Hail, Caesar! - Amazon

[RobertLuketic]

Can't wait to watch it.

http://www.amazon.com/Hail-Caesar-Bl...ds=hail+caesar

[jaredofmo]

I went to see the movie today and as soon as I was out, I preordered the Blu-Ray from my phone. Very enjoyable and funny tribute to the big movie studios of the 1930s-50s.

[lolwut]

Can't wait to see it!

[JoeBuck]

Sitting in the theater for this right now!
Gonna be good

[krisakarcher]

wehhhh I was slightly disappointed in this. Yea I thought it had it's moments but it didn't land like other Cohen Brothers comedies usually land for me. Oh well they can't all be winners.

[javi92]

Yeah, I was just slightly let down by this. Such a great cast and some great individual numbers and scenes. At the end, I felt like I wanted a whole movie on each one of the characters, instead of the fifteen or twenty minutes devoted to each subplot.

[BuckNaked2k]

Lowest (wide) opening of duo's career.

No nachas for the Coens this time.

[Blu Titan]

Originally Posted by javi92

Yeah, I was just slightly let down by this. Such a great cast and some great individual numbers and scenes. At the end, I felt like I wanted a whole movie on each one of the characters, instead of the fifteen or twenty minutes devoted to each subplot.

George Clooney is probably one of more overrated actors in Hollywood. Flop after flop does not deter this guy. Did you see Monuments Men?

[javi92]

Originally Posted by Blu Titan

George Clooney is probably one of more overrated actors in Hollywood. Flop after flop does not deter this guy. Did you see Monuments Men?

Yep, Monuments Men was unbearable. Clooney isn't really the fixture here though. Brolin carries the film. As a fan of classic Hollywood films of every genre, this was pretty engaging. Homage, satire, and self reflection in equal measure. I just find it a classic case of the whole being less than the sum of the parts.

[bookcase]

This was a huge disappointment for me and the two people who joined me. We were so looking forward to it, and it just failed to live up to the potential of what the trailer sold.

[Gremal]

Disappointment!??? WTF? Clooney is cast as a an overrated actor IN THE FILM, so those of you criticizing him should enjoy his role.

Hail Caesar was right up there with the Coen brothers' most meaningful and humorous work, building on Barton Fink, O Brother Where Art Thou and Fargo. They really outdid themselves, spoofing the movie studio business, religion, communism, faith and the human condition in general. So much dialog, narration and humor was packed into practically every scene and the amazing thing was how meaningful and perfectly written, choreagraphed, acted and shot it all was. Can't wait to see it again -- maybe another trip to the movie theater is in order -- and then at least 10 more times on blu-ray.

It was not just an "enjoyable and funny tribute to the big movie studios of the '30s-'50s" ... it tackled in self-depricating manner the biggest issues of humanity, from capitalism to communism, from faith to slavery and most importantly it was the Coens' recognition that no matter how much meaning they manage to pack into their films it is still just meaningless bullshit. The whole thing blew me away from the opening shot to the way the credits started to roll. Total genius. I usually don't like books about writers, films about filmmakers, songs about singers, etc., but in the mold of Barton Fink, this was a flawless film that had to be made by the Coen brothers because only they could make it.

[ThatOneGuy]

Originally Posted by Gremal

[Show spoiler]Disappointment!??? WTF? Clooney is cast as a an overrated actor IN THE FILM, so those of you criticizing him should enjoy his role.

Hail Caesar was right up there with the Coen brothers' most meaningful and humorous work, building on Barton Fink, O Brother Where Art Thou and Fargo. They really outdid themselves, spoofing the movie studio business, religion, communism, faith and the human condition in general. So much dialog, narration and humor was packed into practically every scene and the amazing thing was how meaningful and perfectly written, choreagraphed, acted and shot it all was. Can't wait to see it again -- maybe another trip to the movie theater is in order -- and then at least 10 more times on blu-ray.

It was not just an "enjoyable and funny tribute to the big movie studios of the '30s-'50s" ... it tackled in self-depricating manner the biggest issues of humanity, from capitalism to communism, from faith to slavery and most importantly it was the Coens' recognition that no matter how much meaning they manage to pack into their films it is still just meaningless bullshit. The whole thing blew me away from the opening shot to the way the credits started to roll. Total genius. I usually don't like books about writers, films about filmmakers, songs about singers, etc., but in the mold of Barton Fink, this was a flawless film that had to be made by the Coen brothers because only they could make it.

This film might just be another O Brother Where Art Thou, a film that people didn't like at first but later find it to be much better later down the line.

