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

[Buzz]

Thanks for posting!!!

And I'm enjoying the lovely Chris Pratt and Company in the new Guardians of the Galaxy trailer. I don't know if it has be posted and apologies if it is already here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duGqrYw4usE

Marvel!!! Take my money please!!!

 

[Tesla]

And I'm enjoying the lovely Chris Pratt and Company in the new Guardians of the Galaxy trailer. I don't know if it has be posted and apologies if it is already here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duGqrYw4usE

I want a baby groot, RIGHT NOW!

 

[skatingfan5]

Do you remember the names of the picture books?

"Stone Girl, Bone Girl: The Story of Mary Anning" and "Rare Treasure: Mary Anning and Her Remarkable Discoveries".

 

[watchthis!!]

I have a question for someone who has seen Florence Foster Jenkins. Did they use a lot of make-up, or even prosthetics, on Hugh Grant? I saw a clip of him in that movie and it looked like he was aged (quite a bit) in a way that I didn't think they could do with just make-up. Or is it possible that Hugh hasn't been in a big movie for a while and hasn't bothered to go the plastic surgery route in his time off?

Marvel!!! Take my money please!!!

 

[Kasey]

He looked the same in Man From U.N.C.L.E. I think that's how he's aging....I think he looks great!

 

[Vash01]

I have a question for someone who has seen Florence Foster Jenkins. Did they use a lot of make-up, or even prosthetics, on Hugh Grant? I saw a clip of him in that movie and it looked like he was aged (quite a bit) in a way that I didn't think they could do with just make-up. Or is it possible that Hugh hasn't been in a big movie for a while and hasn't bothered to go the plastic surgery route in his time off?

Not Hugh Grant but I think Meryl had plenty of padding on her body and probably some prosthetics on her face. Hugh Grant is aging well.

 

[PeterG]

Trailers For Movies Released 2017-03-03rd
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuI4-fSHhipTxLZ5GR6knwhJkfC0aK2WB

Lots of documentaries this week. Two that almost made my list this week were Lavender and Catfight. The trailer for Lavender looks good, but vague. So I checked imdb.com for more info and the user review is scathing, so I'm skipping it. And I love the cast for Catfight, as well as the premise for the movie. But so much of the trailer has Oh and Heche beating the crap out of each other in the most violent way I might have ever seen women fight. That's too much for me, so I'm out on that on as well. Luckily there's lots of other good stuff to choose from.


March 3rd - Logan - Adventure with Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Boyd Holbrook, Richard E. Grant, Eriq La Salle, Elise Neal

March 3rd - Before I Fall (Wide) – Mystery with Zoey Deutch, Jennifer Beals, Logan Miller and Nicholas Lea [The X-Files]

March 3rd - The Shack (Wide) – Fantasy with Sam Worthington, Octavia Spencer, Tim McGraw, Alice Braga, Radha Mitchell and Graham Greene

March 3rd - The Last Laugh (Limited) – Comedy documentary with Rob Reiner, Sarah Silverman, Mel Brooks, Gilbert Gottfried and Jeffrey Ross

March 3rd - The Last Word (Limited) – Comedy drama with Shirley MacLaine, Amanda Seyfried, Philip Baker Hall, Tom Everett Scott and Anne Heche

March 3rd - The Freedom to Marry (Limited) – Documentary. From imdb.com: “Over the last four decades, the concept of same-sex couples marrying went from a 'preposterous notion' to the national law. The Freedom to Marry movement is now known as one of the most successful civil rights campaigns in the modern history, but change did not arrive by happenstance. This victory was carefully planned and orchestrated over decades.”

March 3rd - Table 19 (Limited) – Comedy drama with Anna Kendrick, Lisa Kudrow, Craig Robinson, Margo Martindale, Stephen Merchant and June Squibb

March 3rd - Burlesque: Heart of the Glitter Tribe (Limited) – Documentary. From imdb.com: “BURLESQUE: HEART OF THE GLITTER TRIBE is a documentary feature about the passion and personalities at the heart of today's new wave of burlesque. On stage and in candid conversation, twelve of today's hottest performers reveal the naked truth about an exotic world where artifice is a route to authenticity and pretending to be someone else is the ultimate journey to become yourself.”

