Let's Talk Movies #33: Star Wars: Jabba Rising...Captain America Trumps China...and MORE!

[Vash01]

Saturday - saw 4 of the best picture nominees - 2 day marathon at AMC theatres - next 5 is this coming Sat.

LaLa Land - 2nd time seeing it - still not getting the love - enjoyed it, definitely well made and they did a lot of work -but it was slow and I got bored. And several people I know have said the same thing - all not getting the great raves about it.

The other 3 I had not seen:
Manchester by the Sea - really loved the movie - everyone was very good, and Casey Affleck did a great job - deserves all the kudos. Lucas Hedges was wonderful. I liked how the story unfolded and Affleck's character - wounded, trying to do the right thing, but knowing what he could not do.

Fences - very good acting - but if I did not already know it was from a play, I would have guessed. So many times when a play goes to a movie - there is something confining about it. The movie is good, but I wish 'Loving' was nominated for best picture over this one. Viola and Denzel - amazing - did not disappoint. I can see Denzel upsetting Affleck (due to the controversy in his past) - and it would be cool for him to win 3 times.

Hell or High Water - loved it. Great movie, acting and story - wasn't sure where it was going. Good for Chris Pine to do something so different from Star Trek. Ben Foster is always very good. Jeff Bridges was great. I had seen Nocturnal Animals - and neither of these 2 movies makes me want to to move to West Texas. It is cool for a movie like Hell or High Water that was released earlier in the year to get this notice - well deserved.

I have seen all except Moonlight of the BP nominees.i agree with you about LLL. Good movie but I don't understand the hoopla about it. I found the first half quite boring, and the dance numbers really slowed it down. IMO it is way overrated in some categories.

I found Fences really boring, despite the great acting. The nonstop dialogues really tired me out. Viola was great and so was Denzel but I felt that he was unable to generate sympathy in me. He just came across as a 100 jerk, IMO.

I went to graduate school in West Texas fir five years and hated it there (though Lubbock was 200 percent better than the Midland area in the movie). Oddly I felt nostalgic when I saw that landscape in Hell or High water, which I saw on DVD couple months ago. It should get the original screenplay Oscar but I am afraid it will go to LLL. I liked the movie, so I went to see it in a theater when it reappeared (after the Oscar nom), and it was less interesting the second time.

 

[Vash01]

I couldn't get into Manchester by the sea. I had heard it was very depressing but I didn't shed a tear. The frequent past and present didn't work so well in this movie. The acting by the three main characters was good, but only Casey made a real impact on me. I think he will win the Oscar. Michelle Williams was very good in one scene that stayed with me. She was good but didn't have much screen time. I am even surprised that she was nominated for just about every award.

 

[jenny12]

I couldn't get into Manchester by the sea. I had heard it was very depressing but I didn't shed a tear. The frequent past and present didn't work so well in this movie. The acting by the three main characters was good, but only Casey made a real impact on me. I think he will win the Oscar. Michelle Williams was very good in one scene that stayed with me. She was good but didn't have much screen time. I am even surprised that she was nominated fir just about every award.

I saw it and I actually really couldn't stand the movie. I felt the entire movie was weirdly unfeeling and over-the-top at the same time (I don't know if that's possible but that's the only way I could describe it). The movie was really overtly begging for the audience to feel sorry for Casey Affleck's character without doing anything to actually earn it. I don't need characters to do the right thing or go through any epiphany in a film for me to think a film has a value but I do need a reason to find the character's journey interesting. Manchester by the Sea did not give that to me at all.

 

[Vash01]

I am doing this 2 day movie marathon also.

I enjoyed "La La Land" the best of the four, though it definitely took me a long while to open myself up to it. I am sad to think this may be what a lot of skaters decided to base Olympic programs on, however, as neither Emma Stone or Ryan Gosling - as talented as they are as actors - are remotely compelling as singers. The complete construction of the piece (story arc, cinematography, editing, sets, costumes, etc.) are definitely what make it stand out for me among these four movies though.

I thought the acting in "Fences" made it completely compelling, but I concur it is hard to open up plays to movies often times, and that is the case here. Still, Viola Davis was brilliant (as always), and Denzel Washington was very good. I also really loved Stephen Henderson as Bono.

I also thought the acting in "Manchester By the Sea" was incredible, but I just could not get into the movie at all. Maybe because I found everything and everyone in the movie horribly depressing, but the film for me just completely lacked a pulse or any sort of dramatic tension. And don't get me wrong, I love a good weeper, I just didn't think this was one, amazing acting aside. I still think Affleck will prevail to win the Oscar, based on his BAFTA win.

