Let's Talk Movies #34 - Kingsmen, Murder, Blade Runners and...IT!

[watchthis!!]

I thought Shut In was a well crafted movie, but overall was a disappointment. It has a good enough script for a horror thriller but afterwards, when you think of the main message of the movie, you're left feeling a bit oogy that you just watched something which goes against the positive ways society is changing. Naomi Watts is on screen for almost every minute of this film and does a decent job. But she's been better in other movies. If you're interested in Shut In because you really enjoyed Jacob Tremblay in Room, then you'll be disappointed because he's hardly in this movie at all. Charlie Heaton (from Stranger Things) and Oliver Platt also co-star. I'd recommend this one if you're a Naomi Watts diehard. I was going to recommend it to people in search of a horror thriller type of movie that they haven't seen yet, but when I think of the message of the movie, I'd say...maybe find something else?

Trailer for Shut In: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7czL2a5R3c

 

[VGThuy]

What do you guys think of the trailer for All the Money in the World?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6x62O8A8qHw

Some are saying Michelle Williams just added herself to what is already shaping up to be a very crowded Best Actress race. Also, check out Kevin Spacey in the trailer.

I agree with Sasha Stone from Awards Daily who said September/October is the best time during Oscar season because the possibilities right now are endless due to all the festivals and releases going on and nobody is bogged down with cynicism, disappointment, and knowing inevitable results yet.

 

[Vash01]

I can't watch movies on DVD anymore. Prism tv, which I subscribe to, has too many tech problems, and I am not getting the help to get them fixed. I am going to see if I can switch to Cox cable. I am really fed up with Prism.

 

[Buzz]

Remember a couple weeks ago there was talk about how movie critics were killing cinema? LOL Well this week those same critics gave the movie Mother! a 68% rating in RT. Auduences on the other hand HATED the movie and gave it a CinemaScore of F. So I guess critics opinions don't carry as much weight as feared. LOL Mother! made $7m in it's first weekend on a budget of $30m + marketing.

In other news IT continues to burn it's way through audiences wallets and made another $60m domestically for a drop of 53% or there about I believe. While Spider-Man Homecoming has now made $105m in China for a WW total of $861m or there about. That's 30m shy of becoming the highest grossing Spider-Man movie of all time! We'll see if it gets there. But I do want to see it one last time before it leaves cinemas. American Assassins opened at a respectable $15m on a budget of $33m.

http://deadline.com/2017/09/war-for...g-mother-international-box-office-1202171328/

 

[PeterG]

I saw It last week, but I don't plan to see Mother! Looks too weird-artsy for me. I like weird stuff (movies included)...but I think when "auteur filmmakers" put something out...I should skip it. Darren Aronofsky is hit or miss for me. Jackie...Noah...The Fighter...Black Swan...The Wrestler...The Fountain...Requiem for a Dream. I've seen most of these movies, but none have been remotely considered for my favourite movies list. None make me think, "I'd like to see THAT one again"! Maybe I'll see Mother! when/if our local library gets it. Interested to hear what others think about it if any of you go see it.

It - was good...but not great. I thought the cast was quite good. I preferred the young cast over Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise. I thought he was too menacing from the very first moment we see him. There's no way he could lure any child closer to him. Anybody who came across him would run away the moment they saw him...and that's before he starts speaking in his uber-menacing voice. There was no building of his character from starting at as somewhat suspect to something much more extreme. It's like stepping onto a roller coaster when it's at full speed going down the highest hill of the ride. Overall, I thought the director went for scary, but not too scary. Imdb says the movie is rated 14A, but I thought @Buzz said it was an R rated movie. So I checked the-numbers.com and it does say R there. It feels like a 14A movie when it should feel like an R. While the cast are all children, I can't imagine anyone thinking this could be a kids movie. Anybody who would let a pre-teen see a movie like this should have their parenting skills questioned. Anyway, the movie is big on special effects and wild happenings, but I didn't feel the direction was intense as it should have been. I wanted the sh** scared out of me. Instead, I just sat there and thought, "oh...that is scary". I got a few chills here and there, but that was it. I didn't at any point wish I had been wearing Depends.

 

[NinjaTurtles]

I saw Mother! and quite liked it, but I don't see it going down well with most audiences. It probably belongs in arthouses versus mainstream cinema; the biggest issue being the marketing. It's a hard film to market and from what I saw at the theater, people thought it was a simple home invasion/thriller/horror film...there were walkouts.

