Let's Talk Movies #36 - 2020 - Yep it is a new decade

Paterno is an HBO movie starring Al Pacino about the 2011 Penn State sex-abuse scandal. Pacino plays Joe Paterno, the head coach of the Penn State Lions. The movie covers the days before the scandal broke and then when the story breaks and hell breaks loose. The script is quite strong, but perhaps not as tough on Paterno as I think it could have been. Yes, early on Paterno reported abuse that he was aware of, but when nothing arises from that, he does not push the matter as everything gets buried.

Paterno was nominated for two Emmy awards, best TV movie and best direction. I’m shocked that Pacino didn’t get a nomination as his performance is both understated yet powerful at the same time. Plus the script deserved a nomination as it is very strong. The whole cast is great as well, which includes Riley Keough, Kathy Baker, and Greg Grunberg.
 
I watched The Eyes of Tammy Faye on dvd last night. Jessica Chastain was amazing. Unrecognizable. I am so happy that she finally won the Oscar. Andrew Garfield was also very good. The story seemed complex and it was late at night. I was tired and sleepy. Will have to watch again to fully understand it.
 
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clairecloutier said:
We watched CODA on Apple and loved it. Definitely a feel-good movie, but pretty real in a lot of ways too. I live near Gloucester, and the setting felt authentic. Great acting on all sides, especially from the four main family members. I’d definitely recommend it.
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One of the things I liked so much about this film is how it was obviously filmed on location. That adds a lot.
 
Watched The eyes of Tammy Faye again. It became much clearer than my first viewing. It deserved the two Oscars (Best actress and makeup). Was Andrew Garfield nominated for supporting actor? He was very good too. The characters were well played- one strong, the other weak. I didn't know that Jessica Chastain could sing.

Overall I felt it was a good movie but it lacked flow probably because it was jumping forward by several years at a time. Also it was not clear how they went from nothing to millionaires in just 5 years. They had the tv network, and donations were flowing in, but they must have gone through a few years of struggle. At the end, Tammy sings at Oral Roberts university but it was not clear what happened after that. Did she sing at other places too? It seems Jim went back to being a televangelist after his release from the prison.

About the makeup, Tammy's makeup was not consistent throughout. In some parts she looked like Jessica Chastain (nose) but in other parts she looked different. The aging Tammy was shown well - changes in body and face.
 
I watched King Richard. Started last night, finished this afternoon. It was good. It was fun to watch actresses playing young Venus and young Serena. The movie is mainly about Venus and her family, and of course Richard Williams. The character was well played by Will Smith but it was hard for me to forget what he did at the Oscars.
 
Vash01 said:
Watched The eyes of Tammy Faye again. It became much clearer than my first viewing. It deserved the two Oscars (Best actress and makeup). Was Andrew Garfield nominated for supporting actor? He was very good too. The characters were well played- one strong, the other weak. I didn't know that Jessica Chastain could sing.

Overall I felt it was a good movie but it lacked flow probably because it was jumping forward by several years at a time. Also it was not clear how they went from nothing to millionaires in just 5 years. They had the tv network, and donations were flowing in, but they must have gone through a few years of struggle. At the end, Tammy sings at Oral Roberts university but it was not clear what happened after that. Did she sing at other places too? It seems Jim went back to being a televangelist after his release from the prison.

About the makeup, Tammy's makeup was not consistent throughout. In some parts she looked like Jessica Chastain (nose) but in other parts she looked different. The aging Tammy was shown well - changes in body and face.
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Andrew Garfield was nominated for Best Lead Actor for Tick Tick Boom. They never really seemed to be pushing him for The Eyes if Tammy Faye. The focus seemed to be on Jessica Chastain and the makeup team from the beginning.
 
Let Them All Talk (HBOMAX): Meryl Streep, Dianne Wiest, Candace Bergen, Gemma Chan and Lucas Hedges. Steven Soderbergh directed the film. Here is a blurb: Let Them All Talk was shot on the actual Queen Mary 2 during a real transatlantic voyage, and passengers were able to sign up to be extras in the film. Because it's a Soderbergh film, it was also shot on an entirely new Red camera, and most of the dialogue was improvised by the actors.

I liked the film because people don't adhere to a timeline in their relationships so why should every problem be solved and wrapped up with a little bow at the end of the film? Plus that ship is gorgeous.
 