"Hell or High Water" was better than I was expecting, but completely fell apart for me in the last ten minutes. The whole scene with Jeff Bridges returning to the Rangers office and then his visit to Chris Pine left me thinking "WTH?" Talk about needing to suspend disbelief. Oh well, at least one of these movies had a "happy" ending.

Now that you mention it, I too found the ending of Hell or High water very strange. Why did the sheriff (or whatever) , after retiring, visit the brother? What was his intent? Did he just want to admit whatever guilt he may have felt? That last scene brought the movie down.

 

[PeterG]

A few movies I've watched recently from the golden age of film include The Gay Divorcee (1934) and Love Affair (1939).

The Gay Divorcee (1934) is Fred and Ginger's second movie together and you'd never guess that they weren't many movies into their film partnership from how well they connect with one another here. You also wouldn't guess that this movie is from just a few years away from the silent film era. I mean that in terms of the quality of the (visual) production and the talent both behind and in front of the cameras. But this is a movie from long ago, so the quality of the filming is not perfect, although maybe there's a digitally re-mastered version of this available and the print I saw was an older one. Anyway, I liked the story of Astaire chasing Rogers' and all the turmoils that come between them throughout the course of the story. Not as much dancing as I expected, but I guess the dancing became more and more a part of the story as that became a trademark for them as a film couple. Erik Rhodes as as the Italian gigilo Rodolfo Tonetti was a highlight for me, he's one of those people who was both talented and handsome, but for whatever reason didn't become a star big enough to be remembered years later. He continued to star in movies up until 1939, when imdb.com says his career had run it's course. But he also served in the U.S. Air Force, it is unclear if he gave up his acting career to serve his country or if their wasn't work for him anymore and he moved on to military service. He did do some TV work later on, as well as working on Broadway.

Love Affair (1939) I enjoyed even more than The Gay Divorcee. But I'd pick the re-make to Love Affair, An Affair To Remember (1959, Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr) as the better version. I've seen a handful of Charles Boyer now and while I appreciate him, he doesn't compare to a lot of his contemporaries in my opinion, and certainly not to Cary Grant. But Boyer and Irene Dunne make a good screen couple and the story is good. Not sure that Love Affair deserved six Oscar nominations considering it was released in a year when the competition was possibly at it's greatest through movie history. I think I remember seeing a few movies that were also from 1939 that I was surprised to see get few nominations, so six for Love Affair seems somewhat mis-placed. But the final scene is killer, but I think I had a bigger reaction to this scene with the An Affair to Remember version. I actually got the re-make from the library to compare the two scenes, but I don't think you can start at that scene and have it make the same impact, you have to watch the whole movie because it's basically setting things up scene by scene to finish with such a big impact. But Love Affair is my favourite Charles Boyer role, I should have watched this movie first to introduce myself to him rather than the roles where he played a weak character or somewhat dastardly. Maybe I'd be a little kinder in my thoughts about him.

 

[emason]

@PeterG,

Love Affair and An Affair to Remember we're both directed by Leo McCarey; in essence he had a chance to tell the story twice. Turner Classic Movies and Fathom Events had a big screen showing of AATR last week; I loved seeing it on the big screen and that last scene was a knockout. I have not yet seen Love Affair.

Have you seen Fanny (Leslie Caron) in which Boyer plays Cesar? It's one of my guilty pleasure movies.

 

[Vash01]

There was also ' Love affair' starring Warren Beatty and Annette Benning. It was soundly criticized, though I thought it was ok to see a modern version of the story.

 

[watchthis!!]

The Switch was a nice viewing, nothing earth-shattering, but sweet fun. Not as funny as I expected with Jason Bateman and Jennifer Aniston as the two leads. They seemed to focus on a sweet tale as much (or more than) going for lots of laughs. Maybe when these two starred together in the two Horrible Bosses movies they figured they've give us bigger laughs. Before I started watching, I thought The Switch was about the two leads switching bodies when Aniston becomes pregnant (another body-switching movie). So I was curious what magical way they would come up with to explain how that happened. Like falling into a park fountain as one of them threw in a coin while wishing the other could see what it's like to be them. But then I remembered the ads about how her child ended up being so much like Bateman's character. I thought they'd do a lot more with Bateman and the young actor playing his child. What they had was good, but I think they could have done a lot more with that part of the story which could have been quite funny. The young actor was good, so he was up to that task. Interesting to see Melissa McCarthy in a small, earlier role. She's quite good with the little she's given to do. Patrick Wilson, Juliette Lewis and Jeff Goldblum also co-star, but this is the Jason and Jennifer show, so none of them get to do much. Which is fine, because the two leads are more than enough to carry the movie.

