A Serious Man Spoiler

Spoilers:

Filming has officially begun for "A Serious Man," starring Tony Award nominee Michael Stuhlbarg, Fred Melamed (from "Suspect") and Richard Kind ("The Visitor"). The Coen brothers Ethan and Joel will write, direct and produce and Working Title's Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan are serving as execs alongwide Robert Graf who has worked six times previously with the brothers. Also cast are actors Sari Wagner, Jessica McManus and Aaron Wolf from Minnesota where filming is taking place.

The story follows an ordinary mans search for clarity in a universe where Jefferson Airplane is on the radio and F-Troop is on TV. It is 1967, and Larry Gopnik, a physics professor at a quiet midwestern university, has just been informed by his wife Judith that she is leaving him. She has fallen in love with one of his more pompous colleagues, Sy Ableman, who seems to her a more substantial person than the feckless Larry. Larrys unemployable brother Arthur is sleeping on the couch, his son Danny is a discipline problem and a shirker at Hebrew school, and his daughter Sarah is filching money from his wallet in order to save up for a nose job. While his wife and Sy Ableman blithely make new domestic arrangements, and his brother becomes more and more of a burden, an anonymous hostile letter-writer is trying to sabotage Larrys chances for tenure at the university. Also, a graduate student seems to be trying to bribe him for a passing grade while at the same time threatening to sue him for defamation. Plus, the beautiful woman next door torments him by sunbathing nude. Struggling for equilibrium, Larry seeks advice from three different rabbis. Can anyone help him cope with his afflictions and become a righteous person; a mensch, a serious man?
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Starring:

Michael Stuhlbarg, Fred Melamed, Richard Kind, Aaron Wolf, Sari Wagner, Jessica McManus, Adam Arkin
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Rumors:

1. Production Begins on the Coens' A Serious Man
Production began on Monday on location in Minnesota on A Serious Man, for Focus Features and Working Title Films. Joel and Ethan Coen, Academy Award winners for No Country for Old Men and Fargo, are writing, producing, and directing the film. Working Title co-chairs Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner are executive-producing the film with Robert Graf, who has worked on the Coens' last six features in various producing capacities.

The director of photography on A Serious Man is seven-time Academy Award nominee Roger Deakins, who is marking his tenth feature collaboration with the Coens. Mary Zophres is the film's costume designer, marking her ninth feature collaboration with the Coens. Jess Gonchor is the production designer, marking his third feature collaboration with the Coens.

A Serious Man is the story of an ordinary man's search for clarity in a universe where Jefferson Airplane is on the radio and F-Troop is on TV. It is 1967, and Larry Gopnik, a physics professor at a quiet midwestern university, has just been informed by his wife Judith that she is leaving him. She has fallen in love with one of his more pompous colleagues, Sy Ableman, who seems to her a more substantial person than the feckless Larry. Larry's unemployable brother Arthur is sleeping on the couch, his son Danny is a discipline problem and a shirker at Hebrew school, and his daughter Sarah is filching money from his wallet in order to save up for a nose job. While his wife and Sy Ableman blithely make new domestic arrangements, and his brother becomes more and more of a burden, an anonymous hostile letter-writer is trying to sabotage Larry's chances for tenure at the university. Also, a graduate student seems to be trying to bribe him for a passing grade while at the same time threatening to sue him for defamation. Plus, the beautiful woman next door torments him by sunbathing nude. Struggling for equilibrium, Larry seeks advice from three different rabbis. Can anyone help him cope with his afflictions and become a righteous person – a mensch – a serious man?

Tony Award nominee Michael Stuhlbarg (whose films include The Grey Zone) stars as Larry; Fred Melamed (Suspect) plays Sy; Richard Kind (The Visitor) portrays Arthur; and Minnesota actors Aaron Wolf, Sari Wagner, and Jessica McManus are cast as Danny, Judith, and Sarah, respectively.

The Coens' comedy thriller Burn After Reading, also from Focus Features and Working Title Films, world-premiered last month as the opening-night film of the 2008 Venice International Film Festival; made its North American premiere last week at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival; and will be released by Focus nationwide on Friday, September 12th. The film stars George Clooney, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, Richard Jenkins, and Brad Pitt.
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2. St. Olaf gets 'Serious'
Production has begun on A Serious Man, a new film written, produced and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen -- Academy Award winners for No Country for Old Men and Fargo. The film is being shot on a variety of locations throughout Minnesota, including St. Olaf College. The brothers and their crew will spend a day filming in the college's old Science Center in October.

According to the production comedy, A Serious Man is a comedy about an ordinary man's search for clarity in his confused universe. The year is 1967 and Larry Gopnik (played by Tony Award nominee Michael Stuhlbarg), a physics professor at a "quiet Midwestern university," has just learned that his wife is leaving him for one of his colleagues. Larryýs unemployable brother is sleeping on the couch, his son is a discipline problem at Hebrew school and his daughter is filching money from his wallet in order to save up for a nose job.

Meanwhile, an anonymous hostile letter-writer is trying to sabotage Larry's chances for tenure at the university. On top of that, a graduate student seems to be trying to bribe him for a passing grade while at the same time threatening to sue him for defamation. Struggling for equilibrium, Larry seeks advice from three rabbis to help him cope with his afflictions and become a righteous person -- a mensch -- a serious man.
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3. Check out the trailer for the Coens' A Serious Man
Prior to this morning, all we knew about Joel and Ethan Coen's new movie A Serious Man was that it's set in late '60s Minnesota and stars little-known actor Michael Stuhlbarg as a Jewish academic with marital and spiritual troubles. (Oh, and that we'll get to see it long before you do, since it'll be at the Toronto FIlm Festival in September, prior to its October opening. Nyah.) Well, now we know a little more... sort of. The trailer for A Serious Man was released late last night and it's a strange little number, looking like a combination of Barton Fink and The Man Who Wasn't There, with some of the slapstick violence of Raising Arizona. Definitely the Coens exploring their own headspace again. Check it out:
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4. More TIFF titles for Galas and Special Presentations sections
A couple of Gala films, most notable the world premier of Dorian Gray has been added, along with the UK crime comedy flick Perrier's Bounty which stars Cillian Murphy which I'm honestly surprised to see as part of the lineup. I've been keeping my eye on it for a while, and honestly it didn't sound that great, but then again, I haven't seen footage.

