GHOST WORLD (2001)

"I just - I can't relate to 99% of humanity."

I loved GHOST WORLD. I loved it the very first time I saw it back in 2001 and I think I love it even more now.

After a smile inducing opening credits (that perfectly sets the tone for movie), we are introduced to best friends, Enid and Rebecca, at their high school graduation. Both hate school and all the brain dead conformists that go there. Rebecca is excited about getting an apartment with Enid, but Enid (depressed about life and that she still has to go to summer school for art class to get her diploma) is still clinging (maybe subconsciously) to her childhood and keeps coming up with excuses to not get (or keep) a job. At the same time, Enid and Rebecca jokingly respond to a "missed connection" ad in the newspaper.  The ad was placed by the sad and lonely Steve Buscemi, who is absolutely fantastic in this role.

For the longest time I thought that the first half of GHOST WORLD was one of the best things I'd ever seen and the last act kinda fizzled out, but now, after many viewings and me getting older (and hopefully wiser) I've come to the conclusion that the ending is great also.  It's purposefully vague and open to interpretation (I'm not going to ruin it for anybody who hasn't seen it), but I think that the story takes a very dark turn at the end.

Perfect acting by all of the leads, some of the best supporting acting of all time, amazing set design and wardrobe, a cynical script that still cracks me up, Brad Renfro, masterful direction by Terry Zwigoff, six beef jerkys, many quotable lines, excellent use of "found footage", mirror, father, mirror, a Federico Fellini joke, The Mutilator, great music, nunchucks vs. mop fu, Satanists and quite possibly the single greatest post-end credit scene of all-time.

GHOST WORLD is one of the better things in my life.

HAIL, CAESAR! (2016)

Around a hour or so into HAIL, CAESAR! I thought to myself "What the hell is this movie?"  IMDb lists it as a "Comedy, Mystery", but there's nothing worth more than a smile throughout the entire thing and I have no idea what the mystery portion could have be.  Yeah, there's a kidnapping but we know who the kidnappers are right from the beginning!

Whatever.  Set in the early 1950's, HAIL, CAESAR! is the story of a Hollywood studio big wig (Josh Brolin) who spends all of his time taking care of production needs and keeping the various studio stars in line.  One day something big comes up when the main actor (George Clooney) in the studio's most expensive film disappears off the set.  Is he on a bender?  Shacked up with a dame?  Or maybe even kidnapped by Communists?  69'ing in the woods with a mountain lion?  Brolin has to get his star back while at the same time taking care of various other problems (pregnant single actress, miscast actor, a tempting job offer, etc), it's all very...blah.

I love classic Hollywood and I was excited to see a modern day film set back in 1950's Hollywood, but HAIL, CAESAR! is a dud.  It looks nice, but the story was all over the place with no true center or even likeable characters.  I kept waiting and waiting for something to develop, then I realized that the movie is already 3/4's done and it's still just flailing around like a boat lost in a storm.

With so much talent (both in front and behind the camera) I was expecting a delightful throwback mystery-comedy, kinda like the wonderful THE CURSE OF THE JADE SCORPION, but that didn't happen.  Instead HAIL, CAESAR! simply putters along and leaves more questions than it answers.  On the bright side I really enjoyed the performances of Alden Ehrenreich and Veronica Osorio.  They were both great. Also, the lighting was nice.

Is that a white SUV off to the right?