Let's Talk Movies #35 – Sparrows and Panthers and Dinosaurs…Oh My!

[smurfy]

Aussie Willy - Thank you for the link to the thing in lots of movies. So true - and yes - will never be able to not notice.

 

[Aussie Willy]

Aussie Willy - Thank you for the link to the thing in lots of movies. So true - and yes - will never be able to not notice.

Haha once someone points it out to you you will never forget it.

 

[judiz]

So excited! I am going on Tuesday to see a special I Love Lucy Celebration. Four uncut episodes plus a special feature about Lucille Ball. The shows are colorized which I hate but to see them on the big screen uncut!!

 

[Cachoo]

So today I happened to see some late summer, early Autumn previews and I noticed a trend in those trailers: There seems a lot of "Purge" themes pitting the haves against the have nots among teenagers and young adults. The elites are the bad guys usually. The films appear quite violent; kill or be killed. This is not new---to me it feels like a proliferation of these themes though. I am ready for something else.

 

[Vash01]

Saw ‘Farewell’ today. It was good but a little disappointing in the sense I had heard raves of it but it had some flaws, one of them being major, IMO. Lots of good things though. Good at showing lives in China and USA, cultural differences, families and relationships. Good acting and characters. Great background music. Good story and dialogues.

The flaw was that sometimes they went overboard I. Showing Chinese culture. Too many dinner scenes and one very confusing funeral in the middle of the movie. I still don’t know who died. The end could have been better. It seemed abrupt.

Still it is worth seeing. IMO about 8 or 8.5/10.

 

[Cachoo]

I'm trying to keep an open mind about "Where'd You Go, Bernadette?" I certainly like the director and cast. My problem is that I believe I have never laughed so hard reading any book---I loved it. Maybe only the first half of the book "The Hotel New Hampshire" is just as funny imho and that movie was .

 

[Vash01]

If you are familiar with Chinese language and culture, perhaps you can help me understand something about the movie ‘farewell’.

Nai Nai, the main character (Grandma) lives with a very old man because she needs someone in the house (both her sons have moved to other countries). What is their relationship? Is he a live in boyfriend (is that normal?) or is he a helper or caretaker?

For the life of me I couldn’t understand the funeral scene in the middle of the movie. Who died? First I thought it was a flashback from Grandpa’s death but it wasn’t. Then I thought the younger Nai Nai or the old man I mentioned above died. That was not correct either. So who died? Who was the woman in the front crying loudly but disappeared later?

The wedding scene didn’t have a wedding. Only a huge party, speeches, drinking, etc. so do we assume that the wedding took place before that?

For sometime I wondered if the wedding was going to be fake because the bride was not getting close to her fiancé for a photo. However, it turned out she was shy and Japanese, so she didn’t feel that comfortable. I hope I got this right.

 

[Buzz]

Universal Studios has cancelled the release of it’s upcoming movie The Hunt. The movie is about ordinary people being hunted by elites.

Universal cancels 'The Hunt' release in wake of mass shootings and Trump scrutiny

Blumhouse's satirical thriller "The Hunt" will no longer open in September, following outrage from conservative media and President Trump.

www.latimes.com

 

[Japanfan]

Universal Studios has cancelled the release of it’s upcoming movie The Hunt. The movie is about ordinary people being hunted by elites.

Universal cancels 'The Hunt' release in wake of mass shootings and Trump scrutiny

Blumhouse's satirical thriller "The Hunt" will no longer open in September, following outrage from conservative media and President Trump.

www.latimes.com

Goodness, that sounds AWFUL. I can't imagine what anyone would want to make such a movie, or why anyone would want to see it. Perhaps it's a dark social commentary? I didn't get that from the trailer.

 

[snoopy]

They made a movie very similar to that already but the confused crowd dropped in the middle of a field to be hunted were being hunted for sport by extraterrestrials.

What is elite in this context of this movie though? I’m trying to figure out why conservatives were mad. they already think elites are the bad guys.

 

[Vash01]

Universal Studios has cancelled the release of it’s upcoming movie The Hunt. The movie is about ordinary people being hunted by elites.

