Let's Talk Movies #35 – Sparrows and Panthers and Dinosaurs…Oh My!

[PeterG]

Here are trailers for the movies in the poll. Plus three extras that ended on the cutting room floor.


Feb. 16th - Black Panther – Action adventure with Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan and Lupita Nyong'o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjDjIWPwcPU

March 2nd - Red Sparrow – Mystery thriller with Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton and Mary-Louise Parker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3m155Oj-V0

March 9th - A Wrinkle In Time – Adventure fantasy with Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine and Oprah Winfrey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4U3TeY2wtM

March 16th - Tomb Raider – Action adventure with Alicia Vikander, Walton Goggins and Kristin Scott Thomas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOEHpkZCc1Y

March 30th – Ready Player One – Sci-fi adventure with Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke and Simon Pegg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiK2fhOY0nE

May 4th - Avengers: Infinity War – Adventure fantasy with nobody famous
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZfuNTqbHE8

May 18th - Deadpool 2 – Adventure comedy with Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin and T. J. Miller
No trailer yet

• No trailer yet

May 25th - Solo: A Star Wars Story – Adventure fantsy with Alden Ehrenreich, Donald Glover and Woody Harrelson

• No trailer yet

June 8th - Ocean's 8 – Action thriller with Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett and Anne Hathaway
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFWF9dU5Zc0

June 22nd - Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom – Action sci-fi with Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard and Jeff Goldblum
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vn9mMeWcgoM

And the three that were considered for the poll...but would not fit!


Feb. 2nd – Winchester – Biographical fantasy horror with Helen Mirren and Jason Clarke
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdgw3SlwQGw

Feb. 9th – Peter Rabbit – Adventure comedy with Daisy Ridley, Margot Robbie and Domhnall Gleeson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahW0AP1ecxY

June 29th - Sicario 2: Soldado – Action drama with Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin and Catherine Keener
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyBgZzQT-NA

 

[Buzz]

Thanks Peter! I already have my Black Panther tickets!

 

[Vash01]

I want to see Red Sparrow, A wrinkle in time, Tomb Raider, and Solo

 

[Jay42]

The only movie on that list I'm not going to see is Red Sparrow. I'm finding Jennifer Lawrence kind of annoying right now. I'm very excited for Black Panther, A Wrinkle in Time, Deadpool 2 and Ocean's 8.

 

[PeterG]

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.

And two of the big hits of the year are either totally or feature significantly a cast of African-Americans.

 

[watchthis!!]

I chose all ten.

 

[MacMadame]

Why are they remaking Tomb Raider?

I chose all ten.

I was surprised how many I wanted to see. I hardly ever go the movies anymore (mostly watch them via streaming) but I'm going to be there every week at this rate.

 

[PeterG]

OSCAR NOMINATIONS TOMORROW MORNING!!!

The only movie on that list I'm not going to see is Red Sparrow. I'm finding Jennifer Lawrence kind of annoying right now.

I feel a bit like that after having watched Passengers a little while ago. (And let's not even get started with Mother!) But the trailer for Red Sparrow looks good and Lawrence's performance to have some much needed subtlety to it.

I chose all ten.

Yes, what a great poll that has been made for us!

Why are they remaking Tomb Raider?

 

[Vash01]

I didn't see any of the Tomb raider movies but I am likely see this one because I wantto see how Alicia Vikander does in that role.

 

[Jay42]

Nick Frost is in Tomb Raider so I will definitely see it at some point but with so many other movies coming out around the same time it's not high on my list of priorities. I also still kind of wish Daisy Ridley had gotten cast instead of Alicia Vikander but c'est la vie.

 

[Vash01]

Nick Frost is in Tomb Raider so I will definitely see it at some point but with so many other movies coming out around the same time it's not high on my list of priorities. I also still kind of wish Daisy Ridley had gotten cast instead of Alicia Vikander but c'est la vie.

Did Ridley try for that role? Or is it just your fantasy/desire?

I love Vikander. I don't see these types of movies but I may see this. I will probably hate the movie.

I liked Ridley in episode 7. After seeing episode 8 I have cooled off everything Starwars. Definitely won't see episode 9. I would rather watch episodes 1-7 on DVD.

