Hail, Caesar! (2016) film review

Year: 2016
Running Time: 106 minutes
Directors/Writers: Joel and Ethan Coen
Cast: Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Ralph Fiennes, Scarlett Johansson, Alden Ehrenreich, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Frances McDormand, Alison Pill

Hail, Caesar! opens in Australian cinemas on February 25 and now showing in the United States. Distributed by Universal Pictures.

Joel and Ethan Coen have penned the ultimate love letter to old Hollywood with Hail, Caesar! The film is a masterpiece in the eyes of those who are fascinated with the golden age of Hollywood, but with it's entertaining screenplay and stunning visual production can be enjoyed on a much larger scale by all audiences.

It would seem that Hollywood studio fixer, Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) really has his work cut out for him today. His daily job consists of keeping the contract players of Capitol Pictures in line and making sure that the public continues to see them in the best light possible, especially with tabloid reporters, Thora Thacker and her sister, Thessaly (both portrayed by Tilda Swinton) prowling the studio. When one of their biggest stars, Baird Whitlock (George Clooney) is abducted during the filming of a production of epic proportions, Mannix must try and conceal the true nature of his disappearance as well as bide by his kidnappers demands. All this while making sure Capitol Pictures is still running smoothly around this scandal and that the stars, including starlet DeeAnna Moran (Scarlett Johansson) and cowboy turned drama star, Hobie Doyle (Alden Ehrenreich) are causing as little trouble as possible.

Hail, Caesar! is absolutely immersed in references to the golden age of Hollywood. To truly understand the extent of how much the film is cleverly inspired by the Southern California film industry of the 1950's, one must already possess a certain amount of knowledge and fascination regarding this era. However, it is not a prerequisite to find incredible enjoyment in the film by any means. Hail, Caesar! is a great deal of fun with it's hilarious screenplay featuring colourful characters in the most entertaining of scenarios. The Coen brothers screenplay is unique to their films because although there is the main storyline of Baird Whitlock's abduction, it is not the strong, solid heart of the film and this is fine because that's not what it's supposed to be. Hail, Caesar! is a portrait of Hollywood history in a time now long gone and doesn't focus on just one aspect, but instead focuses on the industry and it's inner workings as a whole.

The nostalgic film with it's glorious production and costume design (by Jess Gonchor and Mary Zophres) is a mixture of old Hollywood fact and fiction. However, even the fictionalized aspects of Hail, Caesar! are based on and reference true to life elements of 1950's Hollywood. How much of old Hollywood that is acutely incorporated into the film visually and as part of it's screenplay is astounding and this would not have been able to so if Hail, Caesar! was only focused primarily on the Baird Whitlock abduction.

Capitol Pictures is a product of the Coen brothers' imagination, but it is evidently based on the legendary Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (MGM) which is considered by many to have been the greatest of the old Hollywood studios. The fictional studio visually resembles MGM, particularly the side gates, but perhaps the biggest resemblance is the fact that MGM did indeed have a fixer by the name of Eddie Mannix who worked for the studio covering up many a celebrity scandal. However, the similarities between the real life Mannix and Josh Brolin's Mannix end there. While the Mannix of Hail, Caesar! is affable, likable and a man looking for a way to spend time with his family, the real life Mannix had to cover up more sinister events and earned an unsavoury reputation. He was personally linked to the death of Superman actor, George Reeves as his wife, Toni was having an affair with Reeves. Brolin's Mannix makes for a more appropriate hero in Hail, Caesar! with his strong conscience, as he wants to do the right thing and worries that his job prevents him from doing what is honest.

The Coen brothers once again give George Clooney the opportunity to show his comedic ability and as Baird Whitlock he provides many a laugh. Clooney's Whitlock has the movie idol appeal while on set, but comes across as a less than intelligent being away from the camera which produces much hilarity. He comes in contact with a group not unlike the Hollywood 10, who were a group of screenwriters and producers in the 1950's that were Communist sympathizers (and who were also featured in the recent film, Trumbo).

