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

[PeterG]

Some of the movies coming out in the first half of 2017 are listed below. In the poll you can vote for as many as you like. You can also change your answers. Let the voting begin. Welcome, 2017!


Feb. 10th - The Lego Batman Movie - Animated comedy with Will Arnett, Ralph Fiennes, Rosario Dawson, Michael Cera, Zach Galifianakis, Mariah Carey, Jenny Slate, Billy Dee Williams
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGQUKzSDhrg


Feb. 17th - The Great Wall - Sci-fi with Matt Damon, Willem Dafoe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqJ9ekM4x_c


March 3rd - Logan - Adventure with Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Boyd Holbrook, Richard E. Grant, Eriq La Salle, Elise Neal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Div0iP65aZo


March 3rd - T2: Trainspotting - Comedy drama with Ewan McGregor, Jonny Lee Miller, Ewen Bremner, Robert Carlyle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EG3lYCiIntE


May 10th - Kong: Skull Island - Adventure with Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, John Goodman, John C. Reilly, Tom Wilkinson, Thomas Mann
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AP0-9FBs2Rs


March 17th - Beauty and the Beast - Romance with Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, Ewan McGregor, Ian McKellen, Emma Thompson, Kevin Kline, Stanley Tucci, Josh Gad, Audra McDonald
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvW_L8sTu5E


May 5th - Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 - Adventure with Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Glenn Close, Kurt Russell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dW1BIid8Osg


May 12th - Snatched - Comedy with Amy Schumer, Goldie Hawn, Christopher Meloni, Wanda Sykes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20uteIC7pw8


May 19th - Alien: Covenant - Sci-fi with Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Demián Bichir, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, James Franco
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0VW6sg50Pk


May 26th - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales - Adventure with Johnny Depp, Javier Bardem, Orlando Bloom, Brenton Thwaites, Geoffrey Rush, Paul McCartney, Keira Knightley
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xo3af_6_Jk


May 26th - Baywatch - Comedy with Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron, Priyanka Chopra
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeWHDmm1M6c

 

[MacMadame]

Who else is tired of Pirates of the Caribbean movies? Raise hand!

 

[Allskate]

I can't say I'm interested in most of those movies. "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Wall" are probably the ones I'm mostly likely to see.

I want to see "Hidden Figures," which is going to be released in most of the U.S. soon. There are several movies still in theaters I want to see. Too many movies. Too little time. (And I have stacks of books waiting to be read.)

 

[Aussie Willy]

I definitely want to see Guardians of the Galaxy. Baby Groot looks so cute.

 

[watchthis!!]

I'm interested in The Great Wall, Beauty and the Beast, Snatched and Alien: Covenant. Two others I'm interested in:


The Lost City of Z comes out on April 21st, it's a drama with Charlie Hunnam, Robert Pattinson, Tom Holland and Sienna Miller
The trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjqtP459uo8

The Circle comes out April 28th, a sci0f drama with Tom Hanks and Emma Watson
The trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH0E69gtQtI

Who else is tired of Pirates of the Caribbean movies? Raise hand!

I'm still interested in them. They are always beautifully filmed...even if the stories were bad, they'd be watchable. Plus we only get one of these movies every five years or so, so that's enough time for interest to grow. For me, anyway!

 

[Artistic Skaters]

We planned to see Hidden Figures this weekend, but now there's a scandal with Kim Burrell who did the soundtrack with Pharrell Williams. So I don't know if we'll go or wait & see.

*** Gospel singer Kim Burrell calls homosexuality 'perverted,' Pharrell Williams and stars from 'Hidden Figures' condemn 'hateful comments' :
http://www.latimes.com/entertainmen...mosexuality-perverted-20170102-htmlstory.html

She made it even worse by doing the "double down" in her response. And her actual sermon included something about gays dying in 2017.

 

[Vash01]

I am not interested in any of these movies. I did cast my vote for Logan because I saw the trailer I think.

 

[MacMadame]

I was surprised how many movies on that list I was interested in! Maybe I'm getting back to being a movie goer.

 

[PeterG]

I saw two Bette Davies movies recently, almost back to back. Both dramas (did Davis do comedies? will have to google that later), but one role where she is rather demure and the other, the ballsy lady we love. But both characters are strong in their own way. I suppose the difference is the class background both were born into.