 

[Jay42]

Did Ridley try for that role? Or is it just your fantasy/desire?

I love Vikander. I don't see these types of movies but I may see this. I will probably hate the movie.

I liked Ridley in episode 7. After seeing episode 8 I have cooled off everything Starwars. Definitely won't see episode 9. I would rather watch episodes 1-7 on DVD.

There were a lot of rumours that she was a front runner for the role before Alicia Vikander was announced for the role. Although I did watch Vogue's 73 Questions with Daisy Ridley on YouTube and when she was asked what the craziest rumour she had heard about herself was she said it was that she was going to be in Tomb Raider. So it was clearly just rumours, but there were enough of them going around it seemed likely she was going to get it.

Or it's just like when they announce the new Doctor on Doctor Who and they have one person who becomes the red herring until they announce the actual person. IIRC Alicia Vikander started getting announced for the part very shortly before it was announced that she got it.

 

[MacMadame]

I predict they will be disappointed.

 

[Aussie Willy]

Ah new thread - thanks.

I think Alicia Vikander will be good in the role. One actress I really like.

The Black Panther trailer got me interested because Andy Serkis is playing a normal character, not a CGI.

 

[Vash01]

Am I the only one who had never heard of Black Panther before I saw it mentioned here?

 

[PeterG]

On my continuation of watching more Greta Garbo films, I've moved into some of her silent films. 1926's "Flesh and the Devil" was quite good, which is more of a significant recommendation than it sounds because I kind of reached my limit with silent films last year as I had maybe been watching too many in the year or two leading up to that point. Lots of things stand out about this movie. Superficial as I may sound, Garbo is GORGEOUS in this movie. It's easy to see why any man who comes around her falls in love with her. It's interesting to read the dialogue, yet clearly hear her glorious voice without hearing her at all. How wild that someone with such an incredible speaking voice could be successful in something where that wonderful characteristic isn't even a part of her work.

Apart from Garbo, the friendship between the two men in her life REALLY stands out in how gay it seems. I'm trying to recall how common the closeness between male friendship is shown as it is in this movie. What stands out most is that when the two men are together, they get REALLY close to each other. Their faces about four inches away from each other. And I guess they are separated and then meet up again, because there are a lot of embraces. Long glances into one another's eyes. If there's any chance of something more between the two, that never stands a chance with Garbo in the picture. She's just too irresistible. The story is pretty simple with one of the men falling in love with Garbo's married character and then being transferred far away for his military job. While gone, his friend also falls in love with Garbo and the two marry. When the first man returns, he can't handle this loss and Garbo's character, whose heart is too big for just one man (or just two men?) can't help but fall in love with whoever is in front of her at that moment. This of course is just wrong, so punishment must occur eventually.

I have two or three more of Garbo's silent films to watch. Just saw at imdb.com that she was nominated four times for a best actress Oscar, but never won. She did receive an honorary Oscar for her body of work fifteen years after her final best actress nomination.

Am I the only one who had never heard of Black Panther before I saw it mentioned here?

Yes. Black Panther had the cover of Entertainment Weekly way back in July and I've been seeing previews of it in many places. I told my friends that it looks so visually amazing that I will enjoy it regardless of whether the story is any good or not!

 

[watchthis!!]

I was so looking forward to Colossal. I love the idea of Anne Hathaway having a mirror self which only appears at a specific time each day in South Korea...as a Godzilla like monster! There's more to this premise, which is equally wild and fun. But an overall theme of the movie is a real let-down, which I'll talk about in spoilers in a bit. Jason Sudeikis is handsome and a welcome addition to any movie, but the writing fails him and his character. Tim Blake Nelson and Austin Stowell do well as the supporting cast...was shocked to find that Stowell is the same person who played Billie Jean King's husband in Battle of the Sexes. Never for a second during Colossal did I think, "hey, there's the guy from..." Will be interesting to see where Stowell's career goes. I see he has a role in 12 Strong, which is just in theatres now. And lastly, Dan Stevens plays Hathaway's boyfriend, but it's a thankless role. Not sure why he took it...the big, crazy parts of this movie never happen during any part of his storyline. And now I'll spoiler my complaint about this movie...

