Roger deakins hail caesar12/30/2023 ![]() Because, beyond all the trademarks, gags and Georgian gurning, what Hail, Caesar! essentially amounts to is a series of impressively mounted pastiches. On the one hand, the brothers are snickering at the silliness of how things used to be, but on the other they are celebrating this bygone Golden Age. This is the Dream Factory operating at maximum productivity, and Joel and Ethan revel in the absurdities of the studio system, whereby directors can’t pick their stars, and stars have to change their image at the wag of a fat finger and date who they’re damn well told. It's likely to fry the mind of anyone who hasn’t yet built up a resistance to the brothers’ foibles and predilections. “You won’t be shouldering a load of crackpot problems.” But Mannix - played by Brolin as a charming bruiser who’s not quite as unflappable as he’d like people to think - thrives on the crackpot problems. ![]() ![]() And there’s a greater temptation than tobacco: a big-time job offer from aerospace company Lockheed. He will do something as objectionable as slapping an actress for taking part in an unsanctioned photo-session, but is also wracked with Catholic guilt over lying to his wife about quitting smoking. A fixer for the studio, there’s a little of Tom Regan from Miller’s Crossing about him, though he’s armed with petty cash rather than a pistol. Mannix, the closest thing this movie has to a main character, is another of the Coens’ serious men. It’s Josh Brolin as Capitol’s Head Of Physical Production, Eddie Mannix, who drives things - albeit not always using the most direct route. As kidnapped matinée idol Baird Whitlock, another George-shaped Coen creation who’s two steps behind the rest of the room, he is merely their MacGuffin like the baby in Raising Arizona, only not as smart and a touch more helpless. The film is produced by the Coen brothers and Working Title Films' Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan.If self-plagiarism were a criminal offence, the Coen brothers would be facing a long stretch in San Quentin. “Hail, Caesar!” follows a single day in the life of a studio fixer who is presented with plenty of problems to fix, according to the official synopsis. I'll shoot on a cell phone if you want! But also it”s also set in Hollywood in 1952 so I mean it feels like if anything should be shot on film it should be this film.” “I mean, they eventually turn around and say, 'No, we're analog guys.' And I said, 'Yeah, OK. He and the duo never really talked about trying digital because he knows exactly where that conversation would go. Obviously it's a choice left to the Coens, who still prefer film. The media advantages now outweigh the disadvantages.” Who knows? I mean I like doing digital I must say. It”s a challenge and I think it”s a nice thing, to be able to do it again. “I”m a bit nervous actually,” Deakins told me a few weeks ago. He has since embraced digital photography, preferring the Arri Alexa camera on films like “In Time,” “Skyfall,” “Prisoners” and this year's “Unbroken.” What will that be like, for Deakins and for viewers? ![]() What's interesting about the film, which begins shooting in Los Angeles next month, is that it marks cinematographer Roger Deakins' first trip back to the world of celluloid since his last collaboration with the filmmaker siblings, “True Grit.” That was four years ago. Like “The Hudsucker Proxy,” “The Big Lebowski” and “Burn After Reading” – romps that came after heady prestige pics like “Barton Fink,” “Fargo” and “No Country for Old Men” – “Hail, Caesar!” looks like the boys just having a bit of fun. That effectively removes it from much awards season discussion that year, but you could sort of gather that, given the subject matter and apparent tone of the film. ![]() Universal Pictures has announced that the Coen brothers' “Hail, Caesar!,” starring Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Ralph Fiennes and Scarlett Johansson, among others, will be released on Feb. ![]()
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