Although Clooney is marketed as the member of the cast generating the most laughs, Alden Ehrenreich undoubtedly has the best comedic moments of the film. Ehrenreich plays Hobie Doyle, a young star of westerns who is given the news that the studio has decided to change his image and make him into a dramatic actor. He is also given instructions by Capitol to take actress, Carlotta Valdez (who, although her name is the same as the ill-fated women in Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, is a character much like Carmen Miranda) to his movie premiere as his date, although he has never met her before. Hobie is a product of the studio system, where studios determined who they wanted their stars to be, how they were marketed and, in this case, who they dated. This was a system that would not always ensure success for their stars, as is shown in Hail, Caesar! with Hobie and his difficulty to transition into a serious actor with no warning. Ehrenreich is absolutely wonderful as Hobie as he generates a great deal of sympathy as a result of his terror not wanting to disappoint. With his natural comedic ability, he is so likable and relatable and manages to outshine many of his more well known co-stars.

Old Hollywood enthusiasts will jump on the obvious resemblance of Scarlett Johnasson's DeeAnna Moran to musical water baby, Esther Williams. Her mermaid sequence pays tribute to the Busby Berkeley musicals with their aerial shots and is truly exquisite with it's beautiful colours and costumes. Yet, when DeeAnna opens her mouth her resemblance to Williams ends there. DeeAnna is at the centre of a public relations nightmare and her case is the type of predicament which Hollywood fixers were hired to work on. DeeAnna's problem and the solution given by Mannix is actually very similar to what resulted from a flirtation between Loretta Young and a married Clark Gable in 1935 while they were filming The Call of The Wild  together.

Channing Tatum as Burt Gurney channels Gene Kelly during his song and dance routine, which is incredibly funny and entertaining. Tilda Swinton portrays both Thora and Thessaly Thackery, a particularly Coen-esque creation where twin columnist sisters are both competing to get the big scoop. The rivalry of Thora and Thessaly is much like the rivalry between Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons, two old Hollywood gossip columnists who competed with each other over the big scoops from the studios. Swinton's characters display attributes which the two women both had, especially the ability to manipulate and blackmail in order to obtain the information they needed. It was important that the studio executives keep these two on their side and fed them newsworthy information, because being on their bad side could mean disaster for the studio and their stars.

Hail, Caesar! is genius in the way it incorporates so much of old Hollywood. It is an incredibly fun piece of cinema that pays tribute to the past in the most entertaining and enjoyable of ways.

9/10

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

Year: 2013
Running Time: 179 minutes
Director: Martin Scorsese
Writers: Jordan Belfort (book), Terence Winter (screenplay)
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, Kyle Chandler, Matthew McConaughey, Jean Dujardin, Rob Reiner, Jon Favreau, Jon Bernthal, Joanna Lumley

The Wolf of Wall Street will be released in Australia on the 23rd January 2014 and is distributed by Roadshow Films. Now showing in the USA and UK.

The Wolf of Wall Street could not have avoided being highly anticipated. Let's face it, the majority of films being released at this time of the year usually have huge expectations on them. However, when you put the names Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese in the same sentence, you expect something pretty special. Yet, you also worry that these two pairing up for another critically acclaimed film may be too good to be true.

Well this is the news. The Wolf of Wall Street is another amazing piece of work by the dynamic duo. The story of the "Wolf" is intriguing and entertaining and keeps the viewer's undivided attention for the entirety of the film. The film is unexpectedly hilarious and pleasingly shocking at the same time, while also making you contemplate the ethics of the actions of Jordan Belfort. Leonardo DiCaprio is a force to be reckoned with in his fifth partnering with the great Martin Scorsese and the combination of these two proves once again to be a winner.

The Wolf of Wall Street is based on the novel of the same name and tells the rise and fall of stockbroker, Jordan Belfort (DiCaprio). From his beginnings as a naïve but determined rookie of Wall Street, to his fall as a result of his illegal and unethical activities at his firm, Stratton Oakmont Inc., Belfort doesn't lead a boring life in any way shape or form. He enjoys the perks of the high life including the luxury apartments, Long Island property, unlimited girls and a ridiculous amount of drugs. His addictive lifestyle is extremely hard to give up, but the FBI is always watching him and one wrong step and he will have no choice but to give up his lifestyle and everything that goes with it.

