Even before watching the trailer, my most anticipated film of 2013 was the Coen Brothers‘ Inside Llewyn Davis simply because it’s from the Coen Brothers.  Joel and Ethan Coen could do a toothpaste commercial, and I would consider it a must-see event.  Davis stars Oscar Isaac as the eponymous folk singer/songwriter who struggles to find his way in New York’s Greenwich Village in the 1961.  While the movie is based on The Mayor of Macdougal Street, the posthumous 2005 memoir by godfather of the 1960s Greenwich Village folk scene, Dave Von Ronk, author Elijah Wald (who compiled the memoir from Ronk’s reminiscences) tells the New York Times that in Inside Llewyn Davis, “The character is not at all Dave, but the music is.”

Hit the jump for more including two new images.  The film also stars Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake, Garrett Hedlund, and John Goodman.

In March, we learned that FX and MGM Television were mulling over a potential series adaptation of Fargo.  Not only is the project a go, but Joel and Ethan Coen are on board to executive produce.  That bodes well for the translation of Fargo to the small screen.  Here’s the bad news: Deadline reports Noah Hawley will write and executive produce the hourlong drama.  Hawley most recently created My Generation, which was offensively awful and swiftly cancelled after just two episodes.  Hawley also created The Unusuals and wrote for Bones (two solid series), so hopefully My Generation was an aberration.  Warren Littlefield—another man whose last project was, damningly, My Generation—will also executive produce.

MGM TV filmed a Fargo pilot with no Coen participation in 1997 with Edie Falco in the lead role.  I doubt Falco will return, but you have to figure the wiles of the Coen brothers and FX will lure a great cast to the series.  Hit the jump to watch the trailer for Fargo.

British actress Carey Mulligan is certainly on an enviable role. Fresh off of critical acclaim for Drive, she has the haunting NC-17 drama Shame out in December, and she’s currently filming Baz Luhrmann’s 3D adaptation of The Great Gatsby in Australia. Once done there, she’s not slowing down any, as she will start shooting Inside Llewyn Davis (a musician trying to make it in the 1960′s New York folk scene) for the Coen brothers, and then do the new untitled Spike Jonze project from a Charlie Kaufman screenplay that reportedly centers on world leaders who unite to discuss cataclysmic events such as oil prices and wars.

While she was in L.A. recently, Collider got the opportunity to speak with Mulligan about her current and upcoming projects, how outrageously lucky she feels about working with such incredible talent, in front of and behind the camera, how extraordinary it is to be in a Baz Luhrmann film, her audition with Gatsby star Leonardo DiCaprio, how the Coen brothers are her favorite filmmakers and that she can’t believe she gets to be one of their characters, and that she couldn’t refuse the opportunity to work with Spike Jonze. Check out what she had to say after the jump:

The Coen brothers have signed on to executive produce HarveKarbo, a potential series they co-created with Phil Johnston (Cedar Rapids).  THR describes the premise: “[HarveKarbo] revolves around a touchy Los Angeles private investigator — and his deadbeat friends in El Segundo — whose cases frequently force him to cross paths with a who’s who of Hollywood.”  Imagine TV is shepherding the project through development with 20th Century Fox Television; Imagine head Brian Grazer is the man credited enticing the endlessly lauded brothers to a smaller screen.

While the last few years have seen respected filmmakers like Frank Darabont (The Walking Dead) and Diablo Cody (The United States of Tara) dive head on into a TV schedule, the Coens likely have no interest in keeping up with the daily demand of a broadcast series.  Instead, expect the J.J. Abrams model: get the show off the ground, then hand the reins to a collaborator—in this case, Johnston.  Even such speculation is getting ahead of ourselves.  Fox has awarded the hourlong single-camera comedy a script commitment, but HarveKarbo has a long road through the competitive pilot season before any potential series order.  That said, it would be pretty cool to see “Executive Produced by Joel and Ethan Cohen” in a credits sequence every week.

A few weeks ago we brought you some quotes from the Coen Brothers’ appearance at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center in New York which suggested that their next film would be music-centric. At that time, the key quote came from Joel Coen who claimed:

“We’re working on a movie now that has music in it but it’s pretty much all performed live, single instrument…”

Today, 24 Frames is doing its best uncover more info behind the project and is reporting that the pic may center on one of the Greenwich Valley folk scene’s most revered names: Dave Van Ronk. Per the report, the Coen’s script is “loosely based” on van Ronk’s life as an influential musician and left-wing activist, and may even draw from Van Ronk’s posthumous memoir entitled The Mayor of MacDougal Street. If it comes to fruition, the project would be the Coens’ second musically-intensive film with the first being 2000′s O Brother, Where Art Thou? which garnered two Oscar nods. For a little more on the project, including a synopsis of Van Ronk’s memoir, hit the jump.

The Film Society of Lincoln Center held an hour-long discussion between Joel and Ethan Coen and fellow filmmaker Noah Baumbach.  Normally I’d bitch and moan about how jealous I was not to be there and then cry myself to sleep.  But not today!  Filmlinc.com has kindly posted the discussion online and I know what I’ll be watching when I get off work today.  Some of the topics covered include how the Coens open their movies, their use of voice-over, how they use misdirection, and how their films compare to Baumbach’s.  The interview is also worth watching because the Coens rarely speak about the films and instead prefer to let them stand on their own.  People continue to speculate on the symbolism of the hat in Miller’s Crossing.

Hit the jump to check out the video and quotes pulled from the interview.

