Hail, Caesar! by SHINYGOODGUY

CINEMA

Hail, Caesar!

POSTED BY: SHINYGOODGUY
UPDATED: Tuesday, February 9, 2016 23:20
SHORT URL:
VIEWED: 3241
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Saturday, February 6, 2016 11:59 PM

I was looking forward to seeing this new comedy by the Coen Brothers, and I can tell you that it appealed to me for the homage to Hollywood plot. Unfortunately I don't
feel that they delivered on what I was hoping for most - laughs. I think I chuckled
2 or 3 times, I LOL'd once and I chortled a couple more times. The plot was simple enough - a studio star gets kidnapped and is held for ransom; the studio manager
proceeds to try and find him so they can finish the picture called Hail Caesar.
See simple, but you know that the Coen Brothers never do things nice and simple.

But then what follows are some vignettes and choppy scenes that try to both squeeze out some laughs and send a message. It just didn't work for me, a half-assed attempt
at mixing Hollywood's Golden Era and some soft political commentary.

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Sunday, February 7, 2016 12:29 AM

WISHIMAY

You know movies are so bad lately that it's almost a past time to see which is gonna be worse, like chasing down a particular stinky cheese...

We actually went to see 50 Shades of Black (ended up child free and no where else to go), and I don't know which one was worse, THAT or Deuce Bigalow European Gigalo.

I mean there was maybe three or four moments that were funny and the rest was just uncomfortable horror. And annoying.

There is one part where Florence Henderson is a dominatrix and I just looked over at hubbs and said "Now THERE is a proud moment for American Cinematic History!"

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Monday, February 8, 2016 4:56 AM

SHINYGOODGUY

You know Wish, this is the Coen Brothers - Raising Arizona and Fargo Coen Brothers. I kept thinking - the plot will really start rolling with the laughs any minute now.......................any minute.

It didn't. Now, mind you, there were some really good sets and some really good homages to Hollywood of the 40s & 50s, but the transitions and editing
lacked any punch or sharpness to it. It felt like I was being taken on a museum tour by that guy from Ferris Bueller's Day Off - you know, anyone? anyone? - it was like watching paint dry......actually more like hearing paint dry.

There was this one scene that made me laugh out loud, it was with Ralph Fienne's character, a European director named Laurence Laurenz. He's frustrated by a new heartthrob actor's diction and tries hard to direct
him in delivering a line. Pure comic genius, but that's about it. The rest of the movie is ill-timed, ill-paced cameos by some veteran actors that were
only mildly amusing and didn't seem to fit in the film, other than it was
presented as a Golden Era scene. Hail Caesar seemed to lack focus and sense of purpose except to copy the movies Golden Era. Frankly, I felt that the Coens wasted the talents of the myriad of actors cast in this tepid comedy (by the way, Mr. Universe was in this movie). Plenty of style, but little in the way of substance.

This movie actually got a 70 in Rotten Tomatoes, a 70, from the critics, but fans had a lot to say about it, like:

"A truly incomprehensible mess" wrote someone on Fandango..."a meandering,
unfunny, disjointed, alienating mess of a movie....easily the Coen Brothers
worst film to date."

Now read this contribution, by Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun Times, a respected newspaper:

"Hail, Caesar! is pure, popcorn fun - a visual treat, a comedic tour de force and a sublime and sly slice of satire."

A visual treat means it was beautifully shot. That it was, truly great set pieces. What else do you have for me?

RogerEbert.com - "A comic fable that's both deftly clever and irrepressibly
goofy." It was too clever for it's own good and it was definitely goofy, but a lot like a flat SNL skit that tries too hard. To say that the writing was bad is not enough. But according to this critic, who gave it 4 stars, it was "the sunniest and sweetest film the Coens ever made." Huh! There is a disconnect between the critics and moviegoers, to tell you the truth I
found myself scratching my head and wondering 'where is this movie going?'

Satire is a fine art and great when done right, but somehow and in some weird way they lost their audience. The only reason I was aware that the
movie had any kind of connection, was that all the characters were somehow involved in and around the central character (Josh Brolin) and the fictitious movie studio Capital Pictures. Other than that it did seem "disjointed and meandering." Raising Arizona this was not!

It seems that Hollywood is running out of ideas for good entertainment, you could count on one hand the number of good movies out today. But you're right, it does seem to be a type of race to the bottom. No wonder TV and the internet are becoming more interesting of late. I'm beginning to think that the Revenant will absolutely walk away with the Oscar for Best Picture, anything less would be a travesty.

SGG

Quote:
Originally posted by Wishimay:
You know movies are so bad lately that it's almost a past time to see which is gonna be worse, like chasing down a particular stinky cheese...

We actually went to see 50 Shades of Black (ended up child free and no where else to go), and I don't know which one was worse, THAT or Deuce Bigalow European Gigalo.

I mean there was maybe three or four moments that were funny and the rest was just uncomfortable horror. And annoying.

There is one part where Florence Henderson is a dominatrix and I just looked over at hubbs and said "Now THERE is a proud moment for American Cinematic History!"

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Tuesday, February 9, 2016 12:46 PM

WISHIMAY

Quote:
Originally posted by SHINYGOODGUY:

The rest of the movie is ill-timed, ill-paced cameos by some veteran actors that were
only mildly amusing and didn't seem to fit in the film, other than it was
presented as a Golden Era scene. Hail Caesar seemed to lack focus and sense of purpose except to copy the movies Golden Era. Frankly, I felt that the Coens wasted the talents of the myriad of actors cast in this tepid comedy (by the way, Mr. Universe was in this movie). Plenty of style, but little in the way of substance.

"Let's see how many people you remember from "that one show that one time" to see if we can divert you from the lack of plot, substance, or any real entertainment value..."

Unfortunately, it works for most people these days...

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Tuesday, February 9, 2016 11:20 PM

WISHIMAY

https://www.yahoo.com/movies/joss-whedon-picks-sleeping-other-18282255
8.html

Joss speaks. No Escape ...and Sleeping With Other People.

On my list now...

Must...Obey...

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