Let’s Talk Movies! #31: Pandas, Zombies, Male Models, Superheroes, Greeks and…Caesar!

[Cachoo]

SAG Award Winners

I'll spoiler the winners below in case somebody doesn't want to be spoiled:

Spoiler

Leo and Brie for lead roles and Idris (Beasts of No Nation) and Alicia (The Danish Girl) for supporting. Cast award went to Spotlight and Stunt Ensemble winners were Mad Max: Fury Road.

For television, Idris Elba (Luther) and Queen Latifah (Bessie) won for the mini-series/TV-movie categories. For drama series, the winners were Kevin Spacey (House of Cards) and Viola Davis (How to Get Away with Murder). For comedy, Jeffrey Tambor (Transparent) and Uzo Aduba (Orange Is the New Black) were the winners.

Drama ensemble went to Downton Abbey and comedy ensemble went to Orange Is The New Black. Stunt ensemble winners were Game Of Thrones. (Well done, Buzz!)

And Carol Burnett won for Life Acheivement.

Black Lives Matter!! I hope the Academy members were watching.

 

[Vash01]

Has anyone seen the movie W.E.? I am thinking of getting it from Netflix, but when I read the synopsis I was a bit disappointed. I thought this was the story of the real Wallis and the real Edward (who abdicated the throne), but it seems to be the story of a present day woman named Wallis. I am not sure that I will like it, but if it's a good movie I will rent it.

 

[skatesindreams]

This may provide more information; as well as more than you want to know:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W.E.

 

[Artemis@BC]

Has anyone seen the movie W.E.? I am thinking of getting it from Netflix, but when I read the synopsis I was a bit disappointed. I thought this was the story of the real Wallis and the real Edward (who abdicated the throne), but it seems to be the story of a present day woman named Wallis. I am not sure that I will like it, but if it's a good movie I will rent it.

It's both: partly about Wallis and Edward, as well as the present-day story line.

I can't remember a lot of details, but I do remember thinking it was pretty bad, and deserving of its low ratings.

 

[watchthis!!]

‘Little House On The Prairie’ To Hit The Big Screen: A New Generation Will Love Laura Ingalls
http://www.inquisitr.com/2754460/little-house-on-the-prairie-to-hit-the-big-screen-a-new-generation-will-love-laura-ingalls/

The project was with Sony but apparently they had problems with the 45 million budget and now...

...the entire project, including producer Scott Rudin as well as Martha Marcy May Marlene filmmaker Sean Durkin, is now making its home at Paramount. The script for Little House on the Prairie will be written by Abi Morgan, of Shame and Iron Lady fame.

Scott Rudin's production credits include Oscar nominations for The Grand Budapest Hotel, Captain Phillips, The Hours and an Oscar win for No Country For Old Men.

Abi Morgan's other credits include Suffragette and an Emmy win for an episode of The Hour.

 

[Buzz]

 

[PeterG]

Weekend Domestic Chart for January 29th, 2016

PANDA GO SMASH!! Kung Fu Panda 3 blew everyone else off the map, making over 41 million this weekend, making a hearty $10,438 per theatre on average. The Revenant made almost 13 million and Star Wars 11 million to round out the top three.

Bad news for all other debuts this weekend (other than Kung Fu Panda). The Finest Hours debuted at #4 and made just over ten million, but the per theatre average was $3,274, not great for a debut weekend and less than The Revenant and Star Wars, both of which have been out for a while. Fifty Shades of Black debuted down at #10 and made almost 16 million, but only averaged $2,844 per theatre.

Much worse news for Natalie Portman’s much-delayed Jane Got A Gun, debuted down at #17, making only $835,000 and playing at just 1,210 theatres where it averaged an anemic $691.

Movies that make big revenue jumps from last week include:

+196% - 45 Years
+79% - Son Of Saul (the Hungarian dramatic thriller, up for a Foreign Language Film Oscar)
+71% - The Lady In The Van

 

[Artemis@BC]

Ugh. I just got an email from Universal (don't ask why) with the subject line "Meryl Streep Stars in a Powerful Drama, Suffragette - Now on Blu-ray and DVD."

I enjoyed Suffragette. A lot. But Meryl Streep was on screen for about 90 seconds. I completely understand why they're using her to sell the film, she's the biggest name, but if anyone is seeing it just because of her they're going to be very let down ...

 

[Deleted member 40371]

I am waiting for the release of this Hindi movie called Aligarh. The movie is based on the death of the real-life Professor of Marathi at Aligarh Muslim University after being outed as gay and later suspended from the university. Prof. Siras' death is still deemed suspicious. The Indian Censor Board has given the movie an 'A' rating (Adult) even though there is no sex scene in the movie.

