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

[manhn]

I saw Moonlight last night. I quite liked the first act, the second act was kinda snoozy, loved the third act. Uneven, to say the least. Well, it's better than Manchester By the Sea. But it ain't no Jackie.

 

[PeterG]

#2 viewing of the day: Violet & Daisy. Saoirse Ronan and Alexis Bledel play young hit-women whose next hit (James Gandolfini) is not what they expect and everything takes a turn for these two women. The story and the tone (direction) are quite different, so very interesting and watchable. The movie is kind of quirky and weird, but not overly so...some movies that go this route go too far and can alienate many viewers. I thought the director did a good job here with approaching that line, but not crossing it. Well, not crossing the line over-all...there were a couple of moments that were kind of wild (but also quite funny if you like black humour). Everyone in the cast is great, including very small parts played by Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Danny Trejo. Glad to have finally been able to see this one.

I saw Moonlight last night. I quite liked the first act, the second act was kinda snoozy, loved the third act. Uneven, to say the least. Well, it's better than Manchester By the Sea. But it ain't no Jackie.

I'm not sure if Jackie is on my To See list. I'll have to check when I get home.

 

[CantALoop]

What...nobody's watching movies this week? Or is everybody catching up on the Worlds coverage they have recorded? I've got about ten hours to watch still, but I'm going to space it out over the next few months in the off-season. Although last season I finished up watching various Grand Prix event coverage just a few weeks before this season started.

Apparently not, since Boss Baby was #1 at the box office. The idiocracy is real

 

[PeterG]

#3 Netflix Viewing: Trevor Noah: Afraid of the Dark

#4 Netflix Viewing: As Above, So Below

The Trevor Noah one is his first comedy special filmed live in New York, which he says during the program was a dream of his since he was quite young. I like Noah, so I liked this. But I've seen better comedy specials. He seemed to have fewer topics that he covered in this special compared to the broader range of topics that other comedians cover in their specials. But I did nod off a little here and there, so I could be wrong.

As Above, So Below is a 2014 horror mystery thriller which is about an archaeologist or historian or something or other, whose father killed himself trying to discover the secrets to the work he was spending his time on. His daughter takes on his project as a way of fulfilling his dream and trying to understand how and why her father ended his life as he did. Her explorations lead her back to France where the things she has discovered help her understand that the catacombs underneath the city of Paris hold great power (and wealth) so she assembles a team to explore said catacombs after a guide is recommended to her, who she meets in a nightclub. So you know the guy has got to be good. He brings along a few buddies and down they go. This movie isn't half bad actually, but it's one of those hand-held camera movies where there's tons of shaky footage and dropped cameras and no lighting here and there, etc. But it's a decent enough popcorn flick when you want something somewhat intense, yet not overly serious either.

Apparently not, since Boss Baby was #1 at the box office. The idiocracy is real

The baby really kicked Scarlett Johansson's butt. I thought Ghost In The Shell would do much better, but it debuted at #3 below Beauty and the Beast, making only just under 19 million. Boss Baby made just over 50 million. They both played in the 3500 to 3700 theatre range, but Boss Baby made over $13,000 per theatre while Ghost In The Shell made only just over $5,000 per theatre. The budget for Ghost In The Shell is 110 million....hope it makes a lot of money internationally. Johansson seems to be the leading female action hero these days, I want her to succeed so the doors open for other women to get the same chances she's been having recently.

 

[PeterG]

#5 Netflix Viewing: Goodbye World

We had a nice buffet dinner after the house repair were done and then my friends joined me to watch my final movie of the day. Imdb.com lists this movie as a comedy drama, which is crazy because maybe a few times a character might say something funny, it's not a comedy at all. But it is an interesting drama about what would happen when something occurs which could mean the collapse of society...but instead of there being great treks to safety or big battles or zombies...what if it's just a group of people trying to figure out what's next? We've seen all those things before, so I was glad to see eight adults join together to make the best of a crazy situation. Even if things don't go all that well. There is a fair bit of melodrama between the various people...one of my friends said that it was like The Big Chill meets the apocalypse. So yeah, they did overdo the couples struggling through their relationships...at the worst possible time. But I enjoyed this one because it's the apocalyptic tale that feels most like what my life would be like if things started going to hell in a handbasket. The movie's biggest stars are Adrien Grenier, Ben McKenzie and Gaby Hoffman. You might also recognize Caroline Dhavernas (Hannibal, Mary Kills People), Mark Webber and a really handsome black guy named Scott Mescudi, who after a bit of digging, I discovered was rapper Kid Cudi.