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The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend A Broken Heart is a very watchable HBO documentary about the careers and lives of the pop supergroup. I liked the Bee Gees enough to check this out, but was never an uber fan. So I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this. It is well made and includes a lot of interviewees who make the overall project stronger. Liam Gallagher (from the band Oasis) is the most surprising person interviewed. It was nice to see him speak so respectfully of the Bee Gees because the little I have seen of him in the past made him out to be a very sour individual. Eric Clapton, Nick Jonas, Lulu and Justin Timberlake are also interviewed. The movie made it seem like their career nose-dived after the "Disco Sucks" backlash. But they still had seven albums that followed, all of which went gold or platinum in numerous countries. But I get in comparison to their heyday of '75 to '80, the hits that followed were not smash hits like they had during their most successful period.
 
Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness - This movie was FANTASTIC! It hit the ground running and never really stops! There was one scene that caused quite the uproar in the cinema! 9.5/10!
 
"Free Guy" starring Ryan Reynolds was an interesting movie to watch..

At first I was somewhat reluctant to watch this movie because of how silly and childish the plot seemed to me, but at the same time it also seemed interesting and different, so I thought I'd give it a chance.

I did not mind it, and even sort of enjoyed it. Not my usual cup of tea as far as movies go, but it sort of grew on me as I was watching it.
 
Davy88gtbwxyc said:
"Free Guy" starring Ryan Reynolds was an interesting movie to watch..

At first I was somewhat reluctant to watch this movie because of how silly and childish the plot seemed to me, but at the same time it also seemed interesting and different, so I thought I'd give it a chance.

I did not mind it, and even sort of enjoyed it. Not my usual cup of tea as far as movies go, but it sort of grew on me as I was watching it.
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Yes…I’m not into gaming but then this wasn’t really about games. I enjoyed it.
 
I had ordered a movie 'Journey to the center of the earth' because I wanted to see the old Jules Verne story. It turned out to be a 2008 movie based on that book, sort of a spin off. Brendan Fraser is a professor whose brother died while searching for the center of the earth. His nephew (played by Josh Hutcherson, the Hunger Games Peeta) comes to stay with him and they are off to Iceland, in search of the 'center'. It is an adventure movie, heavily CGIed, mercifully short (1 hr 32 min), and quite enjoyable. I am just not into adventure/CGI movies but thanks to Jules Verne, I watched it because the story was still interesting. There was a touching, emotional scene that was quite good.
 
We saw Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness last night and it was really, really good. I am starting to like the Dr. Strange characters now as he's gotten a bit more self-deprecating since he was introduced. The pacing was good, the newest about-to-Avenger (America Chavez) is a nice addition to the lineup, and the story wasn't too annoying even though I'm not a fan of multiverse stories unless they are well done (as this one was).

I would see it again.
 
Watched Marriage Story on dvd, even though I had watched it before. It was really boring. The beginning was terrible - went on and on. It got better but not by much. There was a song scene where Charlie keeps singing a self pitying song. I did feel sympathy for him though. I felt no sympathy for Nicole. The ending was abrupt. The acting was very good throughout. It was the only positive about this movie. Actually it was so boring that I split the viewing into three sessions.

So I decided to watch Journey to the center of the earth again. It was more interesting the second time, though totally unbelievable. The dvd had some extras -E.g. how Some parts were filmed, how Josh Hutcherson managed school and acting in movies, the theory of Hollow earth, etc. Those were pretty good.
 
That first Aliens flick was ground-breaking!

I'm old enough to have watched it in theaters during its first run and I was amazed. I don't usually like these kinds of horror flicks, either. But it transcends the genre IMO.
 
I was a bit shocked by the number of actors cast in Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer" covered in an article by "The Ringer"... Cillian Murphy, Kenneth Branagh, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Florence Pugh, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Rami Malek, Casey Affleck, Robert Downey Jr., Josh Hartnett, Josh Peck, Alden Ehrenreich, Dane DeHaan, Matthew Modine, Jason Clarke, James D’Arcy, Scott Grimes, Christopher Denham, Tony Goldwyn, David Krumholtz, Michael Angarano, Gustaf Skarsgård, David Dastmalchian, Jack Quaid, Dylan Arnold, Emma Dumont, Alex Wolff .... SO FAR.....
 
