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 Hail, Caesar! 

What grade would you give this film?
A 22%  22%  [ 2 ]
B 56%  56%  [ 5 ]
C 22%  22%  [ 2 ]
D 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
F 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
Total votes : 9

 Hail, Caesar! 
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Post Hail, Caesar!
Hail, Caesar!

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Hail, Caesar! is a 2016 American comedy film written, produced, edited, and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Starring Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Alden Ehrenreich, Ralph Fiennes, Jonah Hill, Scarlett Johansson, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, and Channing Tatum, the film follows Eddie Mannix (Brolin), a "fixer" working in the Hollywood film industry in the 1950s, trying to discover what happened to a cast member who vanishes during filming.

First revealed in 2004, the film was originally set to take place in the 1920s and follow actors performing a play about ancient Rome. The Coens shelved the idea until late 2013, when they stated it was in development. Principal photography began in November 2014 in Los Angeles, California. The film premiered in Los Angeles on February 1, 2016, opens wide February 5, 2016 and will open the 66th Berlin International Film Festival on February 11.


Thu Feb 04, 2016 11:07 pm
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Post Re: Hail, Caesar!
Absurd and delightful, Hail, Caesar! is a panoramic view of a fictional film studio—Capitol Pictures—in the 1950s. The whirlwind of power and vanity is navigated by a tightly wound company man (Josh Brolin) whose central purpose is ensuring Capitol's under-contract celebrities' intimate revelry does not become a topic of public conversation. A busy day becomes even worse when the A-list star of a lavish upcoming religious epic (George Clooney) is abducted by a sect of Communist screenwriters. This is definitely not the most cohesive or substantial film by the venerable Joel and Ethan Coen, but it is very hard to resist as scene after scene of at-once-biting-and-nostalgic comedy plays out amid lush imagery and well-placed references to real silver-screen history (the character played by Scarlett Johansson is a feisty amalgam of Loretta Young and Bathing Beauty water ballerina Esther Williams).

The sibling directors' use of Clooney's gift for oily ham theatricality is not as memorable or well-developed here as it was in O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Burn After Reading, but he still charms in his portrayal of an easily led Lothario with a megawatt smile. Brolin is a stout enough straight man, and Ralph Fiennes is a pleasure as an oh-so-refined British director hilariously assigned to draw the first dialogue-driven performance from a dreamy Western stuntman, a molasses-voiced source of integrity played by relative newcomer Alden Ehrenreich in a scene-stealing performance which will turn him into a major star in his own right if the world is just.

B+

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Fri Feb 05, 2016 12:05 am
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Post Re: Hail, Caesar!
What a snoozefest.

Alden Ehrenreich was really great though, his scene with Ralph Fiennes was very good. The rest was uninvolving.


Fri Feb 05, 2016 9:35 pm
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Post Re: Hail, Caesar!
The Coens are at it again in Hail, Caesar!, a sporadically amusing but fairly lukewarm minor effort from them. There are a number of oddball moments of laugh out loud hilarity in this (especially a scene where Ralph Fiennes vainly attempts to direct cowboy Alden Ehrenreich in a "serious" drama), but the film is overall a bit disjointed. C+


Sat Feb 06, 2016 1:24 am
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Post Re: Hail, Caesar!
Libs wrote:
The Coens are at it again in Hail, Caesar!, a sporadically amusing but fairly lukewarm minor effort from them. There are a number of oddball moments of laugh out loud hilarity in this (especially a scene where Ralph Fiennes vainly attempts to direct cowboy Alden Ehrenreich in a "serious" drama), but the film is overall a bit disjointed. C+


I agree with every word of this.


Sat Feb 06, 2016 6:38 pm
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Post Re: Hail, Caesar!
it's 2016 and people still don't get the coens

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Sun Feb 07, 2016 11:55 am
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Post Re: Hail, Caesar!
It was decent. The whole thing with George Clooney and the communists was stupid and incredibly dull, but the rest of it was entertaining if incredibly slight. Josh Brolin gives an incredibly committed performance and Alden Ehrenreich is also quite good. The rest of the all-star cast basically amounts to extended cameos, though Channing Tatum and Scarlett Johansson in particular are a blast and their big setpieces are visually stunning and fun. Ralph Fiennes is also great in the movie's funniest scene and I thought Tilda Swinton as the twin reporters was hilarious. I just feel like this isn't going to be one that lasts long in my memory, but it's certainly enjoyable in the moment. B/B-


Sun Feb 07, 2016 6:30 pm
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Post Re: Hail, Caesar!
Magnus wrote:
enlighten us bro

nah, you get it

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zwackerm wrote:
If John Wick 2 even makes 30 million I will eat 1,000 shoes.


