Let’s Talk Movies! #31: Pandas, Zombies, Male Models, Superheroes, Greeks and…Caesar!

[Yehudi]

Saw Deadpool. Typical, fun, comic book flick. Ed Skrein (Ajax and the original Daario on Game of Thrones) is

 

[gk_891]

Are we doomed to disagree on the greatness that is Ingrid Bergman? I suppose we can't all be perfect. Seriously though, Gaslight and Notorious. If you don't enjoy her in Notorious you will at least have Cary Grant.

Have you seen Ingrid Bergman in Autumn Sonata? I thought she gave an absolutely brilliant performance in that movie. I thought it was her greatest performance of her career but I'd also go as far as to say that she gave one of the greatest performances by a lead actress of all times in that movie.

 

[skatesindreams]

^^^
And she was acting in her native language after many years.
Supposedly, Ingrid was unsure about how effective she would be.
She needn't have worried.

 

[watchthis!!]

I watched The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials and it seemed to have less story than the first one. Kind of like Mad Max, with a lot of travelling and some fighting here and there in between. There's a bit more story in this one than Mad Max (which isn't saying a lot). But the pace is good, the movie is nice to look at and the cast is very talented. (Imagine what they could all do with a script with some meat on it!) The best part was the DVD outtakes, watching the young cast good around, especially the lead Dylan O'Brian who is goofy, charasmatic and a lot of fun. Now he just needs to find a movie that will let him show off that side of himself!

I just got done streaming The Martian. I really liked it when I wasn't quite sure I would. Not sure it's really Valentines Day fare but...

I pushed the wrong button when I was searching for something with my On Demand service and ended up seeing about 10 seconds of this movie. I hope I don't get charged for those ten seconds because I can get the movie for free at the library...

 

[Jay42]

I absolutely HATE Poirot in the TV show (and the TV series in general)

I've never actually watched the TV show. I just find it funny watching my dad react so enthusiastically to something. He's usually pretty chill.

Have you seen Ingrid Bergman in Autumn Sonata? I thought she gave an absolutely brilliant performance in that movie. I thought it was her greatest performance of her career but I'd also go as far as to say that she gave one of the greatest performances by a lead actress of all times in that movie.

I haven't yet. It's on my list, but the list is huge and I've been having trouble finding it just to watch. I need to do another online search for it.

 

[Xela M]

The discussion about Dujardin in the V&M thread made me remember the genius that was 'The Artist'. I expected it to be awful, but loved it soooooooooooo much!

What do you all think of 'The Artist'?

 

[PeterG]

I was glad to have watched Ant-Man because I was ready to give up on superhero movies with the dark/violent tone they seem to be taking more and more. So what a wonderful switch-up! I wonder how much director Peyton Reed had with me liking the movie so much. He's most known for directing comedy instead of action, some of his earlier credits include Bring It On, Down With Love and a few episodes of New Girl (all of which I loved). Glad to see he will be directing the follow-up to Ant-Man, due in 2018. Of course Paul Rudd deserves a lot of the credit. He's pretty much perfect in this. He's probably an overlooked actor because he tends to do lighter roles, but I hope he gets an Oscar nomination (or more) at some point. And it's nice to see Evangeline Lilly get a role with a bit of grit to it, so we can see that there's a lot more she has to offer as an actress. This one will help me be a bit more open to seeing Deadpool, which is happening Thursday!

Any fans of Zhang Yimou? I thought he was at his best during the late 80s to the early 90s when he collaborated with Gong Li....

I adoooooore Zhang Yimou. He's one of my favourite directors of all time. I actually looked over his imdb.com page as I was coming up with my favourite movies of all time list. His movies will be making more than one appearance on my list for sure!

Has anyone seen the original The Hills Have Eyes by Wes Craven? I think it came out in 1977. It has some very stupid moments but it also has some extremely creepy and scary moments too. I was surprised at how effective some of those moments were.

Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkdskdFemWM

I never saw the original, but I thought the 2006 remake was very good, much better than I expected (although my expectations weren't that high to begin with)! I definitely recommend it to anyone who likes scary, suspenseful, somewhat freaky movies.

 

[watchthis!!]

Movies Sold at Sundance 2016: A Complete & Updated Guide
Movies Sold At Sundance 2016


Movies include:

Southside With You (a biopic about Michelle meeting Barack in 1989)

The Hollars, a comedy directed by (and starring John Krasinski), co-starring Margo Martindale, Richard Jenkins, Sharlto Copley, Anna Kendrick, Charlie Day, Josh Groban

Frank and Lola, a crime drama mystery starring Imogen Poots, Michael Shannon, Justin Long and Rosanna Arquette.

Wiener-Dog, a Todd Solondz comedy starring Kieran Culkin, Danny DeVito, Greta Gerwig, Julie Delpy and Ellen Burstyn

The Birth of a Nation, a drama starring Armie Hammer, Jackie Earle Haley, Gabrielle Union, Penelope Ann Miller - sold for 17.5 million, a Sundance record

Manchester By The Sea, a drama starring Casey Affleck, Kyle Chandler, Gretchen Mol, Tate Donovan and Michelle Williams

Love & Friendship starring Kate Beckinsale, Chloë Sevigny, Stephen Fry - based on the Jane Austen novella Lady Susan

Tallulah - drama with Ellen Page, Allison Janney, Tammy Blanchard, Zachary Quinto, Uzo Aduba

The Fundamentals of Caring - drama starring Paul Rudd, Selena Gomez, Jennifer Ehle

Complete Unknown drama starring Rachel Weisz, Michael Shannon, Kathy Bates, Danny Glover

And a documentary about some guy named WEINER.

 

[Buzz]

Oh I want to see "Southside With You"!!!

 

[watchthis!!]

What do you all think of 'The Artist'?

It was well made and I liked the performances, but I think maybe it would have made a better short film (40 minutes or so) than a full-length film. After a while I was thinking, "come on...just get on with it"!

Oh I want to see "Southside With You"!!!

I'll save you a seat.

 

[Xela M]

It was well made and I liked the performances, but I think maybe it would have made a better short film (40 minutes or so) than a full-length film. After a while I was thinking, "come on...just get on with it"!

Nooo! I thought it was incredible. I cried (but I cry at movies a lot)

 

[PeterG]

Weekend Domestic Chart for February 19th, 2016
http://www.the-numbers.com/weekend-box-office-chart


Deadpool and Kung Fun Panda 3 remain at #1 and #2 respectively, so two of the new movies have to settle for a #3 (Risen) and #4 (The Witch) debuts. Deadpool killed it, with over 56 million made, the other three movies were in the 9 to 12 million range. Pretty healthy box office weekend, especially for February.

Race debuted at #6, taking in over 7 million, but none of the three debuts did that well with their per theatre average. The Witch was strongest with $4,301 per theatre and Race was the weakest with $3,104 per theatre. In comparison, Deadpool made $15,172 per theatre.


Movies that make big revenue jumps from last week include:

+311% - Touched With Fire (Katie Holmes, Christine Lahti drama)
+172% - The Lady In The Van


Box office thresholds passed/reached:

900 million – Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens
200 million – Deadpool
150 million – The Revenant
100 million – Kung Fu Panda 3
50 million - 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

 

[Buzz]

Saw Race today and LOVED it! Ok so it's not Oscar material and Star Wars has nothing to worry about but it was well worth seeing. I know the Jessie Owens story so well and it was a pleasure to see it finally turn into a movie.

 

[watchthis!!]

Watched The Martian the other day and really liked it. Matt Damon did a great job carrying the movie and looked rather good without his shirt on! His character was a bit smug, but if I was 1/10th as smart and capable as him, I'd probably be ten times smugger! The joke he had about

Spoiler

Captain Lewis' music choices was...40 years old!!) and really didn't need to be told two more times.

