Beaks here...

Normally, I abhor the practice of previewing the opening ten minutes or whatever of any movie online. Your first viewing should be in full, without interruptions.

That said, a film like Rian Johnson's THE BROTHERS BLOOM can withstand such a tease. Imagine if, in September of 1990, you'd watched the opening "ethics" scene in MILLER'S CROSSING and stopped at the director's credit, right after the hat had blown down that leafy lane (behind Carter Burwell's indelible main theme). Though you would've been furious at having to wait another month or so to see the entire movie, there's nothing in that sequence that would've "spoiled" the movie for you. It would've just been an enticing preamble to a (hopefully) wonderful film.

That's what the below video accomplishes for THE BROTHERS BLOOM. Granted, there's more of a direct, emotional hook here than there's ever been in a Coen Brothers movie; still, it's not a bad thing to have an idea of what to expect from Johnson's con man yarn going in - especially since very few writer-directors are this sophisticated with their storytelling nowadays. Having only seen the film once, watching this sequence again made me desperate for a second go-round. It shook out pretty cleanly the first time through, but there are certain nuances I know I missed.

So I implore you to watch the first seven minutes of the movie, which finally hits theaters on May 29th, 2009.