Coen Brothers' Ad Knocks 'Clean Coal'

Filmmakers will have a television project for the first time

(NEWSER) - Good news for Coen brothers fans: Soon you won't even have to leave your house to get a fix. The Oscar-winning filmmakers are creating an hour-long TV series for Fox, according to the Hollywood Reporter . The single-camera comedy Harve Karbo will center on a Los Angeles private investigator, his deadbeat friends, and the Tinseltown VIPs he frequently crosses paths with. More»

It's a little late, but the essays by college scholars come through

(NEWSER) - The Coen Brothers’ 1998 cult classic The Big Lebowski has a growing body of critical literature to support it, though like the Dude, it moves at an abiding pace. Out now is The Year’s Work in Lebowski Studies, a collection of papers from the Lebowski Fest in Louisville—in 2006. "The book is, like the Dude himself, a little rough around the edges," writes Dwight Garner in the New York Times . "But it’s worth an end-of-the-year holiday pop-in." More»

Lee Daniels misses Best Director race, The Road shut out, and more

(NEWSER) - The Golden Globes are “as notable for the films and performances that members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association omit as for those that they celebrate,” writes Chris Lee in the Los Angeles Times , and yesterday’s nominations “had no shortage of surprising snubs.” Lee, and Gregg Kilday in the Hollywood Reporter , point out a few:

• Lee Daniels, Precious: The only director whose movie got a best dramatic picture nod without being nominated for best director.

Which films will be remembered, and which ones deserve it?

(NEWSER) - The shifting sands of entertainment technology make a look at the past decade's movies a tricky proposition simply because standing the test of time means something different almost daily. "The possibility of a digital, on-demand afterlife guarantees at least a theoretically universal long-tail immortality to blockbusters and curiosities alike," New York Times film critic AO Scott writes in summing up the work era succeeded "the rise of the indies in the ’90s." More»

(NEWSER) - Clean coal is a myth, and the companies selling it “have their heads stuck in the mine,” Thomas Kostigen writes on MarketWatch. Although Americans generate close to 50% of their energy from coal, the technology is so yesterday—and the industry is not poised to move forward. It “should be looking to invest in its own replacement,” Kostigen writes, “because someone somewhere is going to invent it, and then where will they be?” More»