Now Playing: Hail, Caesar! (2016)

I was recently able to see the Coen brothers' brand new spankin' comedy Hail, Caesar! in theatres. Set during the 1950s, this film told the highly fictionalized story of real-life Hollywood fixer Eddie Mannix. He interacts with a cast of zany characters from actors to directors to the press, all while trying to figure out what happened to his studio's biggest star who has mysteriously disappeared.

This might sound obvious, but this movie was very Coen. It had a great cast, clever writing, beautiful cinematography, hilarious moments mixed with symbolism. The works. For all these reasons, I quite enjoyed Hail, Caesar! 

As always, the Coens have a wonderful collective cast, including Coen favorites like George Clooney, Frances McDormand, and Tilda Swinton. The film also stars Josh Brolin, Scarlett Johannson, Jonah Hill, and Ralph Fiennes. Two surprisingly amazing performances come from relative newcomer Alden Ehrenreich and Channing Tatum. I'm usually not a fan of Channing but he was hilarious in this movie and I was quite impressed! All of these actors fell right into Old Hollywood. There was great chemistry and everyone was very funny.

The Coen brothers also have an incredible ability to perfectly capture the essence of a certain decade, if they are making a period film. It's one of the reasons I love O Brother, Where Art Thou? (my favorite Coen creation). The Coens don't just give us one or two characters to focus on and expect to represent a generation or part of a generation. We get to explore many facets of 1950's Hollywood. After seeing the film, I looked up Eddie Mannix and learned he was a real person. I also didn't know that a fixer was a real, legitimate job. A Hollywood fixer is someone who is paid to clean up after the scandals of the studio's talent. In this film, the studio "owns" many of these actors and Mannix makes sure that they have their chances in the spotlight, that their records are clean and their images maintained. In this Cold War-era and family values-oriented world, it seems to be a pretty important job in the entertainment industry. From the eyes of Mannix, we get to see what it was like to make a movie in the 1950's. First, we see all the different jobs and technology that was being used. We also see all the different types of films that were being made at once in one studio. Hail, Caesar! covers all the basic Old Hollywood movies that were popular: a Roman epic; a Bette Davis or Cary Grant-esque drama; a musical complete with Fred Astaire tap numbers; a performance piece with a live orchestra and synchronized swimmers; a fun and action-filled Western. Within each film, we learn more about the people within them. Actors who struggle to transition from genre to genre, how actresses were treated differently than actors, directors trying to create art versus directors trying to make a cash grab that will garner guaranteed audience favor. In fact, this is one of the themes in the film, but we will come to that later.

This journey through Old Hollywood shows us both the good and the bad. The film's most profitable actor, played by George Clooney, is kidnapped by Communist writers. This was such a great take for the film and I love how the Coens didn't tell us right away that they were Communists. The Coens never pander to their audience; they want us to figure out the clues for ourselves. With mention of the hydrogen bomb and emphasis on public image, the addition of Communism and the Red Scare rounded out the film. Like I said before, the Coens are great at showing us all angles of a decade, the good and the bad, the ugly and the pretty. There was no mention of blacklisting at all, but I still think this secret society of Communist ex-Hollywood writers made the film more historically accurate and interesting. If you are already familiar with American history, the movie is all the more entertaining.

As with most Coen brothers' movies, there are always several themes or questions being raised and the symbolic imagery and cinematography helps establish those themes or questions. There is no doubt that there was a big religious theme in Hail, Caesar! The films opens with a statue of Christ on the cross. In the beginning and towards the end of the movie, Eddie Mannix is in confession with an impatient priest who believes Mannix visits him too often. Mannix is concerned about the accuracy of the Roman epic about Jesus Christ, and, wishing not to offend anyone, asks leaders from different faiths to view the film and give him their opinions. It is clear that Mannix is very religious, however, this part of his character juxtaposes with his job. Being a fixer includes a lot of lying; it's a very dishonest job. And yet, at the end of the film, Mannix claims that he thinks that what he does is right. I was reading some reviews and analyses on Hail, Caesar! and someone wrote that Mannix is himself a Christ figure, which is very interesting. Just as Jesus Christ had taken the sins of the world upon Himself, Mannix takes the sins of the studio's actors upon himself. This idea is very evident in a particularly beautiful shot in which Mannix stands on the set of the Roman epic film. He is silhouetted and stands before three silhouetted crosses. The last shot of the film is also very curious. There is a heavenly light that shines over the Hollywood film studio; the water tower says "Behold" on it, and then the camera moves up and zooms into the sunlight in the sky. The Coens could be saying a number of things here. Hollywood, either old or new, is one of the least spiritual places there are; this particular shot is a contradiction. It could also be criticizing the "worship" of the entertainment industry and the celebrity. But I think it raises a few important questions, some that are addressed in the film: is making movies about creating art or making money? And can you truly be religious in Hollywood, when so many jobs (including the most obvious: acting), involve lying, and sometimes other questionable behavior?

