News

Soap Hub looks at the Hits and Misses for the week of June 23-27 in the worlds of Days of Our Lives, General Hospital, The Bold and the Beautiful, The Young and the Restless, and Beyond the Gates.

Top 10 Hits and Misses

10. Miss (for now): Cat Greene’s Isa developments (Days). So it turns out that Cat Greene (AnnaLynne McCord) is one of the best Isa Analysts Shane Donovan (Charles Shaughnessy) has ever worked with, and in one fell swoop, the show filled in Cat’s origin story of how she ended up in Clyde’s clutches. On top of this, her new assignment required partnering up with Rafe (Galen Gering). We’re going to need time to process because it took a lot of heavy lifting to finally flesh out a character that has been on the canvas for a little over a year.

9. Hit: Tracy prevails thanks...

Romantic comedies often draw from the classics, but who would have thought that Dakota Johnson’s latest movie, Materialists, would take some elements from Tom Cruise’s Jerry Maguire? The 1996 sports dramedy is wildly different from the movie it inspired, but both explore the tension between transactional success and emotional authenticity.

They prove that whether you are negotiating endorsements or bringing two people together, the heart of the story is always a human connection. So, here’s how Jerry Maguire and two other mega-starrers unknowingly shaped Materialists.

How Materialists took inspiration from Tom Cruise’s Jerry Maguire Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire | Credits: Vinyl Films

A24 recently publicized their references for Materialists on X (formerly Twitter), and revealed that Jerry Maguire shaped the professional aspect of its character, which could be Dakota Johnson’s Lucy, who shares a few similarities with Tom Cruise’s Jerry because they are both high-stakes intermediaries.

The title of David Fincher’s sequel to Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood appears to have been revealed – and it’s too long to fit here.

It’s highly unusual for a piece of industry gossip to appear unannounced in the middle of a journalist’s question, but that seems to be what happened earlier this week. In an interview with Sinners director Ryan Coogler, Deadline writer Mike Fleming Jr asked a 150-word question that appears to reveal the title for director David Fincher’s sequel to Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood.

In a further twist, there’s also what appears to be a morsel of new information about said sequel’s plot. As spotted by World of Reel, the relevant bit of Fleming Jr’s question goes like this:

Quentin Tarantino creates these characters and mythologies so rich they beg for sequels he never had time to make.

The Oscar-winning classic from the legendary Coen Brothers, No Country for Old Men, lands on a new streaming home this December.

No Country for Old Men, arguably the Coen Brothers' best film, will land on Paramount+ on Dec. 1. Based on the novel of the same name by legendary author Cormac McCarthy, No Country for Old Men centers around Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin), who discovers the remnants of a drug deal gone wrong while hunting in the Texas desert and happens upon a briefcase containing over $2 million in cash. Llewelyn decides to take the money for himself, setting off a dramatic game of cat and mouse with the sociopathic hitman Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) who is hired to retrieve the stolen money.

Related 10 Coolest Action Scenes From Coen Brothers Movies, Ranked

The Coen Brothers created a distinct style that has defined many iconic films and have also shot memorable action on screen.

The Coen Brothers are some of the most incredible filmmakers currently working. Throughout their prolific career, they've been nominated for thirteen Academy Awards and won four of them. They're known primarily for their ability to write cross-genre films and even won the Palm d'Or for their film Barton Fink back in 1991.

However, their remarkable writing skills are what set them apart from the rest of the industry. They have such a unique voice, often marked by repetition of the same lines for comedic effect and powerfully distinct characters. This leads their movies to be some of the most quotable in the recent past.

"Would That It Were So Simple" Movie - Hail, Caesar!

Hail, Caesar! is one of the Coens' most misunderstood films. It's widely regarded as one of their worst movies. Though it was received well by critics, audiences often found that it didn't resonate with them if they...

Darrington Press is releasing a new cooperative card game, Caper Cards: Bells Hells, where players can use the heroes from Critical Role's current campaign to pull off their own heist. The game includes 24 Crew Cards, each with unique skills and values, and players must work together to exceed the value of the treasure without going over 21. Caper Cards: Bells Hells taps into the early days of Campaign 3 and is one of the many new games released by Darrington Press, expanding the Critical Role experience.

Critical Role's Bells Hells are back for another heist, but this time you get to run the crew. Darrington Press has had a huge year with the release of Queen By Midnight and Candela Obscura, which uses Darrington Press' own The Illuminated Worlds System. Inspired by the Bells Hells heist of the Twilight Mirror Museum earlier in the current campaign, Darrington Press' newest release, Caper Cards: Bells Hells,...

