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

[watchthis!!]

Review: Walking Out starring Matt Bomer
http://www.joblo.com/movie-news/review-walking-out-sundance-starring-matt-bomer-284-02

This movie sounds really good. Matt Bomer plays a father who lives off the grid and his visiting son from the city spending time together in the hopes of trying to re-connect with one another. I like this quote from the article:

We get periodic flashbacks to a similar trip he took with his father (Bill Pullman - very effective), who, when faced with trophy killing, told his son “that’s not hunting, that’s killing.”

No release date yet for this movie as it just played at Sundance, so it might not even have a distributor yet But I did find this one scene on youtube:

【Walking Out】電影片段No.1[/quote]

 

[Vash01]

Saw Elle today. Not really my kind of movie. Felt like a horror movie. Isabelle was very good but not sure the academy will give her the Oscar over well known stars like Natalie or Emma. IMO she was better than both.

 

[Seerek]

Wasn't really sure where to put this but sorry to hear of the passing of Emmanuelle Riva at age 89.

 

[VGThuy]

Wasn't really sure where to put this but sorry to hear of the passing of Emmanuelle Riva at age 89.

Her performance in Amour is one of the best I've ever seen. That Oscar should have been hers.

 

[Aussie Willy]

Well after many many years and now having subscribed to Netflix, I finally got around to watching The Godfather. Good movie.

 

[KatieC]

I know I don't post much in here, but I'm kind of hoping someone will be kind enough to express their thoughts on the ending of La La Land. I saw it yesterday - had been wanting to see if for a long time. And I liked it fairly well, until the ending, which I found confusing and unneccesary. Did I miss something?

 

[emason]

La La Land: saw it a few weeks ago, and did not particularly like it. I'm not sure I even remember that much. As I saw it, they did not wind up with each other, but when she accidentally visits his club, she has a moment of imagining what might have been if they had stayed together instead of moving on.

 

[PeterG]

La La Land: saw it a few weeks ago, and did not particularly like it. I'm not sure I even remember that much. As I saw it, they did not wind up with each other, but when she accidentally visits his club, she has a moment of imagining what might have been if they had stayed together instead of moving on.

V V V V V ! ! ! ! !

 

[mrr50]

Saw La La Land today, although I enjoyed it I don't understand the extreme Oscar love. My husband, on the other hand, adored it and accuses me of not being a romantic.

Spoiler

I found it fascinating that in Mia's flashback, Sebastian made most of the sacrifice. There was no long distance relationship to have both careers develope

 

[watchthis!!]

I watched The Wave the other day, Norway's first "disaster flick". I was surprised how much I liked it. I have to admit that when I first started watching, I scanned through the movie to see when the big special efffects began. But the first part of the movie, which is all about one particular family, was so good that I didn't care about how long I had to wait for some big splashin' to start! I actually thought the movie could have worked as just a drama about a family in a time of big change. I'd actually like to see them all go through this part of their story as I found each person within the family to be both interesting and likeable. The special effects look really good, it was interesting to hear in the DVD extras about how there is a certain type of software now available to filmmakers with smaller budgets that enable them to create effects which look like they'd fit into a big Hollywood blockbuster. Thumbs up for this one on all levels.

The trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LF2TEBijpI

 

[VGThuy]

I saw La La Land today, and I absolutely hated the first hour and LOVED the second hour.

Spoiler

I'm a fan of classic Hollywood musicals, and I appreciated a lot of the homages the movie was doing and some of the cinematic tricks being used. In the beginning, I felt the movie was trying to be a bit too cute with it and was showing off just a bit. Then once the movie settled down and breathed, I felt it really shone. I appreciate what the movie was trying to do and am happy there there are people who are still interested in making musicals that make full use of the film medium and try to evolve it for our times as well.

