Popped Culture is an inspired website/blog that you should keep an eye on. Lately it has featured two frankly bonkers Coen brothers poster mash-ups. First up is the amazing The Big Lebowski / Jaws munge by Dave MacDowell…

Secondly is Stefan Fahler’s Barton Fink / Kill Bill mash-up…

Long, long, long time You Know, For Kids! reader, Joe, has tracked down and managed to interview Isabelle Townsend, the actress who played “Beauty” in Barton Fink. Below you can find the email exchange;

Greetings Mrs. Townsend,
Thank you for accepting our invitation to answer a few questions about “Barton Fink”. Much like the Maltese Falcon or Rosebud, your role as “Beauty” is an icon of cinema, and we appreciate your taking the time to share your experience in the making of a masterpiece. On to the questions…

Q: According to IMDB, “Barton Fink” was your first film. How did that role come about for you, and do you recall the process of being cast? For instance, did you have to audition, or do you recall your first meeting with the Coen Brothers? How was that first meeting, and how did the Coen’s describe the role to you?
Isabelle Townsend:
Yes it was my first role and I had an audition with Joel and Ethan in NYC. They both made a big effort to put me at ease as I was painfully shy at the time. They didn’t talk much about the role. They just asked me if I had read the script. I didn’t hear for a long time and I knew they were seeing a lot of actresses in Los Angeles. One day my agent called to tell me the role was mine on one condition: Loose the British accent!

Q: What was it like to be involved in “Barton Fink”? Did you enjoy your time? Did you have an opportunity to read the script in advance? How long were you required on-set? Do you recall participating in post-production ADR? It sounds as if your voice is dubbed slightly.
Isabelle Townsend:
It was a one day shoot at Zuma beach near LA on a sizzling hot day. I remember thinking how relaxed and professional everybody was. I had read the script twice before the audition, so I felt prepared. I did participate in post-production ADR.

Q: What were your thoughts going into the production, and did your expectations differ from the reality of your experience working on “Barton Fink”? Did the Coen’s give specific direction or make any requests of your performance?
Isabelle Townsend:
I remember enjoying going to a fitting for the bathing suit which was custom made. I don’t remember rehearsing the scene with John Turturro. We just had a nice chat before shooting. I remember walking down the beach for technical rehearsal and going up to Joel and Ethan at some point for directions. They just said to do it as it’s written in the script. Joel said” Isabelle, you can do this with your eyes closed!” I guess that was all I needed to hear.

Q: The photo hanging in Barton Fink’s hotel room varies slightly from your scene at the end of the film. Are you pictured in the actual photo, and if so, was that a separate day of shooting? Can you tell us how the hotel photo came about?
Isabelle Townsend:
Yes I am pictured above Barton’s desk in the hotel room and it was a separate day of shooting.

Q: Speaking of the photo, were you able to keep any production keepsakes? Many have wondered where the original photograph ended up. Is that hanging in an office somewhere? Do you have any personal photos from the set that you would be willing to share?
Isabelle Townsend:
I was not able to keep any production items and the picture is not hanging in my office!I have no pics to share. Wish I did!

Q: The final shot of the film includes yourself in the foreground with a bird diving into the ocean background. According to many accounts, the inclusion of the bird was not intentional. It’s easy to imagine the crew having a good laugh as the bird “ruined” the shot, but do you happen to recall that moment? Was the diving bird noticed or acknowledged on-set?
Isabelle Townsend:
The bird was not intentional! I remember reading an interview of Joel and Ethan joking that the bird was in the script and they had always been lucky with birds…everybody on set had a good laugh about it. It’s Joel and Ethan’s genius to use moments such as this.

Q: Did you attend the premier at Cannes Film Festival, and was that the first time you saw the film? What was that like? What did you think of the film when you first saw it? When was the last time you watched Barton Fink?
Isabelle Townsend:
I did not attend the premier in Cannes film Festival, but I did get a chance to go to a production screening. I think the last scene reflects Barton’s state of mind, the nightmare he had gone through, the fact that he had lost his sanity. The scene has a soothing effect. I’ve been told it felt like a breath of fresh air. “Beauty” is not in the entertainment business, as Barton seems to think…perhaps she knows better…she may even know about writer’s block as she stares back at the horizon and its emptiness.

Q: Did “Barton Fink” change the direction of your career? Have you ever been recognized as “Beauty”?
Isabelle Townsend:
Yes, I got an agent and I did get recognized as “Beauty” without the tan!

Q: The Coens have discussed filming a sequel to “Barton Fink” called “Old Fink”, and while we have no idea what the script might include, I wonder if “Beauty” might make a cameo. Interested?
Isabelle Townsend:
I am not aware of a sequel. Of course I would be interested. Let me know if you hear anything further.

Q: Have you enjoyed any of the other films by the Coen Brothers? Care to name a favorite? Also, do any memories stand out to you when thinking back to your involvement in “Barton Fink”? Any anecdotes welcome!
Isabelle Townsend:
I am a huge fan of Joel and Ethan’s work. They are simply brilliant. I enjoyed among others “Hudsucker Proxy”, “Raising Arizona” and “Fargo” which I did go to the premier of in Cannes and saw Joel and Ethan again afterwards at the party in a cloud of artificial snow!