True Grit – the 2010 remake of the John Wayne western – came out at the tail end of the year. Like many Coen Brothers pictures, it was expected to be an Academy front runner, and a modest box office success. That was wrong on both counts, as the film never got that much Oscar traction (there was hope Roger Deakins would finally win an academy award, but no luck), and the film was a huge hit – grossing within a million of the hugely publicized franchise relaunch Tron Legacy. Jeff Bridges stars as Reuben “Rooster” Cogburn, who is hired by Mattie Ross (Haliee Steinfeld) to find Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin), the man who killed her father. Texas Ranger LaBeouf (Matt Damon) is also on the hunt for Chaney as well. Our review of the Blu-ray follows after the jump.

The Coen brothers have no problem picking and choosing what they want to do next, and might be utilizing music as a major part of their next film. While Joel and Ethan Coen were gathered with Noah Baumbach to discuss film intros at the new Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center in New York, they briefly touched on what appears to be an unannounced project. The Coen brothers have a long list of potential projects but they seem to suggest this unnamed film is what they are working on now. For more on the project and what the Coens had to say, hit the jump.

The Coen Brothers have shown that they can do just about anything.  They can bend any genre, they can hit any tone, and they’ve hit a winning streak that shows no sign of slowing down.  But what will be their follow-up to True Grit?  Ethan Coen tells Empire that they might be going into the horror business.  When Coen was asked if they would ever do a film in the horror genre, he replied:

“Funny you should ask, yes, we’re working on a couple of scripts now, one of which it would be fair to call a full-on horror movie. Frances McDormand is the monster.”

The part about McDormand may be a joke (she’s his sister-in-law), but it would be awesome to see them go into the horror genre.  They’ve never shied away from the horrific, but to see them pursue a film firmly in the genre and seeing how they’ll twist it sounds like it could be incredible.  Hit the jump for Coen had to say about their other potential projects.

Cameron Diaz will co-star in Coen Brothers-scripted remake of the 1966 caper comedy Gambit.  According to THR, Colin Firth will play a “London art curator who plots an elaborate scheme to con a wealthy collector into buying a fake Monet painting. As part of the ruse, he recruits a Texas steer roper (Diaz) to play the part of a woman whose grandfather liberated the painting at the end of WWII.”  The roles in the original film were played by Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine.

Diaz recently costarred in The Green Hornet and will next be seen in the comedy Bad Teacher with Justin Timberlake.  Shooting on Gambit is expected to begin this May in London with The Last Station director Michael Hoffman at the helm.

The Coen Brothers have created a masterful Western with True Grit.  I’m surprised and overjoyed that the film is doing well at the box office since audiences usually don’t turn in large numbers for the genre or for the Coens’ films.  EW recently spoke with the genius filmmakers and wanted to find out what they listed at their five favorite westerns.  Here’s their list:

1. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968, dir. Sergio Leone)

2. The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976, dir. Clint Eastwood)

3. Greaser’s Palace (1972, dir. Robert Downey Sr.)

4. “Doc” (1971, dir. Frank Perry)

5. The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972, dir. John Huston)

It’s interesting that their favorite Westerns comes from around the 60s and 70s and doesn’t include earlier fare like Stagecoach or High Noon.  Click over to EW.com for the Coens’ explanation of their choices.

In my profession, there are two very important things you must do: watch movies and keep notes.  I did an alright job with the first one, but admittedly fell short on the latter.  While last year I was able to confidently provide what I thought were the best kills and quotes, this year I didn’t do a good job with record keeping and so I’ve omitted those categories.  Next year I’ll be more meticulous and make it a point to see movie where people get destroyed while saying witty things.

However, I did see enough movies to confidently make a list of the folks I thought were the best actors, directors, and other miscellaneous greats.  Hit the jump to check out my picks.

After watching, True Grit, I was left wondering how the project came into existence.  Did Joel Coen turn to his brother Ethan and say, “I feel like creating a western that will become an instant classic,” and Ethan responded, “Yeah, that sounds good.  Let’s do that.”  That exchange wouldn’t surprise me since the Coen Brothers are two filmmakers who consistently operate at a higher level than almost anyone else in Hollywood.  While other filmmakers might be cowed into living in the shadow of the 1969 original which won John Wayne his first and only Oscar, the Coen Brothers have crafted a giant of the genre that crackles with electric dialogue, magnificent performances, Roger Deakins’ stunning cinematography, Carter Burwell’s haunting score, and all the other quality trademarks the Coens are known for.

On Wednesday, Mondo will be releasing two new posters for the Coen Brothers’ True Grit designed by Aaron Horkey.  While the posters are a bit too busy for my taste, they’re certainly eye-catching and like with all Mondo posters, I’m sure it will sell out in a matter of minutes.

Hit the jump to check out the posters, which measure 39″x15″ and use metallic inks.  The regular gold version costs $60 and is limited to an edition of 400 while the silver variant costs $120 and is limited to an edition of 110.  The posters go on sale at a random time so be sure you’re following @MondoNews for the announcement.  True Grit stars Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, and Hailee Steinfeld.  The film opens Wednesday.

Director Michael Hoffman (The Last Station) has signed on to helm the Coen Brothers-penned remake of the 1966 British caper comedy Gambit.  According to Deadline, the project has finally found funding from upstart company Crime Scene Pictures, and is planning to begin shooting in London in May.  Casting is expected to begin shortly.

The original film starred Michael Caine as cat burglar who tries to rob a billionaire of his priceless statue and enlists the help of a waitress (Shirley MacLaine) who is a dead ringer for the victim’s late wife. While the burglar has carefully planned the job in his head, the execution is complicated by his relationship with his pretty accomplice.