INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS Review

1961, Greenwich Village, New York. The dawn of the early folk music scene. We meet Llewyn Davis, struggling musician. Played by Oscar Isaac (in plenty of films but never a leading solo man), he sits on a stool at a mic before a smattering of an audience inside a dingy club. "Hang me, oh hang me, and I'll be dead and gone," he croons. Performed by Isaac, the music is the first and foremost thing to notice about Joel and Ethan Coen's latest, "Inside Llewyn Davis." The second thing to notice: this is the writer-director duo's perhaps least plot-driven film but the most solemnly meditative since their Oscar-winning "No Country for Old Men." It's a contemplative character study of the highest order and while a bit obtuse, the film looks deep at how a great artist can (or cannot) rise from great adversity.

Llewyn steps off the stage, enters the club's back alley and gets beaten to the ground. Why? We don't know. Just his luck, we suppose. The film is a slow burn as we watch him crash couch to couch, a wandering soul looking for himself. Here's a man not trying to make it as a successful musician but trying to make it at all. He slumps into the apartment of Jean (Carey Mulligan) and Jim (Justin Timberlake). No backstory required. We deduce that Llewyn once slept with Jean and uses her as a crutch. Brashly played up by Mulligan, she hounds on him calling him a useless asshole. If they ever once were, they are no more. With Jim, he and Jean have their own folk group that gets a better reception than when Llewyn plays. It eats at him. Embodying Llewyn, Isaac delivers a bittersweet combination of sorrow and deadpan humor.

One gig from Jim, which Llewyn decides to take for some quick cash, is a goofball song about President Kennedy and rockets, "Please Mr. Kennedy." Adam Driver of HBO's "Girls" sits in as the guy making the cartoonish "whoops!" and "zoings!" of the accompaniment. It's a bad tune that's somehow still highly enjoyable, a signifier of the kind of songwriting care that went into the script. In a rush, Llewyn decides to not sign a contract to receive royalties on the song which, inevitably, will later become a hit. Desperate for exposure and let down by his ancient manager, he hitchhikes to Chicago to put himself in person with a music producer.

Enter a most surrealist vision, a mood which permeates throughout, the film's aesthetic clouded in a dreamlike haze. Llewyn hitches a ride with the quiet, resolute Johnny Five (Garrett Hedlund) and the mythic, rude Roland Turner (John Goodman). How these two came to be, and where are they going? We don't know. They are only a device for Llewyn to continue on his way. A Coen mainstay, Goodman arrives back to his first film for the brothers in 15 years and commands the screen for the brief, bizarre role.

There's also an orange cat. And plenty of other strange, illusive encounters. But there's the cat. The one Llewyn accidentally lets escape from one of his couch-surfing apartment stays. The one he thinks is the same one he lost but ends up being a different orange cat. But there's always the cat. The burden. We follow Llewyn for one week in his life. And at its conclusion, we find ourselves right back where we started. It's a trick the Coens play but not a bad trick; it's an existential one that illustrates an open-ended theme, one about the journey to finally make it. It's cyclical; it's all the same. It repeats and repeats until eventually you either make it -- or, in the case of Llewyn, our sad sack hero, you don't.

TRUE GRIT Review

"True Grit" (2010)

This is the story of young Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld), only 14-years-old, who wants to avenge the death of her father. He was ruthlessly killed at the hands of a man named Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin). Scrappy and resourceful, Mattie recruits a haggard old bounty hunter, Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), to help her in killing Chaney for what he has done. Cogburn reluctantly sets to go out on the journey with her and together they traverse the gunslinging western frontier on horseback.

"True Grit" is based on the novel by Charles Portis and a remake of the 1969 film of the same name where John Wayne won an Oscar playing the role of Rooster Cogburn.

It is a story already laid out to be told, and so this leaves Joel and Ethan Coen to work at their best. Nothing about the tale is too complicated. It is, at its core, a tale of good and evil, of what is right and wrong. It's all about the storytelling here, and allowing the Coens to tell it how they want, that's a thing of beauty. This is them casting aside their usual tricks and flexing their muscles in their mastery of the craft that is filmmaking.

And what they have lovingly crafted is a glorious western. With gorgeous cinematography we've come to know from Roger Deakins and a score from Carter Burwell that hits all the right tones, at the heart of it all is the rich dialogue that trails off like the twang of a guitar giving time for each and every line to settle in. It is a deliberately slow-moving movie in this respect, and so the best way to enjoy is to ease back with the pace and admire every detail.

