Let's Talk Movies #34 - Kingsmen, Murder, Blade Runners and...IT!

[PeterG]

I saw All The Money In The World the other day. Fantastic movie! Michelle Williams was incredible. I thought from the trailer that her character was somewhat dithering, but instead she is smart and rather fierce! This is maybe Williams' best performance (and she's had a lot of them). This is my new hope for winner of the best actress Oscar (now that Stronger seems to have been ignored by the world....sorry about that, Tatyana Maslany)! I also thought the direction and editing were very strong, I was captivated from start to finish. So a good script for everyone to work with, even Mark Wahlberg's performance was entirely adequate (which is fairly high praise from me as I'm not a major fan of Wahlberg's...well, other than his underwear modelling performances)! Christopher Plummer definitely deserves an Oscar nomination, if not a win. Is it wrong that I hope to one day see the version with Kevin Spacey's performance? Either way, Plummer is an excellent replacement. Hope this one scores a ton of Oscar nominations.

 

[Japanfan]

Is it wrong that I hope to one day see the version with Kevin Spacey's

Yes. Unfortunately the number of actors one should boycott is going to seriously limit the shows and films we can watch.

But I'd say go ahead and watch it anyway. I'm planning to watch the last season of House of Cards when I get it from the library. Given how long the wait list is, a lot of other people are going to watch it also.

My justification is that Spacey is a creep and conniver in the series, though that really doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

 

[VGThuy]

I kind of like that Spacey got replaced outside the whole scandal because all of that prosthetic make-up seemed super gimmicky and awards baity. Christopher Plummer using his actual face seems to be just a much better choice.

 

[cocotaffy]

I kind of like that Spacey got replaced outside the whole scandal because all of that prosthetic make-up seemed super gimmicky and awards baity. Christopher Plummer using his actual face seems to be just a much better choice.

Well as I understand he was actually Ridley's the first choice but not bankable enough I guess, just for that alone I'm happy. Plus Plummer is a fantastic underrated actor so good for him.

 

[mrr50]

Call me naive but I could not understand how Kevin Spacey was more bankable than Christopher Plummer. I also never realized that Plummer was underrated. Obviously I was not paying enough attention.

I think I may have finally decided why I am not enchanted by the replacement Star Wars cast. Kylo Ren is a poor man's Darth Vader. I don't know if it is the actor or the writing, but blah...

 

[jl22aries]

I LOVE Adam Driver for Kylo Ren. His face is heartbreaking. His eyes....

I also find his physicality really effective. He is so tall and has a very heavy limb vibe about him so cuts an imposing figure, but there is a slightly gangly quality...something...that gives a feel of awkward adolescence. To me, that fits with his character in his current arc of development. It will be interesting to see how his movement changes as his character continues to develop maturity and confidence (and darkness...)

His deep deep voice is also super effective. Driver has a theatricality about him, but an introversion. It's a strange, beautiful, beguiling quality.

Whoa I had no idea I felt such profound things about Adam Driver. Ha.

 

[PeterG]

Trailers For Movies Released 2018-01-12th
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuI4-fSHhipS_2Ycw42enJ8CJfEILSBf7

Nothing is in bold because I haven't watched the playlist yet. Will have to do that after Canadian nationals. Which is why I'm posting this a bit early...I'm about to have a busy week!


January 12th - Proud Mary (Wide) – Action thriller with Taraji P. Henson, Neal McDonough and Danny Glover

Jan. 12th NOT Nov. 10th - Paddington 2 (Wide) - Family, Comedy with Hugh Grant, Brendan Gleeson, Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Ben Whishaw, Imelda Staunton

January 12th - The Commuter (Wide) – Crime drama with Liam Neeson, Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Elizabeth McGovern and Sam Neill

January 12th - Freak Show (Limited) – Comedy drama with Abigail Breslin, AnnaSophia Robb, Laverne Cox, Celia Weston, John McEnroe and Bette Midler

January 12th - The Polka King (Limited) – Comedy drama with Jack Black, Jenny Slate, Vanessa Bayer, Jason Schwartzman, J. B. Smoove and Jacki Weaver

January 12th - Humor Me (Limited) – Comedy with Jemaine Clement, Elliott Gould, Ingrid Michaelson, Bebe Neuwirth and Annie Potts

January 12th - My Art (Limited) – Drama with Parker Posey and Lena Dunham

January 12th - Acts of Violence (Limited) – Action drama with Bruce Willis, Cole Hauser, Shawn Ashmore, Sophia Bush and Mike Epps

January 12th - Abe & Phil's Last Poker Game (Limited) – Comedy drama with Martin Landau and Paul Sorvino

January 12th - Saturday Church (Limited) – Musical fantasy with a new cast & Regina King. From imdb.com: “A 14 year-old-boy, struggling with gender identity and religion, begins to use fantasy to escape his life in the inner city and find his passion in the process.”

