Apple TV+

Joel Coen’s “The Tragedy of Macbeth” has received some decent reviews since it premiered in cinemas and on Apple TV+. One person who was not so receptive was the directors brother and former collaborator Ethan. He provided a hilarious take for the Might Be Wrong Substack, full of expletives and brotherly jibes.

Consider the very decision to adapt Macbeth. The choice belies deep insecurity; Mr. Coen seems, on some level, to understand that he has the talent God gave a balloon full of piss, and therefore needs to latch onto more talented artists like a lamprey sucking the life out of a majestic blue whale. A less insecure director might have been satisfied with a less esteemed piece of intellectual property, but Mr. Coen glommed onto perhaps the best known play by the world’s most renowned playwright in a move that screams “HELP! THE NO TALENT POLICE ARE RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER! PLEASE, SOMEONE RESCUE ME BEFORE I’M EXPOSED AS A FRAUD WHO SOMEHOW FELL ASS-FIRST INTO A MOVIE CAREER!”

[Update February 3: In thoroughly disappointing news, it turns out this is a spoof and not really written by Ethan Coen. Still very funny though.]