Hail, Caesar! [DVD]

“Hail, Caesar” is interesting movie on several levels. It is full of entertaining old Hollywood in-jokes and references that mask the basic plot that is the 2000 year old battle of Catholicism against pagan totalitarianism. The protagonist, Eddie Mannix, played by Josh Brolin, is depicted as a highly moral and religious man, even as he “fixes” various scandals that erupt among the Capitol Studios films and stars. Wracked by guilt over his dubious troubleshooting methods, Mannix goes to confession daily, prays the Rosary, is sincerely trying to be a good husband and father, while at work he unabashedly slaps around actors and actresses who he discovers undermining the studio he represents, lies, pays off cops, etc..Mannix is offered a lucrative job with Lockheed, and a representative is pursuing him aggressively, telling him his current employment is “frivolous”, when he could be working in a serious industry, and as proof, he produces a picture of the mushroom cloud over Bikini atoll, gloating “we were there”. Is Mannix’ industry “frivolous”? On the surface it seems so. But Mannix is torn.A humorous subplot has the leading man in a Christian epic kidnapped by a group of communist screenwriters, who, while bragging about inserting communist propaganda into movies, are envious that the studio owners are making most of the money, while they, the “labor” are being exploited, and this group, calling themselves “The Future”, are led by Frankfurt School guru Herbert Marcuse. They convince the dim-witted star, played by Clooney, of the merits of communism. When he tries to get a cut of the ransom money, they blackmail him over a homosexual casting couch incident, and he drops the idea.Mannix, receiving the ransom demand, drops off 100k in a valise on a designated set where a movie is being shot of a Gene Kelly-esque musical. The star of that musical, Bert Gurney, played by Channing Tatum, is seen with the valise later by another actor, who follows him to the Malibu house where Clooney is being held. Finding Clooney alone, the actor asks where Gurney went, and he tells him that they all went to the beach, and Clooney is "rescued" by the actor.A scene shows a boat filled with the communists (and there appear to be 12 of them, paralleling Scripture about Christ's apostles on the stormy sea) on a storm tossed ocean with Gurney standing at the bow watching the surfacing of a Russian submarine. He gets on the sub, loses the ransom money in the ocean, and the sub drops into the deep, as the other communists row back to shore.Mannix is later educated by Clooney on the great ideas he learned from the communists, and is slapped around by an irate Mannix.Various other subplots and crises seem to resolve themselves, and Mannix tells Lockheed “Thanks, but no thanks”.In a rather roundabout and entertaining way, it seems that the Coens are explaining that communist Hollywood was every bit as much of an atomic bomb on Christian culture as the nuke unleashed on Bikini atoll, and Christ's Bride, the Church, is currently undergoing her own Passion, reflecting her Bridegroom’s. We see Mannix working to ensure that no one is offended by the Christian epic, and that the Christ character is appropriately and reverently depicted. Hollywood is skewered, with very few moral characters, and the arranged marriages and personal issues of the actors are highly managed, as was the case “back in the day”. Judging by the opening visual of the crucifix, and the title, “Hail Caesar”, it appears that the Coens believe the pagan totalitarian communist state has won, despite the efforts of the flawed Catholic Mannix, who prays to do what is right.

The Coen Brothers’ Hail, Caesar is a comedy-drama about the 1950s American movie business focusing upon Capitol Pictures run by Josh Brolin and one of its stars George Clooney who is kidnapped.Part of the movie is about the old studio system where the movie companies controlled everything including the lifestyles and image of their stars. Brolin for instance tells a Country and Western star played by Alden Ehrenreich to act as a rich playboy even though he has a thick southern drawl. You should see how his director Ralph Fiennes struggles to find a way for him to say his lines.Clooney’s story on the other hand is about American politics in the 1950s as he’s abducted by a group of Communist screen writers. Clooney stumbles into one of their meetings where they try to explain dialectical materialism to him. The 50s was the period of McCarthyism and the Hollywood blacklist when hundreds of Hollywood stars and workers were banned for being Leftists. They took Clooney because they have not been paid by the studios a fair wage and feel like exploited workers.In true Coen style the comedic scenes are very low key and witty such as when Brolin calls a meeting of three Christian priests and a rabbi to ask whether a planned movie about Christ is offensive or not. The rabbi says he doesn’t care because Christ wasn’t God and then when the priests try to tell him Christ is love and loves everyone he calls them a bunch of lunatics.If you like the Coen Brothers you’ll like Hail, Caesar.