[Gremal]

Perhaps, but it was much more ambitious. The underlying theme was the story of Christ, the role of faith and the push/pull between capitalism and communism, which shapes our world to a far greater extent than The Odyssey retold by O Brother. Both are sheer genius.

Nearly all of the Coen films get better with repeat viewing. There have only been a couple misfires, but Hail Caesar was a masterpiece on multiple levels.

[Jobla]

I enjoyed HAIL CAESAR, and I'm not a fan of the brothers Coen.

[Gremal]

I'm wondering who could watch this film and fail to see how deep it is. Sure, it can be watched for the choreography but that's like listening to Bach because you like the sound of a harpsichord.

One review on amz literally says this film I've been thinking about for 3 days "works best in the moment" and celebrates a clueless person in the neighboring seat wondering what the point of it was.

It floors me that people could managed to miss the fact that the themes of religion, economics and finding meaning in what we do could be totally ignored. Just below the surface are tremendously meaningful, strong, humorous, self-depricated statements by the Coen brothers that tackled the biggest existential themes in modern humanity.

Where O! Brother Where Art Thou addressed racism, redemption and reconciliation in a re-telling of Homer's Odyssey in the deep south, Hail, Caesar! skirts the story of Christ, the push-pull of communism versus capitalism, the role of faith and the very search for meaning in our lives, all set to a brilliant script, score and sets.

The film can almost be seen as an exploration of the statement attributed to Christ, "Render to God what is God's and to Caesar what is Caesar's" through the eyes of a '50's style studio head--with brilliant, knee slapping humor and self-deprecation throughout.

As for the point of the movie, it is to realize and admit to ourselves that what we do with our lives is meaningless--but if it's our calling, if we feel compelled to do it well or we hear the voice of God speaking through us, it's the right way to "render" our life. And as the credits began to roll in the way it did, the Coens made themselves the existential joke of the movie by calling attention to the fact that the studio will make a fortune on their filmmaking skills. For just as surely as their gift allows them to make movies that work on every level, this latest entry, that is a culmination of O! Brother, Big Lebowski, Fargo and Barton Fink, will be a critical and financial success.

The Coens have translated their God-given gifts of filmmaking (if you want to call it that) into profits for the studio. They know it's a meaningless endeavor and they know they are spiritually driven to do it anyway. And therein lies the haunting questions about ourselves that we don't often like to confront in a world of false faith and true faithlessness. Far from an entertaining lallygag, Hail Caesar! is rich in meaning.

[bookcase]

You can understand all the themes this film conveyed, as I did. You can also find it incredibly boring, as I did. Unlike most Coen brothers' films, this one just didn't work for me.

[Gremal]

Originally Posted by bookcase

You can understand all the themes this film conveyed, as I did. You can also find it incredibly boring, as I did. Unlike most Coen brothers' films, this one just didn't work for me.

Ok, but what didn't work for you? I'm not meaning to hassle you but it's seriously impossible to imagine that anyone could find it incredibly boring overall and I don't buy that.

[Show spoiler]In the space of a couple hours you had a kidnapping that was as entertaining as what happened in Fargo, two choreographed sequences and a western song routine that would rival the greatest musicals of the '50s and were more perfectly realized than the dream sequences in Lebowski, you had a beach sequence with a Soviet sub emerging from the depths, not to mention luxurious sets of sets and nonstop snappy dialog that thrusts forward the narrative with good acceleration.

If anyone finds that boring it's hard to see how any movie other than action/thrillers are unwatchable.

[Clockwork Chris]

Well said Gremal. I enjoyed the movie thoroughly, and like most of the Coen's filmography, it requires multiple viewings to extract all of the substance and layers they cram into their work. The themes are heavy and meaningful, but delivered in the quirky, satiric and stylized way the Coen's are famous for. A winner in my opinion and certainly worthy of adding to my collection. Upon leaving the theater I overheard a random patron suggest Hail Caesar was their worst film since A Serious Man. Blasphemy! A Serious Man IMHO is grossly underrated and much like Hail Caesar, tackled big themes that anyone who reflects on their own life and brief existence can find great value in.

[ergumat]

I really like the Coen brothers, but out of their newer output there are some films that I haven't enjoyed as much as the earlier films. Up until (and including) The Man Who Wasn't There I thought they could do no wrong. Since then I have really enjoyed No country for old men and True Grit but was a bit underwhelmed by for example Ladykillers, A Serious Man and Inside Llewyn Davis. But I have high hopes for this new one (as always with every new Coen brothers film)!

[Namuhana]

I just went to pre-order this and noticed that Amazon's changed their free shipping. It used to be $25 minimum, then changed to $35, and now it's $49. I guess I'll have to go elsewhere because I'm not plunking down that much money for Prime.