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

[Vash01]

Just got back from seeing 'Manchester by the sea'. It's been getting rave reviews, but I was a little disappointed. It was good but several things bothered me. I didn't care for The frequent flashbacks and the teenage behavior involving sex. The teen girl's mother putting a make on the main character was too much. Liked the way it ended. Loved the cinematography and the score. In my book only 7-8 out of 10.

 

[Seerek]

Re: Manchester By The Sea

I thought it was interesting having a substantial amount of the film rest on the shoulders of a relative newcomer such as Lucas Hedges (I'm reminded of Timothy Hutton in Ordinary People as a comparable example).

 

[oleada]

Fiance and I watched The Lobster which is now available on Amazon Prime, starring Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz. It's a dystopian absurdist comedy in which single people have 45 days to find a partner; should they fail, they are turned into an animal of their choice. It was....odd. It's gotten great reviews, but while interesting, I didn't find it particularly enjoyable. I felt it really dragged towards the end. My fiance really did not like it.

 

[Jay42]

I finally saw La La Land tonight and it was everything I had hoped it would be! It was beautifully shot and Emma Stone was amazing. I already knew I loved the music because I've been listening to the soundtrack for the last month. There are so many little throwbacks and references to musicals from Classic Hollywood it made me so happy.

In reference to the ending:

Spoiler

My mom was disappointed they didn't end up together at the end but I kind of feel like any other ending wouldn't make sense with the movie. Kind of like in Roman Holiday, they were meant to have that time together and to impact the others life in a significant manner, to help the other take that big step they needed, but not to be together forever. It worked for me. Also the way the final shot of them looking at each other was lit was so beautiful and I really can't wait to watch this movie again.

 

[Vash01]

Saw 'Lion' aka 'A long way home' for the second time. Liked it even more this time. The story is amazing and the screenplay is really good. This time it struck me that the cinematography and music are very good too. Dev Patel really carries the movie and others are also very good - Nicole Kidman, Rooney Mara and the young actors who play Saroo and Guddu. 9 out of 10.

 

[PeterG]

Saw Rogue One today. Mixed feelings. I thought the first half was incredibly boring. Looked at my watch three times, hoping the movie would be over soon. Didn't help that so much of the movie took place in dark, poorly lit settings. So both physically and thematically...everything was...DARK. Downer, dude!! Also didn't help that they introduced us to a truckload of new characters who we didn't know and (for me, anyways) didn't care anything about. Only once a firmer goal was set and action was taken did I start to take interest. That was more than halfway through the movie, though. So I liked the movie from there on.

Spoiler

Bummer ending, though!!!

Thought the cast was great and of course the visuals were phenomenal. Not sure I'll watch any more Star Wars movies after this one. Time will tell. Oh, I also didn't like the message of the movie, that humans basically just use violence to get what they want. That the people in the Star Wars movies are people that we humans are descendants of, and after who knows how many thousands (millions??) of years later, we're still at the place of "might makes right". That we humans just can't figure out how to use our intelligence to create better world and instead will just blast the bejeesus out of each other until we see who's left standing. And then take a breather before we do the same thing all over again.

This was based on a book by Rachel Field which in turn was based on a historical incident. Rachel Field's relative was the governess. There was a real uproar when the book was printed because the children's family claimed that the governess was not really a love interest and she overstated her importance. In fact, I think there was a book that completely debunked the love triangle, maybe commissioned by the duc's family.

I forgot to mention this, thanks for bringing it up. This was part of one of the DVD extras and it seemed too shocking to think that this one relationship could bring down an entire country, even if on just a certain level. I ended up being too lazy too google around to see how accurate this kind of statement is. It seems too unfathomable to be true, so I'm choosing to stick my head into the sand on this one!

 

[MacMadame]

That the people in the Star Wars movies are people that we humans are descendants of, and after who knows how many thousands (millions??) of years later, we're still at the place of "might makes right".

There's nothing in the movies that say we are descendants of anyone in the Star Wars universe. We could be or we could not be. The opening says it's a "place far far away" so it's possible that they exist in their world and have learned to co-exist while we are over here going through some of the same lessons.

 

[PeterG]

There's nothing in the movies that say we are descendants of anyone in the Star Wars universe. We could be or we could not be. The opening says it's a "place far far away" so it's possible that they exist in their world and have learned to co-exist while we are over here going through some of the same lessons.

I'm assuming the storytellers are telling us about these people because we...umm...share some similarities. And it just happens to be coincidental that everything about the majority of the main characters that every single feature they have is identical to every single feature we have!

