Ich möchte auch nochmal zum Ende der Woche hin was wirklich Relevantes sagen. Deswegen:

Kennt ihr den Film “The Big Lebowski”? Wenn nicht: Angucken. Der rockt.

Und nochmal ein herzliches FUUUCK  YEAH und allen ein schönes Wochenende.

…und nun ist auch das Niveau hier wohl wieder auf der richtigen Höhe.

Welcome to Issue 3 of “Dig, Dug, Damn!”, titled “Sci X, X“, where I will speak on some of my favorite ladies in science-fiction/fantasy that I want all to myself but am forced to share with the world.  Now, I’m no Joss Whedon or anything, but I am a big supporter of women and take great delight in the strength of broads.  Even better is strong fictional women in science fiction/fantasy, because as said in the opening title sequence of The Twilight Zone where Rod Serling would say, “…the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge”, these genre stories mirror our world and to put our sexy foot forward first in these properties is more than a social commentary on the growing domain of women- it’s a proclamation that, well, maybe the girls can do it better than the boys.  Sometimes, but here are a few that cannot be topped.

Tank Girl

Very much like my undying affection for Howard the Duck is my love for all things Tank Girl, including the admittedly subpar but still a blast-movie (yo, anytime you have Jeff Kober as one of the main good guys you know what you’re watching is special [in a good way or bad is up to you]).  The lovechild creation of Alan Martin and Jamie Hewlett, Tank Girl is one of the ten best comic characters ever created, fueled by the manic, unstructured origins of every original story in Deadline magazine.  She can reinvent herself between panels if so desired, and change her attitude even quicker, and blow something up quicker still.  The marsupial loving lady really pulls at my heart strings because no matter her allegiances she’s good in a fight, making her story truly her own.  Nowhere else in comics have I ever seen such a punk-mentality manifesto of energy, wit, insanity, and nicotine buzzes, and I don’t ever expect I will.  She is so unapologetically herself that her books and stories are instantly refreshing, the market filled with lead characters of hidden identities, traumatic childhoods, and ever-so prevalent melodrama.  She is a fashion icon, too (if you were born in the 1990’s you probably didn’t see this much as you were busy listening to The Backstreet Boys and being a simpleton in diapers), and my memory is filled with rough n’ tumble girls with mohawks and other weird hair styles sported by our heavy metal heroine.  Let me just put it this way- if you know a character with more character or wit or dynamite than my girl here, you’re full of crap. (site: tank-girl.com)

The Powerpuff Girls

Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice- these were the ingredients chosen to make what is in my opinion the best animated science fiction action-comedy of all time, and it might beat even the best of the live action supreme.  Blossom, the straight-laced Nancy Drew type, Buttercup, the butch girl who loves to fight, and Bubbles, the quintessential toothache-sweet bundle of sunshine.  How in the world Craig McCracken took his original idea, “The Whoop-Ass Girls”, and turned them into what is probably the most successful American cartoon of the last 20 years is beyond my comprehension, but it’s truly genius.  Being in my mid-20’s, I have a youthful sensability and, believe it or not, this is the prime time to watch, finally capable of catching every joke, hidden reference and easter egg, like episode “Mommy Fearest” where Professor Utonium goes on a date with villian Sedusa, and it is implied that Buttercup gives him condoms, or the episode that is nothing but an awesome homage to The Big Lebowski (another McCracken’s show, Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, had cameos by Dude Lebowski, Walter Sobchak, and Theodore Donald Kerabatsos in an episode based around bowling, of course).  Where in the world the idea was created that the show, about 3 children created by science, who are in kindergarten, and are superheroes against monkeys and monsters, was a program for girls is baffling.  It’s as much about girls, having 3 main female characters, as it is about the word “the”, which is in the title of the show.  It’s a silly thing, and I would love for the show to make a come back amongst the youth as it’s an excellent program techincally and is one of the funniest cartoons made in my lifetime. (site: cartoonnetwork.com/tv_shows/ppg/)

Rikku (of Final Fantasy X & Final Fantasy X-2)

