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

[Japanfan]

Interestingly, the movie weaves in a Buddhist tale about two monks crossing a river. I will avoid spoilers.

Was it this one?

Spoiler

A boatman is rowing a Buddhist monk across the river, and the monk comments on how he spends his life in the pursuit of knowledge, whereas the boatman does nothing but row a boat. And the boatman replies: "But then all your knowledge is wasted, because the boat is sinking" [/QUOTE]

 

[Buzz]

Sony’s CEO says the “Door is closed” on Spider-Man returning to the MCU. Sony plans on making a bunch of live action Spider-Man themed tv shows and movies to build up their own universe.

Sony Pictures Chief on Spider-Man Split: ‘For the Moment the Door is Closed’

Sony Pictures chairman and CEO Tony Vinciquerra said that "for the moment the door is closed" on Spider-Man's potential return to the MCU.

variety.com

 

[watchthis!!]

Very Good Girls stars Elizabeth Olsen and Dakota Fanning as two lifelong friends in the summer after high school before each goes off to a different college. They meet a handsome artist who both are attracted to. The movie focusses on how they deal with one another (or don't deal with one another) when both are interested in the same man. The movie is both written and directed by Naomi Foner, who was nominated for a screenplay Oscar back in '93 for Running On Empty (starring River Phoenix, Christine Lahti and Judd Hirsch). I found Very Good Girls to be a more quiet kind of movie, but still involving. I liked seeing a realistic and warm relationship between two young women play out on film (not that there isn't some rocky times for them here). Also starring in this movie is Demi Moore, Richard Dreyfuss, Ellen Barkin, Peter Sarsgaard and Boyd Holbrook.

Trailer for Very Good Girls: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ve4llQ3XAc

 

[Vash01]

I saw Hello Dolly (Streisand) on dvd and found it disappointing. The likely reason may be that recently I saw a live theatre at Boston Opera House. I loved it.

May be the movie was better on the big screen than on my tv, but there is nothing like seeing it in the live theatre. The humor, sets, performances were so great! A movie allows bigger sets, but it didn’t do the trick for me. Barbra’s singing was great but she seemed too young for that role. In the play Dolly is a middle aged widow, trying to snare a middle aged rich man. It was hilarious.

 

[Jay42]

I love Hello, Dolly but I've always thought Walter Matthau was miscast. Everyone else makes up for that for me though.

 

[watchthis!!]

I saw Hello, Dolly! so long ago! But I was listening to my random play mp3 player and this one came on:

Hello, Dolly ! (Soundtrack) - Put On Your Sunday Clothes

Hello, Dolly ! (Soundtrack) - Put On Your Sunday Clothes

Hello, Dolly ! (Soundtrack) - Put On Your Sunday ClothesCOMPOSED BY :Walter Matthau, Michael Crawford and Louis Armstrong(1969)

www.youtube.com

I love this song! And regardless of casting, I can't imaging anyone more enjoyable to listen to singing it than Streisand.

 

[VGThuy]

I saw Hello Dolly (Streisand) on dvd and found it disappointing. The likely reason may be that recently I saw a live theatre at Boston Opera House. I loved it.

May be the movie was better on the big screen than on my tv, but there is nothing like seeing it in the live theatre. The humor, sets, performances were so great! A movie allows bigger sets, but it didn’t do the trick for me. Barbra’s singing was great but she seemed too young for that role. In the play Dolly is a middle aged widow, trying to snare a middle aged rich man. It was hilarious.

I have a soft spot for the film version, but seeing the Broadway revival with Donna Murphy and David Hyde Pierce (I chose to see Murphy over Bette Midler because I wanted to see a seasoned Broadway star sing and act the role as opposed to seeing an event where Bette Midler played Dolly as Bette Midler) was a much better experience than watching the movie. It was one of the best productions I've seen. The actress who stole the show was Beanie Feldstein as Minnie Fay.