First up was All This And Heaven Too (1940). Starring opposite Charles Boyer, Davis plays a governess in a troubled household where she grows fonder each day of the children, their father...but not their needy, on-the-edge mother. She slowly begins to have feelings of love for her male employer, and the feelings are returned, but things remain completely chaste. They show subdued appreciation for one another from a rooms-length distance most of the time. But there is gossip from various sources and much ire from the wife. All This And Heaven Too is a classic melodrama, it has a 7.7 rating at imdb.com, which is very high. After I started watching this, I thought I knew the ending of the movie, so I must have seen this one at some point, but quite a while ago. I enjoyed it, but it was a bit depressing as it has the kind of story where you know things don't go well, then become bad...then become worse. So don't see this one when you're in a funk. But the performances are great, although over-the-top, which is to be expected from melodrama. Especially the performance of Barbara O'Neil as the wife (who was nominated for an Oscar for this performance).

Next up was The Little Foxes (1941). This one was nominated for nine Oscars (All This and Heaven Too just three) but won none. Glad three of the actresses in this were nominated, all were great. Patricia Collinge plays Davis' trod-upon sister-in-law and Teresa Wright her daughter in a story about three siblings who have a business opportunity that could leave them all wealthy beyond their dreams. But there's a time limit for when they have to have all their business matters in order, as well as agreement between all three as to how things are handled (and divvy-ed up). The Lillian Hellman script is great, with power shifts happening throughout the story and Davis getting to show her Queen Bee dominance throughout. William Wyler directs, both he and Hellman also got Oscar nods. The Little Foxes has a great twists and turns story and performances that serve the material well. I had mixed feelings about the ending, but after reading about the movie and it's ending a bit online, I've settled into liking it. This one I recommend more than All This And Heaven Too as the story is not quite as disheartening. But both are worth a view.

 

[Allskate]

We planned to see Hidden Figures this weekend, but now there's a scandal with Kim Burrell who did the soundtrack with Pharrell Williams. So I don't know if we'll go or wait & see.

*** Gospel singer Kim Burrell calls homosexuality 'perverted,' Pharrell Williams and stars from 'Hidden Figures' condemn 'hateful comments' :
http://www.latimes.com/entertainmen...mosexuality-perverted-20170102-htmlstory.html

She made it even worse by doing the "double down" in her response. And her actual sermon included something about gays dying in 2017.

I'm definitely not going to let this interfere with my plans to see the movie. This woman wasn't hired because of her homophobic beliefs, and her comments came after she recorded the song, so it seems unlikely that the people who hired her to record the song even knew her views. They just hired her to sing. And other people much more strongly associated with the movie have rejected her comments.

If I refused to see any movie that in some way employed a bigot or someone I found otherwise offensive, I'd never see any movies. Almost every movie must have someone offensive working on the movie in some way. There are times when a particular actor or director's views or actions are so strong and front and center that it is distracting or like I feel that seeing their movie is supporting something bad. But that is rare for me.

 

[Vash01]

I am nearly done reading the book 'A long way home'- about 70 pages are left, but I am already past where the movie 'Lion' -AKA A long way home-ends, and I had already read some of the remaining pages (my curiosity wouldn't let me wait!). I wanted to know what happened later. So probably there are just 10-15 pages unread at this point.

I have really enjoyed reading this book, particularly the 'search' part. Even though I knew the result, it was exciting, and now I have great appreciation for the diligence and perseverance of this young man Saroo.

I was surprised that many of the scenes in the movie were not in the book. I can understand the need to streamline, dramatize, etc. to make the movie more interesting. Also the conditions described in the book are much harsher than in the movie, so the audience is sort of 'protected'.

I would like to see this movie win the adopted screenplay Oscar. Even though the movie is not completely like the book, the story remains true to the book.

 

[Wyliefan]

I saw two Bette Davies movies recently, almost back to back. Both dramas (did Davis do comedies? will have to google that later)

She did a few. You might check out The Man Who Came to Dinner sometime. Very different role for her -- she's the competent secretary, while Ann Sheridan gets the man-hungry grande dame role -- but I like her in it. And it's just a funny movie in general.