The movie is coming up at a very important time in India, Supreme Court of India has finally decided to re-examine a British era article 377 of Indian Constitution that prohibits consensual sexual acts of LGBT adults in private. It is already a victory that supreme court is willing to re-examine the case. The main opposition Congress party has come out in support of repealing the act.

News Article: http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...ection-377-to-5judge-bench/article8183860.ece

Aligarh Trailer again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JezwsQKpXuU

 

[PeterG]

With the talk about the greatest movies of all time, I started making my own list of personal faves. Can't wait to share it with you! Lucky for me, imdb.com saves all the movies that you rate, so I was able to export that list onto my computer. I've been reviewing it and trying to figure out what movie should go where on the list. But...I have over 200 movies to think about from this list. And they're all rated 10 out of 10!

 

[DannyCurry]

I saw The Danish Girl and was totally overwhelmed by it. Of course, you could always criticize how predictable the story is, but I loved the costumes and I found both Redmayne & Vikander truly convincing. That's actually the first time I really liked Redmayne. Vikander is again stunningly beautiful and her character's unconditional love for "Lili" was actually heartbreaking.
Plus, having some Matthias Schoenarts never hurts
A really good movie IMO.

 

[Xela M]

I saw The Danish Girl and was totally overwhelmed by it. Of course, you could always criticize how predictable the story is, but I loved the costumes and I found both Redmayne & Vikander truly convincing. That's actually the first time I really liked Redmayne. Vikander is again stunningly beautiful and her character's unconditional love for "Lili" was actually heartbreaking.
Plus, having some Matthias Schoenarts never hurts
A really good movie IMO.

It's a very beautiful movie - costumes, art design and the acting is superb!

 

[jenny12]

Ugh. I just got an email from Universal (don't ask why) with the subject line "Meryl Streep Stars in a Powerful Drama, Suffragette - Now on Blu-ray and DVD."

I enjoyed Suffragette. A lot. But Meryl Streep was on screen for about 90 seconds. I completely understand why they're using her to sell the film, she's the biggest name, but if anyone is seeing it just because of her they're going to be very let down ...

I really enjoyed Suffragette as well. Really well done film about an important time in history. Carrie Mulligan was great.

 

[PeterG]

Movies coming out this weekend are below. "4th Man Out" and "The Pack" just barely made my To See list. But I need horror and gay movies to round out all the serious dramas and documentaries that end up on my list, so when lesser-represented genres like these two belong to come out, when they look decent enough, they go on to my list. That said, "Southbound" did not cut it!! And Viva almost made my list, it verged on making it to my list, but looked maybe a little preachy, so I'm going to take a pass on that one.


Feb. 5th - Hail, Caesar! - Comedy with George Clooney, Josh Brolin, Channing Tatum, Ralph Fiennes, Tilda Swinton, Scarlett Johansson, Jonah Hill, Dolph Lundgren, Clancy Brown, Frances McDormand, Christopher Lambert and Fisher Stevens
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMqeoW3XRa0

Feb. 5th - Pride and Prejudice and Zombies – Horror comedy with Lily James, Sam Riley, Matt Smith, Lena Headey, Charles Dance, Jack Huston and Douglas Booth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Foo3Vx_ULMg

Feb. 5th - The Choice- Romantic drama with Maggie Grace, Tom Welling and Tom Wilkinson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWPM1jTnuuo

Feb. 5th - Dad's Army – Wartime comedy with Toby Jones, Bill Nighy, Tom Courtenay, Daniel Mays and Michael Gambon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaxkLVtRY1U

Feb. 5th – Regression - Thriller with Ethan Hawke, Emma Watson, David Thewlis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pBwIsVGaL4

February 5th - The Club (Limited) – Drama from Chile. Imdb.com: “A crisis counselor is sent by the Catholic Church to a small Chilean beach town where disgraced priests and nuns, suspected of crimes ranging from child abuse to baby-snatching from unwed mothers, live secluded, after an incident occurs.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8c2DYoF7lA

February 5th - 4th Man Out (Limited) - Comedy drama with Parker Young [Suburgatory], Chord Overstreet [Glee] and Kate Flannery
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmzBB7VjfzA

February 5th - The Pack (Limited) – Horror thriller. From imdb.com: “A farmer and his family must fight for survival after a ferocious pack of wild dogs infiltrates their isolated farmhouse.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp6nUcshWzM

February 5th - Viva (Limited) – Drama, new cast. From imdb.com: “When everything is for sale, what's the value of love? Jesus does make up for a troupe of drag performers in Havana, but dreams of being a performer. When he finally gets his chance to be on stage, a stranger emerges from the crowd and punches him in the face.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S097UTL057I

