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

[cocotaffy]

I have been waiting for Polina, Polina especially because of Preljocaj's collaboration.
Being summer and all, I haven't watch many movies but I forgot to talk about a pleasant surprise I watched before the vacation: Frantz from François Ozon. Delicate and a slow-burner, but it will keep you enthralled. I watched it for the male lead whose acting I usually enjoy yet dreading the movie might be boring and a tad pretentious/faux-intellectual (tbh I don't particularly like this director much). I always enjoy being wrong regarding movies. I won't say more not to spoil anything and imdb usually does a better job than me anyway.

 

[watchthis!!]

Hmm...should we all list our favourite animal performances? I haven't seen Elle, so I can't say whether the Elle cat would make my top ten or not. Until then, my most recent review:

I absolutely loved the movie Wildlike. Haven't heard of it? Me neither, which is a crime because it's definitely one of my favourite movies from recent memory. It's about a teen girl who basically gets shipped off to Alaska for the summer to stay with her uncle. She ends up going off on her own, ineptly trying to get back home to Seattle. She ends up crossing paths a few times with a man played by Bruce Greenwood, who is going on a hike that he used to do with his wife, who passed away the last year from cancer. This is one of those movies that make you happy to know that really good people are out there. It leaves you feeling hopeful. Some might find the pace a little on the slow side, but I say use that time to take in the glorious surroundings of the Alaskan outdoors. The final scene of the movie is something that needs to be discussed with others, so if anyone sees this, please post about it because I'd like to hear your thoughts!

Trailer for Wildlike: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z99xBXUiWPk

 

[MacMadame]

I borrowed it from the library last week. I haven't watched it because of FSU. I thought it was about a
French woman and her cat. Now, you are making me scared.

It's about the aftermath of rape. And revenge. (In case those things are triggering for you.)

I saw an interview Hubert gave on The Late Show and knew it wasn't my kind of movie. It seems to be the kind of movie that wins all sorts of awards while middle America goes and grumbles about the Hollywood elite.

 

[VGThuy]

Except it was mostly ignored by the very middle-brow Oscars while they give lots of nominations and give awards to Clint Eastwood films and La La Land. To be fair to LLL, it was an indie film made with indie resources and was a film of passion. But I see what you mean. A lot of the movies that win critics awards or are lauded by directors aren't received the same way by middle America. Europe, on the other hand, is probably a different story or at least France.

I actually think the Oscars try to balance the high-brow with populist tastes while rarely pleasing anyone.

 

[Buzz]

Saw Wind River today and loved it! Nice little movie and a refreshing change from what I usually see. The mystery felt like it could have been real and so did the characters. Elizabeth Olsen and Jeremy Renner got great on screen chemistry. And there is a bit of a surprise in there for fans of Marvel's Netflix series. 7.5/10

 

[Buzz]

This weekend's box office take is set to be the worst in many years with the top movie making just $10m. OUCH!
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/

 

[PeterG]

It's about the aftermath of rape. And revenge. (In case those things are triggering for you.)

That's what the focus seemed to be on, but the bigger them of the movie is mental health oppression and child abuse. The whole rape-revenge part of the story might not have occurred if the mental health and child abuse issues from her childhood had not been ignored.

 

[watchthis!!]

I watched Nocturnal Animals this weekend. Perfectly well-made movie. But what a downer!

Spoiler

This guy holds onto his hurt and anger for 20 years. What...no therapists in your state? Then he writes this book where he has his wife and daughter kidnapped, raped and murdered. Geez...what a sicko.

Blech.

This weekend's box office take is set to be the worst in many years with the top movie making just $10m. OUCH!
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/

 

[MacMadame]

Except it was mostly ignored by the very middle-brow Oscars

Did other award groups give it any love? (I don't pay much attention to awards as I find them arbitrary.)

 

[VGThuy]

Did other award groups give it any love? (I don't pay much attention to awards as I find them arbitrary.)