But that's nitpicking. The movie could maybe have used a bit more trimming (I think it was 2 1/4 hours long) but a slower pace is sometimes welcome these days. One big plus was all the scenery that they filmed on Mars which reminded me of Arizona quite a bit.

 

[orbitz]

^^^ Wadi Rum in Jordan was used to represent the Martian landscape. I had a brief visit to Wadi Rum in 2010; The landscape was gorgeous.

 

[PeterG]

New movies coming out this week:


Feb. 26th - Eddie the Eagle (Wide) – Biographical comedy drama with Hugh Jackman and Christopher Walken
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyzQjVUmIxk

Feb. 26th - Gods of Egypt - Action, fantasy with Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Geoffrey Rush, Gerard Butler, Brenton Thwaites and Chadwick Boseman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJBnK2wNQSo

Feb. 26th - Triple 9 – Crime drama with Kate Winslet, Woody Harrelson, Gal Gadot, Anthony Mackie, Teresa Palmer, Casey Affleck, Clifton Collins, Jr., Chiwetel Ejiofor, Aaron Paul and Norman Reedus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfeiINSMU1I

Feb. 26th - Standoff (Limited) – Thriller with Thomas Jane amd Laurence Fishburne
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgQH6snjLj4

Feb. 26th - Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny (IMAX) – Adventure drama with Michelle Yeoh, Harry Shum Jr. [Glee] and Jason Scott Lee
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5Be1WvLTYQ

Feb. 26th - King Georges (Limited) – “Documentary about Philadelphia restaurateur Georges Perrier and the closing of his iconic restaurant, Le Bec-Fin.” (Imdb.com)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Aj-H--kuZo

Feb. 26th - The Last Man On The Moon (Limited) - Documentary. From imdb.com: “When Apollo astronaut Gene Cernan stepped off the moon in December 1972 he left his footprints and his daughter's initials in the lunar dust. Only now is he ready to share his epic but deeply personal story of fulfillment, love, and loss.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NS3uldKUx90

Feb. 26th - Against The Wild 2: Survive The Serengeti (Limited) - Family adventure with Jeri Ryan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeUCowJ01FE

 

[Buzz]

Gods of Egypt!

 

[Cachoo]

Love & Friendship starring Kate Beckinsale, Chloë Sevigny, Stephen Fry - based on the Jane Austen novella Lady Susan

I'm all in for anything Austen...even zombies.

 

[Cachoo]

I unearthed an old favorite yesterday: "A Midwinter's Tale." This is the sort of situational comedy that always makes me laugh. Lately I've become more a fan of Celia Imrie and I saw her again in this film. She has possibly the worst name a woman could have: Fadge. Of course the men in the film come close to mistaking the f for a v. They want to do a Christmas production and what happy holiday play do they choose? "Hamlet." I love this film.

 

[watchthis!!]

Sequel Bits: ‘Indiana Jones 5,’ ‘LEGO Batman,’ XXX 3,’ ‘Transformers 5,’ ‘Chucky 7’
http://www.slashfilm.com/sequel-bits-indiana-jones-5-lego-batman-xxx-3-transformers-5-chucky-7/

Anybody planning on seeing all five? And has there really been six Chucky movies? Anybody gonna fess up to having seen all six? If so you will remember seeing the likes of Jennifer Tilly, John Ritter, Katherine Heigl, Kathy Najimy, Chris Sarandon, Billy Boyd [The Lord of the Rings], Brad Dourif, John Waters, Redman, Alexis Arquette, Jenny Agutter, Greg Germann [Ally McBeal], A Martinez and Catherine Hicks throughout the series!

 

[Buzz]

They are also doing a reboot of The Mummy starring Tom Cruise.