 

[Jay42]

The baby really kicked Scarlett Johansson's butt. I thought Ghost In The Shell would do much better, but it debuted at #3 below Beauty and the Beast, making only just under 19 million. Boss Baby made just over 50 million. They both played in the 3500 to 3700 theatre range, but Boss Baby made over $13,000 per theatre while Ghost In The Shell made only just over $5,000 per theatre. The budget for Ghost In The Shell is 110 million....hope it makes a lot of money internationally. Johansson seems to be the leading female action hero these days, I want her to succeed so the doors open for other women to get the same chances she's been having recently.

I will fully admit that part of this post is based off of supposition and assumptions because I haven't seen The Great Wall or Ghost in the Shell and I'm not currently planning to. This is based off of things I've read around the internet and the box office performance.

I do wonder if the reason for the poor performance of both movies is because of the whitewashing, or supposed whitewashing from what I've read about The Great Wall, of the casts. There was a lot of anger about the casting of Scarlett Johansson as the main character as opposed to a Japanese actress. In the case of The Great Wall, it was accused of bringing in Matt Damon strictly to have a white person in the movie as opposed to his character being necessary to the plot as a white person and having Matt Damon's character embody the "White Savior" trope. Both things, which I have read later from people who saw the movie, weren't actually true. But apparently the trailer didn't indicate that very well and the movie didn't really seem to be marketed very well in North America.

As for Ghost in the Shell, I've read a lot more about that than I did The Great Wall. I seem to be adjacent to a lot of anime fans even though I've never been that into it myself. People were/are pretty unhappy about the amount of white washing in GitS. From some articles that I've come across over the weekend, the way the whole movie presents race and the perception of race is apparently very problematic. I'm not sure if people have the same patience for whitewashing like that in movies anymore. I still wonder why they couldn't cast someone like Rinko Kikuchi or even Rila Fukushima (from The Wolverine) as the Major. Rinko Kikuchi has a degree of recognition in North America, maybe not a lot, but some. Rila Fukushima is apparently in GitS but it seems to be a pretty minor part because she's under the "See full cast" cut on IMDb.

I know that the success of Dr. Strange despite accusations of whitewashing would make something that discredits my theory. I chose not to mention it because it's a Marvel movie and those seem to exist on a totally different scale. I am intrigued to see what happens with the live action Death Note movie in August. It also consists of a main cast made up primarily of white people.

 

[watchthis!!]

I watched a documentary called Island of Lemurs: Madagascar and I was confused because after 40 minutes, the credits started rolling. I thought this movie was made for a theatrical run, but who's going to pay ten bucks for a 40 minute movie? So I just checked now, thinking it must have been a DVD release, but it made 10 million at the theatres. It must have played with something else, but the DVD has no other accompanying film and in fact, absolutely ZERO dvd extras. Weird. Okay, so the movie. It was decent enough. But it was slight, and I don't mean that just in running time, although that is definitely true. Morgan Freeman narrates the movie, which is always a plus, but the lady most featured in the movie, who has studied lemurs for a while, doesn't have that much to say. It's almost as if the movie was made for young children, so they gave the audience very little information to digest. The cinematography is great and the sequence of the bouncing, dancing lemurs was joyful. I just wished we could have gotten a full movie with a fair bit more information. If they wanted to have something for young children, maybe they could have done a full movie and then a separate edit aimed at a different age group. Overall I am glad I got to see this, but felt just a tiny bit disappointed when it was over as well.

Trailer for Island of Lemurs: Madagascar - Island of Lemurs: Madagascar Official Trailer #1 (2014) - Nature Documentary HD

Apparently not, since Boss Baby was #1 at the box office. The idiocracy is real

Are there ever any showings of movies like this where parents can leave their kids? Or go in a separate room while the kids are in the theatre? If not, I wonder how many parents nap while the movie is playing so they can get a bit of a break. Or Dad takes all the kids (and maybe the neighbours kids) to the movies while the wife/other parents gets some alone time.