Yeah, the more elitist ones, which really proves your point, . I love following awards and critics best of lists and film publications like Sight & Sound but I've been a bit disenchanted with it after years of noticing who are making up these critics circles and who the writers/editors are who come up with the best of lists. Let's just say the Oscars aren't the only ones with a problem with diversity. Film Festivals seem to do a lot better and they change it up every year though their selections are only limited to the films that are submitted for the festivals. Still, I do end up liking a lot of the films on the lists. The director's lists are also very interesting but you can tell some of those films spoke to the directors in a way that they may not speak to a movie goer.

 

[PeterG]

Yesterday I paid for some air conditioning and watched some movies at the same time.

First up was Kidnap with Halle Berry. Somewhere in this mess is a potentially good movie. It does have some strong moments, but probably more bad moments. I just had to go with the flow with this one. Keep the good, let go of the bad. Overall, it's a shame that this is where an Academy Award winning actress has ended up. This makes me wonder if Berry has become a difficult person to work with and that's why she's only getting crappy projects to work on. The script for Kidnap really needed a script doctor. That would have made this much better. Although apparently the writer for this is the writer for the new X-Men movie. Hope he's working with a really large team of writers! The direction for Kidnap was weak as well. I'm sure Berry could have been asked to do certain scenes differently and it would have made for a much better project (let alone a better performance). Clearly from past work we know Berry is up to the challenge. This is one to watch only if you want something campy and/or something to heckle and laugh at with friends.

After a quick McDinner, back to the theatre to see Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. My expectations were low as this movie bombed and not much about it drew me to it. I just wanted something to help me pass time as the weather outside cooled off so I could go home. So I was stunned to end up watching an absolutely stunningly brilliant film. It is worth me recommending it to you on so many levels. First of all, it is one of the most visually stunning movies I have ever seen. It was like seeing Star Wars in 1977 or Avatar in 2009. It equals the visual fireworks of those movies, perhaps surpasses the impact. Every cent spent on this movie can be seen on screen and the environment changes many, many times and each time we see this new area or world, it is gasp-worthy. I could go on and on about the visuals, but I'm going to move on to the second reason this movie is worth seeing:

Cara Delevingne. Wow, just wow. Such star power. Part of me thought that I was witnessing this generation's Lauren Bacall, demanding a new spot for herself in the world of movies. I want to go out and seek all of her projects and devour them. If she has the right team working for her, I think she could be a major force in the film world for as long as she wants. Amazing talent!

The third reason I'd recommend this movie is split between the other performances and the overall project. Clive Owen only has a small part in this, but he has a few scenes that are the best work I think I've seen him do. Rihanna also has a small part and it almost made my head explode! (I mean that in the best possible way!) Ethan Hawke isn't quite as good as these two, but it's fun to see him do something unlike we've ever seen him do before. And John Goodman is good in his small role...although you probably won't recognize him. As for the movie overall, the story is really good although I did find the middle section of the movie lagged a bit in comparison to the first third and last act of the movie. The production design, cinematography and creature/beingss (were they all CGI or actual creations??) are wondrous. If things go as they should, Valerian should get a lot of Oscar nominations for all this brilliant work.

So a shocking thumbs up for this movie, I'm not even sure it was on my To See list. I'd especially like to hear from those of you who like sci-fi. Are you thinking of seeing this @Nell411 and @Buzz?

 

[Buzz]

Nope I am not. Next on my must see list is Inhumans. But tickets are not yet available and rumours has it that IMAX may not keep it in cinemas as long as promised. Then IT. I will catch both movies you mentioned @Peter when they appear on Netflix.

 

[manhn]

RE: Cara Delevingne, you may want to check out a movie called Paper Towns. I quite enjoyed in a lowkey way. That is the only movie I have seen with her. She was fine.

 

[Cachoo]

I've been rewatching "Fantastic Beasts" since the Trump election and the sort of darkness that comes from ignorance that exists in our world and in the world Newt lives in with his wonderful, endangered "beasts." I've decided I really do want a niffler. On watching this film again I truly enjoyed the four leads and hope anyone who might have been obliviated will return for the next installment. I like that Rowling's American Muggle (NoMaj) is not a "superhero" type but a decent guy just trying to make his way in the world. I think he and Queenie had great chemistry.