The movie was way too bloated, the pacing is a lot slower thus losing a lot of the dynamic energy you got on stage, and Barbra Streisand was miscast as was Walter Matthau. Even though Streisand was miscast, I did like a lot of her comedic "book" scenes and her singing the score is great if still not quite in-character. It's marvelous singing nonetheless. Regarding Streisand being too young to play Dolly, when I first saw the movie, I did not have a concept of how old Streisand was nor did I know when the movie was made and she sort of looked the same as she always did so I assumed she was a middle aged woman in the movie even though she was in her late 20s. It's not that I thought Streisand looked old, it was just that I was used to her looking that way even back in the 1990s-2000s so it just didn't register to me she was like twenty years too young for the role.

 

[MacMadame]

I saw Hello, Dolly first in the film. I did not really like it. I think in general I don't like films of musicals. The breaking into song in the middle of dialog just seems very awkward and inorganic on film. Plus, the whole movie was pretty sexist.

A few months ago, I saw it in the theater with Betty Buckley. If Barbra Streisand was too young then she's too old for this part, but I think she did a reasonable job. (They staged it very small which I think was done so she didn't have to dance too strenuously given that she's in her 70s.) But seeing it the theatre made the sexism even more obvious.

It's musicals like this that caused me to think I didn't like musicals.

Give me Avenue Q or Book of Mormon any day over things like My Fair Lady or Hello, Dolly.

 

[VGThuy]

I think we’ll just have to agree to disagree with the sexism. I love Avenue Q but when I saw it a few years ago for a second time Off-Broadway, it seemed lifeless and a bit outdated. When it closed recently it seemed a long time coming. I also think the song “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist” did not age well at all. When I first saw it in New Orleans the line about how the Mexican Busboy needed to speak “Goddamn English” got way too many cheers for my comfort and made my Nicaraguan friend feel a little unsafe. I always wanted to tweet the composers about that experience and see what they thought about stories like that. When it comes to writing and music composition, I think shows like Hello, Dolly! And My Fair Lady have it over Avenue Q and Book of Mormon which have it over most new musicals these days. I thought the most recent revival of My Fair Lady dealt with the more problematic aspects of the show very well and is my ideal production. The whole tone they went with changed how I view the Audrey Hepburn film.

 

[watchthis!!]

Beyond The reach is an above average 2015 thriller which stars Michael Douglas as a corporate shark who hires a local guide in a small New Mexico town to help him hunt down one of the few animal "trophies" he has not yet successfully hunted. The movie has a different (and better) storyline than what the trailer presented, at least how I remember the movie presented in the original trailer. So I found myself enjoying the movie more than I expected because the plot and script were more detailed than I expected. Douglas is great, as is Jeremy Irvine as the local guide. This is a good movie to watch when you want some escape from serious dramas and documentaries.

Trailer for Beyond The Reach: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qlFGI5n_C8

 

[skatingguy]

The last of the Marvel series movies summarized by a high school dance troupe.

 

[made_in_canada]

We finally got around to watching Mary Poppins Returns. I had low expectations because it seemed like reviews weren’t great but it was exactly as I expected a Mary Poppins sequel to be. I mean it was totally predictable and Emily Blunt is no Julie Andrews but it was whimsical and fun, and not a bad way to spend a couple of hours. It was also the first movie my two year old has sat through the whole way through.

 

[Jay42]

We finally got around to watching Mary Poppins Returns. I had low expectations because it seemed like reviews weren’t great but it was exactly as I expected a Mary Poppins sequel to be. I mean it was totally predictable and Emily Blunt is no Julie Andrews but it was whimsical and fun, and not a bad way to spend a couple of hours. It was also the first movie my two year old has sat through the whole way through.

I loved it, personally. Like you said, it was exactly what I expected a Mary Poppins sequel to be. I’m very glad Emily Blunt played Mary so differently from how Julie Andrews played her because I think if she had tried to play Mary the same way it would have made the differences between the 2 actresses stand out even more.

I don’t think reviews for it were ever going to be overwhelmingly positive because of how iconic the original is. At that point I basically say it’s up to the people watching to decide how they feel about it. Literally everyone I know with kids has said their kids loved it.

 

[canbelto]

Anyone seen Hustlers? It's gotten a lot of buzz ...

 

[Vash01]

Anyone seen Hustlers? It's gotten a lot of buzz ...