Jordan Belfort's story is not one of a hero. At one point in time he was idolised by so many, but he is ultimately the villain of his own story. His actions and treatment of people are not desirable and it does absolutely make you look at the stockbrokers in the big city in a different way, regardless of whether they are like Belfort and his team or not. It's not likely that most of the things that went on in his office still occur, such as using prostitutes and strippers as a reward for good work actually in the workspace in work hours. Yet the film does make you stop and think about the ethics of someone such as Belfort and for the large majority of the film, he is not a very likable specimen.

However, this works in a big way. Belfort may not be likable and his practises not ethical, but his story is absolutely enthralling. You may not like him or what he does, but you love watching him. The whole film is incredibly entertaining and even if you do not condone his bad boy ways and his lifestyle, you can't look away. Scorsese has brought Belfort's story to the big screen in spectacular fashion. The Wolf of Wall Street completely captures the extravagance of his story and you feel as though you could be having as much fun watching the story as Belfort was living it. As a viewer you feel the thrill the stockbroker would have been experiencing living on the edge.

The screenplay, written by Terence Winter is also spectacular. It is a pleasant surprise and brilliant how hilarious it actually is, especially the scene where Belfort is at the Country Club. It is a brilliant thing to be able to take a true story and make it a lot more funny than what it would have been in real life. The one factor that may deter many people away from The Wolf of Wall Street is that it is a minute short of three hours. As much of a thrill as it is, it does feel like it is this long. Obviously there was a lot to get through and the three hours does seem acceptable for how much Scorsese had to cover. It is also quite obvious that what we are seeing is the shorter version of all the footage that would have been taken. There are various features of the film which are skimmed across at lightning speed and some things which can be seen as a bit confusing (particularly at the end) because they are not explained thoroughly.

The soundtrack for the film is extremely fitting and actually quite enjoyable itself. The cinematography has some very Scorsese-esque moments, but this is in no way a bad thing. Every shot is interesting and though there are some full frontal and confronting shots, the photography is perfect for every scene. The film and it's costume design, location and interior design is very reminiscent of the time period every scene is set in.

Leonardo DiCaprio has had many outstanding performances throughout his career, but this is one of his best to date. DiCaprio's Belfort is intense, proud, unpredictable and just a bit of an egomaniac, and he is absolutely fantastic to watch. He truly becomes his character and displays every facet of his personality. Even though the film is three hours long, you wish you could just on watching him because he is such a joy to watch. The scenes of him giving speeches in his office are just brilliant.

Jonah Hill is great as Belfort's best friend and wing man, Donnie. Margot Robbie, who plays Belfort's wife Naomi is an absolute starlet in this film and so convincing. Her American accent is brilliant and unless you knew better, there is no way you would ever guess that she was actually Australian. One thing this film is missing is enough Matthew McConaughey. He plays the role of Belfort's mentor when he first arrives on Wall Street of Mark Hanna and is so charismatic and hilarious. He is only in the film for a short time, but absolutely memorable regardless of how long he spends on screen.

The Wolf of Wall Street is an absolute pleasure to watch and for some may be the true definition of a guilty pleasure, because you know you shouldn't enjoy watching bad behaviour so much.

9/10

This Is The End (2013)

Year: 2013
Director: Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogan
Cast: Jay Baruchel, Seth Rogan, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson, Danny McBride, Emma Watson, Michael Cera
This Is The End is currently screening in the USA and the UK
To be released in Australia on the 18th July 2013

Rated MA15+ for strong crude humour, coarse language, sexual references, comedic violence, nudity and drug use.

With warnings like this, you may be a little concerned and cautious about the viewing of This Is the End you are planning. The poster doesn't lie, they are all there, but the movie doesn't lose it's hilarity in it's warned content. This Is the End is one of the funniest films of the year and is one of those rare comedy films that come along every so often that have longevity and staying power.

This Is The End isn't your typical film for any of the A-list celebrities involved. Instead of pretending to be someone else, they are all playing themselves. Jay Baruchel and Seth Rogan decide to go to a party at James Franco's house where everyone who is anyone is. During the wild party, chaos erupts outside in a fashion which indicates that this may well be the end of the world. Together, Jay, Seth, James, Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson and Danny McBride must find a way to survive and work together.

