Movie about the Movies: "Hail, Caesar!"

Joel and Ethan Coen always deliver a quirky movie, and Hail,Caesar! is no exception. From the writers/directors who brought us Burn After Reading, True Grit, and The Big Lebowski comes the tale of 1950s Hollywood, where the action behind the camera becomes more interesting than that we see before us on the silver screen.

This star-studded film stars Josh Brolin as Eddie Mannix, a "fixer" who attempts to keep a movie company in line, which feels more like the ringmaster to a circus due to the demands of the rich and famous.  Although Mannix keeps everything in line, his job is thrown into disarray when major star Baird Whitlock (George Clooney) is kidnapped for a ransom in the middle of filming the titular movie-within-a-movie, Hail, Caesar! The note comes from "The Future," an undercover group trying to spread communism throughout the studio systems.  Meanwhile, directors and stars clash, scandals need covering up, and communism is indeed on the rise, fulfilling all fears.


Narrated by Michael Gambon and also starring Ralph Fiennes, Tilda Swanson, Scarlett Johansson, Channing Tatum, and Alden Ehrenreich, Hail, Caesar! is mysterious, nutty, and a fun misadventure in Los Angeles.

Hail, Caesar! offers some exciting source material for the main characters, as Mannix's character and the events that went on in the film were not uncommon for the time, but the Coen Brothers do offer their signature stranger-than-fiction twist when need be. Most roles and backstories are inspired by real people during the 1950s in Hollywood. Scandal and keeping up a public image has always been an axiom to the life of a movie star, and for better or for worse, is here to stay.

Mannix's character is based on real-life E.J. Mannix, a former MGM movie producer who eventually went on to covering up any scandals in Hollywood to keep actors and directors out of trouble and the tabloids.  Whitlock's character is based on Charlton Heston, Robert Taylor and Kirk Douglas for his good looks and leading man charisma. Clooney remains in his Roman regalia for the entirety of the film. The film within a film, "Hail, Caesar" which Whitlock is the star of, plays off of movie epic Ben Hur, thus Heston being ideal as an inspiration.  Johannson is based on actress Esther Williams.  Swanson is a caricature of Hollywood gossip writer Hedda Hopper.  And Tatum, Gene Kelly (he did all his own tap-dancing in the film!).



At this point in Hollywood, the fear of Communism was taking over the studio systems.  The Supreme Court had also ruled that the studios could no longer treat the industry like a monopoly, so studio heads were forced to divest their theaters.  Another major fear of Hollywood was that it would eventually lose its popularity due to the rising convenience of television.  With a TV sitting in your living room, there would be no need to go out and spend money on tickets to watch something in theaters.  Both of these threats threw studios into disarray, and there was a competitive nature to stay in the game.

Grand aquatic scenes, glorifying the Western genre further, and creating artistic period pieces. Grandiose Roman spectacles were also common, and the idea of the Blockbuster hit was born. Hollywood would spend big budgets just to keep up with the times, doing more than television could hope to imagine. Movie musicals also became very popular, just to enhance the feeling of escapism that going to the movies offered.

Mannix played a very crucial role in keeping the status quo throughout, as he knew all the ins and outs of Hollywood.  The show must go on, after all.

Aesthetically, the camera filters offer a mix of Technicolor Hollywood and film noir.  The soundstages within the soundstages are incredible, and viewers really get the feel for how movies were made in the 1950s, and how much work had to go in them.

The actors in the film were very commited to their roles.  Ehrenreich, for example, was an up-and-coming western star in the film named Hobie Doyle, who was struggling to break into more refined and artsy roles.  For it, he learned how to twirl lassos, horseback ride, and play the guitar.  The most difficult trick he had to do was twirling spaghetti like a lasso, which is a small nod from the Coen Brothers to the spaghetti western genre.


Hail, Caesar! is not to be missed by anyone who enjoys movies, because, well, it's a movie about movies. It has the classic Coen Brothers quirkiness to it, a perfect Hollywood aesthetic, and no line is wasted.  So much detail has been put into this masterpiece from the costumes and sets to the discussions of communism between Whitlock and The Future.  Fans of the Coen Brothers and 1950s era Hollywood will enjoy the film from start to finish.

"Sully" Movie Review

Clint Eastwood's latest film Sully tells the story of Chelsey Sullenberger, based on his memoir, Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters.  Starring Tom Hanks, Aaron Eckhart, and Laura Linney, this film walks viewers through the hearings of the Miracle on the Hudson.

Sully (Hanks) miraculously lands a flight on the Hudson River on January 15, 2009, after birds fly into the engines of his plane just moments after takeoff from LaGuardia Airport.  He is hailed as a national hero, even though he is not convinced that his actions are completely heroic.  Sully suffers from nightmares and hallucinations shortly after.  He also struggles in telling his wife (Linney) about the hearing proceedings and whether or not what he did was fully ethical.  

After all passengers are accounted for, he and his First Officers Skiles (Eckhart) go through a series of hearings with the National Transportation Safety Board to discuss the logisitics of the landing, and how safe it was to complete such a maneuver.  After numerous programs replicated the flight in simulations, the initial hearings ruled that Sully could have landed back at LaGuardia or Teterboro instead of putting 155 lives at risk.  Disheartened, Sully feels guilty and believes that this tricky landing could be considered negligent and force him into immediate retirement with no pension.  

