Ann Hornaday's favorite Coen brothers films

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Ann Hornaday ranks the films of the Coen Bros.

Herewith my favorite Coen Brothers movies, ranked in descending order of how eager I would be to watch them again at the drop of a hat (which everyone knows is much less foolish than a man chasing his hat) -- Ann Hornaday

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8"True Grit" (2010) There's absolutely nothing wrong with this stately, beautifully crafted western, which features a breakout performance from young Hailee Steinfeld as a character who could be Marge Gunderson's great-great-grandmother. Kudos to Matt Damon for scene-stealing support. The Coens lose points only for doing a remake of an already great movie - not the best use of their considerable gifts.

9"The Hudsucker Proxy" (1994) This mannered period comedy - a takeoff on such rat-a-tat-tat two-handers as "The Front Page" - would have been higher on the list if it weren't for Jennifer Jason Leigh's nails-on-a-chalkboard Katharine Hepburn imitation. The hilariously gruff presence of Paul Newman as a no-nonsense corporate boss and Tim Robbins's bumbling-genius naif save the day. Extra points for a dazzling production design.

10"Intolerable Cruelty" (2003) Yes, I'm putting this ahead of "The Big Lebowski," and I'll stand on Jeff Bridges's . . . oh well. Someone's got to stand up for this admittedly middling screwball comedy, which sent critics and viewers skittering in all directions when it was released. Maybe it tries too hard to clear its verbal high bars, but it gets an A-minus for effort. I'm going to allow it.

11"The Big Lebowski" (1998) You've probably surmised that I'm in that minority of Coenphiles who failed to grasp the charm of this loud, labored, labyrinthine exercise in self-indulgence, amusing references to the Port Huron Statement notwithstanding. I love the Dude as much as anyone, but the self-conscious quirkiness quickly palls. I'll keep trying, I promise, but for now - I still don't get it.

12"A Serious Man" (2009) This retelling of the biblical story of Job featured a captivatingly nebbishy central performance by Michael Stuhlbarg and a finely tuned understanding of mid-century Jewish life in Minnesota, but the net effect of countless sharply observed details still amounted to very little. Accept the mystery, and this is a pleasant-enough diversion within the Coen canon. Ask for me, and ye shall not receive.

13"The Man Who Wasn't There" (2001) Another noir style-for-its-own-sake exercise - pretentious, empty and agonizingly slow.

14"No Country for Old Men" (2007) A technically perfect movie in which the Coens deploy every cinematic element at their disposal - writing, cinematography, editing, sound, performances - with the virtuosity of artists at the height of their powers. All to follow around a serial killer blowing people away with a cattle stun gun. Sorry, not worth it.

15"The Ladykillers" (2004) A pointless remake emblematic of the Coens' weaknesses for empty style, pointless remakes and treading water between more original projects.