January 12th - Inside (Limited) – Horror thriller with new cast. From imdb.com: “A woman in her third trimester of pregnancy is stalked by a stranger who is obsessed with her unborn child.”

January 9th - Dark Harvest (Limited – On Demand) – Crime thriller with a new cast & Cheech Marin. From imdb.com: “Dark Harvest's lawless marijuana landscape creates a web of sexual intrigue and violence in which the cop and grower are forced to settle their moral differences to stop a cunning psychopath.”

January 9th - The Beyond (Limited) – Sci-fi horror, new cast. From imdb.com: “Set in 2019, The Beyond chronicles the groundbreaking mission which sent astronauts - modified with advanced robotics, through a newly discovered wormhole known as the Void. When the mission returns unexpectedly, the space agency races to discover what the astronauts encountered on their first of its kind interstellar space journey.”

January 12th - November (Limited) – Fantasy romance from Estonia. From imdb.com: “…a mixture of magic, black humor and romantic love. The story is set in a pagan Estonian village where werewolves, the plague, and spirits roam”

January 12th - Vazante (Limited) – Adventure drama from Brazil. From imdb.com: “A rich cattle herder in 1821 finds out that his wife dies in labor. Forced to live in the property with numerous African slaves, he marries his wife's niece. But he returns to droving, leaving his wife behind alone with the slaves.”

January 12th - Lover For a Day (Limited) – French drama. From imdb.com: “A young woman returns home after the breakdown of a relationship to discover her father is dating a woman her age.”

January 12th - Space Chicken [Condorito: La Película] (Limited) – Animated comedy. From imdb.com: “Condorito embarks in a hilarious adventure to save the planet and his loved ones from an evil alien.”

 

[DannyCurry]

I must be the only one on fsu who didn't like TLJ. On IMDb many agree with my assessment, but still it has. 8.0 rating.

No, you're not the only one ! Honestly, I was bored through most of it. I saw nothing innovative (or maybe I'm just blind and missed it).

Anyway, other movies that I've enjoyed more :
Reinventing Marvin was ok, though I much prefered the book it was inspired by : Edouard Louis' The End of Eddie.

I liked The Florida Project for the good acting, but I had absolutely no sympathy toward the characters (rude kids, careless and irresponsible mom).

Then, I loved Wonder. Great storyline, good acting (Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson make great parents, Jacob Tremblay was fantastic and Noah Jupe is so cute). So, despite some cheesy moments, especially towards the end, I'd recommend it. Every kid should see it, IMO.

 

[watchthis!!]

‘Three Billboards’ Wins Best Film at Australian Academy International Awards
http://variety.com/2018/film/news/three-billboards-australian-academy-international-awards-1202655103/

I checked a second source and these awards are limited to just what is seen in this article. I thought maybe they only listed the top categories here. But I guess they're not interested in any of the technical side of things. Hmm.

Here are the winners below, check out the article for all the nominees:


Best Film
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI

Best Direction
DUNKIRK – Christopher Nolan

Best Screenplay
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI – Martin McDonagh

Best Lead Actress
Margot Robbie – I, TONYA

Best Lead Actor
Gary Oldman – DARKEST HOUR

Best Supporting Actress
Allison Janney – I, TONYA

Best Supporting Actor
Sam Rockwell – THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI

 

[Vash01]

Saw Molly's game yesterday, but didn't have the time to post because of US nationals, Golden Globes, NFL playoffs (though I watched very little of them).

I went in expecting a 10/10 movie but it came up short for me. It was 7-8/10. Great acting by Jessica Chastain and Idris Elba. Chastain is one of the best actresses today (and she looks stunning in this) but she has still not won an Oscar, and she won't win it this year due to the fierce competition in the best actress category. She has great screen presence and she totally dominates the powerful men at her poker table. Idris Elba should get a supporting actor nomination for his long monologue alone. He is such a charismatic actor!

The ski scenes were well done and Kevin Kostner was very good as the ambitious father/coach/psychologist. The costumes were fantastic.

Now the negatives. The voice overs really bothered me. The initial ones were necessary and well done but even they felt a bit too long. The movie started off really well, but became dull and repetitive in the middle. It didn't come back up until the very end. The last court scene and the argument between Chastain and Elba prior to that were both very good, but by that time it was a little too late for me. I think the screenplay needed to be better.