Not a normal comedy, not at least how many in North America would define comedy. It's a spoof, a lampoon of Hollywood's Golden Age. This was the era in which the large studios controlled everything. They had the producers, directors and actors all under contract, and they also owned nearly all the theaters in large chains. This iron grip on the industry started to be broken in 1948 with the landmark SCOTUS anti-trust decision that forced the studios to divest themselves of their theater chain ownerships. This, coupled with the rise of TV from then into the early 1950's, caused a significant slump in theater ticket sales that lasted until Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather" in 1972 and Roman Polanski's "Chinatown" in 1974. The rise of free agent actors not under iron-clad studio contract, with independent directors and producers did not rise until the latter 1950's.Hollywood responded during the mid-1950's while they still had contractual control over producers, directors and actors, by creating epic spectacles and innovating with wide-screen formats that could not be done on TV. That's the environment in which we enter the Coen Bro's film, "Hail, Caeser!", this interim period in which Hollywood was trying to find itself after losing the theater chains and competing with television. Like Francois Truffaut's 1973 "Day for Night" which portrays the trials and tribulations of a director attempting to create a movie, the Coen Bro's move up the food chain in the remnants of the studio system to the head of film production for a fictitious major Hollywood studio, Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin). He's a "fix-it" man that keeps production going by removing the barriers and obstacles impeding the producers and directors working for him. This includes finding ways to sooth the ruffled feathers of prima dona actors, keep scandals out of the tabloids and gossip columns, solve personality conflicts, and find solutions to casting problems. The Coen Bro's do a superb job with production values and costuming to provide the early 1950's setting in great detail, including some pull-back screen shots of the countless large sound stages and back lots with enormous structures that populated the acreage occupied by the major studios. Even the color saturation goes for the kind of look Technicolor created in that era.The result is film that pans and skewers what Hollywood was during the 1950's, and their epic productions. The film's title comes from the fictitious studio's major production nearing the end of filming, the fictitious "Hail, Caesar!" Those familiar with Biblical Roman Empire epics from that era will see it as a blend of Ben-Hur, The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire, and King of Kings. Likewise there is a synchronized swimming movie in production, an obvious nod to the late 1940's and early 1950's "aquamusicals" with Olympic synchronized swimming star Esther Williams. Lest the classic dance musicals get left out, there's one of those with ballroom dancing and another musical patterned after the film adaptations of the large production Broadway stage musicals. The film version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific from the late 1950's comes to mind immediately. Lest it be left out, there are clear nods in a couple directions to the Senator Joe McCarthy Hollywood Commie Witch-Hunt and Blacklisting that centered on many writers (it also ensnared producers and actors). The icing on the cake is getting to see how the screen personas carefully groomed by the studios for public consumption do not necessarily match real life actor personalities (more on this would create spoilers). This is counterbalanced by the twin gossip columnists who are unquestionably patterned after Hedda Hopper and pig sty of actor and studio scandals she could revel in with her syndicated newspaper column.The fictitious movie productions depicted were the large scale film spectacles with production values/designs and shooting schedules TV could not hope to compete with or produce. Hollywood was desperately looking for cinema that could differentiate itself on the big screen from the living room small screen in a manner that would draw people back into the movie theaters. The risk, though, was one major epic film flop could ruin a film studio financially. It was a pressure cooker environment, and that's the world in which Eddie Mannix worked.Don't expect situations or jokes that will elicit knee-slapping guffaws. The humor is very wry and very dry. It's in all the convoluted contortions Eddie Mannix must go through to keep the studio's film productions from derailing and coming to a grinding halt and bleeding at a rate of untold dollars per day. Having seen Francois Truffaut's 1973 film, "Day for Night" a number years ago, I immediately "got it" with where the Coen Bro's were going with this movie. The real humor is a behind the scenes look on the last years of the Hollywood Golden Age studio system with all its warts and feet of clay the studios tried very hard to conceal from the general public using smoke and mirrors with sleight of hand, a romantic image that nostalgically persists to this day.Not the best of the Coen Bro's work, but not the worst either, which sill makes it an excellent film. Four solid stars for a job extremely well done.

