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

[VGThuy]

I don't think her choosing to take the pregnancy to full term makes it odd that proceeds will go to PP, but the way the film portrayed the abortion clinic does make it a bit weird.

 

[skatefan]

I thought Beauty and the Beast was incredible--in some ways, better than the original. The characters were more fleshed out in this one, and had better actual storytelling. This is a weird critique, but the animated had a lushness and sensuality to it that's missing in this version. Your heart doesn't stop in the ballroom scene, and it lacks that magical quality that truly great movies (animated or not) have.

I would see it again. But just one more time. Not the--ahem--five times I saw the original. And own on DVD. And can maybe say all the lines before the characters do (don't judge).

I don't often get to the cinema, but a group of us went to see Beauty and the Beast on Saturday evening, it was amazing, I absolutely loved it - in fact we all did. We watched it in 3D which was pretty spectacular (I only ducked once!) and I loved the songs. I will watch it again and thought it was far superior to the Disney original

 

[emason]

I saw a Danish movie 'After the wedding' on DVD this weekend. Very good movie, if you leave out the major coincidence it is based on. Regardless, I was totally absorbed in the story and couldn't move away for a second. I have really grown to like Mads Mikkelsen as an actor - particularly in a lead role. This is the third time I have seen him in a movie (others were A royal affair and Rogue One). All the other actors were very good too. One thing that irritated me was - frequent camera shots of one eye or just a part of the face, and the same shot of a dark plant over and over (didn't understand the significance of it)

I plan to see more Danish movies. It seems I like them.

It's been a long time since I've seen this movie, but I'm having a vague memory of the husband's being terminally ill and taking poison from the plant as a quicker way to die.

 

[Allskate]

My absolute favorite part of B&tB was Belle and the Prince (post-transformation) at the end. Stevens and Watson were so freaking cute together. I almost want a sequel just about their further adventures.

Emma Watson was asked what Belle and the Beast do afterwards. She says that Belle opens up the library to the public and starts a school.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/lindsayfar...ve-emma-watson?utm_term=.xuNV9K0pg#.llZepyZ86

Perhaps they could also turn part of the castle into a cat rescue.

 

[Wyliefan]

I am totally down with all of that. Including the cat rescue.

 

[smurfy]

Danish movies - I recommend:
'Brothers' - by Susanne Bier - the danish one, not the american remake with Natalie Portman (which isn't bad). Stars Connie Nielsson and Ulrich Thomsen
'The Inheritance' - with Ulrich Thomsen
Love both these movies. These are better than 'After the Wedding' - which i did like.

Also recommend 'The Hunt' too. Mads M is wonderful in that movie.

 

[Vash01]

It's been a long time since I've seen this movie, but I'm having a vague memory of the husband's being terminally ill and taking poison from the plant as a quicker way to die.

That's not quite right. He takes morphine for pain, and the wife discovers the bottle in the cabinet. That's how she finds out he is dying, after asking his doctor. He does not take poison, but death is inevitable and he does not want to die.

 

[Vash01]

Danish movies - I recommend:
'Brothers' - by Susanne Bier - the danish one, not the american remake with Natalie Portman (which isn't bad). Stars Connie Nielsson and Ulrich Thomsen
'The Inheritance' - with Ulrich Thomsen
Love both these movies. These are better than 'After the Wedding' - which i did like.

Also recommend 'The Hunt' too. Mads M is wonderful in that movie.

After seeing Jackie I gave no desire to see another Natalie Portman movie. Of course I will see the Danish one, by Susan Bier. She also produced (directed?) After the wedding.

 

[watchthis!!]

All Hat is a 2007 drama that stars a bunch of people that are talented enough, with faces you'd recognize, but for the most part never seemed to have achieved a great level of success in the movie world. All hat is set in the world of horse racing and is mainly about a man recently released from prison, who goes back to his old life and tries not to make the mistakes he has made before. But the challenges that created problems for him before jail still remain. A sub-plot is that there's a new woman in the picture while he still has feelings for an old girlfriend. The main character is played by Luke Kirby, who has been on a lot of TV shows. Rectify is the one that has him listed for being in the most episodes of (thirty so far). Others in the cast include Keith Carradine, Noam Jenkins (also on a lot of TV shows, most notably Rookie Blue), Lisa Ray, Rachael Leigh Cook, Ernie Hudson, Stephen McHattie (The X-Files) and Graham Greene (The Green Mile, Dances With Wolves). I thought the movie was decent enough, but fairly low-key. Like they were just trying to show us a day in the life of these characters rather than go for anything splashy. I'd recommend this one only if you're drawn to the people in the cast and are interested in seeing all the titles on their resume.