Those of you in the know may already be wanting to ask, “But why just her?  Why not just say “YRP” and get a picture with Yuna and Paine in it as well?”  To you I say, “Dang, you’re pushy and a busybody!  Leave me alone,” because you didn’t even let me explain myself.  The reason is what one might call a “crush”, though I prefer to call it “blind and giddy admiration”.  I mean, the swirly green Al Bhed eyes, the tiny frame and flowing locks of hair are enough to get anyone’s attention (assuming she were more real and less fictional), but what a hero she is, helping save the world twice, and doing so the second time mainly in support of a friend.  Don’t quote me on this, but I don’t know if I could hero up like that, especially when you’re putting yourself in harms way just for a friend’s happiness.  Final Fantasy X-2 is an all-time favorite of mine and truly all 3 of the ladies were amazing examples of a woman’s power (even LeBlanc lol), but Rikku stands out to me for her expertise and fun loving, playful attitude.  Especially cool for me, Rikku was voiced by Tara Strong who has already appeared in this list, also being the voice of Bubbles on The Powerpuff Girls.  She’s sexy and talented and blonde, making the two very similar.  Plus, Al Bhed is an awesome language (that I hope to one day learn), so Rikku is hot, tough, funny, foreign, and polygonal.  I wish I could meet a down ass chick like her! (site: na.square-enix.com/games/FFX-2/)

]]> http://cinecafe.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/o-grande-lebowski-joel-e-ethan-coen-1998/ Tue, 24 Nov 2009 01:21:24 +0000 Bernardo Brum http://cinecafe.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/o-grande-lebowski-joel-e-ethan-coen-1998/

- por Bernardo Brum

A era hippie acabou e agora todos estão trabalhando. Mas você sabe, às vezes tem um homem que pode mudar tudo isso.  Sem comunistas, agora no máximo podemos acreditar no discurso deste republicano ou daquele democrata. Mas às vezes existe um homem para provar como nós todos estávamos enganados. Tudo agora é baseado no dinheiro para a caridade, para as artes plásticas ou para fortalecer a máfia da pornografia em videotape, que não sabem mais o que é cinema. Só que as vezes tem um homem que não liga, chega e destrambelha tudo.  E esse homem que eu não conheço não é ninguém importante, mas você sabe que às vezes tem um homem que… Hum, perdi o fio da meada.

Eis Jeffrey Lebowski, O Cara, exímio jogador de boliche que junto de seus incapazes amigos – o cardíaco Donny e o psicótico ex-combatente do Vietnã Walter – é tirado do seu mundo de baseados, white russians e calorosos debates nos clubes onde bolas rolam e pinos caem para fazer as vezes de Sam Spade. Ou de Philip Marlowe. Para aqueles sombrios anos pós-depressão,  o homem era Bogart, gel no cabelo, terno impecável, cigarrinho no canto da boca e frases ferinas. Nesses anos de incrível ressaca moral, nós temos que deixar isso pra lá e buscar compensação por nossos carpetes mijados e nossas fitas do Creedence.

Esse é o dilema moral do Cara. Tomado por um milionário homônimo, tendo seu carpete mijado e tendo que sair por aí atrás de uma ex-atriz pornô casada com o tal Grande Lebowski – que, segundo o próprio foi raptada por uma gangue de… niilistas? E, claro, no meio do caminho tendo que aguentar moleques arrogantes, a filha excêntrica do milionário, o síndico afetado, o pederasta mothafucka’, agiotas do mundo pornô, a polícia, um taxista que é fã do Eagles, os ataques de Walter, e lá vamos nós.

Predileção dos Coen, O Grande Lebowski é um grande filme sobre o nada, a desinformação, a estupidez e a fragilidade da vida. Só O Cara que não parece ligar sobre isso, e em momento algum ele reina soberano – o mundo faz gato e sapato de um pobre vagabundo metido em uma conspiração digna de um O Falcão Maltês ou À Beira do Abismo que, no final das contas, surgiu apenas por causa do caos que faz de nossas vidas grandes campanhas em nome de coisa alguma e que só foram empreendidas, afinal, porque nós somos estúpidos demais para fazer qualquer coisa útil. Ou preguiçosos, talvez.