The trailer for The Switch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEYqgyXyk9A

 

[all_empty]

Just screened "Get Out" and it was fantastic!

Suspenseful as f--k with really humorous parts to cut the tension.

It opens this weekend.

 

[PeterG]

Trailers For Movies Released 2017-02-24th
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuI4-fSHhipQ_q1tf3iOMtJ0lrxGfQGhN

Too many good movies! Collide was originally set for release last August, then October, then Feb. 3rd and now this week. Usually not a good thing for a movie to be delayed so many times. Not my kind of thing (the violence porn genre, I've coined) as is Drifter. Luckily there's lots of other great options this week:


Feb. 24th - Get Out (Wide) – Horror with Allison Williams [Girls], Bradley Whitford [The West Wing] and Catherine Keener

Feb. 24th - Collide (Wide) - Action with Nicholas Hoult, Anthony Hopkins, Felicity Jones and Ben Kingsley

Feb. 24th - Rock Dog (Wide) – Animated family comedy with Luke Wilson, Eddie Izzard, J.K. Simmons, Lewis Black, Kenan Thompson, Matt Dillon and Sam Elliott

Feb. 24th - Bitter Harvest (Limited) – Drama with Max Irons, Terence Stamp and Barry Pepper

Feb. 24th - The Girl with All the Gifts (Limited, BAFTA nominee) – Dramatic thriller with Gemma Arterton, Paddy Considine and Glenn Close

Feb. 24th - Dying Laughing (Limited) – Comedy documentary with Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, Amy Schumer, Steve Coogan, Sarah Silverman, Kevin Hart, Billy Connolly, Eddie Izzard, Jamie Foxx, Garry Shandling, Cedric the Entertainer, Russell Peters, Sandra Bernhard and Gilbert Gottfried

Feb. 24th - Year by the Sea (Limited) – Romantic comedy drama with Karen Allen, Yannick Bisson [Murdoch Mysteries] and Celia Imrie

Feb. 24th – Kiki (New York / Los Angeles) – Documentary. From imdb.com: “A group of LGBTQ youths of color unite to form a safe gathering space.”

Feb. 24th - As You Are (Limited) – Mystery, new cast & Mary Stuart Masterson. From imdb.com: “Set in the early 1990's, "As You Are" is the telling and retelling of a relationship between three teenagers as it traces the course of their friendship through a construction of disparate memories prompted by a police investigation.”

Feb. 24th - Drifter (Limited) – Horror thiller, new cast. From imdb.com: “A pair of outlaw brothers seek temporary refuge in a desolate town inhabited by a small family of psychotic cannibalistic lunatics.”

Feb. 24th - VooDoo (Limited) – Horror, new cast. From imdb.com: “When Dani, an innocent southern girl, vacations to Los Angeles to evade her increasingly complicated life, she learns that escaping her past isn't as easy as she hoped.”

Feb. 24th - Fabricated City (Limited) – Korean action. From imdb.com: “A gamer named Kwon yoo (Ji Chang wook) is unemployed, but in the virtual world he is a leader. Kwon yoo is then framed for murder. With the help of his gaming buddies they try to uncover the truth about this murder case.”

Feb. 24th - My Life as a Zucchini (Limited) – Animated from France. From imdb.com: “After his mother disappears, a young boy is sent to a foster home with other orphans his age where he begins to learn the meaning of trust and true love.”

 

[Wyliefan]

Love Affair (1939) I enjoyed even more than The Gay Divorcee. But I'd pick the re-make to Love Affair, An Affair To Remember (1959, Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr) as the better version. I've seen a handful of Charles Boyer now and while I appreciate him, he doesn't compare to a lot of his contemporaries in my opinion, and certainly not to Cary Grant. But Boyer and Irene Dunne make a good screen couple and the story is good. Not sure that Love Affair deserved six Oscar nominations considering it was released in a year when the competition was possibly at it's greatest through movie history. I think I remember seeing a few movies that were also from 1939 that I was surprised to see get few nominations, so six for Love Affair seems somewhat mis-placed. But the final scene is killer, but I think I had a bigger reaction to this scene with the An Affair to Remember version. I actually got the re-make from the library to compare the two scenes, but I don't think you can start at that scene and have it make the same impact, you have to watch the whole movie because it's basically setting things up scene by scene to finish with such a big impact. But Love Affair is my favourite Charles Boyer role, I should have watched this movie first to introduce myself to him rather than the roles where he played a weak character or somewhat dastardly. Maybe I'd be a little kinder in my thoughts about him.