 

[PeterG]

Both (director) Aronofsky and Jennifer Lawrence are talking about the movie being an allegory about Mother Earth. It sounds like people are confused about the movie, so instead of letting the audience figure out the meaning of the movie, they're basically telling them what's what before they see it in hopes that will help people enjoy the movie more. Hmm.

 

[Buzz]

Except judging from the trailers it was marketed as a psychological thriller. Instead they got a movie that was some sort of metaphor for the bible. Or something like that.

 

[Seerek]

Sep. 1st - Viceroy's House (Limited) - Historical drama with Gillian Anderson, Michael Gambon, Hugh Bonneville, Simon Callow [A Room With A View] and Terence Harvey

I like director Gurinder Chadha for the most part, but I think the predominating subject matter of the film (India/Pakistan independence) required a more grittier approach instead of the comparatively genteel (almost Downton Abbey like) angle that was used. There was also a missed opportunity (IMO) to connect the migration of 1947 with the migration to today's refugees. One could argue that the whole story probably deserves more of a mini-series treatment.

It's kind of too bad Gillian Anderson's role as Lady Edwina effectively didn't have much substance (she probably could have done more if the role was more demanding).

 

[watchthis!!]

Movie news.

‘The Girl in the Spider’s Web’: Claire Foy is Officially the New Lisbeth Salander
http://www.indiewire.com/2017/09/claire-foy-lisbeth-salander-girl-in-the-spiders-web-1201876890/

I remember reading a while back that both Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig wanted to continue with their roles in the dragon tattoo series. Wonder what happened with that. I know that the movies didn't do the box office the studios wanted. But it's not like Rooney Mara is lacking when it comes to the talent department and Claire Foy is a supremely better actress. Perhaps they just wanted to just start from scratch and not have those attached to an under-performing series come back and do the same thing again.

As for Foy, she might be most famous for her role in "The Crown" as Queen Elizabeth II. Foy won a Golden Globe and SAG award for this role (she also got an Emmy and BAFTA nomination as well). Foy has been in the movies The Lady In The Van and Vampire Academy. And she's starred in the tv series Wolf Hall and Upstairs Downstairs.


Harry Dean Stanton’s Best Performances: An IndieWire Tribute to ‘Paris, Texas,’ ‘Pretty in Pink,’ ‘Twin Peaks,’ and More
http://www.indiewire.com/2017/09/harry-dean-stanton-best-performances-alien-twin-peaks-1201877082/

In addition to the movies mentioned in this article, Stanton was also in Seven Psychopaths, The Last Temptation of Christ, Private Benjamin, Escape From New York and The Rose. And he played "Security Guard" in The Avengers!

 

[Vash01]

Movie news.

‘The Girl in the Spider’s Web’: Claire Foy is Officially the New Lisbeth Salander
http://www.indiewire.com/2017/09/claire-foy-lisbeth-salander-girl-in-the-spiders-web-1201876890/

I remember reading a while back that both Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig wanted to continue with their roles in the dragon tattoo series. Wonder what happened with that. I know that the movies didn't do the box office the studios wanted. But it's not like Rooney Mara is lacking when it comes to the talent department and Claire Foy is a supremely better actress. Perhaps they just wanted to just start from scratch and not have those attached to an under-performing series come back and do the same thing again.

As for Foy, she might be most famous for her role in "The Crown" as Queen Elizabeth II. Foy won a Golden Globe and SAG award for this role (she also got an Emmy and BAFTA nomination as well). Foy has been in the movies The Lady In The Van and Vampire Academy. And she's starred in the tv series Wolf Hall and Upstairs Downstairs.


Harry Dean Stanton’s Best Performances: An IndieWire Tribute to ‘Paris, Texas,’ ‘Pretty in Pink,’ ‘Twin Peaks,’ and More
http://www.indiewire.com/2017/09/harry-dean-stanton-best-performances-alien-twin-peaks-1201877082/

In addition to the movies mentioned in this article, Stanton was also in Seven Psychopaths, The Last Temptation of Christ, Private Benjamin, Escape From New York and The Rose. And he played "Security Guard" in The Avengers!

I was kind of attached to Mara and Craig in those roles, so I am disappointed.

 

[NeilJLeonard]

Both (director) Aronofsky and Jennifer Lawrence are talking about the movie being an allegory about Mother Earth. It sounds like people are confused about the movie, so instead of letting the audience figure out the meaning of the movie, they're basically telling them what's what before they see it in hopes that will help people enjoy the movie more. Hmm.