I hated the trailer. So I am not likely to see it. Not my kind of movie.

 

[watchthis!!]

Have you been DYING to see three new Terrence Malick movies? You know where there's tons of voice-overs done in poetic verse as people ramble through grassy fields as their fingers run over the tops of the flowers? Where nothing really happens, but you do get lots of close-ups of the sides of people's heads as we get to see them watch sunsets for five minutes? Well, I've got three movies just for you!

The Better Angels, trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IS-5G5X9BFE

This one stars Jason Clarke, Diane Kruger, Brit Marling and Wes Bentley in an imagined story of a year or so in the life of ten year old Abraham Lincoln. Meandering, droopy and yawn-inducing. Will help with your case of insomnia. But in case that doesn't work, make sure you have no weapons handy as this one might make you want to kill yourself for relief of incapacitating boredom.

Maggie, trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQ5Vz8qE8R8

A zombie horror movie with barely any zombies and hardly and horror. This one stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Abigail Breslin, Joely Richardson as a family whose daughter has been infected and will soon turn into a zombie. The process takes a few weeks, which is how long this movie seemed to last.

It Felt Like Love, trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1uprZUDQyw

A coming of age story, I suppose, about a teen's movement towards exploring her sexuality. Who know sex could be so tiresome and irritating? Like Maggie, this is a movie where we get to see stupid and inconsiderate people act in stupid and inconsiderate ways. And who doesn't love to be on the receiving end of that?

P.S. I see the that directors of The Better Angels and Maggie have both worked on Terrence Malick films. And apparently copying is the sincerest form of flattery because neither shows and individuality or personality that is anything unlike exactly what Malick produces. No connection with the director of It Felt Like Love and Malick, as far as I know. So I don't know what her problem is.

 

[mjb52]

AH no way, I loved It Felt Like Love. How could you! (*note: I am not genuinely outraged)

I do think it's a really high quality movie though, I understand why you might find it unpleasant to watch, but it felt really truthful to me about something that tends to be portrayed on screen in a more exploitive way in movies like Thirteen (*note two: I have not actually seen Thirteen so I am unfairly judging it by how it was promoted).

 

[vgerdes]

Anyone seen Hustlers? It's gotten a lot of buzz ...

Saw it last night. I thought it was quite well done. The chemistry between Jennifer Lopez and Constance Wu is intense. IMO it's the focal point of the movie, though not in the romantic sense. They held my attention.

 

[Japanfan]

Have you been DYING to see three new Terrence Malick movies? You know where there's tons of voice-overs done in poetic verse as people ramble through grassy fields as their fingers run over the tops of the flowers? Where nothing really happens, but you do get lots of close-ups of the sides of people's heads as we get to see them watch sunsets for five minutes? Well, I've got three movies just for you!

Actually you do discredit to Malick, IMO. His films do have stories and often compelling characters. And they are always visually stunning. And he does not use 'poetic verse' such as the iambic tentameter.

I will see the first two films for sure (when they become available on-demand, or maybe I'll actually go to the theaters because Malick films tend to be very visual). I will probably see the third as well, but am somewhat reticent, as when old male directors make films about teen girls, the directors can tend to over-sexualize them (e.g. Bertolucci's 'Stealing Beauty').

IMO Malick is one of the great directors of our time. I admired his capacity to take a completely amoral perspective in 'Badlands', which added an unusual dimension to the film. 'Days of Heaven' remains a favorite, as I've never see a film in which the prairies looked to beautiful.

'The New World' is among my favorite films of all time. It may have been loosely based on Pocohantas, but was so much more that. It was really about different peoples coming together and learning about each other (in Malick's fictional world, the colonist men did not rape the native women). There is a scene when a colonizer man and a native girl sit in a green field, pointing to things like a sky and a tree in order to teach each other the words for those things in their native language. It's one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen in a movie!

OTOH, 'The Tree of Life', which was largely animated and made to express Malick's thoughts on life, was just terrible. But I guess it was more of a personal film, rather than one intended for an audience.

 

[Aussie Willy]

Today I saw a fantastic Japanese anime film today Weathering with You.

