Hey, so maybe February isn’t a dead movie month after all. Here are two movies coming out on February 5 that I’m actually looking forward to seeing!
HAIL, CAESAR!
Sometimes a trailer came along and you’ve instantly become obsessed with it though you haven’t even heard of it before. Hail, Caesar! is such a movie and I’ve seen it three times since this morning. Glad to see the Coens working on their own movie after a couple of years absence (though they wrote Unbroken last year and also on the TV show FARGO, so they’re still keeping busy).
I have to say that I LOVE the Coens’ dark comedies and this definitely has their quirky and wacky brand of humor all over it.
A Hollywood fixer in the 1950s works to keep the studio’s stars in line.
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The star-studded cast is appropriately-filled with today’s movie stars, perfect for a satire about Hollywood golden age: George Clooney, Scarlett Johansson, Ralph Fiennes, Josh Brolin, Tilda Swinton, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill and the Coens’ perennial favorite Frances McDormand. This marks McDormand’s eighth collaboration with her husband Joel Coen and brother-in-law Ethan. It’s got a lot of actors reunions too: Fiennes & Swinton were in Grand Budapest Hotel & A Bigger Splash and of course Tatum & Hill in the Jump Street movies.
Clooney seems to be channeling/spoofing Richard Burton? That part when he can’t remember his lines is just hilarious, love Clooney in comedies and even Josh Brolin looks like a hoot here. I always love seeing serious actors in comedic roles, so I’m thrilled to see Fiennes doing more of that lately.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Now, this one I’ve been anticipating in a while and though it may not be a great flick, it sure looks like fun. You already know I’m a big fan of period dramas, and so the bizarre twist of combining Jane Austen’s classic with zombies is just impossible to resist!
Lily James seems ready for some knife action bad-assery here. “Have courage and be kind” is her motto as Cinderella, well she seems to abide by the first part, but I don’t think even her gentle mother would advise her to be kind to flesh-eating zombies!!
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I’m one of the few people who enjoyed the preposterous silliness of previous Seth Grahame-Smith’s adaptation Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter so I think I’d enjoy this one, too. Lena Headey is listed in the cast, but no character name is mentioned on IMDb but I have a feeling she’ll play Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Mr. Darcy’s super bitchy aunt and that’d be perfect casting. I’m also looking forward to seeing Jack Huston as the dastardly Wickham.
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Thoughts? Are you excited for either one of these movies?
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FLIXCHATTER FILM BLOG 
Oh wow ‘Hail Caesar!’ looks like it could be fantastic! And good point about it being a February release, too, usually that month *is* a dead spot. I might have seen two good movies this Feb but who knows, maybe a few of the higher-profile films will be really solid. Time to buck the trend!
Hi Tom! Yeah it looks so darn entertaining from the trailer, hope the film itself lives up to it. Well if anyone could buck the trend of the *dead* month movies, it’d be the Coens!
Hail Caesar is a film that I definitely want to see. It’s the Coen Brothers. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies…. OK, I might go for that.
Glad you’re on board w/ these two! If they’re both becoming hits, well maybe more movies will be released in February 🙂
I’ve been waiting for Hail, Caesar! ever since it’s announced a while back, looks like it’s a mix of The Big Labowski and The Hudsucker Proxy, the latter being the most underrated of all Coen brothers films. I’m a little bit worried about the February release date though, usually a Coen Brothers film would come out in the award season time. This could mean the studio didn’t think it’s good enough for this year’s competition or maybe the brothers couldn’t finish the movie on time.
Just because I’m obsess with anything zombie related and I enjoyed the book, I’ll see Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I still don’t care for the characters doing the kung-fu moves though, that’s the reason I still refuse to see Abe Lincoln The Vampire Hunter.
I haven’t even heard of this project until now, but then again I don’t really follow the Coens religiously. But yeah, this could be my fave Coens movie if it ends up being as entertaining as the trailer suggests. Yeah the February release is odd but maybe it’ll actually help as there won’t be much competition at the box office.
Ahah, the kung fu moves in these spoof movies are actually fun. It’s SUPPOSED to be preposterous so I have no problem w/ it.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies just looks ridiculously fun. The movie’s been in production so long that I was afraid it would never come out, but I can’t wait to see it now.
Hi there, welcome to FC! Yes, ridiculously fun is what I’d expect. I’m glad it finally came out after so many casting/directing issues, I think Natalie Portman was originally cast but I like seeing Lily James here actually, might as well keep all the cast British anyway.
I saw Lily James in Fast Girls and you can tell she had something. Not sure what to expect with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.
Oh I haven’t seen Fast Girls, I’ve only seen her in Downtown Abbey and Cinderella, I like her in both of those. I expect (hope) PP&Z will be a lot of fun!
She’s wonderful in Downtown Abbey 🙂 Not seen Cinderella but she seems a perfect fit for it. Always see her more as a blonde.
I’m always up for the Coens. Matt was just excitedly telling me about this trailer yesterday!
I don’t always like everything they do, esp the violent ones like No Country For Old Men. But I like their dark comedies.
Good trailers, especially thanks to the song in Hail Ceasar one. They both look like fun movies and I adore that mermaid costume ScarJo has on!
Yeah, hopefully they both will live up to the fun trailers. They seem to cast the perfect actors in Hail Caesar who fit the 50s era, esp Scarlett!
It’s always exciting to see a new Coen Brothers flick on the horizon and it’s great they’ve gone back to a period setting. The cast is amazing and I’m on board! As for P&P&Z I’m more unsure; could be good but could very easily be very bad.
Hi Mark! Yeah I love what I’m seeing in Hail Caesar, sounds like something I’ll enjoy. As for P&P&Z, well I expect it to be a preposterous good fun! I love the all-British cast, too.
Oh wow oh wow I’m tingling from excitement! A new Coen flick! Its looks so good! And I love it when the Coens direct Clooney cos its one of the few times we actually get to see how good an actor he really is (compare Gravity to Burn After Reading for example, its like two different actors)
I’m guessing I’ll need to have seen Pride and Prejudice to enjoy this new one?
I love your enthusiasm, Jordan! Yeah, I think Clooney is an ok actor, but he’s good at comedies and the Coens sure know how to get a good performance out of him.
Ahah, well some knowledge of Jane Austen classic would help, Jordan 😀
Hehe, might be giving that second one a skip then. But yay a new Coens movie!!! :D:D:D
I hope it doesn’t get a delayed release down under…
Cool blog! I’m excited for ‘Hail,Ceaser’ big time! Like you say, it will be great to see the Coens back writing and directing their own stuff after a while out. They also co-wrote the upcoming Spielberg/Hanks flick ‘Bridge of Spies’
Well hello there James, welcome to FC! Oh I forgot the Coens co-wrote Bridge of Spies too, I’m seeing that one tomorrow.
Hi there! I’m looking forward to see that soon!
Cool! I hope it’s good and not as overly sentimental as War Horse
Hear hear
Hail Caesar looks pretty good.
Yes it does! Ok, I’ll check out your post, but hopefully it’s not NSFW stuff 😉
It’s tastefully done Ruth.
Also, I don’t know if you’ve seen, but lately I’ve been doing posts to promote body confidence. They are mainly about embracing your bum, I would love to hear your thoughts on them Ruth.
I hated Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter so I’m not sure about Pride and Prejudice and Zombies but I do love the Coens.
I’m looking forward to both, especially Hail, Caesar!. That cast is glorious!