The following contains spoilers for Oppenheimer, which is now playing in theaters.

Alden Ehrenreich is being celebrated for giving one of the best performances in Oppenheimer. Portraying a nameless Senate aide to Robert Downey, Jr.'s Lewis Strauss, nobody went into the movie expecting him to shine as brightly as he does. He steals every scene he's in, as his naïveté and reactions to the horrors he's seeing mirror those of the audience. Not only that, but he gets to drop one of the film's best lines at the end. However, this isn't the first time the young actor has held his own amid a truly star-studded ensemble -- nor is it the best.

Ehrenreich plays a major role in the Coen Brothers' 2016 comedy Hail, Caesar!, which boasts Scarlett Johansson, George Clooney, Frances McDormand, and Josh Brolin. With an ensemble cast like this, excellent performances that make the most of...

Warning: This article includes discussion of suicide.

Warning! This article contains spoilers for The Flash.The cameo appearance of George Reeves' Superman in The Flash has proved to be a point of contention due to the actor's tragic real-life story. Barry Allen's multiversal shenanigans in The Flash affect the whole DC multiverse, which includes the Dceu, Tim Burton's Batman universe, and a few other realities that bring both new and famous versions of DC characters into the fold on the big screen. But while a shared appearance by actors from different DC universes may sound like an exciting concept, certain creative choices in The Flash have been branded as insensitive.

The multiversal cameo characters that appear in The Flash while Barry Allen travels back in time include Christopher Reeve's Superman, Helen Slater's Supergirl, Nicolas Cage's Superman, Adam West's Batman, and George Reeves' Superman. Apart...

Frances McDormand and Joel Coen have worked on several movies together throughout their respective careers, and the married couple's creative output together has varied in quality. The pair work excellently together, as McDormand is among the few actresses that fully understand Joel and Ethan Coen's sharp and witty sense of humor, bringing the brothers' movies alive with just the right amount of eccentricity and bold acting choices. It’s because of this mutual understanding that the couple’s collaborations rank among their best projects.

McDormand and Coen met during the audition process of their first movie together, Blood Simple, and they’ve reunited creatively on many occasions since. She has been given the chance to play some of the Coen brother’s best characters, and while not all of their collaborations have been met with the same amount of acclaim, the duo is still considered one of Hollywood’s greatest power couples.

Money may very well equal power, but so does information — especially the dirty kind. Hollywood understands this. From The Sweet Smell of Success to L.A. Confidential, the movies are laden with bullying blackmailers and influence-peddlers using muscle and corruption to scrub the tainted and gain an upper hand. The dynamic, of course, is quite real, and the gripping new two-part documentary Sin Eater: The Crimes of Anthony Pellicano provides a fine if troubling look at how it works in contemporary showbiz.

The latest production from FX’s The New York Times Presents series,...

Today marks the 75th anniversary of the Waldorf Declaration, which on November 25, 1947, officially launched the Hollywood Blacklist. On that day, the heads of the major studios, with a few notable exceptions, agreed after a contentious two-day conference at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City to ban the Hollywood Ten and to not “knowingly” employ Communists.

And so began one of the darkest chapters in Hollywood’s history.

Related Story Hollywood Blacklist: 75th Anniversary Of The Waldorf Declaration – Photo Gallery Related Story Donald Anthony St. Claire Dies: 'The Amazing Race' Oldest Competitor Was 87 Related Story Irene Cara Remembered By Colleagues, Friends And Fans

Just a few weeks earlier, the Hollywood Ten had denounced and refused to cooperate with the House Un-American Activities Committee and later were sent to federal prison for contempt of Congress.

“We will forthwith discharge or suspend without compensation those in our employ,” the Waldorf Declaration stated,...

He spoke in a raspy monotone that was at once commanding, yet menacing. Howard Strickling officially was the public relations boss of MGM during its heyday, but his real responsibility, he would explain, was protection more than publicity.

Strickling’s mission was to nurture the roster of stars under studio contract. If he were around today he might even have a few things to say to Brad Pitt or George Clooney.

He’d likely be wary, for example, about Pitt’s decision to play silent star John Gilbert in the forthcoming period movie Babylon. Gilbert’s career ended abruptly in the 1920s due to his stormy personal relationships with other stars, so Strickling would counsel Pitt to avoid references to his litigation with ex-wife Angelina Jolie.

Gilbert experienced well-publicized conflicts with his volatile co-star and fiancée Greta Garbo. Louis B. Mayer opposed the wedding and, in one lethal moment, Gilbert...

The Grifter, the Hitter, the Hacker, the Thief, the Fixer and the Maker are on their way back to your screens.

