BARTON FINK

Screenplay by Joel and Ethan Coen
Directed by Joel Coen

John Turturro
John Goodman
Judy Davis
Michael Lerner

Premiere date: May 1991 (Cannes Film Festival)
R for language and some scenes of violence.

Barton Fink is a Broadway playwright lured to Hollywood with the promise of untold riches by a boorish studio chieftain. Despising the film capital and everything it stands for, Barton Fink comes down with an acute case of writer's block. He is looked after by a secretary who has been acting as a ghost writer for an alcoholic screenwriter. Also keeping tabs on Fink is a garrulous traveling salesman, the most likable, stable character in the picture. And then comes the plot twist to end all plot twists, plunging Barton Fink into a surreal nightmare that would make Hieronymus Bosch look like a house painter.

Cannes Film Festival
Palme d'Or (unanimously)
Best Director
Best Actor - John Turturro

3 Academy Award Nominations
Best Supporting Actor - Michael Lerner
Best Art Direction
Best Costume Design

MILLER'S CROSSING

Screenplay by Ethan and Joel Coen
Directed by Joel Coen

Gabriel Byrne
Marcia Gay Harden
John Turturro
Jon Polito
Albert Finney

Premiere date: September 21, 1990
R

An Irish gangster and his trusted lieutenant and counselor find their domination of the town threatened by an ambitious Italian underboss. Just as this threat erupts, the two sever their friendship when they realize that they love the same woman. When one joins ranks with the enemy, a bloody gang war erupts.