd works with Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter) to turn his victims into meat pies and lure the Judge to his death.
As seen in the above synopsis, this is definetly Burton's darkest film. The darkness is intensified even more through haunting musical numbers by Stephen Sondheim and a very desaturated color pallete. Despite this, Sweeney Todd still has very much in common with Burton's other films; it features very detailed production design (it won an oscar for its art direction), and its characters are reminiscent of those in his other films. One such character is Sweeney Todd, who's self-isolation is very similar to that of Edward Scissorhand (also played by Depp). Much like Edward, Todd pushes those who love him away in order to protect them.
Another similar aspect of the film that is characteristic with other Tim Burton films is its over-exaggeration of reality. This is shown not only in the killing scenes, where victims lose gallons of blood from a slit throat, but also during a scene where Mrs. Lovett fantasizes about her future with Sweeney Todd. Instead of the usual dull colors, their would-be life is shown in colors that are more luminescent than in real life. It looks like a picture in a story book.


This scene pretty much sums up the whole move: fancy costumes and set, amazing performances by all of the actors and actresses and sick, twisted humor, all topped with a helping of blood.