Coen brothers on DVD

The Coen brothers on DVD news...
	04-12-03	Intolerable Cruelty slated for a R1 DVD release on Feb 10th 2004. No idea yet what the extra features might be but it will be in DTS and English, Spanish and French DD5.1. Click here to see a cover shot. .

	19-03-03	Exciting, exciting, exciting news! 20th Century Fox have finally yielded to my empassioned pleas on this site (yeah right!!!) and have decided to release BOTH BARTON FINK and MILLER'S CROSSING on DVD!!! Both are due out on the same day- May 20th on R1! Not much is known at present but BOTH will feature anamorphic widescreen transfers and Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks, Miller's Crossing will have interview clips with Gabriel Byrne, Marcia Gay Harden, John Torturro and a Theatrical trailer, while Barton Fink will feature eight deleted scenes and a trailer. Box art is viewable by clicking these two handy links- BARTON FINK and MILLER'S CROSSING.

	19-03-03	FARGO is about to be re-released in the R2 market with a smashing Special Edition disc containing some great features. Out on April 21st it features both 4:3 and Anamorphic Widescreen versions of the movie along with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Extra features include thebrand new documentary, Minnesota Nice, which contains interviews with the cast and filmmakers. In addition to this are; audio commentary with the producers- Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner audio commentary with cinematographer Roger Deakins The Coen brothers repertory company - interactive guide focusing on regular collaborators Turturro, Goodman, and McDormand Photo Galleries with rare pictures from the set Trivia Tracks American Cinematographer article with detailed behind the scenes insights Trailers & TV Spots Interview with the Coen brothers Sadly no Coen brothers commentary but I'm sure you'll agree it is shaping up to be a great DVD. I think this one will leap to the top of my favourite DVD list. You betcha! It's available for pre-order now at all the usual places. Try amazon.co.uk and play.com.

	02-04-02	I've got a couple of screengrabs from the forthcoming Region 1 release of The Man Who Wasn't There. It's out on 16th April and looks like it'll be ace! Go order it!!! Oh, the Region 2 release date is 22ns April though the extra features are, as yet, to be announced but I don't expect they'll be too different to the fantastic R1. We are only two weeks away from our first Coen commentary!!! Those shots anyways; Shot 1, Shot 2, Shot 3.

	13-01-02	News has now reached me via my shadowy source about the content and release date of The Man Who Wasn't There R1 DVD. First thing's first the Coens HAVE recorded their first commentary track and it is supposed to be really funny, as we would expect I suppose. Joining Joel and Ethan on commentary duties is the films undisputed star Billy Bob Thornton! How good will that be? There will also be ONE (only one boo!) deleted scene which encompasses Reidenschneider's complete closing statement. Clocking in at nearly three minutes of Tony Shalhoub's amazing tommy gun prattle it should be great! Other extras include; two TV promos; an interview with Roger Deakins the movie's cinematographer; a "making of" featurette; filmographies and some "hidden gems". Like me you probably cannot wait for this one to plop through the door but, alas, we have to, but only till April 16th when it gets it's Region 1 (US and Canada) release!

	13-10-01	As I'm sure most of you are aware by now the new Director's Cut of Blood Simple is now available on R1 DVD. It contains feature length commentary (don't get too excited!) with Kenneth Loring of FOrever Young Films (!?!?), theatrical trailer, cast and filmmakers biogs and production notes. It is presented in 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen with a running time of 1ht 36mins- shorter than the original which is very unusual for such "director's cuts". I am yet to take delivery of my copy but as soon as I've checked it out I'll post up my thoughts. You can see the artwork by clicking here.

	13-10-01	Worth a mention too is the R2 release of a "Special Edition" O Brother, Where Art Thou? All it is really is a version with all of the extras from the original R1 and R2 releases plus a documentary about The Making Of 'Down From The Mountain' Live Concert. It is available now on pre-order (out on 12-11-01) from Play 24/7.com.

	20-04-01	Right then a bit of a double whammy here. Finally the cover art for the Region 1 release of O Brother, Where Art Thou? has materialised and, as predicted, it features the much more stylish artwork as opposed to the rubbishy "three heads" art of the Region 2 version. You can see it by clicking here. The second part of this update is the, quite frankly, amazing shock announcement that the R1 version will feature yet more extra features (it seems us saps in Europe have been stiffed again!). Now to accompany the making of featurette and the Soggy Bottom Boys video we have "Painting With Pixels" the Groundbreaking Digital Post-Production Process and Script To Storyboard To Final Scene Comparison. I don't know about you, but I've pre-ordered mine!