It is the story of a runaway boy who moves to Tokyo where it never stops raining. He befriends a girl who can make the rain stop. It is directed by Makoto Shinkai.

The animation is really stunning. While the story is a love story, it is genuine and believable. There are a couple of tear jerking moments as well.

If you like your Japanese animation this is well worth seeing.

BTW - I just saw this trailer - JoJo Rabbit. Directed by Taika Waititi. Hitler with a Kiwi accent - hilarious.

 

[PRlady]

Saw it last night. I thought it was quite well done. The chemistry between Jennifer Lopez and Constance Wu is intense. IMO it's the focal point of the movie, though not in the romantic sense. They held my attention.

Saw it with my (quite grown) daughter and we thought it was great. JLo is amazing and it’s raunchy and funny. This morning I’m a little worried-liberal that the women got away with grand larceny for little jail time, but the movie itself is terrific.

And you can tell it’s directed by a woman, the strip scenes have you identify with the performers, not the audience.

 

[mjb52]

I will see the first two films for sure (when they become available on-demand, or maybe I'll actually go to the theaters because Malick films tend to be very visual). I will probably see the third as well, but am somewhat reticent, as when old male directors make films about teen girls, the directors can tend to over-sexualize them (e.g. Bertolucci's 'Stealing Beauty').

I don't think any of these movies are by Malick, I think the poster just meant they were in the style of Malick, which is definitely not at all true when it comes to It Felt Like Love, which isn't even remotely like a Malick film and is also directed by a youngish woman. It came out already, a few years ago.

 

[Japanfan]

I don't think any of these movies are by Malick, I think the poster just meant they were in the style of Malick, which is definitely not at all true when it comes to It Felt Like Love, which isn't even remotely like a Malick film and is also directed by a youngish woman. It came out already, a few years ago.

@watchthis said:

Have you been DYING to see three new Terrence Malick movies?

I googled and Malick produced 'The Better Angels'.

I found no mention that he was involved in the other two films.

 

[sk8pics]

So did anyone see The Art of Racing in the Rain? I saw it last week and enjoyed it very much. It was pretty faithful to the book, from what I remember.

I also saw The Lion King remake and thought it was okay, amazing graphics, but not as emotional as the first one.

 

[annie720]

I saw Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice today. Enjoyed it a lot. The theater was packed on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, which was good to see. Not surprisingly, most of the viewers were around Linda's age.

 

[Vash01]

I saw the movie 'Starman' on dvd. It was pretty good. Jeff Bridges was very good as Starman. He won an Oscar nomination for this. I know he won the Oscar for 'Crazy Heart' much later.

 

[annie720]

Just got back from seeing Brittany Runs a Marathon. Didn't know what to expect but I liked it a lot.

 

[watchthis!!]

I googled and Malick produced 'The Better Angels'.

I found no mention that he was involved in the other two films.

So literal!

Okay, let me correct my big error....

Have you been DYING to see three new Terrence Malick movies?

Have you been DYING to see three new Terrence Malick-ish movies?

 

[jl22aries]

I also really enjoyed Brittany Runs a Marathon. Jillian Bell is wonderful as the lead. It must have been challenging creating a story centred on the 'makeover/weight-loss transformation of girl to woman' thing that isn't tone deaf, harmful or reductive. I thought the creators did a wonderful job on a smarter, more holistic, and contemporary take on the trope. Funny, and thoughtful.

 

[Vash01]

Saw 'Ad Astra' yesterday. It was good but not the masterpiece their ad claims it to be. It is slow in places, but the space scenes are great. The 'Near future' has a commercial flight to the Moon, and another flight to Mars. I loved that. Brad Pitt was good, in an understated performance. The movie boasts a stellar cast but most of them don't have much screen time. It is Brad's movie. He is everywhere. I love space movies that are not pure violence, weird things and special effects. This movie has a story, and it is more mental than other space movies. That's a positive in my book. I don't want to give away too much. Posting a 'spoiler' often tempts some posters to click on it anyway and then regret it - LOL. It is still only 7-7.5/10. I may see it again, for the space scenes if nothing else.