 

[VGThuy]

I think they're supposed to be parallel to our world with the wars and imperialism and issues with government and authoritarianism that we have, not that we're descendants of them. I think that's like a Sci-Fi trope, including having aliens and us look so much like organic matter we know. However, we could be descendants of them...we must have lost that space-faring technology some how. Never thought about that theory, but it's an interesting one. It's also a sci fi adaptation of the Japanese film The Hidden Fortress which is why light sabers and the whole Jedi concept (which is very samurai like) are such a big thing in Star Wars.

 

[MacMadame]

I agree with VIETgrl that it's supposed to be a parallel universe. And most of the people look like us because special effects are expensive.

 

[watchthis!!]

Hava Navila: The Movie was a random pick from the library shelves last week. All about the history of the song, looking at all possible origins of where/when it was written and how the various ways it has been a part of popular culture. It was a lighter movie than I expected. The filmmakers maybe wanted something to contrast so many other Jewish films which can (obviously) be quite dark. You know this movie is going to be different when caption after caption for interview subjects (such as a university professor) instead reads as "Really Smart Guy". I think the filmmakers covered as much as they could with this subject, but it's a kind of sparse topic compared to what's covered in so many other documentaries about Jewish life/history. But if you're a music lover, interested in Jewish culture, or just want to watch something rather light for 90 minutes, then I'd recommend this one to you.

The trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVHllTkuXao

 

[VGThuy]

Everyone's been commenting on how obviously autotuned and manufactured Emma Watson's singing is in the Beauty and the Beast trailer. I have to say, I hate the way this and all live action Disney movies look.

 

[MacMadame]

I'm surprised they let her sing her songs. Usually they hire a singer to do that. For the ladies anyway. The gentlemen are allowed to sing crappy.

 

[VGThuy]

It has been a long time since an actor was dubbed in a musical...in the U.S. I mean.

 

[Artistic Skaters]

Everyone's been commenting on how obviously autotuned and manufactured Emma Watson's singing is in the Beauty and the Beast trailer. I have to say, I hate the way this and all live action Disney movies look.

Maleficent & Cinderella were okay, but I'm going to have to just say NO to this Beauty & the Beast. Disney goes from animated version to stage version to latest live action film version. How many ways are they going to recycle that golden gown over & over again just to make a buck? I like Ewan McGregor but he's no Jerry Orbach, so I would have much preferred to see Disney reissue the animated movie for a new generation & develop brand new material for an original feature movie.

 

[MacMadame]

It has been a long time since an actor was dubbed in a musical...in the U.S. I mean.

Interesting. When did they stop having voice actors for the singing?

 

[Jay42]

Interesting. When did they stop having voice actors for the singing?

While I don't actually know the answer to this, I've never actually looked into it. I can say that all the modern musicals I've seen have the cast doing their own singing. Hollywood seems to have a preference for the musical stars to actually sing as well as look good now apparently.

ETA: I googled it and found this Salon article talking about how Hollywood was ruining musicals by letting people do their own singing. It seems to be relation to Les Miserables and the inconsistencies in the vocal work primarily, but it does say that singers were dubbed consistently from the 1930's through the 1960's which makes sense because by the end of the 60's musicals were pretty much done with a couple of exceptions.

Emma Watson was nearly playing Emma Stone's character in La La Land. She dropped out to do Beauty & the Beast. I've always love the animated Beauty & the Beast but I'm having a hard time getting excited about this one. I really enjoy the live action Cinderella but this just feels like it's trying to hard.

 

[manhn]

I just watched The Intern starring Anne Hathaway and Robert De Niro. Not great cinema but who cares. It's the type of glossy cross-generational flick I am a sucker for. The two stars really shine and Renee Russo looks amazing. And as always, Nancy Meyers always film the best architecture.

 

[MacMadame]

While I don't actually know the answer to this, I've never actually looked into it. I can say that all the modern musicals I've seen have the cast doing their own singing. Hollywood seems to have a preference for the musical stars to actually sing as well as look good now apparently.

I was referring only to Disney though. For a while they were famous for getting singers to sing the songs for the women but not the men. The men could have someone who was a great singer/okay voice actor or vice versa but the women had to have a great singer and if the voice actor wasn't a great singer, just okay, they'd find a professional singer to do the songs. But they wouldn't let the professional singer be the voice actor unless they were famous enough.

This was mostly in their animated movies because they hadn't figured out that doing a live action version of an animated movie was another cash cow for them.

