Coen Brothers

"Paris, Je T'Aime" is what they call an omnibus movie: one long film comprised of 18 very short ones. But it's probably more useful to think of this spotty collection as the findings of a class trip: 21 directors loosed on the city's arrondissements to film whatever felicity comes to mind. What they deliver is long on stories of visiting Brits and Americans -- not just from American filmmakers like Alexander Payne and the Coen brothers , but from Gérard Depardieu (directing with Frédéric Auburtin )

George Clooney vs. Ryan Gosling … it really is a matter of personal preference, isn't it? And maybe it's a generational thing, too. Both actors are sexy and gorgeous, of course, but both also have chosen difficult film roles that intentionally play down their looks. Both ooze movie-star charisma but both have displayed versatility, as well. And both will be competing in the category of best actor in a drama at the Golden Globe Awards on Jan. 15; nominations were announced Thursday morning.

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN . . (Comcast Movies: All Movies) A stunningly assured piece of moviemaking from the Coen brothers – perhaps their finest work to date. Based on a Cormac McCarthy novel, it involves a bag of drug money, the small-time hunter (Josh Brolin) who finds it, the hired killer on his trail (Javier Bardem, unforgettable), and the sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones) following them both. At its frequent best, it’s a mystical, nearly biblical eulogy for a vanished American West.

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN . . (Comcast Movies: All Movies) A stunningly assured piece of moviemaking from the Coen brothers – perhaps their finest work to date. Based on a Cormac McCarthy novel, it involves a bag of drug money, the small-time hunter (Josh Brolin) who finds it, the hired killer on his trail (Javier Bardem, unforgettable), and the sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones) following them both. At its frequent best, it’s a mystical, nearly biblical eulogy for a vanished American West.

The Coen brothers ride high in the saddle The greatest pleasure in watching the Coen brothers’ remake of “True Grit’’ (2010) is seeing Jeff Bridges (right), Matt Damon, and newbie Hailee Steinfeld (far right), give such equally matched, entertainingly prickly performances. Without tweaking the John Wayne original beyond recognition, the film lends contemporary weight (and levity) to the story of young Mattie Ross (Steinfeld) tagging along with boozy lawman Rooster Cogburn (Bridges)

The best thing about “Saint John of Las Vegas’’ is that it makes you really appreciate guys like David Lynch and Joel and Ethan Coen. Written and directed by first-time feature filmmaker Hue Rhodes, “Saint John’’ is full of odd characters and surreal bits. It has a screenplay inspired by Dante Alighieri’s “Inferno.’’ And it stars Steve Buscemi, one of Hollywood’s most reliably watchable actors, who just happens to be a favorite player in the Coen brothers’ canon of twisted comedies.

George Clooney vs. Ryan Gosling … it really is a matter of personal preference, isn't it? And maybe it's a generational thing, too. Both actors are sexy and gorgeous, of course, but both also have chosen difficult film roles that intentionally play down their looks. Both ooze movie-star charisma but both have displayed versatility, as well. And both will be competing in the category of best actor in a drama at the Golden Globe Awards on Jan. 15; nominations were announced Thursday morning.

LOS ANGELES — A sharp black suit is timeless, yet a decade has passed since Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones last wore theirs in "Men in Black II. " Despite the box office success of that film and its 1997 predecessor, the franchise had gone sufficiently cold that "Men in Black 3" only got the green light after audience research affirmed an abiding interest in it, said director Barry Sonnenfeld. "They also wanted to know what attracted people to the franchise," Sonnenfeld noted at a recent press day for the film at a Beverly Hills hotel.

Once upon a time there was a classic British heist comedy called "The Ladykillers," starring Alec Guinness and a very young Peter Sellers, and it was good. Then there came upon the land the brothers Coen, Joel and Ethan, and they said, yea, we do not give a [expletive] for the original, for it is old, and our audiences are young and hip. And so they cast Tom Hanks and gave unto him a funny hairdo, and said, Go, be our effete leader in criminal enterprise, round up your motley crew, stretch your character-acting skills.

