Joel Coen

He helmed a series of stylish, irreverent and cinema-savvy movies that never failed to charm critics while thrilling an initially small, but loyal band of viewers. Though they evinced a powerful fascination with film genres - particularly screwball comedy and film noir - the Coen Brothers earned a great deal of respect by the Hollywood community, despite their penchant to work outside the system. These self-conscious movies-within-movies …