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

[VGThuy]

For the Crazy Rich Asians fans, I think you'll love this parody released today:

Crazy Cheap Asians

 

[vgerdes]

Henry Cavill is apparently out as Superman because WB is changing focus to a solo Supergirl movie.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/h...rman-warner-bros-dc-universe-shake-up-1142306

Well, that sucks. I liked him as Superman. It was Amy Adams as Lois Lane that didn't quite work for me. Normally I love her, I just thought she was miscast, and their chemistry was... nonexistent, IMO.

 

[Cachoo]

I watched Imelda Staunton, Celia Imrie and Timothy Spall in "Finding Your Feet" about realizing your dreams later in life and enjoyed the film a lot. I'm older now and find films like this or "It's Complicated" (for example) funny and touching.

Henry Golding mentioned that he and Emilia Clark are starring in "Last Christmas" with a screenplay written by Emma Thompson. I'm in.

 

[PeterG]

Trailers For Movies Released 2018-09-21st
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuI4-fSHhipTvnEVLNmwrcjfhlL6a-VnF

I'm curious as to what people think of the trailers for Assassination Nation and White Rabbit. Assassination Nation might be a sharp commentary on society or sensationalist blather. And White Rabbit looks quirky, but if it doesn't have more to it than just being quirky, then it's a miss for me. If anybody sees these movies, I definitely want to hear what you think about them.


September 21st - The House with a Clock in its Walls (Wide) – Family comedy with Cate Blanchett, Jack Black and Kyle MacLachlan

September 21st - Fahrenheit 11/9 (Wide) – Documentary. From imdb.com: “…a provocative and comedic look at the times in which we live. It will explore the two most important questions of the Trump Era: How the f**k did we get here, and how the f**k do we get out?”

September 21st - Life Itself (Wide - Amazon Studios) – Romance with Oscar Isaac, Olivia Wilde, Annette Bening, Antonio Banderas, Samuel L. Jackson, Jean Smart, Olivie Cooke and Mandy Patinkin

September 21st - The Sisters Brothers (Limited) – Adventure comedy with John C. Reilly, Joaquin Phoenix, Jake Gyllenhaal, Riz Ahmed, Carole Kane, Allison Tolman and Rutger Hauer

September 21st - Love, Gilda (Limited) – Documentary. From imdb.com: “Weaving together recently discovered audiotapes, interviews with her friends, rare home movies and diaries read by modern day comediennes (including Amy Poehler), LOVE Gilda offers a unique window into the honest and whimsical world of a beloved performer whose greatest role was sharing her story.”

September 21st - Colette (Limited) – Biographical historical drama with Keira Knightley, Dominic West and Fiona Shaw

September 21st - A Happening of Monumental Proportions (Limited) – Comedy with Jennifer Garner, John Cho, Allison Janney, Katie Holmes, Common, Rob Riggle, Kumail Nanjiani [The Big Sick], Al Madrigal and Bradley Whitford

September 21st - American Dresser (Limited) – Adventure drama with Gina Gershon, Penelope Ann Miller, Keith David, Tom Berenger and Bruce Dern

September 21st - Quincy (Limited - Netflix) – Documentary. From Netflix: “The life and career of legendary music producer Quincy Jones are traced in this biographical documentary directed by his daughter, Rashida Jones.”

September 21st - The Song of Sway Lake (Limited) – Musical romance with Rory Culkin, Isabelle McNally [Bates Motel], Elizabeth Pena and Brian Dennehy

September 21st - Assassination Nation (Limited) – Action comedy with Bella Thorne, Joel McHale, Bill Skarsgård and Anika Noni Rose

September 21st - Nappily Ever After (Limited - Netflix) – Romantic comedy drama with Ricky Whittle [The 100, American Gods], Sanaa Lathan [The Affair] and Ernie Hudson. From Netflix: “Violet has it all: the perfect job, the perfect relationship and the perfect hair. Until she doesn’t. What happens when being perfect isn’t enough?”

