Screen Savor: What’s (not) so funny?

Hail, Caesar! (Universal/Working Title) is a minor, but well-meaning, Coen brothers comedy. An homage to `50s Hollywood, it encompasses Westerns, aquatic pictures, drawing room comedies and musicals, as well as the influence of communist screenwriters and the presence of homosexuals.

Eddie (Josh Brolin), a "studio fixer" at Capitol Pictures is busy cleaning up messes, but he still manages to find the time to spill his guts daily in the church confessional. He also meets with members of the clergy about the studio's upcoming religious epic Hail, Caesar, starring dim heartthrob Baird (George Clooney); and deflects the concerns and threats of identitical twin sister "cultural commentators" Thora and Thessaly (both played by Tilda Swinton). He also tends to tough-talking, unwed , pregnant and waterborne actress DeeAnna's (Scarlett Johanssen) situation, and sneaks in a cigarette here and there in spite of telling his wife (Allison Pill) that he quit.

Additionally, in the midst of his daily grind, he must decide on a generous job offer from Lockheed and figure out how to keep the abduction of Baird (and the corresponding ransom demands) a secret. Enlisting singing cowboy Hobie (hot Alden Ehrenreich), who can't act a lick, but is a wonder with a lasso, to retrieve Baird where he's willingly being held captive at the Malibu home of queer singing and dancing commie actor Burt (Channing Tatum).

Hollywood and scandalous behavior are not new topics for Joel and Ethan Coen . But they did a better job with the subject matter in Barton Fink, Fargo, and especially Raising Arizona. Hail, Caesar! is not a total loss; the homoerotic dancing sailors number and the water ballet sequence are especially entertaining. Johanssen, Ehrenreich, Swinton and Brolin also do the best they can with what they've been given. Blu-ray+DVD+Digital HD bonus features consist of four featurettes "The Stars Align."

Poor Nia Vardalos. With the exception of Connie and Carla, her post My Big Fat Greek Wedding output has been, well, skata. Sadly, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (Universal) is no exception.

A Greek tragedy in the making, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 wisely incorporates plenty of references to the first movie (Windex, tracing the root of any word to Greek, the extended family including Aunt Voula, etc.) as a reminder. Toula (Vardalos), happily married to xenos Ian (John Corbett) and the mother of sullen teenager Paris (Elena Kampouris) has returned to her frumpy ways. High school principle Ian is cool and Toula isn't, making both parents sources of embarrassment for Paris.

Due to her strained relationship with Paris, Toula babies her parents, especially father Gus (Michael Constantine, who nibbles at the scenery as if they were stuffed grape leaves), because she can't "parent her baby" anymore. After teaching Gus to use the computer so he can research his ancestry online (to confirm he is a descendant of Alexander The Great), it's revealed that the 1963 marriage license for Gus and Maria's (Lainie Kazan) wedding was unsigned by a priest. This leads to on again/off again plans for a big fat Greek wedding for the elderly couple.

Toula's full plate also includes resuscitating her marriage, planning her parents second wedding, dealing with Paris' impending plans for prom and college, as well as trying to avoid the advice of over-sharing Thea Voula (scene-stealer Andrea Martin), without any tzatziki in sight. If Vardalos was smart, she would write a screenplay that focuses solely on Voula, the most delightful character in the series. This is never truer than when she deals with son Angelo's (Joey Fatone) coming out as gay. Sweet as baklava.

Director Kirk Jones has been on the decline since Waking Ned Devine and this stale piece of wedding cake doesn't help. Blu-ray+DVD+Digital HD bonus features include a gag reel and two featurettes.