A Serious Man

A SERIOUS MAN Blu-ray Review

by Andre Dellamorte    Posted: March 1st, 2010 at 2:39 pm

Regardless of the reception of Joel and Ethan Coen’s A Serious Man, one thing is clear: whatever creative or emotional bullshit led to their duo of moderate to mediocre to bad films (Intolerable Cruelty, The Ladykillers) – whatever the dust, it’s been shaken loose and they are back on a filmmaking tear. A Serious Man is their most Jewish film (literally), and the humor is almost subterranean. It’s a darkly, philosophically funny movie about Prof. Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg) and the drama in his life in 1967. It’s also about the irony of his life. My review of A Serious Man after the jump.

Own the 1966 Dodge Coronet From the Coen Brothers A SERIOUS MAN

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: February 19th, 2010 at 6:48 pm

If you’re a fan of the Coen Brothers and have always wanted to own a prop from one of their movies…how about the 1966 Dodge Coronet used in A Serious Man.  The reason it’s going on the auction block is to raise funds for The Children’s Charity of Southern California.  Along with the car – which will be live at www.eBay.com/varietyskids, starting Monday, February 22, 2010 – the auction has other items up for grabs.  So if you’d like to support a good cause, check out the link.  Hit the jump for the press release:

2010 Oscar Nominations Announced; AVATAR and THE HURT LOCKER Lead with 9 Noms Each

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: February 2nd, 2010 at 6:29 am

Despite opening up the Best Picture race from five nominations to ten, this morning’s announcement of the 2010 Oscar nominations hardly had any surprises.  When the biggest shocker comes from the widely-unseen The Secret of Kells being nominated for Best Animated Feature, then the prediction system worked as it should.  That’s not to say that there’s nothing to be happy or disappointed about.  It’s just that with no surprises, that happiness or disappointment has probably been felt well in advance.  Personally, I’m jazzed that District 9 picked up a Best Picture nomination and I’m really bummed that Peter Capaldi wasn’t nominated for Best Supporting Actor for In the Loop.

But the race between Avatar and The Hurt Locker remains close.  Each film picked up nine nominations and so there’s no clear favorite to win the award.  Right now, Hurt Locker would seem to have a slight edge with its victories from both the Producers Guild and the Directors Guild.  But Avatar‘s box office numbers contribute to its status as does the mainstream acclaim for the film.

Hit the jump to check out the full list of nominees.  The winners will be announced at the 82nd Academy Awards on Sunday, March 7th at 8pm EST on ABC.

Matt’s Top 10 Trailers of 2009

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: December 29th, 2009 at 1:16 pm

Since it seems like I have to watch every trailer that comes out in a given year, I feel it only fair to highlight the ones that were worth my precious two-and-a-half minutes. A good trailer can throw a movie high on someone’s must-see list or change indifference into excitement. I hesitate to call them art not because I don’t believe the term technically fits (it does), but because “art” is such a loaded word. Still, when you forego Mr. Movie Voice, showing the entire movie, and edit together a piece that’s pretty damn cool in its own right, then you’re worthy of some attention.

Hit the jump to start the countdown.

Matt’s Top 10 Films of 2009

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: December 27th, 2009 at 7:45 pm

I’m so happy that 2009 was a front-loaded year.  Friends and family asked me on more than one occasion, “It’s the end of the year, so where are all the good movies?”  I responded that this year, for whatever reason, was different and some of the year’s best films had premiered as early as Sundance (The Hurt Locker technically debuted in 2008 with its premiere at the Venice Film Festival).  The scarcity of must-see year-end flicks worked out beautifully for me because I had the time to give more thought to films and have the opportunity to watch them more than once.  I feel confident in my Top 10 in a way that I’ve been uneasy about in years prior.  There was a wealth of great films to choose from this year and almost all of my favorites are now available to own or rent on DVD or Blu-ray.

If I had to sum up 2009 in films, I would say it was a year of surprises and disappointments.  Films I expected to enjoy like Funny People, Bruno, Public Enemies were letdowns, while films like District 9, In the Loop, and A Single Man, came out of nowhere to blow me away.  It’s also refreshing to see that movies like The Hangover, Paranormal Activity, and Avatar did so well at the box office despite not being adaptations or remakes.

I thought 2009 was a great year for film and while I seriously considered expanding this list to a Top 15 or even 20, I felt that ten was appropriate because while this is clearly a vanity project for me, I do hope it serves as a recommendation tool for people who can’t go see every movie.  If you only see ten movies from this year, see these ten.  Hit the jump to start the countdown.

2009 Spirit Award Nominees

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: December 1st, 2009 at 10:47 am

Film Independent’s Spirit Awards are meant to honor “indie” films, i.e. no blockbuster movies allowed but if you played at some festivals and didn’t cost a lot of money, you’re in consideration.  The Spirit Awards are a good indicator of what smaller films could be getting a shot at Oscar nominations in various categories.  Usually, their nominees are pretty solid and play like a nice alternative universe where the Oscars went to more deserving nominees (last year The Wrestler won Best Film and Best Actor).

