Trailer for Coen Brothers’ Film: “Hail, Caesar!”

Coen Brothers Clooney

It is always good news when there is a movie from Joel and Ethan Coen on the horizon. The brothers have just released the trailer for their upcoming film, Hail, Caesar! The new movie stars Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Scarlett Johansson, Frances McDormand, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill and Ralph Fiennes.

Hail, Caesar! is set during the latter years of Hollywood’s Golden Age, with Brolin trying to track down the kidnapped star (Clooney) of a movie called “Hail, Caesar!” With several stars from previous Coen movies and a kidnapping story, The Guardian has called the new movie an “extremely Coen-y comedy.” Check out the trailer below.

Hail, Caesar! hits theaters on February, 26 2016.

Will you go see Hail, Casar! Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    How Does “Inside Llewyn Davis” Rank In the Coen Brothers Canon? (short review)

    Inside Llewyn Davis For more than two years, I have been anticipating the new Joel and Ethan Coen movie loosely based on the life of folksinger David Van Ronk, Inside Llewyn Davis. Although the Coen Brothers movie may not live up to my expectations of another great integration of story, humor, and music as in O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), Inside Llewyn Davis is another very good film from the Coen Brothers.

    Inside Llewyn Davis follows Llewyn Davis, played by Oscar Isaac, as a struggling folksinger in 1961 Greenwich Village. This review will not give away too much of the story, but the film follows Davis moving around trying to find a couch to sleep on while he struggles to make a living with his music. The movie opens with Davis giving a moving performance of the traditional folk song “Hang Me Oh Hang Me.” In that scene, the actor and musician Isaac immediately conveys the musical soul of Davis.

    But as in several other Coen Brothers movies, we see that the world is not quite fair. Others do not recognize Davis’s talents, while we see other more polished and less soulful groups on the rise. But Davis is not an innocent, as he often contributes to his own troubles.

    In addition to Isaac, the film features a number of excellent performances by Justin Timberlake, Carey Mulligan, and Coen Brothers film regular John Goodman. The music is pretty good too, but not O Brother good even though producer T Bone Burnett was involved in both movies. Perhaps one thing that prevented the music from taking off for me was that the film seemed to want me to distinguish between “bad” folk music and “good” folk music, even as I wanted to enjoy the “bad” songs too, like the ridiculous but fun “Please Mr. Kennedy.”

    Although critics are giving the movie great reviews as show by Rotten Tomatoes 93% rating, I also understand why the Rotten Tomatoes audience rating is almost 20 points lower at only 75%. At times, the lead character’s faults seem to override his charm or the usual Coen Brothers sense of humor (even if that humor does usually carry doses of cynicism and fatalism). Also, one might find that the film plays like a series of vignettes rather than a plot-driven story.

    If I were to rate this film among the Coen Brothers catalog, it would still fit among my top ten Coen Brothers films, although maybe it would be around ninth. On the other hand, even if Inside Llewyn Davis is not in league with movies like Fargo (1996) and No Country for Old Men (2007) that blew me away at the first viewing, I suspect that I may grow to love the movie more on repeated viewings, as has happened with me for films like A Serious Man (2009) and Miller’s Crossing (1990).

    In other words, I look forward to seeing Inside Llewyn Davis again. And I also plan to pick up folksinger David Van Ronk’s memoir that inspired the film, The Mayor of MacDougal Street. Meanwhile, I suggest you check out Inside Llewyn Davis for yourself.

    How would you rank Inside Llewyn Davis among the Coen Brothers catalog? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Red Band Trailer for Upcoming Coen Brothers’ Film: “Inside Llewyn Davis”

    Inside Llewyn Davis Trailer

    As noted previously on Chimesfreedom, filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen have been working on Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), a movie about the early 1960s Greenwich Village folk scene. As the Coen Brothers prepare for the movie’s Cannes showing, they have released a “red band” trailer (i.e., a trailer that is only approved for mature audiences). So if you are mature, check out the new trailer for Inside Llewyn Davis, which does not reveal too much about the plot of the movie.

    As in the previous trailer we posted in January, the song playing in this new red band trailer is Bob Dylan’s “Farewell.” Dylan wrote the song in 1963 but it did not appear on any official record releases until 2010 on The Bootleg Series, Vol. 9: The Witmark Demos: 1962-1964.

    Oscar Isaac stars in Inside Llewyn Davis, which also features Carey Mulligan and Justin Timberlake. The film, reportedly roughly based on singer Dave Van Ronk’s book The Mayor of MacDougal Street, has taken awhile to arrive. But from the trailer, it might be worth the wait. You may see some still photos from the film on DigitalSpy.

    Will you watch Inside Llewyn Davis? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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