September 21st - Nothing Like a Dame (Limited) – Documentary. From imdb.com: “Dames Eileen Atkins, Judi Dench, Joan Plowright and Maggie Smith have let the cameras in on a friendship that goes back more than half a century. The four acting greats discuss their careers and reminisce about their humble beginnings in the theatre.”

September 21st - Beyond the Sky (Limited) – Mystery sci-fi thriller with a new cast. From imdb.com: “While shooting a documentary to expose the lies of alien abductees, a provocative filmmaker and his crew encounter a young woman with a dark secret who leads them to uncover a disturbing truth.”

September 21st - White Rabbit (Limited) – Comedy drama with a new cast. From imdb.com: “A dramatic comedy following a Korean-American performance artist who struggles to be authentically heard and seen through her multiple identities in modern Los Angeles.”

September 19th - Garry Winogrand: All Things Are Photographable (Limited) – Documentary. From imdb.com: “What is a photograph? Garry Winogrand asks in his iconic, gravelly Bronx accent. Decades before digital technology transformed how we make and see pictures,Winogrand made hundreds of thousands of them with his 35mm Leica, creating an encyclopedic portrait of America from the late 1950s to the early 1980s…”

September 20th – DIGIMON ADVENTURE tri. 6: Future (Limited) - Animated. From Digimon Adventure Wiki: “In this climatic finale, the DigiDestined have suffered; friends are lost, there is a new threat from a mysterious and newly formed Digimon...”

September 21st - My Son (Limited) – Drama from France with César Award winners Guillaume Canet and Mélanie Laurent. From imdb.com: “The disappearance of his child sends a man on a dark path to find the truth.

 

[Japanfan]

Trailers For Movies Released 2018-09-21st
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuI4-fSHhipTvnEVLNmwrcjfhlL6a-VnF

I'm curious as to what people think of the trailers for Assassination Nation and White Rabbit. Assassination Nation might be a sharp commentary on society or sensationalist blather. And White Rabbit looks quirky, but if it doesn't have more to it than just being quirky, then it's a miss for me. If anybody sees these movies, I definitely want to hear what you think about them.

Why those two films in particular? The trailers don't prompt my interest in either of them.

September 21st - Life Itself (Wide - Amazon Studios) – Romance with Oscar Isaac, Olivia Wilde, Annette Bening, Antonio Banderas, Samuel L. Jackson, Jean Smart, Olivie Cooke and Mandy Patinkin

This one I'll definitely see. One of my rules for choosing movies is that if Annette Bening is in it, I'll see it. She is an intelligent actress and usually choose good scripts (same for Joan Allen).

September 21st - Love, Gilda (Limited) – Documentary. From imdb.com: “Weaving together recently discovered audiotapes, interviews with her friends, rare home movies and diaries read by modern day comediennes (including Amy Poehler), LOVE Gilda offers a unique window into the honest and whimsical world of a beloved performer whose greatest role was sharing her story.”

This is a maybe.

September 21st - Nothing Like a Dame (Limited) – Documentary. From imdb.com: “Dames Eileen Atkins, Judi Dench, Joan Plowright and Maggie Smith have let the cameras in on a friendship that goes back more than half a century. The four acting greats discuss their careers and reminisce about their humble beginnings in the theatre.”

Don't think you can go wrong in seeing this one.

 

[PeterG]

Why those two films in particular? The trailers don't prompt my interest in either of them.

Both might potentially be good (or great) movies with...so-so trailers. Assassination Nation might be a deliciously satirical critique of both social media obsession and violence in America. White Rabbit is a rare movie with a person of Asian descent in the lead role, with a quirky friendship with an African-American female as the movie's second lead. When was the last time we saw this kind of friendship in a movie? Ever?? The main character is a performance artist and if google is right, is dealing with "many identities". I've almost convinced myself to add both movies to my list. But if people see these movies, your thumbs up (or down) would be most helpful.

 

[Japanfan]

Assassination Nation might be a deliciously satirical critique of both social media obsession and violence in America.