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HAIL, CAESAR! [2016] [Blu-ray + Digital HD ULTRAVIOLET] A Comedic Tour De Force! Outrageously Funny!Four-time Oscar® winning filmmakers Joel Coen and Ethan Coen Brothers [‘No Country for Old Men’ and ‘Fargo’] write and direct ‘HAIL, CAESAR!’ and with an all-star comedy set during the latter years of Hollywood's Golden Age. Starring Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Alden Ehrenreich, Ralph Fiennes, Jonah Hill, Scarlett Johansson, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, and Channing Tatum. ‘HAIL, CAESAR!’ follows a single day in the life of a studio fixer who is presented with plenty of problems to fix. Narrated by Michael Gambon.Cast: Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Alden Ehrenreich, Ralph Fiennes, Scarlett Johansson, Tilda Swinton, Channing Tatum, Frances McDormand, Jonah Hill, Veronica Osorio, Heather Goldenhersh, Alison Pill, Max Baker, Fisher Stevens, Patrick Fischler, Tom Musgrave, David Krumholtz, Greg Baldwin, Patrick Carroll, Fred Melamed, John Bluthal, Alex Karpovsky, Aramazd Stepanian, Allan Havey, Robert Pike Daniel, Robert Picardo, Ian Blackman, Geoffrey Cantor, Christopher Lambert, Robert Trebor, Michael Yama, Ming Zhao, Helen Siff, Basil Hoffman, Luke Spencer Roberts, Ralph P. Martin, James Austin Johnson, Noah Baron, Timm Perry, Noel Conlon, Natasha Bassett, Richard Abraham, Jon Daly, Dennis Cockrum, Clancy Brown, Mather Zickel, Tiffany Lonsdale, Clement von Franckenstein, Wayne Knight, Jeff Lewis, Kyle Bornheimer, Josh Cooke, Peter Jason, Stephen Ellis, Jillian Armenante, Jacob Witkin, Jack Huston, Agyness Deyn, Emily Beecham, Benjamin Beatty, J.R. Horne, Caitlin Muelder, E.E. Bell, Kate Morgan Chadwick, Brian Jones, Peter Banifaz, Clifton Samuels, K.C. Reischerl, Jeremy Davis, Marcos Mateo Ochoa, Colin Bradbury, Ryan Breslin, Tyler Hanes, Casey Garvin, Luke Hawkins, Evan Kasprzak, Patrick Lavallee, Adam Perry, Ryan Vandenboom, Alex Demkin, Dax Hock, Shesha Marvin, Mark Stuart, Forrest Walsh and Michael Gambon (Narrator)Directors: Joel Coen and Ethan CoenProducers: Catherine Farrell, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, Eric Fellner and Tim BevanScreenplay: Joel Coen and Ethan CoenComposer: Carter BurwellCinematography: Roger DeakinsVideo Resolution: 1080pAspect Ratio: 1.85:1Audio: English: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, Spanish: 5.1 DTS-HD Surround Sound, French: DTS-HD Surround Sound, German: 5.1 DTS-HD Surround Sound, Italian: 5.1 DTS-HD Surround Sound and English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio DescriptiveSubtitles: English, Arabic, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hindi, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Português and SwedishRunning Time: 106 minutesRegion: Region B/2Number of discs: 1Studio: Universal Pictures / Working TitleAndrew’s Blu-ray Review: With the film HAIL, CAESAR! [2016] the Joel Coen and Ethan Coen Brothers conjure up nostalgic joy from this hilarious knockabout homage to the golden age of film and also delivers a gorgeously crafted romp through vintage Hollywood in this droll and ruminative entertainment, that is totally and utterly superbly silly and lovingly goofy latest comes on like a breezy flipside companion-piece to the ‘Barton Fink’ film and it's a pleasure to watch and the film lets the Joel Coen and Ethan Coen Brothers and cinematographer Roger Deakins to pastiche every kind of genre from the classical Hollywood studio era. Where we have a jaunt through the underbelly of old Hollywood which finds not the fiery hell of the tortured artist but the upbeat splash of synchronised swimming, ‘On the Town’ type toe-tapping and toga-wearing biblical balderdash. The film pinballs between AWOL movie stars, red-scare nightmares and Bikini Atoll bomb tests, while raising important questions of whether God is still very angry with the world, and how to make a lasso out of spaghetti, and the secret of balancing a bunch of bananas on your head, and they say it is all down to the hips, lips, eyes and thighs, apparently I am informed.It’s 1951, and the motion picture industry is responding to the threat of television with colourful choreography, escapist romances and biblical epics. We open with a choir, a crucifix and a rosary, leading us to Eddie Mannix [Josh Brolin] in the confessional. It’s been 24 hours since his last confession, and Eddie Mannix has racked with the guilt of lying to his wife about smoking. But there’s no rest for the wicked, and 3:00am finds studio fixer Eddie Mannix, an altogether more decent version of his real-life namesake, and saving a starlet from a “possible French postcard situation” before checking into Capitol Pictures where ‘HAIL, CAESAR! A Tale of the Christ,’ where they say tongue in cheek, “Divine presence is to be shot…” is in full swing.The high-powered Hollywood fixer Eddie Mannix has been enjoying an on-screen mini-renaissance, and now the Joel Coen and Ethan Coen Brothers lavish throwback to an earlier era of industry damage control, as overseen here by the character of Eddie Mannix, a fictionalised composite of the real-life studio executive Joseph Edgar Allen, John "Eddie" Mannix and his head of publicity, Howard Strickling served as head of publicity for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer pictures from the late 1920s into the early 1950s. The various scandals that Joseph Edgar Allen, John "Eddie" Mannix and Howard Strickling covered up during their decades working together at M-G-M could easily furnish several films of their own, but Ethan Coen and Joel Coen Brothers generally steer clear of salaciousness in favour