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

[Vash01]

You have to watch Unberakable and Split to understand Glass. I would also say that you have to quite enjoy Unbreakable to really appreciate Glass.

I am in trouble now. I have not seen either one. Unbreakable has a very long wait on Netflix. Will look for Split.

 

[Buzz]

Comedian Bill Maher took another shot Friday at fans of comic books and comic book movies. Saying among other things “ I’m not glad Stan Lee is dead, I’m sad you’re alive”.
https://www.nme.com/news/film/bill-maher-adult-comic-fans-im-not-glad-stan-lee-dead-im-sad-youre-alive-2439408

 

[mpal2]

I am in trouble now. I have not seen either one. Unbreakable has a very long wait on Netflix. Will look for Split.

The best part about Split is James McAvoy's performance as many people. IMO that alone makes it worth watching even if you don't like anything else about the movie.

 

[Kasey]

Agreed. I liked "Split" even without ever seeing "Unbreakable", simply because I really like MacAvoy.

 

[Buzz]

Early screenings of Captain Marvel says her cat Goose steals the show!
https://screenrant.com/captain-marvel-goose-reactions-screenings/

 

[Vash01]

Just got back from seeing the movie ‘Gandhi murder’. It appeared in the theater as ‘Solar eclipse- total darkness’. I looked up the title because I thought it was a documentary about Solar eclipse. Turned out to be a movie about the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi (this would have been a more appropriate title).

I was the only one in the theater. Ten minutes after the movie started, two more people showed up.

The movie is a conspiracy theory about Gandhi’s murder by a Hindu extremist who (along with many at that time) were very unhappy about some of Gandhi’s decisions when India was partitioned into Islamic Pakistan and Secular India. There is graphic violence in the movie and it is not misplaced.

Some of the actors chosen to play certain roles were miscast, IMO. The main thread was the parallel between the Lincoln assassination and the Gandhi assassination, which was a stretch, IMO. They should have avoided bringing in women and romance. The movie would have been more interesting without that distraction.

Yesterday it had 8/10 on imdb. Today it had 7.5. I could not decide if it was a 6 or 7 out of 10, but I will be lenient and give it 7/10 despite its flaws.

They did well to give a historical background at the start, to help the audience understand the movie that followed. They stated at the end that the movie is based on “verified facts”, but that the western involvement is a gray area. They gave many references at the end.

ETA- The movie is in English. The only subtitles translate two songs. The first song has really good lyrics.

 

[Vash01]

Did anyone watch the CNN documentary ‘Three identical strangers’ tonight’s? It was fascinating as well as shocking. In the 1950s and 1960s someone or a group was researching genes vs social impact on peopkes’ lives. They separated twins as babies to do their research. I found it outrageous. Separating siblings for scientific research is cruel. They robbed these three boys of the experience of growing up together. They met at age 19.

I am wondering if I should start a new thread to discuss this? There is a lot to discuss and it could get lost in the multitude of discussions in this thread. What do you all think?

 

[Japanfan]

In the 1950s and 1960s someone or a group was researching genes vs social impact on peopkes’ lives. They separated twins as babies to do their research. I found it outrageous. Separating siblings for scientific research is cruel. They robbed these three boys of the experience of growing up together.

Unfortunately, I don't think it's that uncommon for twins to be separated. There have been a lot of twin studies, and some of those inform the nature vs nurture debate.

I am wondering if I should start a new thread to discuss this? There is a lot to discuss and it could get lost in the multitude of discussions in this thread. What do you all think?

I agree that there is a lot to discuss. You could give it a try in OTBT and see how it goes.

 

[Kasey]

So I went and saw "Vice" before the (pathetic) SuperBowl today. It had a strange vibe, like it wasn't quite sure what kind of movie it was trying to be (NO, it's not a comedy). Bale was amazing, of course, and disappeared into the role, as did both Rockwell (who actually was a sympathetic character as Dubya) and Carrell as Rumsfeld. It was interesting, unveiling some more of the duties that Cheney took on, and how. Not sure I would have had it as an Oscar nominated film, but, whatevah. I'd put it 3rd out of the 4 Oscar noms I've seen so far, ahead of Roma but behind Bohemian Rhapsody. Green Book is still my personal fave. Four more to see for me.