The humor, the acting, the cinematography, the history, the story itself all made Hail, Caesar! a good movie. But what the Coens really do well and they did very well here is show all different angles of a specific time period, place, or profession. Old Hollywood is very classy, fun, and beautiful, but it deserves criticism. The Coens did this wonderfully; making important statements all while putting in those silly moments that make us remember why we love the Coen brothers so much. Was Hail, Caesar! the best film I've seen in the past year? No. Was it even my favorite Coen brothers' film? No. But it had all the ingredients, to me, that made it an enjoyable and meaningful Coen film and period piece, in general.

Now Playing: Secrets of War (2014)

A few weeks ago I watched a movie I had never heard of before. No expectations or anything. I'm glad I took a chance on Secrets of War because it turned out to be an amazing movie and one of the best foreign language films I have ever seen. Secrets of War was released in the Netherlands in 2014. It is set during World War II and tells the story of three kids whose friendship is threatened due to different secrets pertaining to their identities, families, and participation in the war. Tuur's (Mass Bronkhuyzen) family is involved in the resistance against the Germans; Lambert's (Joes Brauers) father is the mayor of the village and is very close with the Nazis; and Maartje (Pippa Allen) is a Jewish girl in hiding.

There are a lot of technical and artistic aspects I really loved. I first must mention the acting. I really appreciate good child actors and all three of the leads in this film were incredible. You fell in love with each of the characters and felt for them. My favorite, though, and quite surprisingly, was Lambert. I feel like most people who would watch this film would identify the rebellious Tuur who only wants to do good and help his friends, or Maartje, the friendly girl who is trying her best to survive. Lambert is the son of the collaborating mayor, whose big brother is a very active Hitler Youth. Lambert feels ostracized from his two friends when they decide they cannot trust him, and yet he has no desire to be in the Hitler Youth like his brother. Joes Brauers performance was heartbreaking; you wished he could know the secret of Maartje's true identity and yet you fear for her safety.

This leads into another reason why I really liked Secrets of War: the cinematography and direction. There were just incredible moments that were captured on camera and I wish I could show some of them here but, really, you should just go watch the film! There are several montages during critical scenes where they switch between characters so you know what each child is doing during a certain event. I think it was very representative of the war. There will be a scene where Maartje is being taken away by the Germans, then we will see Tuur trying desperately to find her and figure out what is going on, and then we will see Lambert just happily playing with his trains. World War II affected people in so many different ways. Some were hurt directly, some had friends or family that were in danger but were not in danger themselves, and others did not seem to really know or care what was going on. In fact, it's almost like the world in general. While someone's house is getting bombed somewhere, we're over here complaining about slow Internet. But anyways, I digress. The cinematography and direction, in particular, were very critical to the storytelling in this particular film. There was one scene that really struck me. We see Lambert's side profile, staring straight ahead, and behind him are a bunch of out-of-focus Hitler Youth posters on a wall. (While they are out of focus, it is pretty obvious what they are). It is almost like we are looking inside Lambert's brain: his father's and brother's constant ravings for the Hitler Youth program are inescapable. Eventually he walks on and the posters come into focus.

If you know me, you'll know I really love a movie with good costumes. The clothes in Secrets of War were amazing. There was such variety and you could really see the difference in clothing between adults, teenagers, and children. In a war film, costuming is very important. The Stars of David and the Hitler Youth uniforms revealed the era and the conflict. The subtle differences between school clothes, play clothes and church clothes were also interesting. Basically, everyone just seemed to dress a little nicer back then!

There were so many things I loved about Secrets of War. The acting, the story itself, the writing, the cinematography - the list goes on. In a lot of ways, it reminded me of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. If you have seen that film or read the book, you'll know that childhood innocence during wartime is a central theme. It's the theme in Secrets of War as well. The adults in this film go to great lengths to keep the gritty details of the war from the children, but the children find themselves learning these things because the war directly affects them. We see a loss of innocence throughout the film. In one of the first scenes, we see Tuur and Lambert in a bomb shelter with the village during a German night raid. For the children, it is exciting. Every time a bomb drops, the adults worry more. Tuur and Lambert just smile and laugh. Later on, when Tuur discovers that the trains he always sees are carrying people and not rocks, the mood changes. It raises the question of how much should we keep from our children when they are all wrapped in tragedy, In Life is Beautiful, for example, the answer is "as much as possible." I think Secrets of War claims it is nearly impossible. Children are curious and smart and it is difficult to hide big, important things forever.