Aí, uma bola de feno sendo empurrada por aí pelo vento logo transforma-se em sonhos psicodélicos envolvendo garotas gostosas vestidas de viking em uma pista de boliche, ou cinzas de um defunto sendo jogadas em nosso rosto. É tudo muito frágil, ridiculamente frágil. E é tudo muito estúpido, hilariamente estúpido. O planeta é tão rico em oxigênio quanto em burrice, e assim segue o balaio das grandes epopéias dos inúteis, por gerações. Por que, às vezes, tem um Cara para nos mostrar tudo isso. Às vezes, tem um cara para acender uns baseados e ouvir uns rockzinhos safados antes de terem a cabeça afundada na privada. Às vezes, tem… um Cara.

5/5

Ficha técnica: O Grande Lebowski (The Big Lebowski) – 1998, EUA. Dir.: Joel e Ethan Coen. Elenco: Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Tara Reid, John Turturro, Flea

My foot did NOT go over the line! It counts as a strike!

(Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Steve Buscemi, Jeff Bridges and John Goodman)

Picture by: dunno source Caption by: Darklion via Our LOL Builder

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I love The Big Lebowski so I thought I would share this cool piece of art by Jeremy Couturier.

It’s up for sale over on Etsy, but be sure to check out Jeremy’s web site – lots of other cool pictures there. Well worth a look.

I remember when I watched this as a kid and thought it was the funniest thing. Now I don’t even know what I was thinking.

Jesse Montgomery (Ashton Kutcher) and Chester Greenburg (Seann William Scott) are hard-partying pizza-delivery dudes who wake up one morning with no recollection of what happened the previous night — including where they parked Jesse’s car! As they try to retrace their steps, they get mixed up with latex-clad transsexual strippers, a pot-smoking dog, invading aliens … and angry ostriches!

I look at this film and all I have to say is wait “Dude”, sounds like a Lebowski sequel. Sadly it is not and and to be truly honest it should’ve been cause with this story there was nowhere to go with this story.

The one thing I will give this film is that it is great to see with a bunch of friends. A lot of the dialouge is very quotable, though it’s stupid as hell. When I watched this with a bunch of my friends we we’re laughing cause it was stupid and some of it, but not too much of it was actually funny.

So the most annoying thing about the party is the protagonists of this film played by Kutcher and William Scott. They have good performances, but are really annoying and I didn’t find any of their lines hilarious at all. They sort of overdo the fact that they are a bunch of stoner to the point of where their just frickin stupid.

The plot goes from bad to worse in a total of 10 minutes into the film. By the end it really does get out of hand as it starts to do these lame-ass parodies of science-fiction films, and to be truly honest I found this not funny nor amusing, and just totally stupid to have.

The production value of this film just looked really cheaply made. I felt like I was in a really bad canceled in 3rd week TV sit-com. I know this is a minor complaint but I had a feeling that the film could’ve branched out rather than just staying in the same place doing nothing interesting at all.

One more note that if you actually watch this film and Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, you will see so many similarities. However, Bill and Ted’s was good this is not.

Consensus: This is a dumb, cheaply made, and idiotic film that features unlikable characters and a bunch of stupid stoner jokes that aren’t the least bit amusing.

2/10=SomeOleBullShitttt!!!!