 

[Cachoo]

Elle is well-written, aptly directed, has extremely high production values and features great acting from everyone involved. For me, the problem was with the characters and the things they did. It's one thing for a movie to feature a horrible, vile character. But when each person on screen acts in a offensive way (to lesser and greater extremes, depending on the character), it becomes overwhelming. When I realized towards the end of the movie that if I came in contact with any of these people, my thought would be, "STEER AWAY FROM ALL THESE PEOPLE....AT ALL COSTS". Who wants to watch a two hour movie where every character makes you feel dirty? It took me 90 minutes to go to sleep last night. I wondered how much that was related to this movie being stuck in my head (I overslept the night before, so probably not that much). But I was made at myself for watching a movie where I knew a bit of the premise as the last thing I watched before bedtime. I will have to remember to watch challenging movies in the afternoon so I have a bit more time to process it. I did have a dream where one of a group of guys was climbing up some scaffolding that I was on top of had me booting him in the face to keep him from attacking or killing me. Perhaps he represents everyone in this movie. I was able to fight him off by the way.

I'm so glad you wrote this----I thought the performances were fine but for me my reaction was to some decisions that were made during the course of the film...in other words I thought "What in the HELL is she doing?" And of course she wasn't the only person I questioned but her decisions shocked me more than anyone else in the film.

I wanted to add that I want to see "The Shape of Water" more than any other film this year.

 

[PeterG]

Today's 30+ (90-ish Fahrenheit) day's paid air conditioned evening happened to come with two movies. First up: Dunkirk.

Most annoying soundtrack ever. The movie is well-filmed with some interesting stuff to watch. But I wonder if director Christopher Nolan finished editing and thought, "wow...this is boring as f***". So then he hired a composer for the film and said, "you got any over-done, over-wrought, over-dramatic music to belch all over my movie"? The composer must have said yes. I've never heard a score to a movie that was TRYING SO DAMN HARD. An early scene, minutes long, where the only really tense thing that happened was two soldiers carrying a third wounded soldier over a plank on a partly-bombed walkway had BIG-TIME music playing for the whole scene. No starting off subtle and building to that moment. Just BOMBAST for the whole over-long scene. The movie has VERY little dialogue, which is a shame for a movie starring Cillian Murphy, Kenneth Branagh, James D'Arcy (Broadchurch, Agent Carter) and the amazing Mark Rylance. Not to mention a lot of new, young actors who are equal to the talent of this great group of actors. Rylance only has a matter of lines, but he more than makes the most of each moment of (limited) screen time that he gets. I almost wondered if this was a war porn film made for aged soldiers to get off on. The only real story is that there's a TON of soldiers needing a ride back home. So some Brits take their weekend boats over to France to give this chaps a ride home. That's pretty much it. Disappointing.

Next up was Wonder Woman. Loved it. Gal Gadot and Chris Pine as the two leads are amazing. Loved them on their own and as a screen pairing. Hoping there's a missing scene which would mean we'll get to see Pine again in the DC universe. I also liked the trio Pine gathered up to be on his team. I thought the script was really strong, as was the direction. Really liked how they wrote the Diana (Wonder Woman) character. Glad I got to see this after the disappointing Dunkirk, so I felt positive about another "escape the icky heat" afternoon/evening again tomorrow.

I'm so glad you wrote this----I thought the performances were fine but for me my reaction was to some decisions that were made during the course of the film...in other words I thought "What in the HELL is she doing?" And of course she wasn't the only person I questioned but her decisions shocked me more than anyone else in the film.

It all goes back to her childhood and having a father with a severe mental illness, whose behaviours must have influenced his daughter. I assumed the mother was in denial about pretty much everything, which is another mind-f*** for the daughter. Into adulthood, her own struggles were probably ignored and she ended up surrounding herself with other people who were crazy to some degree, each in their own way. That's how we ended up with a movie where every character acts in one or more questionable ways. There wasn't one mentally healthy person in her life that we saw.