of a jaundiced but affectionate character study, treating Josh Brolin’s eternally put-upon as Eddie Mannix as a beacon of relative sanity and intelligence in a world overrun by irrationality, venality and corruption.Eddie Mannix, a hard-working Catholic family man first seen unburdening his soul to a priest, and not just because he has sneaked a few cigarettes behind his wife’s back. It’s the 1950s, and as the designated fixer for Capitol Pictures, played here in a sly amalgam of the Universal Pictures, Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures and SONY film lots, plus the courtyard of Los Angeles Union Station, Eddie Mannixis tasked with preserving the illusion of Hollywood glamour and propriety at a time of pervasive moral crackdown and socio-political upheaval, taking not-always-savoury steps to ensure that production runs smoothly and top talents stay out of the headlines.That can mean anything from smacking around an up-and-coming actress caught in an illicit photo shoot, to arranging for prized star DeeAnna Moran [Scarlett Johansson] who terrifically brassy if a bit underused) to secretly adopt her own out-of-wedlock child, a twist inspired directly by the real-life Eddie Mannix’s similar arrangement for the actress Loretta Young. It also means enforcing the studio’s questionable decision to cast the handsome, dumb-as-a-stump cowboy Hobie Doyle [Alden Ehrenreich] who is totally superb, an audience hit in a recent string of Westerns, in an elegant parlour drama called “Merrily We Dance,” to the quiet chagrin of the prestigious director Laurence Laurentz [Ralph Fiennes], whose patient attempts to steer the hopeless Hobie Doyle through a single line of dialogue provide the film with one of its most delicious scenes and ultimately this is one of the Joel Coen and Ethan Coen Brothers jolliest and most carefree films and quite a surprise considering its subject matter.Generally, when the inner workings of Hollywood are shown on screen, for example in ‘A Star Is Born’ and ‘The Bad and The Beautiful,’ and the studio system are depicted as a hotbed of viciousness, egotism and backstabbing. In ‘HAIL, CAESAR!’ it is a magical Hollywood like world from which unhappiness seems to have been banished and the sun is always shining. Everyone is cheerful. Even the super-bitchy gossip columnists Thora and Thessaly Thacker (both played by Tilda Swinton) aren’t that vicious really. And one of the delights of the film is its collection of comic cameo performances.There is a brilliant Gene Kelly dance like sequence involving a lot of randy sailors in a bar, led by Channing Tatum. We see scenes from Hobie Doyle’s western ‘Lazy Ol’ Moon,’ as well as lots of slaves and the Romans beneath the crucifix in ‘HAIL, CAESAR!’ itself. We’re taken into the cutting room where a chain-smoking editor Frances McDormand lets her scarf get too close to her equipment and nearly chocked to death.‘HAIL, CAESAR!’ is basically a day in the life of this studio boss, whose job is his religion and Josh Brolin, in a heart-and-soul performance, takes this crazy world of the film industry in showing us that he is a man surrounded by nut jobs and plays it for real and is just totally tremendous in how he solves many problems that arise. "Bless me, Father, for I have sinned" are the first words we hear from Eddie Mannix, a married Catholic who exasperates his priest in Confession by asking forgiveness on an almost daily basis. On his own, Eddie Mannix is an insecure mess and prowling the studio, and definitely gives everyone that he is a very scary lion.Working for Capitol Pictures makes this ex-bouncer an executive baby-sitter and what babies. Scarlett Johansson is a treat as the studio's swim-star sweetheart and think Esther Williams, but with a mouth like a gun moll. Channing Tatum is a knockout as a song-and-dance man, and think Gene Kelly with a political agenda and definitely Channing Tatum so nails his joyous tap routine with a chorus of sailors that you long to see a musical built around him. And cheers to the terrific Alden Ehrenreich as the studio's cowboy star and think Roy Rogers, a drawling Hicksville who is forced to star as an urban sophisticate, a role for which he is unforgettably unsuited and it is howlingly funny to watch a vexed British director, a priceless Ralph Fiennes trying to guide him through countless takes of the line "Would that it 'twere so simple," and the scene is one for the comedy time capsule.You don't really notice a plot until the studio's star of stars, Baird Whitlock [George Clooney], gets kidnapped during production of a biblical epic ‘HAIL, CAESAR!’ and George Clooney has a blast adding Baird Whitlock to the series of idiots he's played for the Joel Coen and Ethan Coen Brothers in ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou?’ and ‘Intolerable Cruelty.’ It's blasphemous fun watching him blow his lines in a cathartic scene with a crucified Christ. Bair Whitlock takes nothing seriously, not even being a hostage. That's why Eddie Mannix roughs him up hard. Trying to stay moral in this Hollywood Babylon, Eddie Mannix wrestles with a cosmic question: Should he put his faith in the “God of a Job” or the unseen studio deity who phones in his commandments, where Eddie Mannix tries to sweat it out in style.But their film never loses its exhilarating buoyancy. The Joel Coen and Ethan Coen Brothers love these debauched people and the different genre films they turn out with such hilarious glee. Cinematographer Roger Deakins, production designer Jess Gonchor and costume designer Mary Zophres create visual bliss. ‘HAIL, CAESAR!’ is a valentine to the fly-on-the-wall filmmaking, from two control freaks. And everything that is totally nihilistic despair is included, and works like a charm and it is not easy to whip up a fizzy throwaway, that's also very serious at times, but also very simple at times. Yet the Joel Coen and Ethan Coen Brothers pull it off in great style and they are totally and utterly indispensable. It deserves however a great deal of credit for the way it is all put together. The editing, sound, and visuals are all so striking that the film will hopefully pick up a gong or two eventually when the awards season arrives. In this regard, I feel that the Joel Coen and Ethan Coen Brothers deserve recognition as directors, editors and screenplay without doubt.HAIL, CAESAR! MUSIC TRACK LISTNO DAMES! [Performed by Channing Tatum]LAZY OLD MOON [Performed by Willie Watson]AUTUMN MOON OVER THE CALM LAKE (ON GUZHENG) [Performed by Carol of the Sound of China Guzheng Music]THE RED FLICKERING LIGHT OF CANDLE [Performed by Wang Guotong]THE MERRY WIDOW WALTZ (BALLSIRENENWALZER) [Performed by Richard Hayman Symphony Orchestra]TALES OF HOOMAN (Act IV: Barcarolle, Belle Nuit) [Written by Jacques Offenbach]GLORY OF LOVE [Performed by Alden Ehrenreich & Veronica Osorio]THE CATTLE CALL [Performed by Eddie Arnold]SLAVERY AND SUFFERING (Traditional) [Performed by The Red Army Choir]SONG OF INDIA [Written by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Red Bone & Tommy Dorsey]VARCHAVIANKA [Performed by The Red Army Choir]KALINKA (Traditional) [Performed by The Red Army Choir]ECHELON’S SONG [Performed by The Red Army Choir]OUR FATHER [Performed by Ascension Church Choir (Maloe), Moscow, Fyodor Stroganov (as F. Stroganov) & Svetlana Serafimovich (as S. Serafimovich)]Blu-ray Video Quality – Universal Pictures and Working Title Blu-ray release ‘HAIL, CAESAR!’ have once again brought us a superb and stunning 1080p encoded image release, with an equally wonderful 1.85:1 aspect ratio especially showing us the love and devotion of giving us the impression of the Golden Age of Hollywood and Roger Deakins definitely brings that out in the presentation of this film, and especially the Blu-ray does all that is necessary to let you see all the wonderful detail that went into bringing the world of big Hollywood studio sets to life. Shot on film, you get an incredibly clear picture that maintains the feel this film was attempting to achieve. It only becomes more of an appreciation once you think about the variety of different film styles we see all at once, given the nature of the story. You get a great depth of movement that is wonderful and smooth, as well as a fine clarity between the background and foreground. Black levels are deep and inky, with a good amount of shadow in this film and it all manages to look quite wonderful. Colours are so totally vivid throughout the film, that really pops out of the screen and the film has so much to offer, especially with the brilliant sets and elaborate costumes, which really make for a beautiful coloured filled experience. As to the look of all the actors featured in this film, Roger Deakins made sure there is a great amount of clarity in all their facial textures throughout, especially George Clooney in his Roman costume and how we see his oh so much tanned skin and his well-defined legs throughout the film. It is all there for everyone to see and overall the image quality we get presented is brought out in the best possible taste, as Kenny Everett would all tell us. Playback Region B/2: This will not play on most Blu-ray players sold in North America, Central America, South America, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Learn more about Blu-ray region specifications.Blu-ray Audio Quality – Universal Pictures and Working Title Blu-ray release ‘HAIL, CAESAR!’ brings us a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. The film sounds really great and very precise overall. The various film sets certainly allow for a level of variety throughout the film and that is very welcome. The different channels get some moments that really shine and especially given some of the bigger moments in the film, especially when a thunderstorm erupts all around you. The audio department has put in plenty of work to create a terrific atmospheric sound mixes, despite being mainly around the studio film set. The surround work is handled properly to provide good amounts of balance, making really good use of the various channels available. This is very much a dialogue related film and everyone is heard loud and clear.Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:Special Feature: Directing Hollywood [2016] [1080p] [1.85:1] [4:11] In this love letter to the Joel Coen and Ethan Coen Brothers, everyone involved in the making of the fil discuss why they all said "yes" to the Coen Brothers when approached for their parts in the film. Essentially, this is a short feature on why everyone loves both Joel Coen and Ethan Coen. We also get to hear and discuss how this picture came to exist, what went into getting it actually made and how much everyone involved in working with the Coen Brothers were keen without any hesitation. Contributors include George Clooney [Baird Whitlock], Channing Tatum [Burt Gurney], Tilda Swinton [Thessally & Thora Thacker], Alden Ehrenreich [Hobie Doyle], Ralph Fiennes [Laurence Laurentz], Josh Brolan [Eddie Mannix], Robert Graf [Executive