So, I enjoyed the first one third and the last one fourth of the movie, but not the middle part- the middle was just Ok.

So the final grade may be 7.5-7.6 out of 10, which is pretty close to the Imdb.com score.

I had to scrap my plan to go to Scottsdale to see Call me by your name because I didn't want to miss the skating.

I saw a big poster of I, Tonya in the theatre that is closest to my home (2 miles), so I am pretty sure the movie will come there. No need to drive 25-30 miles to see it.

I think the more publicity and awards/nominations I, Tonya gets, the better chances of attracting more fans to FS.

 

[cocotaffy]

Watched the big sick and it was such a good surprise. I hadn't read anything about it just a poster here mentioning how sweet and a great romantic comedy it was. But it's more than a romantic comedy imo as the most interesting part of the movie was the male lead bonding with his ex girlfriend's parents. And then I just learnt it's actually based on the life of the main actor Kumail Nanjiani. A really heart warming yet absolutely not cheesy nor dreary or sappy story.

 

[Vash01]

Watched the big sick and it was such a good surprise. I hadn't read anything about it just a poster here mentioning how sweet and a great romantic comedy it was. But it's more than a romantic comedy imo as the most interesting part of the movie was the male lead bonding with his ex girlfriend's parents. And then I just learnt it's actually based on the life of the main actor Kumail Nanjiani. A really heart warming yet absolutely not cheesy nor dreary or sappy story.

It's at the top of my Netflix queue right now. I have not had the time to watch the two movies I have at home, due to the US nationals

 

[Buzz]

New Black Panther trailer and tickets are now available everywhere.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PJBmeqpw3DY

 

[Aussie Willy]

I Tonya premieres here on 24th January. A couple of the cinemas as doing a Double Denim theme in honour of the fashions.

 

[Buzz]

Black Panther had the biggest first day ticket presale of any Marvel movie.

 

[Artistic Skaters]

CBS Sunday Morning had a great interview last weekend with Greta Gerwig.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8H_s8sb-q4

 

[watchthis!!]

Watched a movie called Unleashed, about a young woman with a beloved cat and dog whose boyfriend betrays her and leaves her when some rom-com sci-fi thing happens and her cat and dog both become human. They fight for her affection before being turned back into her pets one month later. It's a low-budget deal that has a barely acceptable script, poor direction and possibly even worse editing. The cast work hard though. I've never seen the lead actress before, she goes for the quirky emo chick thing and is engaging enough I suppose. Her cat as a human is played by Justin Chatwin and he probably gives the best performance. Steve Howie, who I remember from Reba's sitcom plays the dog as a human and he's good at the comedy roles (unsurprisingly). Sean Astin is the main love interest. And the actress who plays the barely audible one in the Pitch Perfect movies is the lead's best friend. Overall, I'd say skip this unless you are in prison on death row and they offer this as the last movie you're ever going to see before facing a shooting squad. Otherwise, choose something else.

Trailer for Unleashed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iU-k30Xk3xY

 

[Vash01]

Saw 'All the money in the world'. Very good. Michelle Williams and Christopher Plummer were both great. Williams is fast becoming a member of the club of talented actresses that have received many Oscar nominations but not the win. Others in this club (IMO) are Jessica Chastain, Amy Adams, Annette Bening. I am sure there are more.

Anyway, back to the movie- the characters felt very real. At times it was hard to watch the scenes (if you have seen the movie, you know what I am talking about). I didn't know the real life story. This was a dramatization of course.

What I find truly amazing is they were able to replace so many Spacey scenes with Plummer in such a short time. It couldn't have been easy.

 

[Buzz]

New Black Panther footage with more of the footage of the Dora Milaje in action!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HnnRyhuX_jM

 

[Vash01]

Just got back from watching 'The Post'. Loved it, especially toward the end. It is so relevant today! It is slow to start but really builds up. The acting was great, no surprise, by Streep and Hanks, and the supporting cast was very good too. There was some applause by the audience when it ended. When the credits rolled, it was like seeing a list of past Oscar winners, like John Williams, Ann Roth, Janusz Kaminski, and of course the big three- Spielberg, Streep, Hanks.

I didn't quite understand some of the details, so I am likely to see it again.

 

[watchthis!!]