I like Boyer a lot. Dunne too. But ultimately, I also prefer the remake. I think Grant and Kerr inhabited the characters better and had stronger chemistry. Plus no one does an "OMG I've been such an idiot" face better than Cary Grant.

 

[jenny12]

Just screened "Get Out" and it was fantastic!

Suspenseful as f--k with really humorous parts to cut the tension.

It opens this weekend.

I really want to see this! Sounds like a really different approach to the horror genre!

 

[CantALoop]

Honest Trailers roasted and retitled the 2017 Oscar Best Picture nominees

My favorites are "Diary of a Math Black Woman" and their honest titling of La La Land

 

[watchthis!!]

When the Oscars Get Political: A Look Back at Michael Moore's Divisive Anti-War Speech in 2003
https://www.yahoo.com/movies/when-t...visive-anti-war-speech-in-2003-164108593.html

I thought this was an interesting article leading up to the Oscars on Sunday and how in today's political landscape, they wonder what might happen with the speeches given by the winners. I'm very curious as well! Today on the View, Joy Behar said she liked the speeches that stood, out, she didn't want to hear people thank their piano teachers and their gynecologists. I have to agree. Hope there's a few fireworks on Sunday! Anyway, the article is the story behind Moore's Oscar moment, as well as looking at other Oscar moments that stood out in their own way. This all sounds like a good documentary idea, actually!

 

[MacMadame]

Honest Trailers roasted and retitled the 2017 Oscar Best Picture nominees

My favorites are "Diary of a Math Black Woman" and their honest titling of La La Land

Fake news! Sad!

 

[PeterG]

Honest Trailers roasted and retitled the 2017 Oscar Best Picture nominees

My favorites are "Diary of a Math Black Woman" and their honest titling of La La Land

Yes, loved the real title for La La Land. Then at the end when they wondered how it would do at the Oscars.

 

[CantALoop]

Yes, loved the real title for La La Land. Then at the end when they wondered how it would do at the Oscars.

I have a konspiracy theory that Amy Adams was snubbed for Best Actress so that they could have an easier time adding Emma Stone's Oscar to Hollywood HJ's total

 

[Allskate]

Honest Trailers roasted and retitled the 2017 Oscar Best Picture nominees

Wait! I really did see Lion, and I loved it. I'm not lyin'.

 

[Buzz]

DC Comics is working on a live action Nightwing movie. The character is very popular among DCEU fans.
http://collider.com/nightwing-movie-chris-mckay/

 

[watchthis!!]

The Green Hornet was a better popcorn movie than I expected. Thought I might fast-forward through it or skip chapters at a time, but it was fairly entertaining. And Seth Rogan wasn't horrible, thanks to the script he wrote with his writing partner. Maybe he should focus on writing instead of being in front of the camera. I guess as long as his movies are hits... As for this movie, he wasn't different from any other character he has ever played. Wonder if one day he will play an actual character instead of just being himself. I did like how they made his character basically useless and the sidekick was really the one with all the abilities. Made for some good laughs. Speaking of playing themselves on screen, I wonder if they hired Christoph Waltz to make Seth Rogan look not so bad. Both are making careers out of doing the exact same thing each film. Except Waltz plays himself in all his movies movies regardless of whether it is a drama or a comedy! He's lucky he got his Oscar win when people were discovering him...THAT will never happen again. At least he got some lines...I noticed Edward Furlong in the credits and couldn't remember seeing him on screen. Oh well, at least he's getting some work...

Trailer for The Green Hornet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMA-taGtfXs

 

[agalisgv]

Saw Get Out. It was a very trippy movie. I'm not a horror buff, so had to close my eyes quite a bit at the end.

It's a provocative movie, and leaves you with lots to discuss. I didn't quite get the grandparents at first, but think I understand them now. But one thing that struck me was:

Spoiler

If the community continued taking over black bodies, eventually the entire community would become black. So would the appropriation of black bodies continue, but appropriated by other blacks?

Also thought it illustrated how:

Spoiler

Asians are often perceived by certain people of color as honorary whites. The fact that the Japanese gentleman was interested in appropriating black bodies no differently than whites seemed more a reflection of black perception than Asian appropriation of blackness.