Well, I've given up on the series "Killing Eve", which is also a satire, and is about an assassin who develops a friendship with the woman who she has been tasked with finding and presumably bringing her to justice.

I just don't find that the show's attempt to be light-hearted about assassination works, and I don't find it funny.

White Rabbit is a rare movie with a person of Asian descent in the lead role, with a quirky friendship with an African-American female as the movie's second lead. When was the last time we saw this kind of friendship in a movie? Ever??

I don't recall ever seeing such a friendship in a film, but I don' really see a lot of films.

One friendship that does come to mind was in Frozen River - the friendship between a poor white woman who lives in the trailer park and an Indigneous woman who become unlikely business partners of a sort. That film is one of my all-time favorites.

 

[mjb52]

One friendship that does come to mind was in Frozen River - the friendship between a poor white woman who lives in the trailer park and an Indigneous woman who become unlikely business partners of a sort. That film is one of my all-time favorites.

This was such a good movie, I got so stressed while watching it (because it got very suspenseful and I was really worried about the characters) that I had to stop and finish up a few weeks later!

 

[millyskate]

I watched the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society last night. I had read the book awhile ago, but it certainly isn’t fresh in my mind which probably helped my enjoyment of the movie. I was skeptical of a movie version but it was handled with care. It was a really lovely movie and I thought it captured the gentle spirit of the book really well.

I saw this a few months ago in a provincial UK cinema and everyone stayed until the very last credit. It clearly hit a chord.
I thought it was really good.


I saw A Simple Favor tonight and it wasn't so good IMO. Gratuitously dark, I thought. And that youtube imitation looked too cheap to be true

 

[PeterG]

I have to share another bit from Illeana Douglas' book, about how she sets up a bit about responding to people who ask her about working with Robert DeNiro:

To give this some context, I'm going to go back to acting school - that first acting school I went to, where the headmistress thought I had no future. I heard that she was later run over by a bus. I had nothing to do with it, of course. But maybe just as she couldn't see my huge talent right in front of her, she couldn't see that enormous bus coming at her, either.

 

[pollyanna]

I watched the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society last night. I had read the book awhile ago, but it certainly isn’t fresh in my mind which probably helped my enjoyment of the movie. I was skeptical of a movie version but it was handled with care. It was a really lovely movie and I thought it captured the gentle spirit of the book really well.

I saw this on Netflix a couple of weeks ago. I liked it so much I went out and bought the book. Plus now I want to know more about the German occupation of Guernsey. Last but not least, I now have a character-crush on Dawsey Adams.

 

[watchthis!!]

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - I liked it. At first I was thinking, here's Frances McDormand doing her Frances McDormand thing (again). But there were moments that were unexpected that made those thoughts fade away. Especially the scene at the police station with Woody Harrelson where everything that is going on gets flipped on it's head. I'm glad Sam Rockwell won the Oscar as well, but I wish characters like his (and his mother) weren't written in such a stereotypical way. It's like they are presented as cartoons rather than real people. Overall though, I enjoyed the writing although the end seemed to not fit in with the rest of the script (which was so focussed). Perhaps that was what the writer/director wanted, after all this drama, the characters were started to re-think everything and now instead of everything being so exact, things were now up in the air.

 

[Vash01]

I am visiting my cousin in Chicago. He is a big movie fan, with a large collection of dvds. I am watching a movie almost every day Today I saw On Golden Pond, but didn't like it much, except for the beautiful cinematography, and the top notch acting. It was too slow for me. I know it is a highly acclaimed movie.

Yesterday I saw Fanny and liked it a lot. I had seen it before, but I had forgotten 80 percent of it.

 

[VGThuy]

I didn't like On Golden Pond either.

 

[Japanfan]

Saw Films Stars Don't Die in Liverpool on TV last night.

Annette Bening was wonderful as usual. The film itself was kind of depressing, and the interior colors were just awful, really hard on the eyes. I don't recall the colors being that ugly in other films from the 80s.

 

[Vash01]

Saw Films Stars Don't Die in Liverpool on TV last night.