Producer] and Scarlett Johansson [DeeAnna Moran].Special Feature: The Stars Align [2016] [1080p] [1.85:1] [11:34] Here once again we get some more behind-the-scenes view of the making of the film, along with more intimate interviews and plot overview, especially with some of the cast members who talk in front of the camera to talk about their respective characters and appreciation for the feature film and of course working with the brilliant Cohen Brothers and the way they like to make their films. Again, it's not deep but it is amusing enough to watch once. Contributors include George Clooney [Baird Whitlock], Josh Brolan [Eddie Mannix], Ralph Fiennes [Laurence Laurentz], Robert Graf [Executive Producer], Alden Ehrenreich [Hobie Doyle], Tilda Swinton [Thessally & Thora Thacker], Channing Tatum [Burt Gurney] and Scarlett Johansson [DeeAnna Moran].Special Feature: An Era Of Glamour [2016] [1080p] [1.85:1] [6:22] This is slightly more interesting and looks at the production design and the massive undertaking necessary to recreate the Golden Era of that period in Hollywood. All of the costumes in ‘HAIL, CAESAR!’ are absolutely fantastic, and there should definitely be a special feature dedicated to them, instead we barely gloss over the creation of the costumes. Once again we get to share some insight into the importance of getting the wardrobe and costuming period accurate for the feature. This is sadly slightly shorter than it could have been, but what we view is very interesting. Contributors include Robert Graf [Executive Producer], Jess Gonchor [Production Designer], Mary Zophres [Costume Designer], Scarlett Johansson [DeeAnna Moran], Channing Tatum [Burt Gurney], George Clooney [Baird Whitlock], Josh Brolan [Eddie Mannix], Ralph Fiennes [Laurence Laurentz] and Tilda Swinton [Thessally & Thora Thacker].Special Feature: Magic Of A Bygone Era [2016] [1080p] [1.85:1] [6:01] This extra is specifically focuses on two of the film’s major set pieces, the impressive tap-dancing sequence, the underwater Esther William type number, seeing the Choreography workout for the dance numbers and to explain the intricacies of putting together the more complex dance sequences in the film. It is reasonably interesting, but sadly cut far too short. Contributors include Scarlett Johansson [DeeAnna Moran], Channing Tatum [Burt Gurney], Robert Graf [Executive Producer], Christopher Gattelli [‘No Dames’ Choreographer], George Clooney [Baird Whitlock], Josh Brolan [Eddie Mannix] and Mesha Kussman [Swimming Choreographer].Finally, as far as 2016 stands, ‘HAIL, CAESAR!’ is firm favourite film to add to my list, as well as others all jostling for positioning for even multiple viewings because of so many twists and turns throughout the film and at times it is hilarious to boot. The Joel Coen and Ethan Coen Brothers are just fantastic directors who know how to craft a film and how to shoot it so well. It is a film for moviemaker’s fans and committed audiences of this genre who aren't so much interested in indulgent moviemaking but a slice of escapism, pure nostalgic Hollywood style. This is the cast and crew having fun, and even if the movie isn't a straight-up Comedy, its sense of humour and relaxed approach, even to some serious material thrown in for good measure and makes this one of the more inspiring and enjoyable "Hollywood on Hollywood" film genre out there. Universal Pictures UK Blu-ray release of ‘HAIL, CAESAR!’ is brilliant and is also a sublime tongue in cheek sarcastic comedy classic, with laugh a minute in Hollywood jokes and again boasts a stunning terrific video image, a good solid audio experience, and a few supplements to make this Blu-ray release well worth adding to your Blu-ray Collection. Highly Recommended!Andrew C. Miller – Your No.1 Film Fan AficionadoLe Cinema ParadisoUnited Kingdom

An „Hail, Caesar!“, dem neuesten Werk der Coen Brothers, das 2016 in die Kinos gekommen ist, scheiden sich die Geister. Nicht wenige finden den Film schlichtweg langweilig, weil er keine rechte Handlung habe und auch die Entführungsstory, die einen Großteil der erzählten Zeit in Anspruch nimmt, im Vergleich zu „Fargo“ (1996) und „The Big Lebowski“ (1998) eher zahm wirkt. Andere wiederum lieben den Film vor allem als ein Sammelsurium an Zitaten aus Hollywood-Filmen und Anspielungen auf bekannte Personen der Filmgeschichte und haben ihre Freude daran, einander beim Erkennen und Zuordnen zu übertreffen.Der Rezensent mag sich keinem dieser Lage so richtig anschließen – den geistlosen Stimmen, die hier Langeweile monieren, schon einmal gar nicht, denn zum einen sieht man einen Coen-Film nicht wegen der Handlung, und zum anderen sind die Geschicklichkeit und Liebe zum Detail, mit denen die zwei Brüder einen augenzwinkernden Streifzug durch diverse Hollywood-Genres antreten, schlichtweg beeindruckend und zeugen von sehr tiefer Liebe zum Gegenstand ihres Films – dem Film, eben. Aber auch überschwengliche Begeisterung will in mir diesmal nicht recht aufkommen, auch nicht nach dem dritten Durchlauf. Denn zu selten sind die wahren Coen-Momente, die spritzigen, irrwitzigen Dialoge und die Augenblicke eines abgeklärten, niemals wirklich bitteren Pessimismus, die viele ihrer vorhergegangen Filme prägen. Ihrer gibt es in „Hail, Caesar!“ vor allem drei: Einer der besten Momente kommt ziemlich am Anfang, wenn unser Held Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin), der als Troubleshooter für ein Hollywood-Studio arbeitet, Vertreter der vier wichtigsten Glaubensgemeinschaften (Katholiken, Protestanten, Orthodoxe und Juden) einlädt und sie um ihre Meinung zum neuen Prestigeprojekt des Studios bittet, um von vornherein auszuschließen, daß religiöse Menschen an dem Film „Hail, Caesar!