Cartuna over at Ain’t It Cool has penned this review after seeing A Serious Man at TIFF…

“The short version:
A ridiculously great movie. Funny as hell. I really loved this one.

The long version:
This is a phenomenal film. Is it too much to ask that it become a big success? Is that at all possible?

Larry Gopnik is comfortable. He doesn’t get a lot of respect from many folks around him, but he’s achieved something and is maintaining it. He’s even up for tenure at the university where he is a professor. So it comes as a great shock to him that not everyone around him is happy with the status quo.

His wife wants a divorce, and has gone so far as to find his replacement (someone for whom she DOES have respect). Someone has been sending letters, urging the university against granting him tenure. He’s forced to move into a divey motel with his mostly useless brother and his sebaceous cyst. Things that seemed stable, are no longer.

And I guess that’s what the movie is about – what does one do, when the illusion of stability is taken away?

Michael Stuhlberg is a total revelation as the put-upon Gopnik. He is absolutely perfectly cast here, and turns in a smart, funny and sensitive performance. He has a silent movie star’s face and needs to be shot in black and white at some point.

The movie itself is screamingly funny at points. If you like the Coen Brothers’ sense of humor, you will revel in this film. They get everything right here. The ‘Tale of the Goy’s Teeth” in particular, is a killer sequence. The audience was in hysterics.

As a goy, myself, there were quite a few moments of jewish ephemera with which I was not particularly familiar, but none of it seemed to be need-to-know. I didn’t feel left behind at any point by some inexplicable practice. I don’t think the niche setting should in any way preclude a niche audience.

If there’s anything that keeps the film from being practically perfect, it is the inclusion of the accursed “all-just-a-dream” sequences. And not just one. Nothing kills the enjoyment of a movie more for me, than suddenly discovering that what I’d just seen was all just pretend. I have no issue with dream sequences – they can give more insight into what a character is going through, and give the filmmakers opportunity for visuals they may not otherwise get away with in the reality of their movie, but when we’re led to believe something is real, and it turns out it ain’t? Fuck that.

So, that brought my overall score down a bit, but in spite of that, I loved this movie unreservedly. I would make a long-term commitment to this movie if I knew it a little better. Maybe after a couple more dates? Who knows?”

In light of the recent new from the MTV movie blog, I thought it would be a big of fun to run a quick poll to see which of the two mooted sequels you, the Coen brothers fans, would like to see made, so;

I will run this for about a week, before reactivating the usual “Which is your favourite Coen brothers movie?” in time for the release of A Serious Man (which has already been added to that poll).

Who knew there was such a thing but A Serious Man is opening the UK Jewish Film Festival ‘09. It is showing on 7th November at 8:30pm as part of the opening night gala at the Odeon Swiss Cottage, which sounds like a lovely place to watch a movie. However, the movie’s showing at the London Film Festival still marks it’s UK bow.

The MTV movie blog has been speaking to the Coen brothers about two of their most enduring Coen created characters played by John Turturro – Jesus Quintana from The Big Lebowski and Barton Fink from, err, Barton Fink. Both characters have long been rumoured to be the source of possible sequels/spin offs. MTV put it to the Coens directly and got the following responses;

Of the Big Lebowski spin off;

“We don’t see it yet,” Ethan said.

“That movie has more of an enduring fascination for other people than it does for us,” Joel added.

Bummer. To the max. No “100 Minutes of Jesus” which, for the record, Joel thinks could be a good name for the movie. They do at least recognize Turturro’s continuing interest in the project.

“Oh, he serious. He’s on board,” Ethan said.

“He’s very serious,” Joel added.

So Turturro, not joking. Coens, not interested. Not right now anyway. Ethan does go as far as saying that “it could happen,” but it’s probably best to put any hopes aside for now and for the forseeable future.

But, perhaps more positively it seems Old Fink is more likely to happen;

“It would be called ‘Old Fink,’” Joel said.

“We did talk to [John] Turturro about doing ‘Old Fink,’” Ethan added. “We want John to be old enough to do it.”

The brothers even have (at least) a baseline idea of how they would from the story. “That’s another 1967 movie,” Joel said in reference to “A Serious Man,” which is also set during that turbulent period. “It’s the summer of love and [Fink is] teaching at Berkeley. He ratted on a lot of his friends to the House Un-American Activities committee.”

“He’s got the George Kaufman hair but he’s going gray,” Ethan said. “He wears a medallion.” As if that explains everything. And it kinda does.

