Simon Pegg on Raising Arizona: "It's a living, breathing Looney Tunes cartoon" | BFI

[@stevenhaas9622]

Raising Arizona Is one of the greatest films of all time.

[@Ebolacrash]

herrdoktorprofessor you betcha

[@gkroll8467]

who gives a shit what this little weasel thinks about anything get a real job asshole we knew this film was a classics before anybody even heard of your worthless ass

[@guitarmatricide4834]

G Kroll Wow, you sure told him! 🙄

[@geordiejones5618]

Coen Brothers are the best filmakers since Kubrick. They can can do anything.

[@skygriffin1317]

THANK YOU

[@curtandoscar]

I was lucky enough to see Raising Arizona in the theater when it came out ... in Arizona. I was living in Tucson at the time. The crowd burst out laughing over the "suburban Tempe" line, because when the voiceover says this phrase, they are showing 3 trailers out in the scrub of the desert - which the crowd recognized as hardly the suburbs of Tempe.

[@largol33t1]

That town seems to be mentioned more than any other Arizonan town. In the comedy "The Good place" it's the home of Kristen Bell's character Eleanor.

[@llh3025]

@Christian Slater Hmmm...not really. The small bit of inside knowledge on how the people of Tempe view their town was well worth the 15 seconds it took to read the comment. You must have just been in a bad mood that day.

[@thefractalcurve5462]

@@llh3025: He's still in a bad mood.

[@curtandoscar]

They mention Nicholas Cage and Holly Hunter, but Frances McDormand, John Goodman, Sam McMurray as Glenn, Trey Wilson as the owner of Unpainted Arizona - all are brilliant, and truly give the performances of their lives and really make the film the absolute gem that it is.

[@DefinitelyNotMike]

Amazing performances by McDormand's and Goodman's but not their best. McDormand in Fargo and Goodman in Lebowski are instant classics.

[@AEFarnam]

Don't forget Randall Text Cobb

[@frankelepartners]

This cast, script and direction were unbelievable. I do not care for Nicholas Cage but this is some of his best work.

[@IsoscelesKramer]

Balloons! These blow up into funny shapes and all? Well, no... unless round is funny.

[@022171]

"No, just circular."

[@arrchee8386]

'When there was no crawdads, we ate sand... You ate sand? Yup, we ate sand...' 'Son, you have a panty on your head...' I was crying from laughing when I heard those lines in the theater... And it was totally how the scenes were set up, the camera work, the deadpan acting. Cohen directing...

[@Sapsche]

*Coen

[@blackbird5634]

"I'll be takin these Huggies and whatever cash you got in the drawer."

[@kstutz81]

There is something awesome about hearing someone speak so highly of a film you love so much. Raising Arizona affected me in a huge way when I first watched it, so original and amazing. Hands down Cages best performance!

[@neuvocastezero1838]

I would rate "Adaptation" as an equally great performance by him.

[@erickincaid7728]

@@neuvocastezero1838 Agreed.

[@velucio]

true about it being a symphony of camerawork, writing and performance, but he forgot about the sound design and the great music of Carter Burwell... "way out there" glues the whole 10 min long wonderful intro together and it wouldn't be the same without it. fantastic picture!!!

[@frankiemendez4601]

I agree. I catch myself yodeling that tune from time to time. Also a Riders in the Sky fan as well.

[@neuvocastezero1838]

Now, Mordechai... don't you hurt yourself.

[@mez7736]

"... and when there was no meat, we ate fowl; and when there was no fowl, we ate crawdad; and when there was no crawdad to be found, we ate sand" "You ate what?" "We ate sand" "You ate *_sand?!"_* "That's right"

[@ericjumpelfeaturingjohnnyj4135]

So one day, I decided to make my own crawdad. And I threw it in a pot. Without the water, ya see. And it was just like making popcorn! :D

[@kellbell79]

I know this is an old comment… I say these lines all the time to my family. Whenever someone says something weird like I think I must have heard them wrong I’m say, “You are what? You ate SAND?” For some reason the way he enunciates sand just a little bit more to make sure he’s hearing it correctly kills me.

[@JustSomeCanadianGuy]

Raising Arizona is the Coens’ best film.