I can't compare Jeff Bridge's Rooster Cogburn to John Wayne's Rooster Cogburn simply because I haven't seen it. I probably should. But, in any case, Bridges inhabits the role as the purposely growling and crotchety old actor should. He's perfect. With his crazy grey hair haphazardly slicked back and a patch covering one eye, his performance appears effortless. His inevitable Oscar nomination is well deserved, and right along with him touting what should be another nomination is the newcomer Hailee Steinfeld, 13, as Mattie Ross.

Steinfeld's impeccable skill in the role is presented early on during a lengthy scene where she barters with a rat of a horse trader (Dakin Matthews). She, using her swift words and intelligence, gets her way easily enough. It's a fantastic scene. Our introduction to Bridges' in his role comes to us in a similar fashion. In another lengthy scene, he's being questioned at a court trial, and his gruff responses and demeanor get us to believe that Bridges is an ideal fit for this man, Cogburn. The entire film, however, belongs to Mattie Ross. From the serene opening all the way through to the thoughtful and nostalgic epilogue, this is her narrative.

They enter increasingly dangerous Indian Territory in search of Chaney, Mattie bringing along with her who she calls the "one-eyed fat man." A Texas Ranger, LaBoeuf (Matt Damon), occasionally joins the search dropping in and out at pivotal moments. LaBoeuf is there to bag Chaney for a large reward, and this rustles Mattie's feathers because she paid Cogburn specifically to have Chaney captured and killed her way, nobody else's. Damon's performance here must not be forgotten as he carries great weight in a supporting role.

On the side of villainy is Josh Brolin as the nasty Tom Chaney along with Barry Pepper who plays Lucky Ned, a spitting leader of a gang Chaney ends up with. This leads to a charge across a barren valley with guns flaring and horse hooves stomping furiously. While "True Grit" has an emphasis on violence, some of which is quite graphic for being PG-13, and the grit and dirt of the Old West, it really leaves you smiling, which is one of its greatest feats.

This film is the first in the Coen brothers' career that is a straightforward exercise in a genre. It is a western, but it's not a reinvention of a modern western like "No Country for Old Men." There's humor, but it's not their usual humor. There's nothing wry, deadpan, quirky or strange as in most of their other movies. This is the directors using all they know, and know well, to tell a simple story with simple artistry. While "True Grit" is still unmistakably a Coen brothers movie, they have now officially transcended their own particular style and have done so with such distinguished grace. It's a film I fell in love with more than I ever thought I would, and I can't wait to see where they go from here.

After a bit of a mid-summer slump, August churned out some notable movies, and now the year in movies really kicks into gear for the beginning of Oscar season. And even though some have been calling 2010 a lackluster year for movies so far, they need to hold their tongues before looking at what's to come. With that, listed below are the top 10 films I'm most looking forward to go see between now and December.

10. Love and Other Drugs

Director Edward Zwick, who's used to directing big Oscar bait flicks like "Defiance," "Blood Diamond" and "The Last Samurai," tones it down a notch with this down-to-earth romantic comedy starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway. Although the plot seems pretty familiar of the genre, what gets me excited about it is Gyllenhaal and Hathaway working together for the first time since "Brokeback Mountain." Both are gifted actors and seeing their playful side together could be frivolous good fun, and who knows, maybe even something a little more.

9. It's Kind of a Funny Story


Here's another comedy, this time in the vain of those low-key indie comedies like "Little Miss Sunshine" and "Juno." This will most likely be this year's rendition with the breakout star Zach Galifianakis of "The Hangover" taking on a still silly yet also slightly more serious role. I'm less excited about this movie than I am anxious just to see how it turns out. The young actors, Emma Roberts and Keir Gilchrist, look promising, but my worry is this: could we be looking at Galifianakis overkill? Either he'll shine here or just be too much.

8. Hereafter

It's another Clint Eastwood film, this one starring Matt Damon and another one meditating on the possibility and consequence of death. So, it's basically Eastwood back in his usual directing form after his little break with "Invictus," which did not meditate on death. Not much has been released about it aside from a brief synopsis telling of three people who are connected through some form of brush with death. Gloomy stuff, but it could also be powerful stuff à la "Million Dollar Baby."