Spoiler

The first half of the movie, Sudeikis' character is a great guy. Then, with basically the flip of a switch, he becomes a mass murderer. So that just came out of nowhere. And the resolution of the movie has to do with this man who probably lived through childhood abuse or something else traumatic which made him do such horrific things in his adult life...can only be dealt with by murdering him in an extremely violent way. None of his friends reach out to him (or anyone else) to get/offer help. The message is basically, "out of nowhere, you're suddenly a bad guy...so you must die". Just lazy, very questionable writing on the part of the screenwriter. Laziness which ended up wrecking a creative and entertaining movie for me.

Trailer for Colossal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqcZtz8VXXE

 

[Japanfan]

Am I the only one who had never heard of Black Panther before I saw it mentioned here?

Yes. Black Panther had the cover of Entertainment Weekly way back in July and I've been seeing previews of it in many places. I told my friends that it looks so visually amazing that I will enjoy it regardless of whether the story is any good or not!

Vash01 and myself make two.

 

[Buzz]

Lupita Nyong'o on her role in Black Panther.
http://www.eonline.com/news/909045/...can-people-are-in-charge-of-their-own-destiny

 

[watchthis!!]

Top 2017 Movies at the Worldwide Box Office
https://www.the-numbers.com/box-office-records/worldwide/all-movies/cumulative/released-in-2017

I chose this list because I like seeing the total (worldwide) amount each movie made, rather than just what it made in North America. Plus with only a U.S. box office chart, how would we know that Wolf Warrior 2 was the seventh biggest movie of the year? This list actually has three pages, so 259 movies released in 2017 made more than the 10 million worldwide box office that was apparently the cut-off line for being on this list. Suburbicon came in at #254.

I'm kind of shocked that Star Wars: The Last Jedi was the #1 movie of the year considering it was only released two weeks before the end of the year. And that only one movie in the top 25 made more than 50% of it's box office revenue in North America alone: Wonder Woman at 50.50%. It appears North Americans are more ready to accept a female superhero than the rest of the world is.

 

[gkelly]

In reference to something mentioned in passing in the Hits and Flops article...

How can Disney make a live action remake of The Lion King? Are they going to cast real live lions?
...
OK, I see that it is actually going to be CGI animation. Which will look more like live action. But is in fact not.

 

[MacMadame]

In reference to something mentioned in passing in the Hits and Flops article...

How can Disney make a live action remake of The Lion King? Are they going to cast real live lions?
...
OK, I see that it is actually going to be CGI animation. Which will look more like live action. But is in fact not.

I am also confused. And I don't consider CGI to be "live action."

 

[PeterG]

Trailers For Movies Released 2018-01-26th
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuI4-fSHhipTNBx6wQ0IdT8WxPEflJPmg

Primal Rage looks like wondrously cheesy fun!


January 26th - Maze Runner: The Death Cure (Wide) – Action sci-fi with Dylan O’Brien, Patricia Clarkson, Giancarlo Esposito and Barry Pepper

January 26th - The Clapper (Limited) – Comedy with Amanda Seyfried, Ed Helms, Leah Remini, Alan Thicke, Adam Levine, Russell Peters, Brenda Vaccaro and Tracy Morgan

January 26th - Please Stand By (Limited) – Comedy drama with Dakota Fanning, Toni Collette and Marla Gibbs

January 26th - The Neighbor (Limited) – Thriller with William Fichter [Prison Break, Mom] and Michael Rosenbaum [Smallville]

January 26th - The Competition (Limited) – Romantic comedy with Thora Birch and Chris Klein

January 26th - Kickboxer: Retaliation (Limited) – Action drama with Christopher Lambert, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Mike Tyson

January 26th - In The Intense Now (Limited) – Documentary from Brazil. From imdb.com: “A personal essay which analyses and compares images of the political upheavals of the 1960s. From the military coup in Brazil to China's Cultural Revolution, from the student uprisings in Paris to the end of the Prague Spring.”

