A veritable cavalcade of specters parade New York’s busy streets, and “who you gonna call?”
The new generation of Ghostbusters are equally as bumbling and goofy as their predecessors. But these spirited hunters have Ph.Ds and new talents and toys to help them take down the prevailing spirits. They “ain’t afraid of no ghosts.”
These SNL favs and friends know how to get a laugh. They are made to entertain. They laugh at themselves first, and it works. These funny women of New York have taken Hollywood by storm and come back to town with bigger names and top billing. They’ve earned it. Chris Hemsworth also runs havoc as the team’s dimwitted receptionist and top poltergeist target.
Whether or not it works in the box office, it pays proper homage to fans and original stars. The script works and the team gels. It’s funny, playful, sarcastic, and fun. In a cultural twist, it’s the female ensemble that consistently objectifies men. Well, one man. Just Chris. And who can blame them for that? Not I.
I give it a 7.5 / 10 and I’ll see it again!
Hail, Caesar! is a delight. Set in the fifties at the height of musical movie madness, it was a time when Gene Kelly and favorite dance partner Fred Astaire tapped and swooned to golden tunes, when every woman wanted sharp-witted Clark Gable or leather-tanned Cary Grant to sweep them up, when the ladies of the hour were few but interchangeable unless they could stand out as dancers or swimmers. The silver screen was a small world full of dazzling stars with clean slates.
Here in Hail, an ensemble of A+ stars play one-dimensional dolts and hardline honeys clamping Clooney in with communists, sharing Fiennes’s finesse as a classic actor, making Tatum tap on tables, and showing Scarlett Jo flap her fins. It’s elegantly laced with narration following the work day of Josh Brolin, one heartfelt Hollywood Studio manager bent on doing what is right.
Three layers pervade the dialogue throughout the film: the existing value, despite obvious divisions, within religious beliefs, political biases, and movie making.
We follow the film producer who questions the merits of the industry and his work in it. Walking the ridgepole of his decision, he scoops in as handyman at the helm holding all things at the studio in harmony, fending off poparazzi wolves, endearingly all played by Tilda Swinton. 
We attend a premiere with a fresh faced all-western cowhand. He croons sincerely while the audience roars over slapstick sloshings. Division. Value?
Clooney’s character is held hostage by men claiming to be communist writers who feel they must buck the system and capsize the studio called the Capitol.
The film Hail, Caesar! is the film within the film showing a Roman guard gaining perspective for life and truth at the feet of the crucified Christ. An honest dialogue between four faiths ensues, speaking the blatant confusing disparities without preaching tolerance and without honoring one above another. The audience sits in, laughs, enjoys.
So, religion & politics, long-time taboo topics, are fair game for the Coens who even take stabs at their own art: filmmaking. Could it be that the Coen brothers, perhaps better known for writing and directing darker films like Fargo and No Country for Old Men, have made a picture for the picture’s sake? For fun? Poking fun at film has rarely been this delightful. Shakespeare did the same thing, sneering at all people groups, allowing for pure comedy to shine through, for people to laugh at each other, at themselves, at life. 
Hail the conquering Coens as they cart us along by chariot in this perfectly lovely philosophical journey dipped in sweet, aesthetic, syrupy comedy.
Anne Hathaway, I am convinced, is Shakespeare’s vampire-bitten wife by the same name, ageless and continually remaking Princess Diaries and the Devil Wears Prada. She’s finally made it as her own boss in this one, and she is determined to show that she can run a company all by herself without becoming a hateful, bitter, or too busy to have a family. 
This film promotes the positive business model of improving a work-life balance. It examines the pitfalls of start-ups, the benefit of experienced voices in the workplace, and the process of mentoring. Obvious from the previews, it’s an anti-agism play, but DeNiro rises as the professional for his kindness, his offering of time, his gracious attitude, and his personal initiative. He alone proves that gentlemen do exist and pocket squares are proof. The office falls for him, and his reward is helping each co-worker find success. If that were every worker’s personal motto, the face of business would be changed. Seeing this on the heels of Steve Jobs (2015) proved a fascinating study on growing businesses, sharing ideas, and becoming a business leader. Where Jobs repulsed, DeNiro wooed. 
The Intern, which feels a great deal like an attempted sequel to The Internship (2013) is full of Home Alone hyjinx and freshmen boys bathroom humor. Not enough to be sorry I saw it, but enough to never really need to see it again.
Splatter: on FILM 