Photo Dump: A Serious Man

Rotten Tomatoes has been kind enough to bless us with eleven new photos from the Coen Brother’s next venture, A Serious Man. The film, a dark-comedy about a Jewish man who quickly finds both his professional and private life falling apart, is set for a limited release (grrr) this weekend, but hopefully the positive buzz coming out of the Toronto Film Festival and success in small markets will raise the number of theaters.

While on the subject of being Jewish, happy Yom Kippur to all and enjoy the fast.

Big Lebowski 2? Nah, Just Kidding.

A news story that involves the words “big” and “Lebowski?” Strap in.

Variety (which would seem to be responsible for 90% of this site’s news content) is reporting that Jeff Bridges is in talks to reunite with Joel and Ethan Coen for a remake of the John Wayne classic, True Grit, with Bridges in the Wayne role.

The picture, which also reunites the Coens with their No Country for Old Men producing partner Scott Rudin, has been redrafted by the brothers to be more faithful to the Charles Portis novel on which the original film was based.

Story centers on a 14-year-old girl who tags along with an aging U.S. marshal, Rooster Cogburn, and another lawman to track the outlaw who killed her father. The original told the story from Cogburn’s point of view, but the new version will work from the viewpoint of the girl.

Considering the story comes with the pretense of a Lebowski reunion, this news is a bit weird. There really is no modern equivalent to John Wayne due to the lack of modern westerns, so I supposed Bridges is as good as anybody. At the same time, you have to remember that Bridges was even giggled at in Iron Man when he was supposed to be playing a war hungry industrialist responsible for the deaths of thousands. But hey, why doubt the Coens?

Also, an eyepatch can make any bad movie into a good movie. Nuff said.

Retro Review: No Country For Old Men

Because we didn’t have a weekend review for you on Monday and the stars have aligned with news about the Coen Brothers and Cormac McCarthy in the same day, I have  dug through my archives and retrieved my review for No Country For Old Men, starring Josh Brolin, Tommy Lee Jones, and Oscar winner Javier Bardem.

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Since their arrival in cinemas in 1984 with Blood Simple, Joel and Ethan Coen have continued to make films about bad people doing bad things to, generally, other bad people. After the arrival of the Oscar winning Fargo in 1996, however, the Coen Brothers strayed from their bloody, dramatic roots in favor of comedies. While the films ranged from incredible (The Big Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Thou?) to embarrassing (The Ladykillers), the Coen Brothers returned to their roots in full force with No Country for Old Men.

For the Gentiles: The A Serious Man Glossary

Growing up Jewish (what? Eisenberg wasn’t a hint?), I have listened to Yiddish-infused English my whole life, so I actually understand people when they talk about schmattes, shmendriks and bupkes. However, while the Jewish folk out there might get it, the words seem like gibberish to anyone unfamiliar with their use.

Enter the Coen Brothers. Their next film, A Serious Man (trailer here), is about a Jewish man who, as his life is falling apart, seeks the help of three rabbis to get his life back in order. Ever the wordsmiths, the Coens have evidently peppered their script with phrases from the distinctive yet dying language. Thankfully, Focus Films, the movie’s distributor, has created a glossary of terms to help the gentiles out there know what is going on. Unwilling or unable to bring the glossary into the theater? Find a -berg, -stein, -man or even a Coen and bring them to the theater with you. I’m sure they will be able to help.

Check out the link to the glossary after the jump.

Watch It!: ‘The Achievers’ Trailer

Every fan has at least one movie that they quote a little too much, know inside and out, and generally can’t get enough of. When you get large groups of those people together to celebrate that movie magic can happen. The best known of these gatherings happen around Sci-Fi films like Star Trek, but it’s about time for comedy to get a seat at the table. Inspired by the Coen Brother’s cult-classic The Big Lebowski, fans Will Russell and Scott Shuffitt crafted a documentary on the passion at 2005’s Lebowski Fest called The Achievers. Check out the trailer to figure out why we love movies the way that we do, and why you’ve got to love the Dude.

Check out the trailer after the jump and visit the official website for more information and tour dates.

Watch It!: World Cinema by Joel and Ethan Coen

Just as they had for Paris je t’aime, the Coen Brothers directed a segment for 2007’s Chacun son cinéma ou Ce petit coup au coeur quand la lumière s’éteint et que le film commence (English Title: To Each His Own Cinema).  Just as the former had segments devoted to the city of Paris, Chacun had filmmakers direct segments that expressed their love of film. The film had 33 segments in all and had names such as David Cronenberg, Gus van Sant, Lars von Trier, Yimou Zhang, and Alejandro González Iñárritu involved.

I am posting this because I have been trying to find the Coen Brothers’ segment for awhile without luck, and now that I have found it, I want to share it with all of you. The short stars Josh Brolin (the short was filmed at the same time as No Country for Old Men) as a cowboy who has found his way into an independent theater showing some classic French films. It’s not very long, but quite funny and certainly worth a watch.

Poster: A Serious Man

A poster for The Coen Brothers’ A Serious Man has arrived online and, much like its cast, it sticks to the less is more approach. I simply like that I know exactly why he is standing on the roof and what he is gazing at (check out the plot description to find out). Check out the sized-down poster after the jump (click it for full resolution) and check out the trailer here and my rant about the film here.

Rant of the Week! – Week 2

Last Thursday, I posted the trailer for the new film by my favorite filmmakers: The Coen Brother’s A Serious Man. As I pointed out in the post, unlike the Coen’s most recent movie, which starred the likes of George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Tilda Swinton, John Malkovich, and Francis McDormand, their next release sports Richard Kind as the most notable name. Why would this make me mad enough to use up the Rant of the Week? It doesn’t; it is the film’s constricted release that has me up in arms.

Following its premiere during the upcoming Toronto Film Festival in September, A Serious Man will receive a limited release stateside on October 2^nd. May I remind everyone here that this is a film making pair that has won four academy awards, three of which came in 2007.

Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus Clip: I Like the Part When It Eats the Plane

The worst part about this post is that, because I found the A Serious Man trailer first, this is going to push the Coen Brothers from the top of the page.

Anyway, that title really just says it all, does it not? The full trailer came out in May and I was amazed that this was going to be an actual feature film and not a movie of the week on the SyFy channel. To sum it up, the movie is about a mega shark fighting a giant octopus. Now watch the clip damnit:

Trailer: A Serious Man

Steve Buscemi officially became my favorite actor after watching Fargo. I have watched The Big Lebowski well over 100 times and gotten many to appreciate the film on the same level that I do. I was prepared to never watch the Oscars again if Javier Bardem didn’t win Best Supporting Actor for No Country For Old Men (thank God he did). Raising Arizona made me understand that, at one point, Nic Cage was a funny, respectable actor. Needless to say, I love the Coen Brothers and I do not hide it.

Needless to say, my heart rate doubled when I discovered, shortly after reading that the film would premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, that the trailer for the Coen Brothers next film, A Serious Man, was available online. So far, this is one of the best trailers I have seen all year and would be the best had it not been for Where the Wild Things Are. The trailer is brilliant, especially in its sound editing. If you are expecting some major movie stars like the ones the brothers landed in Burn After Reading, you will be sincerely disappointed, but it really shouldn’t matter to you. The movie is scheduled to have a limited released October 2 (a total joke), but hopefully it will expand after that.

Watch in HD over at Apple or find the trailer after the jump: