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!

Once again, the frankly awesome, John Turturro is talking about the possibility of a Jesus Quintana Big Lebowski spin-off movie. It seems he really wants to do it and the world really wants to see it so come on, Joel and Ethan- write the thing!!! Check out this brief red carpet interview…

I love The Big Lebowski, I really do. Everytime I see something new like this it just makes me smile ear to ear. Here’s a short, 3 minute interview with Jesus Quintana himself – John Turturro where he speaks about his working relationship with Joel and Ethan Coen. Amusingly he states that after trying out all the different, crazy things on set (the ball shining, the ball licking, the Hotel California dance) he was “completely embarrassed” when he saw the final cut. Also, intriguingly, he states that the Coens like his idea for a Lebowski Jesus spin off where “Jesus gets out of jail and drives a school bus”. Anyway here’s the clip…

Thanks to Sandra for mailing the link in.

File this one under “very unlikely to happen” but there is increasing noise from the stars of The Big Lebowski about how much they’d like to do a sequel. John Turturro, the unforgettable Jesus Quintana, has long held the dream of the Coens writing and directing a Jesus spin-off movie (see: Jesus Quintana Spinoff in Future Projects section).

Steve Buscemi, whose character Donnie died at the end of the original movie, reckons a Donnie-centric prequel would be the way to go: “You could have the prequel to ‘The Big Lebowski. It could be the life of Donnie the surfer because remember, he not only bowls, he surfs.”

Julianne Moore had this to say: “I think she has a role in everybody’s universe, Maude abides too! She’s with The Dude somewhere, man, she had The Dude’s baby, remember? So there’s a mini-Dude out there. [Maybe the movie] is called ‘Mini-Dude’!” About Turturro’s dream Jesus spin-off she said: “He should! What a great character. He’s incredibly powerful.”

Philip Seymour Hoffman, the Big Lebowski’s sycophantic assistanct, Brandt, has said: ““That’s just like a sick thought, isn’t it? I love that [Lebowski] has a life now. I had a ball making it.” 

I don’t know where I stand on this. I think it would be interesting to see where the Dude and his pals are 10 years on but I think the script would have to be something very, very special to live up to the beloved original. It could be interesting to see a prequel but wouldn’t that have to involve Jesus exposing himself to 8 year-olds? I’m not sure I want to see that put to screen. As for the idea of having a “mini-dude”, I think that would be horrible. The possibility of such an idea [a child of the main character] is pretty much what killed off the sequel to Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns. On top of this the Coen brothers are yet to make a sequel of any kind. I guess we’ll see…

Quotes are taken from MTV Movie Blogs and the link(s) were emailed in, once again, by Bunnie and Joe- thanks you guys!

In light of the release of Burn After Reading movie site ReelzChannel.com has a top 10 countdown of what they consider to be the best minor characters in the Coen pantheon. Of course, John Turturro’s incredible turn as Jesus Quintana in The Big Lebowski wins out. Check it out here.

Also Metromix has a photo gallery countdown of the quirkiest characters from Coen brothers movies. Many of the same characters make both lists.

Thanks to Marc for mailing both of these in.

Pretty much what the title says- the website for the 10th Anniversary DVD release of The Big Lebowski is now live. It’s pretty much an updated version of the website some of you may remember for the previous Special Edition DVD release back in 2005. The front page of this site has some nice movie clips of interviews with the cast (including Jeff Bridges, John Turturro, John Goodman, Julianne Moore and Steve Buscemi) and the Coen brothers. Here’s a quote to make you smile ear to ear- John Goodman said, “This is what I’ll be remembered for and that’s aces with me.” If these new interviews are indicative of the extra features on the DVD surely we ALL have to buy it… don’t we?

Thanks to long-time YKFK reader, Bunnie for pointing this one out.

In what has to be one of the most interesting photo shoots I think I’ve ever seen the New York Times has comissioned a shoot involving past Coen alumni including Javier Bardem, Kelly MacDonald, Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore, Jon Polito, Holly Hunter, Tara Reid, Sam Elliot, Steve Buscemi and John Turturro in a series of strange scenes. I think it’s best if you just look for yourself. Below is the accompanying text.

At first glance, “No Country,” which is a kind of modern western with almost mythological themes set against the landscape of Texas, would seem to be a surprising fit with the Coens, who are known for dark, almost surrealistic comedies like the Oscar-winning “Fargo,” the Hollywood noir “Barton Fink” and their ode to stoner iconoclasm, “The Big Lebowski.” But “No Country,” like their other movies, allowed them to create unique characters and simultaneously twist a genre. From the start of their career, with the film “Blood Simple” in 1984, the Coens have consistently reinvented conventional types of cinema by tweaking and reimagining instantly recognizable archetypes. In “No Country,” Javier Bardem plays an unstoppable, coldblooded killer with an existential streak. Though he is not described this way in McCarthy’s book, the Coens pictured him with a Prince Valiant haircut and a fastidious style of dress — a potentially stock cinematic character transformed into a new western classic. “He’s like the man who fell to earth,” Joel suggested. “He’s the thing that doesn’t grow out of that landscape.”

The West was built on transplants, on men and women who sought to redefine themselves in a land of opportunity. Since many of their movies are set in that part of America, the Coen brothers have observed and then reimagined many of those strivers, weirdos, beauties, believers and would-be prophets. From Holly Hunter’s baby-nabbing cop in “Raising Arizona” to Sam Elliott’s philosophical cowboy in “The Big Lebowski,” the Coens have created, again and again, instantly iconic creatures of the West. In this portfolio, photographed by Finlay MacKay, we sought to further the adventures of those Coen-devised personalities.

“We still want to make a real period western,” Joel said. “With no cars and in black and white. But it might be a little narrow.” Ethan nodded. “ ‘No Country’ was kind of like a genre thing, but in a genre thing the characters end up differently,” he said. “ ‘No Country’ is perverse. And we always like something perverse.”

Thanks to John on the forum for alerting us.

John Turturro has been talking about a possible Big Lebowski Jesus Quintana spin off movie again. In an interview with Gothamist.com he brought it up, pertinent parts below but you can read the whole thing here.

Back on the subject of cult classics, The Big Lebowski has gone on to become one. Yeah, look at that. Didn’t do great here originally but now it has.

Were you surprised by the lukewarm response the film received when it came out? No, wasn’t surprised; I didn’t realize how funny it was.

When I first saw it in the theater I thought, “That was interesting.” But then over repeated viewings it’s just gotten better and better for me. One of my favorite films. It’s really, really, really – It’s really, really good. It’s really, really good! It’s hilarious. Maybe someday we’ll do a little spin-off of it. We’ve talked about it. But we’ll see.

Is there any chance of that? I want to make a Jesus film but Joel and Ethan… We’ve got to sit down. Maybe next year I’ll get them to write it. We’ll see.

Was that your idea to lick the bowling ball? A lot of those ideas were mine, yeah. But Joel and Ethan and I kind of share the same sensibility. And that’s why they were so helpful on my film, editing it. Because I don’t have to explain things to them. They understand. And they know how to make it better.

Thanks to John for emailing this in.

Jesus Quintanta/Bernie Bernbaum/Barton Fink himself, John Turturro, has, as I’m sure you’re aware by now, directed his third movie, Romance & Cigarettes which is executive produced by the Coen brothers. You can read an interview he did at the NFT in London at the link on the right. There are a few mentions of the Coen brothers, such as the fact that it was their idea for Turturro to cast James Gandolfini in the movie..

Guardian Unlimited