 

[mrr50]

First up was All This And Heaven Too (1940). Starring opposite Charles Boyer, Davis plays a governess in a troubled household where she grows fonder each day of the children, their father...but not their needy, on-the-edge mother. She slowly begins to have feelings of love for her male employer, and the feelings are returned, but things remain completely chaste. They show subdued appreciation for one another from a rooms-length distance most of the time. But there is gossip from various sources and much ire from the wife. All This And Heaven Too is a classic melodrama, it has a 7.7 rating at imdb.com, which is very high. After I started watching this, I thought I knew the ending of the movie, so I must have seen this one at some point, but quite a while ago. I enjoyed it, but it was a bit depressing as it has the kind of story where you know things don't go well, then become bad...then become worse. So don't see this one when you're in a funk. But the performances are great, although over-the-top, which is to be expected from melodrama. Especially the performance of Barbara O'Neil as the wife (who was nominated for an Oscar for this performance).

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.

 

[watchthis!!]

I watched a documentary called Spirit of the Marathon II which is a sequel to the documentary, Spirit of the Marathon. Sorry, couldn't help myself! I can't remember if I even saw the first one, but I enjoyed the sequel. It's all about seven people preparing for and then competing in the Rome marathon. Some nice shots of the city, as well as other locations where people train. Two of the seven people in the movie are competitive-level athletes, one woman from Rwanda, I believe and a man from the Ukraine who is hoping to gain a spot on his Olympic team. The other five are two middle-aged women and three older men. I didn't realize until I was going to post about this movie about how the other five are basically from just two groups. And of those five, three are Italian and two are American. It would have been cool if they had included someone who was quite young and maybe an older lady instead of three male seniors. Oh well, I still liked it. It seem like a crazy sport in that they push themselves beyond what seems rational, but I guess some could say that about figure skating as well. Here's the trailer for the movie:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=trailer+spirit+of+the+marathon+2

 

[Jay42]

I am nearly done reading the book 'A long way home'- about 70 pages are left, but I am already past where the movie 'Lion' -AKA A long way home-ends, and I had already read some of the remaining pages (my curiosity wouldn't let me wait!). I wanted to know what happened later. So probably there are just 10-15 pages unread at this point.

I have really enjoyed reading this book, particularly the 'search' part. Even though I knew the result, it was exciting, and now I have great appreciation for the diligence and perseverance of this young man Saroo.

I was surprised that many of the scenes in the movie were not in the book. I can understand the need to streamline, dramatize, etc. to make the movie more interesting. Also the conditions described in the book are much harsher than in the movie, so the audience is sort of 'protected'.

I would like to see this movie win the adopted screenplay Oscar. Even though the movie is not completely like the book, the story remains true to the book.

No movie adaptation is ever going to be exactly like the book. Sometimes things don't film as well as they read, sometimes it's something they can cover in the movie in a more straightforward manner.
The other issue is that if they were to try and film everything in a book the movie will usually be far too long. There was loads cut out from the Harry Potter books, for example. I also know a lot of Lord of the Rings fans who weren't happy with the movies because of how much was cut out.

I've gotten to where if I'm interested in the movie version of a book I haven't read I'll wait until after I've seen the movie to read the book. I find I appreciate the extra detail the book provides a bit more but I can still enjoy the movie without looking for stuff from the book to be there.

 

[Vash01]

No movie adaptation is ever going to be exactly like the book. Sometimes things don't film as well as they read, sometimes it's something they can cover in the movie in a more straightforward manner.
The other issue is that if they were to try and film everything in a book the movie will usually be far too long. There was loads cut out from the Harry Potter books, for example. I also know a lot of Lord of the Rings fans who weren't happy with the movies because of how much was cut out.

I've gotten to where if I'm interested in the movie version of a book I haven't read I'll wait until after I've seen the movie to read the book. I find I appreciate the extra detail the book provides a bit more but I can still enjoy the movie without looking for stuff from the book to be there.

Of course I don't expect them to put the whole book in a movie. It could be 7 hours long, and some changes are expected to spice things up (things that were not in the book). In this case it didn't bother me too much because the movie retained the major theme and major events, though the specific scenes were quite different (I won't use even the Spoiler here; in the end they didn't change the story). There have been movies that are nothing like the book. Slumdog Millionaire was completely different, and so was the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. They had nothing in common with the book other than the basic idea and a few names. I have a problem with that. The Horse whisperer completely changed the ending, and the book was completely different from that point on. I am not happy when they make such radical changes while making movies. I have not read East of Eden but from what I heard, the movie covers only a part of the book. Perhaps it was OK in those days because the trend to create sequel after sequel after sequel had not yet started (my assumption).