 

[watchthis!!]

Most inspiring celebrity news stories of 2016
http://www.tribute.ca/news/index.php/most-inspiring-celebrity-news-stories-of-2016/2017/01/05/

Wasn't sure if this should go in the good news thread or here, but there's lots of movie star stories: Eddie Redmayne, Chris Hemsworth, Amy Schumer, Channing Tatum, Bill Murray, Tom Hanks, etc. I enjoy hearing stories about the good guys/gals out there!

 

[Vash01]

Most inspiring celebrity news stories of 2016
http://www.tribute.ca/news/index.php/most-inspiring-celebrity-news-stories-of-2016/2017/01/05/

Wasn't sure if this should go in the good news thread or here, but there's lots of movie star stories: Eddie Redmayne, Chris Hemsworth, Amy Schumer, Channing Tatum, Bill Murray, Tom Hanks, etc. I enjoy hearing stories about the good guys/gals out there!

Better here, IMO, for more exposure.

 

[PeterG]

entertainment.ie's Weekly Movie Quiz #2

I got 12 out of 15 again. And thanks to a few lucky guesses, at that.

 

[Cachoo]

Man--"Vanity Fair" covers have me so happy in the last several months: Three of my favorite guys have had the cover along with good features inside. Bruce Springsteen and Benedict Cumberbatch are now joined by Chris Pratt. Plus I like Alicia Vikander, Jen Lawrence and Adele a lot and they rotated covers with the guys. Thank you Vanity Fair.

 

[Aussie Willy]

11 out of 15. Some lucky guesses there.

 

[Artistic Skaters]

We saw Hidden Figures and really enjoyed it. It was great to see a movie that included John Glenn during his heyday after seeing his memorial service last month; & I appreciated the uplifting themes of the film after reflecting on the political year of 2016. I will most likely go see it again with my sister. The song by the LGBT bigot played during the end credits so it did not take away from the story.

ETA: This movie is also based on a book. My daughter just bought it so now I can read it as well.

 

[VGThuy]

We saw Hidden Figures and really enjoyed it. It was great to see a movie that included John Glenn during his heyday after seeing his memorial service last month; & I appreciated the uplifting themes of the film after reflecting on the political year of 2016. I will most likely go see it again with my sister. The song by the LGBT bigot played during the end credits so it did not take away from the story.

I had to look up what you were talking about and YIKES.

 

[PeterG]

Trailers For Movies Released 2017-01-13th
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuI4-fSHhipRwYIakJJORC0KaJBEQRfzm

So many movies coming out this week...and only ONE caught my attention. But it looks heartwarming. I wish Wild For The Night had a better trailer as it stars the uber-hot James Maslow, who was in the band Big Time Rush and recently competed on Dancing With The Stars. Alas, the movie looks crappy.


Jan. 13th - Sleepless (Wide) – Crime thriller with Jamie Foxx, Michelle Monaghan, Dermot Mulroney, T.I. and Gabrielle Union

Jan. 13th - Monster Trucks (Wide) – Adventure with Lucas Till [MacGyver], Barry Pepper, Rob Lowe, Danny Glover, Frank Whaley and Amy Ryan

Jan. 13th - The Bye Bye Man (Wide) – Horror thriller with a new cast and Carrie-Anne Moss & Faye Dunaway

Jan. 13th - Alone in Berlin (Limited) - Drama with Emma Thompson, Brendan Gleeson and Daniel Brühl

Jan. 13th - 100 Streets (Limited) – Drama with Gemma Arterton and Idris Elba

Jan. 13th - The Comedian (Limited) – Comedy with Robert De Niro, Leslie Mann, Danny DeVito, Cloris Leachman, Harvey Keitel, Hannibal Buress, Billy Crystal, Edie Falco, Gilbert Gottfried, Charles Grodin, Patti LuPone and Jimmie Walker

Jan. 13th – The Crash [also known Jekyll Island] (Limited) – Crime thriller with Frank Grillo, Minnie Driver, AnnaSophia Robb, John Leguizamo, Maggie Q, Dianna Agron [Glee] and Ed Westwick

Jan. 13th - The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea [also known as The Book of Love] (Limited) – Drama with Jason Sudeikis, Jessica Biel, Paul Resier, Orlando Jones and Mary Steenburgen

January 13th - Bad Kids of Crestview Academy (Limited) – Action comedy with Sean Astin and Gina Gershon

January 13th - Claire in Motion (Limited) – Thriller with Betsy Brandt [Breaking Bad]

Jan. 13th - Go North (Limited) – Adventure with a new cast with Patrick Schwarzenegger

Jan. 10th - The Summoning (Limited) – Mystery thriller with eric Roberts. From imdb.com: “When a law student uncovers chilling secrets and places her life at risk, a bitter, rough-around-the-edges detective gets assigned to her case.”