	11-04-01	OK then! I recieved my copy of the R2 O Brother, Where Art Thou? DVD on Monday (9th April), and I was so excited I was comparable to a kid on Christmas Eve. It arrived while I was out at work and, let me tell you, it was the longest day ever! I couldn't wait to get home and watch it. Anyhow, I am pleased to let you good people know that the transfer is FANTASTIC. It looks better on DVD than it did on the cinema, particularly the sepia tone effect which is truly beautiful. The DVD delivers a crisp, clear picture with a cracking Dolby 5.1 sound track. The extras are OK, nothing special. The cast and crew interviews are a bunch of soundbites connected by a clapper board animation. They total 20 minutes but aren't very revelaing. Interviewed are the main cast members including George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, Holly Hunter, Michael Badalucco, Chris Thomas King and, of course, Coens Joel and Ethan. Other extra features include the Theatrical Trailer and four (almost identical) TV spots. As for the menus they are amongst the best I've yet seen- especially the Special Features menu which takes the form of a shelf of different pomades. When one is selected a grabber takes it down and a sound clip is played, "I don't want Fop damnit!", "I'm a Dapper Dan man!". The main menu sets the tone of the whole disc showing the beautiful long shot of the chain gang with our boys popping up in the middle distance. Cracking stuff. A must buy! Available now in all good stores in the UK or online from Blackstar.

	29-03-01	I recieved this month's Empire magazine today and it has a review of the R2 O Brother, Where Art Thou? DVD due for release on 9th April. I'm not going to copy the review here as you can find it in the O Brother, Where Art Thou? reviews section. The magazine also carried two full-page ads for the disc. The first was on the glossy back cover and greeted me when I pushed open my door when I arrived home after work today. AD 1 and AD 2.

	29-03-01	I've managed to lay my hands on some images of the R2 O Brother, Where Art Thou? menus. The first is of the Main Menu and features our trio of escapees running across the field... The second is from the Extras menu and looks incredible! As you can see it features the store from the movie where Everett buys his pomade ("I don't want Fop- I'm a Dapper Dan man!"), I'm just dying to know if the pole moves when you chose an option. All will be revealed when the disc arrives.

	29-03-01	Amazon now has the R1 DVD of O Brother, Where Art Thou? for pre-order, with a release date of 12th June. The extras on the disc appear to differ from the R2 disc in that they are listed as; Making Of Featurette and "Soggy Bottom Boys" music video, both of which are NOT on the R2 disc. They are selling it for $20.99. Why not pre-order yours today?

	11-03-01	At last some images of the cover art work for the forthcoming O Brother, Where Art Thou? DVD. The front cover is the same as the British one sheet poster and the image on the rear is your usual DVD stuff really. I cannot wait for this DVD to arrive! Less than a month now!

	07-02-01	Raising Arizona was re-released on R1 DVD and I have no idea why! It was out on 6th March 2001 and the extras are simply; web access (?), theatrical trialer, and TV spots. It is presented in widescreen (1.85:1). It's worth getting for the TV spots and trailer if you're a Coen completist and haven't seen them before. A good DVD but by no means a great DVD. Let's hope that O Brother, Where Art Thou? makes up for the lacklustre Coen efforts so far.

	27-02-01	O Brother, Where Art Thou? DVD review at bbc.co.uk. Extra features confirmed to be; animated scene selection, cast and crew interviews, theatrical trailer, four TV spots, animated menus and subtitles. With a 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer and Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, and with 18 chapters.

	31-01-01	News from DVD Times that O Brother, Where Art Thou? is due out on R2 DVD on 9th April. The disc will feature a 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer, Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, cast and crew interviews, theatrical trailer and TV spots. Here's hoping this is true, but nowhere alse confirms this date as yet.

	30-01-01	Aww Jeeze! The release date of the Region 2 O Brother, Where Art Thou? has been put back indefinitely. Play247 had it down as 19th March but this is now not the case. The reason being cited is a Studio marketing strategy. Let us hope that the reason for the delay is that Joel and Ethan, now finished on The Barber Project are putting together a special edition DVD... we can dream.