Despite Sully recording the biggest debut for a Clint Eastwood film (as both and actor and director), the film has sparked a bit of a controversy with the National Transportation Safety Board hearings.  Eastwood stated that the Safety Board "was trying to paint the picture that he had done the wrong thing."  Investigations into the records of the hearing were done, and The New York Times wrote, "he film’s version of the inquiry veers from the official record in both tone and substance" and "depicts the investigators as departing from standard protocol in airline accident inquiries."  In fact, the National Transportation Safety Board was rather impressed with Sully's landing.  

Tom Hanks specifically asked that the names of those participating in the hearing on the Safety Board were changed.  Their unfair depiction of damning Sully for his actions upset Hanks, and since the actual events didn't go that way, then the peoples' identities should be protected. 

Where the flight had landed in the Hudson River scenes was where the big rescue scenes were filmed.  You could practically feel how intense and cold those scenes were on the water.  The hysteria and panic of the passengers was very real as well, since they had no idea what was going on shortly into their flight that required an immediate landing.

You can also truly understand the complicated position Sully was in throughout the hearings. Although media outlets highlighted his heroic acts, his conscience and the National Transportation Safety Board berated him.

Serial biopic star Tom Hanks (Saving Mr. Banks, Captain Phillips, Saving Mr. Banks, Charlie Wilson's War, etc...) definitely offers a performance the Academy would recognize for 2017's Best Actor category.  During pre-production, Hanks met with Chelsey Sullenberger in order to get to know him as the modest and unexpected hero.  Sully was impressed with his attention to detail and portrayal onscreen as far as mannerisms went.  

The 96 minutes will captivate viewers from start to finish, as its nonlinear narrative draws you in.  We don't actually see the big rescue happen until the film's halfway point.  Overall, Sully is a must-see for anyone who can't wait for the Oscars Season boom, and anyone impressed with the Miracle on the Hudson.  Since the events took place in 2009, it's interesting to watch as something  we can remember happening in our everyday lives. 

"The Light Between Oceans" Review

Oscar bait has come early this year before I even broke out my combat boots and switched my iced coffee for hot.  Oscar winner and Oscar nominee Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender, respectively, star in the heart-wrenching tale of a baby found on the shores of a New Zealand island.  A timeless struggle of what is right and what feels right is at the center of Derek Cianfrance's (director of Blue Valentine and The Place Beyond the Pines) latest film, The Light Between Oceans.  


Light tells the story of the Sherbournes (Vikander and Fassbender).  Tom is a lighthouse keeper who previously served in the First World War for several years, and wishes for some solitude after his time.  He meets a local, beautiful girl, Isabel and immediately falls for her.  After correspondence via snail mail (seriously, this movie would have been, like, twenty minutes with iMessage), they get married and move out to the lighthouse.  After two miscarriages occur in an effort to start a family, a boat washes onto the shore of their island, containing a man (dead on arrival) and a crying baby girl.  Isabel convinces Tom that the baby came to them at the right time, and they take her in, raising Lucy as their own.

Enter Lucy's real mother, Hannah (Rachel Weisz), who bumps into the Sherbournes in their town, and breaks down upon meeting Lucy.  Hannah laments how she lost her husband and daughter at sea, and her daughter would be the same age as Lucy is. They meet four years after they left her, and watching her reaction to meeting Lucy was painful.  Coincidence? I think not.



Tom struggles with whether or not it is best to get Lucy back to her proper home with Hannah, or to go on after seeing the heartache she has already endured for years. Lucy's parentage becomes powerful and painful knowledge for them, and the consequences of their actions do indeed come back to hurt them and those around them.

This film focuses around how when it comes to sympathizing with a character, we feel it when we (the audience) know something that the characters don't know.  It hits us most when the characters realize what we knew all along.  We can see it in their eyes, as they flicker with newfound knowledge.  Tom knows things Isabel doesn't.  What's more is that he acts on them, and our emotions are thrown slightly out of wack.  The many layers of sympathy in Light makes it an intricate story, as every action counts.  It's hard for me to say who's actions I agreed with most for the duration in the film, along with after, as I reflect on the complications weaved into Light.

Although it started off at a glacial pace, The Light Between Oceans builds up the suspense in its first half the have audiences begging for more as the film progresses. Fassbender, who comes across as a rougher-around-the-edges Ewan McGregor sparks the eventual diminishing of the family that is created through sheer happenstance.  Vikander and Weisz are powerful forces as they fight for the right to keep Lucy as their own daughter.  Both of them have significant bonds and reasons to be granted the parentage of Lucy.

The three actors have high potential to receive nominations once we get closer to Oscar season, despite the melodramatic tone.  Yes, our heartstrings are tugged at, as we just want the best for Lucy.  However, it is almost overkill to the point where we remind ourselves that yes, this is all slightly far-fetched.



The costumes were absolutely stunning for this period piece, as the men adorned suspenders and the women wore more wool sweaters and hats than a sheep could provide material for.  Alexandre Desplat scored the film so beautifully, as the music notes fit with the overall tone the way the sunlight hit the waves surrounding the Sherbourne's island.  Overall, the lighthouse aesthetic and sleepy small-town was beautiful.

The film is based on the novel of the same name written by L. M. Stedman.  Anyone who goes for the Nicholas Sparks/weepy genre would enjoy the film.  Its strong leads captivated me. Even those who are unable to directly relate to the heartbreak of losing a child are swept away by the incredible performances.  Light has high potential to become an Oscar contender, which makes it a must-see in order to get ready for other incredible films around the corner.