TVLine can exclusively report that Season 2 of Leverage: Redemption will get underway on Wednesday, Nov. 16, with the release of its first three episodes on Freevee (fka IMDb TV, Amazon’s free streaming hub).

More from TVLineTimothy Hutton Sues Leverage Producers for Cutting Him From Revival -- Studio Calls His Claims 'Baseless'Leverage: Redemption Renewed for Season 2 at IMDb TVTVLine Items: AGT: Extreme Judges, When Calls the Heart Reunion and More

The heist drama’s 13-episode season will then roll out a new episode each Wednesday,...

They’re non-corporeal cut-ups, rich ghosts on the town with nothing better to do than spice up the love life of Roland Young’s harried, henpecked bank president. Hal Roach’s screwball hit did good things for everybody concerned, especially star Cary Grant and bit player Arthur Lake. But the show’s nostalgic heart is Billie Burke, of the tinkly-glass voice. Also starring platinum blonde Constance Bennett, Alan Mowbray and Eugene Pallette.

Topper

Blu-ray

Vci

1937 / B&W / 1:37 flat full frame / 97 min. / Street Date October, 2017 / 20.99

Starring: Constance Bennett, Cary Grant, Roland Young, Billie Burke, Alan Mowbray, Eugene Pallette, Arthur Lake, Hedda Hopper, Virginia Sale, Theodore von Eltz, J. Farrell MacDonald, Elaine Shepard, Ward Bond, Hoagy Carmichael, Lana Turner, Russell Wade, Claire Windsor.

Cinematography: Norbert Brodine

Film Editor: William Terhune

Art Director: William Stevens

Original Music: Marvin Hatley

Written by Jack Jevne, Eric Hatch, Eddie Moran from a novel by Thorne Smith...

What seemed too raw for 1955 still packs a punch, as Robert Aldrich takes a meat cleaver to the power politics of the old studio system. Monstrous studio head Rod Steiger has just the leverage he needs to blackmail frazzled star Jack Palance into signing the big contract. But will Hollywood corruption destroy them all?

The Big Knife

Blu-ray

Arrow Academy

1955 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 111 min. / Street Date September 5, 2017 / 39.95

Starring: Jack Palance, Ida Lupino, Wendell Corey, Jean Hagen,

Rod Steiger, Shelley Winters, Ilka Chase, Everett Sloane, Wesley Addy, Paul Langton, Nick Dennis.

Cinematography: Ernest Laszlo

Art Direction: William Glasgow

Film Editor: Michael Luciano

Original Music: Frank De Vol

Adapted by James Poe from the play by Clifford Odets

Produced and Directed by Robert Aldrich

Robert Aldrich’s 1940s film apprenticeship was largely spent as an assistant director for strong, creative filmmakers that wanted to do good personal work free of the constraints of the big studios.

Scarlett Johansson is no stranger to the world of comedy — she is a member of the so-called Five-Timers Club, an enviable group of stars who have hosted “Saturday Night Live” at least five times — and she’s managed to emerge as an unexpected comedic Mvp without ever toplining an outright comedy. Some 20 years into her career, Johansson has yet to star in a raunchy knee-slapper that takes full advantages of her more light-leaning chops…until now. This week, that changes with the release of “Rough Night.”

An unabashedly female-centric comedy in the vein of “Bridesmaids” and “Bachelorette,” the new film from “Broad City” regulars Lucia Aniello (who makes her feature directorial debut with the film) and Paul W. Downs (who wrote it alongside Aniello and also co-stars) casts Johansson in a lead role alongside a strong ensemble of other (also very funny) women, including Kate McKinnon, Jillian Bell, Ilana Glazer,...

Mark Harrison May 19, 2017

From the currently playing Their Finest to the likes of Bowfinger and Boogie Nights, we salute the movies about making movies...

If you haven't caught up yet, Their Finest is currently playing in UK cinemas and it's a gorgeous little love letter to perseverance through storytelling, set against the backdrop of a film production office at the British Ministry of Information during the Second World War. Based on Lissa Evans' novel, Gemma Arterton and Bill Nighy play characters whose access to the film industry has been contingent on the global crisis that takes other young men away from such trifling matters, and it's a real joy to watch.

Among other things, the film got us thinking about other films about making films. We're not talking about documentaries, even though Hearts Of Darkness, the documentary about the making of Apocalypse Now, may be the greatest film about...

Films by the Coen Brothers can be hit or miss for audiences, and there isn’t much to predict how things are going to go when you enter the theater. From the wide variety of genres, to the level of wackiness inherent in any given picture, you can certainly tell a Coen Brothers film when you see it, but you don’t know if you’ll love it.