“ Anstoß nehmen, denn das wäre ja sehr schlecht für’s Geschäft. Die verbalen Scharmützel, die sich vor allem zwischen dem Rabbi und den Vertretern der christlichen Kirchen abspielen, sind ganz großes Kino und von einem Witz, der im Rest des Filmes nicht mehr erreicht wird. Mit ähnlichem Witz, allerdings nicht mehr in der obengenannten Hochform, laufen die Diskussionen der kommunistischen Drehbuchautoren ab, denen sich das Entführungsopfer, der etwas tumbe Schauspieler Baird Whitlock (George Clooney) nach und nach anschließt. Eine letzte typisch bissige und doppelbödige Coen-Szene ist eher kurz und zeigt eine Cutterin, die kettenrauchend in einem qualmgeschwängerten Raum bei ihrer Arbeit sitzt. Als sich ihr Halstuch in der Filmrolle verfängt und sie beinahe zu ersticken droht, wird sie von Mannix gerettet und sagt dann, ungerührt weiterqualmend, sie solle besser bei der Arbeit kein Halstuch tragen, da sie dies noch umbringen könnte, macht aber keinerlei Anstalten, ihr Halstuch abzulegen.Alle weiteren Filmmomente bleiben vergleichsweise harmlos, so daß „Hail, Caesar!“ vor allem von seinen zahlreichen Bezügen zu Hollywood-Filmen und den Geschichten, die abseits des großen Rampenlichts geschahen, lebt. Auf diese Weise leben kann der Film indes nur bei jenen Zuschauern, die eine große Liebe zum Film antreibt und die mit den teilweise kryptischen Bezügen auch etwas anfangen könne. Ist „Hail, Caesar!“ damit nicht eher ein Ratespiel für Filmnerds?Ja, und nein – denn abgesehen von der Entführungsgeschichte wird hier vor allem die Geschichte eines Mannes erzählt, der seine Arbeit liebt, mag sie auch noch so kräftezehrend sein und in den Augen anderer eher der Leitung eines Zirkus von Freaks gleichen. Wir sehen hier im wesentlichen zwei Arbeitstage im Leben des Eddie Mannix, eines Mannes, der das schier Unmögliche möglich macht und die Zahnräder der Traumfabrik, in der es letztlich um Geld geht – wenn auch nicht ihm selbst, da er ja einen besserbezahlten Job abweisen wird –, am Laufen hält. Im Grunde zitiert der Film in seiner Gesamtheit ein eher unbekanntes Werk einer der größten Hollywood-Legenden, John Ford, nämlich „Gideon’s Day“ (1958), einen Film, der allerdings selbst nicht in Hollywood produziert wurde, sondern ein Projekt ist, das Ford seinerzeit in Großbritannien, abseits der amerikanischen Filmstudios, drehte. In „Gideon’s Day“ begleiten wir den Titelhelden, einen Inspektor, einen Tag lang bei seiner, oft nicht sonderlich spektakulären, Arbeit und bekommen einen Eindruck davon, wie wichtig diese Tätigkeit eigentlich ist – und auch wie aufreibend. Ähnlich verfährt „Hail, Caesar!“, der uns das Bild von Mannix als einem Helden des Alltags zeichnet – ein Routinier in seinen Handlungen und Entscheidungen, jedoch ein Idealist im Glauben daran, daß das, was er tut, von ihm getan werden muß.Die Coens wären indes nicht die Coens, wenn sie es, bei aller Liebe zum Sujet, die sie antreibt und die man diesem Film in jeder einzelnen Szene ansieht, bei einer ans Pathos grenzenden Idealisierung bewenden ließen. Nein, diese wird mehrfach ironisch gebrochen, und zwar schon ganz zu Anfang, wenn die Hauptfigur eingeführt wird und wir einen an den Film noir erinnernden Voice-over hören, der im hard-boiled-style ein kleines Heldenlied auf Mannix singt. Wenn nun derselbe Voice-over, in exakt der gleichen Stimme, ein wenig später in „Hail, Caesar!“, dem Film im Film, den von Baird Whitlock gespielten Helden einführt, und wir kurz darauf erkennen, was für ein Trottel dieser Whitlock eigentlich ist, dann dürfte uns klar werden, daß wir auch den Voice-over zu Mannix cum grano salis zu nehmen haben, daß wir mit der Nase darauf gestoßen werden, in einem Film zu sein, und daß Filme eben Träume verkaufen.Noch deutlicher wird diese ironische Brechung zum Schluß, wenn der von Baird gespielte römische Feldherr die für jedes amerikanische Message Movie (und auch jede Beziehungskomödie) obligatorische Besinnungsrede unter dem Kreuz Jesu hält und wir sehen, wie das Pathos, das er erzeugt, auf alle Mitglieder der Crew übergreift, ihnen die Tränen in die Augen treibt und sie schlucken macht, wobei mit der Möglichkeit gespielt wird, daß das Virus kitschiger Emotion auch auf den Zuschauer übergreifen könnte --- bis dann im letzten Moment die erlösende Antiklimax daherkommt, indem Baird das letzte Wort, „faith“, [1] vergißt und die Szene gnadenlos vergeigt. Hier ist er dann endlich wieder, der subversive Humor der Coens, der leider im Gesamtwerk an vielen Stellen hinter die Begeisterung der Regisseure für ihr Sujet zurücktreten muß.Insgesamt ist „Hail, Caesar!“, wohl vor allem für Filmliebhaber, ein sehr dichter und detailreicher Film der Coens, solchen Werken wie „Ladykillers“ (2004) und „Intolerable Cruelty“ (2003) zweifellos haushoch überlegen, aber doch eben nicht auf dem gleichen Niveau wie „The Big Lebowski“, „A Serious Man“ (2009) und „True Grit“ (2010).[1] Es wäre sicherlich auch lohnenswert, diesen Film unter dem Aspekt des Glaubens zu analysieren, denn Mannix ist ein gläubiger Katholik, der seinen Beichtvater so stark zu beanspruchen scheint wie Ned Flanders seinen Gott, und auch Whitlock erlebt ja eine kurzzeitige Konversion zu den falschen Idealen des Kommunismus, und im Film geht es eben auch oft darum, Menschen an Ideale glauben zu lassen, wie der Film im Film beweist.