Big Lebowski, The (1998)
★★★ / ★★★★

I usually don’t like screwball comedies because the characters are stupid without any sort of redeeming qualities, the jokes are rude and sometimes mean-spirited, the story has no idea where to go, and I quickly get bored watching them because they fail to get me to think. Strangely enough, I enjoyed “The Big Lebowski,” written and directed by the Coen brothers, because of such qualities except for the fact that it is far from mean-spirited. Jeff Bridges stars as The Dude, whose real name was Jeffrey Lebowski, a guy who was mistaken by two miscreants as the millionaire Lebowski. Since the two didn’t get what they wanted from The Dude, one of them decided to pee on his carpet. What started off as a story about a slacker who wanted compensation for his carpet ended up being about a lot of things: a kidnapped woman (Tara Reid), an artist who had intentions of her own (Julianne Moore), nihilists who craved money, and the dynamics among bowling buddies (Steve Buscemi and John Goodman). All of such disparate elements came to together in a way that didn’t necessarily make sense–in fact, sometimes I had no idea what was going on–but it was very funny because each character was driven by well-defined motivations (no matter how strange they might have been). I did not expect this kind of movie from the Coen brothers because I’m more familiar with their thrillers (“No Country for Old Men,” “Blood Simple”) and dark comedies (“Intolerable Cruelty,” “Fargo”), but after watching the film I was glad that I got a taste of their lighter side. The only real complaint I had with this picture was it had no reason to run for almost two hours long. Somewhere after the half-way point, I began to wonder when it was going to be over because at that point it still did not try to put the pieces of the puzzle together. The characters were still too busy running around like children and it made me restless. Nevertheless, despite its flaws, I still enjoyed watching this movie because of the characters’ funny fixations and interesting mistaken identities. And considering I detest stoner comedies, I think it’s a solid accomplishment.

THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123, THE AMERICAN FRIEND, HANNAH AND HER SISTERS, A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES, DAWN OF THE DEAD, WILD STRAWBERRIES, PULP FICTION, THE BIG LEBOWSKI, 8 1/2, PSYCHO, TORN CURTAIN, CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS,  BROADWAY DANNY ROSE, AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, TIME INDEFINITE, DR. STRANGELOVE OR HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB, HALLOWEEN, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, HELLRAISER, DECONSTRUCTING HARRY, EYES WIDE SHUT

What can the Coen Brothers not do?

In a jealous rage, Texas tavern owner Julian Marty (Dan Hedaya) hires unscrupulous private detective Loren Visser (M. Emmett Walsh) to not only tail Marty’s two-timing spouse(Frances McDormand, in her big-screen debut) but also murder her and her paramour (John Getz). But events take a surprising turn when the gumshoe double-crosses his client.

This is the directorial debut of the Coen Brothers, and I have got to say this is some of their best work I have ever seen. Put this up against Fargo, Big Lebowski, and Barton Fink, they are nothing compared to this film.

Let’s just say if you want a stylized film neo-noir you have one right here. The cinematography from Barry Sonenfield. There are just scenes where they just have one image throughout a whole scene, and then there is one scene where it literally jumps over a guy laying his head down at a bar. The camera feels like another person itself, and you are that person as the story goes on.

Though this is big in this film, the Coen Brothers never really let that get in the way of their great story they have here of double-crossing, and then double-double-crossing, and who’s really dead and who’s actually alive.

I liked how everything that happened, happened for a reason and went with the story. The scenes weren’t put in just to be funny or more bloody but put in to add to this amazing story.

The screenplay is what is really rich, and becomes so realistic by the end of the film, I’m wondering if this was based on a true story. There are elements of irony, black comedy, and dark words in the screenplay, and all of the touches really felt genuine and not just put on to change to mood a little bit.

The acting from M. Emmett Walsh is really magnificent. He plays this character that we don’t know if we should hate or like because though he is a hit man, and a low-life. He still has that little charm that makes this film reasonably funny. John Hedaya, is very good in this film as well, and I just wish there were more scenes with him the main power point of it.

There was only one problem that I didn’t like about the film and it was that the ending really did have me confused. When it ends you know there’s a point that the film is trying to make but it really didn’t come across me too well.

Consensus: The Coen Brother’s debut is slick, rich, and most of all creatively told, and features some of the best material from them I have ever seen.

9.5/10=Full Pricee!!!

Friday night, 11:35. I tried to go to bed early; watched about an hour of The Big Lebowski (for, I think, the 80th time or so), and dozed off–only to wake up again as the end credits rolled, not feeling all that well. So here I am in the clammy basement–probably not the best idea, but whatever.

We have a busy day scheduled tomorrow. First, we are going to participate in the mass experiment in civil health care called “Get Your Kids Their Swine Flu Shots”. I think we are going to go to a church in Gahanna to do it; hopefully we can get a good dose of evangelicism along with our mercury-laden doses. Neither of the kids are traditionally good with shots, strangers, crowds, or public health officers.

