I thought you'd agree. Funny how people peg Lynch as such a cold, distant, weirdo dude when he's the most traditionalist-in-a-good-way director we have.
Fargo served no other purpose but laughter at the haw-haw stupidity of the characters. Northern Exposure was even better.
The Straight Story wasn't ironic in the slightest. When he shows people going to Heaven, HE MEANS IT! I love that. Straightness does not have to mean boredom, it can provide a most disturbing slant on the mundane when combined with a brilliant mind (see also Byrne, Devo).
If you dug Lebowski, I'll check it out (besides, Julianne Moore is my crackpot honey-doll).
To continue the digression just a little more...yes!!! Lynch is all about the everyday and human, but since he doesn't always present it that way literally, people run away.
I agree, Northern Exposure was better and I hate that show (aside from the female lead).
The Straight Story is a perfect example. The Coens, and most directors, spend way too much time trying to be clever to pull something like that off.
Lebowski isn't all bad. If you rent a lot, pick it up some night if you're curious. I think it's sort of their version of a John Hughes movie -- goofy fun -- which is why I like it and don't really care for their other stuff, which tries too hard to be deep from what I've seen. Big Lebowski isn't as great as anyone will lead you to believe, but compared to their other stuff I think it's too silly to hate. It's got some decent moments, but I will say this (and if you want to go on we'll continue in a film thread): I feel like a lot of new directors, even guys I like such as Wes Anderson, try too hard to write people as they think people are, instead of writing real people. That is, they don't understand people for sh*t and are probably elitist scumbags. It's painful to see how detached their views of people are, and I assume this is why you say they hate their characters. They do. I'm anti-social as all f***, but when I write fiction I don't set out to write characters I hate, no matter how much of a loser I create in the process. You have to want to know why they're a loser and what their stance is on that. People like the Coens see life as a joke but can rarely be funny.