March 3rd - Wolves (Limited) – Drama with Michael Shannon and Carla Gugino

March 3rd - Ben-Gurion: Epilogue (Limited) – Documentary. From imdb.com: “Based on archive material, the film reveals the final years of Israel's founder, David Ben-Gurion. Excluded from leadership, he allowed himself a hindsight perspective on the Zionist enterprise.”

March 3rd - Lavender (Limited) – Thriller with Dermot Mulroney, Abbie Cornish and Justin Long

March 3rd - The Human Surge (Limited – New York) – Documentary. From google: “A rumination on labor and leisure in a digital world.”

March 3rd - The Institute (Limited) – Thriller with James Franco, Pamela Anderson, Topher Grace, Josh Duhamel, Eric Roberts, Lori Singer and Tim Blake Nelson

March 1st - Contemporary Color (Limited – New York) – Documentary. From imdb.com: “In the summer of 2015, legendary musician David Byrne staged an event at Brooklyn's Barclays Center to celebrate the art of Color Guard: synchronized dance routines involving flags, rifles, and sabers. Recruiting performers … to collaborate on original pieces with 10 color guard teams from across the US and Canada, Contemporary Color is a beautifully filmed snapshot of a one-of-a-kind live event.”

March 3rd - Catfight (Limited) – Comedy drama with Sandra Oh, Anne Heche, Alicia Silverstone, Tituss Burgess and Dylan Baker

March 3rd - The Settlers (Limited – New York) – Documentary. From imdb.com: “An intimate look at life inside the Jewish settlements in the West Bank.”

March 3rd - Love & Taxes (Limited) – Comedy, new cast. From imdb.com: “Love & Taxes is a riveting comic tale of seven years of tax avoidance. Following the possibly real-life exploits of Josh Kornbluth, an autobiographical monologist, Love & Taxes is a comedy that blends solo performance and scripted scenes to bring the subjective reality of the storyteller hilariously to life.”

March 3rd - Donald Cried (Limited) – Comedy drama, new cast. From imdb.com: “With sudden passing of his grandmother, Peter Latang returns to his hometown and encounters his long lost, childhood friend, Donald Treebeck. What begins as a simple favor, turns into a long day's journey into the past.”

March 3rd - Nakom (Limited) – Drama, new cast. From imdb.com: “Upon his father's sudden death, a talented medical student must return to his home village in Ghana to fight for his family's survival.”

March 3rd - Junction 48 (Limited) – Israeli drama, new cast. From imdb.com: “Junction 48 is the love story of two young Palestinian hip-hop artists who use their music to fight against both the external oppression of Israeli society and the internal repression of their own crime-ridden, conservative community. It depicts a new generation of young Arabs who seek normality through their love and music - and against all odds.”

March 3rd - Headshot (Limited) – Indonesian action comedy drama. From imdb.com: “Uwais plays a young man who washes ashore, an amnesiac with a serious head injury whose past comes back to haunt him shortly after being nursed back to health by a young doctor. Violence ensues. Sweet, sweet violence.”

 

[Buzz]

Ta-Nehisi Coates talks about Black Panther and creating black superheroes.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/02/...p-stories-below&WT.nav=top-stories-below&_r=0

 

[cocotaffy]

Finally watched The girl on a train. I enjoy Emily Blunt's performance, she made the psychological journey of the main character very interesting. Provided I have no experience with alcoholism, her portrayal looks genuine. However, I didn't care for the

Spoiler

murder

subplot, it kind of cheapens the movie to a lifetime TV movie. I also found the supporting roles were not acting too good especially the nanny and the new wife. I enjoy Justin Theroux but his role is quite limited.

 

[watchthis!!]

I watched Paul last night, a comedy from Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. It features mainly American actors, so it's a nice British/American combination of talent. The movie is about Pegg and Frost on a trip to America to attend Comic-Con and then go on a road trip of sites famous for UFO and alien stories. Along the way they meet Paul, who like his cousin E.T., just wants to get home. Paul is nowhere near as cute as E.T. of course! Seth Rogan is the voice of Paul and the movie includes Jason Bateman, Kristin Wiig, Sigourney Weaver, Bill Hader, Jeffrey Tambor, Jane Lynch and others that aren't coming to me right now. I found the two best lines of the movie were given to women, first Blythe Danner and then Kristin Wiig. Couldn't help but laugh out loud to each of their lines. I rate this one: worthy of a sequel.

