edited by Jonathan Doyle

Mafioso (The Criterion Collection, 3.18.2008) Nino Badalamenti is a supervisor in a car manufacturing plant who hasn't taken a vacation in over two years. On his way out the door to visit his beloved childhood hometown of Sicily -- with his blonde wife and daughters -- Nino is handed a package by his boss and asked to deliver it to a powerful and influential Sicilian gangster named Don Vincenzo. Once in Sicily, Nino has a hoot seeing friends and family, but his wife has trouble fitting in and is unfairly dismissed as a snob by Nino's family. Even more worrisome, Nino finds himself entangled in an intricate web of secret mafioso dealings and is eventually sent on an unexpectedly... elaborate errand. (continued)

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July 2

Hancock

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The Whackness

July 4

Diminished Capacity

Gonzo: The Life and Work of Hunter S. Thompson

Holding Trevor

Kabluey

We are Together

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Full Battle Rattle

July 11

A Man Named Pearl

August

Eight Miles High

Garden Party

Harold

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Journey to the Center of the Earth

Meet Dave

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired

The Stone Angel

July 18

A Very British Gangster

Before I Forget

The Dark Knight

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Two Tickets to Paradise

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Joel and Ethan Coen have called George Clooney's characters in O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Intolerable Cruelty and Burn After Reading "my trilogy of idiots," Clooney said in a 3.28 Screen Daily interview. "The only thing that made me feel better [about Burn] was that Brad Pitt is as stupid as I am in this one. I get to play Tilda Swinton's lover who hates me and is rotten to me throughout the whole thing. It's a flat-out comedy. There's not a message in it."

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on March 30, 2008 at 10:21 PM

comment #1

Pinko Punko says ...

I think those are two of Clooney's best roles, and I don't find the characters to be completely idiotic. I thought they were more nuanced than that.

Posted by Pinko Punko at March 30, 2008 10:58 PM

comment #2

Cinexcellence says ...

I think watching Michael Clayton immediately before Burn Without Reading should prove interesting. :-)

Posted by Cinexcellence at March 30, 2008 11:14 PM

comment #3

Dzayson says ...

God did I ever loathe Intolerable Cruelty. Between it and The Ladykillers, the Cohens were pretty much dead to me. Until No Country, of course.

O Brother was great fun. Here' s hoping Burn is more in the tradition of Fargo, Hudsucker, and O Brother instead of their more recent comedies.

Posted by Dzayson at March 31, 2008 12:01 AM

comment #4

The Hoyk says ...

I detest O BROTHER and INTOLERABLE CRUELTY and THE LADYKILLERS, were it not for Tom Hanks unhinged energy, would have been the final nail in the Coens' coffin. So honestly, I am very scared when Clooney describes BURN AFTER READING as continuing a theme that, frankly, should have never even been begun. The Coens should learn a lesson from NO COUNTRY and stick to lean mean storytelling with none of their old snarky bullshit.

Posted by The Hoyk at March 31, 2008 05:02 AM

comment #5

Aris P says ...

Out of what, 15, features they've done, maybe 3 are "lean and mean", like you state. The rest are all snarky, cooky, crackpot yarns. No Country was basically an anomaly in the brothers' oeuvre. Based on their upcoming 3 films (Burn, something they're doing in Minnesota about "Jews", and the recent Chabon book), it looks like we're in for some fun snark. They're great filmakers when they want lean and mean, but they are first and foremost 2 jokers making bizarro cult films.

Posted by Aris P at March 31, 2008 06:54 AM

comment #6

Breedlove says ...

Cannot wait for this. Adding Frances Mcdormand to the Clooney/Pitt combo is going to kick ass.

Posted by Breedlove at March 31, 2008 07:11 AM

comment #7

actionman says ...

Have never seen a Coen brother film I didn't at least like, and I happen to love much of their work.

Stuff like Intolerable Cruelty and The Ladykillers were little experiments that weren't genius but were far from disasters.

Burn After Reading, from everything I've read and heard, sounds like a deceptive little comedy. Can't wait.

Posted by actionman at March 31, 2008 08:02 AM

comment #8

Jeffrey Kunze says ...

Actionman: "Have never seen a Coen brother film I didn't at least like, and I happen to love much of their work."

Actionman, you've never seen a movie you didn't at least like in your whole entire life!

Posted by Jeffrey Kunze at March 31, 2008 09:29 AM

comment #9

actionman says ...

Did you ever see Pathfinder? That was horrible. Did you ever see I Know Pronounce You Chuck and Larry? That was painful. Live Free or Die Hard was horrendous. There are lots of movies that suck and that I didn't enjoy. The Coen's just haven't made any of 'em.

Posted by actionman at March 31, 2008 10:12 AM

comment #10