This is one funny film. It is able to conquer the audiences who love comedy, but are not fans of crude and gruesome comedy. This Is The End has these things, but has so much comedic power that it makes you almost believe that it needs to have it's crude moments and that they are completely relevant. The script, written by directors Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogan, is just wonderful and contains many great ad-libbed one liners.Although there are so many films in recent history regarding the end of the world, this one is completely unlike any other. It's not a common thing to be able to laugh at the concept of the end of the world.

There is nothing really serious about this film, it is a comedy in every way possible. There are some biblical references regarding Revelations and the apocalypse, but that is as far as it will get. The "dramatic" moments of the film are just so overdone that you know that the film makers are trying to achieve laughs rather than critical success. There is also some dodgy and a little B-grade CGI, but you can only assume that the CGI was never meant to be world class and a little B-gradeness just makes it a bit funnier.

The brilliance of this film is that everyone is making fun of themselves. All the male actors are poking fun at themselves throughout the film in several different ways, including Franco's movie memorabilia collection and his art collection and Hill overplaying the sensitive role which he has often been cast in. There are cameos throughout the film, especially in Franco's house party, but stay until the end of the film for one of the most hilarious endings you will see in a film. Completely overdone, but completely fitting and hysterically funny.

All the actors in the film do so well. Baruchel, Rogan, Franco, Hill and Robinson all do well and remain likable throughout the film. Perhaps Hill stops being actually likable at one point, but is still hilarious. Danny McBride can become annoying at times, but that is his role in the film. It is hilarious seeing Emma Watson drop the F-bomb for the first time in her film career. She is a great touch to a predominantly male movie. You can't help watching This Is The End thinking how much fun this film would really have been to make.

It is incredible what Goldberg and Rogan have achieved with This Is The End. A concept that could just sound silly has given birth to comedic brilliance.

8/10

Warning: This YouTube clip contains some coarse language

On a side note.....

Check out this Cast Featurette as supplied by Sony Pictures to get a bit more insight into the making of This Is The End

Moneyball (2011)

Moneyball

Year: 2011

Director: Bennett Miller

Cast: Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robyn Wright

Before I begin my review…

Moneyball is a sports movie with a difference. Even though there is plenty of baseball romanticism, it shows that there is more to sport than what happens on the playing field. Probably a good thing we have a film like that as the sports movie where the losing team eventually becomes the winning team and everyone is left feeling happy is becoming very cliché and boring.

You have really got to hand it to Billy Beane for completely changing the way sports teams are run. This isn’t just restricted to baseball, you can see it in American grid iron football and even in rugby codes. Being a team is all about working together and not just having a few stars and back up dancers (if you can think of it that way).

However, Billy Beane and Brad Pitt really look nothing alike. I would’ve though Brad Pitt would have dyed his hair darker for the role at least.

And just for the hell of it, go Red Sox!!

Review

Moneyball gives us the type of sports movie we have been waiting for since the likes of Jerry Maguire.

You cannot have a sports movie without some winning and losing and sports footage, but Moneyball shows what happens behind the scenes to those who sometimes miss out on all the credit.  It is the intelligent sports movie.

Ex baseball player and now General Manager of the Oakland Athletics, Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) is stuck with the tough job of rebuilding the team after their three star players leave at the end of the season. However, he has to do this on a tiny budget compared to all the other teams in the league which means not being able to afford players of the same calibre as the ones who have left. With his new Assistant General Manager, Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) he devises a plan to focus more on runs rather than stars and is ridiculed and scorned by all those around him at the A’s.

The best thing about Moneyball is that it is intelligent. The script by Steve Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin is very well written and covers all bases.

This is director, Bennett Miller’s second feature length film (his first being the critically acclaimed Capote) and he has once again done a great job. The way he has assembled the script against the visuals and combined visuals of the A’s actual games and filmed cinema footage is commendable.

However, because Moneyball does focus so greatly on the script and the story, it is quite slow and many people will not quite appreciate the sequences of pure conversation with not much else happening.

