By rights, Ethan and Joel Coen should not be the massively successful filmmakers they are. I’m not impugning their talent, skill or artistry with that statement; it's more that their movies are very, very strange. Weird by any standard, which makes it occasionally shocking to sit back and look at their success in popular culture.

Their movies, especially those made in the past ten years, are sold as mainstream motion pictures when they their tone and content should really sentence them to a boutique indie theater existence. When people gravitate towards entertainment that is easy to understand and comfortable to watch, how is it that guys who make something as densely surreal as “Barton Fink” or as willfully grim and ambiguous as “No Country For Old Men” are two of America’s favorite moviemakers? Read more...

Call them "cult classics." "Guilty pleasures." "Comfort movies." We all have a mental rolodex of flicks that may not be terribly popular but, for one reason or another, they resonate in a very special way. Maybe you saw it at the right moment. Maybe you just see gold where everyone else sees feces. Whatever the case, these are the special favorites that you keep stashed away for sick days. Here are some of ours.

I saw "A Serious Man" last night. It was excellent. Better than that even. Joel and Ethan Coen have wrangled quite a few star-powered talents into quirky, offbeat roles over the years, but "Serious" excels even without a George Clooney or a Jeff Bridges in your face for the whole time. It is easily my favorite effort from the brothers Coen since "The Big Lebowski."

What's funny to me now is, I didn't even care for "Lebowski" the first time I saw it. Welcome to this week's Sick Day Stash. Read more...

Please excuse the delay in running this week's Box Office Poll. I experienced some technical difficulties when working from home yesterday, so I put this post off for today. What a week we're in for movies. I don't know about y'all, but every wide release that opens is on my list as well as a fair few of the limited releases. So let's get to it.

Tough to say what the big one for the week is going to be. I think the top contender -- though not necessarily by a wide margin -- is "Zombieland," a comedy-horror flick starring Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin. As a zombie apocalypse sweeps across the world, the foursome set out on a cross-country trip to... well I'm not entirely sure. They kill lots of zombies though. Read more...

"Barton Fink" is a difficult movie to classify. It's also one of the best efforts from filmmakers Ethan and Joel Coen, the guys behind bonafide classics like "The Big Lebowski," "Fargo" and "No Country for Old Men." Not to mention "Fink," which is held in high regard by just about everyone who's seen it. The story -- about a playwright, the titular Fink (John Turturro), who tries to beat writer's block while residing in a Hollywood hotel -- sounds fairly innocuous, but it's all in the delivery.

The movie is a touchstone within the Coen's oeuvre, but it doesn't really carry the same cult appeal that the similarly genre-bending "The Big Lebowski" does. As such, I never in a million years would have expected a "Barton Fink" sequel. And yet, that's exactly what the brothers hinted at when they spoke to MTV's Josh Horowitz at the Toronto International Film Festival, where they were promoting "A Serious Man," which hits theaters on October 2. Read more...

Who can forget The Jesus? John Turturro's crazed, pedophile bowler in "The Big Lebowski" is an unforgettable character, even with no more than five or 10 minutes of screen time. He's so popular that there's long been a rumor percolating that filmmakers Ethan and Joel Coen would break out a Jesus spin-off movie. Turturro is very insistent about it, as you can see in this video from back in June...

I'm afraid that the actor's excitement just isn't enough to spur the Coen brothers into action. There's always hope of course, but MTV's Josh Horowitz spoke with the siblings last week at the Toronto International Film Festival -- where they were promoting "A Serious Man," which hits theaters on October 2 -- and things are not looking good. Read more...

This weekend, my people will gather will their families to celebrate the high holy holiday of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. Following the weekend festivities, Jews enter into a week of repentence, concluding with a day of fasting on Yom Kippur.

Technically, you're not supposed to be watching TV during Rosh Hashana, a certified "day of rest." I was raised in a reformed household though, so we play by a looser set of rules than more observant practitioners. Togetherness in my own family is usually punctuated by a movie or two. And since the Coen brothers' intensely Jewish "A Serious Man" doesn't hit theaters for a few more weeks, we've got to make do with what's watchable at home. Here are a few suggestions to bring along for your own gatherings... Read more...

My name may be Josh Horowitz but I'm certainly not steeped well enough in my religion to grasp all the nuances of the Coen brothers latest, "A Serious Man," which screened this morning in Toronto. But fear not my goy friends, the Coens are in fine form for their latest often hilarious effort.

I hope you got your star fix in on the last go around with "Burn After Reading," because this one only gets a dose of name recognition by way of Richard Kind, Michael Lerner (a wordless though impactful cameo), and Fyvush Finker (in a fascinating if obtuse prologue). Read more...

It doesn't take much to make me want to see a Coen brothers movie. Existence is my only real criteria, i.e. if there is one, I want to see it. So it is with great excitement then that I greet "A Serious Man," which hits theaters on October 2. As with most Coen flicks, a synopsis doesn't really do it justice. So peep our exclusive image of Richard Kind chillin' on the beach below and then head over to Apple where you can check out the amazing trailer.

Brad Pitt and George Clooney. Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin and Woody Harrelson. Tom Hanks. George Clooney again. Billy Bob Thornton. George Clooney a third time.

Joel and Ethan Coen like Hollywood leading men in their movies, those Oscar winners and tabloid staples who put butts in theaters seats and bring their twisty dark tales to life. After "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" and "The Man Who Wasn't There" and "Intolerable Cruelty" and "The Ladykillers" and "No Country for Old Men" and "Burn After Reading" comes "A Serious Man" and its star... Michael Stuhlbarg? Read more...

Let's get right to it, shall we?

-- It's not exactly movies-related, but there's a new poster up for J.J. Abrams' hit series "Fringe." Both myself and MTV Multiplayer editor Russ Frushtick are fans of the show, and we were just joking at how uninspiring the poster is. I have to ask though... what the hell is Walter Bishop holding in his hand there? (Sci Fi Wire)

-- The first trailer for the Coen Brothers' next movie, "A Serious Man," has hit the Internet. I expect it to be glorious (the movie that is). (Apple)

-- "The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep" director Jay Russell will helm "Duncan" for Ben Kingsley's production company, SBK Pictures. It's about a grown woman reconnecting with a stuffed animal from her childhood. Kingsley will voice the toy. Sounds family-friendly to me! (The Hollywood Reporter) Read more...