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

[VGThuy]

Blackkklansman is excellent and so many parallels between them and now. It’s probably the most relevant film with regard to American life right now. Not a very subtle movie and a lot of the lecturing was heavy-handed but it has to be that way otherwise people wouldn’t make the connection. It’s an important movie and the ending scenes showing Charlottesville is very effective and powerful.

 

[Vash01]

I saw the Oscar nominated Live action short films today in a theater. All were good. The Irish film (Detainment) felt a bit too long. It was based on a true story, and we learned of the verdict at the end, which was a good thing. Very sad. Actually all five films were sad and four of them involved children. One was Canadian (French) about an old lady (Marguerite) and her nurse. The other French Canadian film (Fauve) was very good and it had won an award at the Sundance film festival. The US film (Skin) was about racism and guns. As expected, it was horrifying. The film from Spain (Mother) was the first one shown. I would have liked to know how it ended but I think they wanted us to guess the ending, and it couldn’t have been good.

 

[cocotaffy]

It's done, I watched Roma. Contrary to what I read here, I preferred the first hour of the movie and then got bored till the last 20 minutes which caught my interest again. The main actress is very compelling in her portrayal. She has a quiet presence but a forceful one. The movie ran too long and I'm tired of all those over indulgent director who don't know how to edit. I remember before the 2000's most movies would run around the 1:30/1:45 hour mark. Now you're lucky to find anything below 2 hours. Less is more and especially this movie could have been even more impactful if it would have been more dense.
However, there is one of the best scene I have seen in a movie in a very long time. Actually, watching I felt something I had never felt before watching a movie. Just for that, Roma was worth it.

Spoiler

At the beginning of the movie, when we are first introduced to the father, without seeing his face and knowing much about him, as no one had really been talking about the guy up to that point, the whole car parking scene (with him smoking while listening to his music, that stupid car way too large for the garage, everyone waiting for him like the messiah and finally the dog poop) was enough to make me hate this character so viscerally, it took me aback. I just knew he was an a..hole/douchbag from that one scene without having any prior info. I didn't even know the movie was based on Cuaron's life, let alone his dad had left. Masterful scene.

I have watched many movies so experiencing a brand new feeling like this was quite the thrill.
I wouldn't call it masterful overall because there are issues and runs for too long but it is definitely worth a viewing. As for the Oscar, I don't follow anymore that much. Now next one on my list, Shoplifters. I have big hopes because I love Kore-eda.

 

[Vash01]

It's done, I watched Roma. Contrary to what I read here, I preferred the first hour of the movie and then got bored till the last 20 minutes which caught my interest again. The main actress is very compelling in her portrayal. She has a quiet presence but a forceful one. The movie ran too long and I'm tired of all those over indulgent director who don't know how to edit. I remember before the 2000's most movies would run around the 1:30/1:45 hour mark. Now you're lucky to find anything below 2 hours. Less is more and especially this movie could have been even more impactful if it would have been more dense.
However, there is one of the best scene I have seen in a movie in a very long time. Actually, watching I felt something I had never felt before watching a movie. Just for that, Roma was worth it.

(deleted spoiler)

I have watched many movies so experiencing a brand new feeling like this was quite the thrill.
I wouldn't call it masterful overall because there are issues and runs for too long but it is definitely worth a viewing. As for the Oscar, I don't follow anymore that much. Now next one on my list, Shoplifters. I have big hopes because I love Kore-eda.

ITA about the length of movies these days. I have complained about a lot of movies recently, like they could have easily shaved off 15-20 minutes. Even when I prepare to watch DVDs, I feel relieved when I see something like 1hr 45 min (or even less). Movies run too long these days. There are exceptions, of course. 'Reds' was more than 3 hours long but I enjoyed it. Same with GWTW.

Interesting that you caught so much from that scene. I had read about the movie so I knew about the characters and the story (first part only), so I didn't think much of it. The car kind of had a role in the movie. Someone told me recently that it is based on the director's life but I couldn't figure out how, since there was no major male part in it. Now it makes sense.

I liked Shoplifters. Very well acted and directed, and it didn't feel too long. I would have liked it if they had cut one scene (not describing it, to avoid spoiling). I felt it was unnecessary, but may be someone else will find meaning in it.

 

[Kasey]

@cocotaffy And see, the whole "different strokes, different folks" thing, I HATED that scene, because I felt the last little bit (el poopo) was so obvious and stupid. We all truly do get different feelings out of these films, and the director's choices, for sure!

I loved "The Favourite". My sister described it as "very British" and it was, in the best way, because I love British intelligence in film and humor. It slides into #3 in my top Oscar nominated films. Going to see "Star is Born" tonight with my mom and I will have seen all 8 of them...it seems like I enjoyed last year's movie marathon more, but looking at this years' films, the only one I didn't like was "Roma", and there were several I didn't like last year. I think last year, I liked "Get out" and "Call me by your name" enough that it made up for the lesser ones. This year, the only one I like to that degree is "Green Book", although most of the others are also enjoyable.

