Week One: FLICK | Blood Simple, 1984, directed by Joel and Ethan Coen

This low budget, Texas, Neo-Noir, is clockwork precise, even though it’s the Coen brothers’ first crack inwhat is now an incredibly varied and prolific filmography. It helped set the bar for an entirely new style of independent filmmaking, and despite its age, it holds up well, buoyed mostly by the intrepid character actor, M. Emmet Walsh, who enchants us with bizarre facial ticks and a sleazy, Texas drawl. This movie is hypnotic from the very first scene where the cadence is determined by a pair of windshield wipers that wack away viscous drops of rain. If you’re looking for an immersive movie that will take you away from the world around you, this is the one. – GJ