 

[PeterG]

Trailers For Movies Released 2017-04-07th
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuI4-fSHhipRNxOstqc6OWJUTtrIs3Gr0

Notations made for two movies that have had more than one proposed release date. I thought this usually meant a potentially problematic release (a film that studio's don't have much faith in?). But with these two, both films look good, so maybe sometimes it's to make sure the editing is perfect or that the movie is being released at the best possible date (so it won't be in competition with something too similar, etc.). And on a totally unrelated note, what do you think of the film synopsis of the Michelle Rodriguez/Sigourney Weaver movie The Assignment: After waking up and discovering that he has undergone gender reassignment surgery, an assassin seeks to find the doctor responsible. (Source: Imdb.com)

Apr. 7th 2017 NOT May 6th - Going in Style (Wide) – Crime comedy with Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Alan Arkin and Joey King

April 7th - Smurfs: The Lost Village (Wide) - Animated with Julia Roberts, Joe Manganiello, Michelle Rodriguez, Ariel Winter [Modern Family], Ellie Kemper, Mandy Patinkin, Rainn Wilson, Demi Lovato, Gordon Ramsay and Meghan Trainor

April 7th - The Case for Christ (Wide) – Drama with Mike Vogel, Erika Christensen, Faye Dunaway and Robert Forster

Apr. 7th NOT March 24th or 31st - Their Finest Hour (Limited) – Romantic comedy drama with Gemma Arterton, Sam Claflin, Bill Nighy, Jack Huston, Richard E. Grant, Jeremy Irons and Eddie Marsan

April 7th - Colossal (Limited) - Action sci-fi comedy with Dan Stevens, Anne Hathaway, Jason Sudeikis and Tim Blake Nelson

April 7th - Gifted (Limited) – Drama with Chris Evans, Jenny Slate and Octavia Spencer

April 7th - Mine (Limited) – War thriller with Armie Hammer and Tom Cullen [Downton Abbey, World Without End]

April 7th - Salt And Fire (Limited) – Thriller with Michael Shannon and Gael García Bernal

April 7th - Speech & Debate (Limited) – Comedy drama with Liam James [Psych, The Killing], Sarah Steele [The Good Wife], Austin P. McKenzie [When We Rise], Janeane Garofalo, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Kal Penn


April 7th - The Ticket (Limited) – Drama with Dan Stevens, Malin Akerman [Billions, Children’s Hospital] and Oliver Platt

April 7th - Win It All (Netflix) – Comedy with Keegan-Michael Key, Jake Johnson [New Girl] and Joe Lo Truglio [Brooklyn Nine-Nine]

April 7th - The Assignment (Limited) – Action thriller with Michelle Rodriguez, Sigourney Weaver, Tony Shalhoub and Anthony LaPaglia

April 7th - The Transfiguration (Limited) – Horror with new cast, Cannes Film Festival selection. From imdb.com: “When troubled teen Milo, who has a fascination with vampire lore, meets the equally alienated Sophie, the two form a bond that begins to blur Milo's fantasy into reality.”

April 7th - The Eyes (Limited) – Crime drama with Nicholas Turturro and Vincent Pastore
NO TRAILER AT YOUTUBE

April 7th - Alive and Kicking (Limited) – Musical documentary. From imdb.com: “Alive and Kicking gives the audience an intimate, insider's view into the culture of the current swing dance world while shedding light on issues facing modern society.”

April 7th - The Void (Limited) – Horror, new cast. From imdb.com: “Shortly after delivering a patient to an understaffed hospital, a police officer experiences strange and violent occurrences seemingly linked to a group of mysterious hooded figures.”

April 7th - Shot! The Psycho-Spiritual Mantra of Rock (Limited) – Documentary. From imdb.com: “A reckless joyride that delves deep into the mind of rock's greatest living photographer: Mick Rock.”