[@Fakeaorta]

I was a huge fan of movies since I was a child. I was about 21 when 'Raising Arizona' came out. Several of my friends were going to see it at the theater. I looked at them in my snobby/snarky voice said "The baby kidnapping movie"? I had seen the preview maybe once or twice and was not interested. I went with them because I thought it was better than hanging out at the beach at night. I was blown away by 'Raising Arizona'! It instantly became my favourite comedy I ever saw. To this day... 'Raising Arizona' and 'Dr. Strangelove' are my two favourites.

[@davidsanderson5918]

Just finished watching RA on bluray tonight....having watched it many times over the years on TV and VHS. In 1989 when I first saw it I’d never seen anything like it. The opening pre-title sequence blew me away and when the music reaches its peak following Cage’s line ‘the answer to our prayers’ my heart used to swell in my chest. So much so that I used the structure of that pre-title sequence for a violin and piano piece because of its cyclical nature. Can’t believe its thirty years old!!!

[@davidnorden1972]

I saw this in the cinema in the Glasgow Film Theatre 1990 as the first of a double bill with David Lynch's Blue Velvet. What a great evening that was.

[@conspiracyx8916]

"A dinner jacket - whaddaya think? He was wearin' his damn jammies! They had Yodas 'n shit on 'em"

[@guitarmatricide4834]

Virtually everyone here is commenting on the masterful camerawork that this film illustrates and I couldn’t agree more... That panning shot at the end of HI’s apocalyptic dream of Smalls that winds through the toys in the Arizona’s yard, up the ladder to the babies’ bedroom and into the screaming mouth of Mrs. Arizona... How the fuck did they do that?!

[@guitarmatricide4834]

Wow... I typed that about 9 minutes into this video and after making it to the end, I see Simon Pegg referenced that very same shot...

[@vinnygi]

Steadicam and brilliant editing, mostly.

[@jhunt376]

They shot it in reverse (so *leaving* her mouth, which makes hitting that mark easier) and using ‘shaky cam’ which looks a bit like steadycam, but it’s just a camera mounted on a board with a guy on each end. It’s a much cheaper way to get a similar effect. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bWWZZZh7ZctoeKc

[@Exit311]

When I watched this with my kids (their 1st time, my nth), they were amazed by how many of my dad-isms were lines from Raising Arizona

[@kaymuldoon3575]

Everyone needs to see Raising Arizona.

[@zona999]

Omg, I love that he loves Raising Arizona. You can really see the influence it had on Shaun of the Dead.

[@MichelleVasquez55]

I always think Nicolas Cage was impersonating Bill the Cat, right down to the one-eyed squint.

[@misti-step]

i agree w him abt nic cage in raising arizona, my dad always calls it "nicholas cage's finest movie."

[@lancemartin9982]

My favorite all-time movie. Surprised he didn't mention how the Coens staged the fight scene in trailer between Cage and Goodman's characters to match a scene, blow-for-blow, from the Jack Lemmon classic "Used Cars" - it's brilliant.

[@Fakeaorta]

Do you mean the Jack Warden and Kurt Russel 'Used Cars' movie?

It’s the greatest comedy ever made.

[@scramblesish]

Every single frame

[@Hopkai]

This and leaving Las Vegas are Nic Cages best work absolutely fantastic.

[@Ebolacrash]

Check out 8mm ...schumacher ,then again anyone could have played that character...but I would say adaptation and raising arizona

[@Sapsche]

Birdy, Vampire's Kiss, Adaptation,...and so on.

[@Sam-lm8gi]

Face/Off and Vampire's Kiss are his best performances IMO.

[@edwarddore7617]

Adaptation!

[@nativeeats8719]

Crazy that Simon’s top 5 movies are exactly the same as mine except his movie Shaun of the dead is in there 😆

[@kstutz81]

This made me so happy

[@jhcoverdrive9287]

Perfectly charitable description of Ghostbusters 2016 for the 15 seconds.

[@WisdomThumbs]

Funny he should mention "The Wilderness Family." That was one of my favorite VHS tapes as a child.

[@redmondo42]

"Her insides were a rocky place where my seed could find no purchase"

[@rulistening7777]

My all time favorite .

[@FergusWalsh-dz7mq]

Only film that actually had me in pain from laughing so much. And made me piss my self so I had to change myself also. Yup folks , that funny and worth watching again straight away in case you missed something first time.[You did].

[@meetmonkey10]

@BFI What was the general reaction from the audience for the film?

[@Jayskiallthewayski]

Nice one, Pegg. 👍

[@GaryBrowder-kw2iq]

Ya ate SAND?