There's also the world premier of Drew Barrymore's hot women rollerderby flick Whip It! and Herzog's remake of Bad Lieutenant.

New films after the break!

GALAS

Dorian Gray Oliver Parker, United Kingdom
World Premiere
In Victorian London, the handsome Dorian Gray (Ben Barnes) is swept into a social whirlwind by the charismatic and cunning Lord Wotton (Colin Firth). Immersed in the hedonistic pleasures of the city, Dorian vows he would give anything to keep his youth and beauty - even his soul. Based on the Oscar Wilde novel, Dorian Gray examines the destructive power of beauty, the blind pursuit of pleasure and the darkness that can result from both.

The Private Lives of Pippa Lee Rebecca Miller, USA
North American Premiere
From all outward appearances, Pippa Lee (Robin Wright Penn) leads a charmed existence. An anchor of feminine serenity, she is the devoted wife of an accomplished publisher (Alan Arkin) 30 years her senior, the proud mother of two grown children, a trusted friend and confidant. But as Pippa dutifully follows her husband to a new life in a staid Connecticut retirement community, her idyllic world and the persona she has built over the course of her marriage will be put to the ultimate test. Adapted from writer-director Rebecca Miller's novel of the same name, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee presents the complex portrait of the many lives behind a single name.

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans Werner Herzog, USA
North American Premiere
Terence McDonagh (Nicolas Cage), a homicide detective with the New Orleans Police Department, is promoted to Lieutenant after he saves a prisoner from drowning in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. However, during his heroic act, he severely injures his back and is put on prescription pain medication. A year later, Terence - struggling with his addictions to sex, Vicodin and cocaine - finds himself in the battle to bring down drug dealer Big Fate, who is suspected of massacring an entire family of African immigrants.

Capitalism: A Love Story Michael Moore, USA
North American Premiere
On the 20-year anniversary of his groundbreaking masterpiece Roger & Me, Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story comes home to the issue he's been examining throughout his career: the disastrous impact of corporate dominance on the everyday lives of Americans (and by default, the rest of the world). But this time the culprit is much bigger than General Motors, and the crime scene far wider than Flint, Michigan. From Middle America, to the halls of power in Washington, to the global financial epicenter in Manhattan, Michael Moore will once again take film-goers into uncharted territory.

Harry Brown Daniel Barber, United Kingdom
World Premiere
Harry Brown is a provocative and thought-provoking modern urban western featuring a tour-de-force lead performance from two-time Academy Award®-winner Michael Caine. Harry Brown has lived to see his community descend into crime and violence, and ruled over by a gang of teenage thugs. After his best friend is brutally murdered and the gang leader responsible walks free, Harry reaches a breaking point and revenge becomes his only aim.

Perrier's Bounty Ian Fitzgibbon, Ireland/United Kingdom
World Premiere
When Michael's (Cillian Murphy) debt to Dublin kingpin Darren Perrier (Brendan Gleeson) is called in and one of Perrier's goons accidentally ends up dead, Michael escapes to the mountains with his father Jim (Jim Broadbent) and best friend, Brenda. Flat broke, on the run and with only 24 hours to pay up, Michael is forced to confront his true feelings for Brenda and make amends with his father. However, with Perrier and his gang in hot pursuit, time is running out for Michael and only fate, a bit of luck and possibly a gang of savage dogs will save him, in this cracking gangster comedy.

A Serious Man Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, USA
World Premiere
Imaginatively exploring questions of faith, familial responsibility, delinquent behaviour, dental phenomena, academia, mortality and Judaism - and intersections thereof - A Serious Man is the new film from Academy Award®-winning writer-directors Joel and Ethan Coen.

Triage Danis Tanovic, Ireland/Spain
World Premiere
Mark (Colin Farrell), a war photographer, returns home from Kurdistan without his friend and colleague David (Jamie Sives). As time goes on, it becomes clear that Mark holds the key to the truth of David's disappearance.

Whip It Drew Barrymore, USA
World Premiere
Drew Barrymore's directorial debut stars Ellen Page (Juno) as Bliss, a rebellious Texas teen who throws in her small-town beauty pageant crown for the rowdy world of roller-derby. Marcia Gay Harden (Mystic River, Pollock) plays Bliss's disapproving mother, while Drew Barrymore, Kristen Wiig (Saturday Night Live) and Juliette Lewis (Old School) play roller-derby stars. Whip It also stars Eve, Jimmy Fallon, Daniel Stern, Alia Shawkat, Ari Graynor, Andrew Wilson, Zoe Bell and singer-songwriter Landon Pigg.

Women Without Men Shirin Neshat, Germany/France/Austria
North American Premiere
Shirin Neshat's first feature-length film is based on a magic-realist novel written by Iranian author Sharnush Parsipur. The narrative interweaves the lives of four Iranian women during the summer of 1953, a pivotal moment in Iranian history when an American led coup d'état brought down the democratically elected prime minister Mohammed Mossadegh and reinstalled the Shah to power. The film chronicles each woman's quest for change and their mysterious encounter in a magical orchard.
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