April 7th - All These Sleepless Nights (Limited) – Polish drama. From imdb.com: “Art school classmates Christopher and Michal…restlessly roam their city's streets in search of living forever inside the beautiful moment. Never content with answers, they push each experience to its breaking point, testing what it might mean to be truly awake in a world that seems satisfied to be asleep.”

April 7th - Graduation (Limited) – Romanian crime drama. From imdb.com: “A film about compromises and the implications of the parent's role.”

April 7th - Your Name (Limited) – Japanese animated drama. From imdb.com: “Two strangers find themselves linked in a bizarre way. When a connection forms, will distance be the only thing to keep them apart?”

 

[Vash01]

Finally watched The Hunt (Danish) on DVD. Very good. Once again, Mads Mikkelsen gives a masterful performance. All other actors are good too, particularly little Annika (SP?) who played Klara. Why doesn't an actor like Mikkelsen get an Oscar nomination? IIRC Roberto Benini is the only male actor to get an Oscar nomination for a foreign language film. There must be others, but I can't think of one right now. One thing is for sure. Danish movies are very good. Next on my list is Land of Mine, but I can't find it on Netflix.

 

[PeterG]

I will fully admit that part of this post is based off of supposition and assumptions because I haven't seen The Great Wall or Ghost in the Shell and I'm not currently planning to. This is based off of things I've read around the internet and the box office performance.

I do wonder if the reason for the poor performance of both movies is because of the whitewashing, or supposed whitewashing from what I've read about The Great Wall, of the casts. There was a lot of anger about the casting of Scarlett Johansson as the main character as opposed to a Japanese actress. In the case of The Great Wall, it was accused of bringing in Matt Damon strictly to have a white person in the movie as opposed to his character being necessary to the plot as a white person and having Matt Damon's character embody the "White Savior" trope. Both things, which I have read later from people who saw the movie, weren't actually true. But apparently the trailer didn't indicate that very well and the movie didn't really seem to be marketed very well in North America.

As for Ghost in the Shell, I've read a lot more about that than I did The Great Wall. I seem to be adjacent to a lot of anime fans even though I've never been that into it myself. People were/are pretty unhappy about the amount of white washing in GitS. From some articles that I've come across over the weekend, the way the whole movie presents race and the perception of race is apparently very problematic. I'm not sure if people have the same patience for whitewashing like that in movies anymore. I still wonder why they couldn't cast someone like Rinko Kikuchi or even Rila Fukushima (from The Wolverine) as the Major. Rinko Kikuchi has a degree of recognition in North America, maybe not a lot, but some. Rila Fukushima is apparently in GitS but it seems to be a pretty minor part because she's under the "See full cast" cut on IMDb.

I know that the success of Dr. Strange despite accusations of whitewashing would make something that discredits my theory. I chose not to mention it because it's a Marvel movie and those seem to exist on a totally different scale. I am intrigued to see what happens with the live action Death Note movie in August. It also consists of a main cast made up primarily of white people.

Discussion topic for the board: As white actors/actresses know there are a lack of acting roles for people of colour, is a white person's taking a role that was definitely originated for a person of colour...an act of racism? (Even if a subtle act of racism?)

 

[watchthis!!]

Alec Baldwin Trashes ‘Short, Scrawny’ Harrison Ford and 7 More Highlights From His New Memoir
https://ca.movies.yahoo.com/alec-baldwin-trashes-short-scrawny-harrison-ford-7-215158711.html

This looks like it could be quite a fun read. Baldwin talks about Harrison Ford(who replaced him in the Jack Ryan movies), Ben Affleck and Whitney Houston. He always talks about his early movies and overdosing while on the TV show Knot's Landing.

Discussion topic for the board: As white actors/actresses know there are a lack of acting roles for people of colour, is a white person's taking a role that was definitely originated for a person of colour...an act of racism? (Even if a subtle act of racism?)

I wonder if the actor/actress is the least responsible. Before them the screenwriters and before them the producers and before them the original author...who could demand that their character's race remains as written, right? Otherwise they wouldn't sell over the rights to their work?

 

[NinjaTurtles]

I wonder if the actor/actress is the least responsible. Before them the screenwriters and before them the producers and before them the original author...who could demand that their character's race remains as written, right? Otherwise they wouldn't sell over the rights to their work?