 

[cocotaffy]

@cocotaffy And see, the whole "different strokes, different folks" thing, I HATED that scene, because I felt the last little bit (el poopo) was so obvious and stupid. We all truly do get different feelings out of these films, and the director's choices, for sure!

I loved "The Favourite". My sister described it as "very British" and it was, in the best way, because I love British intelligence in film and humor. It slides into #3 in my top Oscar nominated films. Going to see "Star is Born" tonight with my mom and I will have seen all 8 of them...it seems like I enjoyed last year's movie marathon more, but looking at this years' films, the only one I didn't like was "Roma", and there were several I didn't like last year. I think last year, I liked "Get out" and "Call me by your name" enough that it made up for the lesser ones. This year, the only one I like to that degree is "Green Book", although most of the others are also enjoyable.

I do agree with the poop thing though, this was over the top, the scene would have still reached its purpose without it. The Favourite is on my list, I really enjoy Olivia Coleman's acting in general.

 

[Vash01]

I may be the only one that didn't care for The Favourite '. The acting was great by all, and the costumes and sets were excellent, but the movie didn't appeal to me. The story was too weird for my taste, and the strange ending just about killed it for me.

I have liked other Period movies in the past, but not this one.

 

[misskarne]

I've acquired the Blu Ray of Bohemian Rhapsody. I have to say, the (lack of) extras included are a little disappointing! There's just four: three featurettes (Rami Malek: Becoming Freddie, The Look and Sound of Queen, and Recreating Live Aid) plus the full Live Aid performance. While all of them are excellent - even if rather heavily Rami-centered - and contain fun behind-the-scenes stuff and some good interviews with Roger and Brian as well - it's a far cry from what a lot of Queen fans were hoping to see. And if you buy the DVD, you only get the Live Aid set.

The main thing is no deleted scenes. A lot of us were hanging out for these, for things we knew were filmed but didn't make the cut, like the scene where John Deacon joins the band (in the movie this is glossed over to the point where he literally just appears at their next gig with no explanation) or the scene where they perform '39 in Japan. It sort of seems like the special features were an afterthought for Fox and it's very disappointing. I can't understand it. I'd have thought they'd have every possible feature crammed in - the deleted scenes, maybe options to have Brian and Roger commentary on the film itself (that'd be a riot!), even songs that were recorded by the cast in concert scenes (Ben Hardy said he learned to play sixteen Queen songs for the movie and he definitely doesn't play sixteen in the actual movie so there must be some they "performed" that didn't go in).

One thing that I didn't know before watching the featurettes, that I think needs to be broadcast more widely, is that the production team actually had no intention of filming the full Live Aid set at all! They just wanted to do bits of a few songs to splice into the movie. It was the four actors who put their collective foot down and demanded that the full set be filmed! I'm glad they did. It's superb. Considering it was the first week of shooting, they did it very well.

 

[VGThuy]

Can You Ever Forgive Me? is an excellent film that really shows a certain type of lonely person living on the edge in New York at the time (even now) who can barely function in life who finds herself in an exhilarating criminal enterprise that she should NOT have done, but you understand why she did both for financial reasons and for giving her some sort of purpose and allowed her to use her talents as a writer. It made me want to learn more about Lee Israel and how she conducted her criminal actions. It also is a commentary on how stupid/fake the whole authenticating process is for memorabilia/mementos from famous people and how easily people get swindled by them. Apparently, two of her forged Noel Coward letters made it into a 2007 Noel Coward biography and the reprinting of those letters were gone by the second printing.

Both Melissa McCarthy and Richard E. Grant are award-worthy for this film.

 

[Vash01]

Can You Ever Forgive Me? is an excellent film that really shows a certain type of lonely person living on the edge in New York at the time (even now) who can barely function in life who finds herself in an exhilarating criminal enterprise that she should NOT have done, but you understand why she did both for financial reasons and for giving her some sort of purpose and allowed her to use her talents as a writer. It made me want to learn more about Lee Israel and how she conducted her criminal actions. It also is a commentary on how stupid/fake the whole authenticating process is for memorabilia/mementos from famous people and how easily people get swindled by them. Apparently, two of her forged Noel Coward letters made it into a 2007 Noel Coward biography and the reprinting of those letters were gone by the second printing.

Both Melissa McCarthy and Richard E. Grant are award-worthy for this film.

We agree on something, for a change.

 

[watchthis!!]

Blackface: Are you for it? Or against it?

What about...yellowface?? (Is that a thing?)