Happy Hunting was last night's movie. It's about a man dealing with addictions who gets into trouble and has to leave town on the spur of the moment. He ends up in a tiny border town at the wrong time of year. They are about to have a hunting festival and it's this town's own version of what happens in The Purge movies. The movie is really well made, enough so that I wondered why I had never heard of it before (I saw it at a friend's place on Netflix). Nobody famous is in the movie, other than the male lead in the movie Footloose opposite Julianne Hough. He doesn't have much to do or say in this though. The lead actor is quite good (Martin Dingle Wall) but apparently he's pretty famous in Australia. Another strong thing about this movie is the cinematography. Tons of beautiful scenery throughout the movie and different colour schemes are used at various times throughout the movie. Gives it a bit of an art film look, in the best possible way. If you like gritty drama/thrillers and don't mind violence as a theme, I definitely recommend this one.

Trailer for Happy Hunting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rVgWR_5CUQ

 

[Aussie Willy]

I saw 'Darkest Hour'. Gary Oldman was amazing and I can see why I read that some think just give him the oscar.
His performance and the scenes with other members of parliament and King George are the best part of the movie. The scenes with his wife and at home just are not as good as the scenes showing the backroom parliamentry maneuvers and interactions with the King.
I love Kristin Scott Thomas, but did not like her in this, a first for me.
Lily James' character seemed like a typical device for story telling purposes - a newcomer/secretary with a great historical figure. Also reminded me of a lesser version of Romola Garai as Churchhills's nurse in 'Churchill's Secret' - when he had a stroke in the early 50s.
I felt like most of the scenes with KST and LJ pulled me out of the compelling story of the political intrigue.
I saw Dunkirk earlier this year - and these 2 movies are a perfect pair.
The movie is worth seeing for Oldman's performance primarily and parliamentary scenes. It is not a perfect movie.
I might see again as some of the dialogue is very quick and I think I missed a couple of things. Needs subtitles!

I saw this one today. I thought it was excellent. I didn't mind the two main female characters. Oldman was truly amazing. I think it is his best performance. Sometimes I feel he makes the performance about him, but in this case he was really committed to bringing authenticity to Churchill and captured the essence of the man. I will put my money on him for the Oscar.

 

[Vash01]

I saw I, Tontya- finally.

This is a well liked movie (7.7 on imd.com), but I was disappointed, for various reasons.

First, the positives.

The movie was well structured, despite having 4 characters narrating the story (Tonya, her mother, Jeff Gilooly, and. .?) and using flashbacks. The audience seemed to love the movie, laughing at times or shocked at times. So the movie definitely touched the general public.

The acting was good throughout, but is it possible that a mother could be as bad as portrayed here? Not taking anything away from Allison Janney's performance, because the whole story was told from Tonya's perspective.

They explained in the very beginning what a triple axel was, why it was so difficult, and no American woman had landed it. This prepared the audience to understand this was a rare athlete.Cute kids skating as young Tonya added to the story.

Seeing Tonya's original 91 US nationals LP while the end credits rolled was a real treat. Tonya was an amazing athlete. This was such a tragedy!

Now the Negatives.

Margot Robbie, despite her good acting, was the wrong choice to play Tonya. When Tonya won the nationals in 91, with her triple axel, she was just 20, and even younger in the earlier competitions. Robbie looked like someone in the late twenties (she was born in 1990, so she is 27 now). This is not a big age difference, but she did not look Tonya's age on the screen. Other actresses who played younger than themselves in movies looked the age of the characters. The best example may be Jennifer Gray (27-28) playing 17 year old Baby in Dirty dancing, very convincingly. Another example may be Charmian Carr (21) playing 16 year old Liesl in The Sound of Music. Carr wrote in her book that many talented actresses were rejected because they they didn't Look 16. IMO this movie needed to find the right actress to play the role. I don't criticize Robbie's acting ability, but she didn't look the part except when she was telling the story.

Had Robbie looked Tonya's age from 18-21, it would have been easier to understand her involvement and marriage to Gilooly. She was vulnerable. Here we saw a grown up woman. She looked ok at age 23 (94 Olympics) but not earlier.

This movie portrays Tonya as a victim of abuse by mother, boyfriend/husband, and showing a lot of violence in the process, when fewer scenes would have sent the message. This is really 'in your face' movie. I prefer a more skilled presentation.

Later, she is portrayed as a helpless pawn used by others. It is known now that Tonya at least knew about the plan and she lied about it. The movie needed to show positives and negatives of her character.