“We told Turturro this is one sequel we’d actually like to make but not until he was actually old enough to play the part,” Joel explained. How old is old enough, you may ask? “He’s getting there,” Ethan said.

To be perfectly honest, I’d happily see either one go into production but personally, I’d like Jesus to get more than 10 minutes of screen time!

According to a poll of film critics and bloggers by indieWIRE the Coen brothers’ latest movie, A Serious Man was the best film at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.

Here’s the top 10 Best Narrative Films;

1. A Serious Man, directed by Joel and Ethan Coen (63 points)
2. City of Life and Death, directed by Chuan Lu (20)
3. Up In The Air, directed by Jason Reitman (18)
3. A Prophet, directed by Jacques Audiard (18)
5. Dogtooth, directed by Giorgos Lanthimos (17)
6. Precious, directed by Lee Daniels (16)
7. I Am Love, directed by Luca Guadagnino (11)
7. Hadewijch, directed by Bruno Dumont (11)
7. A Single Man, directed by Tom Ford (11)
7. Lebanon, directed by Samuel Maoz (11)

Star of the movie, Michael Stuhlbarg also came in third in the poll for Best Lead Performance;

1. Colin Firth in “A Single Man” (13)
2. Tilda Swinton in “I Am Love (12)
2. Michael Stuhlbarg in “A Serious Man” (12)
4. Tahar Rahim in “A Prophet” (10)
5. Anne Dorval in “I Killed My Mother” (9)
5. Nicolas Cage in “The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans” (9)
5. Matt Damon in “The Informant!” (9)
5. Katie Jarvis in “Fish Tank” (9)

Very nice indeed. I’m getting very excited about the movie now but I have quite a long wait. Don’t forget you people in the US that the movie is out on 2nd October! Also, remember that you can keep you Coen diary up-to-date using the widget in the side-bar on the right.

The official site for the Coen brothers’ latest movie, A Serious Man, is now live. You can check it out here. There isn’t much to it at the moment…

/Film writer and creator Peter Sciretta has reviewed the Coen brothers’ Toronto Film Festival new ‘un, A Serious Man. Sciretta has also put together a video blog with Steve from Collider.com where they both spout very enthusiastically about both A Serious Man and Jason Reitman’s Geroge Clooney starring Up In The Air.

“The Coen brothers’ A Serious Man is very comparable to Alexander Payne’s masterwork Election, which just happens to be one of my favorite films of all time. Both films are brilliant dark comedies about teachers who are trying to do their best, trying to do the right thing, and somewhere along the way, make one small bad decision which spirals out of control into the biggest mess you’ve ever seen.

A Serious Man is set in 1967, and centers on Larry Gopnick (Michael Stuhlbarg) a midwestern professor who is faced with divorce, and all the consequences that may bring to his Jewish family, which includes a son prepping for Bar Mitzvah while evading bullies at school, a daughter, and his crazy gambling brother who keeps getting into more trouble. Larry seeks answers from three local rabbi, none of which are able to give him any advice he believes to be of value. And things only get worse, because they certainly aren’t getting any better.

A Serious Man is my favorite Coen Brothers film produced in the last decade, the exact period of time since Ethan and Joel created the comedy cult classic The Big Lewbowski. It is not only a brilliant dark comedy which will have you laughing out loud, but a masterful character study filled with great performances, of a family in crisis, the moral decisions they face, and the horribly funny consequences that result. The ending will have you talking about the movie well after leaving the theater, which to me is one of the definitions of great cinema.”

/Film Rating: 9 out of 10 – Peter Sciretta

Here’s the somewhat rambling video blog;

TIFF Video Blog: A Serious Man and Up in the Air from /Film on Vimeo.

Three of the cast members of A Serious Man, Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind and Sari Lennick discuss just how thorough the Coen brothers were when casting Jews for the movie…

Just a quick note to say that one half of our favourite filmmaking duo celebrated his 52nd birthday today. Happy birthday to Ethan Coen.

Now,  I don’t have an iPhone myself so I don’t vouch for this but it is official so must be OK I guess. MGM have put together a Fargo soundboard application for Apple’s phone (or iPod Touch I’m guessing). It has sixteen audio clips each accompanied by an image from the movie. Kinda wish I could have this myself (love the woodchipper icon at bottom-left!)…

You can get it here via iTunes. Thanks to long-time reader, JD for the tip.