I saw it yesterday. Difficult to watch. Cast does well with what seems like a descent into violent, chaotic insanity. I've read several reviews about Mother! saying it is religious or about the cost of fame. I did see elements of both of those in it, but, to be honest, I have no idea what it was about.

NJL (Especially when the ending duplicates the beginning. Almost.....)

 

[Vash01]

Based on what I am reading here, Mother! is a movie I can easily skip.

 

[watchthis!!]

Pandemic is a cheesy post-apocalyptic sci-fi horror flick. Sometimes those types of movies are a lot of fun and sometimes they end up just being filler in this thing we call life. Unfortunately, Pandemic is the former. The plot is about a group of military-based people dealing with a virus that has affected most people on the planet. They are trying to keep the uninfected separated from the infected. But knowing who is and who is not infected can be tricky! The movie is shot often as if the characters were doing the filming, so a ton of shaky camerawork. Plus even more footage shot in almost complete darkness. So no cinematography Oscar nomination for this one. I see at Wikipedia that the movie is based on a board game. It has the liveliness of a board game (meaning inanimate object) to it... So a definite "skip it" for this one. Rachel Nichols, Mekhi Phifer and Miss Pyle are the most famous people in this one.

Trailer for Pandemic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SllHJHiSwpo

 

[PeterG]

Trailers for Movies Released 2017-09-22nd
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuI4-fSHhipRjH1k1ycV1cVIjN35n37jc



Sep. 22nd - Stronger (Wide) - Drama with Gyllenhaal, Tatiana Maslany, Miranda Richardson and Clancy Brown

Sep. 22nd - Kingsman: The Golden Circle (Wide) – Action adventure with Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Channing Tatum, Halle Berry, Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore

Sep. 22nd - The Lego Ninjago Movie (Wide) – Animated with Jackie Chan, Justin Theroux, Dave Franco, Olivia Munn, Michael Peña and Fred Armisen

Sep. 22nd - Friend Request (Wide) – Horror, new cast. From imdb.com: “A popular college student graciously accepts a social outcast's online friend request, but soon finds herself fighting a demonic presence that wants to make her lonely by killing her closest friends.”

Sep. 22nd - Battle of the Sexes (Limited) – Sports comedy drama with Emma Stone, Steve Carell, Andrea Riseborough, Elisabeth Shue, Sarah Silverman and Alan Cumming

Sep. 22nd - Victoria & Abdul (Limited) – Biographical drama with Judi Dench and Eddie Izzard

Sep. 22nd - Big Bear (Limited) – Comedy with Adam Brody, Tyler Labine and Pablo Schreiber [Orange Is The New Black]

Sep. 22nd - Loving Vincent (Limited) – Biographical drama with Douglas Booth, Saoirse Ronan, Chris O'Dowd and Aidan Turner

Sep. 22nd - Last Rampage (Limited) – Drama with Heather Graham, Robert Patrick, John Heard and Bruce Davison

Sep. 22nd - Welcome to Willits (Limited) – Sci-fi horror with new cast & Rory Culkin and Dolph Lundgren

Sep. 22nd - The Tiger Hunter (Limited) – Comedy drama with Jon Heder and Kevin Pollak

Sep. 22nd - Woodshock (Limited) – Thriller with Kirsten Dunst

Sep. 20th - Thirst Street (New York) - Romantic comedy drama with Angelica Houston

Sep. 22nd - Shot (Limited) – Drama with Noah Wyle. From imdb.com: “One bullet. Three lives. Everyone pays. On an average Los Angeles day, a couple on the verge of divorce and a bullied teenager find their lives desperately changed when the teen's illegal gun accidentally goes off.”

Sep. 22nd - Bobbi Jene (Limited) – Documentary. From imdb.com: “…a love story, portraying the dilemmas and inevitable consequences of ambition. It is a film about a woman's fight for independence, a woman trying to succeed with her own art in the extremely competitive world of dance.”
- DANCE DOCUMENTARY ALERT!! @Artistic Skaters @cocotaffy @kwanfan1818

Sep. 22nd - Elizabeth Blue (Limited) - Drama with a new cast & Kathleen Quinlan. From imdb.com: “A young woman, recently released from a mental hospital, is coping with ongoing episodes of schizophrenia.”

