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

[jenny12]

I saw The Post today. Overall, I thought it was very well done and an engaging portrayal of the role of the media in the Vietnam era and the build to Watergate. Very relevant to today of course and the acting was uniformly excellent with Streep of course being the standout. The ending got a bit too cheesy for my liking with the overt back patting. Certainly what the Post did was brave but some of the speechifying at the end was a bit much. However, the film was very satisfying as a whole.

 

[Kasey]

During vacation flights this past week, I indulged in four different films, all being what I would consider above average. On the way to vacation, I watched "Battle of the Sexes", with Emma Stone and Steve Carrell (who usually makes me avoid films, because I am just easily annoyed by him). The story was good, true of course, about the matchup of Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs; but the pacing seemed a bit uneven, and it seemed set up to elevate Billie Jean as the better person of the two. I think Riggs was an equally complex person and character, but the depth of him was underplayed, and he came off more as a frantic buffoon to me.

Then was "Victoria and Abdul", about the friendship between Queen Victoria and an Indian servant. Judi Dench was wonderful, of course, and Ali Fazal was very good. I liked seeing my favorite comedian, Eddie Izzard, as Bertie, Prince of Wales. While based on fact, I think that the story was certainly manipulated to be more Hollywood-friendly. But a sweet and feel-good kind of comedy-drama.

On the way home was "Goodbye Christopher Robin", which actually had me tearing up at one point (not recommended for airplane travel!) While it was beautifully shot, and the acting was phenomenal (especially the boy who played the young Christopher Robin), there were only two characters I found at all appealing, and that kind of kept me from getting as emotionally invested in it. It struck me as a slightly less-than "Finding Neverland".

And finally, "Marshall", about one of the early cases of Thurgood Marshall while he was the sole attorney for the NAACP. Very good acting from Chadwick Boseman and Sterling K. Brown, as well as Josh Gad; but it felt somewhat formulaic to me, and not with the kind of depth that such a great man truly deserves.

 

[Vash01]

I saw 'Call me by your name'. Lovely movie. Almost poetry. The cinematography, acting, music were all very good. The scenes from Northern Italy, where the movie takes place, is shown in its natural beauty and culture. Half the movie is in Italian. Fortunately there are subtitles.

The young actor Timothee Chalamet is really good. Deserves all the acclaim he is getting. Armie Hammer is also very good, in a supporting role that has lots of screen time. The pace is slow throughout. At times it got a bit too slow for me. They could have shaved off about 10 minutes in the middle but the ending was perfect.

 

[Vash01]

Saw the trailer of 'Film stars don't die in Liverpool'. Definitely want to see this movie. Also on my list-

Phantom thread (right now in Scottsdale only; may have to go there next weekend)
The darkest hour
The greatest showman
Coco
The disaster artist

 

[Aussie Willy]

Saw the trailer of 'Film stars don't die in Liverpool'. Definitely want to see this movie.

I saw that trailer as well. Really interesting. If not for Annette Bening who I always enjoy but a grown up Jamie Bell.

 

[Japanfan]

I saw I, Tontya- finally.
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.

I don't think the film indicated that she 'had' to go into boxing. But she did go into boxing, so why not show it in the film?

And the boxing was critical to the image at the end of the film, when Tonya is down on the floor of the ring, but her eyes are blazing as if to say: when I get knocked down, I just get back up and fight again. It portrayed Tonya as a fighter, which was the film's intention (and is also true IMO)

 

[Vash01]

I don't think the film indicated that she 'had' to go into boxing. But she did go into boxing, so why not show it in the film?

And the boxing was critical to the image at the end of the film, when Tonya is down on the floor of the ring, but her eyes are blazing as if to say: when I get knocked down, I just get back up and fight again. It portrayed Tonya as a fighter, which was the film's intention (and is also true IMO)

In the movie Tonya said- I had to stay in the public eye to make a living. I had no education. Skating was the only thing I knew. So she went into boxing. May be you are right about showing her as a fighter in the movie, but in reality she didn't Have to get beaten up and knocked down. It seems almost masochistic that she boxed. I doubt that she had a lot of training in that field. It was for publicity.

 

[VGThuy]

The real Tonya said she loved boxing, but it was tough to keep up (obviously) and that she was in her thirties when she took it up seriously.