Rarely can you look to the original author. They sell the rights to their products long before a screenplay is ever written, let alone casting and production decisions are made. The deal is mainly financial and they mostly have no input into the final product, unless they are able to negotiate some kind of producer role.

Stephen King disliked Kubrick's adaptation of The Shining. Alan Moore straight up hates the adaptation of V for Vendetta...

 

[skatingguy]

Discussion topic for the board: As white actors/actresses know there are a lack of acting roles for people of colour, is a white person's taking a role that was definitely originated for a person of colour...an act of racism? (Even if a subtle act of racism?)

Yes.

 

[Buzz]

There is a Six Million Dollar Man remake plan for release on December 22nd and renamed The Six Billion Dollar Man. I loved the TV show and plan on seeing it but hope it's not a comedy.

 

[Jay42]

Stephen King disliked Kubrick's adaptation of The Shining. Alan Moore straight up hates the adaptation of V for Vendetta...

Alan Moore hates adaptations of his work, period. I don't think I've ever read anything nice from him on any of them. Considering how the movie V for Vendetta changes the reasons for V's actions I can understand that. I still love the movie though.

I have more thoughts about movie casting and racism but I'm going to type it out when I'm at home with my laptop. My iPad isn't being very cooperative right now.

 

[manhn]

Actors have a responsibility to know whether they can take on a role in a competent manner. At least actors with some clout. I won't really blame any young or hungry actor to take on any role that comes to them. If they don't look the part, they should know it. IMO, someone like Scarlett Johansson should be held to a higher standard than, say, the actress whose biggest role to date is playing the dead body on a procedural.

 

[smurfy]

I saw Beauty and the Beast today - afternoon matinee.
I really enjoyed it.
Work has been incredibly busy, auditors have been here, they left yesterday, and I took today off, as I had already worked more than my weekly hours by Thurs pm. It was a perfect movie for my mood - not taxing, just sit back and enjoy, easy to do, since I had seen the original animated version. I do not think I could of sat through anything taxing or draining.
I thought Luke Evans, Kevin Kline and Ewan McGregor and the general animated items/people were be the best part of the movie. I love Emma Watson, but she was nothing memorable in this movie, or it was the boringest part in the movie. Dan Stevens looks younger than when he was on Downton. The best parts were the ones I mentioned and Ian McKellan, Chip etc.

 

[Jay42]

I think ultimately the bulk of the responsibility for whitewashing roles should be placed on the production companies and the directors/casting directors. I think the decision to cast Scarlett Johansson in Ghost in the Shell probably had a lot to do with her ability to open a movie. Lucy made money in it's opening weekend on the strength of her name alone. Of course after that word of mouth happened and people found out how stupid (seriously, the movie treats the viewers like they're stupid) the movie is and the revenue dropped off pretty quickly, but it had already made it's budget back.

While I understand that producers are in the business of making movies that make money, I think society is reaching a point where they want to see more diversity in movies and they want to see characters who aren't meant to be white played by people who aren't white. The actors do still have their share of responsibility, while a lesser known actor who, like @manhn mentioned is only known for guesting in procedurals, can't be as choosey about what they are getting cast as because they need to pay the bills.

Actors like Scarlett Johansson, Tilda Swinton and Johnny Depp are all people who are in positions to say no to roles that should be played by people who aren't white. Although in the case of Tilda Swinton in Dr. Strange, Marvel made it pretty clear they weren't planning on casting an Asian person as The Ancient One, I do have some issues with Tilda Swinton's actions afterwards, but I also suspect Marvel suggested she try to calm down the people who were expressing their anger over her being cast in what was in the comics an Asian character. (This sentence didn't quite go the way I wanted it to, I'm tired and I can't think of the right words.)

Johnny Depp as Tonto was probably Tim Burton's doing, but it still wasn't good decision making, especially when you consider Hollywood's history of casting white people as First Nations people.

 

[PeterG]

Finally watched The Hunt (Danish) on DVD. Very good. Once again, Mads Mikkelsen gives a masterful performance. All other actors are good too, particularly little Annika (SP?) who played Klara. Why doesn't an actor like Mikkelsen get an Oscar nomination? IIRC Roberto Benini is the only male actor to get an Oscar nomination for a foreign language film. There must be others, but I can't think of one right now. One thing is for sure. Danish movies are very good. Next on my list is Land of Mine, but I can't find it on Netflix.