 

[MacMadame]

We watched Bohemian Rhapsody last night since its now streaming. I really liked it. I'm not sure it deserves to be nominated for Best Picture as I don't think it transcends the genre but, for a bio-pic, it was top-rate.

I particularly liked how they wove the music of Queen into the movie both as part of the plot (working on a particular song) and as background music. I also enjoyed watching the band work together. A lot of writing a song isn't necessarily visual or even interesting to an observer so they did a good job of making that compelling.

 

[Buzz]

New Captain Marvel clip

New Avengers Endgame clip

 

[cocotaffy]

Haven't been watching many movies recently but I did watch Perfect Strangers, an Italian movie with an interesting set up. 7 very close friends have dinner and while conversing decide to play a game. They lay all their phones on the table and everyone will hear or read whatever texts, phone calls received during the evening. The acting is really good and you get caught in the atmosphere of this group of friends. Things are of course not what they seem and this movie has different layers to it.

 

[watchthis!!]

Did anyone watch the CNN documentary ‘Three identical strangers’ tonight’s? It was fascinating as well as shocking. In the 1950s and 1960s someone or a group was researching genes vs social impact on peopkes’ lives. They separated twins as babies to do their research. I found it outrageous. Separating siblings for scientific research is cruel. They robbed these three boys of the experience of growing up together. They met at age 19.

I could be wrong, but I thought I read that the agency doing the research split up the three boys, using different adoption agencies for each to be adopted from. It wasn't that the mother who gave up her children agreed to this. I believe she assumed the three boys would be adopted by one family. Perhaps she assumed this would happen and did not state 100% that her children must NOT be separated. But the agency studying these separated children looked definitely shady.

Haven't been watching many movies recently but I did watch Perfect Strangers, an Italian movie with an interesting set up. 7 very close friends have dinner and while conversing decide to play a game. They lay all their phones on the table and everyone will hear or read whatever texts, phone calls received during the evening. The acting is really good and you get caught in the atmosphere of this group of friends. Things are of course not what they seem and this movie has different layers to it.

I heard about this movie, but it slipped out of my mind. Thanks for posting about it, I'm going to watch the trailer to see if it's something that I would like.

 

[Vash01]

Haven't been watching many movies recently but I did watch Perfect Strangers, an Italian movie with an interesting set up. 7 very close friends have dinner and while conversing decide to play a game. They lay all their phones on the table and everyone will hear or read whatever texts, phone calls received during the evening. The acting is really good and you get caught in the atmosphere of this group of friends. Things are of course not what they seem and this movie has different layers to it.

I was planning to see it last weekend but got distracted. If it is still running, I will definitely see it.

 

[Kasey]

Just watched Blackkklansman. Holy sh*t. Coming from a racially mixed family, I have to process this one. Top of Oscar noms so far for me with 3 more to go.

 

[annie720]

Just watched Blackkklansman. Holy sh*t. Coming from a racially mixed family, I have to process this one. Top of Oscar noms so far for me with 3 more to go.

I still have to watch this one, as well as Roma. What did you think?

Meanwhile, we just bought tickets to see Bohemian Rhapsody for the third time tomorrow! The theater is almost sold out already.

 

[Vash01]

I still have to watch this one, as well as Roma. What did you think?

Meanwhile, we just bought tickets to see Bohemian Rhapsody for the third time tomorrow! The theater is almost sold out already.

Blackkklansman is a really good movie. Roma doesn't even come close.

I am planning to see BR for the third time.

I saw Black Panther today (for FREE!) , so now I have seen all the BP nominated movies. It has a lot of good things but like CGI focused movies the story gets buried in the scenes and fights. JMO.

 

[Kasey]

I still have to watch this one, as well as Roma. What did you think?

I thought that Roma made me want to go for dental work rather than to continue to watch it. But I gutted it out through the whole thing.

