coen brothers
First ‘Burn After Reading’ Reviews Suggest It’s Either Brilliant Or Crap
7:50AM Seth | With the exciting news that Brad Pitt has won his second best actor chalice today at the Venice Film Festival—for what the judging committee deemed his “indomitable spirit both on and off the screen, his effortless embodiment of the American masculine ideal, and the way sucking up to him will facilitate future access to his impossibly fertile and glamorous life partner, Angelina Jolie”—we thought it time to finally time to take a look at the movie which ushered him to victory. We speak, of course, of the Coen brothers’ Burn After Reading, which had its world premiere tonight at the festival. If Pitt, as Javier Bardem did before him, could win top accolades with a hairstyle this ridiculous looking, then this truly must have been another masterwork from the sibling geniuses. Let’s see what the critics are saying. (And yes, spoilers ensue.) More »
Coen Brothers Choose Unknowns and Semi-Knowns For ‘A Serious Man’
5:45AM Seth | · The Coen brothers have cast Broadway actor Michael Stuhlbarg and veteran sitcom loudmouth Richard Kind in A Serious Man, a black comedy set in the Midwest of 1967. Gentlemen: you may now commence crapping your pants with excitement, followed 11 months later by the public at large. [Variety] · Toronto Film Festival organizers were thrilled to receive RSVPs from the likes of Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Ontario’s own Rachel McAdams. Seven world premieres are scheduled for next month’s festival, including Pride and Glory, Dean Spanley, and The Lucky Ones. [Variety] · The Office writer Michael Schur signed a seven-figure deal with Universal Media Studios that will include shared showrunner duties on this mysterious Amy Poehler not-an-Office-spinoff whose arrival will bring an end to all injustice and world suffering. But no pressure, Amy and Michael. [Variety] · Subway Sandwich 911-caller doppelganger F. Gary Grey has signed on to direct Julius, a “contempo urban crime” graphic novel based on Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. Maybe it will star Mark Anthony and Lil’ Romeo! [Variety] · After a summer test run in which they were pleased to see the host plunging two thumb-talons into Omarosa’s eye-sockets in an impromptu display of thrilling daytime bloodsport, Fox has decided to launch The Wendy Williams Show nationally. [TV Week] More »
How to Find God, With Your Guides Ethan and Joel Coen
8:45AM Defamer Hollywood | The closest we ever came to God while watching a Coen brothers film was the time we thanked Him when The Ladykillers was over, but that’s not to say we wouldn’t give a fair shake to Cathleen Falsani’s new book: The Dude Abides: The Gospel According to the Coen Brothers. Follow the jump for a few key dots Falsani apparently plans to connect — some a little more plausible than others — and then reach into your own filmgoing soul for the ones she sure as Hell better not leave out: More »
‘Time’ Mag Names 100 Most Influential, Awards High Honors To Lorne Michaels And…Peter Gabriel?
5:35AM Molly Friedman | It’s official: the world-saving baby-making duo of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are no longer mere entertainers. They are “heroes and pioneers.” At least according to the categorical rankings of Time’s 100 Most Influential List released today. And not only are they the most influential heroes, they’re apparently more influential than Oprah Winfrey. And Tony Blair. In any case, among the “artists and entertainers,” the mag happily ranks Lorne Michaels and Robert Downey Jr. high above icky Suze Orman and preachy George Clooney, but we do take issue with several other entries, after the jump. More »
How Do You Say ‘Friendo’ In Italian?
7:55AM Seth | The Coen brothers’ Burn After Reading, a “dark spy comedy” starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, John Malkovich, Frances McDorman, and Tilda Swinton, will open the Venice Film Festival August 27, and open in the U.S. on September 12, whereupon everyone will agree that it lies somewhere between Intolerable Cruelty and No Country For Old Men in quality. [Variety] ABC won its 10th consecutive Sunday in a row, thanks to new episodes of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Desperate Housewives, and Brothers and Sisters. [Variety] The Simpsons writers Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein will executive produce a new animated series for Fox, called Sit Down, Shut Up. Originally written by Arrested Development creator Mitch Hurwitz, it’s based on a live-action Australian sitcom, and revolves around “the lives of seven staff members at a dysfunctional high school in a small northeastern fishing town.” Oh God, another one?! [Variety] THR has had some drastic plastic surgery, and we’re having a hard time adjusting. We’ve never seen them happier, though, so just smile and tell them they look great! [THR] 90210 casting confirmation! Living MILF legend Lori Loughlin will play former Olympics cycling champion mum Celia Mills. [THR] More »
Will ‘No Country’ Weak Links Compel Oscar Recount?
4:25AM Defamer Hollywood | Some people’s underwear cinches at the mere thought of foreign-language film snubs, “In Memoriam” montage omissions and other Oscar-night transgressions, but one eagle-eyed blogger appears to have found the sure-to-be-controversial Achilles’ heel that could have — nay, should have — stopped the No Country For Old Men juggernaut in its laconic Texas tracks: No Country for Old Men was a great film. I’m not trying to say it was anything but spectacular. But I’m going to fucking take the Coen Brothers to task on something. Ready? WHY THE FUCK IS THERE JACK LINK’S BEEF JERKY SO PROMINENTLY PLACED IN SUCH A PIVOTAL SCENE?” More »
The Coen Brothers Meet The Yiddish Police
7:25AM Mark | · In what could be a dream match of creative team and quirky literary material, Joel and Ethan Coen will adapt Michael Chabon’s The Yiddish Policemen’s Union for Columbia, a “noir-style murder mystery in which a rogue cop investigates the killing of a heroin-addicted chess prodigy who might be the messiah” set in a Jewish settlement in Alaska. (Are we allowed to get pre-excited about this one?) [Variety] · Though Ugly Betty was among the nine series ABC picked up for next season on Monday, the network ruined executive producers Marco Pennette and James Hayman’s back-to-work party by dropping them from the show. [THR] More »