Trailer for All Hat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkGguGEXsH0

Given the subject matter, that strikes me as a rather odd place for the donations to go . . . but this isn't PI, so I'll say no more.

The article mentioned that the movie Juno was all about her right to choose what she will do.

 

[Buzz]

Congrats to Wonder Woman actress Gal Gadot on the birth of her 2nd child.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/wonder-woman-justice-league-star-10064770

 

[Artistic Skaters]

I like so many of the movies on your lists PeterG. It's always interesting what makes us decide on our favorites & it usually has very little to do with Academy Awards, critical reviews & all that kind of stuff.

Songcatcher (2000, Janet McTeer)

I was just talking movies with a friend a couple weeks ago & we said this one needs to be shown in one of our film festival marathons with Albert Nobbs and Tumbleweeds.

This was in the news about Disney today. The writer with the lawsuit seems to have good writing credentials & said he pitched the idea to them twice. It will be interesting to see where it goes.

*** Disney Hit With Lawsuit Claiming 'Zootopia' Ripped Off 'Total Recall' Writer :
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/th...ng-zootopia-ripped-total-recall-writer-987660

Disney is now facing a serious lawsuit alleging that Oscar-winning animation film Zootopia was copied from the work of Gary L. Goldman, a reputable author whose distinguished credits includes writing Total Recall and Next and producing Minority Report.

 

[manhn]

I am obsessed with Jackie. I have watched it 3 straight days. I need a skater to skate to the music. I want dance to change the SD to the Jackie Shake or the Jackie Jerk or the Jackie Romantica. Weaver and Poje need to skate to this. Or Stolbova and Klimov. But I think only Piper would be brave enough to don the pillbox hat. Are the Polish team still competing?

 

[PeterG]

One of the movies on my "other favourites" list is a recent viewing: The Golden Dream (La Jaula De Oro). It's a 2013 Mexican production about four teenagers from Guatemala whose dream it is to go to America to start a new life. It's an amazing movie which is heartbreaking, inspiring and haunting. I wouldn't be surprised if the four youngsters playing the teenagers are non-actors as their performances are so perfectly spot-on. Thinking about this movie makes me think it should have made it into my Top 100 list. But most of the titles on my "other favourites" list could probably easily fit anywhere in the bottom half of my top 100 list. It's tough to compare one movie to others and figure why it's significantly better than most other favourites. Anyway, this one definitely gets a recommendation from me for anyone who finds this type of movie interesting in any way. Loved it!

@PeterG , I've just watched Goodnight Mommy out of your list and what was that ???? I'm gonna have nightmares now. Such a creepy, morbid movie. Very compelling and stressful though. Who needs CGI to scare you ? I'm not sure I got all the metaphors but I'll certainly be thinking about this for a while.

This one totally took me be surprise. It's similar to The Others (Nicole Kidman), but that one was ethereal while Goodnight Mommy is more hands-on and (relatively) aggressive. I'm sure it's one of those movies that I spent a fair bit of time reading people's opinions on at the imdb.com message boards. All the discussion there made me appreciate the movie more than I did after watching it. It's a great movie to watch with others and then discussing it with everyone afterwards.

I like so many of the movies on your lists PeterG. It's always interesting what makes us decide on our favorites & it usually has very little to do with Academy Awards, critical reviews & all that kind of stuff.

I was just talking movies with a friend a couple weeks ago & we said this one needs to be shown in one of our film festival marathons with Albert Nobbs and Tumbleweeds.

Albert Nobbs!!! I've added that one to my other favourites list. Plus I've added Glenn Close to my list of actors whose resume I need to review to see which of their movies should be on my lists.

 

[watchthis!!]

Morpheus reportedly being eyed as center of new Matrix movie
http://www.joblo.com/movie-news/new-matrix-movie-reportedly-could-center-on-morpheus-247

Originally the talk was about a new Matrix movie being a re-boot, but now apparently it's a prequel. With Michael B. Jordan taking on the Laurence Fishburne role. Another article focusses on whether Keanu Reeves might be involved:

Will Keanu Reeves return for The Matrix 4?
http://www.joblo.com/horror-movies/news/will-keanu-reeves-return-for-the-matrix-4-471

Keanu wants the Wachowskis back to write and direct the project. But another writer (Zak Penn) has already been hired as head writer. This second article also includes a photo of the original cast today and mentions how they still look pretty kickass. I think they look a little haggard, myself!