	08-01-01	Well my Blood Simple DVD arrived on Saturday 6th January and I watched it that very night. In this brief report I'd just like to say that, were Blood Simple not such a tremendous, movie this DVD would have been the most disappointing DVD I've bought so far. It is almost completely bereft of extras- it has only the theatrical trailers of both Blood Simple and The Big Lebowski, it has just the English soundtrack and subtitle tracks, no foreign language options at all, which just goes to show how much of a bare bones DVD this really is. To cap it all the picture transfer is also below par. While being a lot better than the VHS copy I own, it is scratchy and dirty, obvisouly taken from the original print with no remastering at all. All I can say is that I hope the Director's Cut recieves the Region 1 treatment soon!

	05-01-01	Very interesting news indeed- Not only did O Brother, Where Art Thou? open in the cinema in the UK and Europe a full four months before the US, but Region 2 is being treated to a release of O Brother on DVD on 19th March 2001. No word yet on the extras or indeed a US release date. It is available on pre-order now at Play247. Watch this space for further developments!

	01-01-01	Blood Simple, the Coen's debut movie, released today on Region 2 DVD. Mine is in the post as I type so as soon as it arrives, I'll watch it and post something up here! Although it is bereft of extras and I am unsure as to whether or not is is the recently released 'Remastered Director's Cut'I cannot wait!

Coen movies already released on DVD
	Title	R1	R2	Extras	Verdict
	Blood Simple	NO	YES	Err, a trailer for BS and one for The Big Lebowski is your lot pal!	A disappointingly basic DVD with only one langauge option (English), scratchy picture transfer. Only worth owning if you don't already have the VHS. Pan and Scan only! No Widescreen!
	Blood Simple - Director's Cut	YES	NO	Commentary by Kenneth Loring of Forever Young Films, biogs, theatrical trailer and prod notes.	I haven't seen this yet. Please send me your verdict at paul_tweedle@scee.net.
	Raising Arizona	YES	NO	Web access, Theatrical Trailer, TV Spots, Widescreen Letterbox.	Theatrical trailer, three TV spots and a 'coming soon to DVD' featuring Barton Fink and Miller's Crossing. Cracking transfer of the movie. Funny mistake on the inlay though- the bios of Ethan and Joel have the photos the wrong way around- Joel has Ethans and vice versa. I think it's worth having for the trailer and TV spots as I hadn't seen them before.
	Barton Fink	YES	YES	New R1 version has Widescreen Anamorphic transfer, DD5.1, 8 deleted scenes and trailer.	The French market was lucky enough to get Barton first but the R1 release is due on May 20th 2003!!!
	Miller's Crossing	YES	NO	New R1 version has Widescreen Anamorphic transfer, DD5.1, interview clips and trailer.	R1 release is due on May 20th 2003!!!
	The Hudsucker Proxy	YES	NO	Pan and Scan and Widescreen Anamorphic transfers.	I haven't seen this yet. Please send me your verdict at paul_tweedle@scee.net.
	Fargo	YES	YES	R2 Spec Ed- Pan and Scan and Widescreen transfers. Lots of features including- interviews, a new documentary (Minnesota Nice), photo gallery, trivia tracks, 2 commentaries and more!!!	New R2 Special Edition out April 21st 2003.
	The Big Lebowski	YES	YES	The R 1 verison has the 30 min 'making of' seen on the PAL VHS WS edition but the R2 version has nothing.	Cracking transfer of the movie but disappointing lack of extras.
	O Brother, Where Art Thou?	YES	YES	The R2 version has cast and crew interviews, trailer and TV spots. The R1 version has a Making Of Featurette, "Soggy Bottom Boys" music video, "Painting With Pixels" the Groundbreaking Digital Post-Production Process and Script To Storyboard To Final Scene Comparison	Amazingly beautiful transfer of the movie and, once again, slightly disappointing extras. The interviews are not very revealing and the TV spots are amost identical. Still you gotta buy it don't you?
	O Brother, Where Art Thou? - 2 Disc Special Edition	YES	YES	2 discs- Cast and Crew Interviews, Soggy Bottom Boys 'I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow' Music Video, Painting With Pixels, Production Featurette, Storyboard To Scene Comparison (multi-angle feature), The Making Of 'Down From The Mountain' Live Concert, Original Trailer and TV Spots	Amazingly beautiful transfer of the movie and, once again, slightly disappointing extras. The interviews are not very revealing and the TV spots are amost identical. Still you gotta buy it don't you?
	The Man Who Wasn't There	YES	YES	Director Commentary, Billy Bob Thornton commentary, deleted scene, TV spots, interview with Roger Deakins, "making of" featurette, fimographies, "hidden gems".	One of the finest DVD transfers I've seen! The B&W cinematography looks incredible! Buy it now!