Today also marked the end of the moving out portion of the office switch, which also, in a way, marks the end of the journey of the re-organization that my company unleashed back in July. That re-organization was the impetus for me starting this blog. Originally, I had hoped to write about it all the time, and with total truth and transparency–but as it grew less and less likely that I was going to be let go, I realized that I should keep myself under control about the subject. So I pretty much let it go after the big day, just dropping in on it as a subject now and again (such as now).

I was incorrect about my prediction of how many Tyga boxes it would take to pack up my worldly belongings–it ended up taking me 6 boxes (instead of 5). My old cubicle is more clean tonight than it was when I moved in. My temporary aislemates bid me adieu, and I left the office to have a drink with my brother.

Another thing that I’ve been thinking about today is the fact that it was the second time I’ve walked out of the building I was in, not knowing if I was ever going to have another office there. The first time was right before I moved to the Pacific Northwest, and my mood at that time was complete happiness. Today, it wasn’t like that–I am not sad, mind you, but just a bit wistful about the building and all the adventures I’ve had there. I really worked hard there, a lot, and I think I am going to miss it.

So, as I was saying–today, I am putting the re-organization behind me, completely, and am looking forward to the future. I think that it will end up being a good future.

I’m starting to run out of ideas to write about; I think I am going to make another attempt at sleep.

The Friendly Stranger Endorses: Not paying attention to the news. I had pretty much shut it off since the election on Tuesday, and when I went to visit a news website today–Jesus, this is a horrible world we live in, isn’t it?

Let this statement absorb into your mildly retarded to intelligent mind(s):  Shaun of the Dead is a perfect movie.  From second zero until end credits, Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg created a masterpiece.  Name me a scene in that film that they could have cut out… yup, shut up.

Centering a film around zombies in the last ten years is a simple way to start a movie, which has become the center of much critiquing and BITCHING from fans and fuckers alike.  Yeah, I will admit that screenwriters, producers, and directors need to adjust their attention a little in the genre of horror, but how easy is it to get an idea, name, or message out into the mass populace through the invention of zombies?  Easy as a girl named Breezy (ask me later).

“Rom-zom-com” was a genre coined by Shaun of the Dead.  It’s fucking silly, but I allow it.  A romantic-zombie-comedy is something we all wish we thought of first, but alas, we didn’t.  Closest pick that could be lumped into this genre is Zombie Honeymoon, but that flick is a bummer to say the least (rent it though).

George A. Romero is a man that horror buffs tip their hats to because whether you like it or no, he brought zombie films into the mainstream and did it well.  Some of his films look a little dated – for the obvious reasons – with all the undead cinema flooding the market now, but Shaun of the Dead took the schematic of rotting men and women lumbering about and feeding on human flesh infused humor, heart, and headshots.  In my opinion Romero has been rolling down a slippery slope of guts and flesh since Land of the Dead, but after watching Diary of the Dead I got a feeling the man needs to put the camera down and start penning some screenplays or producing projects that are up his gore soaked alley.  His new picture Survival of the Dead has the potential of bringing him out of this mass grave of shitty zombie movies, which he has directed himself into, but sometimes you just gotta pass the torch and move on.  Let’s get back on topic though, shall we?

Edgar Wright is one of those writers/directors who knows what he loves and it isn’t afraid to create something that is merely an homage to those things with a little something else added to it.  His sitcom Spaced even has a subtitle track on the DVDs entitled “Homage-o-Meter” that simply references anything within the realm of film, music, literature, and a bunch of random shit because that’s what compromises majority of the show.  Genius?  A little less, but leaning more towards prophetic.

The sappy – but good kinda sappy – that is strategically placed amongst the fart jokes and disemboweling in Shaun plucks on the heart strings so well because there usually isn’t a need for it within the genre.  Your typical horror fan that forks out $6.50 for Saw 23 (currently in pre-production) doesn’t need emotional substance within the film as long as the violence grows exponentially with each severed Achilles tendon.  Yet, when Bill Nighy – playing the stepfather – “death bed” confesses how hard it’s been raising Simon Pegg, I know I started welling up the first time I saw it.  And don’t get me started about the Mexican standoff involving Shaun’s mother.  Reservoir Dogs, you have now been trumped.