I just started watching a movie where a white actor has his face painted, his hair dyed black, and is wearing an enormously over-sized set of teeth, making him look like an Asian caricature that one might have seen in the newspapers around WWII.

Should I overlook this and keep watching the movie? Or dump it like a hot potato?

 

[VGThuy]

What movie is that? And yes, yellow face is/was a thing. A big thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zB0lrSebyng

 

[cocotaffy]

I remembered being utterly taken aback while watching Cloud Atlas. Here we were, in 2012, and there was poorly-done eye make-up to make white actors look Asian. Plus the usual BS explanation of "we need famous actors to attract the audience" didn't even hold because, not to be mean, but frankly who even knew Jim Sturgess !
Anyway, I'm curious to know which movie you're talking about.

Talking about Asian actors, I watched a cute Korean romcom On your wedding day which yet again does run for a bit too long repeating itself a bit but the first half, I laughed quite a bit at the goofiness of the lead actor and his buddies. It also is quite a more realistic take on good/bad timing in life as well as a nice depiction of life's tendency to throw you off track.

 

[skatemomaz]

What movie is that? And yes, yellow face is/was a thing. A big thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zB0lrSebyng

One I can think of, Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's

 

[Vash01]

I remembered being utterly taken aback while watching Cloud Atlas. Here we were, in 2012, and there was poorly-done eye make-up to make white actors look Asian. Plus the usual BS explanation of "we need famous actors to attract the audience" didn't even hold because, not to be mean, but frankly who even knew Jim Sturgess !
Anyway, I'm curious to know which movie you're talking about.

Talking about Asian actors, I watched a cute Korean romcom On your wedding day which yet again does run for a bit too long repeating itself a bit but the first half, I laughed quite a bit at the goofiness of the lead actor and his buddies. It also is quite a more realistic take on good/bad timing in life as well as a nice depiction of life's tendency to throw you off track.

I think Jim Sturgess was once nominated for Oscar in a supporting actor category (I am not sure 100 percent) but I get your point. They should use Asian actors to play Asian characters.

 

[VGThuy]

I think Jim Sturgess was once nominated for Oscar in a supporting actor category (I am not sure 100 percent) but I get your point. They should use Asian actors to play Asian characters.

He hasn’t been nominated for an Oscar, but I think at the time they were trying to make him a star. Jim Sturgess also played the lead role in the movie 21 where his character was rewritten to be white who was originally Asian. Most of the cast was white even though most of the characters in the book and real life event it was based on were Asian.

 

[watchthis!!]

One I can think of, Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's

Bingo. I'm halfway through watching it and none of the characters are likeable and every scene goes on far too long. Perhaps the second hour will make me feel like this hasn't been a complete waste of time?

 

[VGThuy]

Audrey Hepburn and that score are what makes that movie. I pretend Mickey Rooney is not in it.

 

[Jay42]

Audrey Hepburn and that score are what makes that movie. I pretend Mickey Rooney is not in it.

I love Breakfast at Tiffany's and also pretend Mickey Rooney isn't in it. Moon River is iconic and one of the best movie songs of all time in my opinion.

That said, Breakfast at Tiffany's is #1 on the list of movies I want to see remade. I want to see a book accurate version because the novella is so different and I would love to see it play out on screen.

 

[VGThuy]

I love Breakfast at Tiffany's and also pretend Mickey Rooney isn't in it. Moon River is iconic and one of the best movie songs of all time in my opinion.

That said, Breakfast at Tiffany's is #1 on the list of movies I want to see remade. I want to see a book accurate version because the novella is so different and I would love to see it play out on screen.

I remember reading a book about the making of it, and how the director Blake Edwards thought his friend Mickey Rooney was so hilarious in it and the people around him were like "Blake, can't you see he's ruining this movie?"

I heard the novella is totally different and Holly is much more like a Marilyn Monroe than an Audrey Hepburn. There was a musical adaptation with Mary Tyler Moore that was supposed to be closer to the book but it never opened on Broadway because after so many rewrites and preview performances, the producer, the famous David Merrick, said he didn't want to bore the audience any further. Truman Capote saw a preview performance and said "they should have just musicalized the movie version." I think it's one of those that works well as a novella/book and takes a skilled person to adapt it. I would be interested in seeing an updated version that's closer to the book, but it has to fight against people's memories of Hepburn and "Moon River".

 

[Jay42]

I remember reading a book about the making of it, and how the director Blake Edwards thought his friend Mickey Rooney was so hilarious in it and the people around him were like "Blake, can't you see he's ruining this movie?"

