George Clooney has directed a new movie coming out this fall, and the word from the Toronto International Film Festival, where it debuted last week, has not been encouraging. Suburbicon finds Clooney dusting off an old Coen brothers script and apparently appending some commentary on racism in America with his regular…

As usual, our list of the best movies of the year has been mathematically assembled from the ranked favorites of a small number of contributors—the six writers who worked the review beat all year long, bringing you graded takes on everything playing in a theater near you. (Okay, not everything.) Below, we’ve presented…

Even at their most cohesive, movies are still collections of individual moments. And any movie, no matter how bad or forgettable, can achieve greatness for at least a few isolated minutes—with a particularly inspired conversation, an especially beautiful shot, or a set piece that transcends everything around it.…

In the grand scheme of Coen brothers movies, Inside Llewyn Davis seems destined to be beloved by a small camp of diehards. Like A Serious Man or Hail, Caesar!, its pleasures evade most on early viewings. Some of these, like Barton Fink, eventually develop a reputation as august as any of the more universally…

December is going to be pretty big for HBO. Not only will it have the usual array of new and old movies for streamers to enjoy, but it will also be airing the season-one finale of new hit Westworld. If HBO can deliver a satisfying resolution to some of the show’s ongoing mysteries (like “how long can people stay in…

This week’s question comes from reader Mica Hilson:

Welcome to Random Roles, wherein we talk to actors about the characters who defined their careers. The catch: They don’t know beforehand what roles we’ll ask them to talk about.

Welcome to Random Roles, wherein we talk to actors about the characters who defined their careers. The catch: They don’t know beforehand what roles we’ll ask them to talk about.

In his 1998 book The Big Lebowski: The Making Of A Coen Brothers Film, William Preston Robertson identified a few important motifs in the films of brothers Joel and Ethan Coen, including “howling fat men,” “blustery titans,” “peculiar haircuts,” and “lost hats.” But there may be at least one major theme Robertson…

The one constant in the varied directorial efforts of the Coen brothers is the notion that comedy and tragedy are simply sides of the same coin. It’s an idea that’s been discussed at length on this very site, and one that informs their darkest of noirs as well as their wackiest of screwball comedies. Many have tried…

Welcome back to AVQ&A, where we throw out a question for discussion among the staff and readers. Consider this a prompt to compare notes on your interface with pop culture, to reveal your embarrassing tastes and experiences, and to ponder how our diverse lives all led us to convene here together. Got a question you’d…

In his Histories, the Greek writer Herodotus records a curious custom of the Persian government. When faced with a crucial decision, the leaders would discuss the matter twice: once when sober, and again when drunk (or vice versa). This way they could be sure to consider multiple options and find the best solution to…

It’s a chicken or egg scenario. Do studios dump their less attractive properties on Super Bowl weekend because they know fewer people will be going to the movies? Or do fewer people go to the movies on Super Bowl weekend because nothing opening that weekend ever looks that attractive? Americans have to do something…

Welcome to season two of Film Club, The A.V. Club’s semi-regular video discussion series, in which staffers A.A. Dowd and Ignatiy Vishnevetsky discuss the major movies new to theaters. In the first episode of 2016, the two talk about the first significant auteur work of the year: Hail, Caesar!, the Coen brothers’…

“We’re not talking about money—we’re talking about economics!” Hail, Caesar!, Joel and Ethan Coen’s broadest comedy since The Ladykillers, lampoons Christian and leftist dogma by pitting straw men and stuffed shirts against whatever passes for common sense in the Coensverse, embodied by yet another of the sibling…

One year ago, The A.V. Club surveyed three months of upcoming films through the lens of Valentine’s Day, offering a dater’s guide to the spring movie season. This year, we’re thinking a little bigger, a little further outside the heart-shaped candy box. Why, after all, should we limit ourselves to one seasonal holiday…

Hail, Caesar!, the Coen brothers’ madcap musical tribute to one day in the life of “fixer” Eddie Mannix in the last days of the Hollywood studio system, hits theaters this Friday, February 5. Trailers for the film have promised plenty of Old Hollywood razzle-dazzle punctuated with the Coen’s signature wit, a vibrant…

After going somber and subtle with the folk-music folktale Inside Llewyn Davis, Joel and Ethan Coen are making a big return to the world of screwball comedy with Hail, Caesar! The film follows a movie studio fixer on the trail of an AWOL A-lister in what will surely be the directing duo’s most direct send-up of…

Welcome to Random Roles, wherein we talk to actors about the characters who defined their careers. The catch: They don’t know beforehand what roles we’ll ask them to talk about.

When the first trailer for Joel and Ethan Coen’s upcoming period comedy Hail, Caesar! dropped in October, it promised a sprawling, zany extravaganza full of big-name stars (George Clooney, Scarlett Johansson, Josh Brolin, Ralph Fiennes, Tilda Swinton, Channing Tatum) delivering scene-chewing performances. It also…