And the movie also seemed to reflect

Spoiler

Anxiety among some in black communities over interracial dating, particularly when it involves a black man and a white woman. Such pairings are imaged to be both threatening and ultimately genocidal.

Anyhow, lots of food for thought.

 

[PeterG]

Two documentaries among my recent viewing, one quite good and one quite terrible.

How To Change The World (2015) is about the people who started the Greenpeace movement. Footage old and new is used equally throughout this movie, footage taken at the time of the men doing protest work in the 1970’s and most of these men are interviewed in current day footage about what they did and how things occurred. It’s interesting to see how a few people ended up having philosophical disagreements at the time as to what needed to be done and how a few individuals ended up being opposed to varying degrees about what the movement was and became. This is a very well-made film and great to watch, both thematically and visually.


Disaster Playground (also 2015) is tough to critique. It’s about people (again, men for the most part) who are working in the field of asteroids and/or other objects which may have an impact with our planet, creating possible catastrophes. This movie is tough to talk about because to me, it is unclear what message the filmmaker is trying to make. I am unsure if the director is mocking the subjects or is just a weird chick who has pieced this weird movie together in a weird way. She has the subjects re-create scenarios they have been in, or might be in one day. She gives them over-sized fake props (like a gigantic telephone to call someone with) and the stilted dialogue that comes from their lips makes them look silly and/or stupid. Plus she makes herself a part of the movie as it progresses, but is shot from the back or her side, so we never really get to see her. Plus she has a high-pitched strange voice, an accent that might come from knowing various languages and having grown up in close proximity to multiple countries and also has a speech impediment. All of this mixed together makes her presence rather cartoon-ish and sometimes off-putting. I am unsure if her goal was to make these men look stupid for spending their time working so many hours for something which will probably never happen, so they are wasting their time as well as so much money that could go for more important causes. Or if she is just a quirky lady who likes to come at this subject in a wild and wacky way. Avoid this one unless you like really weird shit! Just watch the trailer if you don't believe me!!

 

[cocotaffy]

Saw Get Out. It was a very trippy movie. I'm not a horror buff, so had to close my eyes quite a bit at the end.

It's a provocative movie, and leaves you with lots to discuss. I didn't quite get the grandparents at first, but think I understand them now. But one thing that struck me was:

Anyhow, lots of food for thought.

You got me intrigued even though I don't watch horror/scary movies anymore. After reading the synopsis, it looks like it's a horror movie which makes you think, quite rare.

I finally watched the Salesman, nominated for an Oscar in the foreign movie category, and I recommend it. First off, the two main leads, an Iranian couple, are wonderful, you can't stop watching the movie in part thanks to their riveting performances. It's a slow burner yet quite tense. You see a face of Iran you'll never see in any western media, nothing political about it just people trying to leave their lives. People from different layers of society who we see react to an event changing the main characters' life. It's one of those movie which stays with you.

 

[mrr50]

I think I would have been happier viewing La La Land if there had not been such over the top love for it. It is a good, enjoyable movie, but I went in thinking it was going to be the best thing ever. Well, no...it is a good, enjoyable movie though.

 

[Vash01]

You got me intrigued even though I don't watch horror/scary movies anymore. After reading the synopsis, it looks like it's a horror movie which makes you think, quite rare.

I finally watched the Salesman, nominated for an Oscar in the foreign movie category, and I recommend it. First off, the two main leads, an Iranian couple, are wonderful, you can't stop watching the movie in part thanks to their riveting performances. It's a slow burner yet quite tense. You see a face of Iran you'll never see in any western media, nothing political about it just people trying to leave their lives. People from different layers of society who we see react to an event changing the main characters' life. It's one of those movie which stays with you.

I plan on seeing all the foreign language nominated movies, including the Salesman. I wish the theatres here showed these movies. Until last year the theatre in Scottsdale was showing mostly foreign films and art films. They fell under the spell of Hollywood and started showing the same crappy movies as other theatres. It was called 'remodeling'. I was really upset. Now I gave to wait fir the dvds.

I saw Captain Fantastic last night, only because Viggo has been nominated for best actor by practically every award. This is such an obscure movie! Why couldn't they release it in November? I had not even heard of it until Viggo got the GG nomination. It's a good movie, but why such a weird title? It made me believe it must be one of the summer blockbusters which I usually avoid.