All the best,
Isabelle Townsend

Thanks are due to Joe who has contributed a lot to YKFK over the years. Thanks, Joe (and sorry it took me so long to get around to posting this up!).

Fred Melamed, last seen playing the incredibly earnest Sy Ableman in A Serious Man, has confirmed in an interview with Empire magazine that the Coen brothers may have a role for him in their future adaptation of Michael Chabon’s The Yiddish Policemen’s Union. In said interview in the April 2010 issue of the magazine, when asked how he landed the role of Sy he said;

“I know the Coens a little bit as I went to school with Joel’s wife, Frances McDormand. I actually auditioned for a role in Barton Fink, the pushy movie executive, but Michael Lerner got it. Then they offered me a part in The Hudsucker Proxy, a character wearing only a baby diaper. Luckily, I wasn’t available. Finally, we made it work. And they told me there may be a part for me in The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, when they make that.”

I would love Melamed to become one of the Coen Family.

Lurking in Twitter I found a link to this, frankly awesome, collection of re-imagined Coen brothers movie posters. The designers at Poster Lab have reworked posters for Blood Simple, Barton Fink, The Hudsucker Proxy, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, The Man Who Wasn’t There and No Country For Old Men. I think you’ll agree that they’re truly beautiful.

Click on the images below to see the full size posters;

Which is your favourite? Mine? It’s a toss-up (no pun intended) between No Country and Hudsucker.

I’ll keep an eye on Poster Lab and update if they do the missing movies, I really hope they do.

Just spotted this on Twitter but, for some reason, the Raindance website has made the screenplays for EVERY, and I mean EVERY, Coen brothers’ movie available for download. Now, this includes the screenplays for both A Serious Man AND their next movie, True Grit!!! You heard me right- including TRUE GRIT!

I suggest you get them ALL while you can because I can’t imagine the True Grit one being available for long. Get them HERE!

Obviously most of them are available right here on YKFK and have been for a long time however, I have gotten into a bit of legal deep water in the past for posting up scripts for forthcoming movies before which is why I have not uploaded the ones for Burn After Reading, A Serious Man and True Grit…

Empire magazine’s website has listed what they consider to be the the 20 best micro-part characters from the Coen brothers oeuvre. Here’s are those 20…

1. Loren Visser (M Emmet Walsh), Blood Simple

2. Dot (Frances McDormand), Raising Arizona

3. Nathan Arizona (Trey Wilson), Raising Arizona

4. Johnny Caspar (Jon Polito), Miller’s Crossing

5. Tic Tac (Al Mancini), Miller’s Crossing

6. Jack Lipnick (Michael Lerner), Barton Fink

7. W.P. Mayhew (John Mahoney), Barton Fink

8. Waring Hudsucker (Charles Durning), The Hudsucker Proxy

9. Buzz (Jim True-Frost), The Hudsucker Proxy

10. Mike Yanagita (Steve Park), Fargo

11. Officer Lou (Bruce Lohene), Fargo

12. Marty (Jack Keller), The Big Lebowski

13. Penny Wharvey McGill (Holly Hunter), O Brother, Where Art Thou?

14. Freddy Reidenschneider (Tony Shalhoub), The Man Who Wasn’t There

15. Gus Petch (Cedric the Entertainer), Intolerable Cruelty

16. Wheezy Joe (Irwin Keyes), Intolerable Cruelty

17. Deputy Wendell (Garret Dillahunt), No Country For Old Men

18. Gas Station Proprietor (Gene Jones), No Country For Old Men

19. CIA Superior (J.K. Simmons), Burn After Reading

20. Sy Abelman (Fred Melamed), A Serious Man

Nice to see a couple of entries from Intolerable Cruelty which I still think is massively underrated suffering, as it does, from the weight of Coen quality prior to it.

What do you think? Has anyone been missed?  Only ONE from The Big Lebowski? I would have Knox Harrington (David Thewlis) in there right away! And no Jesus Quintana (John Turturro), surely Jesus’ part is small enough to make this list? None from The Ladykillers? Let’s talk…

Watch a 5 minute interview with Joel and Ethan Coen. Watch them discuss A Serious Man. Observe them put the Lebowski/Jesus spin-off rumours to bed. View them chat openly about their plans for Old Fink- their much-mooted sequel to Barton Fink. See Ethan pick at his fingers.

Hit this link to view the clip (it has no embed options).

Hi all, just a quick note to say that I’ve closed the last poll I ran to see which of the two proposed Coen brothers sequels you, as long time fans, would rather see made. The result is…

Old Fink – 61%

100 Minutes of Jesus – 39%

So some kind of Barton Fink sequel wins! Now it’s back to usual poll now with the addition of A Serious Man as a choice for your favourite Coen brothers’ movie.

n

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).

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!