Blackkklansman, wow. Definitely not some raucous comedy like I had presumed from previews (although being Spike Lee, I knew there would be an undercurrent to it). The fact that it was based on a true story hit me. There was one scene that I had a rather visceral reaction and was yelling at the screen "that's right, you muthaf**ers" Spike would have been proud! (I watched it at home, and thus wasn't arrested or something). The end made me cry. Because it is real, and it is where our country is right now, and THAT is painful. 9/10 from me.

My picks so far would be Blackkklansman, Green Book, Bohemian Rhapsody just barely over Vice, then Roma. Still need to see The Favorite, Star is Born, and Black Panther.

 

[Vash01]

I thought that Roma made me want to go for dental work rather than to continue to watch it. But I gutted it out through the whole thing.

Blackkklansman, wow. Definitely not some raucous comedy like I had presumed from previews (although being Spike Lee, I knew there would be an undercurrent to it). The fact that it was based on a true story hit me. There was one scene that I had a rather visceral reaction and was yelling at the screen "that's right, you muthaf**ers" Spike would have been proud! (I watched it at home, and thus wasn't arrested or something). The end made me cry. Because it is real, and it is where our country is right now, and THAT is painful. 9/10 from me.

My picks so far would be Blackkklansman, Green Book, Bohemian Rhapsody just barely over Vice, then Roma. Still need to see The Favorite, Star is Born, and Black Panther.

Glad to see one more person who did not enjoy Roma. I don't know why so many people are impressed by it. Is it because of the B&W cinematography, or the name Alphonso Curon? I did like the relationships between the people- the maids as part of the family, and how the wife handles the problems in the end. Still, it was not enough for me. If I had to rank the BP nominees,

1.Green book
2.Bohemian Rhapsody (close second)
2.Blackkklansman (another close second)
4.A star is born
5.Vice
5.Roma (but it is already nominated in the Best foreign films)

In the best foreign films,

1.Shoplifters
1.Capernaum
3.Cold war
4.Roma

I have not yet seen 'Never look back'. It may even be better than Roma.

 

[VGThuy]

I think Roma is overrated in some respects but it has a lot to it to make it understandable why so many ranked it so high given these nominees. There was a lot to it and Cuaron masterfully said a lot without having to hit you over the head with it. I applaud Cuaron for giving art in a field of basic premises. There was a movie that seems to be well liked on this forum and even before the controversy I didn't think was really worthy of awards attention. It was Bohemian Rhapsody and I think a lot of people project their love of Queen's music onto that film which I thought was badly written and badly directed.

 

[Japanfan]

Glad to see one more person who did not enjoy Roma. I don't know why so many people are impressed by it. Is it because of the B&W cinematography, or the name Alphonso Curon? I did like the relationships between the people- the maids as part of the family, and how the wife handles the problems in the end. Still, it was not enough for me.

It was sold out the day I went to see it, and that day was the last that it was playing in my city.

Now I don't feel so bad about not seeing it.

All I know is that several friends who saw it said it was 'wonderful'.

From the trailers, it looks like a film with a rich story-line that builds to a climax. However, trailers can be misleading.

Some on the board (was it you Vash 01?) described it as rather boring.

 

[Vash01]

It was sold out the day I went to see it, and that day was the last that it was playing in my city.

Now I don't feel so bad about not seeing it.

All I know is that several friends who saw it said it was 'wonderful'.

From the trailers, it looks like a film with a rich story-line that builds to a climax. However, trailers can be misleading.

Some of the board (was it you Vash 01?) described it as rather boring.

I am not the only one that found it boring. The storyline is not rich, at least in my eyes. It does build up and reaches a climax at the end, but you have to wait for one hour before the story takes off. There are ridiculous scenes and camera shots that are static for long periods. It is like you start reading a story and the introduction is longer than 50% of the actual story. As someone told me at one time- you need to put the hook in the story much earlier (I was rehearsing for a story telling competition or just a story telling session- I don't remember which).