Hail, Caesar! is a film that ups the game when it comes to the zaniness pushing forward the layers that don’t appear to have much to do with each other, and that makes it a hard sell even to Coen fans. The focal character, Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin), or at least the pinball that we watch bounce around this madness, doesn’t quite get a chance to solidify himself into someone worth watching. Worse, he doesn’t get a story that...

To mark the release of Hail, Caesar! on 11th July, we’ve been given 3 copies to give away on Blu-ray. Hail, Caesar! follows a single day in the life of Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin), head of production and all-around problem solver for Hollywood studio Capitol Pictures. When Baird Whitlock (George Clooney), the world’s biggest star, […]

The post Win Hail, Caesar! on Blu-ray appeared first on HeyUGuys.

The Coen Brothers returned to the big screen for the first time in three years back in February with their new period piece Hail, Caesar!, which is set in 1950s Hollywood. In case you missed your chance to see it on the big screen, Hail, Caesar! debuted on Digital HD last month and on Blu-ray and DVD earlier this week. If you haven't had a chance to pick up this comedy quite yet, we have an exclusive preview featuring stars George Clooney and Josh Brolin.

In Universal Studios Home Entertainment's Hail, Caesar, George Clooney fittingly plays the biggest movie star in the world, who goes missing while shooting his new movie. We learn in this preview that this movie-in-a-movie is very similar to Ben-Hur, with George Clooney himself revealing that they used actual backdrops from the real Ben-Hur as a part of this production. He also talks about his unique costume,...

The latest directorial effort from the Coen brothers, Hail, Caesar!, follows a day in the life of Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin), a Hollywood fixer for Capitol Pictures in the 1950s, who cleans up and solves problems for big names and stars in the industry. But when studio star Baird Whitlock (George Clooney) disappears, Mannix has to deal with more than just the fix. That includes a run-in with a lovely star... Read More...

No matter the era, Josh Brolin has a pretty firm handle on Hollywood.

If you missed brothers Joel and Ethan Coen's most recent movie, "Hail, Caesar!," you've got a new opportunity to check out the flip-side of "Barton Fink," their poison-pen take on the conflicts between Hollywood and creativity. The film, which features Brolin as a studio fixer -- the squasher of potential star scandals detrimental to box office business -- is, even with its somewhat cynical lens trained on spoiled celebrities with bad judgment, a loopy love letter of sorts to a bygone cinematic era where even the by-any-means-necessary fixer's just doing his best for the image of the system and its stars.

The second in a now-emerging Brolin Acting Dynasty -- his dad, James, paved the way; daughter Eden is following in his footsteps -- Brolin, who brings a distinctive heart and conscience to a role that...

At a loss for what to watch this week? From new DVDs and Blu-rays, to what's new on Netflix and TV, we've got you covered.

New on DVD and Blu-ray

"Zootopia"

Those sloths at the Dmv could learn from Disney's super-fast home release of "Zootopia." The instant classic blockbuster came out in theaters in early March, and it's already arriving on Digital HD, Disney Movies Anywhere, DVD, and On-Demand on June 7. The Blu-ray and Digital releases come with a magical amount of bonus features, including "Zoology: The Roundtables," with Ginnifer Goodwin (who voices rabbit officer Judy Hopps) leading an in-depth look at the movie's characters, animation, environments, and more. Other extras include "The Origin of an Animal Tale," "Research: A True-Life Adventure," "Z.P.D. Forensic Files," "Scoretopia," a look at deleted characters, a bunch of deleted and alternate scenes (including an alternate opening), and Shakira's "Try Everything" music video.

The Coen Brothers’ lyrical homage to Classic Hollywood, Hail, Caesar! hits Blu-ray next week. A more optimistic companion piece to the darker, seamier Hollywood of Barton Fink, Hail, Caesar! succeeds more than it fails, delivering an enjoyable and diverting, if somewhat unfocused, paean to a bygone world.

Hail, Caesar! chronicles a day in the life of Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin), the head of physical production at Capitol Pictures and a Hollywood fixer who manages everything behind the scenes of a Hollywood dream factory. We follow Eddie as he juggles recalcitrant directors, pregnant starlets, Communist writers and invasive gossip columnists, all while trying to hold onto his love of Hollywood in the midst of a growing studio crisis.

At the center of the loose narrative is the disappearance of Baird Whitlock (George Clooney), leading man and star of Capitol’s latest prestige picture Hail, Caesar!, a thinly veiled Biblical epic that references Ben Hur,...