 

[cocotaffy]

It was like seeing Star Wars in 1977 or Avatar in 2009. It equals the visual fireworks of those movies, perhaps surpasses the impact.

The reason it made you think of Star Wars It's because some think Star Wars was inspired by the French comics series, Valerian, written in the 60's. There are indeed some shocking similarities which ended up being among the most iconing Star Wars moment like Leia's golden bikini, Millenium Falcon, cryogenic Han Solo scene or Darth Vader mingled face and mask. I recently learned about this thanks to the release of Valerian and I thought it should have been more widely known. I haven't seen it yet but definitely plan on doing so.
Here are some articles talking about valerian's influence on Star Wars.
https://www.wired.com/2016/01/valerian-laureline-star-wars/
http://www.forcematerial.com/home/2016/10/3/six-ways-valerian-might-have-influenced-star-wars

 

[Integrity]

Saw Wind River today and loved it! Nice little movie and a refreshing change from what I usually see. The mystery felt like it could have been real and so did the characters. Elizabeth Olsen and Jeremy Renner got great on screen chemistry. And there is a bit of a surprise in there for fans of Marvel's Netflix series. 7.5/10

I enjoyed it too. For me, Renner, the stunning filming locations, and the Nick Cave score were the standouts.

 

[Vash01]

I enjoyed it too. For me, Renner, the stunning filming locations, and the Nick Cave score were the standouts.

Sounds like a movie I may enjoy.

 

[PeterG]

Today's air conditioning was accompanied by two films.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales was up first. Just what I expected. For it to be just like all the previous four films. Nothing new, except a brief and slightly amusing (yet unnecessary) Paul McCartney cameo, some Orlando Bloom and a Kiera/Orlando re-uniting. Now, a movie with those two would have been SO much better than this. But I got a few brief catnaps in during this cooling-off time and didn't feel like I missed much. So I felt refreshed for the next movie...

The Dark Tower. As with Pirates, this one was not on my To See list, but I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. I've seen two or three different trailers for this and none of them drew me in and made me want to see this. But it was a decent sci-fi action drama, thanks to a wonderful Idris Elba and a pretty great Tom Taylor as the young boy Jake at the centre of the story. But no thanks to Matthew McConaughey, who's going for understated but just come across as bland. Made me wonder if McConaughey can do the McConaughey schtick...or be bland. It seems those are the only two McConaughey flavours. Elba on the other hand underplays his role to some degree, but always remains watchable, entertaining and charismatic. Jackie Earle Haley is in this, it's a small and thankless role. Hopefully he received a nice cheque for showing up and having his talents be ignored with this role.

 

[Jay42]

After a quick McDinner, back to the theatre to see Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. My expectations were low as this movie bombed and not much about it drew me to it. I just wanted something to help me pass time as the weather outside cooled off so I could go home. So I was stunned to end up watching an absolutely stunningly brilliant film. It is worth me recommending it to you on so many levels. First of all, it is one of the most visually stunning movies I have ever seen. It was like seeing Star Wars in 1977 or Avatar in 2009. It equals the visual fireworks of those movies, perhaps surpasses the impact. Every cent spent on this movie can be seen on screen and the environment changes many, many times and each time we see this new area or world, it is gasp-worthy. I could go on and on about the visuals, but I'm going to move on to the second reason this movie is worth seeing:

Cara Delevingne. Wow, just wow. Such star power. Part of me thought that I was witnessing this generation's Lauren Bacall, demanding a new spot for herself in the world of movies. I want to go out and seek all of her projects and devour them. If she has the right team working for her, I think she could be a major force in the film world for as long as she wants. Amazing talent!

The third reason I'd recommend this movie is split between the other performances and the overall project. Clive Owen only has a small part in this, but he has a few scenes that are the best work I think I've seen him do. Rihanna also has a small part and it almost made my head explode! (I mean that in the best possible way!) Ethan Hawke isn't quite as good as these two, but it's fun to see him do something unlike we've ever seen him do before. And John Goodman is good in his small role...although you probably won't recognize him. As for the movie overall, the story is really good although I did find the middle section of the movie lagged a bit in comparison to the first third and last act of the movie. The production design, cinematography and creature/beingss (were they all CGI or actual creations??) are wondrous. If things go as they should, Valerian should get a lot of Oscar nominations for all this brilliant work.