We’ve all seen plenty of slashers and the such where you can pretty much wave a finger at majority of the players and figure who’ll be letting out a sigh of relief right before the end credits roll and who’ll be dirt-napping ASAP.  Now if you can actually write a decent character then flesh them out as the camera rolls on them – whether they get the axe or not – we’re at least feeling for them as they attempt to survive through three acts.  But if you watch any trailers for movies within the last 10 years, Hollywood loves to show us EVERY FUCKING THING THAT’LL HAPPEN WITHIN 93 MINUTES condensed to a two and a half minute stream of clips, especially every dumb breeder that’s gonna fall on a dick or knife in I Know What You Did Last Summer With Your Dirty Mouf .  I remember watching the Episode I trailer in ninth grade and being so pissed off because it was obvious that Qui-Gon eats it.  Once again, thank you Mr. Lucas for perverting nearly everything that was holy during my childhood.  Sorry… I get kinda angry most of the time when I go off on tangents.

Every character in Shaun fits into at least one stereotype or more, which works as long as you give them a soul.  The token black guy wouldn’t be such a disposable character in cinema, but when does the “black friend in the group” ever get more than five lines that aren’t silly or just jive.  Stereotypes and cliches in movies work – especially in genre films – because it can create a familiarity with the audience that is comforting, but the fun and talent comes when the write and/or director abuses that comfort and throws you into oncoming traffic.  Sometimes you’re taken from your idea of what is safe and sure in your life or simply lead down a path you didn’t see coming.  I wouldn’t say that Shaun is abound with twist, turns, and surprises, but when you take the idea of the “bumbling idiot” (Pegg) and give him a family, friends, wit, and then hordes of zombies to bash his way through, you start to give two shits about him.  Stir in that drama I was talking about from before and what do you get?  A damn fine character.  Now let’s throw a bucket of blood over the whole mess and you we got ourselves a right good film.  Now me personally, I just need a rack of $7.99 failure ribs from Safeway and some Simply Apple Juice, then I’m in fat kid Heaven.  Moving on.

Shaun of the Dead may not be on the highest of cinematic plains, but for a film that panders to gore-hounds, drunks/stoners, those who still think farts are funny (real Americans), and people who hate bad kissers, it’s a work of art.  It’s a movie that reminds me of why I still love all the sentimental bullshit John Hughes put out or why constantly quoting the Cohen Borthers three bowling alley burnouts never gets tired.  It brings me back to why I shielded my  five year-old eyes from Carpenter’s shape-shifting alien in the Arctic or how Landis made someones dead bestfriend the funniest aspect of London.  Simply put, it’s a movie that makes me love movies.

The Men Who Stare At Goats is based on an actual group in the US Army who trained to become psychic warriors. It stars George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey.

Jeff Bridges plays Bill Django, a military man who returns from Vietnam to embrace the ’60s counterculture headlong. He stays in the Army to train a new squad of men: a group of would-be warrior monks who employ psychic powers to slay, but preferably sway, the enemy – Here’s a clip of Django training some new recruits.

Pat Owens sent me a great interview with The Dude where he talks about the film and his past.

“I’m a product of that age, that era,” says Bridges, who turns 60 next month. “You know, I did a lot of things that folks did back in the ’60s and ’70s.”

For example he knew John Lilly, the philosopher famous for exploring man-dolphin communication and developing the isolation tank.

“I was a buddy of John’s,” says Bridges. “I was one of his subjects in the isolation tank, he studied my responses to it. . . . So when it came time to do The Men Who Stare at Goats, I really looked back into that part of my past.”

One thing I felt when seeing clips of Bridges playing Bill Django was that he seemed to be very Dude like.

“I wasn’t really thinking of the Dude when I was doing this, I was going for a different thing,” he says. “But I can see how people would think that.”

Check out the rest of the interview over at The Philedelphia Enquirer as he goes on to talk about events that made him stick with being an actor.

The Dude abides.

I just can’t wait to see Jeff’s Widelux photos from behind the scenes of the film (check out some he took from the set of Iron Man).