I heard the novella is totally different and Holly is much more like a Marilyn Monroe than an Audrey Hepburn. There was a musical adaptation with Mary Tyler Moore that was supposed to be closer to the book but it never opened on Broadway because after so many rewrites and preview performances, the producer, the famous David Merrick, said he didn't want to bore the audience any further. Truman Capote saw a preview performance and said "they should have just musicalized the movie version." I think it's one of those that works well as a novella/book and takes a skilled person to adapt it. I would be interested in seeing an updated version that's closer to the book, but it has to fight against people's memories of Hepburn and "Moon River".

Which is probably why it won't happen but I can dream. The movie was changed quite a bit because of the Hays Code too so that's another reason why I wouldn't mind seeing a remake.

 

[cocotaffy]

I am on a roll, it's been so long since I've watched so many movies. Shoplifters, another slow-paced movie if we compare with Roma but a very different style. Characters are the center of this tale and the cinematography is much less important than in Roma which looks like it's basking in it's own aesthetic sometimes.
The actors are wonderful, all of them but the father figure is particularly endearing and that little girl, just heartbreaking. The grandma wins it all though with such strength and wit. In short, the viewer really get attached to all of them for varied reason. Nothing is at it seems at the beginning but it is very smartly revealed at the most unexpected time with just little hints. The story is truly original and stays in the family theme Kore Eda is so interested in. What constitute a family ? This movie offers such a unique answer. It also talks about loneliness in the Japanese society with one particular touching scene

Spoiler

when the young woman working in a sex shop conforts a young solitary man

 

[watchthis!!]

That said, Breakfast at Tiffany's is #1 on the list of movies I want to see remade.

Audrey Hepburn and that score are what makes that movie. I pretend Mickey Rooney is not in it.

Since this is the movie thread, can we pretend for a minute? Breakfast at Tiffany's is about to be re-made. The stumbling block is that a casting director cannot be found. The job is yours. Who do you cast in the remake?

Shoplifters, another slow-paced movie if we compare with Roma but a very different style. Characters are the center of this tale and the ...

...actors are wonderful, all of them but the father figure is particularly endearing and that little girl, just heartbreaking. The grandma wins it all though with such strength and wit...

Our library just got this, but I passed it by even though I had heard of it. I will put it on hold now though, thanks to your review.

 

[Jay42]

Since this is the movie thread, can we pretend for a minute? Breakfast at Tiffany's is about to be re-made. The stumbling block is that a casting director cannot be found. The job is yours. Who do you cast in the remake?

I've literally been thinking about this for years and I still haven't come up with someone I think be right. It would probably have to be an unknown.

 

[VGThuy]

I’d probably find a more Marilyn Monroe type as Audrey Hepburn is so difficult to replicate AND I’d like to see Holly be portrayed differently from Hepburn’s version which is so distinctly her. I was thinking a young Amy Adams would work. It’s unusual for me because she’s usually not my choice for anything but I remember watching her is Mrs. Pettigrew Lives for a Day and seeing how beautiful she was in it and thinking her beauty is usually so underplayed. She also seemed sort of Holly in that one.

 

[Jay42]

I’d probably find a more Marilyn Monroe type as Audrey Hepburn is so difficult to replicate AND I’d like to see Holly be portrayed differently from Hepburn’s version which is so distinctly her. I was thinking a young Amy Adams would work. It’s unusual for me because she’s usually not my choice for anything but I remember watching her is Mrs. Pettigrew Lives for a Day and seeing how beautiful she was in it and thinking her beauty is usually so underplayed. She also seemed sort of Holly in that one.

I hadn't thought about Amy Adams before but she would have been so good and now I'm going to be sad that this never happened.

 

[Vash01]

I posted this in the awards thread, so I will be brief

Saw the German movie (Oscar nominee) ‘Never look away’. Very touching, horrifying (Hitler’s Germany), romantic- about the life of an artist and his self discovery. Very good but too long (3 hours). It keeps the story moving, which is good, but I would have liked to see it trimmed to 2.5 hours. Well acted. Powerful ending.

ETA-

Forgot to add - the editing is really good. It created some funny moments that drew laughter from the audience, in this very serious movie.

I think they could have cut down on the time spent on his ‘new’ education in Art. It dragged on too long, IMO. A few silly artworks would have driven the point home.

 

[Johnny_Fever]

I'm usually dissatisfied with covers of '70s songs, but I like the way these have been produced. I'm looking forward to perusing the full soundtrack after someone puts it all out on YouTube.

Rocketman (2019)

 

[emason]

I don’t care if they remake Breakfast at Tiffany’s and I don’t care who might star in it. My only request is that they jettison Moon River. I hate that song with the fire of a thousand Hells; it ruins the movie for me way more than Mickey Rooney does. So there!

 

[Japanfan]

Vash, I tend to be a bit of a tight-ass movie reviewer Last year's winner only got a 5/10 from me (mostly because I thought it was wildly stupid)

I didn't care for it much either - found it preposterous.