On the face of it, "No Country for Old Men" doesn't need to be set in 1980. A stunningly assured piece of moviemaking from the Coen brothers - perhaps their weightiest yet most cleanly crafted work to date - the film unfolds in the parched landscapes and small towns of the American Southwest. It could be taking place anytime in the past 40 years, really. By locating the action in the year of Ronald Reagan's ascension to the presidency, though, "No Country" stands at the pivot of the Old West and the New Avarice, a point in time when the last...

The Coen brothers ride high in the saddle The greatest pleasure in watching the Coen brothers’ remake of “True Grit’’ (2010) is seeing Jeff Bridges (right), Matt Damon, and newbie Hailee Steinfeld (far right), give such equally matched, entertainingly prickly performances. Without tweaking the John Wayne original beyond recognition, the film lends contemporary weight (and levity) to the story of young Mattie Ross (Steinfeld) tagging along with boozy lawman Rooster Cogburn (Bridges)

Television ads make “True Grit’’ look like quite the horror movie. Amid the gun fights, general thrill editing, and Josh Brolin looking real mean, the ads climax with Jeff Bridges, wearing an eye patch and a big hat, standing in a burning room and informing a suffering man that he can’t save him. The room is full of flames, and the soundtrack does some ominous chiming. I found myself excited to see that movie when, in fact, I already had. “True Grit’’ is much less a Charles Bronson thriller than it is a straightforward western.

The best thing about “Saint John of Las Vegas’’ is that it makes you really appreciate guys like David Lynch and Joel and Ethan Coen. Written and directed by first-time feature filmmaker Hue Rhodes, “Saint John’’ is full of odd characters and surreal bits. It has a screenplay inspired by Dante Alighieri’s “Inferno.’’ And it stars Steve Buscemi, one of Hollywood’s most reliably watchable actors, who just happens to be a favorite player in the Coen brothers’ canon of twisted comedies.

On the face of it, "No Country for Old Men" doesn't need to be set in 1980. A stunningly assured piece of moviemaking from the Coen brothers - perhaps their weightiest yet most cleanly crafted work to date - the film unfolds in the parched landscapes and small towns of the American Southwest. It could be taking place anytime in the past 40 years, really. By locating the action in the year of Ronald Reagan's ascension to the presidency, though, "No Country" stands at the pivot of the Old West and the New Avarice, a point in time when the last...

"Paris, Je T'Aime" is what they call an omnibus movie: one long film comprised of 18 very short ones. But it's probably more useful to think of this spotty collection as the findings of a class trip: 21 directors loosed on the city's arrondissements to film whatever felicity comes to mind. What they deliver is long on stories of visiting Brits and Americans -- not just from American filmmakers like Alexander Payne and the Coen brothers , but from Gérard Depardieu (directing with Frédéric Auburtin )

Once upon a time there was a classic British heist comedy called "The Ladykillers," starring Alec Guinness and a very young Peter Sellers, and it was good. Then there came upon the land the brothers Coen, Joel and Ethan, and they said, yea, we do not give a [expletive] for the original, for it is old, and our audiences are young and hip. And so they cast Tom Hanks and gave unto him a funny hairdo, and said, Go, be our effete leader in criminal enterprise, round up your motley crew, stretch your character-acting skills.

Television ads make “True Grit’’ look like quite the horror movie. Amid the gun fights, general thrill editing, and Josh Brolin looking real mean, the ads climax with Jeff Bridges, wearing an eye patch and a big hat, standing in a burning room and informing a suffering man that he can’t save him. The room is full of flames, and the soundtrack does some ominous chiming. I found myself excited to see that movie when, in fact, I already had. “True Grit’’ is much less a Charles Bronson thriller than it is a straightforward western.

LOS ANGELES - When Adam Arkin signed on for “Sons of Anarchy,’’ he didn’t have reservations about his role as a slick white separatist or the FX drama’s dark heart. But he admits to feeling a bit “intimidated’’ about working with fellow series newcomer Henry Rollins, actor and musician of Black Flag punk-rock fame. “I’m a 50-something square character actor,’’ Arkin said. “There was every possibility he’d have said, ‘We’ll do our work together, but don’t talk to me. I don’t want to hear any of your bourgeois domestic’...