Thank you for reminding me of this movie. I loved it. Checked to make sure it was on my favourite films list and it wasn't. But is now! I rank it as my 22nd favourite movie of all time.

 

[Kasey]

I just watched "Mine" on demand; remarkable performance from Armie Hammer in a sub-remarkable movie. The symbolism throughout the movie makes "The life of Pi" look really subtle (and I love that movie), and the drama ranges from disturbing to ludicrous. But again, the main actor's performance was pretty amazing. Imagine "Castaway" in the desert, with a much lesser script.

 

[VGThuy]

Since the New Year, after needing something to distract me from real life stress, I decided to revisit some of my favorite movies by watching them by director. I watched a few Ozu, Cassavettes, Fellini, Hou Hsiao-Hsien, among others, and I have to say that Jane Campion really is one of the best directors of all time. I recently re-watched Bright Star which an absolutely amazing romantic film, and I really enjoyed her adaptation of Portrait of a Lady which many who have revisited it say it's an interesting adaptation because it's also a critique of the Henry James novel (which I find extremely intriguing), and of course The Piano and her tv miniseries Top of the Lake.

I'm really looking forward to (but also hesitant due to the subject matter) Ingmar Bergman, who is next of my mental list. Autumn Sonata is one of my favorites and I haven't seen Persona or Cries and Whispers yet. Hitchcock is also on my list, and I am ashamed to say that I haven't seen much of his work other than catching them on TV when I was younger. I have seen Rebecca countless times, however. I know it's not the most demonstrative film of his talent and genius, but I really love Joan Fontaine and Laurence Olivier in that film. And of course Judith Anderson as Mrs. Danvers is classic.

 

[cocotaffy]

I saw Beauty and the Beast today - afternoon matinee.
I really enjoyed it.
Work has been incredibly busy, auditors have been here, they left yesterday, and I took today off, as I had already worked more than my weekly hours by Thurs pm. It was a perfect movie for my mood - not taxing, just sit back and enjoy, easy to do, since I had seen the original animated version. I do not think I could of sat through anything taxing or draining.
I thought Luke Evans, Kevin Kline and Ewan McGregor and the general animated items/people were be the best part of the movie. I love Emma Watson, but she was nothing memorable in this movie, or it was the boringest part in the movie. Dan Stevens looks younger than when he was on Downton. The best parts were the ones I mentioned and Ian McKellan, Chip etc.

Just saw it myself yesterday with the kids. First off, the cartoon version is my favorite Disney so my expectations were high. They did a good job especially on the group numbers. The opening and the tavern scenes were extremely well done and enjoyable. Like you I prefered the first half where we see the village and the other characters. The way the interactions between Belle and the Beast were handled was the weak link in this movie. The beast was not menacing and scary enough to start with and he turned too quickly into a sad puppy eyes creature. Lefou and Gaston were the highlights, great job by both actors.
Overall, I still prefer the cartoon version, more magical.

 

[cocotaffy]

Since the New Year, after needing something to distract me from real life stress, I decided to revisit some of my favorite movies by watching them by director. I watched a few Ozu, Cassavettes, Fellini, Hou Hsiao-Hsien, among others, and I have to say that Jane Campion really is one of the best directors of all time. I recently re-watched Bright Star which an absolutely amazing romantic film, and I really enjoyed her adaptation of Portrait of a Lady which many who have revisited it say it's an interesting adaptation because it's also a critique of the Henry James novel (which I find extremely intriguing), and of course The Piano and her tv miniseries Top of the Lake.

I'm really looking forward to (but also hesitant due to the subject matter) Ingmar Bergman, who is next of my mental list. Autumn Sonata is one of my favorites and I haven't seen Persona or Cries and Whispers yet. Hitchcock is also on my list, and I am ashamed to say that I haven't seen much of his work other than catching them on TV when I was younger. I have seen Rebecca countless times, however. I know it's not the most demonstrative film of his talent and genius, but I really love Joan Fontaine and Laurence Olivier in that film. And of course Judith Anderson as Mrs. Danvers is classic.