7. Machete


You read that right. "Machete," the fake trailer from Robert Rodriguez which premiered in "Grindhouse" is now blown up into a feature length movie from Rodriguez himself. It stars Danny Trejo, Jessica Alba, Robert De Niro, Steven Seagal, Michelle Rodriguez and, yes, Lindsay Lohan before she got hauled off to jail. If "Planet Terror" is any taste of what this is going to be, I'm totally there for all the uproariously bloody, absurd and hilarious action.

6. True Grit

The only thing I know about this latest from Joel and Ethan Coen is that it is a western remake of a 1969 original of the same name. We've learned from "No Country for Old Men" that the Coen brothers have excellent control of the western genre, so I'm definitely looking forward to this one. It stars Jeff Bridges and Josh Brolin.

5. Another Year


What can I say? Mike Leigh cannot go wrong, and every review coming out of Cannes for this one was a rave. I have no idea what it's even about, but according to the trailer that just got released, it looks to be simply about people and relationships and, well, life in general. In other words, what Leigh does best. And it stars Jim Broadbent who I love.

4. Somewhere


After "Lost in Translation," my love for writer/director Sofia Coppola officially began. That movie still ranks among my top favorites of all time. This woman could pretty much direct a commercial about laundry detergent, and I'd be more than thrilled to see it. In any case, her newest film seems to be very similar in style to "Lost in Translation" with a focus on the relationship between two people, this time one between a man and his young daughter. It's going to have some great music from Phoenix, too.

3. The Social Network


The first trailer for David Fincher's new movie was a wondrous tease. Now that the second trailer is up, we can see some of the acting chops this movie has to offer, especially from Jesse Eisenberg most notable from movies ending in the word "land"--also known as "Adventureland" and "Zombieland." The movie boasts a timely and intriguing premise, too, about the founding of Facebook. The hype for this one is running high, and I'm sure Fincher will deliver.

2. Black Swan


Like Coppola, anything directed by Darren Aronofsky I'm going to be excited to check out. "Requiem for a Dream" is a classic and 2008's "The Wrestler" was an absolute knockout. And so, upon hearing that his latest movie would be about a ballet dancer, I was immediately fascinated. Then came that startling photo of Natalie Portman with a porcelain-white face and black makeup. Finally came the trailer which was astonishing and breathtaking. It absolutely solidified in my mind that this was one of the most anticipated movies of the fall for me.

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1


Well, it's Harry Potter and it is, without a doubt, the movie I am most looking forward to seeing. And it's not just because I'm some sort of Harry Potter junkie or crazy fan. This isn't "Twilight" we're dealing with here. These are legitimately great movies, each and every one of them, and I don't see how this one could be any different. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" even made it into my top films list for last year. It was that good. And since this first part of the franchise's finale is coming from the same filmmaking team, we're more than likely looking forward to something just as good. Besides, we gotta see how this whole thing ends.

EIFF Premiere: "Snowman's Land" (2010)

Bookended by a pitch-perfect start and finish, German writer/director Tomasz Thomson's "Snowman's Land" is a lesser "Fargo" as his influence for this black comedy about a bumbling and lazy assassin most notably comes from the work of the Coen brothers.

Set in the stark white of a snowy mountainous scenery, the film tells the story of Walter and Micky, two out-of-work assassins who are given an assignment from a man named Berger who lives in a massive mansion atop the snowy mountains. The first portion of the film acts like an oddball buddy movie as the two men wander aimlessly exploring Berger's home and causing an unexpected accident with Berger's lover.

The results are darkly funny as intended with a sharp sense of style and moments that jump out as such with a screen that flashes red to indicate Walter's adrenaline or another in which red arrows point to where mines have been placed in the snow. These instances are all given voiceover by witty narration. The soundtrack, too, fits well into the absurd screwball world the two assassin losers tumble into.

Consider a moment when Berger attempts to inflict torture on Walter, but just as the blade of an electric knife is about to pierce through Walter's hand the batteries go dead. It's moments like these when the movie shines in its Coen brother-esque humor.

Archive: 'No Country for Old Men'

Movie Review
No Country for Old Men (2007)


This is the movie we've been waiting for. What we have here is absolutely brilliant filmmaking that could only come from the brother directors, Joel and Ethan Coen. The audience I saw it with probably felt the movie was was a simple, conventional suspense thriller, one full of bloodlust and vengeance with an unsatisfying ending. I know this from the grumbles and groans I heard leaving the theater. These people, however, are terribly misguided and obviously shouldn't have been seeing it to begin with. So, have no worry, "No Country for Old Men" is an undeniably great movie. It's stunning, assured, intelligent, and even if December has yet to deliver probably some of the season's best movies, I can safely state that this is the very best film of 2007.