I had a problem with the way some of the musical sequences were filmed...namely I thought they overdoing the musical trope of broad characterizations of the extras and bit characters. In the first hour, I found that the writing and stilted dialogue all sounded like they were trying too hard to be clever, witty, sarcastic one liners and all sounded like they were supposed to replicated all the great ones of the past, but they were so disjointed and at times simply badly written and didn't even flow from what was going on preceding it...("Oh you're a barista, I guess that means you can look down on me..."/"I'll guess I'll see you in the movies." Sun glasses on. Barf). There's that song when they're walking (and of course seeing that beautiful view and quipping how it's not much to look at (how clever and funny!) and then all of a sudden Ryan Gosling sings a song about how they're not each other's type with NO set up leading into that.
That part reminded me of Carousel, where Rodgers/Hammerstein worked really hard to make sure their songs came from an organic place and when the two leads had their first love song, they knew it was too soon, so they made sure the song was preceded by a scene where there was a real set up to establish their chemistry and the song was them telling each other "if" they loved each other not that they did.

At first I thought there was little depth overall even in movie musical terms. After the first hour, I honestly wondered about that serious lack of depth and good writing and wondered if this was how the director saw movie musicals of the past and if it is, then it's less of a homage and more of a criticism and the director's disdain for the medium.

Then I felt the film really shone once Ryan and Emma's characters started talking like normal people (started when she was telling him her life story in the studio lot).

In the beginning, I thought Ryan Gosling was pretty awful in this film. That first scene with his sister was one of the worst acted scenes I've seen this year or ever. I was wondering how he received an Academy Award nomination for this with the way many of his line deliveries that were supposed to have some semblance of comedic timing or land were just lazily delivered. All of the "funny" bits of the movie weren't funny ("No, Jamal...you be trippin'") and they were most evident with Ryan Gosling's line deliveries. Of course, once the film slowed down a bit, I really got into Ryan's performance and the chemistry I felt was seriously lacking between Emma and him finally happened. By the ending, I was sold.

As for Emma Stone, I admit that I just don't get her as an actress. I think she's a hit with people who like her personality and what she gives. I find her a big turn off, like Sarah Hughes' skating. All of her awkward, gawky mannerisms and tics that she has in every film that made her a star, and I suspect that she has in real life, was on full display times 10 in that first part of the film. I found her too awkward and aware of herself...and proud of herself...to find myself interested in what she was giving. Then, like Ryan Gosling, I found myself more enraptured in her performance once the film hit the second half, and even though there were some "book" scenes that I wasn't totally convinced in, I really enjoyed her by the end. I think the last half really showed off her maturity as an actress.

I will say I am sort of tired of JK Simmons doing the JK Simmons in everything he does even if he was only in one scene.

As for the actual musical numbers, I really enjoyed them, the first few only in isolation as I didn't think there was a natural set up for them. I'm not really crazy about the lyrics but I loved the instrumental score. The song with the roommates, I didn't like it in the beginning too much but I loved that one part where it got quiet (mannequin challenge part though I felt the mannequin challenge aspect was awkwardly filmed) and then was interrupted with the guy somersaulting into the pool. To me, that was a great use of the film medium and clever staging of the number. I didn't mind the condescending jazz lesson Ryan was giving Emma, nor her absolute ignorance which was just a vehicle to lecture the audience, because it reminded me of one of my favorite classes in college, History of New Orleans Music. Then, the date sequence...and that final musical sequence. I'm pretty much in love with those two musical sequences. I don't mind that Ryan and Emma were not great singers or dancers, I don't think they had to be for the type of musical this was.

I'd rank Emma Stone's performance ahead of Natalie Portman's in Jackie but below Meryl Streep in Florence Foster Jenkins and WAY below Isabelle Huppert in Elle.

 

[PeterG]

Not sure if this has been posted here or in the other thread:

37th Golden Raspberry Awards

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Zoolander 2 have the most nominations with eight each.

I'm finding the these awards get more and more predictable every year. Moreso than the Oscars. There's pretty much no reason for them to nominate Adam Sandler or anything Tyler Perry-related. Those are givens. I wish they'd go after some lesser expected nominees. Going after Nicolas Cage or Megan Fox is not edgy, which I thought was the purpose of these awards. It's like they review the "worst of" lists that come out at the end of the year and whichever films and performances are mention the most times get the nominations. Over the nine categories, only 17 films received nominations. And each category has six nominations instead of five, so the focus of bad stuff that came out last year is really limited. So one big raspberry for the Razzies as far as I'm concerned!

 

[Vash01]

I saw '20th century women' yesterday, mainly because of Annette Bening. Didn't like the movie at all. It felt like a patchwork quilt, without any flow. I have not yet read what others posted about it, but to me it was a snoozer until perhaps the last half hour. The movie did rise toward the end but on the whole I didn't like it.

