Top 3+1: The Coen Brothers.

What I like about directors is the way they see the world and how it can be seen in their movies. Only the greatest have that something that makes you know it must have been them behind the camera and the Coen brothers are on the list, since their quite bittersweet and very intelligent point of view can be easily recognized in most of their creations.

1. The Man Who Wasn't There
It's my favourite Coen movie of all time and it's also one of my favourite films on Earth. The cast is quite illustrous, with Billy Bob Thornton giving his - in my humble opinion - best performance of his career, with the young Scarlett Johansson and the great Frances McDormand as a cheating wife. A masterpiece.


2. No Country for Old Men
This film has a special atmosphere that might be inconvenient but it still is attractive. It's not the typical entertaining movie, it's something that makes you think, something that eats itself under your skin. With a frighteningly speechless Javier Bardem and his co-stars, Tommy Lee Jones, Woody Harrelson, Josh Brolin and others, it is no wonder many claim it is one of the best of the century and THE best works of 2007.


3. O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Retelling the - little bit altered - story of Odyssey, the brothers created a tale for adults. A tale, full of symbols, their special kind of humour and, of course, the best of the best actors. George Clooney (who, just like McDormand is a usual star in the Coen films), John Turturro, John Goodman and so on - it might be hard to digest for the first time, but afterwards you'll love this movie dearly.


+1: Intolerable Cruelty
This is the Coen movie that is a bit different from te others. It's pure comedy, with Catherine Zeta-Jones, George Clooney, Geoffrey Rush, Billy Bob Thornton and other big names. I think most of you have already seen it (a few times), so I don't need to explain why exactly it's worth that 100 minutes.

+notes: I was hesitating whether to put Burn After Reading on the third place, but I decided it's enough to talk about it here. It's great, as always, and Brad Pitt is the best in it. His character is so different from the ones he plays most of the time that it was pure joy just to watch him. And while I liked the aforementioned Top3 moives more than this, I do recommend it, because a. it's Coen, b. Brad is really amazing.
On a sidenote, in many cases Ethan Coen is not listed as a director, but it doesn't mean he wasn't there...