Rating: 
Summary: Only getting it because my VHS is fading out
Review: After reading the detailed complaints from other Barton Fink fans, I can honestly assess that the only reason I'm buying the DVD is for the movie itself (which is 10 out of 10 for me), and the fact that my 1992 VHS version is all but burnt out.What a shame that the Coen brothers did not partake in the release of this DVD. Barton Fink is truly a movie worth a Criterion Collector's Edition, if not a Director's Release. Even more shocking is that there are no cast interviews. Even if the interviews were done just recently, I would pay [$$] just to get some personal insight from John T. and John G. on their character development and comraderie in the film, let alone a Commentary track section. Case in point: Rent or buy the Road to Perdition, and you get a boatload of insight into the set design, music development, feature commentaries, conceptual realisation, etc. I'm not even a big fan of that movie, but I was blown away at the quality of the DVD's production, and Sam Mendes leaves no leaf unturned when looking back at his work on this film, particularly creating the setting of the 1930's Midwest and cosmopolitan Chicago. I personally thought Barton Fink's production values and attention to detail were a couple of marks above this movie. Anyways, I digress. Like I said, my VHS tape is wearing down, so it's on to the DVD format.
Rating: 
Summary: the rating is for the dvd
Review: barton fink is one of my favorite movies. i flip-flop between the big lebowski and barton fink as my favorite coen brothers movie. however, this dvd could have come with more extras. we've waited a long time for its release. the 8 "deleted scenes" are the same familiar scenes from the film with the odd line re-inserted here and there. it adds up to maybe 30 seconds of new stuff and if you have the coen brothers screenplays vol 1. it won't be new to you at all. where's the commentary? come on coens, you did a commentary for "the man who wasn't there". this movie won the palm d'or for pete's sake. isn't there some cannes footage you could have stuck on here at least? or have the cast revisit their work in a new interview? i bought the movie anyway, and it's not a bad price for what you get, but i'd have paid more for more.
Rating: 
Summary: Writing is a Hell of an occupation
Review: A brilliant movie: comedy, tragedy, horror, satire, allegory all wrapped up in a hatbox-sized package. So much for the Artist going to Hell and back for his Masterpiece....
Rating: 
Summary: The movie's a five, but a poor DVD release
Review: I won't retread what's already been covered well about the new DVD release of Barton Fink. But I did want to expand on it. First, this is a great looking, well-acted, well-written movie. All my negative comments below mustn't be taken with the film itself in mind; only the lack of quality of the DVD release of said movie. Second, while the sound is good, I was surprised we are only given a stereo Dolby track. When the location of audio events is so key as in a film like Barton Fink, I would think 20th Century Fox would take advantage of the later surround technology and do a 5.1 or 6.1 remix. But the most disturbing issue I had with the DVD is for first time viewers of the film. If there's any way on your player that you can skip the opening segment leading into the menu, and the menu itself, do so by all means. This gives away a key scene late in the picture and is a spoiler all by itself. Just play the movie. I won't elaborate for those who haven't seen the movie, just do not look at the menu until afterwards! I can't imagine what the folks at Fox responsible for this DVD were thinking and I was completely annoyed by this solution to a menu subject. Hint for special edition menu: How about the picture of the girl on the beach, folks? That's a strong thread that gives NOTHING away. I guess this comes from the same thinking that gives us a two minute movie trailer with all the key plot twists, which leaves the viewer feeling that they've already seen the movie. On the whole, it seemed to me that this release of the picture was flippant, without any real thought about quality. Not even a commentary is included! This film festival award-winner, with one of John Goodman's most involving performances, deserves a special edition with a proper film transfer and sound remix - not to mention a more appropriate menu subject. So five stars for a brilliant Coen bros. film, but the disappointing DVD quality reduces it to a two. Write Fox for a special edition.
Rating:
Summary: Fox: "Whaddaya need, a roadmap?"