Not funny enough, or too hip for the house? I found the Coen Bros.' send-up of old-fashioned movie madness good fun, with some great new actors. If you like droll comedy combined with spot-on recreations of old movie genres, this show can't lose. And there has to be somebody out there who wants to see George Clooney in a skirt. Hail, Caesar! Blu-ray + DVD + Digital HD Universal Pictures Home Entertainment 2016 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 106 min. / Street Date June 7, 2016 / 34.98 Starring Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Alden Ehrenreich, Ralph Fiennes, Jonah Hill, Scarlett Johansson, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand, Channing Tatum, Veronica Osorio, Heather Goldenhersh, Max Baker, Clancy Brown, Fisher Stevens, Patick Fischler, Robert Picardo, Christopher Lambert, Robert Trebor, Michael Gambon (voice), Dolph Lundgren. Cinematography Roger Deakins Film Editors Ethan and Joel Coen Original Music Carter Burwell Produced by Tim Bevan, Ethan and Joel Coen, Eric Fellner Written and Directed by Ethan and Joel Coen...

The Coens whitewash Hollywood fixer Eddie Mannix and up the communism to create their sharp but inaccurate satire

Directors: Joel and Ethan Coen

Entertainment grade: A–

History grade: Fail

Along with his associate Howard Strickling, Eddie Mannix was the most famous of all Hollywood “fixers” – charged with protecting the reputation of big-name stars and studios against revelations of debauchery and, on occasion, criminal activity.

Continue reading...

Thankfully, a comma and an exclamation mark go a long way to stopping the confusion between this and the woeful 1994 comedy Hail Caesar. Well, there is that, and not to mention the likes of George Clooney, Josh Brolin, Scarlett Johannson, Channing Tatum, Alden Ehrenreich, Ralph Fiennes and one of the finest ensemble casts in some time. And that's before you put the Coen Brothers name on the poster.  Brolin plays a Hollywood fixer, similar to the likes of Ray Donovan, albeit a bit more classy with less violent tendencies. When the studio's biggest star, Baird Whitlock (Clooney) goes missing during a shoot, things get a bit more problematic (we're going spoiler free here) for Eddie Mannix (Brolin) Fans of bygone Hollywood days will lap this up. From the characters, to the dialogue, not to mention some wonderful colour correction (we're geeks, what can I say) Hail, Caesar! looks incredible. You...

The Coen brothers conjure up nostalgic joy from this hilarious knockabout homage to the golden age of film

The Coen brothers’ lovingly goofy latest comes on like a breezy flipside companion-piece to Barton Fink – 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 toe-tapping and toga-wearing biblical balderdash. With a ramshackle plot that appears to have been cooked up after drawing deep on the Dude’s biggest bong, the film pinballs between awol movie stars, red-scare nightmares and Bikini Atoll bomb tests, while raising important questions of whether God is still angry (“what, he got over it?”), how to make a lasso out of spaghetti, and the secret of balancing a bunch of bananas on your head (it’s all in the hips, lips, eyes and thighs, apparently).

It’s 1951, and...

Full of the Coen Brothers’ usual exuberant joie de cinema, and a helluva lot of fun, but too scattershot to ever settle on saying the things it has to say. I’m “biast” (pro): love the Coen Brothers, and most of the cast

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

Hail, Coens! Even when their films aren’t entirely successful — as Hail, Caesar! is not — they are always fascinating to watch and to ponder. This one is in the same realm as The Hudsucker Proxy and O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Burn After Reading for its exuberant joie de cinema. Hail is a helluva lot of fun… but it’s too scattershot to ever settle on saying the things it has to say, and it never gives most of its many characters — too many, probably — room to work as stand-ins...

The Hail, Caesar! actor still marvels over being cast by the Coen brothers. Eight years after his breakthrough role in No Country for Old Men, he talks about cultivating the ‘Tom Hanks role’ in Joel and Ethan’s latest

Related: Hail, Caesar! review – George Clooney bigger, broader, zanier in classic Coen caper

“I’ve always played punks,” says Josh Brolin. “Bad guys. This guy I don’t see as bad at all.” Brolin is talking about Eddie Mannix, the 1950s Hollywood studio boss he plays in Hail, Caesar! The character is based – at several removes – on a real-life figure, a fixer and executive who was possibly more than tangentially involved in one of the era’s more notorious episodes, the shooting dead of Superman actor George Reeves in 1959.

Continue reading...