January 26th - American Folk (Limited) – Musical, new cast. From imdb.com: “Two strangers, both folk musicians stranded in California, take a road trip to New York in the days after 9/11. A story about the kindness of strangers and the power of music.”

January 26th - Desolation (Limited) – Thriller, new cast. From imdb.com: “After being whisked away to Los Angeles by a handsome Hollywood star, Katie is left alone in his apartment, where strange and scary things begin to happen.”

Jan. 26th NOT Nov. 10th - Primal Rage: The Legend of Oh-Mah (Limited) – Horror, new cast. From imdb.com: “A newly reunited young couple's drive turns into a nightmare as they are forced to face nature, unsavory locals, and a monstrous creature, known to the Native Americans as Oh-Mah.”

January 26th - West of the Jordan River (Limited) – Documentary. From imdb.com: “Amos Gitai returns to the West Bank to better understand the efforts of the citizens, both Israelis and Palestinians, to try to overcome the consequences of the 50-year occupation.”

January 26th - Like Me (Limited) – Crime drama, new cast. From imdb.com: “A young woman sets out on a crime spree that she broadcasts on social media.”

January 26th - A Ciambra (Limited) – Italian drama. From imdb.com: “Pio Amato is desperate to grow up fast…he follows his older brother Cosimo everywhere. When Cosimo disappears and things start to go wrong, Pio sets out to prove he's ready to step into his big brother's shoes…”

January 26th - The Insult (Limited) – Drama from Lebanon. From imdb.com: “In today's Beirut, an insult blown out of proportions finds Toni, a Lebanese Christian, and Yasser, a Palestinian refugee, in court. From secret wounds to traumatic revelations, the media circus surrounding the case puts Lebanon through a social explosion, forcing Toni and Yasser to reconsider their lives and prejudices.”

January 26th - Have a Nice Day (Limited) – Chinese animated comedy. From imdb.com: “A city in southern China and a bag containing a million yuan draws several people from diverse backgrounds with different personal motives into a bloody conflict.”

 

[cocotaffy]

Watched an intriguing norwegian movie the other day called Thelma . It's full of symbolisms which i don't always enjoy as I often feel stupid watching those but there was something fascinating and original in this young woman story. It talks sexuality, coming of age, parental conflict, inner struggle, being different and more dealt in a strikingly non traditional manner. It's one of those slow burner which stays with you for days thinking about it.

 

[watchthis!!]

Curve is an action thriller that seems to have gone straight to video (or straight to Netflix). Watched it with some friends who weren't impressed, but I thought it was fairly good cheesy fun. Hough plays a woman on a road trip when her vehicle breaks down. A handsome stranger (Teddy Sears from TV's The Flash) stops by and help. Hough's character thanks for the help and is on her way but against her better judgement drives back and offers him a ride. Girl, you should have listened to your feminine intuition! He ends up being a murderous psychopath...just her luck! After an accident, she gets trapped inside her vehicle. And when things couldn't get any worse, she hears on the radio about a storm approaching...which could lead to a flash flood...right where she is stranded. And all the while the handsome psychopath stops by here and there to torment her. Will she make it out of this alive? Or...WILL HE??? This one is a great movie to watch with friends who enjoy screaming at the characters on the screen as to what they should do. Audience interaction...who doesn't love that?

Trailer for Curve: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LTUsSLT62E

In reference to something mentioned in passing in the Hits and Flops article...

How can Disney make a live action remake of The Lion King? Are they going to cast real live lions?
...
OK, I see that it is actually going to be CGI animation. Which will look more like live action. But is in fact not.

Won't it be just like the live-action versions of Beauty and the Beast and The Jungle Book? I think when they say "live action" they mean the movie will feature human beings in various roles versus a strictly animated version. Doesn't pretty much every movie made now use CGI in some way, even if to correct problems in the (near) final version of the movie? I think the only exception would be filmed stage plays like Fences. But even with that, I'm sure they CGI-ed out anything modern that wouldn't have fit into the time period of the movie.

 

[gkelly]

Won't it be just like the live-action versions of Beauty and the Beast and The Jungle Book? I think when they say "live action" they mean the movie will feature human beings in various roles versus a strictly animated version.