Matt Damon

Matt Damon is in discussions to star in Ethan and Joel Coen’s remake of “True Grit.” Josh Brolin, who starred in the brothers’ “No Country for Old Men,” is also in talks for a major role.

Paramount Pictures and the Oscar-winning writer-director team are moving fast on their re-adaptation of the Charles Portis novel, first reaching out to Jeff Bridges, and now Damon and Brolin, to potentially star. Damon would take on the Glen Campbell role of a Texas Ranger tracking an outlaw along with a gruff U.S. marshal originally played by John Wayne, who won an Oscar for his role in the 1969 Western.

All three actors are in discussions with the studio, which hopes to move into production in the spring. The story concerns a 14-year-old girl traveling into dangerous territory with the two lawmen in search of the man who murdered her father, who Brolin would play.

Bridges and Brolin have worked with the Coens before, but Damon is new to their coterie of actors. Bridges famously portrayed Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski in the Brothers’ comic noir, “The Big Lebowski,” in 1998. Presumably, the new role will involve fewer acid flashbacks and bowling montages.

And Brolin played the doomed Llewelyn Moss in “No Country,” based on the Cormac McCarthy novel.

Scott Rudin, who produced the Best Picture winner “No Country,” is producing “Grit” as well, along with Steven Spielberg. Focus Features recently released the Coens’ latest film, “A Serious Man,” after premiering it at the Toronto film festival last month.

The WME-repped Damon recently starred in “The Informant!” and will next appear in Clint Eastwood’s “Invictus” in December.

The WME-repped Brolin recently starred in “W.” and “Milk.” He is currently shooting Oliver Stone’s “Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps” and will next star in Warner Bros.’ “Jonah Hex” in June.

hello nice reederz its dennis the vizsla dog hay thats rite its time for the sunday awards and meem show!!! now as yoo may rekall i reesently tryed to up the produkshun valyooz of the show by hiring a prodooser but that effert went a littel bit awri however i hav come up with an eeven better way to improov the show i hav brawt in the faymus minstrel bert bockarock to rite me a theem song!!!

ha ha of korse yoo ar not yohan sebastchin bock i noo that ennyway it is time to git on to the awards!!! first we hav this frum my frends at crumsnatchers its the clever foto capshun award!!!

to see the orijinal foto and the capshuns yoo can visit crumsnatchers heer!!! thanks to evrywun hoo voted for my capshun!!!

ha ha wot a silly guy thinks he wrote the theem frum the big lebowski!!!! ok my other award of the week is the best of pals award frum my gud frends martha and bailey basset!!!

now yoo wil no dowt rekognize this award as the wurk of the verry talented purple hatter!!! thanks for mayking all theez wunderful awards purple hatter!!! martha and bailey passd this award on to all there frends so i wil do the saym!!! and thats a rap for this week thaynks for watching!!! ok bye

I’ve been getting a bit zealous about the impending fate of getting the Eff out of our quaint little down in the next 7 or 8 months. I love Chico to death, but I’m exceedingly comfortable right now, and I’ve come to realize that when I’m overly content with a living situation I start to rapidly lose drive. I’ve always felt that there needs to be something in my life that I’m not 100% cool with; something to subtly jab me in the side and say “Hey asshole, keep achieving”.

Case in point: I’m currently writing this from my little (actually it’s pretty fucking big) desk in my little (read: pretty fucking big) office in the heart of downtown, where I manage to clock in early in the afternoon and pump out some decent work before I clock out around 5. The paychecks are few and far between, but that being said everything in my hierarchy of needs is pretty much kept in check. I work with some of the best/worst/most entertaining jerk-offs I know, all of which bring something into my life that makes me want to get into work and experience. I would love to say my bosses are degenerate low-lifes, but truth be told they’re considerate people who I relate to on a more personal scale than some of my best drinking buddies. Our little community has managed to give me some type of daily routine, which is something I know I benefit from. I have my quaint little shit-hole of a house with my monster of a dog, where I’m able to record my little songs and generally reside in peace… a bungalo, if you will. The rest of my life is filled with an assorted cast of like-minded individuals who exist in a close parallel to the haze that I do, and everything usually works out just fine.