It irritates me to see it winning all the awards when there are better films around, in both English and foreign language categories. For example, Shoplifters deals with human relationships much more effectively without making it move slower than snails. It has a more complex plot than Roma. Coldwar uses B&W cinematography (I am not fond of this) but it does not keep the camera on one object forever, and the story actually moves from beginning to end (first few minutes are very slow though, where I kept wondering if they are just going to show many singers but no dialogue). Capernaum has a story that develops from beginning to end, and keeps our attention on the characters and their story. I think Roma's awards are mainly because the director is famous. It is a classic case of judges giving high marks to a famous skater while he/she plods along the ice, and award a gold medal, over better performances by others.

 

[Vash01]

I think Roma is overrated in some respects but it has a lot to it to make it understandable why so many ranked it so high given these nominees. There was a lot to it and Cuaron masterfully said a lot without having to hit you over the head with it. I applaud Cuaron for giving art in a field of basic premises. There was a movie that seems to be well liked on this forum and even before the controversy I didn't think was really worthy of awards attention. It was Bohemian Rhapsody and I think a lot of people project their love of Queen's music onto that film which I thought was badly written and badly directed.

I was not familiar with Queen though I knew their music from sporting events. So I was not projecting any love for the group and not hating anything since I had no idea about their real lives.

I thought it was well written compared to (ahem) Roma, Beale street, First man, among Oscar nominated movies. Curon is way overrated as Director. BR direction was average, not bad. Until the controversial material came out, nobody was complaining about the direction in BR. Not a masterpiece of screenplay but good enough to hold the audiences attention. BR had so many good things, acting being one of them. Roma had just one thing. The cinematography, but in its static form it was like museum pieces rather than something for a movie. Roma had one of the worst screenplays I have ever seen. First man and Beale street had the same problem. Poorly written screenplays.

I am kind of resigned to seeing Roma claiming all the awards except for male actors and costumes. It wont stop me from criticizing that movie though.

 

[Japanfan]

Roma had just one thing. The cinematography, but in its static form it was like museum pieces rather than something for a movie.

So there was no -or little - camera motion in the film?

If not, I again don't think I'm going to like the film much. There is reason for the term motion pictures.

 

[VGThuy]

There’s a lot of camera movement. It’s not an Ozu film.

 

[Vash01]

So there was no -or little - camera motion in the film?

If not, I again don't think I'm going to like the film much. There is reason for the term motion pictures.

Of course there is camera motion in the movie.

I was referring to specific scenes where the camera just stays on one spot to show, e.g. a Bird in a cage, an egg being broken, a wall, etc. things that can be shown for a second instead of 10-15 seconds. There is plenty of movement in latter parts of the movie, particularly the ocean scene.

The static pictures are beautiful as pieces in a museum, but IMO they are static for too long in a movie. It has been a while since I saw Roma so it is hard for me to give specific details but I do remember the egg breaking scene. Is it artistic just because they showed it forever? Also some things are very unrealistic, like the maid entering the stormy sea and she doesn’t know how to swim but she somehow survives (but it is a movie so it can be unrealistic).

Now that I have created a negative bias, you may find the movie as a pleasant surprise. So go see it. I am curious to see what you think. I do know that as far as audiences go, their opinions are split. The critics are raving over it.

 

[Japanfan]

Of course there is camera motion in the movie.

I saw a movie some years back that was nothing but still shots. It was obviously for effect, but I didn't like it much.

Now that I have created a negative bias, you may find the movie as a pleasant surprise. So go see it. I am curious to see what you think. I do know that as far as audiences go, their opinions are split. The critics are raving over it.

No chance to see it in a theater as it's gone here. I may never have a chance at all, as it might not be available on TV, given that it was on Netflix and I don't have Netflix.

 

[Vash01]

I saw a movie some years back that was nothing but still shots. It was obviously for effect, but I didn't like it much.



No chance to see it in a theater as it's gone here. I may never have a chance at all, as it might not be available on TV, given that it was on Netflix and I don't have Netflix.

It is still running at a theater here, but I guess that is too far for you. LOL.

A still camera is boring in a movie.

 

[VGThuy]

A still camera is boring in a movie.

Watch Tokyo Story and tell me if you still feel the same.

 

[Japanfan]

It is still running at a theater here, but I guess that is too far for you. LOL.

Yes, it's a bit of a drive - but a beautiful one.