Barton Fink Sequel in the Works...Does Anybody Even Remember the First Movie???

[Brian Damage]

Barton Fink" is a difficult movie to classify. It's also one of the best efforts from filmmakers Ethan and Joel Coen, the guys behind bonafide classics like "The Big Lebowski," "Fargo" and "No Country for Old Men." Not to mention "Fink," which is held in high regard by just about everyone who's seen it. The story -- about a playwright, the titular Fink (John Turturro), who tries to beat writer's block while residing in a Hollywood hotel -- sounds fairly innocuous, but it's all in the delivery.

The movie is a touchstone within the Coen's oeuvre, but it doesn't really carry the same cult appeal that the similarly genre-bending "The Big Lebowski" does. As such, I never in a million years would have expected a "Barton Fink" sequel. And yet, that's exactly what the brothers hinted at when they spoke to MTV's Josh Horowitz at the Toronto International Film Festival, where they were promoting "A Serious Man," which hits theaters on October 2.

"It would be called 'Old Fink,'" Joel said.

"We did talk to [John] Turturro about doing 'Old Fink,'" Ethan added. "We want John to be old enough to do it."

The brothers even have (at least) a baseline idea of how they would from the story. "That's another 1967 movie," Joel said in reference to "A Serious Man," which is also set during that turbulent period. "It's the summer of love and [Fink is] teaching at Berkeley. He ratted on a lot of his friends to the House Un-American Activities committee."

"He's got the George Kaufman hair but he's going gray," Ethan said. "He wears a medallion." As if that explains everything. And it kinda does.

"We told Turturro this is one sequel we'd actually like to make but not until he was actually old enough to play the part," Joel explained. How old is old enough, you may ask? "He's getting there," Ethan said.

John Turturro. Same hair, but grey. Medallion. Stinking snitch. Maybe "Rat Fink" would be a better title? They could call it "The Worst Piece of Crap Imaginable: A Coen Brothers Adventure" and I'd still want to see it. Bring on "Old Fink."

http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2009/09/21...quel-old-fink/