The trailer for Paul: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdHUQtnJsyQ

 

[smurfy]

I saw The Founder with Michael Keaton. It was very good, all the actors were very good, especially the McDonald Brothers - Nick Offernan and John Carroll Lynch. It shows how Kroc ripped off the McDonald brothers. I enjoyed learning about how/why the McDonald brothers came up with McDonalds. The movie showed Kroc as smart, but it was the McDonalds and then Sonneborn that shared their information and ideas that really led to his success. The movie was very well paced.

 

[all_empty]

I screened "Beauty and the Beast" tonight.

I wanted to like it, but it lacked charm.

Oddly, even the famous ballroom scene didn't move me, and it was oddly dark (lack of light).

They added some songs that sounded very showtune-y (including this long Dan Stevens tower-climbing number that seemed to drag on).

The last five minutes are the most emotional, though not because of the beauty nor the beast. The ending credits are beautiful, so stick around for that.

If there was an Emma that was wonderful, it was Thompson, not Watson.

 

[Jay42]

I watched Paul last night, a comedy from Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. It features mainly American actors, so it's a nice British/American combination of talent. The movie is about Pegg and Frost on a trip to America to attend Comic-Con and then go on a road trip of sites famous for UFO and alien stories. Along the way they meet Paul, who like his cousin E.T., just wants to get home. Paul is nowhere near as cute as E.T. of course! Seth Rogan is the voice of Paul and the movie includes Jason Bateman, Kristin Wiig, Sigourney Weaver, Bill Hader, Jeffrey Tambor, Jane Lynch and others that aren't coming to me right now. I found the two best lines of the movie were given to women, first Blythe Danner and then Kristin Wiig. Couldn't help but laugh out loud to each of their lines. I rate this one: worthy of a sequel.

The trailer for Paul: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdHUQtnJsyQ

I love Paul. It actually came to my city when we had more than one movie theatre and my brother and I made sure to see it as we were both already pretty big fans of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. It's such a fun movie.

I screened "Beauty and the Beast" tonight.

I wanted to like it, but it lacked charm.

Oddly, even the famous ballroom scene didn't move me, and it was oddly dark (lack of light).

They added some songs that sounded very showtune-y (including this long Dan Stevens tower-climbing number that seemed to drag on).

The last five minutes are the most emotional, though not because of the beauty nor the beast. The ending credits are beautiful, so stick around for that.

If there was an Emma that was wonderful, it was Thompson, not Watson.

I have to be honest, this is both what I was expecting and what I was afraid would happen. The trailers were so underwhelming. I wanted to be excited about it because I really like the live action Cinderella and Jungle Book movies but Beauty and the Beast just felt forced from the first trailer I saw.

 

[Aussie Willy]

I saw Alone in Berlin with Emma Thompson, Brendan Gleeson and Daniel Bruhl. It based on a true story about a couple that left postcards with anti-Nazi messages around Berlin during the second world war. It was good but not great. Thompson put in a very restrained performance and Gleeson was good. I felt Bruhl was a bit melodramatic. Still worth seeing.

The other film I saw was The White Helmets on Neflix tonight which won the Oscar for Best Short Documentary. Around 40 minutes in length, it is about the rescue workers in Syria who are saving lives of those who are injured but also retrieving dead bodies. Pretty powerful stuff. The men the film focuses on are very humble and selfless and are allowed to tell their stories. Definitely worth watching.

 

[all_empty]

A few people have PM'd me about the "gay" scenes in "Beauty and the Beast."

Josh Gad plays a fawning, sometimes foppish sidekick to Luke Evan's Gaston. There's a lot of innuendo, and at one point his character deters Gaston's female admires saying that they don't have a chance with him.

There is a scene at the end that nods to drag and one where two men embrace physically; which the members of my screening cheered (I'd say 50% of the male attendees were gay).

 

[lmarie086]

I screened "Beauty and the Beast" tonight.

I wanted to like it, but it lacked charm.

Oddly, even the famous ballroom scene didn't move me, and it was oddly dark (lack of light).

They added some songs that sounded very showtune-y (including this long Dan Stevens tower-climbing number that seemed to drag on).

The last five minutes are the most emotional, though not because of the beauty nor the beast. The ending credits are beautiful, so stick around for that.

If there was an Emma that was wonderful, it was Thompson, not Watson.

Like Nell411, while this is what I've been expecting, I was also hoping it would not be the case. Every time I saw a new trailer I was super excited, and then I'd watch that new trailer again and it felt lackluster, which disappointing.

