BURN AFTER READING

A new Coen brothers movie already!? I chose this trailer randomly from the list on apple.com/trailers, and was shocked to see the Coens’ name there – No Country for Old Men came out less than a year ago, and it’s rare to see writers/directors of their stature putting out movies in such rapid succession.

This is actually the second trailer of this movie to be released. The first was very similar, but didn’t have the white-letters-over-black-screen names like this one has (something that I happen to like a lot).

Another notable difference was the song. The new trailer has a great song (“Grounds for Divorce” by English band Elbow) that doesn’t get heard in the old trailer until halfway through. If you watch the old trailer (which can be found here), it shows a lot more of what goes on in the movie, except it’s so quick most of it doesn’t really make sense. So I guess the trailer makers figured what the hell, we have an amazing cast and an Oscar-winning writer/director team, so why don’t we just promote the hell out of them. The result is title cards that look like this:

That’s really all you need to know.

INTRO

A notable similarity between the two trailers is the intro. It presents the plot in a quick scene capped with a punch line (listen carefully at the end for an obvious dubbing of “CIA stuff”). Then the music kicks in and we get a couple more plot-developing scenes. Brad Pitt has something (CIA “stuff”) of John Malkovich’s, and he and Francis McDormand are working together to blackmail him in exchange for cash. Sound familiar? It should, because it’s The Big Lebowski.

I’ll give the benefit of the doubt to the Coen brothers that they wouldn’t make the same movie twice, but this trailer gives a strong, Lebowski-esque impression. Especially in the scene in the car with Pitt and Malkovich when Pitt shouts “Give us the money!” Sounds exactly the same. I also trust the Coens to make a quality movie – we’re not exactly talking about ripping off “Gigli” here, The Big Lebowski is one of the all time greats. But if we’re expected to make the same connection with Brad Pitt as we did with The Dude, the Coens are greatly mistaken.

The rest of the trailer is a highlight reel for the ridiculous cast this movie has – and really, what more do you need. You’ve got the Coen Brothers names lined up with this cast, who gives a shit what the movie is about. HERE’S MY MONEY!

And what, no name slide for J.K. Simmons? That guy is a hot commodity now! They could have at least compromised with “JUNO’S DAD”.

Following the Coen Brothers slide the trailer gets interesting again. We get this great still of what appears to be a live action Stonecutters meeting from The Simpsons:

And what follows is basically a low-intensity action trailer, somewhat similar to how I described the trailer for The Darjeeling Limited, quick shots but a bit longer (long enough to show movement). Examples:

And most frightening of all, a starring role for female Conan O’Brien, Tilda Swinton:

The resemblance is uncanny.

Following those clips are more hilarious remarks from J.K. Simmons (name slide worthy! Are you listening Coens?), and a final flurry of clips, these even shorter and more appropriate for an action film trailer (the title card comes in the middle):

I can only hate on the Coens so much – this is a good trailer. And it’s much better than the first, so clearly they understand what they’re doing and showing improvement. I legitimately want to see this movie now – it’s got a great cast, looks funny but also shows some potential to be a dark comedy or an action comedy. Let’s just hope we don’t end up with t-shirts with Brad Pitt’s face on them that say “The Dude” or people quoting the epic line “You don’t fuck with the McDormand.”