Annette Bening was wonderful as usual. The film itself was kind of depressing, and the interior colors were just awful, really hard on the eyes. I don't recall the colors being that ugly in other films from the 80s.

Jamie Bell was also very good. I read the book by Peter Turner. The screenplay was good, but I agree with you about the colors. This movie is not from the 80s. It was made in 2017.

 

[Japanfan]

Jamie Bell was also very good. I read the book by Peter Turner. The screenplay was good, but I agree with you about the colors. This movie is not from the 80s. It was made in 2017.

What I meant is that they were trying to emulate interior colors from the 1980s. I don't recall other films depicting the period having similarly awful colors. And don't recall them from my own experience of having lived at that time.

 

[watchthis!!]

The Shape of Water. I quite liked it. I enjoyed seeing a "creature" movie where the creature isn't evil, rather the situation the creature ends up in is what's evil. The friendship between Sally Hawkins and Richard Jenkins was a real highlight as well. I would have been perfectly fine if Hawkins won best actress over Frances McDormand. Perhaps a tie would have been best. Can't remember who won best supporting actor. I hope Richard Jenkins wins an Oscar in his lifetime, he always gives great performances. Glad this movie won best picture. It gets extra points for it's originality.

 

[Aussie Willy]

Today I saw a new Australian movie called Ladies in Black. Not sure what kind of release it will be getting overseas but if you do get a chance see it. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Just one of those really nice feelgood movies that leaves you with positive vibes at the end. Has a few really nice laughs in it through the personalities and interactions of the characters.

Set in the 50s in Sydney in a department store and the period leading up to Christmas and after New Year. It is around the time of the arrival of new immigrants to Australia after the war and also about women starting to place more value on education than just being wives and mothers. The story centers around Lesley (Lisa) who is working at the store after finishing school for the year and then delves into the stories of other characters.

 

[annie720]

Saw Simple Favor tonight. I loved it everything about it! Hadn't read the book and knew very little about the movie advance. Enjoyed the performances by all the leads, especially Blake. Loved the costuming. It was great seeing Linda Cardellini again, and Henry Golding looked very fine!

 

[PeterG]

What I meant is that they were trying to emulate interior colors from the 1980s. I don't recall other films depicting the period having similarly awful colors. And don't recall them from my own experience of having lived at that time.

I didn't see the colors in the film having anything to do with colors from the 1980s. Nowadays, people making movies all talk about how the landscape...the colour schemes...the costumes - are all "their own character" within the movie. Which I find quite pretentious. So with Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool, I think they used colors to reflect the direness of the situations and storylines. To me, using colors in this way was not necessary because the film was so beautifully written acted and directed, they didn't need some cheap trick to convey the mood of the film.

 

[Japanfan]

I didn't see the colors in the film having anything to do with colors from the 1980s. Nowadays, people making movies all talk about how the landscape...the colour schemes...the costumes - are all "their own character" within the movie. Which I find quite pretentious. So with Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool, I think they used colors to reflect the direness of the situations and storylines. To me, using colors in this way was not necessary because the film was so beautifully written acted and directed, they didn't need some cheap trick to convey the mood of the film.

Having been a film studies major, I'm quite familiar with colors being used to create a mood, as opposed to depicting a certain time and/or place (red in Bergman's Cries and Whispers immediately comes to mind).

But in the case of this film, I felt there was an emphasis on realism in terms of the period, and thought the colors were part of that.

Do agree with you that it was a cheap trick. For me, it distracted from the power of the script and the performances.

 

[VGThuy]

You guys got me all curious so I ended up watching the trailer. Jamie Bell has certainly grown up. It doesn't help that the last thing I saw him in was Billy Elliot...18 years ago!

I remember reading a quote from him when he was in L.A. for the Oscars in 2000 and he said we (Americans) had weird MTV because they didn't play music videos. So true.

 

[Vash01]

Having been a film studies major, I'm quite familiar with colors being used to create a mood, as opposed to depicting a certain time and/or place (red in Bergman's Cries and Whispers immediately comes to mind).