Still, I needed something like that because just a day earlier I had seen 'Elle' and I was feeling disturbed all day. I HAD to see something light to get rid of those thoughts, and 20th century definitely helped. I can't believe 'Elle' won the Golden Globe for Best foreign language picture. It had too many side stories, all pretty bad, and the violence and the psycho stuff was just too much for me.

 

[watchthis!!]

Split is now on track to become the most profitable film of 2017
http://entertainment.ie/cinema/news...g-the-most-profitable-film-of-2017/389929.htm

Has anyone seen this? It's made almost 80 million on a nine million budget. In it's second weekend, it only dropped 34% in box office returns, anything below 50% is rare. Some movies even drop off in the 70% range in their second week. I've heard good things about this movie and nothing about people being disappointed in it. Maybe I'll even see it instead of waiting for it to be on DVD like I usually do.

 

[Cachoo]

My sister is type A to the point that she doesn't go to a lot of movies because she hates to sit for that long. So you will understand my shock when she said she has seen La La Land. Twice. And she is insisting that I see it. I think I will.

 

[Vash01]

My sister is type A to the point that she doesn't go to a lot of movies because she hates to sit for that long. So you will understand my shock when she said she has seen La La Land. Twice. And she is insisting that I see it. I think I will.

I hope you won't be disappointed. Keep your expectations reasonable.

 

[Buzz]

Ben Affleck is no longer directing the upcoming stand alone Batman movie but will star in it.
http://time.com/4654656/ben-affleck-batman-standalone-movie/

 

[PeterG]

Quiz: Can you match the fictional US President to their movie?

This quiz is done a bit differently in that you have to keep answering until you get the correct one. Three stars if you guess right the first time, two stars on your second try, etc. And when you're done, they calculate how well you did. After my 100% on the musicals quiz, on this one I got...67%.

 

[Vash01]

Quiz: Can you match the fictional US President to their movie?

This quiz is done a bit differently in that you have to keep answering until you get the correct one. Three stars if you guess right the first time, two stars on your second try, etc. And when you're done, they calculate how well you did. After my 100% on the musicals quiz, on this one I got...67%.

I got only 62%.

ETA: I really knew only two. The American President (Michael Douglas) and Airforce one (Harrison Ford). All others were guesses.

 

[cocotaffy]

I've recently watched 4 movies Arrival, Loving, Nocturnal Animal and Hidden Figures.
I like both loving and hidden figures. The leads were all very good and I particularly enjoyed the energy of the three main lead actresses in hidden figures. Loving was a very understated and subtle movie with a great performance from Ruth Negga, so happy for her nomination.
On the other hand, Nocturnal Animal was a massive fail and a disappointment. I shouldn't have watched the preview which promised a dark unhinged type of thriller borderline weird and disturbing. And we got a flat movie, pretentious looking in its extreme stylization with a lifetime entertainment background

Spoiler

murder story

. None of the actors could do anything to save this pompous story either.
Arrival delivered an hopeful message in a very interesting and I think never down before type of twist. But I couldn't fully get into it. I think it was the lackluster performance of both leads and esp. Amy Adams. Watching 2 movies back to back with her, while trying to deliver an understated performance, it ends up being a bit boring. She lacks the quiet intensity to pull it off. I find her better in lighter or more comedic role. Eva Green could have been great in Arrival.

 

[PeterG]

Here are some foreign language films I’ve watched in the last few weeks that I never got around to posting about:


Das Experiment (2001) was quite a thrill ride, buckle yourself in if you’re going to watch this one. I believe it’s the fourth movie I’ve watched that has been made based on the 1971 prison experiment at Stanford University. I’ve enjoyed all of them, this one might pack a bit more whallop than the others, although all have been effective. The cast is great in this, Moritz Bleibtreu plays the lead character, I recognize him from Woman In Gold and The Fifth Estate. Christian Berkel co-stars in the film, I recognized him but couldn’t place him until I checked at imdb.com and saw that I had just watched him in Trumbo, where he brilliantly played Otto Preminger. The direction is top-notch, everything moves at a quick pace and tension remains high through most of the movie. If you’re in for some intense viewing, check this one out.


