Like buses you wait ages and then two come along at once! News gathers apace on No Country For Old Men, more from Empire Online… We reported yesterday that the Coen Brothers No Country For Old Men was due to go into production in May. Today comes the news that Javier Bardem and Tommy Lee Jones are in talks to lead the cast. The story of a young man who takes a fortune in cash from a dead body he finds near the Rio Grande, only to find himself at risk from drug dealers and hit men. We’re guessing that Bardem and Jones are down to play the bad guy and local sheriff respectively, but we’ll keep you up to date as we learn more. Bardem is predominantly known for his excellent dramatic work in Before Night Falls and The Sea Inside, but he had some comedy roles earlier in his career, so the Coens could really bring out his lighter side. Recently the Coens have been skewing a little too close to mainstream – not that popularity and quality are mutually exclusive but bigger budgets seem to have diluted the creativity they had when they were working with a 48p and as much John Turturro as they could carry. Here’s hoping this sees them back on form.

A slow, slow news time so I thought I’d mention that in, yet another, poll in Empire magazine, this time “the 200 things that rocked Empire’s world” in it’s 16 year (200 issue) life, the Coen brothers made it in at the dizzying height of number 7!

Blood Simple has been named the 15th Greatest Independent Movie of All Time in Empire Online’s list of 50. They had this to say about it…. “The Coen Brothers launched themselves upon an unsuspecting world with this noir throwback in 1984, and they haven’t looked back. But all their subsequent success – and many of their trademark flourishes – can be dated back to this Texas-set tale of private eyes, murder most foul and more double (triple, and quadruple) crosses than you can count. The style is present and correct in the almost black-and-white locations and bright red blood, but it’s the tone that stands out. Like Fargo without the warmth of Marge Gunderson, or Miller’s Crossing without the qualms of conscience, Blood Simple is the darkest, and arguably up there with the best, of the Coens’ films.”