Part of the problem, for me, is that I don't love Emma Watson's acting. I love her as a person, but I don't think I've truly enjoyed her acting since very early in the Harry Potter movies. I've been hoping that 'Beauty and the Beast' would be the film to change my mind.

I'm also hoping that the new 'Beauty and the Beast' song with Ariana Grande and John Legend sounds better in the movie than it does in the released single...because I absolutely hated it and silly or not, it ruined a bit of my excitement for the movie.

I'm still going to see it because I am addicted to this story, but I just picked up the 2014 French version (it's finally available on dvd in the US!!) and it wouldn't surprise me if it ends up being my favorite of the two new versions.

 

[VGThuy]

I had a feeling just based on the trailers and commercials that that would be the case. The colors are not eye-catching but dull, everything looks way too artificial and computer generated (even regular background sets), there's no wow-factor to the cinematography, and Emma Watson doesn't seem like she's improved much as an actress and her singing is well.... I think the issue for me as to why this movie hasn't really piqued my interest much is because this "live action" version looks just as animated as the film except a lot more lifeless. I may give a watch and see if I change my mind from my initial impressions.

 

[watchthis!!]

On the radio this morning they talked about rumours about Ryan Gosling being the next James Bond. I did a google news search, but nothing came up for this. They were saying that Gosling appeared so calm and collected on the Oscar stage when the whole best picture thing happened. And that this is how James Bond would be able to handle things. But during the news search I did, there was actually an article about Gosling laughing while it happened. Which some could take as very disrespectful, but my guess would be it was more about being nervous and laughing to let off steam. I actually wondered if the laughter came before the mistake was brought to light (I think I heard that two minutes and 40 seconds passed before the (third) La La Land producer that was speaking got interrupted. If Gosling laughed before the mistake, I wonder if it was a self-depricating moment when he was thinking, "Wow, my movie just swept the Oscars and the only category where it lost was mine!" I know, they probably lost some of their technical categories, but I'm just wondering thoughts that might have gone through his head. I wonder what other examples are out there where a movie won everything except for one leading acting category and how that person felt...if they or others considered them to then be "the wink leak". Anyway, back to Gosling as 007. The radio people said he looked too boy-ish to be Bond and too thin as well. Although one of the announcers mentioned that he looked pretty buff in Crazy, Stupid Love. Can't disagree with her there.

 

[VGThuy]

Your post inspired me to look up if there has been anything written about whether the Bond people would ever think about hiring an American actor to play James Bond, and I came across this crazy website.

Yikes.

http://danielcraigisnotbond.com/fromconnerytograig.html

 

[MacMadame]

So this person thinks George Lazenby, the worst Bond ever is worse than Daniel Craig? Um, okay.

 

[manhn]

I liked or loved Emma in Perks of Being a Wallflower. Yes, her range is limited but when she is in that zone, she is immensely appealing to me.

 

[PeterG]

Beyond The Lights (2014) totally took me by surprise. Whenever someone does a movie about a pop star, the tone is always light and fluffy with very little substance to be found. This is totally different. And that`s all thanks to director Gina Prince-Bythewood, who is also the sole writer of this movie. Prince-Brythewood`s previous work includes The Secret Life of Bees (Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, Queen Latifah) and Love & Basketball (Omar Epps, Alfre Woodard, Dennis Haysbert). Those two movies have a 7.2 and 7.3 rating at imdb.com, anything in the 7`s is pretty high. Interesting that I don`t remember Prince-Bythewood coming up in any of the discussions around female directors. Or black directors for that matter. Which is a shame, because she`s someone we need to be keeping our eye on.

Anyway, back to Beyond The Lights. Great script and performances, wonderful to see Minnie Drive have something to dig her teeth into, even though she has too little screen time here for the talent she shows on screen. Driver plays the Mom of the lead character Noni, the aspiring pop star, who is played by the gorgeous Gugu Mbatha-Raw. She will be playing Esma in the upcoming Beauty and the Beast and previous movies include Miss Sloane and Concussion. Her love interest is played by Nate Parker, who we`ve talked recently about being the star and director of The Birth of a Nation. They make a great screen couple and rise to the level of the script they`ve been given. I`m not sure if there were any pop star movie cliché's in this, none that I can think of (I saw this a while back, but didn`t get around to posting about it until now). I`d recommend this movie to anyone unless they hate rising pop star films. Otherwise, check it out!