Universal cancels 'The Hunt' release in wake of mass shootings and Trump scrutiny

Blumhouse's satirical thriller "The Hunt" will no longer open in September, following outrage from conservative media and President Trump.

www.latimes.com

So now Trump and Fox News decide which movies we should or should not see? Hasn’t Hollywood already made hundreds of violent movies?

 

[Vash01]

I saw the movie ‘Being there’ on dvd last night. I remember seeing it years ago. Some friends and I drove to Kansas City to see it, when I was a student at Kansas State University. I enjoyed it then and I enjoyed it last night. Peter Sellers was really good as Chance the Gardner and Shirley MacLaine looked really pretty. I still remembered the scene where the black woman Lewis sees illiterate Chance (Chauncey Gardner) as a celebrity on TV and says “it’s a white man’s world!”. It was funny.

 

[jl22aries]

That was not a funeral in The Farewell. That was the family paying their respects to their deceased ancestor.

The movie wasn't about a wedding so it felt to me like a wise choice to skip the ceremony and go straight to the reception to focus on the interactions between the guests and the family.

As a Chinese born Canadian, this movie resonated on a very deep level.

 

[Buzz]

Disney becomes the first studio to have five movies cross the $1bn mark and it is not over yet! Disney still have Maleficent 2, Frozen 2, and Star Wars 9 yet to come!

Disney First Studio Ever To Have 5 Pics Cross $1 Billion In Single Year With ‘Toy Story 4’

Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story 4 is finally crossed $1 billion putting Disney in an atmosphere that no other major studio has ever touched: Having 5 pics gross over $1 billion in a single year. It is projected that Frozen 2 and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker later this year will bring that count to...

deadline.com

 

[watchthis!!]

Goodness, that sounds AWFUL. I can't imagine what anyone would want to make such a movie, or why anyone would want to see it. Perhaps it's a dark social commentary? I didn't get that from the trailer.

I saw an episode of The Fix on Netflix, which was about how to fix the wealth gap in the world. It's a comedy show, so it was mostly jokes and not much substance. But one fact that came up was that eight men on the planet have as much wealth as 50% of the human population. So eight men's wealth = the wealth of 3.5 billion people.

So the elites are hunting. They're just doing it through monetary hoarding rather than with weapons/guns. I assume movies like this are about the hunted turning the tables on the elite. Of course, I know that murder is wrong. But there is a part of me that is enraged that this financial injustice is worsening. So I wonder if people who make (and watch) movies like this are reflecting one of our world's greatest injustices through fictional stories where there are consequences for those who act in an abusive, abhorrent, immoral fashion.

 

[annie720]

Saw The Peanut Butter Falcon today and loved it. Highly recommend.

 

[watchthis!!]

Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened is a great documentary about the flop Stephen Sondheim musical, "Merrily We Roll Along". The show had 44 previews and then only 16 regular performances before the show was closed. One of the stars of the show, Lonny Price, has since gone on to become a Broadway director. He directs this documentary as well, finding footage from the rehearsals and additional footage from around the time of the making of Merrily We Roll Along. I found this movie to be the type that you can't stop watching. Very well put together and great interviews from various cast members, as well as Sondheim and producer Harold Prince. Jason is one of the original cast members, who features prominently in this documentary. No sign of other original cast member Giancarlo Esposito, who is not referred to, but is seen in old footage.

Trailer for Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCwqEdQykJU

 

[annie720]

I saw Blinded by the Light yesterday. I didn't like it nearly as much as I thought I would based on the previews and some reviews. The directing seemed amateurish.

 

[Buzz]

Rumour has it that the sharing arrangement between Sony and Disney over Spider-Man is done. So no more Spider-Man in the MCU! But we may just be getting a Spider-Man movie in Sony’s Venom verse every two years.

Report: Spider-Man Will No Longer Be Shared by Marvel and Sony [Updated]

Huge news in the world of superheroes. Deadline reports that Disney and Sony have come to a stalemate in regards to Spider-Man and that Marvel Studios, along with its president Kevin Feige, will no longer be producing Spider-Man films.

io9.gizmodo.com

 

[Buzz]

Disney to Sony!

Nancy Sinatra - These Boots Are Made for Walkin'

"These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" is a pop song musically composed by Lee Hazlewood and first written and recorded by Nancy Sinatra. It was released in Febr...

m.youtube.com

 

[Buzz]

Kit Harington is joining the MCU as the Black Knight and will be in the upcoming Eternals.