 

[Artistic Skaters]

One of the movies on my "other favourites" list is a recent viewing: The Golden Dream (La Jaula De Oro). It's a 2013 Mexican production about four teenagers from Guatemala whose dream it is to go to America to start a new life. It's an amazing movie which is heartbreaking, inspiring and haunting. I wouldn't be surprised if the four youngsters playing the teenagers are non-actors as their performances are so perfectly spot-on.

This is a good movie (I watched it twice) & it sure is heartbreaking, inspiring & haunting. I watch a lot of foreign films with the theme of kids traveling on their own to the next stage in their lives & this is a more realistic version compared to films like Under the Same Moon or Central Station, although I really enjoy those films too.

 

[LilJen]

I've taken to checking IMDb's FAQ for most movies I see in theatre now to make sure there isn't an end credits scene. Marvel has made me paranoid .

Totally spaced on this! dh and I saw Logan on Saturday and didn't stay for the end credits.

Spoiler

of course, since both leads die at the end, what the heck is gonna happen (except that nobody ever truly dies in comic books.)

I found Logan to be WAYYYYYYY too bloody. Yeah, he has knives in his hands, and yes, when people attack other people with knives, blood's gonna be everywhere. . . but I thought the bloodiness was super duper gratuitous. So much for the 92% on Rotten Tomatoes (I guess I didn't realize how much other moviegoers like or don't mind gore. I do mind it.)

I agree with you @Vash01 but i guess the studio made the right decision because the movie shattered all expectations. It's estimated BO is $170m. We should get ready for more live action remakes and I will never again question Disney/Marvel.

Ha, dd refused to go see Beauty and the Beast. Years ago she was in a production of it, and according to her friends this BatB is "so inauthentic" and "they totally got the dress wrong"

 

[PeterG]

Trailers For Movies Released 2017-03-24th
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuI4-fSHhipSUIfCu7KoNVhprUldsM8Es

So who's read for the new Scott Eastwood/Malcolm McDowell comedy? How could you go wrong with a power comedy couple like that?? I've added CHiPs to my to see list even though the trailer is iffy. But I really like the cast, so I'm going to give it a shot. Unsure if T2: Trainspotting is actually coming out this week, I've seen release dates for it on the 3rd, 17th, 24th and 31st. So who knows? And American Anarchist looks like a good movie, but too dark for my tastes at this time. Would be interested to know what others thought about it if it's one you end up seeing.


March 24th - Life (Wide) – Sci-fi thriller with Rebecca Ferguson, Ryan Reynolds and Jake Gyllenhaal

March 24th - CHiPS (Wide) – Action comedy with Michael Peña, Dax Shepard, Adam Brody, Kristen Bell, Vincent D'Onofrio, Maya Rudoph, Justin Adam Rodriguez, Ben Falcone, Justin Chatwin and Jane Kaczmarek

March 24th - Power Rangers (Wide) – Action adventure with a new cast & Elizabeth Banks, Bryan Cranston and Bill Hader

March 17th - T2: Trainspotting (Limited, Wide Release on 31st) - Comedy drama with Ewan McGregor, Jonny Lee Miller, Ewen Bremner, Robert Carlyle

March 24th - Car Dogs (Limited) – Comedy drama with Octavia Spencer, Patrick J. Adams [Suits], Nia Vardalos, Josh Hopkins [Cougar Town], George Lopez

March 24th - Buster’s Mal Heart (Limited) – Mystery drama with Rami Malek and DJ Qualls [Z Nation]

March 24th - Wilson (Limited) – Comedy with Woody Harrelson, Laura Dern, Margo Martindale, Cheryl Hines and Judy Greer

March 24th – Tickling Giants – Documentary. From imdb.com: “The Arab Spring in Egypt: From a dictator to free elections, back to a dictatorship. One comedy show united the country and tested the limits of free press. This is the story of Bassem Youssef, a cardiologist turned comedian, the Jon Stewart of Egypt, and his show ‘The Show’.”