A Hollywood studio fixer (Josh Brolin) has to deal with various problems over the course of one day.This has to be among one of the most pointless movies I’ve ever seen. No matter how I look at it I can’t work out why it exists. I’m truly bewildered how they spent multiple millions (reportedly $22,000,000) and possibly years making this big nothing of a film (it’s their first film in three years). Who was this film for? I’m increasingly of the opinion that the Coen Brothers are much less substantial filmmakers than everyone thinks they are. The number of aimless movies without a strong plot they’ve made must now outnumber their more robust films. Their classy, expertly crafted, immaculate productions mask how hollow and vague their screenplays often are. They are much better directors than they are writers. This movie is just a self-indulgent wallow in old genres with some overtly redundant to the plot moments that are beyond self-indulgent – Scarlett Johansson’s water ballet and Channing Tatum’s sailors in a bar dance number could be cut and no one would notice. This wouldn’t be so bad if it was interesting, but it feels like they forgot about the audience. I feel there’s no attempt at actually connecting to an audience. Why should the audience care about any of this? It’s not funny, apart from about two giggles, and it’s certainly got no dramatic weight to it. The climax was particularly underwhelming (and on purpose with that classy technique of theirs). It’s a collection of indifferent subplots in search of a story, and like, for example, A Serious Man (2009) it fails to find a story. The episodic subplots don’t gel into a coherent whole. It simply doesn’t work and the whole film just sits flat on the screen.This is probably one of the Coen Brothers weakest, most indifferent movies. Having said that, it was not annoying or boring. It entertained me in a very minor way with small pleasures. If you’re not a film buff I doubt the film has anything to offer. It’s a very weak movie with a lazy script saved almost exclusively by the high quality craftsmanship with which it was made.Additional:I read a spirited defence of the Coen Brothers work that suggested I wasn’t paying enough attention; and that there was a lot more going on than my simple surface level reading. They made a persuasive sounding argument that there was a lot of substance to A Simple Man (2009) and Hail, Caesar! So I watched Hail, Caesar! again. I honestly couldn’t see any depths in it. It’s a bunch of small, inconsequential, self-indulgent vague story fragments that in and of themselves go nowhere and when combined add up to nothing. It remained perfectly watchable and oddly engaging but there is no substance. Nor did it become funnier or more dramatic with a repeat viewing. The biggest laugh remains the rabbi saying, ‘Eh, I have no opinion,’ which is a small laugh at best. My opinion of the film has not changed one inch from my previous viewing.The main story thread, the communists kidnapping George Clooney, remains as indifferent and undernourished as before. Most of the climax happens off screen to create a particularly underwhelming ending (even the tiny Scarlett Johansson subplot climaxes off screen). It’s a little film of small ambition swaddled in a luxurious production that gives it an air of class that helps it over its many deficiencies.It’s a weak, vague, underdeveloped movie but it’s fairly enjoyable to watch. Although I can’t imagine a non-film buff getting anything much out of it (the communist plotline is going to baffle more than a few people).It’s a generous 3 out of 5 stars.

Hollywood in den 1950er Jahren: Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) arbeitet als Problemlöser für das große Filmstudio Capitol Pictures. Und er hat jede Menge um die Ohren: So wird Baird Whitlock (George Clooney), Hauptdarsteller des in der Entstehung befindlichen Historien-Epos Hail, Caesar!, von amerikanischen Kommunisten entführt, der Western-Star Hobie Doyle (Alden Ehrenreich) soll zum ersten Mal eine Rolle in einem Drama spielen, wobei sich herausstellt, dass er eigentlich gar nicht schauspielern kann, die extrovertierte und launische Schauspielerin DeeAnna Moran (Scarlett Johansson) ist schwanger, hat aber keinen festen Partner - und es würde einen Skandal geben, wenn das rauskommt. Auf Geschichten dieser Art sind die Klatschreporterinnen und Zwillingsschwestern Thessaly und Thora Thacker (Tilda Swinton) scharf, die Mannix ständig abwimmeln oder beschwichtigen muss. Und das sind noch längst nicht alle Probleme, mit denen Mannix sich herumschlägt. Aber dafür ist er ja Problemlöser - und er macht seinen Job verdammt gut.Hail, Caesar! ist ein 2016 erschienener Film von Ethan und Joel Coen - und ja, ich bin Fan der Coen-Brüder, auch wenn ich nicht all ihre Werke feiere und auch nicht alle gesehen habe. A Serious Man (2009) und Inside Llewin Davis (2013) zum Beispiel finde ich nur mittelmäßig. Fargo (1996), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) und No Country for Old Men (2007) hingegen finde ich richtig gut, The Big Lebowski (1998) ist sogar einer meiner absoluten Lieblingsfilme. Und auch Hail, Caesar! ordne ich für mich bei den besseren Coen-Brüder-Filmen ein, obwohl er nicht durchweg positive Kritiken und Zuschauerwertungen bekommen hat. Doch ich mag den humorvollen Blick auf das Hollywood der 1950er und die vielen schrulligen Figuren des Films. Schön finde ich auch die Inszenierung, die sich tatsächlich zum Teil am Kino der 1950er Jahre orientiert - Off-Sprecher und von Hand gemalte Hintergründe inklusive. Zwar ist es manchmal etwas schwierig, einen roten Faden in den vielen Story-Elementen zu finden, zu verworren wird die Geschichte aber nie. Kürzlich habe ich mir Hail, Caesar! zum zweiten Mal angesehen und fand ihn noch einen Tick besser als beim ersten Mal. Das Bild der Blu-ray ist zudem einwandfrei, eine Schippe Extras gibt's auch. Schöne Sache!