The Hail, Caesar! actor still marvels over being cast by the Coen brothers. Eight years after his breakthrough role in No Country for Old Men, he talks about cultivating the ‘Tom Hanks role’ in Joel and Ethan’s latest

Related: Hail, Caesar! review – George Clooney bigger, broader, zanier in classic Coen caper

“I’ve always played punks,” says Josh Brolin. “Bad guys. This guy I don’t see as bad at all.” Brolin is talking about Eddie Mannix, the 1950s Hollywood studio boss he plays in Hail, Caesar! The character is based – at several removes – on a real-life figure, a fixer and executive who was possibly more than tangentially involved in one of the era’s more notorious episodes, the shooting dead of Superman actor George Reeves in 1959.

Continue reading...

Stars: Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Alden Ehrenreich, Scarlett Johansson, Heather Goldenhersh, Channing Tatum, Tilda Swinton, Ralph Fiennes, Frances McDormand, Christopher Lambert, Jonah Hill, Veronica Osorio | Written and Directed by Joel & Ethan Coen

In case you didn’t know, the Coens are pretty crazy about the movies. Having come close to making a film in every genre, a logical conclusion would see them swapping out western landscapes for dazzling musical numbers scene by scene rather than picture by picture, and Hail, Caesar! does just that. It’s not surprising to learn that Joel and Ethan can switch abruptly from cold war intrigue to farcical comedy (often in the same exchange); what is surprising is how natural it all feels.

The film takes us on a whirlwind tour of 1950s Hollywood with tough-talking, guilt-ridden studio fixer Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin, playing a fictionalised version of a real Hollywood executive) as our guide...

The media likes to build up actors into these untouchable icons, only to gleefully tear them down when they show the first sign of humanity. It's happened since the early days of Hollywood, when guys like Eddie Mannix controlled the images of his studio's stars (see: Hail, Caesar!), and you only have to glance at the magazine rack as you check out at the grocery store to see it's still happening today. Sometimes actors drink, and sometimes they do it while they're working — whether to further dive into their characters, or because the movie they're in is so bad, they'd rather do anything but continue.

Dorkly has put together a list of times that actors were actually drunk on screen, though there are a couple of these that are vague or questionable. Either way, it's interesting to hear the behind-the-scenes stories about some of these if you haven't heard them already.

© Universal PicturesThe opening film of major film festivals can usually be counted on to be two closely connected things. The first is that the film is intended to fulfill a certain, amorphous requirement of image, pleasing a wide variety of industry interests, including that of the red carpet press (stars, please), that of the sponsors and important guests, and that of the movie business, the studios, sales agents and the like. This fulcrum of compromise almost inevitably causes the second thing, which is that more of than not, a festival's opening night film will be utterly bland.Not so at the Berlin International Film Festival this year—or, at least, not quite. Despite an earlier rumor that the Berlinale had the world premiere of Hail, Caesar!, the new film by Joel and Ethan Coen, Hollywood had other ideas and the film actually opened in the United States last week. But...

★★★☆☆ 'Second time's a charm' is not the feeling that hits home when reflecting upon the Coen brothers' Hail, Caesar!, the opening film of this year's Berlinale. Second as this is their second time opening the festival (after True Grit did the honours in 2011 before scooping a number of Oscars) and more importantly sees them reentering an homage, pastiche and/or parody of the 1950s Hollywood Golden Age. This latest offering focuses on Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) and is partly based on the real MGM studio fixer of the same name on an average day spent dealing with kidnapped stars, pregnant starlets and the like.

Recycling genres, troubleshooting studio politics and making scandals disappear might have been too much of a cross to bear for Josh Brolin's Eddie Mannix in "Hail, Caesar!" But for cinematographer Roger Deakins, it was a fun return to the cockeyed caravan of working with Joel and Ethan Coen. "The thing was not to go too far with the films-within-the-films because it wouldn't flow as a unified piece," said Deakins, who, of course, shot on film once again. "And it helped that most of the time you're seeing the films on a screen in a dailies room or during a sequence at a movie premiere." "Hail, Caesar!" embraces the gray zone of Hollywood reality and artifice in typical Coen brothers fashion. And the early '50s studio shenanigans are almost film noir compared to the tired movies they're making at the MGM-like Capitol Pictures. There's the "Quo Vadis" vibe of...

I still get nervous about certain interviews. It's human. I love movies dearly, and have since I was young, and when I talk to filmmakers who I respect enormously, I tend to either talk waaaaaaay too fast or just overcomplicate my questions. Once things start, though, a good conversation is a good conversation, and I relax into things. That's particularly easy when you're talking to someone who give back as good as they get, and that's the Coen Brothers in spades. Three quick points before we dig in. First, enjoy Backstory, a new video series we're doing here at HitFix in which I pull back the curtain a bit on the stories that went unreported or untold over the last 25 years while I've been working here in La. While I spoke to the Coens about To The White Sea during our interview, we didn't get into the impact that the film's implosion had on them,...