Did Tonya actually walk back on the ice to argue with the judges after her marks were announced? I don't believe this for a second. A judge she approaches (he is in a car) tells her that she doesn't fit in. There isbsome truth in it, but it is also true that Tonya never tried to make changes to her programs based on feedback from judges. Neither did Elvis Stojko, but he focused on what he did well, and never fought against the judges. (Sorry I am OT)

In the end the Judge sentences her with community service, fine, and the Usfsa decision to ban her for life. I think
the Usfsa decision came separately, and not in the courtroom. The movie used it as an opportunity to show how heartbroken Tonya was, about being banned from skating (understandably). It was ok for a movie, but was it necessary to say she Had to go into boxing to make a living? She could have cleaned houses, or worked at a restaurant, for example.

The movie was too soft on Tonya, like she had no flaws, and what happened to her was everyone Reese's fault. I have a problem with that.

Finally, I think there was a goof in the medal podium. They showed Kristi in a bronze position and Nancy in a silver position, when Tonya won the gold at the nationals (correct me if I am long).

Sorry this is such a long post, but this is about Figure Skating!

 

[DannyCurry]

Watched two "old" movies this week-end :

• The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), about the arrival of an alien and a seemingly threatening robot on Earth. I found it more creative than TLJ

• And Billy Wilder's One Two Three (1961), on a Coca-Cola executive who has to look after his boss's daughter, in divided Berlin during the Cold War. Enjoyable but really exhausting to watch.

 

[skatefan]

Watched two "old" movies this week-end :

• The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), about the arrival of an alien and a seemingly threatening robot on Earth. I found it more creative than TLJ

The Day the Earth Stood Still - an oldie but goodie I've just watched Meet Joe Black again, and oh my, Brad Pitt is beautiful

 

[Aussie Willy]

I Tonya wasn't made for figure skaters and fans who know the details. It was made as a movie for the sake of a movie. I think you need to take the facts it presents with a grain of salt and just take it for what it is. I have no expectations and will just watch it as a movie and probably get a laugh out of those things that are not quite right.

 

[cocotaffy]

Just watched The last word with Shirley Maclaine. I didn't know anything about it previous to watching it and it was a nice little surprise. Shirley MacLaine is great at playing the grumpy old woman and some dialogues are quite funny. It's nothing out of the ordinary in what it's telling about life and how to go about it. But the chemistry between her and Amanda Siegfried is nice enough to make you care. A pleasant Sunday evening little movie.
I also watched Polina, danser sa vie a movie about a young Russian dancer starting off as a classical ballet dancer to find her passion in the world of modern dance. The start about her training in Russia is rather conventional before she goes on a self exploration. The movie then ends with a gorgeous pas de deux sequence. It wasn't bad but if I'm honest I got a bit bored after the first half. It got a bit repetitive and even if she's quite a haunting beauty which has the power to fascinate, the plot is a bit formulaic: young girl will discover herself by taking risks and breaking from the conventions and rigidity of ballet. I also have to acknowledge I don't like Juliette Binoche too much, fortunately she has a small role yet she manages to be irritating predictable in it as the free spirited woman who understands what's life is all about. However, that last scene is quite beautiful and I could imagine my favs P/C doing an ice version of this.

 

[Vash01]

I Tonya wasn't made for figure skaters and fans who know the details. It was made as a movie for the sake of a movie. I think you need to take the facts it presents with a grain of salt and just take it for what it is. I have no expectations and will just watch it as a movie and probably get a laugh out of those things that are not quite right.

May be the movie was made for Tonya?

As a movie it is too violent for my taste. It is not enjoyable for me to watch physical fights and blood in nearly half the scenes. If I treat this as 'just a movie', without any knowledge of figure skating, I would still not like it. Also selecting an actress that did not look Tonya's age is a movie issue, not a FS issue.

Movies do have the obligation to not deviate too far from the truth. Movies that did, were soundly criticized for it.Ex.- The social network, Hurricane.

If non- fans of FS liked it, it is for the positives I mentioned in my post. Since I know the real story, I won't pretend that I don't.

Enjoy the movie!

ETA- I am not unsympathetic to Tonya. IMO a lifetime ban was too much. Even criminals get second chances after completing their prison sentences. A 5- year ban would have been sufficient. JMO, of course.

 

[Buzz]

Jumanji will finish this weekend in the #1 spot and The Last Jedi has finally reached #1 spot WW for 2017.
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=4360&p=.htm

 

[annie720]

Saw I, Tonya today and DH and I both liked it. I wasn't a huge fan of Margot Robbie because she looked way too old in the role, but enjoyed the movie for what it was. Can't say that the language or violence bothered me.

If you live near an Alamo Drafthouse, it's worth going there to see the pre-show reel. They had film from Ice Follies from the '30's, some video from Tonya's comps, and clips from various talk shows and sketch comedy bits aimed at Tonya and Jeff from that era.