 

[PeterG]

Just got back from seeing Deadpool. Mixed feelings. Unfortunately. I wanted to bash it for it's pornographic violence. No, there's no sex or nudity, but the violence shown seems to me to be done by and for...guys who somehow really get off on it. It's like violence is the new sex...and it really stimulates people. That grosses me out. In a way, this movie is a big JO violence binge. So that's...weird, of course. But...at the same time...the script is quite sharp with it's one-liners and it's mocking of movies...and of themselves. So you gotta love the smart writing and the pointed references...to others, to the genres, and to one's self. So I'm confused.

Fans walk out of new Daniel Radcliffe movie: report
http://www.torontosun.com/2016/01/24/fans-walk-out-of-new-daniel-radcliffe-movie-report

...I'm now sufficiently curious enough to want to see it ... but only for free.

Is it okay if I say no to this one until I get your (free) review? I like most Daniel Radcliffe movies, but he's been making stranger movie choices as time passes. Not sure if he's going to keep moving so close to the edge that most of the time his work is falling over that edge...

A very depressing movie . I find Chinese films in general to be rather focused on fate and hopelessness. Not exactly pleasant viewing

I find a lot of Chinese drama to be modestly respectful of their culture, yet shining a light on their past so as to allow their people to take a look at a part of the past that needs to be looked at and thought about. And done so in a somewhat challenging way, but not so much as to push their audience so hard that they just don't bother looking anymore.

 

[Japanfan]

Can't fix below for some reason.

I adoooooore Zhang Yimou. He's one of my favourite directors of all time. I actually looked over his imdb.com page as I was coming up with my favourite movies of all time list. His movies will be making more than one appearance on my list for sure!
/QUOTE]

Yes, and Gong Li was fabulous in so many of them. She has such a haunting face.

Though I don't think he's made a new film in years? The last I saw of his was not as good as the others - something about kids in a school?

 

[Artemis@BC]

I went to see The Lady in the Van yesterday. It was as delightful as I thought it would be -- plus with a hefty dose of poignancy. Alex Jennings was pitch-perfect as Alan Bennett, and of course Maggie Smith was her usual wonderful self. I can't imagine any other actor on the planet playing that role.

Oh, and it makes you feel young to go to a movie like that on a weekday afternoon. There was a certain vintage to the audience, iykwim.

 

[Cachoo]

Watching "Spotlight" right now and Mom's nurse came so I have it on pause. But so far it is enthralling, well-acted and hard to take because it is true. I'm especially impressed with Mark Ruffalo so far.

 

[Vash01]

I want to see Eddy the Eagle and Last man on the moon.

 

[skatesindreams]

As do I.
I don't know whether it's good that I vividly remember both events!

 

[Xela M]

Watching "Spotlight" right now and Mom's nurse came so I have it on pause. But so far it is enthralling, well-acted and hard to take because it is true. I'm especially impressed with Mark Ruffalo so far.

But it's nothing special. It's a bit bland and boring for the subject-matter, which could have been much more dramatic. Mark Ruffalo was the best part about it. When the film finished I felt nothing.

 

[Artemis@BC]

But it's nothing special. It's a bit bland and boring for the subject-matter, which could have been much more dramatic. Mark Ruffalo was the best part about it. When the film finished I felt nothing.

I could not disagree more. If they'd made it "more dramatic," it would be sensationalistic and exploitative. And I thought they did a superb job of building the story and the tension throughout, particularly since we all already knew "the ending."

I thought it was a fabulous movie and well-deserving of its best picture nomination.

 

[Xela M]

I could not disagree more. If they'd made it "more dramatic," it would be sensationalistic and exploitative. And I thought they did a superb job of building the story and the tension throughout, particularly since we all already knew "the ending."

I thought it was a fabulous movie and well-deserving of its best picture nomination.

Oh well. I thought it was alright, but it had no drama or tension and the ending was as bland as the whole film.

All the actors were good, but again nothing outstanding.

I'm yet to see the Big Short, which I have heard is excellent, but so far my favourite movie of the year is Bridge of Spies.