Tom At The Farm (2013) is a great dramatic thriller. It’s about a young man whose partner dies and he goes for a few days to the home where his partner grew up to attend the funeral. But he soon realizes that not everone was aware that their son/brother who just passed away was actually gay and in a relationship with the lead character (Tom). So this one is a bit like a modern-day Hitchcock movie. While I really liked the script, I think maybe it could have been cleaned up a little from what we got to see on the screen. It’s one of those movies where I had to read over the plot outlines at imdb.com and Wikipedia and read a few threads on the imdb.com message boards for the light over my head to come one where I think “okay, that’s what that was about” and “oh…that’s what the scene meant”. Maybe this is just the type of movie you need to watch with others to discuss the various scenes that are left for the viewer to determine their thoughts about what was happening. I often watch movies alone, so this way of film-making doesn’t work for me as well as it might for others. Still, I recommend this one as the story overall is great, as is the direction and all the performances.


Mediterranea (2015) is about two men who travel from Africa across the Mediterranean Sea to immigrate to Italy. It’s a story I haven’t seen before on screen, but much of what happens are things that I expected to happen. I believe the writer of this movie based it on stories from the Italian community where his family lived and the African immigrants that were coming to Italy to find a better life. The story is interesting, I just wish it didn’t include too many scenes where I knew what the result of the action would be a few scenes ahead of time. I recommend this one only if the storyline intrigues you and/or you like independent European dramas.

 

[watchthis!!]

Miracle At St. Anna is a 2008 WWII drama about the experience of four black soldiers in Italy when they discover an orphaned Italian boy. They are surrounded by German troops and need to worry about their own lives while thinking of how to care for this young boy. This is quite a long movie, 2 hours and 40 minutes. I think it might have worked better if it had been trimmed down to about the two hour mark. There are a few other plotlines within the movie, perhaps one of them could have been cut, the movie would probably have had as much of an impact if they had done that. This movie was directed by Spike Lee and stars Derek Luke, Michael Ealy and in smaller roles, John Turturro, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Kerry Washington, John Leguizamo and D. B. Sweeney. This movie did not do well at the box office, which is unfortunate because it's a story that deserved to be told and then seen. Plus I'd say it arguably has one of the better movie endings out there.

The trailer for Miracle At St. Anna: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-cUpdiehsw

 

[Buzz]

For fantasy/superhero/science fiction movie fans, the next few years will be like a dream come true!
http://collider.com/upcoming-new-superhero-movies-2016-2020-release-dates/#the-flash

 

[Cachoo]

Well I'm on an Emily Blunt wuz robbed kick---just watched "Girl On A Train." She was fantastic especially having to portray various stages of sobriety to being drop dead drunk and her despair. This is when I say the Academy needs to get rid of a number of nominees and go with groups of votes. If there was a spread where seven actors were somewhat close in votes than nominate seven actors. If there are five then nominate five. I hate that she was left off and Joel Edgerton too for his work in "Loving."

 

[PeterG]

Trailers For Movies Released 2017-02-03rd
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuI4-fSHhipRUvnEIJGj-rlgBS1nVBRXb

It will be interesting to see how the first three films do, because as far as my notes say, this is the second, third and fourth release date for each of them. Rings was originally to be release in November 2015, then April 2016 an then October 2016. Looks like it's finally making it to theatres!

Five almost made my To See list: Rings, Youth In Oregon (what a haphazard trailer!), Eloise, Growing Up Smith and Mr. Gaga, which looks good, but kind of strange and I've seen a number of dance documentaries the last year, so this one just missed the cut.

This week's list:


Feb. 3rd - The Space Between Us (Wide) – Romantic comedy drama with Olivia Thirlby, Adam Goldberg, Ben Feldman [NBC’s Superstore], Betsy Brandt [Breaking Bad], Lesley Ann Warren and Peter Bogdanovich

Feb. 3rd - Rings (Wide) – Horror thriller with Johnny Galecki and Alex Roe

Feb. 3rd - 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

Feb. 3rd - War on Everyone (Limited) – Crime comedy with Alexander Skarsgård, Theo James, Tessa Thompson, Paul Reiser and Michael Cena

Feb. 3rd - Youth in Oregon (Limited) – Comedy drama with Christina Applegate, Billy Crudup, Josh Lucas, Mary Kay Place and Frank Langella

Feb. 3rd - Wheeler (Limited) – Drama with Stephen Dorff and Kris Kristofferson

Feb. 3rd - Eloise (Limited) – Horror thriller with Eliza Dushku, Robert Patrick and Chace Crawford

Feb. 3rd - Oklahoma City (Limited) – Documentary. From imdb.com: “The bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in April 1995 is the worst act of domestic terrorism in American history; this documentary explores how a series of deadly encounters between American citizens and federal law enforcement - including the standoffs at Ruby Ridge and Waco - led to it.”