Occasionally I see a movie criticized for being too much like the book, and I feel that is unfair.

 

[Aussie Willy]

I watched the start of Star Wars IV: A new hope last night. So interesting to see it in the context of Rogue One. It was kind of nice to know the back story of where A new hope picks up and fitted in really well. And of course seeing Carrie Fisher.

 

[PeterG]

Trailers For Movies Released 2017-01-06th
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuI4-fSHhipTyT7wosvYSxnMRwvbGP4qI

Really violent week for movies. Punches, crashes, arrows, kicks, fires, guns, smashes. Yuck. Nothing this week is going on my To See list.


Jan. 6th - Underworld: Blood Wars (Wide) – Action with Kate Beckinsale, Theo James and Charles Dance

Jan. 5th - The Bronx Bull (Limited) – Sports drama with William Forsythe, Joe Mantegna, Tom Sizemore, Paul Sorvino, Penelope Ann Miller, Ray Wise, Natasha Henstridge, James Russo, Alicia Witt, Harry Hamlin, Cloris Leachman and Bruce Davison

Jan. 6th - Arsenal (Limited) – Thriller with Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, Adrian Grenier and Johnathon Schaech

Jan. 6th - Retake (Limited) – Romance, new cast. From imdb.com: “A lonely, middle-aged man hires a male prostitute to recreate a road trip from his past.”

Jan. 6th - Railroad Tigers (Limited) – Chinese action comedy with Jackie Chan. From imdb.com: “A railroad worker in China in 1941 leads a team of freedom fighters against the Japanese in order to get food for the poor.”

Jan. 6th - The Ardennes (Limited) – Belgium drama. From imdb.com: “A brutal home-jacking goes hopelessly wrong. Dave, one of the two robbers, manages to run off, leaving his brother Kenneth behind. Four years later, Kenneth is released from prison and much has changed….”

Jan. 6th - Master (Limited) – Korean crime drama. From imdb.com: “Korea's biggest network marketing scam reveals a far greater network of corruption and conspiracy lurking underneath.”

 

[Buzz]

Saw the name Arsenal and thought it was a movie about the footie club.

 

[PeterG]

Saw the name Arsenal and thought it was a movie about the footie club.

That would probably be a better movie than anything starring Nicolas Cage and John Cusack these days!

 

[Bellanca]

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

I know this movie has been out for a few weeks now, but:
We went. We saw. We LOVED!!

Great casting!!

Story dovetails nicely into Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope.

Highly recommend!!

If you are a Star Wars fan, this is a MUST see!!

10 stars!! A+++++

 

[oleada]

Vulture: 58 Movies We're Excited About in 2017

I'm really looking forward to (finally!) seeing the Glass Castle movie. I loved that book.

This appeals to me, too:

Annihilation (TBD)
Annihilation is a screen adaptation of Jeff VanderMeer’s acclaimed sci-fi–horror novel, and the less you know about the plot before diving in, the better. Suffice it to say that you’ll get to see Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, and Oscar Isaac in a movie about an ill-fated expedition into a place called Area X. One of the virtues of the novel is how much terror it inspires with a near-total dearth of bombast, which suggests that the film could become a taut sci-fi–horror mash-up in the vein of Alien and The Thing. Another reason for confidence? Director and co-writer Alex Garland crafted Ex Machina and penned top-notch sci-fi screenplays like Dredd and Never Let Me Go. If nothing else, Annihilation will make sure that at least one genre movie passes the Bechdel Test in 2017.

 

[watchthis!!]

Movie news.

Ryan Gosling will play Neil Armstrong in a new biopic about the astronaut
http://entertainment.ie/cinema/news/Ryan-Gosling-will-play-Neil-Armstrong-in-a-new-biopic-about-the-astronaut/388927.htm

'First Man' is directed by Damien Chazelle - whom Gosling most recently worked with on La La Land - and is a biopic adapted from Josh Hansen's book 'First Man: A Life of Neil A. Armstrong'. The script was written by Josh Singer, who won an Oscar for his work on 'Spotlight'.

Moviegoers Pick 'Star Wars: Episode VIII' and 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2' as the Most-Anticipated Movies of 2017
http://www.fandango.com/movie-news/moviegoers-pick-star-wars-episode-viii-and-guardians-of-the-galaxy-vol-2-as-the-most-anticipated-movies-of-2017-751751

There’s a link to the top 30 most anticipated movies of 2017, plus categories for most anticipated (movies of) actor and actress, rising stars, most anticipated comedy, horror-thriller as well as a few other categories.


