Ethan Coen

The Coen brothers' follow-up to No Country for Old Men is headed to the City of Water this summer, according to the Associated Press. Their film, the spy comedy Burn After Reading starring George Clooney, John Malkovich and Brad Pitt, will open this year's Venice Film Festival on Aug. 27. Not ready to book your plane tickets yet? How about some more details about the script. Mr. Pitt is sporting a wacky flat-top hairdo for his role as a goofball personal trainer who finds a manuscript written by Mr. Malkovich's character, an alcoholic former CIA agent. The gym buffster plans to profit from the memoir and Mr. Clooney plays a supporting role as a Treasury agent who gets caught up in the whole affair.

The Coen Brothers join Francis Ford Coppola, James Cameron and Billy Wilder in the list of directors that have received three awards for a single film at the Oscars. Their brooding, bloody tale of violence No Country for Old Men won best picture, director and adapted screenplay. Javier Bardem also won a best supporting actor Oscar for his role as Anton Chigurh in No Country. Full list of winners after the jump.  read more »

Ethan Coen's playwriting debut, Almost an Evening, sold out before previews began on January at the Atlantic Theater Company. So if you missed out, here's your second chance to cop tickets: The three short plays will transfer to an Off-Broadway run at The Bleecker Street Theatre starting March 20 and ending June 1. The limited run is expected to feature some of the same cast that created the trio of short works at Atlantic Stage 2, including Academy Award winner F. Murray Abraham. Check out our interview with Mr. Abraham in the Jan. 17 issue of the Observer. “It’s a treat,” Mr. Abraham told The Observer over the phone. “This is the good stuff, the good material, and you don’t see too much of that these days.”

More from Playbill and ticket information after the jump.  read more »

It must be fun to play God. F. Murray Abraham, the 68-year-old actor, would know, as he plays “God Who Judges” in “Debate,” one of the triptych of short plays written by Ethan Coen at the Atlantic Theater Company’s staging of Almost an Evening. “It’s a treat,” Mr. Abraham told The Observer over the phone. “This is the good stuff, the good material, and you don’t see too much of that these days.”  read more »

Speaking of Ethan Coen, the world premiere of his three short plays, Almost an Evening, will open on Jan. 22 at The Atlantic Theater Company's Stage 2. Previews will being Jan. 9, according to the Associated Press.

Tickets are for sale here.

The cast will include F. Murray Abraham (who won an Oscar for his role as the envious Antonio Salieri in Amadeus), Jonathan Cake (who starred in the short-lived TV show Six Degrees), J.R. Horne, Jordan Lage, Mark Linn-Baker, Elizabeth Marvel, Mary McCann, Del Pentecost and Joey Slotnick.

Get out your Oscar pool cards, kids! The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures, which usually tests the awards-season winds early in the season, announced their annual awards this afternoon, naming the Coen brothers' No Country For Old Men 2007's Best Film of the Year. They also got the best adapted screenplay award and the cast, which includes Josh Brolin, Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem and Kelly MacDonald, was named the best ensemble.  read more »