Jan. 10th - Hickey (Limited) – Comedy with a new cast. From imdb.com: “Brilliant but insecure, young Ryan has 24 hours to save the store he hates in order to win the heart of the girl he loves.”

Jan. 13th - Ma (Limited- New York) - Drama, new cast. From imdb.com: “MA is a striking modern-day vision of Mother Mary's pilgrimage through the eyes of Ma (played by Celia Rowlson-Hall), a woman who must venture across the scorched landscape of the American Southwest to fulfill her destiny.”

January 13th - Wild for the Night [also known as 48 Hours to Live] (Limited) – Thriller with a new cast. From imdb.com: “A 3D hybrid merging the genres of film noir, dance, and mystery. A loner fresh out of rehab and hunted by both sides of the law returns home to solve the murder of his sister, and finds himself entangled in a game of revenge on the LA club circuit.”

Jan. 13th - Attack of the Lederhosen Zombies (Limited) – Horror comedy from Austria

January 13th - The Son of Joseph (Limited) – French drama. From imdb.com: “A discontented Parisian teenager in search of a father with his, respectively, callous and gentle alternative paternal options, and his single mother.”

Not in the playlist because there's no English trailer (one with subtitles):

Jan. 13th - Ok Jaanu (Limited) – Bollywood romantic drama. From imdb.com: “Adi and Tara move to Mumbai to pursue their dreams. A chance meeting sparks off a heady, no strings attached romance until their careers pull them apart. Will ambition prevail over matters of the heart?”

And three movies that have been on previous playlists as they opened in limited release (possibly for Oscar consideration - nominations out Jan. 24th). This weekend they will be expanding into wide release:

Jan. 13th - Silence (Expands Wide)

Jan. 13th - Patriots Day (Expands Wide)

Jan. 13th - Live by Night (Expands Wide)

 

[Jay42]

I was referring only to Disney though. For a while they were famous for getting singers to sing the songs for the women but not the men. The men could have someone who was a great singer/okay voice actor or vice versa but the women had to have a great singer and if the voice actor wasn't a great singer, just okay, they'd find a professional singer to do the songs. But they wouldn't let the professional singer be the voice actor unless they were famous enough.

This was mostly in their animated movies because they hadn't figured out that doing a live action version of an animated movie was another cash cow for them.

Ah my bad, sorry. I didn't register that you were referring just to the Disney movies. I also didn't realise Disney was in the habit of doing that.

Trailers For Movies Released 2017-01-13th
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuI4-fSHhipRwYIakJJORC0KaJBEQRfzm

So many movies coming out this week...and only ONE caught my attention. But it looks heartwarming. I wish Wild For The Night had a better trailer as it stars the uber-hot James Maslow, who was in the band Big Time Rush and recently competed on Dancing With The Stars. Alas, the movie looks crappy.


Jan. 13th - Sleepless (Wide) – Crime thriller with Jamie Foxx, Michelle Monaghan, Dermot Mulroney, T.I. and Gabrielle Union

Jan. 13th - Monster Trucks (Wide) – Adventure with Lucas Till [MacGyver], Barry Pepper, Rob Lowe, Danny Glover, Frank Whaley and Amy Ryan

Jan. 13th - The Bye Bye Man (Wide) – Horror thriller with a new cast and Carrie-Anne Moss & Faye Dunaway

Jan. 13th - Alone in Berlin (Limited) - Drama with Emma Thompson, Brendan Gleeson and Daniel Brühl

Jan. 13th - 100 Streets (Limited) – Drama with Gemma Arterton and Idris Elba

Jan. 13th - The Comedian (Limited) – Comedy with Robert De Niro, Leslie Mann, Danny DeVito, Cloris Leachman, Harvey Keitel, Hannibal Buress, Billy Crystal, Edie Falco, Gilbert Gottfried, Charles Grodin, Patti LuPone and Jimmie Walker

Jan. 13th – The Crash [also known Jekyll Island] (Limited) – Crime thriller with Frank Grillo, Minnie Driver, AnnaSophia Robb, John Leguizamo, Maggie Q, Dianna Agron [Glee] and Ed Westwick