I've never watched any movies by Hou Hsiao-Hsien, which ones would you advise to start ?
ITA on Jane Campion, you make me want to watch Bright Star again, thanks.
And sorry for double-posting

 

[Japanfan]

Discussion topic for the board: As white actors/actresses know there are a lack of acting roles for people of colour, is a white person's taking a role that was definitely originated for a person of colour...an act of racism? (Even if a subtle act of racism?)

Not necessarily. A white person might take the role because they are desperate for a paycheck.

The racism would be on the producer or director, or the casting director - whomever selected the white person to play the role.

 

[PeterG]

Actors have a responsibility to know whether they can take on a role in a competent manner. At least actors with some clout. I won't really blame any young or hungry actor to take on any role that comes to them. If they don't look the part, they should know it. IMO, someone like Scarlett Johansson should be held to a higher standard than, say, the actress whose biggest role to date is playing the dead body on a procedural.

Not necessarily. A white person might take the role because they are desperate for a paycheck.

The racism would be on the producer or director, or the casting director - whomever selected the white person to play the role.

So if an actor is broke, it can't be considered a racist action? But if they have a healthy bank account, then maybe it could be considered to have a racist element to it? Is this like saying poor people can't be racist, but rich people can be?

As for the actor taking the role written for a person of colour, are we saying they can claim ignorance? "I never read the source material...I had no idea this was written for a black person!" or "my bosses, the producers and directors said it was okay...I simply did what they told me to".

 

[manhn]

I think you rally against the system, or rally against people in power. A poor person is generally not in power, and going after them does little to change.

 

[VGThuy]

I've never watched any movies by Hou Hsiao-Hsien, which ones would you advise to start ?
ITA on Jane Campion, you make me want to watch Bright Star again, thanks.
And sorry for double-posting

My first Hou Hsiao-Hsien film was Millenium Mambo, and I wasn't the same afterwards. His most recent one is The Assassin which got great reviews. His pacing can try one's patience at times though, but I think it's effective.

 

[Jay42]

So if an actor is broke, it can't be considered a racist action? But if they have a healthy bank account, then maybe it could be considered to have a racist element to it? Is this like saying poor people can't be racist, but rich people can be?

As for the actor taking the role written for a person of colour, are we saying they can claim ignorance? "I never read the source material...I had no idea this was written for a black person!" or "my bosses, the producers and directors said it was okay...I simply did what they told me to".

See it gets tricky when you get into lesser known actors and casting decisions. There is a definite hierarchy in Hollywood and sometimes an actor will do whatever they can to get a part, so they might be willing to say yes to a role that should be played by someone of another race because it gives helps them move up the ladder or because they need money and Hollywood is brutal. Which is why ultimately I still think the onus should be on the production companies, directors and casting directors (in that order). The more well known actors are definitely in a better position to be heard and are more likely to be able to say no to a part without it affecting their career as much.

I think one could definitely consider it a racist action for a lesser known actor to take a role that should be played by a person of colour. However when someone is trying to get their career going they can't necessarily afford to say no to a role without it being a possibly career killing move. Someone like Scarlett Johansson should have enough good will built up in recent years that she could have said no to Ghost in the Shell without it being a career killing move. Especially since she still has Marvel movies to fall back on.

 

[Japanfan]

So if an actor is broke, it can't be considered a racist action? But if they have a healthy bank account, then maybe it could be considered to have a racist element to it?

Not necessarily. An actor who isn't broke could see other reasons to take the role. Maybe they find it fascinating, and think that race is a superficial issue in the film - that a white person could therefore pull it off.

Is this like saying poor people can't be racist, but rich people can be?

No. I'm saying that poor people have less choices than rich people when making decisions about whether to take on a role.

As for the actor taking the role written for a person of colour, are we saying they can claim ignorance? "I never read the source material...I had no idea this was written for a black person!" or "my bosses, the producers and directors said it was okay...I simply did what they told me to".

Possibly.

 

[Buzz]

Ghost In The Shell opened in Japan and it got generally favourable reviews from both critics and fans.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/japanese-fans-react-ghost-shell-992255