[@imageaware]

Does the BFI own any video lights?

[@llh3025]

Or any way to turn up the gain on the audio?

[@nobodyspecial675]

Feel like Pegg was a LITTLE miffed by Every Frame A Painting crediting Wright with everything brilliant about their collaborations. And honestly, Wright ain't much without someone to give his style some subtance.

[@TomEyeTheSFMguy]

Are you saying Wright's movies can't have substance on his own?

[@theunknown4570]

"Turn to the right"

[@GaryBrowder-kw2iq]

We got a family now hi we gotta changeeeeeee

[@trevorseidl5858]

You ate sand

[@TomEyeTheSFMguy]

Yep

[@johnpalacios9392]

Wonderful

[@larrypoole3906]

You're young and you got yer health... why on earth would you want a job?

[@GippyHappy]

I'm genuinely surprised that they can talk about This movie for 13 minutes. I like the movie but I never thought it was that smart or deep. Or even THAT funny tbh. And by all accounts I should love it because I first saw it as a kid.

[@ChicCanyon]

Pegg has that sickly look that only a vegan could have. And i say this not knowing for a fact if he's vegan or not. I will google it.

[@ChicCanyon]

Yup. Vegan.

[@stewartprofessionalservice9806]

Americans claim Simon Pegg now. Thanks UK. He is Cmdr Scott. What about Nick Frost, let him self go. Bigger projects, we cut those friends loose who don't serve our career. I totally get it. The greater good, classic. If you want to abandon Nick Frost and mllions he is perhaps owed as your partner and all funny, prequel to shawn? with flash forwards? you know the biz and nick has been drinking more, just saying call the guy, don't be tight mate. Nick is the real genius, like the dad, O'brian, in get him to the greek. you outrank him in starfleet right? He is only a chief, you are 3rd in command Simon, let's try and keep up ! Nice baby your royals have. Harry and Archie , talk about the heir and the spare. like nick frost, call him

[@bennyblanco3260]

Seek help

[@TomEyeTheSFMguy]

I'm sorry, are you saying you know Simon's personal life, therefore you know for a fact that he avoids nick frost like the plague because he "barely benefited his career?"

[@davidsanderson5918]

Simon Pegg’s top five film choice is pretty shallow. I love Raising Arizona and it’s charming to hear its in any person’s top five.....but I don’t get the feeling he’s watched any Bergman or Tarkovsky, shall we say?

[@gyd67ckn]

Or maybe he has different preferences to you. Nothing shallow about it.

[@gyd67ckn]

Also, calling views you disagree with "charming" is so condescending it's cartoonish.

[@davidsanderson5918]

CFan you’ve misunderstood me there....I wasn’t being condescending, I find it charming in the proper meaning of the word. I’m charmed by that choice. It’s nice to know someone rates it that high.

[@davidsanderson5918]

CFan The reason I commented was because I’m disappointed. I don’t mind anyone’s choices being different...in fact, I’d be more interested if he had a top five that I’d never even heard of! But Simon Pegg’s choices are not interesting. You could put anyone up there to talk about those films being in their top five. I love film and I wanted to learn something.

[@gyd67ckn]

@@davidsanderson5918 Hmm, I guess I just like seeing Raising Arizona get its due. It's not exactly the Coen film with the most name recognition. And some contemporary critics panned it, even Ebert, which surprised me. I think it's a good choice for someone who is interested in the potential of comedy in film, since it gets laughs not just through dialogue, but by the skilled mix of setting, editing, characters, set design, etc. in a unique way. But it's understandable that you were underwhelmed by the choices, some of them aren't for me either.

[@pfdrtom]

And British TV/Movies STILL can't deliver good entertainment. Python was ok, Peep Show was better, but nothing like American.

[@thecinematicmind]

pfdrtom Spaced?

[@chrisdalby]

Red Dwarf? Blackadder? Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy? The Thick of It? Shaun of the Dead? The Thin Blue Line? Hot Fuzz? Snatch? Lock, Stock? You’re having a laugh, mate.

[@dannythompson1948]

Peep Show is on a level that America just cannot meet or beat. Little britain, imbetweeners are good too

[@llh3025]

Black Mirror?

[@edwarddore7617]

Ha, I'm American, I think there are plenty of great shows out of the UK, The IT Crowd comes to mind.

[@mcfcguvnors]

seeing jaws- then scared to go in the bath the POWER of movies !