But in the case of this film, I felt there was an emphasis on realism in terms of the period, and thought the colors were part of that.

Do agree with you that it was a cheap trick. For me, it distracted from the power of the script and the performances.

The colors did not bother me at all and I didn't see the trick you and PeterG are discussing, but what do I know? I am just a movie goer, not an expert. I thought it was a very good movie and I was disappointed that I didn't get to see it in a theatre.

 

[PeterG]

The colors did not bother me at all and I didn't see the trick you and PeterG are discussing, but what do I know? I am just a movie goer, not an expert. I thought it was a very good movie and I was disappointed that I didn't get to see it in a theatre.

It's not really a trick that only a keen eye can pick up on. It's like when you see a sci-fi or thriller movie and someone goes into a building or lab late at night. They turn on the light switch and one little bulb up in the far corner turns on. This darkness creates an intense or scary mood for the viewer. But nobody lights their homes or workplaces like that. It's a fake visual.

So basically, the same with Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool. We all agree nobody decorated their homes in the way seen in this movie. But the director felt he could get a reaction from the viewer by choosing for everything to look dark, drab and monochromatic.

 

[smurfy]

Saw Simple Favor tonight. I loved it everything about it! Hadn't read the book and knew very little about the movie advance. Enjoyed the performances by all the leads, especially Blake. Loved the costuming. It was great seeing Linda Cardellini again, and Henry Golding looked very fine!

I saw it too and could not have said it better. Cool movie, some good twists, nice eye candy, clothing was cool.
Rupert Friend! So unlike Peter Quinn -character he played on Homeland - which was not a Tom Ford wannabe!
Anna Kendrick is so cool and adorable - I think everyone would want her as a best friend.
A great escapist type movie.

 

[watchthis!!]

Y'all are so polite! After I posted about being glad that Sam Rockwell won best supporting actor, I wondered who won when Richard Jenkins could have had that award. Both were in the same category...for the same year. Gosh, is my short term memory going? For the same year, the movie Downsizing.

I was very pleasantly surprised by it! Very good story. Important subject matter presented in a way that one can still enjoy the wonder of the movie while having something to think about later on. Hong Chau was definitely robbed of a best supporting actress nomination. Why Octavia Spencer got a nomination for The Shape of Water is beyond me. Spencer is a fantastic actress, but hers was a thankless role that pretty much anyone could have done. I had go google Hong Chau interviews to see if this was really who she was as a person of if she was acting her behind off (it's the latter). If you're on the fence about Downsizing, I hope this pushes you to see it.

 

[VGThuy]

Y'all are so polite! After I posted about being glad that Sam Rockwell won best supporting actor, I wondered who won when Richard Jenkins could have had that award. Both were in the same category...for the same year. Gosh, is my short term memory going? For the same year, the movie Downsizing.

I was very pleasantly surprised by it! Very good story. Important subject matter presented in a way that one can still enjoy the wonder of the movie while having something to think about later on. Hong Chau was definitely robbed of a best supporting actress nomination. Why Octavia Spencer got a nomination for The Shape of Water is beyond me. Spencer is a fantastic actress, but hers was a thankless role that pretty much anyone could have done. I had go google Hong Chau interviews to see if this was really who she was as a person of if she was acting her behind off (it's the latter). If you're on the fence about Downsizing, I hope this pushes you to see it.

THANK YOU for the Downsizing love. I really do think it was the most misunderstood movie that came out last year.

 

[annie720]

I went to Art House Cinema Day yesterday and saw Thunder Road, a Jim Cummings film based on his award-winning short about a police officer's tearful and odd eulogy to his mom at her funeral, dancing to a Bruce Sprngsteen song. In the feature-length version, we see the officer struggles after the funeral as his life unravels. A bit amateurish, but great performances by Cummings and newcomer Nican Robinson who I adored, as well as Macon Blair as an elementary school teacher.

 

[made_in_canada]

I’m wasn’t a big fan of Downsizing but I agree with you about Hong Chau’s performance, @watchthis!!