Kit Harington Joins Marvel's Eternals as Dane Whitman, aka Black Knight

Game of Thrones star Kit Harington is joinging the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Dane Whitman, aka, Black Knight in the cast Eternals.

collider.com

 

[Cachoo]

So now Trump and Fox News decide which movies we should or should not see? Hasn’t Hollywood already made hundreds of violent movies?

I am so confused by the talk about this film. First I hear liberals are incensed because the bad guys are coastal elites hunting conservative working class folks. Then Trump starts in on this movie. Why are folks so up in arms over this but just fine with the "Purge" films?

 

[mjb52]

Finally watched Cold War and thought it was exceptional, the first movie to make me cry in a long long time. It reminded me a bit of Tarkovsky’s Nostalgia, which I saw for the first time within the last year or so.

 

[watchthis!!]

I am so confused by the talk about this film. First I hear liberals are incensed because the bad guys are coastal elites hunting conservative working class folks. Then Trump starts in on this movie. Why are folks so up in arms over this but just fine with the "Purge" films?

"On tonight's newcast, we have not one, but two mass shootings to tell you about..."

BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE DMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE BADMOVIE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[MacMadame]

I am so confused by the talk about this film. First I hear liberals are incensed because the bad guys are coastal elites hunting conservative working class folks. Then Trump starts in on this movie. Why are folks so up in arms over this but just fine with the "Purge" films?

I think most people have no idea this movie even exists or, if they know about it, have much of an opinion. From what I can see, most of the "outrage" has been manufactured.

The cynical part of me wonders if the studio pulled the film because it sucked and used the shooting as an excuse so they wouldn't have to admit it.

 

[VGThuy]

I haven’t heard anything about this movie at all on social media or anything. I doubt it’s been trending or anything.

 

[Vash01]

Early Oscar predictions from Gold Derby:

2020 Oscar Predictions: Best Picture (UPDATED: February 6)

Predicting the winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture is never easy. We were sure the top prize at the 2019 Oscars would go to “Roma” but it was “Green Book” that won.…

www.goldderby.com

I feel it is too early to start a thread about the Oscars, but this link gives a very long list of potential contenders, which helps me decide what are the must see movies. I am surprised that Gloria Bell is listed as a possible contender(very low in the list). It was a very weak movie. Out of the list, I have seen only 'Tolkien', 'Farewell' and 'Rocketman'. I liked Farewell but not Rocketman and Tolkien. 'Late night' is listed for a director nomination (female director Nisha Ganatra) but I thought the movie was pretty awful.

 

[snoopy]

A movie not on the Oscar list but recommended: peanut butter falcon. Apparently the movie was written for zack, the character with Down’s syndrome though there are several bigger name actors in it. I loved that they skipped most of the maudlin and essentially made it a road movie with a sweet feel. And Shia Laboef’s accent was sexy AF.

 

[Vash01]

Foreign language Oscar contenders:

Oscars 2020: Best International Feature Film Predictions

Bong Joon Ho's multiple award-winning "Parasite" is South Korea's first Oscar nominee. Updated 1/13/20.

www.indiewire.com

I have not seen any of these. I will miss the international film festival this year in Scottsdale. I will need to rely on the theatre in Scottsdale to show some of these.

My friend told me that the Russian movie 'Paradise' is good. Has anyone seen it? It was released in 2016 but it is not available on Netflix.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened is a great documentary about the flop Stephen Sondheim musical, "Merrily We Roll Along". The show had 44 previews and then only 16 regular performances before the show was closed. One of the stars of the show, Lonny Price, has since gone on to become a Broadway director. He directs this documentary as well, finding footage from the rehearsals and additional footage from around the time of the making of Merrily We Roll Along. I found this movie to be the type that you can't stop watching. Very well put together and great interviews from various cast members, as well as Sondheim and producer Harold Prince. Jason is one of the original cast members, who features prominently in this documentary. No sign of other original cast member Giancarlo Esposito, who is not referred to, but is seen in old footage.

Trailer for Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCwqEdQykJU

Thank you for the link.

Merrily We Roll Along is one of my favourite Sondheim musicals. I think I have seen it performed by five different companies, as well as a filmed version from London's Menier Chocolate Factory.