Nigel Farage - The Movie: Warner Brothers in talks to make Brexit campaign film
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/12/31/nigel-farage-movie-warner-brothers-talks-makebrexit-campaign/

This article talks about the filmmaker behind the Harry Potter franchise (I’m unclear from the article who that may be…) is interested in making a movie about one of the men who funded the Brexit campaign and a man who kept a diary of his involvement…

Any cash made from the film would go to charity, Mr Wigmore said. “It is not like it is something we would personally benefit from. The Bad Boys of Brexit – the film. It is a comedy.”

Could be both interesting and funny. Hope the screenwriter makes the subject matter more clear than how the author of this article is concerning who is involved in the Brexit story (and how so).

 

[Buzz]

An adorable article about what the diversity in the latest Star Wars movie meant to one family.
http://variety.com/2017/film/news/diego-luna-rogue-one-star-wars-1201952820/

 

[watchthis!!]

I loved Captain Fantastic. Loved, loved, loooooved it! It's going to be interesting to see who gets an Oscar nomination for best actor and if Viggo Mortensen is one of the five who do. Depending on who's nominated, I'm pretty ready to object if Viggo is not one of them. Plus all the young people who play his children are great. I don't think there's a chance in heck that any of them will be acknowledged, but all are great. A very well cast movie. The script might be the biggest star in all of this, so original and honest. The storyline went in a somewhat different direction than I had come to believe it would and I was thankful as the movie was not as harrowing as I was expecting. It was still dramatic and powerful, so I was happy with how everything played out. I hope the this movie gets a best original screenplay Oscar nod if Viggo doesn't. Nominations for both would be even better.

P.S. I'm surprised that the movie that is bringing back Goldie Hawn to the big screen after a fifteen year absence is in last place in this thread's poll. I've missed her, can't wait to see what her performance will be like after such a long time away. I hope the director hasn't let her just coast through her return.

 

[Aussie Willy]

Two movie day as Melbourne was stinking hot. Cinema was the coolest place to be.

First one was Red Dog: True Blue. Not sure if anyone here has seen the original Red Dog which as fantastic Australian movie about a kelpie that travelled around and didn't belong to anyone, set in the Pilbara region of Australia. It was based on a true story. This new film is a prequel to the first film. It was okay. I found the child actor who was the main character really wasn't very authentic which let the movie down.

Second film was Passengers. Much better than what I was expecting. Definitely worth seeing.

 

[Vash01]

Two movie day as Melbourne was stinking hot. Cinema was the coolest place to be.

First one was Red Dog: True Blue. Not sure if anyone here has seen the original Red Dog which as fantastic Australian movie about a kelpie that travelled around and didn't belong to anyone, set in the Pilbara region of Australia. It was based on a true story. This new film is a prequel to the first film. It was okay. I found the child actor who was the main character really wasn't very authentic which let the movie down.

Second film was Passengers. Much better than what I was expecting. Definitely worth seeing.

I enjoyed Passengers. Plan to see it in 3D next time.

 

[becca]

Saw La Land and Rogue One likes them.

Spoiler

In terms of the two not ending up together I wonder if it was more sad though for the audience than the characters. After all nothing stopped Mia from contacting Seb all those years or vice a versa.

We did not get to know her relationship with her husband but I suspect something made her pick life with him.

I have heard some say it shows how selfish millenials are relationships are sacrifice. And I agree relationships are sacrifice and work.

I don't agree with well I am 25 and yes I have a great relationship with someone with complimentary goals but I am just two young. Because I think a real partnership can help each other achieve these things.

But the right relationship should involve two people on the same complimentary path. It's about finding the balance. Asking someone to give up a significant and noble goal for you IS selfish.

 

[watchthis!!]

Report: Cher to Star in TV Movie About Flint Water Crisis
http://985wbow.com/news/articles/20...to-star-in-tv-movie-about-flint-water-crisis/

This will be her first acting role in six years, that being 2010's Burlesque. She did do voice work for the 2011 movie Zookeeper as well. The movie will be for Lifetime and she will also executive produce the movie.

 

[Bellanca]

Moviegoers Pick 'Star Wars: Episode VIII'

YAAASSS!!!