February 5th - Misconduct (Limited)- Dramatic thriller with Al Pacino, Malin Akerman, Anthony Hopkins, Julia Stiles and Josh Duhamel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chZ7CYBDgPY

February 5th - All Roads Lead to Rome (Limited) - Romantic Comedy with Sarah Jessica Parker and Paz Vega
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peYvl4WEz5I

February 3rd - Rams (Limited) – Drama from Iceland. Imdb.com: “In a remote Icelandic farming valley, two brothers who haven't spoken in 40 years have to come together in order to save what's dearest to them - their sheep.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWVmUVAdi5Y

February 5th - Southbound (Limited) - Horror Sci-fi Thriller. From imdb.com: “Five interlocking tales of terror follow the fates of a group of weary travellers who confront their worst nightmares - and darkest secrets - over one long night on a desolate stretch of desert highway.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skNeUjtjD6Y

 

[Vash01]

I saw The Danish Girl and was totally overwhelmed by it. Of course, you could always criticize how predictable the story is, but I loved the costumes and I found both Redmayne & Vikander truly convincing. That's actually the first time I really liked Redmayne. Vikander is again stunningly beautiful and her character's unconditional love for "Lili" was actually heartbreaking.
Plus, having some Matthias Schoenarts never hurts
A really good movie IMO.

I loved that movie. It drove me to tears. It doesn't happen often.

One thing about it being predictable: It is a true story of Lili and her/his wife, so of course we know what happened. Both were good artists. The real life characters don't look anything like the actors in the movie, but the story actually happened, with some differences. In the real life, Vikander's character remarried after her divorce from Lili (she did not marry Schoenert's character) and the marriage was an unhappy one. It ended in a divorce and she struggled financially. She died poor. I liked the uplifting ending of the movie (poetic license).

 

[watchthis!!]

Ricki And The Flash...kind of a mess! I think the script was to blame, but maybe with stronger direction something could have been made out of this. I wonder if it became a passion project for Meryl Streep and her daughter and everyone bowed down to them in a way...and the movie suffered for it. It's the worst performance I've seen from Mamie Gummer (Streep's daughter). Weird to see Streep and Kevin Kline together on the screen after all this time...and for it to be in something of such a lesser quality than Sophie's Choice. This one I'd only recommend if you're an uber of anybody involved in the making of this. And set your sights low so you're more likely to think, "it wasn't that bad"!

Lars Von Trier’s Antichrist Banned In France SEVEN Years After Release
https://ca.movies.yahoo.com/post/138669892951/lars-von-trier-movie-antichrist-banned-in-france

"Promouvoir", A Catholic group has been working to have this movie banned. The movie can now not be played in movie theatres, aired on television or sold on DVD until it is re-classified. More from the article:

Promouvoir has previously also set its sights on films including Von Trier’s 'Nymphomaniac’ and 'Fifty Shades of Grey’, and succeeded in having 'Blue Is The Warmest’s Colour’s 12 rating revoked last year.

 

[Artemis@BC]

Ricki And The Flash...kind of a mess! I think the script was to blame, but maybe with stronger direction something could have been made out of this. I wonder if it became a passion project for Meryl Streep and her daughter and everyone bowed down to them in a way...and the movie suffered for it. It's the worst performance I've seen from Mamie Gummer (Streep's daughter).

Yeah, I'm not sure if the script or the direction was more to blame for Gummer's performance. She's certainly displayed some great acting in the past (unlike her sister ) so I don't think it was down to her abilities.

For the movie as whole though, I definitely think it was the script. I'm beginning to think Diablo Cody only had one good story in her ...

 

[DannyCurry]

One thing about it being predictable: It is a true story of Lili and her/his wife, so of course we know what happened. Both were good artists. The real life characters don't look anything like the actors in the movie, but the story actually happened, with some differences. In the real life, Vikander's character remarried after her divorce from Lili (she did not marry Schoenert's character) and the marriage was an unhappy one. It ended in a divorce and she struggled financially. She died poor. I liked the uplifting ending of the movie (poetic license).

I sould have been more precise and say that many directing choices could be perceived as clichés (including the uplifting ending). It worked on me but I understand how others see it as "too easy".

Actually I didn't know much about the story itself before seeing the movie as I only knew roughly the theme. It's only after I saw it that I also read a bit more about the book and the real life characters.

Even though the movie was "romanticized" (well, that's inevitable), and some people may not be as moved as you (or me!) by it, it's still worth watching.

 

[DannyCurry]

I really enjoyed Suffragette as well. Really well done film about an important time in history. Carrie Mulligan was great.

