Lido-Toronto Two-Step
Given persistent speculation about the Coen brothers’ Burn After Reading being destined to play at the 2008 Toronto Film Festival (9.4 to 9.13), it comes as no surprise that it’s now been chosen to open the 65th Venice Film Festival on 8.27. It’s a standard tactic for fall films with a modicum of class to do the old Lido-Toronto two-step prior to their commercial debut. Focus Features will open Burn stateside on 9.12. It will preem in the U.K. on 9.5.
When is Focus going to release a decent assortment of stills from Burn After Reading? I’m getting sick of looking at this popcorn still over and over.
The third film in George Clooney‘s “idiot trilogy” (following his turns in the Coen’s O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Intolerable Cruelty), Burn After Reading, which the Coens wrote and directed, is about a couple of Washington, D.C. gym employees trying to shake down an ousted CIA official (John Malkovich) after they find a disc containing his inside-the-agency memoir.
I forget who plays the gym employees (read the script a long time ago and I wasn’t sure even then), but the costars are Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton and Richard Jenkins.
Burn is a Working Title production, produced by Joel and Ethan and executive-produced by Working Title’s Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Robert Graf.
Old country was a great film but it really wasn’t a very Coen’s Bros film. It didn’t have all the weird & interesting supporting characters that give their movies that fun frenetic pace. Burn After Reading sounds like it going to be more in this vein & I, for one, am stoked about it.
It didn’t have all the weird & interesting supporting characters
???
Mister did you not hear me, I caint give out no numbers …
the lady in the trailer park or the boot store clerk, or TLJs uncle (barry corbin) or carla jeans mother (beth grant) or stephen root (man who hires wells) dont count
The pic on imdb of Pitt in the bicycle helmet is a nice Coen-y image:
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1339529216/tt0887883
I think he’s even supposed to play a bigger idiot than Clooney’s character. Should be fun.
I am stoked to see Pitt in an all-out comedy. He is very funny in interviews, hope that translates well to the screen.
yeah I too look forward to seeing Pitt doing the idiot. Not sure what to make of that photo though…
Berg compared to earlier Coen’s Bros work they were less interesting & less of them. Compared to the Coen’s catalog from Blood Simple – The Big Lebowski, they are at the bottom. Compared to 90% of good movies they’re great. Most of it had to do with the more somber & serious tone the movie had so the usual over the top performances weren’t there.
Frances McDormand and Brad Pitt are the gym employees.
I’m sure Burn After Reading will be just as bland and flat as the other two Clooney/Coen collaborations.