So a shocking thumbs up for this movie, I'm not even sure it was on my To See list. I'd especially like to hear from those of you who like sci-fi. Are you thinking of seeing this @Nell411 and @Buzz?

Sorry I read this at work yesterday and then forgot to reply when I got home. Valerian is on my to see list but for home video. I didn't have time to see it when it hit theatre here. It didn't stay here long.

As far as watching Cara Delevigne movies, don't waste your time with Suicide Squad if you haven't already seen it. She isn't really given much to do. Plus that movie is a mess.

 

[Buzz]

Tickets for IMAX showing of Inhumans are finally on sale!

 

[watchthis!!]

Details Revealed for 'Unbreakable' Sequel 'Glass': Here's What We Know So Far
https://www.fandango.com/movie-news...sequel-glass-heres-what-we-know-so-far-752561

James McAvoy and Anya Taylor-Joy (from Split) will join Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson (from Unbreakable) in a story that brings their characters from these films into a new story. Sarah Paulson will be a new addition to this (movie) series.

 

[PeterG]

Trailers for Movies Released 2017-09-01st
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuI4-fSHhipQJX7FrdlZxLdgv32Ts_eyx

No titles are in bold as I haven't had time to watch the playlist (only completed it a little while ago). Maybe you'll share with us which titles you would have in boldface. Two things of note though about this list...no major/wide releases (only limited releases). Wonder if Labour Day weekend is everyone's last chance to grab a bit of summer before school starts, so no studios are putting out any of their major releases. And the second thing is that there's a re-release of Close Encounters of the Third Kind in some theatres this weekend, but I didn't include it on the playlist. Oh, and I guess a third thing. Tulip Fever is supposedly out this weekend and you'll see how I've been keeping track of the release dates for this one, I'll highlight that in red.


Sep. 1st - Unlocked (Limited) - Action drama with Noomi Rapace, Orlando Bloom, Toni Collette, Michael Douglas and John Malkovich

Sep. 1st - I Do…Until I Don’t (Limited) – Comedy with Lake Bell, Ed Helms, Mary Steenburgen, Paul Reiser, Amber Heard and Chace Crawford

Sep. 1st - The Vault (Limited) – Horror thriller with James Franco, Taryn Manning [Orange Is The New Black] and Clifton Collins Jr.

Sep. 1st - Viceroy's House (Limited) - Historical drama with Gillian Anderson, Michael Gambon, Hugh Bonneville, Simon Callow [A Room With A View] and Terence Harvey

Sep. 1st - The Layover (Limited) – Comedy with Kate Upton, Kal Penn, Rob Corddry and Molly Shannon

Sep 1st NOT Aug. 25th NOT Feb. 24th 2017, NOT July 15th - Tulip Fever (Limited) – Romance with Alicia Vikander, Dane DeHaan, Jack O'Connell, Tom Holland, Matthew Morrison, Kevin McKidd, Zach Galifianakis, Christoph Waltz, Cara Delevingne and Judi Dench

Sep. 1st - Jackals (Limited) – Horror thriller with Deborah Kara Unger, Stephen Dorff and Johnathon Schaech

Sep. 1st - Goon: Last of the Enforcers (Limited) – Sports comedy with Seann William Scott, Liev Schreiber, Jay Baruchel, Elisha Cuthbert [24] and Callum Keith Rennie

Aug. 29th - The Queen of Spain (Limited) - Comedy drama with Penélope Cruz, Cary Elwes and Mandy Patinkin

Sep. 1st - Renegades (Limited) – Action thriller with J.K. Simmons and Sullivan Stapleton [Blindspot]

Sep. 1st - Temple (Limited) – Horror, new cast. From imdb.com: “Three American tourists follow a mysterious map deep into the jungles of Japan searching for an ancient temple. When spirits entrap them, their adventure quickly becomes a horrific nightmare.”