MacMadame said:
We saw Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness last night and it was really, really good. I am starting to like the Dr. Strange characters now as he's gotten a bit more self-deprecating since he was introduced. The pacing was good, the newest about-to-Avenger (America Chavez) is a nice addition to the lineup, and the story wasn't too annoying even though I'm not a fan of multiverse stories unless they are well done (as this one was).

I would see it again.
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I did see it a second time. I loved it just as much on second viewing. And the thing about Steven Strange... he's supposed to be an asshole. I like that even after learning a little humility, he never quite loses the snark. His sense of humor is what makes me love him, much like Tony Stark. They really are somewhat similar characters.
 
vgerdes said:
And the thing about Steven Strange... he's supposed to be an asshole.
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Yes, but that's a double-edged sword. Robert Downy, Jr. got Tony Stark just right. Benedict Cumberbatch was too far to the annoying side for me in the first couple of movies.
 
MacMadame said:
Yes, but that's a double-edged sword. Robert Downy, Jr. got Tony Stark just right. Benedict Cumberbatch was too far to the annoying side for me in the first couple of movies.
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I guess for me Steven Strange was just a variant of his character from Sherlock, which is my favorite TV show of all time. His Sherlock was pretty much an irredeemable asshole, but I loved him with all my heart and soul. LOL.
 
I watched Bill and Ted Face The Music the other day. Not sure why. Maybe nostalgia, although I'm not sure I ever saw the earlier movies. Maybe because Keanu Reeves seems to be deemed a good actor these days.

Ha ha, just kidding! :D

The movie basically skipped the theatres and was made available through Video On Demand. I assumed this movie was considered a bomb, regardless of box office as it was so bad. But at rottentomatoes.com, it has a high rating by both critics and viewers. Even a higher rating by critics than viewers. (WTF???) I just thought everything about it was bad. Or am I stupid in not knowing that once MUST be high before they turn on this movie?

If I were forced to say something nice about this movie, it would be Jillian Bell in a teensy, tiny role as a couples therapist. Not much for her to do, but the suckage of her performance was so much lesser than the suckage of everybody else in this movie.
 
I watched "The Outfit" streaming on Peacock and I thought it was a terrific film and assumed this started out on stage but this was a fresh screenplay which could be easily adapted for the stage. The small cast, especially Mark Rylance, but also Zoey Deutch, Johnny Flynn (I like him more each time I see him) and Simon Russell Beale (perfectly cast) are well worth the price of admission. Clever story, clever dialogue and a master class from Rylance.
 
watchthis!! said:
The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend A Broken Heart is a very watchable HBO documentary about the careers and lives of the pop supergroup.
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This is certainly the more polished of the 2 full length documentaries on the Bee Gees and provides a far more thorough examination of both their musical influences and themselves as being influencers to others.

Let it be known, an extensive amount of the interview content you see in the HBO doc from Robin and Maurice is footage originating from the earlier documentary produced in 2009 ("In Our Own Time") - i would refer to that particular documentary as the more "traditional biographical" of the 2.
 
"The Trip to Greece" starring
Steve Coogan & Rob Brydon was alright, but nothing special.

The banter between the two lead actors throughout the movie was often quite silly and humorous.

If watching a couple dudes out on a traveling adventure whilst enjoying some fine dining along with playful banter is your thing, I'd recommend watching this.

At times it almost got a bit drab to me, but all in all, it was alright.
 
I didn't realize this, but character actor Fred Ward died recently:

www.vulture.com

Fred Ward, The Right Stuff and Tremors Actor, Dead at 79

“When it came to battling underground worms, I couldn’t have asked for a better partner,” wrote Kevin Bacon.
www.vulture.com www.vulture.com

For me, he'll always be immortal as Gus Grissom in The Right Stuff (one of my favorite movies from the 80s), but he was great in so many other movies as well! Rest in peace.
 
"The Suicide Squad" was just as good as its prequel. I'm actually somewhat surprised at how enjoyable the movie was to me.

It was funny at times, and action packed, keeping you at the edge of your seat.

There was alot of variety when it came to the movies characters, which contributed to its enjoyability.

As far as movies of this sort go (DC & Marvel), The Suicide Squad is definitely up there amidst my favorites.
 
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