Brad Pitt is fine as Billy Beane, although in some moments he is better than others. In the first half an hour, he isn’t quite convincing in his role. It seems as though he isn’t really acting, just sitting down and talking to his co-stars. His best moments in the film are the moments where he is in a fit of rage. In his defence though, it is not one of the hardest roles of his career and he does fine.

Jonah Hill gives a good performance as the brains behind Beane’s plan and embraces a character different to the ones he normally plays. Philip Seymour Hoffman is satisfactory in his role as the A’s team manager.

A sports film that not only sports fans will enjoy. One completely refreshing thing about Moneyball is that it is one of the only Hollywood films released this year where there isn’t a romance between two people subplot. Something to be rejoiced.

7/10

Megamind

Megamind
Year: 2010
Director: Tom McGrath
Cast: Will Ferrell, Brad Pitt, Tina Fey, Jonah Hill

In My Own Words
Animation seems to be going in a new direction as of late, hasn't it? There seems to be a lack of the cute and cuddley talking animals which we used to see in the animated films in the last few decades. Now it seems to be the bad guys who are the lead characters in these films who become the heroes and they are anything but cute and cuddley. Just look at Megamind, blue with a massive forehead, hardly what would seem a promoters dream. Cute characters are so much easier to make promotional toys for Happy Meals of and have more staying power. Will we remember these characters in 20 years time which we are seeing now in the same way we remember Little Foot, Simba or the Disney princesses? They're doing their job for the film makers at the moment though, so does it really matter whether we remember them in 20 years just as long as we remember them now? Not cute and cuddley, but the movies around the characters are still great fun and good entertainment!

Anybody know what the toys are in the McDonalds Happy Meals now? I suddenly have an urge to start collecting those awesome toys again.

These are my own words and here is my review.

Review
It is a scenario which we see in numerous films, the underdog falls in love with the beautiful woman, proves himself as the hero but it doesn't matter because she falls in love with who he is underneath. We have seen this a lot, but not so much in animated films. It is not often we see the ugly animated character get the gorgeous girl, but you do in "Megamind"! The film does fit into the animation trend as of late of the bad guy becoming the good guy, but gives it the twist with this unsung hero getting the girl, which will do good things for peoples self esteem. Even if you are blue with a massive forehead and alien looking you can still get the one you love by being yourself! Megamind (voiced by Will Ferrell) has never been good at anything besides being bad. The means of his existence is to fight with Metro Man (Brad Pitt), but when he actually defeats Metro Man, he is completely confused by his new found dominance and lost for what to do next. He decides to create a new super hero for the town, Titan (Jonah Hill) so he will have someone to fight. One thing he didn't count on was failing in love with Titan's crush, news reporter Roxanne Ritchie (Tina Fey) and bringing out more bad in Titan than Megamind ever had.

"Megamind" is a great, fun family film to watch. It is not just a film for children as their are many themes there for adults as well, such as the romance theme which children will of course be unable to relate to. The graphics are amazing in the film and it is one film which is worth seeing in 3D while it is in the cinemas. It is well written and has a lot of great laughs throughout. However, the ending won't be a surprise to anyone and will be something most people will see coming from the very beginning.

"Megamind" has some big names which have contributed their vocal talents to the film. The one thing that is obvious with this is that with each of the cast members, they do not seem to go the extra mile with their characters voices. Each of them, bar perhaps Will Ferrell , plays the type of character they would normally play in a film which they would physically appear in and it is easy to pick who's voice is which. For example, Brad Pitt plays the good looking hero, Tina Fey plays the businesswoman who has too little time for her personal life and Jonah Hill plays the overweight nerd who can't be taken seriouslyh. Will Ferrell does definately do a good job at providing the voice of Megamind and, unlike the others, you can often forget that it is Ferrell's voice you are hearing.

If you are taking your children to see "Megamind", you will probably find that it is more a boys movie than a girls movie. Children aside, it is a film that all ages will enjoy. The graphics are great to watch and the script is witty and funny. Overall, besides the romance, it isn't the most original film to come out in the last few years and it is quite predictable, but definately good for a laugh.
7/10