Your post inspired me to look up if there has been anything written about whether the Bond people would ever think about hiring an American actor to play James Bond, and I came across this crazy website.

Yikes.

http://danielcraigisnotbond.com/fromconnerytograig.html

Yikes, indeed. This sounds like something that was written when people heard that a blonde actor had been cast to be the new James Bond. And the website creator forgot their password and couldn`t get back in to change this (or just take the site down). Who doesn`t love Craig as Bond now? I`m surprised that the producers aren`t begging Craig to sign up for another ten 007 movies. It doesn`t sound like Craig hates being Bond. Maybe he wants more money. Regardless, I wish they`d find a way to make him stay.

 

[made_in_canada]

I liked or loved Emma in Perks of Being a Wallflower. Yes, her range is limited but when she is in that zone, she is immensely appealing to me.

That's the movie I loved her in.

 

[Buzz]

Not going go see Logan. It got great reviews from critics and fans alike but the movie is way too dark, depressing, and "realistic" for my liking. I have no interest in seeing a superhero western as it is being described. Reminds me more of Mad Max actually.

 

[Erin]

That's the movie I loved her in.

I agree - she was terrific there. I'm trying to think of what else I've seen her in post-Harry Potter and can't think of much so I don't know that she has been given a whole lot of opportunity to show her range.

I'm kind of amused by the discussion on Emma Watson's limited range because I feel like just a little while ago people were complaining about Emma Stone's award wins for La La Land and were saying that Watson would have been better in the role than Stone. I realize it probably wasn't the same people saying it but it just goes to show there old saying that you can can please some of the people some of the time but you can't please all of the people all of the time is true.

 

[Aussie Willy]

Saw an interesting movie on Netflix last night. A German satire called Look Who's Back. It is about the real Hitler coming back into 2014 and everyone thinks he is a Hitler impersonator and comedian. His re-emergence is caught on camera by a filmmaker who then uses him to do a documentary. It is a fictional story but also they must have done a Borat where Hitler just goes out into the world and talks to people and gets their opinions on topics. If this is the case it was quite interesting how calm people were when discussing their political views. Some people reacted negatively but many of the ones they showed were expressing opinions about immigrants that depending on which side you are on could be offensive. As he gets more attuned to his new environment Hitler becomes pretty savvy and up to date with the modern world (including being able to use the internet) then becomes a TV star. Another part of the story is the battle for leadership at a TV station. I think regardless of your political feelings there is stuff in there that could be very offensive (such as the scene where they are developing anti-Jewish jokes). In the context of today's political situation, it is very relevant so could be worth watching.

 

[Buzz]

Teaser trailer for Deadpool 2.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wLeGWcVeIZ4

 

[Aussie Willy]

Teaser trailer for Deadpool 2.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wLeGWcVeIZ4

OMG that is so f*cking funny. And more bad 80s pop music.

 

[MacMadame]

Not going go see Logan. It got great reviews from critics and fans alike but the movie is way too dark, depressing, and "realistic" for my liking. I have no interest in seeing a superhero western as it is being described. Reminds me more of Mad Max actually.

I had planned to see it anyway as the trailers look great and I love the Wolverine character but this description makes me want to run out and see it even more!

We decided to see Hidden Figures today as I figure it won't remain in theaters much longer while Logan just got here. I cannot say how much I loved this movie. I actually teared up when the women from the west computers walked into the computer lab. A lot of people have been saying it's a great movie but not Oscar-worthy. I disagree. The movie made me really care about those women and it made the historical events where we already knew how they turned out still be exciting.

 

[PeterG]

Five Minutes of Heaven is the mis-leading title of a drama about two men who meet thirty years after some actions of their youth create dire consequences for both of them. The movie is set in northern Ireland in 1975 where a teenager named Alistair is tasked by the Irish Republican Army to kill a British loyalist. When he does this, he is unaware that the boy who witnesses this is actually the younger brother of the man Alistair has just killed. Liam Neeson plays the older Alistair and two-time BAFTA nominee James Nesbitt (Bloody Sunday, The Missing) plays the man who was the young boy who witnessed the murder. The two are brought together to be part of a television program that is about reconciliation. In a way, this movie is basically a filmed stage play...and quite a good one at that. The script is very good as are the performances of the two leading men. It's a fairly intense film. One to watch when you want something substantial to take on, but not one to watch when you want something light and fun.