Sep. 1st - Valley of Bones (Limited) – Crime thriller, new cast. From imdb.com: “A disgraced paleontologist struggling to raise her son is tipped off to a groundbreaking dig site in the Badlands by a recovering meth addict, but his tie to the cartel threatens to bury them both under the weight of their criminal pasts.”

Sep. 1st - A Boy Called Po (Limited) - Fantasy with a new cast. From imdb.com: “When David Wilson's young wife falls victim to cancer, he is left a single working dad with the sole responsibility of caring for his sixth grade son with autism.”

Sep. 1st - Get Big (Limited) - Comedy drama, new cast. From imdb.com: “…follows the misadventures of two friends as they reconnect to attend a high school classmate's wedding. Alec is the charming troublemaker, while Nate provides the neurotic and awkward foil to his friend's unpredictable antics”

Sep. 1st - Mike Boy (Limited) – Thriller, new cast. From imdb.com: “An orphaned waiter is forced to carry out dangerous missions for a powerful secret society in exchange for the truth about his past.”

Sep. 1st - Sky Sharks (Limited) – Horror comedy, new cast. From imdb.com: “In order to conquer the world, the Nazis created modified sharks who were able to fly and whose riders are genetically mutated, undead super-humans.”

Sep. 1st - Dolores (Limited) – Documentary. From imdb.com: “Dolores Huerta bucks 1950s gender conventions by starting the country's first farm worker's union with fellow organizer Cesar Chavez. What starts out as a struggle for racial and labor justice, soon becomes a fight for gender equality within the same union she is eventually forced to leave…”

Sep. 1st – Do It Like An Hombre [aka Hazlo Como Hombre] (Limited) – Comedy from Mexico. From imdb.com: “Raúl, Eduardo and Santiago have led a happy and "straight" life since their childhood, until, one day, Santiago confesses to them that he is gay.”

Sep. 1st - Dalida (Limited) – Musical drama from France. From imdb.com: “Based on the true story of acclaimed music icon "Dalida" born in Cairo, who gained celebrity in the 50s…who later committed suicide in 1987 in Paris, after selling more than 130 million records worldwide.”

Aug. 30th - The Teacher (Limited - New York) – comedy drama from Slovakia. From imdb.com: “Since the arrival of the new teacher, Maria Drazdechova, to a Bratislava suburban school in the year of 1983, life has turned upside down for students and parents…”

Sep. 1st - Kill Me Please (Limited) – Drama from Brazil. From imdb.com: “…Rio de Janeiro…a wave of murderers plague the area. What starts off as a morbid curiosity for the local youth slowly begins to spoil away at their lives.”

 

[watchthis!!]

Patriots Day is a well made movie, but it felt a bit wrong watching it considering the Boston marathon bombing happened so recently. It somehow seemed the goal of the project was to make some $$$ rather than reflect on what happened. I wonder if the audience agreed because I checked and saw that the movie just made a bit more than it's budget, so the movie probably lost a big chunk of money. They probably should have waited a while longer to make this. I thought the best performances were probably the two new actors who played the brothers responsible for the bombing. Mark Wahlberg plays himself basically and he's satisfactory in that role. Also in the cast is John Goodman, J.K. Simmons and Kevin Bacon, all who are fine with their roles, but none of them stand out much. Maybe that's because their roles don't require much of them. I think this is worth seeing unless the subject matter is too tough for you to watch. The movie focusses on the hunt for the two brothers, so it's less a movie about a gruesome attack and more a mystery/thriller type of movie.

 

[Aussie Willy]

Details Revealed for 'Unbreakable' Sequel 'Glass': Here's What We Know So Far
https://www.fandango.com/movie-news...sequel-glass-heres-what-we-know-so-far-752561

James McAvoy and Anya Taylor-Joy (from Split) will join Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson (from Unbreakable) in a story that brings their characters from these films into a new story. Sarah Paulson will be a new addition to this (movie) series.