ITA.

And, well, despite his minor role in Suffragette, I've noticed Ben Whishaw has been in several movies I've really liked/loved in the past years (Cloud Atlas, The Lobster, and..the Danish Girl haha). He was already great in Perfume, but he's aged well. And doesn't he remind you of Stéphane Lambiel sometimes?!

 

[Vash01]

I sould have been more precise and say that many directing choices could be perceived as clichés (including the uplifting ending). It worked on me but I understand how others see it as "too easy".

Actually I didn't know much about the story itself before seeing the movie as I only knew roughly the theme. It's only after I saw it that I also read a bit more about the book and the real life characters.

Even though the movie was "romanticized" (well, that's inevitable), and some people may not be as moved as you (or me!) by it, it's still worth watching.

I didn't know it either. I read about it after seeing the movie.

Romanticization is OK with me as long as it is done well. It was done beautifully in this movie.

I couldn't understand why this movie was being criticized so much.

 

[Xela M]

I watched Robert Duvall's Oscar winning performance in "Tender Mercies" and I am a little stunned that an actor of that caliber who could have won for films like "Godfather" or "Apocalypses Now" won his only Oscar for this dreck. The film has a surprisingly high imdb rating, but one of the reviews said: "I was still waiting for something to happen when the credits rolled". That's exactly how I felt!

The film is about a washed up alcoholic country singer who finds new love and a new life in Texas. But nothing ever happens in this film, all the characters are completely one-dimensional and everything is just "blah". It's not a comedy and there is no drama. It's just... there... Only watch it if you have some time to waste.

P.S. It's even more perplexing that this movie also won an Oscar for best screenplay. What screenplay?!

 

[PeterG]

I watched "The Dilemma" recently. Why? WHY???!!! Because it had Winona Ryder in it? Or Channing Tatum (maybe shirtless?) Please....if I ever say that I am going to watch a Vince Vaughn movie...please stop me! It was quite horrible. And then to find out that RON HOWARD directed it? WHAT??!! He is a good director! Maybe comedy is not his thing. (Well...THAT'S obvious. ) And poor Jennifer Connelly...and Queen Latifah. I really hope these ladies got big paycheques to have to spend any time on that set. Gratefully the movie made 70 million worldwide and the production cost was the same amount, so it was a bomb. So no The Dilemma 2 with Chris Pratt or Tilda Swinton added to the mix to sucker me into seeing it...

And the movies from the 1998 list that got bumped when they added new choices to the 2007 list...

Some thoughts about the movies that got bumped off the list:

39. Doctor Zhivago (1965) - bit of a struggle to get through. My hopes had been built up over decades of never having seen this, so not a surprise that I found it a tad disappointing.

53. Amadeus (1984) - Another one I saw years (decades?) after it came out. Like it, but it won't be appearing on my personal Top 100 movies of all time.

54. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) - One that I think made it to the list because it was great (amazing?)...for it's time. But I don't think it stands up quite as well as other movies from the early 30's.

73. Wuthering Heights (1939) - This is one that I gave a 10/10 to at imdb.com. I watched the trailer to get a feel for this to gauge where it should go on my all-time faves list. The trailer isn't good. Didn't help me remember why I rated it so high...so it's off my list as well!

75. Dances with Wolves (1990) - This one is making an appearance on my list. Where will it place? Well, I only have another 202 movies to consider for my list until I share it with y'all. But this one will not be getting kicked off my list any time soon!

87. Frankenstein (1931) - Another one that made it to the list for it's greatness...of it's time. Similar thoughts for this one as with All Quiet...

89. Patton (1970) - I liked this one, but not enough to care about it being bumped off the list.

90. The Jazz Singer (1927) - Was this only on the list because it was (supposed to be) the first talkie? It wasn't, plus half of it was a silent film. I guess this is recognized as the first sound film because it was the first sound film to be a hit? I thought it was okay, wouldn't ever watch it again, though.

This was in the Star Wars thread but I thought it should be posted in here in case someone interested hasn't gone in there.

They have pushed back Episode 8 to December 15, 2017 because they have to do some rewrites. Here is the article about it. I saw an article on io9 as well that said the reason for the rewrites was to refocus the story on Rey, Finn and Poe. They had been planning on bringing more characters in the sequels but they want to refocus the story on those three because of how popular they have proven to be.