As far as I can tell, as far as I remember, there are no human characters in the original Lion King.

From spending a few minutes searching for info about the remake, I find mentions of various actors being cast to voice various characters, not to appear on screen.

Some of the articles etc. I could find mention CGI, others just say live action.

I think that is misleading. This will be an animated film. However it will be all CGI animation rather than all drawings.

Or, I don't know. Will they film live landscapes, maybe with some live animals doing what they do naturally, and then CGI in the animal characters? Would that count as "live action"?

 

[watchthis!!]

These are pretty easy, but it's fun to do well on a quiz rather than ending up with four out of ten.

Quiz: Do you know the quotes from these Oscar-nominated films?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/film/100901027/quiz-the-oscars-do-you-know-the-quotes-from-these-oscarnominate-films

I got 9 out of 10 for this one. But I deserve a bonus point for figuring out for the that "Darkest Horse" is actually "Darkest Hour".


Quiz: How well do you know the 2018 Oscar nominations?
http://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/quiz-how-well-do-you-know-the-2018-oscar-nominations/article22521051.ece

Only got eight on this one. There's a couple of slightly trickier ones later in the quiz.

As far as I can tell, as far as I remember, there are no human characters in the original Lion King.

From spending a few minutes searching for info about the remake, I find mentions of various actors being cast to voice various characters, not to appear on screen.

Some of the articles etc. I could find mention CGI, others just say live action.

I think that is misleading. This will be an animated film. However it will be all CGI animation rather than all drawings.

Or, I don't know. Will they film live landscapes, maybe with some live animals doing what they do naturally, and then CGI in the animal characters? Would that count as "live action"?

I haven't seen Disney's live action remakes of their animated movies, but I found this information on the wikipedia page for last year's Beauty and the Beast:

Ewan McGregor plays a candelabra

Stanley Tucci plays a harpsichord

Ian McKellen plays a mantel clock

Emma Thompson plays a teapot

So however these actors played these inanimate objects, I'm guessing that's how James Earl Jones, Beyoncé and Seth Rogen will play animals.

 

[Vash01]

These are pretty easy, but it's fun to do well on a quiz rather than ending up with four out of ten.

Quiz: Do you know the quotes from these Oscar-nominated films?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/film/100901027/quiz-the-oscars-do-you-know-the-quotes-from-these-oscarnominate-films

I got 9 out of 10 for this one. But I deserve a bonus point for figuring out for the that "Darkest Horse" is actually "Darkest Hour".


Quiz: How well do you know the 2018 Oscar nominations?
http://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/quiz-how-well-do-you-know-the-2018-oscar-nominations/article22521051.ece

Only got eight on this one. There's a couple of slightly trickier ones later in the quiz.




I haven't seen Disney's live action remakes of their animated movies, but I found this information on the wikipedia page for last year's Beauty and the Beast:

Ewan McGregor plays a candelabra

Stanley Tucci plays a harpsichord

Ian McKellen plays a mantel clock

Emma Thompson plays a teapot

So however these actors played these inanimate objects, I'm guessing that's how James Earl Jones, Beyoncé and Seth Rogen will play animals.

I got only 6/10 in the Quotes quiz. Got 8/10 in the Oscars quiz.

 

[smurfy]

I saw Mudbound on Netflix. Great movie, moving story, a quiet story in some ways, that unfolds in a slow, but nice pace.
All the cast was good, ensemble, no one lead, but several key parts.
Story about 2 families farming in the south in the 1940s, one white and one black. Each family has a young man ( Garrett Hedlund and Jason Mitchell) that goes to fight in wwii, and then what happens when they come back and have issues. These 2 guys were excellent, as was Mary J Blige.

 

[mrr50]

Saw The Darkest Hour. Gary Oldman did a very good Churchill. The movie caught the feel of the era. Movies like this and Dunkirk are good at reminding us about WWII. I was in school in the late 60's and early 70's. The history classes I had skipped both WWII and Korea. In one grade the teacher said we would cover them in high school. In high school the teacher said since we had already covered both wars she wouldn't bother.