But this year’s choices are obvious mixed with disappointingly bizarre.  In a year where some strong, hard-sell films came out of Sundance with strong buzz, the Spirit Awards have instead shown love to movies like Two Lovers, Cold Souls, and (500) Days of Summer.  It’s not that any of these films are resoundingly bad, but when placed alongside obvious contenders like Precious and A Single Man, it feels like Film Independent (who chooses the nominees) were struggling to fill all the nomination slots.  It’s even more bizarre for what you won’t find: Colin Firth for A Single Man; any nominations for A Serious Man beyond cinematography, direction, and the Robert Altman Award; and a Best Director nomination for Marc Webb just to name a few.  Hit the jump for the full list of nominees.  The 2009 Independent Spirit Awards will air on March 5, 2010 at 8pm PST on IFC.’

A SERIOUS MAN Officially Kicks Off Oscar Season with First “For Your Consideration” Ad

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: November 3rd, 2009 at 12:54 pm

After deciding that “Yo, Give Us an Oscar” was a bad way to kick-start an awards marketing campaign for a film, studios went with what are known as “For Your Consideration” ads which usually appear in the print versions of “Variety” and “The Hollywood Reporter”.  I always find it interesting to see which films think they’re good enough for an Oscar and which ones are completely delusional.  However, the first one out the gate, “A Serious Man” is already a strong contender.  And while this ad may not have the words “For Your Consideration” stamped across the top, we’ll be seeing those ads soon enough.  Seriously.

Hit the jump to check out the ad and we’ll be bringing you more of the standouts as award season heats up.

A SERIOUS MAN Review

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: October 15th, 2009 at 8:57 pm

Combined with “No Country for Old Men” and “Burn After Reading”, The Coen Brothers’ latest movie, “A Serious Man” could complete an unofficial “Existentialist Trilogy”.  “No Country” says that the world is an uncertain and unforgiving place.  “Burn After Reading” says the same thing but the idea is played for laughs instead of drama.  “A Serious Man” takes a different approach and wonders if uncertainty is so bad when certainty can be far worse.  Furthermore, what good is reason if the world is an irrational place?

TIFF ’09 Video Blog: A SERIOUS MAN and UP IN THE AIR

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: September 18th, 2009 at 10:47 am

Peter (from Slashfilm) and I usually record our video blog’s in separate locations through the magic of the internet, but since we’re both attending this year’s Toronto Film Festival, we’ve decided to record some video blogs talking about some of the movies we’ve seen at the festival. We’ve tried to keep the video blogs short and to the point, but, as always, it sometimes goes longer than planned. But if you know us, that’s to be expected.

Anyway, after the jump you can watch Peter and I talk about the new Coen Brothers movie “A Serious Man” and the new Jason Reitman movie “Up in the Air”. We loved both films and the buzz you’re hearing is totally accurate. Listen to what we thought after the jump:

Joel and Ethan Coen talk TRUE GRIT. The Project Isn’t As Far Along As We Thought

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: September 13th, 2009 at 8:36 am

Just a few days ago, we posted a story about Jeff Bridges joining the Coen Brothers in their upcoming movie “True Grit”. When the story went online, we all assumed this was definitely the brothers next project and more casting would be announced soon. But that might not be the case. The reason I say this is, I just spoke with the brothers during a roundtable interview for their new film “A Serious Man” and they told me, “We don’t have a go ahead on this movie. We don’t have a cast – or the rest of it. Hopefully it’ll happen. It’s just in the talking stages right now.” More after the jump:

New Coen Brothers Footage! 4 Movie Clips from A SERIOUS MAN

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: September 8th, 2009 at 11:21 am

In just a few short days, a new Coen Brothers movie will premiere at the Toronto Film festival! It’s called “A Serious Man” and just like the rest of the world, I cannot wait to see it. Anyway, to help promote the upcoming release, Focus Features has released 4 clips from the film and you can watch them after the jump. Since I am about to see the movie, I’m refusing to watch any additional footage that could give anything away. But if you need a Coen Brothers fix, I’ve provided the clips after the jump. Take a look:

New Images from The Coen Brother’s A SERIOUS MAN

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: August 14th, 2009 at 11:14 pm

Sometimes you have to sell an article. Other times you can just say new images from The Coen Brother’s “A Serious Man”. They’re after the jump:

Poster for The Coen Brothers’ A SERIOUS MAN

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: August 7th, 2009 at 1:30 pm

This poster for “A Serious Man” isn’t quite as good as the trailer but that’s a tough act to follow.  It’s not that this poster is bad but it’s hard to tell if Michael Stuhlbarg is looking defiant or contemplative.  Perhaps that’s the point.  I do know that I loved the heading “The New Film By Joel and Ethan Coen” as if it’s an event, which it is.

Hit the jump to check out the new poster.  “A Serious Man” hits theatres in a limited release on October 2nd.

Trailer: A SERIOUS MAN

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: July 30th, 2009 at 1:08 am

I don’t even know why there’s a trailer for this.  It certainly doesn’t need to be this freaking good.  Aren’t we at the point where you can have a trailer where it’s nothing but the words, “The Coen Brothers have a new film.  It’s called ‘A Serious Man’.  See it or you’re stupid and you smell funny,”?  I mean, I never took a class in marketing but I don’t think the Coens going up to a camera and throwing their Oscars and past films at the lens would be out of line.  They are legends and I was going to see “A Serious Man” no matter what.  Seeing a trailer like this just makes it worse.  I’d hold a grudge against the guys but that’s impossible.

See the trailer after the jump not because you need convincing but because you were going to anyway.

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