Sep. 22nd - The Houses October Built 2 (Limited) – Horror with a new cast. From imdb.com: “Recovering from the trauma of being kidnapped last Halloween by the Blue Skeleton - a group who take "extreme haunt" to another level - five friends decide they must face their fears in order to move on.”

Sep. 22nd - Unrest (Limited) – Documentary. From imdb.com: “When Harvard Ph.D. student Jennifer Brea is struck down by a fever that leaves her bedridden, she sets out on a virtual journey to document her story as she fights a disease that medicine forgot.”

Sep. 22nd - The King’s Choice (Limited) – Historical drama from Norway. From imdb.com: “On the 9th of April 1940, the German war machine arrive in the city of Oslo. The Norwegian King faces a choice that will change his country forever.”

 

[debo]

Murder on the Orient Express looks incredible. Great cinematography and the cast!

https://youtu.be/Mq4m3yAoW8E

 

[VGThuy]

That mustache looks seriously fake for a movie of this caliber to the point where it's distracting, but what a cast and what a trailer. I'm glad Michelle Pfieffer is having a bit of a comeback. I look forward to Penelope Cruz playing the role that Ingrid Bergman inexplicably won the Oscar for in the first film adaptation.

 

[watchthis!!]

What do you guys think of the trailer for All the Money in the World?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6x62O8A8qHw

That is such a good trailer. I watched it before reading the rest of your post and then finished reading what you wrote. Can't believe that's who is playing the patriarch. Will be nice to see Timothy Hutton on the big screen again in a top-notch film. With these three in the movie, I believe that Mark Wahlberg won't sink the production. But we will see...

 

[watchthis!!]

‘Peter Rabbit’ Trailer: Beatrix Potter’s Beloved Kids’ Book Bunny Gets a Naughty New Origin Story
http://www.indiewire.com/2017/09/peter-rabbit-trailer-beatrix-potter-bunny-1201878784/

What a cast! James Corden will voice the role of Peter Rabbit and the film will also co-star Rose Byrne, Domhnall Gleeson and Sam Neill. Margot Robbie, Elizabeth Debicki (The Night Manager & The Man From U.N.C.L.E.), and Daisy Ridley are on deck to voice Peter’s triplet sisters, Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail. The movie will open in February 2018.

 

[cocotaffy]

I have seen two movies this week. The first one is Una which deals with a heavy subject matter, a man who abused a 13 year old by making her believe she fell in love with him. It's a story of a manipulation both mental and physical. At first, I thought it was trying to make excuses for this guy but thinking about it. It does an OK job showing all the twisted mental manipulations. How cowardly he acts and how she had no chance at 13 to fight against it. The acting is lacking though especially Rooney Mara. She always act with a stone face, I even wonder if she has any range at all apart from resting b..ch face. Also the background story about his new job is utterly non relevant and the supporting cast have nothing compelling to act. So overall not so great but could have been truly atrocious.
Second movie, Gifted with Captain America. Classic story of a gifted child and the dilemma coming with raising such child. I have to say I did weep a bit. It was a nice story, well acted for what it is. But nothing too special came out of it. Good one while ironing or cooking.

 

[VGThuy]

I have seen two movies this week. The first one is Una which deals with a heavy subject matter, a man who abused a 13 year old by making her believe she fell in love with him. It's a story of a manipulation both mental and physical. At first, I thought it was trying to make excuses for this guy but thinking about it. It does an OK job showing all the twisted mental manipulations. How cowardly he acts and how she had no chance at 13 to fight against it. The acting is lacking though especially Rooney Mara. She always act with a stone face, I even wonder if she has any range at all apart from resting b..ch face. Also the background story about his new job is utterly non relevant and the supporting cast have nothing compelling to act. So overall not so great but could have been truly atrocious.

I saw the play that Una was adapted from with Jeff Daniels and Michelle Williams last year. It was called Blackbird. The whole play was just set at the break room with only those two going back and forth for most of it. It was a really compelling piece of theatre. Sorry to hear the film adaptation doesn't sound as compelling.

 

[cocotaffy]

I saw the play that Una was adapted from with Jeff Daniels and Michelle Williams last year. It was called Blackbird. The whole play was just set at the break room with only those two going back and forth for most of it. It was a really compelling piece of theatre. Sorry to hear the film adaptation doesn't sound as compelling.

Yes, I think it would work better as a theater piece. The content is compelling as I said especially the manipulations are well layered and slowly peeled off.