Unbreakable was one of the worst movies I have seen. I still remember it because I hated it so much. Dreadful.

I have seen a few movies over the last week. All nice feel good movies. I went to Hobart in Tasmania last weekend and saw a couple at a lovely old cinema called State Cinema. They have some big theatres but also some small lounge type settings. Really nice venue.

First was Maudie - about a Canadian folk artist Maud Lewis. Very quiet movie and started off slowly. But got better as it went along and by the end you really empathised with the relationship between Maud and her husband. Stars Ethan Hawke and Sally Hawkins. Hawkins was amazing and she has won awards for this performance.

Second was Hampstead. Diane Keaton and Brendan Gleeson star in this one. She is a widower who lives in an apartment across the road from a business development where Gleeson's character has been living in a shack for many years. Nice connection between the characters. And there are some really good performances from the supporting characters, particularly the guy playing the accountant. Very funny.

Last night I saw Gifted. Stars Chris Evans, Octavia Spencer and really good young actress Mckenna Grace. Story of a highly gifted child mathematician. Evans plays the uncle who has looked after Mary since his sister took her life. There ends up being a custody battle between him and his mother over what is best for the child. Quite a predictable outcome but I really enjoyed it.

 

[Buzz]

Not sure where to put this, here or the TV thread. But I saw Inhumans today on IMAX and loved it but it sounds like I may just be the only one. LOL My only regret is that it is on NBC not Netflix. I do doubt however that there are a lot of people willing to pay for something they can watch for free soon.

 

[Buzz]

Gal Gadot and WW director Patty Jenkins have both sent messages of support to two Sri Lankan cosplayers who were bullied, and body shamed after their photos were shared online.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41120168

 

[PeterG]

Two dramas I watched recently had very different tones, but I enjoyed each one. Everything, Everything was just out this spring and it's a very light romantic drama about two people finishing up high school and going out into the real world. The difference is one of them has a rare disease which limits her to the confines of her own home. When a family move in next door, she begins a friendship with the boy next door, mainly through signs through their windows and then through texting and e-mailing. Eventually they meet and love blooms. It's a light, sweet movie with good performances from everyone. Amandla Stenberg is the female lead, she was AMAZING in Colombiana as a girl, then quite good again in The Hunger Games as Rue. Her role her doesn't allow her the more dramatic situations of those other roles, but she's entirely watchable/enjoyable here. Nick Robinson is the male lead and he's really good as well, looking very handsome and setting just the right tone for the romancing boy next door. Robinson is most known as the elder brother in the Jurassic World movie from a few years back and he was really good in the small film The Kings of Summer, which I definitely recommend. Lastly, Anika Noni Rose, plays Stenberg's Mom, and she's solid...as she always is.

The other drama was JFK with Kevin Costner in the lead role. This is the 1991 Oliver Stone film that has a gigantic cast, including Tommy Lee Jones (nominated for a best supporting actor Oscar), Sissy Spacek, Kevin Bacon, Gary Oldman, Joe Pesci and Donald Sutherland. In smaller roles, we see Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Ed Asner, Brian Doyle-Murray (Bill's brother, doing a great dramatic turn), Vincent D'Onofrio and Sally Kirkland. And yet still, we see some who are most known for their comedic work fitting in very well in this serious drama, including Laurie Metcalf (Roseanne), John Candy, Wayne Knight (Seinfeld). The movie is 3 and a half hours long, so I expected to watch it in bits and pieces. But after returning to the movie after a 40 minute sitting a few days back, I couldn't stop watching it and stayed up an hour past when I usually finish my day just so I could see the rest of it. I was expecting this movie to be a bit like a history lesson, something important to watch. That it was, but it didn't overwhelm me, at least not in the way that Elle bogged me down. I guess that in spite of this movie being about the murder of a President, it was also about a group of people who to me, are true Americans. People who believe in their country so strongly that they will stand up against whatever adversary is in their way, no matter how great it might be.