There's a reason the Coens make a lot of comedies. They're funny. Read one of their inimitable scripts or see "Burn After Reading," "Raising Arizona," or "The Big Lebowski," and you'll be howling with laughter. Even their "serious" movies are pretty funny. "Hail, Ceasar!" is an out-and-out comedy in the vein of such other period valentines as "The Hudsucker Proxy" or "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" So it's no surprise that hanging out with them in a relaxed way is a huge amount of fun, even if it doesn't amount to much in the way of a ground-breaking 15-minute interview. The pattern is the same. Joel sits down and tends to lead the answers, while Ethan paces around and jumps in with additions, curlicues and comments. And they often laugh at each other. They crack each other up. And me. Josh Brolin and George Clooney are front and center in this homage to 50s Hollywood.

The Coen brothers first started publicly discussing their idea for Hail, Caesar! over a decade ago, but the resulting film feels jauntily tossed together in a fraction of that time. In some ways that’s a good thing. The film has a loose comic energy that allows it to slip easily from lengthy sketches to plottier sequences. But it’s also lacking in coherence. The Coens seem unsure if they’re making a statement about old Hollywood or just riffing on it, and audiences will likely become confused as to whether the brothers’ treatment of classic cinema is delivered laughingly or lovingly.

The 1950s-set film follows Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin), a movie studio “fixer” whose already hectic existence is burdened by the disappearance of Baird Whitlock (George Clooney), the bumbling star of a Biblical epic called Hail, Caesar! Baird, it turns out, has been kidnapped by Communists, whose plans for...

Sign of the Cross: The Coen Bros. Revisit the Backlot Desires of Hollywood’s Golden Era

The Coen Bros., back with their first title since 2013’s Cannes darling Inside Llewyn Davis, step back to an even earlier era with Hail, Caesar!, a 1950s set allegory parallelizing movie studio heads with their supernatural equivalent—God. A rather stressful day unfolds on the backlot of Capitol Pictures, where a leading star currently set to film the final, important speech in a Biblical epic is kidnapped by a serene group of Communist writers. Meanwhile, the general cadre of hungry gossip columnists, disgruntled auteurs, and budding celebrities must be continuously juggled and groomed by the studio’s omnipotent figurehead. It’s an ideal environment for the duo, who seem to be consistently recapitulating earlier films and eras, like their rehash of True Grit (2010). There’s something about this latest effort which hints at the...

Once branded as essentially sophomoric, Joel and Ethan Coen have, over the past decade, established their artistic and philosophical seriousness, creating their own, distinctive border world straddling farce and tragedy. But they’re still kind of sophomoric. Nothing turns them on as much as fooling around with what they’ve called “movie fodder” — tired genre archetypes plunked down in radically different contexts and given a fresh, antic spin. Their amalgamations can be feats of genius, like their stoner-gumshoe farrago The Big Lebowski. Or they can pretty much lie there, like much of their new, star-packed comedy, Hail, Caesar!, which is nothing but movie fodder.Set in the 1950s, the film centers on a Hollywood studio called Capitol Pictures and its “fixer,” Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin), who functions almost like a head of production. Mannix herds wayward actresses and dipsomaniacal actors, plugs casting holes, and tries to keep the whole multi-ring...

Chicago – Writer/directors Joel and Ethan Coen love the movies, and that love is magnificently played out in “Hail, Caesar!” As they riff on religion, geopolitics and 1950s morality, while wonderfully celebrating and spoofing an era in movies that will never be again, the Coens abide and deliver.

Rating: 5.0/5.0

This film is a celebration, couched in references to other studio-era stars, the communist scare of McCarthyism (the Coens do it better than the film “Trumbo,” which was directly about that witch hunt), and the odd personalities that people once had, as celebrity culture was something still being invented. Josh Brolin is in the middle of the madness, as a over-scheduled studio head whose days spent as a “fixer” are hilarious as they are defining. The film works on all levels – as comedy, social commentary and allegory – but it never is pretentious, and prefers a light touch over any other type of narrative.

Hail, Caesar! Universal Pictures Reviewed by: Harvey Karten for Shockya, d-based on Rotten Tomatoes Grade: B+ Director: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen Written by: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen Cast: George Clooney, Josh Brolin, Alden Ehrenreich, Channing Tatum, Scarlett Johansson, Ralph Fiennes, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand Screened at: Regal E-Walk, NYC, 2/2/16 Opens: February 5, 2016 Irving Berlin’s song “There’s no business like show business” may have been written for the stage, but it sure as hell0 applies as well to movies. Consider this: Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin), who works as a movie studio “fixer” in the 1950s, receives a lucrative offer from an aviation company, one that would give him a [ Read More ]

The post Hail, Caesar! Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

This story first appeared in the Feb. 12 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe. The glitz, glam and behind-the-scenes foibles of Hollywood's golden age get the Coen brothers treatment in Hail, Caesar!, which pre­mieres Feb. 3 in Berlin ahead of its Feb. 5 opening. Chronicling a day in the life of 1950s studio "head of physical production" (aka "fixer") Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin, in a role inspired by and named for a real MGM exec and fixer, see p. 69), the modest Universal release ($22 million net budget) features a

read more...