March 24th - Walk of Fame (Limited) – Comedy with Scott Eastwood, Malcolm McDowell, Chris Kattan and Jamie Kennedy

March 24th - Bokeh (Limited) – Sci-fi, new cast. From imdb.com: “On a romantic getaway to Iceland, a young American couple wake up one morning to discover every person on earth has disappeared. Their struggle to survive and to reconcile the mysterious event lead them to reconsider everything they know about themselves and the world.”

March 24th - Prevenge (Limited) – Comedy drama with Gemma Whelan [Game of Thrones]. From imdb.com: “Widow Ruth is seven months pregnant when, believing herself to be guided by her unborn baby, she embarks on a homicidal rampage, dispatching anyone who stands in her way.”

March 24th - The Levelling (Limited) – U.K. drama, new cast. From imdb.com: “After he brother dies, Clover returns to her family farm in Someset, where she discovers her estranged father is a shell of his former self and the farm is in shambles due to floods that destroyed the area six months earlier.”

March 21st - One Under the Sun (Limited) – Sci-fi mystery, new cast. From imdb.com: “Astronaut Kathryn Voss, sole survivor of a disastrous space mission, is desperate to reunite with her terminally ill daughter but becomes a fugitive when the government discovers she's returned to earth with an extraordinary gift.”

March 24th - I Called Him Morgan (Limited) – Documentary. From imdb.com: “On a snowy night in February 1972, celebrated jazz musician Lee Morgan was shot dead by his common-law wife Helen during a gig at a club in New York City. The murder sent shockwaves through the jazz community, and the memory of the event still haunts those who knew the Morgans.”
- NO TRAILER AT YOUTUBE

March 24th - Slamma Jamma (Limited) – Sports drama, new cast. From imdb.com: “Wrongfully accused and sent to prison, a former basketball star prepares for the national slam dunk competition while finding redemption in himself and in those he loves.”

March 24th - Dig Two Graves (Limited) – Fantasy horror mystery, new cast. From imdb.com: “A girl's obsession with her brother's disappearance leads her on a nightmarish journey through a small town's Gothic landscape where she is faced with a deadly proposition. How far will she go to save the people she loves?”

March 24th - American Anarchist (Limited) – Documentary. From imdb.com: “The story of one of the most infamous books ever written, "The Anarchist Cookbook," and the role it's played in the life of its author, now 65, who wrote it at 19 in the midst of the counterculture upheaval of the late '60s and early '70s.”

March 24th - Phillauri (Limited) – Indian fantasy. From imdb.com: “A man must marry a tree to ward off threats to his love-life, but the tree turns out to have more spirit than the man bargained for.”

 

[Jay42]

Totally spaced on this! dh and I saw Logan on Saturday and didn't stay for the end credits.

Spoiler

of course, since both leads die at the end, what the heck is gonna happen (except that nobody ever truly dies in comic books.)

I found Logan to be WAYYYYYYY too bloody. Yeah, he has knives in his hands, and yes, when people attack other people with knives, blood's gonna be everywhere. . . but I thought the bloodiness was super duper gratuitous. So much for the 92% on Rotten Tomatoes (I guess I didn't realize how much other moviegoers like or don't mind gore. I do mind it.)

I'm hit and miss on what I can tolerate for gore in movies. I had no real issues with Deadpool or Logan, I found Kingsman to be too much sometimes though. I don't really know why I can handle Logan and Deadpool with no issues but Kingsman felt like overkill. But it did. Of course Kingsman seemed to revel in it a little more and Logan was more quick and bloody and Deadpool put a humourous spin on it so maybe that's why they don't bug me as much as Kingsman and it's gratuitous slo-mo shots.

 

[Buzz]

RE: #496
Glad I am not the only one who don't like Logan. LOL

 

[all_empty]

I just screened "Life," which opens this weekend.

It felt like a pretty generic space horror film, though the zero g action was impressive. Still, some decent suspense and scares.

Mild non-spoiler:

Spoiler

I saw the ending coming from miles away, but my coworker said it was unexpected

 

[manhn]

It has nothing to do with Logan, but I am annoyed at the fuss over movies like 50 Shades or BATB, but nada over Logan.