Review: Apparently being counted among the funniest people in film places you in some danger of being regarded as "flippant"; the Coens have long had the charge leveled against them that they hold their characters in the worst sort of contempt. These frequently tormented beings, the theory goes, exist as little more than occasions for cruel jokes and pyrotechnical displays of filmmaking technique. True up to a point, then not true. If they sincerely did not care about the dignity of their characters, it is doubtful the Coen Combine would be one of the largest employers of top-notch actors in film. With "Barton Fink", Joel and Ethan once again assembled a gifted cast uniquely suited to the challenges an actor always faces in their films: To grasp and make clear the internal logic of one's character while being insanely funny. They like a good laugh, the Coens do, but presumably they have a more than passing acquaintance with two rather somber issues "Barton Fink" raises: the challenges of artistic "authenticity" in general (Barton passionately believes he serves the "Common Man" but is oblivious to the example living next door ) and the torment of writer's block in particular (the Coens worked on "Fink" when they hit a wall with "Miller's Crossing"). As is often the case with their work, the simultaneity of absurdity and high artistic sheen creates a pleasurable cognitive dissonance in the viewer: if this is a comedy, why is it so imposing; if this is supposed to be serious, why do I feel like laughing? As easy as it is to laugh at, "Barton Fink" is a film that's hard to laugh off, and Carter Burwell's score must not be overlooked when considering why. That it is as haunting and as tragic as any written for a comedy falls squarely within the category of safe statements. The cinematography, the costume design, and (in particular) the obsessive production design are as fascinating as anything happening within them, complementing one another impeccably and evoking a dreamlike time and place far removed from our own. Period pieces have always been the Brother's fixation and forte, and "Barton Fink" is one of their best. (One wonders whether they were spoofing themselves and their team's special proclivities when they set 1998's "The Big Lebowski" during the less-than-enchanted "Time of the Gulf War", 1991). Unfortunately, the picture quality of the DVD, and the concurrently released "Miller's Crossing" DVD, raises an issue sure to be troubling to purists. The Coens are known to be remarkably precise about everything they do, particularly the way in which they frame their shots (for samples, see the storyboard/shot comparisons on the "Miller's" disc). These new DVDs, disgracefully, lop off a large portion of the right side of the image so that, for instance, titles and visuals that were obviously intended to be centered are maddeningly off to one side. Some will be able to overlook this, some will not. Let us fervently hope, however, that 20th-Century Fox never gets its hands on Picasso's "Guernica": after all, that painting is a little WIDE, isn't it? For the visually-oriented, the discs aren't the best of news. The aurally-inclined are luckier: the sound is often uncannily good. At some point during the film the spatial realism of the soundtrack is bound to have the viewer looking for the source of a knock or the location of a set of footsteps. Fans of these films have waited a long time for the DVDs. One can only speculate as to why it took 20th-Century Fox from the advent of DVD technology until now to issue them. Does the fact that "Barton Fink" took the top three honors at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival mean nothing in U.S. commercial terms? Fox, obviously, answered that question before it was asked. Even so, given the massive successes of "Fargo" and "O Brother", one wonders why any company with the rights to a Coen brothers film or two would withhold them from the buying public. Much to Fox's discredit, discerning viewers who want to see "Barton Fink" as its makers intended may have to wait for whatever format inevitably replaces DVD, cross their fingers, and buy buy buy all over again. (Postscript 5/24/04: Perhaps the most offensive aspect of this disc is a menu screen that reveals the horrific and completely unexpected climax of the film. The viewer has no option but to witness this before progressing to the film itself.)
Rating:
Summary: This new DVD will be the Feel Good smash of the Summer
Review: With it's finely wrought true life story, this heart-warming tale will fill you up with the best love ever! Don't miss the sentimental ending with great work from John Goodman.
