Film: Hail, Caesar!

So, a film that I hadn't seen made it to the Friday night film schedule! Or, maybe I had, but didn't remember a thing about it. Anyhoo, I watched Hail, Caesar!, a Coen brothers film, set in Hollywood's golden age, in the 50s. It follows Josh Brolin - a film studio fixer - as he runs around putting out fires. Tilda Swinton plays identical twin gossip columnists, each perpetually harassing him for a story. During the film, he has three problems to fix:

• A major actor, George Clooney, is kidnapped from the very set of his latest movie, in the middle of filming!
• A major actress, Scarlett Johansson, falls pregnant outside of wedlock. With marriage not an option, the studio lawyer, Jonah Hill, is brought in to provide a solution.
• The hapless director, Ralph Fiennes, of a society drama, is lumbered with a leading man who's better known as a Western hero, performing stunts on horseback. An unrecognisable Frances McDormand has a cameo for this story, as the projectionist who shows the fixer some footage of the newcomer.

Firstly - it was an utter joy to watch the big-budget movie snippets that pepper the film, and were typical of the time. Particularly as I was watching it on my new, larger-screened, smart tv! (Not a frivolous purchase - my old one broke down, finally, on Wednesday night: which was great timing, as I was due to take my mother to town the following day. So I got the tv on that trip.)

Oh, I love the Coen brothers. And George, as usual, does a terrific comic turn in a truly surreal twist on the role of a kidnap victim. You really feel for the poor director, forced to compromise his work of art to accommodate the studio's wishes. And in general, in short, this is a delight to watch.. even when they nearly kill Frances..

Tomorrow, reliable Cultureseekers has another quiz, advertised late, as ever. This time, it's Guess the Author or Novel from the Cover! Worth a go - he often gives very helpful hints..

And Crazy Rich Asians is tomorrow night's tv movie. Awesome, another I hadn't seen.. being stuck in Ireland for the pandemic is at least helping me get through my film list..