Coenesque » No Country For Old Men

IFC Center Screening The Coen Brothers

Administrator — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 14:29:39 +0000

Every weekend for 8 weeks IFC Center in New York will be screening a different Coen Brothers film. You can catch all the classics at midnight on both Friday and Saturday starting July 24th. Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, Miller’s Crossing, Barton Fink, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, The Man Who Wasn’t There, and No Country For Old Men will all be shown. This is a great chance to catch up on any of the filmography you may have missed in the theater. They missed The Hudsucker Proxy, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Intolerable Cruelty, and The Ladykillers. Do you think they picked the right 8?

Check out showtimes and buy tickets at http://www.ifccenter.com

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A Coen Brothers Montage

Administrator — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 13:34:29 +0000

Someone spent a fair amount of time putting together this montage of music and scenes from all the Coen Brothers films up through No Country For Old Men. Worth a look.

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No Country For Old Men Novel vs. Film

Administrator — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 20:47:08 +0000

~spoilers~ Upon reading No Country For Old Men you’re immediately struck by how faithful the film is to the book. You don’t get the feeling “oh, the book is so much better than the movie” or vice versa. It’s nearly a scene for scene representation and much of the dialogue remains unchanged from Cormac McCarthy’s original prose. There are three major differences as I see it and they aren’t even really that “major”.

One, the Mexican’s are at the hotel and a big part of the shoot out that ends with Llewelyn and Anton getting shot. Though Chigurh manages to kill most of them they’re the reason that Moss was able to get away with his life. The first time I saw the film I wasn’t really clear on how the Mexican’s fit in. Including this fact in the film may have helped make their role more clear and help set up the eventual demise of Moss.

Two, there is a lot of Ed Tom Bell narration that isn’t in the film. Every couple of chapters or so you’ll get another page or two of Sheriff Bell’s philosophy. This stuff is brilliant and if you read the book after seeing the film you can just imagine Tommy Lee Jones rambling on about his personal doubts, his views on the decline of the world around him, and his struggle with his impending retirement. For a film I think the Coen Brother’s included just enough of Bell’s thoughts, though they do enhance the novel greatly.

Three, there’s a fifteen year old runaway in the novel. Llewelyn picks up a hitchhiker, a teenaged girl who he befriends in a way. He tries to help her out with money and a little advice but unfortunately he winds up getting her killed in the end. She and Llewellyn are having a beer outside their motel rooms in El Paso when the Mexican’s show up and they both meet their end. This fact may have a tragic impact on the way Carla Jean sees her dead husband even though the relationship with the runaway was completely innocent.

In the end, No Country For Old Men the film isn’t there to capitalize on the existing fans of the novel like a Divinci Code or a Harry Potter. It’s just an opportunity to tell a good story. I think both McCarthy and the Coens managed something special here. Two fantastic and equal pieces of story telling in two completely different mediums.

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No Country For Old Men Double Dip Out 4/7

Administrator — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 15:09:32 +0000

A little over a year since the first DVD and Blu-Ray release of No Country For Old Men comes the new super duper special limited edition. Now with more DISCS! If you didn’t buy No Country the first time around now’s your chance. The DVD edition comes with 3 discs one for the film, one for the special features, and one for a digital copy. Blu-Ray has 2 discs one for film and special features and a second with a digital copy. The digital copy allows you to easily put the film on your computer and play it there or on a portable media player. I did this with my Dark Knight blu-ray and it worked great. No commentary here but that isn’t terribly surprising. The Highlights are a 40 minute segment with Brolin and Bardem at an Apple Store event and an hour long Q&A with the Coens and others hosted by Spike Jonze.

**Update 4/9/09** Just got my new No Country Blu-ray from Amazon today. In the “liner notes” is a mail in rebate offer. It allows you to submit your UPC from the original DVD or Blu-ray release and a UPC from the new Collector’s Edition and get a $10 rebate. So, they know they’re screwing us but if you’re one of the 10% of people who actually look at the junk they stuff in DVD cases and want to waste 20 minutes filling out the form and gather the needed proof of purchase you can have a fraction of your money back. Thanks Disney, Miramax, and Paramount Vantage.

Bonus Material:
The making of No Country for Old Men
ABC "Popcorn" video
Channel 4 News Joel And Ethan Coen appearance
Lunch With David Poland – IKLIPZ-Javier Bardem And Josh Brolin interview
WNBC Reel Talk With Lyons & Bailes Josh Brolin
Los Angeles Writers Guild of America Q & A Panel
Six additional audio interviews
Digital Copy: Watch your DVD in the living room and your Digital Copy on the go
Working with the Coens
The Diary of a country sheriff
Josh Brolin’s unauthorized behind-the-scenes featurette
Q & A with Joel And Ethan Coen, Roger Deakins and the sound and production crews
Charlie Rose featuring Joel And Ethan Coen, Josh Brolin And Javier Bardem
EW.com Just A Minute With Javier Bardem
Variety Screening Series Q & A
In-store Appearance With Javier Bardem And Josh Brolin

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No Cannes for Coens

Administrator — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 14:37:31 +0000

It looks as though A Serious Man will not be ready in time for Cannes in May. Various reports are saying that Joel and Ethan will not be taking their latest film to the Festival that has treated them so well in the past.

Of the Coen Brothers films 8 of 13 went to Cannes. No Country for Old men, The Ladykillers, The Man Who Wasn’t There, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Fargo, The Hudsucker Proxy, Barton Fink, Raising Arizona all appeared at the most respected of film festivals.

The Man Who Wasn’t There earned them the best director award in 2001. Best Director was won again in 1996 with Fargo. In 1991 Barton Fink turned in the best results with 3 wins. The Palm d’Or the most prestigious prize, Best Director, and Best Actor for John Turturro.

With results like that it’s a shame they won’t make it back with A Serious Man. Maybe they’ll be at the Toronto film festival in September which is closer to the release date of October 2nd.

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Who dares try to fill John Wayne’s shoes.

Administrator — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 04:29:54 +0000

I was just thinking about who the Coens could possibly have in mind to play Rooster Cogburn in their upcoming adaptation of True Grit. I’ve seen many names thrown about as possibilities. Michael Caine, Peter O’Toole, Tom Wilkinson, Nick Nolte, James Caan, and even Steven Segal. To the latter, I say, please no. In reading several different blog posts on the subject I noticed there’s even a little viral marketing campaign to get Val Kilmer considered for the role. I think the most obvious choice, given Joel and Ethan’s propensity to use the same actors, is Tommy Lee Jones. It just makes sense to me. He’s around the right age, he’s a little rough around the edges, he’s got enough clout that everyone won’t be saying “he could never pull it off”, and he was brilliant in No Country for Old Men and The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada. I’d almost be willing to bet on it. What do you think?

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