A kidnapping is at the center of some of the Coen Brothers’ most indelible pictures. From Raising Arizona to Fargo to The Big Lebowski, someone goes missing and it’s through this unfortunate victim’s disappearance that characters are revealed. You can now add Hail, Caesar! to this list. However, while most of these kidnappings spawn a colorful cast of characters where hilarity and morality often sway from the light to the very dark, Hail, Caesar! doesn’t exactly use the taking of the half-wit Baird Whitlock (George Clooney) as the catalyst to propel most of the characters and the story. In fact, it becomes simply just another piece of this collage that the Coens have assembled that is equally both an ode to classic cinema and a biting satire showcasing a facade of what many believe to be what Hollywood is really like.

As studio fixer for Capitol Pictures...

Ah, old Hollywood cinema: the glamour, the stars, the back-lot romances - all fake, of course. But that’s what made it grand. The Coen brothers' latest is a paean to the 1950s studio system, with Josh Brolin running herd as Eddie Mannix, the fixer on the lot. It’s a rough day for Eddie, what with aquatic actress DeeAnna Moran (Scarlett Johansson) getting knocked up, a gossip columnist (Tilda Swinton) nosing around and biblical-epic star Baird Whitlock (George Clooney) going missing. It's all nuts, and the actors couldn't be having more fun, including Ralph Fiennes as an exacting auteur,...

Ah, old Hollywood cinema: the glamour, the stars, the back-lot romances - all fake, of course. But that’s what made it grand. The Coen brothers' latest is a paean to the 1950s studio system, with Josh Brolin running herd as Eddie Mannix, the fixer on the lot. It’s a rough day for Eddie, what with aquatic actress DeeAnna Moran (Scarlett Johansson) getting knocked up, a gossip columnist (Tilda Swinton) nosing around and biblical-epic star Baird Whitlock (George Clooney) going missing. It's all nuts, and the actors couldn't be having more fun, including Ralph Fiennes as an exacting auteur,...

Joel and Ethan Coen are as unpredictable as they are prolific. We never know what to expect from them—a downbeat drama, a lighthearted period piece, an existential musing—but we know it will be original and offbeat. And we know the supporting cast will be filled with odd and unusual faces, almost reminiscent of Federico Fellini. Hail, Caesar! is a lark, an extended riff on the peccadilloes and politics of Old Hollywood. Josh Brolin plays a studio executive named Eddie Mannix, who was a real person (portrayed by Bob Hoskins in Hollywoodland), but almost everyone and everything else in the film is a product of the Coens' ...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]...

Hail, Caesar!, the latest opus from Ethan and Joel Coen, is a bit of a letdown. It works as a clever satire of 50s Hollywood, but falls decidedly flat in insufferably dull stretches. There's no lack of star power or panache in the film. A-listers galore and another fine collaboration with brilliant cinematographer Roger Deakins gives Hail, Caesar! an accurate look. It's the uneven humor that dribs and drabs like molasses. Moments of slight hilarity lose focus as scenes play too long. It's almost as if the Coen Brothers were so enamored with their cast they forgot to trim the fat. Lesser filmmakers may be applauded for this effort, but Hail, Caesar! is a bunt from two of the greats.

The story takes place over the course of a day in 1951 Hollywood. Capitol Studios fixer Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) has an avalanche of crisis to juggle. Baird Whitlock (George Clooney...

The Coen brothers are some of Hollywood’s, nay, the world’s most important directors. Since they entered the scene in 1984 with Blood Simple they’ve rightfully found huge success with their brand of offbeat stories and neurotic characters. Like Woody Allen before them, they’ve tried their hand at a variety of genres, yet kept their voice consistent throughout. They also have the rare distinguishment of appealing to the art-house crowds, while also finding commercial success in Hollywood and abroad. Like Allen, every so often they have a “pallet cleanser” project in between some of their “high-brow” fare that just doesn’t congeal the way it ought to. Hail, Caesar! falls into that latter category.

I did my best to go into this with an open mind. It was the Coen Brothers after all, and the trailers did their job well in alerting us to just how many Big...