Avatar 2 which was supposed to be released December 2017 is now indefinitely delayed. But maybe a summer 2018 release is not out of the question. I wonder why the change of heart?
http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Avatar-2-Just-Got-Delayed-Again-107657.html

Going over some old posts and when I read Nell411's post about Star Wars, it reminded me of Buzz saying that Avatar was also being delayed. I hadn't read the article Buzz linked for us, made me wonder if there was a connection. Bold for the Star Wars people to put their movie up against Avatar 2. Stupid also, as the article mentions that they would be competing for IMAX space. I wouldn't be surprised if perfectionism on the part of Cameron had something to do with it. He won't put out a movie until he feels 1,000% that it's perfect. Plus I don't see Cameron as the type of guy to battle for box office supremacy just for the sake of winning. He wants to succeed in the larger scheme of things, not have a playground battle on a world stage. But it will be interesting to see how each of these films ultimately rank on the top box office list of all time!

 

[Jay42]

ITA.

And, well, despite his minor role in Suffragette, I've noticed Ben Whishaw has been in several movies I've really liked/loved in the past years (Cloud Atlas, The Lobster, and..the Danish Girl haha). He was already great in Perfume, but he's aged well. And doesn't he remind you of Stéphane Lambiel sometimes?!

That's who it is! Thank you. I had been trying to figure out who Ben Whishaw reminded me of for ages.

I watched Robert Duvall's Oscar winning performance in "Tender Mercies" and I am a little stunned that an actor of that caliber who could have won for films like "Godfather" or "Apocalypses Now" won his only Oscar for this dreck. The film has a surprisingly high imdb rating, but one of the reviews said: "I was still waiting for something to happen when the credits rolled". That's exactly how I felt!

The film is about a washed up alcoholic country singer who finds new love and a new life in Texas. But nothing ever happens in this film, all the characters are completely one-dimensional and everything is just "blah". It's not a comedy and there is no drama. It's just... there... Only watch it if you have some time to waste.

P.S. It's even more perplexing that this movie also won an Oscar for best screenplay. What screenplay?!

It's probably a similar situation to Al Pacino winning for Scent of a Woman. There a few cases, especially in the Lead Actor category, where the men are pretty clearly getting the Oscar for it because they didn't get it earlier for better movies. John Wayne winning for True Grit when he should have won for The Searchers or The Quiet Man, for example. You could make a similar argument for Paul Newman and Henry Fonda. Not to say the movies they won for weren't good, but both had more memorable work earlier on.

That being said, I love On Golden Pond. All the actors were great in it.

 

[Jay42]

90. The Jazz Singer (1927) - Was this only on the list because it was (supposed to be) the first talkie? It wasn't, plus half of it was a silent film. I guess this is recognized as the first sound film because it was the first sound film to be a hit? I thought it was okay, wouldn't ever watch it again, though.

Sorry for the double post, I took to long to post my last one and I wanted to reply to this.

I read in a biography of Myrna Loy called The Only Good Girl in Hollywood, that when people heard The Jazz Singer was being made it through everyone else into a complete panic and everyone pretty much dropped everything they were doing and started figuring out how they were going to do sound on film. Picture what happens in Singing In The Rain. That's pretty much exactly what happened.

Going over some old posts and when I read Nell411's post about Star Wars, it reminded me of Buzz saying that Avatar was also being delayed. I hadn't read the article Buzz linked for us, made me wonder if there was a connection. Bold for the Star Wars people to put their movie up against Avatar 2. Stupid also, as the article mentions that they would be competing for IMAX space. I wouldn't be surprised if perfectionism on the part of Cameron had something to do with it. He won't put out a movie until he feels 1,000% that it's perfect. Plus I don't see Cameron as the type of guy to battle for box office supremacy just for the sake of winning. He wants to succeed in the larger scheme of things, not have a playground battle on a world stage. But it will be interesting to see how each of these films ultimately rank on the top box office list of all time!

Not gonna lie, I kind of wonder if another Avatar movie will every actually be released.

 

[aftershocks]

... Not gonna lie, I kind of wonder if another Avatar movie will ever actually be released.

 

[PeterG]

Who likes quizzes?

Top-Grossing Superhero Movies

I only got 18 out of 33.

 

[Jay42]

Who likes quizzes?

Top-Grossing Superhero Movies

I only got 18 out of 33.

33 out of 33

 

[PeterG]

33 out of 33

I couldn't remember the sequel names for the life of me!

 

[Artemis@BC]

I just spotted the trailer for Miles Ahead, the Miles Davis biopic. Wow. I had no idea this was even in the works. One of my favourite musicians + two of my favourite actors (Don Cheadle and Ewan McGregor*) = I must see this!

(*even with hideous 70s hair ...)

It's also Cheadle's feature directing debut, so that will be interesting.

 

[Artistic Skaters]

I haven't seen it in many years, but I remember really liking Tender Mercies. It seemed like it was supposed to be a quiet movie.