Rating: 
Summary: A writer's life under the studio system, 1941
Review: Barton Fink (1991) ****
A writer's life under the studio system, 1941 This won some international awards and was nominated for Oscars for Art/Set Decoration, Costume Design, and Best Supporting Actor (Michael Lerner), all nominations well-deserved. It is a fine period piece movie, a little slow in spots, but original and ultimately engaging. Barton Fink, played with fidelity and deep concentration by John Turturro, is an idealistic New York playwright experiencing his first success. He is called to Hollywood to write screenplays under the old studio system. Lerner, in a burlesque performance that is strikingly and hilariously over the top (you've got to love the shot of him in open robe and bathing trunks by the pool, his ample, hairy belly vividly displayed, perhaps as a symbol of a devouring cauldron), plays the movie mogul who instructs Fink to write the script for a "B" wrestling picture starring Wallace Beery. This is a kind of Coen and Coen joke, part of the satirical intent of the movie since what Wallace Beery did star in were boxing pictures. Same difference, one might say. (Actually, Beery did star in at least one wrestling movie, Flesh (1932), I discovered by checking at IMDb.) Anyway, Fink of course knows nothing about wrestling, and finding himself in an old Los Angeles hotel (where one may stay a day, or ominously, a lifetime), begins to unravel since he can't get beyond the first couple of lines of the screenplay. We are treated to closeups of all that white space on the paper as it sits rolled up in the old manual typewriter. The satirical idea here is to measure the great gulf between literary art and writing film scripts for a mass audience, an audience further dumbed down by the expectations of studio execs. Next door to Fink is Charlie Meadows (John Goodman) ostensibly a life insurance salesman. Goodman works hard to portray a monstrous (in more ways than one) sort of guy. He huffs and puffs his way into friendship with Fink, showing him a wrestling move or two. At this point it is impossible to tell where the movie is headed. Are they going to become more than friends? Enter Judy Davis as Audrey Taylor the "secretary" of an alcoholic novelist working in the "Writer's Building" at the studio (reminding me of a similar set from Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard). Fink gets an undisguised yen for her and manages to get her to help him with his script. And then comes a characteristic Coen and Coen twist, and all heck breaks loose. Memorable in a small role as the desk clerk and bellhop is Steve Buscemi who is first revealed to us coming enigmatically out of the hotel's cellar where God only knows what he was doing. They loved this at Cannes because just about every aspect of the Hollywood industry is made fun of, except the actors, who interestingly enough, make nary an appearance. Clever those Coen brothers. This is a dark, nasty but somewhat redemptive writer's movie, an art film about Hollywood that afficionados will not want to miss.
Rating:
Summary: at last this film is on dvd
Review: For those of you who have not seen this movie, it is an astounding film. This is among the best of the Coen Brother's
work. Don't expect Big Lebowski kind of comedy in this one though. It is a DARK comedy. Big Lebowski is much more lighthearted in its delivery. So, a brief synopsis goes like this: Young Barton Fink is the toast of Manhattan. His newest play is a major success, still his agent advises him to take a job writing films in Hollywood. Fink comes to find California to be very disturbing. His boss worships him and is clearly demented. The novelist Fink idolizes is a violent alcoholic who has been used up and spat out by the studio. To top it off his neighbor at his hotel is loud, dimwitted, and disrupting our Barton Fink's creative process. Will Fink be capable of writing a wrestling picture that captures the "Barton Fink" style? Will Hollywood devour poor Barton instead? Find out when this hits the shelves. For those of you who have seen this movie, I share your anticipation of its now inevitable release on DVD. Goodnight.
Rating:
Summary: Miller's "Barton" Crossing
Review: During the writing process of Miller the Coens found themselves at a halt with their script. They then had an idea about a struggling playwright being given his first film. The jump to film is causing problems because it's a boxing picture and Barton knows absolutely nothing about boxing. From that simple of a plot it's amazing where the coens take the movie from that point. The film was Roger Deakins( Director of Photography) first collaboration with the coens. It looks beautiful as do all of his future works with the coens. Carter burwell once again creates a beautiful score for the film . I've only given the dvd 3 stars simply because it has no extra's at all. At least it's finally being released on dvd. That's the most important thing. Please don't miss this rare treasture in filmmaking.
Rating:
Summary: funny
Review: It's not drama, or literature, or serious cinema. It's a comedy. And it's funny. One interesting note: when Barton visits Mayhew's bungalow, there's a sheet of paper on the door which says that Mayhew is working on the movie "Slave Ship". In real life, the movie "Slave Ship" was in fact written by William Faulkner, from whom the character Mayhew was drawn. And "Slave Ship" starred Wallace Beery, for whom Barton is supposed to write the "wrestling picture" script.
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