The movie takes place in the barren countryside of West Texas in the 1980s, and it opens with the solemn voice of Tommy Lee Jones. He explains about a 14-year-old boy who killed his girlfriend in what the papers called a crime of passion. When he sent the boy to the electric chair, he asked him about the murder, and the boy responded that it had nothing to do with passion; he had been thinking about killing someone for as long as he can remember. The tone of this story sets everything up perfectly for the rest of the movie. Jones' character is a sheriff and he, along with the other sheriffs, doesn't understand the crimes of today. Other movies have used war to describe dehumanization, but this film is above preaching. This certainly is no country for old men, and no country for any man, for that matter. And to think out there is a man of such incomprehensible evil.

The man is Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), and his presence on the screen can silence and chill a theater. He carries with him the worst hairstyle imaginable and a tank of compressed air, a cattle gun. This is a man who quietly asks his victim to get out of a car, and then proceeds to place the device on the man's forehead, blowing a hole through his head. Chigurh takes care of his victims calmly without breaking a sweat. And he can easily repair whatever wounds he receives. He is the scariest villain to come along in a movie for a long time, one of such dark evil with just a hint of perverse humor and also a smile that makes your skin crawl. In one scene, Chigurh enters a lonely gas station and, unknowing to the old man he's speaking with, they begin talking about whether or not Chigurh will kill him. The killer retrieves a coin from his pocket, flips it onto his hand, and tells the man to call it. The stakes are drawn, and this is Chigurh's game; he gambles with the lives of others through a coin toss. It's scary, that randomness in life.

And then there's Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin), who, while hunting in the vast expanse of prairie, randomly comes across the site of a drug trade gone wrong. There are abandoned trucks surrounded by dead bodies, even dogs, and a truck bed full of heroin. But, where's the money? Moss follows more tracks to find it in a briefcase, all $2 million of it. Amidst the carnage is also a man begging for water. After stopping at home to tell his wife (Kelly MacDonald) to stay with her mother, Moss makes the bad move of returning to the site with a jug of water for the man. While out there, a second pair of headlights appears, shots ring out, and Moss is officially on the run. It's not entirely clear how Chigurh is tied to the money, but something is assumed; Moss is attempting to keep the money for himself, and Chigurh is hot on his trail to get it back.

In pursuit of the two men is Sheriff Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), who is trying to save Moss from the trouble he's in and trying to stop Chigurh's murderous rampage. There's also a cocky bounty hunter named Carson Wells (Woody Harrelson) who compares Chigurh to the bubonic plague. All of these people understand what they're up against, but they really have no idea how to stop it. The chase takes Moss from motel to motel where all of the clerks get a visit from Chigurh. The suspense is heightened by a persistent and haunting silence. During one scene in particular, Moss waits in the dark for Chigurh to arrive; the only sound is the increasing beeps of a tracking transponder, warning of the approaching mayhem. It's truly scary, and this is not the only scene so flawlessly constructed. There are countless sequences that you don't want to end, but then when they do, there's something even better to experience next.

Josh Brolin is excellent as a common man thrust into a hellish world where he believes he's smarter than he really is. Moss is a man possessed by something beyond him, and Brolin adds a much-needed human touch to the role. And Javier Bardem's inexplicable ability to terrify is astonishing all on its own. Then there's Tommy Lee Jones, who is right at home playing the worn-out sheriff dealing with the worst of all evil. He has those tired eyes and long drawl, which is immensely fitting for the role. These three actors make every single line of dialogue count and all give Oscar-worthy performances. Now, as for that so-called disappointing ending, I believe it is pitch-perfect, bringing everything full circle and ending on a fittingly sentimental note that will reverberate in your soul long after the credits roll.

"No Country for Old Men" is based on the 2005 novel of the same name by Cormac McCarthy. The Coen brothers have adapted the story for the screen with the infusion of their signature dark humor. This is top-notch writing with a fine script, combining for absolutely great storytelling. The cinematography comes from Roger Deakins, and there's an effectively controlled sense of style, which is hauntingly bleak and violent, yet beautiful. Similar to Joel Coen's Best Picture nominee, "Fargo," the Coen brothers have a certain fascination with empty rural areas and the people who occupy them. This directing duo's latest effort is by far their best work yet.