 

[PeterG]

My city is one of approximately 100 cities around the planet that has a Cinema Politica documentary film screening night. Anyone in the community is welcome to attend the screenings (for free, donations accepted), watch the movie and then listen to guest speakers talk before the floor is opened up to questions. It's a great thing as far as I'm concerned and last night I attended the screening for A Plastic Ocean. There were a couple of scenes in this movie that made me remember a friend posting about this project on facebook when it was just beginning production. According to youtube, the filming took place over four years and it was well worth the wait. The movie is all about how the littering of plastics into our oceans is affecting animals, our planet and our own selves/bodies. The movie is very detailed, but in a quite accessible way. Like most documentaries, they do spend the majority of the time on the problem with just a small portion of the end telling us about solutions. (My main pet peeve about documentaries.) The part of this movie that had the biggest impact on me was about the state of some 90 day old birds. They pumped the stomach of one bird (which seemed mildly cruel to start with), but it enabled the scientists and all us viewers that a 90 day old bird had hundreds of pieces of plastic in it's stomach. The most recorded was 276. They said the equivalent of that much plastic in the bird's stomach would be twelve pizzas for adult humans. That amount of plastic meant that the baby birds were weighted down enough that they were unable to learn how to fly. Similarly, with some sea turtles, they had consumed so much plastic that they were not able to dive to normal depths because the excessive amounts of plastic in their bodies were keeping them afloat. I definitely recommend this movie, I see that our local library just got copies of it for our library system. If this type of movie is your thing at all, you'll be glad you checked it out.

 

[Buzz]

New Justice League trailer is out and it looks awesome!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KMXXhjkXOBk

 

[Artistic Skaters]

The Love Actually sequel they made for Red Nose Day is now online. Go to the last screen in this article to see the full film (approx. 15 min.)

*** The 'Love Actually' Sequel Is Here—And It Is Perfect :
http://www.elle.com/culture/movies-...ve-actually-sequel-is-here-and-it-is-perfect/

Hugh Grant (David) is dancing & Sam is all grown up!

 

[Vash01]

This is a good movie (I watched it twice) & it sure is heartbreaking, inspiring & haunting. I watch a lot of foreign films with the theme of kids traveling on their own to the next stage in their lives & this is a more realistic version compared to films like Under the Same Moon or Central Station, although I really enjoy those films too.

This sounds like a movie I need to add to my Netflix queue.

 

[olympic]

I just saw Best Foreign Film Nominee - Land of Mine. Wow! It is a Danish - German production set in post WW2 Denmark. It was an incredibly intense movie and I highly recommend it

 

[PeterG]

New Justice League trailer is out and it looks awesome!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KMXXhjkXOBk

Interesting for two DC movies to come out so close together. I assumed Marvel waited for a current release to be in theatres to see how it performed and then use that to tweek upcoming releases. Although I think all of their movies are hits, so that's probably not necessary (maybe when the Marvel movies started coming out, but certainly not now). But DC has yet to see how the stand-alone Wonder Woman movie performs (out June 2nd). If it doesn't do well, couldn't that put people off the November Justice League movie? Plus wouldn't shooting for Justice League be done by the time Wonder Woman is in theatres?

Happy to see Ezra Miller in the Justice League movie as The Flash. He's such a talented actor, loved him in Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them. As for the Justice League movie, quite a cast: Gal Gadot, Amy Adams, Ben Affleck, Jason Momoa, Henry Cavill, Connie Nielsen, Ezra Miller, Amber Heard, Diane Lane, Jeremy Irons, J.K. Simmons, Willem Dafoe, Jesse Eisenberg and Ciarán Hinds. Whew!

 

[Buzz]

DC has definitely stepped up their game and I think Wonder Woman will be a huge hit! But Marvel does have quite the head start and three new releases coming out this year. Four if you count big daddy Disney's Star Wars 8. It's a GREAT time to be sci-fi/fantasy/comicbook movie fan!


ETA:
Marvel owes us three new trailers(Spider-Man, Thor, & Black Panther) and they better make a Namor movie after all that fuss! LOL

 

[Vash01]

Saw the movie The Ides of March. Pretty good. Stellar cast, with Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood, Jennifer Ehle, Jeffrey Wright. Politics is a tough game.

 

[Spareoom]

I know some of it is just the nature of the game, but Cyborg dude = War Machine, Flash = Snarky teenage Spiderman, Wonder Woman = Black Widow, Aqua Man = Thor, Batman = Iron Man...I was getting some serious flashback vibes.

(okay okay I know they're different, don't kill me...)