![]() And Robert Downey Jr., who I think works very hard, never makes it sound like it's hard. SR: I've heard Sean Penn talk about how difficult it is to act well. Who the hell do you think you are? And I don't know where that came from, beating the shit out of myself all the time. If there wasn't, I'd just run my ass down. There's a lot to be said for doing a good journeyman's body of work. I'm happy I wasn't picked last to play skins. JG: I may never be able to accept that, but I'm happy about the cats that I've suited up with. SR: That's edging close to feeling proud of the body of work. And I'm proud of the people I've been able to work with. But I'm prouder of just showing up and suiting up and banging out the thunder every day. SR: Do you think of your films as one body of work? I got to stand next to the fabulous Penélope Cruz for a little while. And I got to work with Jeff Bridges again. There were a lot of walkouts, but who cares? It was kind of an absurdist, futurist piece. The film got a god-awful reception at Sundance. When the cats had downtime, they'd go somewhere and play together. It's such a strange movie, and it has so many moving parts. ![]() SR: I'm probably one of the few people who's seen Masked and Anonymous, the movie you were in with Dylan, half a dozen times. JG: Right on the cusp of Dylan's big explosion. So it's set in Greenwich Village in the '60s? SR: I've heard the film is based on folk singer Dave Van Ronk's life. It's like hanging around with high school guys or something. Boy, it's great to be back with them again. I haven't worked with them since O Brother, Where Art Thou? - 15 years. I'm playing a junkie jazz musician for Joel and Ethan Coen. But lately I haven't wanted to turn the projects down. I'm going to Atlanta to do a baseball movie. SR: Have you been living out of a suitcase? JG: At a meeting a couple of weeks ago, someone grabbed me and said, "Who are you?" SR: One of the odd things about liking your work for so many years is that I have a sense of ownership. I'm going to keep it and then lose it in the summertime. But the goatee didn't cut it, so they shaved it off and made a fake one. Then I grew the goatee back because Joel and Ethan Coen wanted it. Then I trimmed it down to almost a pencil-thin for a London industrialist. JG: Bill Murray had a line a long time ago about wearing a mustache: "I look like a Denver cop." I was a cocaine dealer last fall, and I had a goatee mustache. SR: I'm worried about the mustache, I gotta tell you. But I don't want to whine about anything. JG: Are you going to give me a fashion ticket for wearing a winter jacket? It's starting to get to me, being on the road. SR: I'm going to have the Delmaestro salad. Anchovies have stuff called purines in them that trigger an attack. ![]() JG: I have a healthy fear of gout, but I haven't had any episodes. WAITER: Would you like some anchovies on top of your Caesar? JOHN GOODMAN: Somehow it doesn't faze me. SCOTT RAAB: The mayor made them put the calories on the menu. I have decided after a slew of Coen Brothers films I currently have in my collection, that any project these guys are involved with deserve more than passing scrutiny.Late lunch at Palm Too restaurant, midtown Manhattan. Excellent performances from John Turturo, John Goodman, Judy Davis, John Polito (often overlooked, but his scenes ALWAYS become his!!) and the inimitable Tony Shaloub. The trouble with Barton, however, is he does not have time for the common man because he has so romanticized their lot as well as his particular quest in speaking for them. After much cajoling to take the job from his agent, Barton arrives in Los Angeles determined to become the writer for the common man where he insists true stories live. John Goodman perfectly sums up everyone's frustration with Barton Fink when after a series of unfortunate occurrences, Barton asks him "Why me?" to which John's character answers "Because you don't LISTEN!" Set in 1930s Hollywood we follow the exploits of a one-hit wonder, Barton Fink, who has written a successful Broadway play and is summoned by the powers that be to Hollywood. He is so idealistic that he misses fantastic opportunities to become a writer for the ages because he wastes precious time proselytizing. He is so taken with the fact that he is a writer that he can't write. Barton Fink quite simply is a writer who cannot see the forest for the trees. I recently purchased "Barton Fink" along with "Miller's Crossinhg", another Coen Brothers gem. ![]()
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