Jan. 13th - The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea [also known as The Book of Love] (Limited) – Drama with Jason Sudeikis, Jessica Biel, Paul Resier, Orlando Jones and Mary Steenburgen

January 13th - Bad Kids of Crestview Academy (Limited) – Action comedy with Sean Astin and Gina Gershon

January 13th - Claire in Motion (Limited) – Thriller with Betsy Brandt [Breaking Bad]

Jan. 13th - Go North (Limited) – Adventure with a new cast with Patrick Schwarzenegger

Jan. 10th - The Summoning (Limited) – Mystery thriller with eric Roberts. From imdb.com: “When a law student uncovers chilling secrets and places her life at risk, a bitter, rough-around-the-edges detective gets assigned to her case.”

Jan. 10th - Hickey (Limited) – Comedy with a new cast. From imdb.com: “Brilliant but insecure, young Ryan has 24 hours to save the store he hates in order to win the heart of the girl he loves.”

Jan. 13th - Ma (Limited- New York) - Drama, new cast. From imdb.com: “MA is a striking modern-day vision of Mother Mary's pilgrimage through the eyes of Ma (played by Celia Rowlson-Hall), a woman who must venture across the scorched landscape of the American Southwest to fulfill her destiny.”

January 13th - Wild for the Night [also known as 48 Hours to Live] (Limited) – Thriller with a new cast. From imdb.com: “A 3D hybrid merging the genres of film noir, dance, and mystery. A loner fresh out of rehab and hunted by both sides of the law returns home to solve the murder of his sister, and finds himself entangled in a game of revenge on the LA club circuit.”

Jan. 13th - Attack of the Lederhosen Zombies (Limited) – Horror comedy from Austria

January 13th - The Son of Joseph (Limited) – French drama. From imdb.com: “A discontented Parisian teenager in search of a father with his, respectively, callous and gentle alternative paternal options, and his single mother.”

Not in the playlist because there's no English trailer (one with subtitles):

Jan. 13th - Ok Jaanu (Limited) – Bollywood romantic drama. From imdb.com: “Adi and Tara move to Mumbai to pursue their dreams. A chance meeting sparks off a heady, no strings attached romance until their careers pull them apart. Will ambition prevail over matters of the heart?”

And three movies that have been on previous playlists as they opened in limited release (possibly for Oscar consideration - nominations out Jan. 24th). This weekend they will be expanding into wide release:

Jan. 13th - Silence (Expands Wide)

Jan. 13th - Patriots Day (Expands Wide)

Jan. 13th - Live by Night (Expands Wide)

Ah the great January movie dump. I saw the trailer for Monster Trucks in front of something I went to last summer. It was painfully bad. I spent the whole time wondering who actually greenlit the movie it was so awful.

 

[watchthis!!]

So Alicia Vikander won the Oscar for her role in The Danish Girl, but she was robbed of having the opportunity to compete in the proper category (lead actress). There is no way this was a supporting role. She had pretty much the same number of scenes without Redmayne as he did without her. Makes me think I should take the Oscars less seriously than I have. Just checked imdb.com and she was nominated for this role in the leading actress category at both the BAFTAs and the Golden Globes.

Okay, so the movie. Not one to watch when you're in a down mood, yikes. Quiet depressing. But a very well made movie. And it could have failed miserably if it didn't have as talented a cast as it did. Actually, now with thinking about the performances of Amber Heard, Ben Whishaw and Matthias Schoenaerts, I wish this had been a mini-series so we could have seen more of them all. Luckily there are lots of other movies that feature them in larger roles. And interesting to see such forward-thinking people from so long ago. Makes me wonder if we're currently living in a time of one step forward, two steps back.

Ah the great January movie dump. I saw the trailer for Monster Trucks in front of something I went to last summer. It was painfully bad. I spent the whole time wondering who actually greenlit the movie it was so awful.

Perhaps you're not the target audience for this one.

 

[Vash01]

Just got back from seeing Jackie. I was deeply disappointed. Why did Natalie Portman put on such a horrible accent? It felt artificial, the way she spoke. I don't see the point of thus movie. JFK assassination was a terrible tragedy, but was it necessary to show Jackie's grief in every scene? The close ups were really annoying, particularly the blood stationed ones. The costumes and sets in the WH were gorgeous, but that's about it. I am no fan of musicals but I will take La La Land over this any day. I couldn't believe how bad the movie 'Jackie' was. It was a relief when it ended.