The scenery in the Pacific Northwest is gorgeous- not surprising, but I had not seen these isolated areas. The humor was good in places and crude in others. I am sure there are people that live like this, to avoid the current 'normal' lifestyle that makes people obese, eating the wrong food, and the traditional politics. Both are extremes.

One thing that really bothered me about this movie was that Leslie was mentioned as a Buddhist. She wanted her ashes to be flushed down the toilet? Buddhists would never do that. Though I don't have first hand knowledge about this, I think a more logical way would be for the ashes to be sent into a river, ocean- a natural body of flowing water. In this case, the family lived in natural surroundings - they could have easily found a stream, a waterfall, or even a pretty spot for the ashes. But Hollywood wanted their 'Toilet' in it. Also Buddhists don't kill. She didn't mind killing animals for food? The movie is guilty of spreading wrong information about a religion. Why couldn't they consult with someone? I suspect there are other things that are wrong in the movie but this is the one I found glaring.

I would give the movie 7/10 but only because of Viggo's acting. Otherwise 5 or 6.

 

[smurfy]

Yesterday was the 2nd Saturday of the Best Picture Nominees at AMC:

Moonlight- I had seen before and was even better on 2nd viewing. I just love this movie. The cinematography was amazing - I felt like a fly on the wall in personal scenes. All the acting was great, and appreciate the continuity between 3 actors playing the same part at different ages.

Lion - I really loved it, and as I had read - the first part with the young actor Sunny - was just the best. Dev Patel was good, and the last few moments of the movie really got me. I am glad Dev Patel got a nomination. Beautiful story.

Hacksaw Ridge - good war movie. I am glad I had read ahead of time that the second half was much like the beginning of Saving Private Ryan. I like surprises, but I like to know blood and gore and coming. Andrew Garfield was amazing and why he is not getting mentioned with Casey Affleck and Denzel Washington does not make sense.

Arrival - I really enjoyed it. Very cerebral, well done.

Hidden Figures - I enjoyed this too, but not sure if it is 'best picture'. It is a little too Hollywoodish to me. The storyline is important, but it seemed standard to me, with a great cast. Also Taraji P Henson and Octavia Spencer seemed to have equal starring roles, not one leading the other supporting. Kevin Costner was excellent.

I love this annual event. It sounds daunting, but seeing 4 or 5 great movies in 1 day is enthralling and fun. I also allow myself to eat junk food all day.

 

[Vash01]

I plan on seeing Moonlight later. I was reluctant to see it earlier because I heard it had three different parts.

I want a distraction from Trump's speech Tuesday night, so I will most probably see a movie, and it may be Moonlight.

 

[smurfy]

I plan on seeing Moonlight later. I was reluctant to see it earlier because I heard it had three different parts.

I want a distraction from Trump's speech Tuesday night, so I will most probably see a movie, and it may be Moonlight.

3 different parts? It is a coming of age story of a boy, at 3 stages in his life, about 10 years apart each time.
I love Moonlight - but it can be depressing - so as a distraction? just be aware it is very sad/disturbing at times.

 

[Buzz]

I plan on seeing Moonlight later. I was reluctant to see it earlier because I heard it had three different parts.

I want a distraction from Trump's speech Tuesday night, so I will most probably see a movie, and it may be Moonlight.

Thanks for the reminder! I think I will go see Kedi on Tuesday!

 

[peibeck]

I went to all 5 of the final Best Picture nominees yesterday as well, and pretty much agree with @smurfy on all of them.

To me "Moonlight" was the best of the films today, and IMO the best of all the nominated films. I could see why it would not appeal to everyone, but for me it was the most emotionally honest and moving movie of the 9 Best Picture nominees.

"Lion" was very good as well, and the young actor who plays Saroo was so amazing. I think if he had been nominated, he would have won; he just broke my heart.

"Hacksaw Ridge" was okay, but I felt the story just plodded along in places. It seemed like a very old fashioned type war-movie to me, despite the pacifist message.

"Arrival" I actually enjoyed more on a second viewing, but to me the final 20-or-so minutes do not really work, and there is not a real emotional payoff or climax to the film and that hampers it.

"Hidden Figures" was okay, but like @smurfy said it seems like the most "commercial" of all the pictures in this field. I was really looking forward to this and was a bit let down, because I just felt the script wasn't up to snuff. And while I thought she was good, I was a bit surprised that Octavia Spencer got the Oscar nod of the three ladies. She's great (as always) but it's definitely the least showy part of the three major characters in the movie.

I still predict a "LaLa Land" win, but my vote would be for "Moonlight."