O Brother, Where for Art Coen?

A recent posting on the Starz Denver Film Festival website announced that a “mystery screening” has been added to the roster to play at the Esquire Theatre at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, November 13. What might be concealed inside this feature-length grab bag? Well, the blurb says the language is English, production location USA, running time 122 minutes, and categorizes the genre as “Action/Adventure, Based on a Book, Crime, Drama, Thriller.”

But the next hint is a dead giveaway: “The contemporary American west as captured by an award-winning team of filmmaking brothers.” The posting on the undisclosed flick closes with an oh-so-telling quote: ‘What's the most you ever lost in a coin toss?’”

Hmm. Filmmaking brothers. Crime thriller drama. Self-aware noir dialogue. Adapted from a novel. A western novel. Could it be Joel and Ethen of the brothers Coen?

Not saying we have confirmation or anything, but the secret screening arrives just as plenty of buzz is going around for the Coen’s latest work, No Country for Old Men, which is based on the 2005 Cormac McCarthy book of the same name. Set in West Texas, No Country follows the massive body count left behind by a psychopathic drug mercenary who is as casual with killing as he is with a coin toss. Just watch the trailer. [[2]]

Released in select cities last Friday, the official date for wide release is November 21, with select screens like the Mayan adding show times as early as the 16th. But for local Coen bros afficionados who can’t wait that long, there is no real mystery where to go. –Jared Jacang Maher