 

[smurfy]

I saw 'Wind River' last week and really enjoyed it.
It was directed by Taylor Sheridan, who also wrote 'Sicario' and 'Hell or High Water'.
I am very impressed with him overall, and he is also an actor, but I do not think I have seen him in anything.
Jeremy Renner is just amazing in Wind River. The performance could be considered similar to Casey Affleck's performance from last year, but Renner was more subtle, not as obvious.
The story was very interesting, one gets a sense of Renner's life slowly as it unfolds and of the area and culture.
It got a little confusing near the end with the various gvt and company folks.
Elizabeth Olson plays a 'green' FBI agent sent to investigate a murder on a reservation. I like how the more seasoned local men acknowledged her youth/inexperience, not in a stereotypical way, and worked with her, and it was not a big point. Nice not to see the cliche.
I will pretty much see anything Taylor Sheridan is involved in writing/directing - all 3 of these movies were very good, with I think Hell or High Water the best. There is something original, and not seen it all before in his work.

 

[watchthis!!]

Jenifer Lawrence movie quiz
http://entertainment.ie/cinema/news/entertainmenties-Weekly-Movie-Quiz-Week-31/397333.htm

I only got four out of ten! I thought I knew Lawrence's career pretty well. Apparently not. Anyone dare to take on my 40% correct record?

 

[Buzz]

I got six right. LOL

 

[Aussie Willy]

Haven't popped in here for what seems like quite a while but I did watch a couple of things yesterday which I thought I would share.

Amy - the doco about Amy Winehouse which I know others have mentioned before. Very good and very sad. I do appreciate the docos that don't have commentary but just let the clips and stories speak for themselves. Does not paint the media in a very good light for sure.

Gaga: Five foot two - Recent doco about Lady Gaga which at the start seemed to just be a Gaga promotion for the making of Joanne. But it was very interesting. I didn't realise she had broken her hip but she also suffers from fibromyalgia. Not sure I like her recent stuff but the story behind the album (she was inspired by her aunt who died at the age of 19 and suffered Lupus) was interesting. And you got to see her family and how important they are to her. Best moment was her walking into a Walmat and asking them to put her album at the front of the CD sales. However you cannot help but admire her attitude to her business, career and talent.

Gattaca - I have heard about this movie for years so when it came up on my Netflix selection got the chance. Wasn't disappointed. This movie gets used for English in the final year of school here with regards themes and analysis and I can see why. The morals of giving people status based solely on their genetics is pretty relevant for today. Not unlike The Handmaid's Tale. Definitely worth seeing.

 

[PeterG]

The Last Word is the kind of movie that makes a wannabe writer like me want to crawl under a rock and sob over the fact that I'll likely never be able to write a movie as good as this. The Last Word came out this year and is a comedy drama starring Shirley Maclaine and Amanda Seyfried. I've never liked Seyfried better. And I think that's because this is probably the best role she has ever had. Shame that the movie only made about two million at the box office. I'd like both to be considered for best actress as the award season approaches. And a screenwriter nomination for Stuart Ross Fink, but that won't happen because this is his very first work to hit the big screen (or any size screen for that matter). I'm crushed that this movie didn't well with such a talented new writer attached...when will he be given a chance again? I guess it just depends on his next works and how much people believe in what he's written. But it's a shame that this movie didn't get the recognition it deserves. I considered putting this one into my Top 100 favourite movies of all time. But it's in my "extras" list that follows my Top 100, which means it is one that I hope to get to see again...at least once. Oh, and one bonus of the movie is that Maclaine's character has some insights that I think are very important for people to hear. I want to be reminded or her suggestions about life and take them to heart more.

 

[manhn]

Wow, I had the absolute opposite reaction to The Last Word. Granted, I am sooooo tired of the
Politically Incorrect Old Person With a Heart of Gold trope. Sooooo over it. The character I felt the most sorry for was the young Millennial woman who lost her internship at the radio station. Probably unpaid, and she loses her opportunity to a rich person who is doing it for kicks. HATE.

 

[PeterG]

 

[Japanfan]

Jenifer Lawrence movie quiz
http://entertainment.ie/cinema/news/entertainmenties-Weekly-Movie-Quiz-Week-31/397333.htm

I only got four out of ten! I thought I knew Lawrence's career pretty well. Apparently not. Anyone dare to take on my 40% correct record?

I got 50%, but only by virtue of a few lucky guesses.