The DVD for JFK has a second disc of extras, including a documentary about JFK's assassination and how differently the whole story was reported in other parts of the world compared to in the U.S. And how many non-Americans feel there was obviously a plot by the American government to murder JFK and how stunned people in other parts of the world are that Americans have not been outraged and more demanding of a true investigation into this whole matter. Once again, I wish the imdb message boards were around so I could hear different perspectives about all of this from people with differing views. Maybe I'll try to google this later and see what the dissenting views about this movie are.

Lastly, the movie did not do all that well in America, but did so well internationally that the movie made good money, in spite of the lack of support from American audiences. The movie did get eight Oscar nominations, with two wins for cinematography and film editing. I would argue that Spacek should have gotten a best supporting actress nomination (even though her role was fairly small) and I thought Michael Rooker was very strong in his role as Bill Broussard. Rooker is best known for playing Merle in The Walking Dead (Daryl's brother) and as Yondu in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. His performance in JFK proves that he can do serious drama (and very well) and not just way-out there sci-fi/horror type roles. Lastly, Kevin Costner should have been at least considered for an Oscar nomination for his performance. The movie is 3.5 hours long and he's in almost every scene. The performance is understated, but that fit the man he was playing and it was right for what this movie needed. If Costner had not been successful in his performance, the movie would not have succeeded. I will have to check later to see the nominations for the year this movie came out to see who got nominations in the place of these three actors.

 

[PeterG]

Another heat wave here...more escaping to the theatre! It appears that I've seen everything out now, so as I go down the list alphabetically of movies playing, I'm now at the W's as today I saw War For The Planet of the Apes and then Wind River. Both were so good!

War For The Planet of The Apes was so much better than I expected. From what I remember of the last movie, it was becoming like the superhero movies, just lots of fighting...basically a war drama dressed up in different costumes. But the script for this one was much more thoughtful. Many touching moments and interesting storylines. I was going to add "along with the battles" but then I realized that there's not much of that actually. More story than fighting? Who came up with THAT idea for a summer movie? Lots of great cinematography in this, and one scene was filmed about five to ten miles from here, a spot where a friend and I went on a walk one day. So that was cool. But maybe the best thing about this movie was the soundtrack. One of the best I've ever heard. Not just that each piece was beautiful or interesting, but that it fit the scene so well. I had to go back to see which movie had the soundtrack I hated (Dunkirk). This score is the anti-Dunkirk. Everywhere the music of Dunkirk fails (Hans Zimmer is the culprit), War of the Planet of the Apes succeeds. Plus every time a new piece of music started playing, I started thinking of someone skating to it on the ice. So the music was enjoyable to listen to and also made me think of musicality and creativity through someone's movement. I'm going to have to search out the soundtrack. Oh, the composer is Michael Giacchino, who won an Oscar for his music to the animated film Up! He was also nominated for the music for Ratatouille. Hope he gets his third nomination for this one. Oh again...he was the composer for the TV show Lost, the music for which I also LOVED. A lot.

Wind River was equally great. Wonderful performances, great story and spot-on direction. At first I was thinking that the movie was kind of old-school with a really relaxed pace and then all of a sudden, the movie went from a fairly relaxed vibe into some really exciting moments, so it was like I got to see two different (and great) movies for the price of one. My hope for this movie is that we get to see Oscar nominations for:

best picture
best screenplay
best direction
best actor - Jeremy Renner
best actress - Elizabeth Olsen

There are three other performances that are worthy of recognition, but their screen time is too limited for acting nominations I think. But they certainly helped to elevate the quality of this movie. I guess I'd highlight Renner if I had to pick one performance to comment on. He has a number of scenes where we see him show a side of his character that other movies similar to this would not have thought to highlight. Plus he does it in a moving way, but subtley so instead of going for a flashy moment. Wonderful restraint on his part. Wind River was both written and directed by Taylor Sheridan, who wrote both Hell or High Water and Sicario, both being movies I would recommend. Found out he used to be mainly actor, most famously for Sons of Anarchy. Looks like he might be getting back into acting again, but is still writing, most notably for a follow-up to Sicario.