This is a movie that drags you in, and as the minutes fly by, you'll find yourself entirely engrossed without a blink. It's hypnotizing, and at some points, you may even have to remind yourself to breathe. The movie is a meditation on time, the complexity of good and evil, the morality of choice, the immorality of injustice coincidence, and the unpredictability of fate. And all of this is tackled by the Coen brothers in a world that is all their own. The best part is that it's also damn entertaining and, yes, a masterpiece. Don't miss it.

Archive: 'Burn After Reading'

Movie Review
Burn After Reading (2008)


After the Coen brothers' bleak Best Picture winner last year, "No Country for Old Men," they certainly have no problem returning to their previous form of dark screwball comedy. Their latest movie, "Burn After Reading," is a comedic thriller or a thrilling comedy, depending on which way you want to view it, but either way you put it, it's always difficult to place any Coen movie into a distinct category. Here's another example of their zany ways of using sharp wit to concoct something truly absurd and wild, and this time it comes in the form of a savvy caper farce.

The movie opens with a man named Osborne Cox (John Malkovich) getting fired from his job at a CIA headquarters due to being labeled as an alcoholic. Cox is the type of angry drunk who refuses to admit he has a drinking problem because he has the decency to at least wait for the clock to strike five o'clock. To his wife, Katie (Tilda Swinton), back at home, he claims that he quit and that he has decided to write a memoir. "Who would want to read that?" she bitterly responds. At the same time, she’s been sleeping with another man, Harry (George Clooney), a sex-crazed sleaze who has constructed a sex chair that you must see to understand. While he’s sleeping with Katie, Harry is also involved with a woman named Linda (Frances McDormand) who found her on a dating website. Linda's biggest desire is to have four simple surgeries done to improve her look but doesn't have the insurance to cover them. Meanwhile, she's also an employee at a gym called Hardbodies with her friend, Chad (Brad Pitt), who gets his hands on what he believes to be highly secretive CIA information.

It's a total riot to watch these A-list actors give everything they got and deliver performances that ooze with an absolutely contagious and exuberant amount of enthusiasm. They know what they're involved in is silly goof ball stuff, and that's what makes it all the more enjoyable. These actors provide entertaining and memorable characters, whether they're completely idiotic or just a downright asshole. McDormand connects with her go-getter attitude she presented in "Fargo" and has a quirky chemistry with Clooney who lets it all loose here. Malkovich is more pissed-off and funnier than ever, and Swinton is perfectly scalding. And then there’s Brad Pitt, who's new to any Coen production and somehow miraculously pulls off his gum-chewing, highlighted-haired, obnoxious puppy dog of a character. It's a breakthrough. There are also brief but excellent turns by Richard Jenkins ("The Visitor," "Step Brothers") as a seemingly levelheaded Hardbodies employee and J.K. Simmons ("Juno") as the CIA head.

So, there's definitely a lot going on throughout the movie, and the plot zips along and turns in on itself and comes out every which way. All of the characters eventually cross paths in one way or another and then there are some surprising deaths. It's all very dark, about as dark as any comedy is allowed to get while still being funny. All the characters involved in the random scenarios aren't necessarily very intelligent and sometimes drop to the level of sheer stupidity, and while some may find that aspect frustrating, I believe it adds to the overall loopiness of the ordeal. There's a constant lapse in communication between each character with far too many holes and gaps that aren't getting filled, and it makes for great hectic humor.

Just as the CIA head doesn't want to be called again until "all of this makes sense," the fact is that it never really does make any sense, and the whole movie ends on an abruptly ideal note. "Burn After Reading" is a more playful project for Joel and Ethan Coen, and it's definitely no award-winner, but it's still put together with clever perfection and a hilarious script. It's just one big entertaining romp through greed, vanity, and ignorance, and it is fantastic fun.

The Pains Of Just Being

A Serious Man


It's "Oy Ve!" over and over again in "A Serious Man." If pain and suffering is the root of all laughter, then Joel and Ethan Coen's new film is hilarious. And it is one of brilliant comic cruelty. Here's a comedy so black that its underlying philosophical outlook on life and fate is so hopeless and bleak that it rivals "No Country for Old Men." The Oscar-win for the writing-directing duo has allowed them to make their most original and personal feature yet. They deal, for the first time, with their Jewish heritage in placing the setting in a 1967 suburb, one that resembles the Minnesota town in which they grew up. This entry proves now more than over that the Coens are a master of the craft. The direction is keen and the script plays out like a richly textured novel, one tinged with the hilarity of cosmic despair.

Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg) has always tried to be a serious man. He's convinced there's reason to everything in the world. Is there? The Coens are convinced otherwise, and in close relation to "No Country for Old Men," the brothers have a fascinating interest in a fundamental absence of there being meaning to anything. Man's attempt to find that meaning becomes a futile search. The movie opens with a prologue spoken in Yiddish that tells an ancient tale of a couple who either rid their house of a dybbuk (a ghost) or murdered an old man. It's the proclamation of an evil curse, one that we see play out in Larry's life. His wife (Sari Lennick) wants a divorce, his candidacy for tenure at his job as a professor is under fire, his son (Aaron Wolf) has his bar mitzvah coming up when he's more interested in experimenting with pot, and their Uncle Arthur (Richard Kind) is living on the couch draining the fluid out of his cyst while writing in a notebook filled with mad, mystical physics.

Larry is constantly bombarded with requests, message, phone calls, demands, and complaints, and the performances from mostly unfamiliar actors reflect this hectic feeling through tart and dry dialogue. Larry's daughter (Jessica McManus) complains about Uncle Arthur taking up the bathroom all the time when she needs to style her hair, Larry's son needs the reception fixed on the TV so he can watch "F Troop," a student from South Korea (David Kang) bribes and blackmails Larry with money for a better grade, Larry keeps getting calls from Columbia Record Club requesting payments, his neighbor is encroaching on the property line in their lawn, and the list goes on and on. Every tiny incident in Larry's life takes on a hugely sinister tone, and it just keeps building up. The Coen's focus on the mundane banality of the American Jewish lifestyle is presented like a loopy circus show. All of the inconveniences, they keep piling up, interrupting and contradicting each other, and they all amount to absolutely nothing. And this was four decades ago. Imagine now.

The movie is shot with such exquisite artistry and inventiveness thanks to cinematographer Roger Deakins. Every angle (canted angles included), every choice of framing, and every character (no matter how minor) have significance toward the grander theme. Consider Larry's sexy neighbor, Mrs. Samsky (Amy Landecker), who is like an angel wearing an orange sweater and black eyeliner promising an escape, or Sy Ableman (Fred Melamed) who is stealing away Larry's wife. Sy becomes a permeating presence, a guidance counselor who guides only the grief he supplies.

In endlessly wondering why everything goes wrong for him, the "Why me? Why me?" mentality, Larry seeks absolution from the advice of three rabbis. The senior rabbi tells the story of a dentist who found the Hebrew words for "Help me" engraved in the back of a patient's teeth. One rabbi finds explanation in the simplicity and wonder of the parking lot outside. Another rabbi ends up being helpful in listing off the members of Jefferson Airplane, a band whose song "Somebody to Love" becomes the moral backdrop and ultimate punch line for the entire movie.

During one of his lectures, Larry presents a mathematical equation that takes up the entire blackboard and deals with the concept of uncertainty. And yet isn't math based all around certainty and theorem? Well, yes, this is a certain theorem on uncertainty. How is that at all reasonable? How is it reasonable that the culmination of the results of an x-ray and the onset of a tornado attribute to the same thing? From its fable-like beginning to its offbeat but pitch-perfect ending, "A Serious Man" delivers what the Coen brothers do best, and it is a work of serious accomplishment. It would appear that the only thing certain in life is the existence of suffering.

More Clooney and Coen

From Jason Reitman, the director of "Thank You for Smoking" and the beloved Academy Award nominee "Juno," here comes "Up in the Air," the story of a man who lives his life in travel. It stars George Clooney in a role that is already being considered a sly variation of his Oscar-nominated performance in "Michael Clayton" and of the same high caliber. This crowd-pleaser that has audiences of the Toronto festival already in love is in speculation to garner a Best Picture nomination.



From the Coen brothers comes this most personal movie titled, "A Serious Man." This first trailer makes the movie out to look wryly comic and oddball while at the same time affectionate and insightful. It's a tough call whether or not this is looking at awards, but there's no doubt that this could be another accomplishment from the brotherly directing duo.