I'd been wanting to see the Barton Fink ever since I first saw that bit in the Simpsons and I wasn't disappointed. The young Turturro is magnificent as the self-absorbed Fink and it's chock full of that visually specific characterful strangeness you get from the Coens. What let it down for me slightly was its slow sweaty collapse into what felt like pure allegory towards the end. The old film studies student in me gets itchy over that sort of thing. The observations on creative pressure and contract slavery for studios (surely today more relevant than even in the 40s) are really sharp though and the performances are all fantastic. Not utterly vital but seriously captivating.
Review of Barton Fink