 

[Aussie Willy]

I just saw the tailer for the latest Wes Anderson film "Isle of Dogs". Stop motion animation. Can't wait to see this one.

 

[Japanfan]

The real Tonya said she loved boxing, but it was tough to keep up (obviously) and that she was in her thirties when she took it up seriously.

I believe she loved it, as she was/is a very physical person, and also a competitive person - last I heard she was working as a landscaper, because she loved the physicality of it.

Though I'm sure she also wanted the publicity, not to mention the pay cheque.

 

[PeterG]

I saw Star Wars: The Last Jedi today. I expected to like it and ended up surprised to like it much more than I expected. The good and bad of The Last Jedi:

1. I really liked the story. And I liked that there were action sequences at the beginning and the end (which were really good) and the whole rest of the movie was story. With just the right numbers of twists.

2. I liked how prominent women and people of colour are in this movie. No wonder the alt-right are upset. Compared to most movies, the representation of these groups are so high, it seems like there's no white men in this movie. Of course that's not true, there are lots, with three or four in major roles.

3. I thought the new creatures were pretty awesomely done and a great addition to those we've seen in the past.

4. I liked how many different character combos in this movie connected and related to one another in this movie. Finn and Rose, Kylo and Rey, and Luke and Leia reconnecting was so nicely done. Even Rey and Poe at the end of the movie.

5. All the technical aspects of the movie were brilliant. I'm expecting Oscar nominations for sound, editing, cinematography, costumes and visual effects. And if there isn't wins in all these categories, I'm going to be very interested to see what takes the Oscars here instead of The Last Jedi. And speaking of Oscars, I know it's not going to happen, but I'd be okay if Carrie Fisher got a best supporting actress nomination.

I'm sure there's more I like about the movie, but this is all that's coming to me off the top of my head.

And the things I didn't like about the movie:

1.

2.

3.

 

[PeterG]

Trailers For Movies Released 2018-01-12th
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuI4-fSHhipTVMGBqUnu-cqBZkEot8Mbo

Zero movies interest me this week.


January 19th - 12 Strong (Wide) – Action drama with Chris Hemsworth, Michael Shannon, Rob Riggle and Michael Pena

January 19th - Forever My Girl (Wide) – Musical romance, new cast. From imdb.com: “After being gone for a decade a country star returns home to the love he left behind.”

January 19th - Den of Thieves (Wide) – Crime drama with Gerard Butler, 50 Cent and Pablo Schreiber

January 19th - The Leisure Seeker (Limited) – Comedy drama with Donald Sutherland, Helen Mirren and Dick Gregory

January 19th - The Final Year (Limited) – Documentary. From imdb.com: “A chronicle of the Barack Obama administration's foreign policy team and the events of Obama's final year in office.”

January 19th - Small Town Crime (Limited) – Thriller with John Hawkes, Octavia Spencer, Robert Forster, Anthony Anderson, Clifton Collins Jr. and Michael Vartan

January 19th - Mom and Dad (Limited) – Horror thriller with Nicolas Cage, Selma Blair and Lance Henriksen

January 19th - Kangaroo (Limited) – Documentary. From imdb.com: “A film that reveals the unsettling truth about Australia's love-hate relationship with its beloved icon.”
…no trailer at youtube….

January 19th - Ridge Runners (Limited) – Thriller, new cast. From imdb.com: “When a 12 year old girl goes missing, detective Rachel Willow discovers that human trafficking can happen anywhere, even in her small town.”

January 19th - This Giant Papier-Mâché Boulder Is Actually Really Heavy (Limited) – Action comedy, new cast. From imdb.com: “Three ordinary guys are thrust into a parallel world of an old Sci-Fi movie. Trapped in a low budget universe they must somehow fight their way home before it is too late.”

January 19th - The Road Movie (Limited) – Documentary. From imdb.com: “…comprised entirely of footage from dashboard cameras from Russian cars.”

January 18th - Mary And The Witch’s Flower (Limited) – Japanese anime. From imdb.com: “Based on The Little Broomstick by Mary Stewart, a strange flower grants a girl magic powers.”

 

[Jay42]

Honestly, if Baby Driver doesn't win the Oscar for Editing I'll be pretty surprised. TLJ was amazing, don't get me wrong, but I hold Baby Driver up there with the movies of Alfred Hitchcock and Wes Anderson which are also stunningly edited. But I want TLJ to get Effects.