Feb. 3rd - Growing Up Smith (Limited) – Family comedy drama with Jason Lee

Feb. 3rd - American Violence (Limited) – Crime drama with Bruce Dern, Denise Richards and Michael Pare

Feb. 3rd - I Am Not Your Negro (Limited) – Documentary narrated by Samuel L. Jackson. From imdb.com: “Writer James Baldwin tells the story of race in modern America with his unfinished novel, Remember This House.”

Feb. 3rd - Dark Night (Limited) – Drama, new cast. From imdb.com: “The lives of six strangers intersect at a suburban Cineplex where a massacre occurs.”

Feb. 3rd - Don't Knock Twice (Limited) – Horror with a new cast. From imdb.com: “A mother desperate to reconnect with her troubled daughter becomes embroiled in the urban legend of a demonic witch.”

Feb. 3rd - Grace of Jake (Limited) – Musical comedy drama with Michael Beck and Jordin Sparks

Feb. 1st - Mr. Gaga (Limited) - Documentary. From imdb.com: “Mr. Gaga tells the story of Ohad Naharin, renowned choreographer and artistic director of the Batsheva Dance Company, an artistic genius who redefined the language of modern dance.”

Feb. 3rd - Confidential Assignment (Limited) – South Korean action comedy. From imdb.com: “When a crime organization from North Korea crosses borders and enters South Korean soil, a South Korean detective must cooperate with a North Korean detective to investigate their whereabouts.”

Feb. 1st - The Lure (Limited) - Polish horror comedy. From imdb.com: “In Warsaw, a pair of mermaid sisters are adopted into a cabaret. While one seeks love with humans the other hungers to dine on the human population of the city.”

 

[cocotaffy]

I've seen a number of dance documentaries the last year, so this one just missed the cut.

Thanks for all the info. Could I ask you which dance documentaries you've watched last year ? I love dance documentaries and I always look for new ones.

 

[Allskate]

Has anyone seen this? It's made almost 80 million on a nine million budget. In it's second weekend, it only dropped 34% in box office returns, anything below 50% is rare. Some movies even drop off in the 70% range in their second week. I've heard good things about this movie and nothing about people being disappointed in it. Maybe I'll even see it instead of waiting for it to be on DVD like I usually do.

I'm split about whether I want to see it. I don't like creepy movies, but I like James McAvoy. Maybe it wouldn't be quite so creepy if saw it on DVD.

 

[PeterG]

Thanks for all the info. Could I ask you which dance documentaries you've watched last year ? I love dance documentaries and I always look for new ones.

I loved First Position (2011), Pina (also 2011), and there's one that I can't remember the title, it's about a place in rural New York or a state in the northeast of the U.S. with almost like a large cabin where people have to drive miles to get to and then sit out in the wilderness as they watch world-class dancing on a basic stage. I believe this place is referred to as becoming the dance capital (of maybe the world) because of the high-level dance created and shown there. I just can't remember the title. I could ask a fellow FSU'er who rarely peeks into this thread if nobody else knows the title.

Mad Hot Ballroom (2005) was also good. Every Little Step (2008) is not exactly a dance documentary, but a behind-the-scenes look at the making of A Chorus Line.

 

[PeterG]

Here's the other dance documentary I mentioned:

Never Stand Still: Dancing at Jacob's Pillow -- Official Trailer

Thanks to @kwanfan1818 for knowing the title.

 

[Cachoo]

I'm split about whether I want to see it. I don't like creepy movies, but I like James McAvoy. Maybe it wouldn't be quite so creepy if saw it on DVD.

I like McAvoy too, understand now that M. Night is back and now making good films per the "powers" in LA and I hear this is very twisty. I like twisty.