Same.


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Sun Feb 07, 2016 8:27 pm
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Post Re: Hail, Caesar!
It's not a matter of smartening up. HAIL CAESAR doesn't gel in the way the Coens' best films do. BURN AFTER READING is a freight train -- it starts slow, and by the end, you can't breathe because you're laughing so hard. HAIL CAESAR starts slow, has a few mild laughs, a couple big laughs, and then finishes slow.


Mon Feb 08, 2016 1:30 am
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Post Re: Hail, Caesar!
Magnus wrote:
this will be ranked in the upper half of Coen films when people smarten up.

Speaking of which....LLLLLLIIIIIISSSSTTTTTT

1. O Brother
2. NCFOM
3. Millers Crossing
4. Big Lebowksi
5. Fargo
6. Barton Fink
7. Hail Ceaser
8. Blood Simple
9. Inside Llewyn Davis
10. Raising Arizona
11. Burn After Reading
12. True Grit
13. A Serious Man
14. Hudsucker Proxy
15. Lady Killers
16. Intolerable Cruelty

An amazing filmography. American legends.


Interesting, we have the identical Top 2 and the same last place. I guess I should finally see Miller's Crossing.

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Mon Feb 08, 2016 2:22 am
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Post Re: Hail, Caesar!
I bet Hail, Caesar was more fun to make than it was to watch. And it's already plenty fun to watch! At least for old time film buffs, it's an overstuffed cornucopia of shoutouts and callbacks. It's irreverent, whip-smart, and drop dead gorgeous. In the end, it was all just a little bit too inside baseball, but it's really something. *B*


Mon Feb 08, 2016 7:48 pm
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Post Re: Hail, Caesar!
Wow, I've never seen even one Coen Brothers movie.


Mon Feb 08, 2016 8:59 pm
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Post Re: Hail, Caesar!
Cool story.

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Mon Feb 08, 2016 11:08 pm
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Post Re: Hail, Caesar!
The Coens are very hit or miss for me. The only movies of theirs I've LOVED (that I've seen, to be fair) are Inside Llewyn Davis and No Country (even though I hate the ending).

Lebowski is one of my least favorite films of all time.


Mon Feb 08, 2016 11:10 pm
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Post Re: Hail, Caesar!
Still say Ladykillers is vastly underrated

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Fri Feb 12, 2016 9:57 am
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Post Re: Hail, Caesar!
This is brilliant. Loved it. Top 10 Coen film easy.

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Wed Mar 16, 2016 11:35 pm
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Post Re: Hail, Caesar!
I really liked the first half of the movie specially Clooney was AMAZING during that time. The whole communist thing was over the top. Tatum's character sorta felt useless though he has some good scenes specially the bag drop was the most LOL part of second half.

4/10


Thu Mar 31, 2016 12:34 pm
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Post Re: Hail, Caesar!
It was pretty much what I expected, but I still had a good time. For the most part it's an entertaining, fast paced comedy with solid performances overall. I'm not the biggest Coen bros fan, but I'd at least put it in the top 5 of their films I have seen.

Probably something like this....

1. No Country for Old Men
2. The Big Lebowski
3. Fargo
4. O Brother, Where Art Thou?
5. Hail, Caesar!
6. Raising Arizona
7. Burn After Reading
8. True Grit
9. The LadyKillers
10. Intolerable Cruelty


Sun Apr 03, 2016 2:55 pm
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Post Re: Hail, Caesar!
I liked the feel of this film, but I couldn't get involved with much of the main plot involving Josh Brolin's character. The subplots involving the actors are much more interesting, and elevate the film, often regaining my attention after I had zoned out.

B-


Fri Aug 19, 2016 12:13 am
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Post Re: Hail, Caesar!
I had a blast with Hail, Caesar. My favorite scene was Brolin and the priests, but there are laughs to be had throughout. And like most Coen films, it looks and sounds great.


Mon Oct 31, 2016 10:16 pm
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Post Re: Hail, Caesar!
This should have dropped the entire kidnapping, communist crap. It kills the momentum of an overall fun "day in the life" of old hollywood. Missed potential. C+ (I want an entire Fiennes film of that character, he was fantastic)

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Post Re: Hail, Caesar!
Looks great and has some nice scenes, but the plot is a little too scattered for me. The fake movies are always more enjoyable/whimsical than the making of them. I guess that's the point, Brolin's life is not supposed to be that fun. On the other hand though there's still a lot of over the top ness like the Russian sub. I would imagine some of this movie went over my head.

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