 

[Vash01]

I just saw the tailer for the latest Wes Anderson film "Isle of Dogs". Stop motion animation. Can't wait to see this one.

I have seen this trailer at least three times by now. They show it with every movie, it seems. I am not a fan of animated movies, so I am not likely to see it in a theatre. May be later on DVD if it's really good.

 

[Vash01]

Phantom thread has arrived at two theatres near me. I hope to see it this weekend. The reviews are really good.

Still have to see The darkest hour, before it disappears.

 

[poths]

I went to see Molly's Game last week. Did a little googling afterwards. Discovered her brother was an Olympic skier and NFL draft...AND best friends with Sasha Cohen. Now I want to know what she's doing with her life.

 

[PeterG]

I saw I, Tonya tonight. The tone of the movie is kept light in a way even though the movie is about abuse (both physical and psychological), illegal activity and classism. I'm feeling kind of bogged down right now even though the filmmakers went for a tone that would keep a movie that covers such topics from becoming too dark. I 100% recommend the movie. Just in case it sounds like I'm making it sound dark enough that one might shy away from it. I think the topic of classism is one that people can't absord...just like some people can't take in how racism can have a soul-crunching effect on some people of colour. There are people who still think that Tonya should have just done x, y or z to make her life better and because she didn't, they have no sympathy for her. I think these people, for whatever reason, won't allow themselves to acknowledge how classism can really screw up people's lives.

The script is amazing even though we, as figure skating fans, know much of the story already. The cast are great although I want to see Lady Bird now to see Laurie Metcalf's performance so I have a clearer idea of who to root for to win best supporting actress. Allison Janney is great, but her role is written pretty much as a caricature, partly due to her performance (or how she was directed). I might root for a performance which has some subtlety to it (none of which is presence in the role of Tonya's Mom). Margot Robbie is good, but the performance is limited a little in how it was written. I definitely want both of them to get Oscar nominations. But two other performances I think are worthy of note.

I was shocked to see that it was Julianne Nicholson playing Diane Rawlinson's first coach. I had no idea that was her. And that she was playing someone who seemed either much older or much different than Nicholson herself. Here's a performance with some nuance and subtlety to it. Loved this character and Nicholson's performance of Diane. And Paul Walter Hauser as Shawn is just brilliant. What a talented man! Hauser has been doing a lot of one-off roles on various TV shows. How great for him to have a decent-sized part in a major film release. I hope he gets more chances to show off how talented he is.

I think my reservation about this movie has to do with the message not being absorbed by people. Nothing about the movie makes me think anybody should NOT see it. I just hope society moves towards acknowledging how classism is as dangerous a form of oppression as all the other types of oppression out there.

 

[Vash01]

Saw Darkest Hour tonight. Should have seen it in the morning to keep me from (almost) falling asleep. This is a great topic, and the production design is very good. Gorgeous cinematography, art direction, costumes, and of course the acting. The problem is with the script. It is unimaginative. The movie is presented like a history text book but without much detail. I like reading history. I never thought that a movie based on important historical events could be so boring.

Despite so many good things I was bored to death. How long can you keep listening to dialogues after dialogues after dialogues? The constant screaming (by Churchill) really got to me. I wanted it to stop and it did, in a few scenes. It wasn't enough, but may be it kept me from falling asleep. The train scene was nice but by that time it was too late for me.

The two female characters were good. I have always liked Kristin Scott Thomas. I recognized Lily James as the gal from Baby Driver, but she looks very different here- very British, of course. I thought she looked like Medvedeva in some scenes (am I going crazy?)

Gary Oldman is winning all the awards. His Churchill was very believable, though I have only seen pictures of Churchill. IMO the real award should go to the makeup artist. Oldman is a good actor but I found his performance rather one dimensional. With the exception of a few scenes all he does is yell. May be the real life Churchill was like that, but in the movie setting it was like music played with one note.

There was no mention of the United States. I wonder why? I thought the USA was a great ally to GBR. There was Canada in one scene.

They did mention Dunkirk toward the end. By comparison, Dunkirk was a wonderful movie, with great creativity in the way it tells the story.