This became a very dark and deep discussion, but whatever you believe, I do hope you will see this movie. It will make you laugh and cry and think, and that's what you want from a movie, right?

Feb. 6: Weekly Recap

Hello everyone! xx

It's been awhile, and again (shocker) I am thinking of somewhat changing the direction of my blog, but not too much. But expect more posts; I have a lot of ideas of things to write on!

This post is going to be on the new movies, books, and music I have watched, read, and listened to this past week. Some are good, some not so much. Let's dive right in.

I watched two new movies this past week, both quite good.

I saw a documentary called Above and Beyond about the formation of the Israeli Air Force. My dad actually recommended this to me and it is really interesting. It was produced by Nancy Spielberg, the younger sister of Steven Spielberg, and it included a lot of interviews from the actual pilots who were  part of the Air Force. This was very impressive to me on many levels: one, that so many were American, and two, that so many were still alive and seemed to be doing so well! It also included an interview with Paul Reubens, whose father was also a pilot who flew for Israel. As far as documentaries go, Above and Beyond was very engaging and I learned a lot. It was released in 2014 and you can watch it on Netflix!

I also FINALLY saw the original 1931 Dracula with Bela Lugosi. I can't believe I went my whole life without watching this classic but I'm glad I finally saw it. In fact, I want to do a whole review on this, so I won't say too much here. I will just say that I was pleasantly surprised by this film and I highly recommend it.

I read two books the past week. One I read was called The Dramatic Imagination by Robert Edmond Jones. It was actually a book I had to get for college when I was an acting major for that hot second. I kept it because I thought I would enjoy it later on. Robert Edmond Jones is supposedly this famous costumer and set designer in the theatre world and this book he wrote is one that is still really revered. It had some interesting points but honestly, I just have little patience now for uppity theatre people. His style of writing and some of his opinions were just so over-the-top, unnecessarily flowery, and just snooty. It's like the kind of book that Frasier Crane would have on his shelf but it won't remain on mine.

The other book I read, though, was incredible. I got it free from work and just the cover art (which I sadly, do pay too much attention when it comes to all forms of entertainment) and the description on the back made me think it would a little too childish and boring. But oh how wrong I was! It's definitely a book for kids, but it still was very enjoyable for me. It is about a twelve-year-old girl from a small town in Tennessee who comes from this incredible family but she feels like a screw-up and that she can never live up to her family legacy. She then gets involved in defending her family cafe from a developer as well as in a hunt for a treasure that is legendary in her town's folklore. It is a very relatable story that happens to be filled with magic dreams, spooky graveyards, and lots and lots of hot chocolate and muffins. It was also a very good reminder to not underestimate children's literature. YA and kid's books can very well-written and poignant, no matter what age you are reading them! The Key to Extraordinary is a very EXTRAORDINARY story (ayyyyyy).

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As you can tell by this deeply unsettling CD cover that still makes me a little bit uncomfortable, I purchased Sia's new album this week! It's called This is Acting and there's much to write on. From the first song called "Bird Set Free," I knew this album was going to be good. It's definitely different from 1000 Forms of Fear. In fact there were some songs that I just didn't quite understand and couldn't believe were on a Sia album, the most notable one being "Sweet Design" which is a booty-promotin' song featuring samples from none other than "Thong Song" by Sisqo (which, let's be honest, was the truest poetry the world received in music-form in 1999). Upon doing some research, I learned that almost this entire album is comprised of songs that Sia wrote for other people, like Rihanna and Adele, that were rejected. That's why Sia called the album This is Acting; she stated these were words she would never say herself and that the whole album was like an act. That is so interesting and it makes me love the album even more. I don't like it as much as 1000 Forms of Fear, but it's still very good. Sia really fails to ever disappoint me. My favorite tracks on this album are "Bird Set Free," the anthem that opened this album so wonderfully just like "Chandelier" did for 1000 Forms of Fear; the two singles "Alive" and "Cheap Thrills;" "Broken Glass," which is just a really pretty song; and "Space Between," which has a very Twin Peaks vibe to it. I recommend buying the deluxe version of this album because it includes two really amazing songs at the end called "Fist Fighting in a Sandstorm" and "Summer Rain."

Overall, it was a very good week for movies and books and music! The next post will be a review on the Dutch film Secrets of War, which I am very excited for. See you then xx