Sometimes there are films that come out that either get a bad review or there just not in the theaters that long that I overlook them. That was definitely the case with today’s film Hail, Caesar! which was gone before I got around to seeing it. The film stars Josh Brolin (The Goonies) as Hollywood Fixer Eddie Mannix who works for Capitol Studios. Eddie has a lot on his plate with having to take a western star (Alden Ehrenreich) and shuffle him to a completely different genre, trying to hide a pregnancy out of wedlock from the public eye, and even trying to figure out who kidnapped his lead star (George Clooney) during the middle of filming a really big epic movie. It’s either that or he accepts a job to work in a completely different field. The film also stars Ralph Fiennes (The Grand Budapest Hotel) as Laurence Laurentz, Scarlett Johansson (The Avengers) as DeeAnna Moran, Tilda Swinton (Moonrise Kingdom) as Thora/ Thessaly Thacker, Channing Tatum (22 Jump Street) as Burt Gurney, Frances McDormand (Fargo) as C.C. Calhoun, Jonah Hill (22 Jump Street) as Joe Silverman, Veronica Osorio (Diego And Valentina) as Carlotta Valdez, Alison Pill (Milk) as Mrs. Mannix, Fisher Stevens (Short Circuit) as Communist Writer, and the film was directed by Ethan and Joel Cohen (No Country For Old Men).
I am a huge fan of the olden days of Hollywood and America at the time with the fashion, hairstyles, and just the way of life. So it’s easy for me to say that I really enjoyed that aspect of the film, but as far as the overall film was concerned, I didn’t think it was a great film. I thought the film was relatively OK for a Cohen’s brothers movie. The film for a while seemed to be a behind the scenes look at what went down in the classic Hollywood era of the big studios and the way they covered up scandals from the press. The kidnapping of George Clooney’s character to me seemed more like a side story than the main focus of the film which kind of bothered me, but usually anything that was happening it always went back to it. Some of the things I enjoyed watching was how the films were made and the big scenes that we saw like the pool scene with Scarlet or the bar scene with Channing. Those were some of the cool moments of the film that maybe people overlooked. The film was also commentary on the ideals of those times especially with the paranoia of communism. That was a big issue back in those days and the writers are the ones that organize it in this film. They feel they need more recognition than they get which was also maybe a sign of the times then. It’s not a terrible movie, but it’s not great either. That is why I am going to give the film an B for a final grade. Rent it from Redbox or On demand if it’s available.
There are always films that get announced or you see some details and it gets you excited for it, but you end up waiting for it for a while. That was the case with today’s film Cooties which I had heard about back in 2014, but we finally have it here for you. Cooties follows aspiring writer and now substitute teacher Clint (Elijah Wood) as he returns home to Fort Chicken to teach at the elementary school. The only problem for Clint is that when he gets to school, a virus begins to spread that turns the children there into flesh eating zombies. Now Clint has to lead a group of ragtag teachers to safety before they are torn to shreds by the infected students. The film also stars Rainn Wilson (House Of 1000 Corpses) as Wade, Alison Pill (Scott Pilgrim Vs The World) as Lucy, Jack McBrayer (The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret) as Tracy, Leigh Whannell (Insidious: Chapter 2) as Doug, Nasim Pedrad (Saturday Night Live) as Rebekkah, Ian Brennan (Scream Queens) as Vice Principal Simms, Jorge Garcia (The Ridiculous 6) as Rick, Cooper Roth (The Road Within) as Patriot, Morgan Lily (X-Men: First Class) as Tamra, and the film was directed by Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion.
At first before I watched the film I questioned why this never made it into theaters before it went straight to DVD. Then after watching the film, I can definitely figure out why it never made it and I am not saying that as a bad thing. This is definitely one of those films that is so bad that it’s awesome. I just figured that having Rainn Wilson, Elijah Wood, and Jack McBrayer would be enough to get into theaters, but it’s really funny regardless. One of the elements I loved about this film was the little quips that are thrown like a reference to The Lord Of The Rings series that Elijah Wood starred in at one time. It also helps that Rainn Wilson is absolutely hilarious and Leigh Whannell’s character was weird, but a very funny addition to the ensemble. I really believe that without all those factors I listed, this film would’t be as good or enjoyable to watch. One thing it will do is make you not want to eat chicken nuggets ever again as you see how they are made and what goes into them. One of the things I also liked about the film was how creative they were when you see one kid using intestines as jump rope or a human head on the end of a rope that is used for tetherball. It was those little things that made the film enoyable to watch, but it’s still a little cheesy at times. With that being said, I am going to give the film an B- for a final grade.
365moviesin365dayschallenge 