Overall 6/10. May be in the morning it would have been 7/10 because of so many good things, other than the script.

 

[Kasey]

I saw "Call me by your name" yesterday. What a beautiful film. The pacing, the cinematography, the language, the emotions....just really lovely. It may be one I see again, to pick up on subtleties I missed.

 

[PeterG]

The Screen Actors Guild Awards are on Sunday night at 8pm. In Canada, the show is airing on the Global network, but my TV listings don't list anything for the U.S. I assume the show will air in America on a specialty channel that we don't get here in Canada.

Here's the Wikipedia page which lists all the categories and nominees

Interesting to see categories for stunt ensembles. What are your picks for these two categories?

Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture

Baby Driver
Dunkirk
Logan
War for the Planet of the Apes
Wonder Woman

I predict Wonder Woman will win (and should win).

Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series

Game of Thrones
GLOW
Homeland
Stranger Things
The Walking Dead

I predict Game of Thrones will win, but I'd like to see The Walking Dead win.

 

[Japanfan]

Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series

Game of Thrones
GLOW
Homeland
Stranger Things
The Walking Dead

I predict Game of Thrones will win, but I'd like to see The Walking Dead win.

Game of Thrones has already won a bunch of awards. Walking Dead has always been overlooked by the awards circuit, SFAIK it's only ever one an award for prosthetics (Golden Globe or Emmy?). It has an amazing cast and deserves some acting noms - the acting and the characters are the main reason people watch this show, although the story arc is pretty amazing as well.

I started watching The Walking Dead while channel surfing and coming across a dinner scene with what seemed to be a very interesting group of people (scene at the farm where Glen writes Maggie a note to meet at the barn). Never in a million years would I have even have considered watching a show with a focus on zombies! But that scene captured my interest, and I've never lost it.

 

[watchthis!!]

Biggest Hits and Flops of 2017
http://variety.com/2017/film/news/biggest-hits-and-flops-of-2017-king-arthur-wonder-woman-1202640819/

Interesting how the hits of the year feature women prominently in almost each title while all the flops (with one exception) are about male characters.

 

[Allskate]

The Screen Actors Guild Awards are on Sunday night at 8pm. In Canada, the show is airing on the Global network, but my TV listings don't list anything for the U.S. I assume the show will air in America on a specialty channel that we don't get here in Canada.

It's on TBS and TNT in the U.S., though I'm not sure what time it's airing on the West Coast. I'm finding conflicting info on that. Kristen Bell is hosting. Maybe someone will start a separate thread.

 

[Buzz]

I want to see Peter Rabbit! Looks like fun.

 

[Allskate]

I want to see Peter Rabbit! Looks like fun.

I saw the trailer. Definitely not what I expected. I wonder what Beatrix Potter would have thought.

 

[Vash01]

I saw Phantom Thread today. It was high on my list because I really like Daniel Day Lewis and the trailer looked interesting. The movie didn't disappoint, but I didn't feel it was a 10. However, 9/10 is pretty good. DDL plays an eccentric dressmaker in London in the 1950s. He is an awesome actor. I don't think this was his best performance ever, but it is supposed to be his last. He is amazing. The lead actress Vicky Krieps is also very good. I had never heard of her. The supporting female role- DDL's sister on the screen-(Lesley Manville) was very good.

I couldn't figure out why the title was 'Phantom thread'. The thread obviously relates to sewing/dress making, but why Phantom?

Some scenes between DDL and Krieps are absolutely brilliant. Also some scenes between Krieps and Reynold's sister were also very good. There is some humor to lighten things but this is mainly a serious, romantic movie, with just three main characters. The cinematography is wonderful.

The costumes are gorgeous, as one would expect in a movie about a dressmaker. I was somewhat confused by the relationship between the two leads, and by the ending, but the story moved beautifully, though slowly. Very artistic film, but may not be the best of the year. Some reviews on imdb called it the best movie made in the last 15 years. I found that OTT, but it's definitely worth seeing, at least once. I may see it again.

 

[Vash01]

Watched the SAG awards tonight. Very predictable. Oscars will be even more predictable. I am disappointed that Three billboards is winning so many awards. It is an entertaining movie but there are better movies than this, this year. My top three are (not in order):

The Post
Dunkirk
The shape of water

Also Call me by your name is definitely better than Three billboards.