The problem, however, is that this is no way to ensure progression in my life. I’m content, sure, but sometimes content just ain’t fuckin’ good nuff’. I’m not really in search of a job that allows me to go on wild vacations with solid gold shitters and caviar enemas, both of which would be absolutely awesome btw, but like most people I feel there has to be some higher calling in my life. I’m not exactly a grade A sinner, but not a saint. This purgatory isn’t usually where one sets out to be in life, although I’m sure I could get away with it and still walk out of this life with a smirk on my face singing tunes of me beating the system.

So how does one get the fuck out of not giving a shit? I dunnow, rob a bank? Nah, too risky, they use bitches like me as currency in the US penile system. Should I enter the workforce shooting for an insurance broker, aiming at management and a 401k? I’d seem that life just isn’t reserved for dudes like me. I guess that’s the way the whole durned human comedy keeps perpetuatin’ it-self, down through the generations, westward the wagons, across the sands a time until– aw, look at me, I’m ramblin’ again.

I’ll guess I’ll catch ya further on down the trail.
Say friend, ya got any more a that good sarsaparilla?

By Jeff Weaver

4.5/5 Stars

“A Serious Man” is the latest effort from acclaimed filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen. With so many great films such as “The Big Lebowski”, “Fargo” and “No Country for Old Men” behind them, the Coens reached out to more familiar territory for this movie: Judaism.

This film follows Larry Gopnik. He is a physics professor at a local college with a seemingly great life. He is intelligent, successful, married to a loving wife with two kids, and the owner of nice house in a nice neighborhood. This is when all that Larry has worked for and earned is dropped out from underneath him. His wife leaves him for another man, a disgruntled student threatens him, his son is in trouble at school and getting into drugs, and his brother is ill and is arrested. Larry is also stuck in the middle of the age old battle of faith and science. Larry prides himself on being able to write the “Uncertainty Principle” on his blackboard by heart, but is not able to see all of the unforeseen torments he is about to experience.

Larry is played by Michael Stuhlbarg who does a tremendous job. Larry appears in almost every scene in the film. Stuhlbarg is able portray a character that has his life crashing down around him, but the way that Stuhlbarg makes this performance so memorable is the fact that he is not distraught beyond reconciliation. Even with the atrocities that are occurring all around him, Larry always seem to have a glimmer of hope in his eye that something in this world will make everything all better. He even tries to always be the nice guy, even when that means sacrificing something from his own life.

The Coens made this film with very slow and methodical pacing. Every scene draws some parallel to another, or shows some new aspect of a character. This pacing mimics the slow painful downfall of a man’s life that Joel and Ethan Coen are able to beautifully portray.

It is also very difficult to categorize this movie. “A Serious Man” is by no means a laugh out loud film, but that is not a negative remark to make. Like many of the other Coen Brothers’ films, “A Serious Man” straddles the line of drama and comedy. One moment, we are watching a dentist find “Help Me” in Hebrew carved into the back of a patient’s teeth, and the next moment we are seeing a very obvious South Korean stereotype comically threatening Larry.

Throughout this movie are obvious parallels to the book of Job from the Old Testament. Job was always asking “Why Lord, what have I done?” This parallels the sentiments of Larry. He feels that he deserves all of the good things in his life, and wants to know why everything is being stripped away from him. Even with horrific events happening all around him, Larry is able to remain moral- to a certain point- and make the right decisions, even when those decisions are the very difficult.

The only true negative to this film is the fact that it is (without any other way of saying) very Jewish. Much of the vocabulary and the instances in the movie revolve around the Jewish religion and culture. The film even opens with people speaking Yiddish. As a Jew myself, I was able to easily follow the references. But to a person who is not Jewish or has never been exposed to Jewish culture, it would be very difficult to follow the dialogue of this film. One viewer exclaimed while walking out of the theater that the film should have had subtitles.

Only the Coens could have made a film like this: A movie that remains ambiguous of its genre but is still able to force the viewer to ponder issues of religion, morality, certainty, and purpose. Whether or not this movie is enjoyed, it will undoubtedly raise questions that will leave people talking for days.