Let's Talk Movies #36 - 2020 - Yep it is a new decade

skatingguy said:
Matt Lauer, and Kevin Spacey were fired for actual wrong doing - they weren't cancelled - and Louis C.K. has been back to touring.
Click to expand...

Aren't being fired and being cancelled the same thing? In that both mean their careers are over?
 
PeterG said:
Aren't being fired and being cancelled the same thing? In that both mean their careers are over?
Click to expand...
Being cancelled is supposedly a result of a minor infraction of social rules, not behaviour that would contravene most work contracts, and could result in possible criminal charges.
 
ilovepaydays said:
I think cancelled is supposed to be WAY worse than fired. Cancelled is you get fired and then basically blacklisted from anyone wanting to hire you again.
Click to expand...

skatingguy said:
Being cancelled is supposedly a result of a minor infraction of social rules, not behaviour that would contravene most work contracts, and could result in possible criminal charges.
Click to expand...

Interesting. It sounds like "cancelled" is something that is seen as very different to different people.
 
Saw Dune today and it was my first time seeing a movie with all restrictions lifted. I must admit to feeling very uncomfortable and most people I could see were mostly maskless. One couple purchased tickets on either side of me and asked me to move over. No problem so I shifted seats but was told no no no we meant to other side! I moved again but what difference does it make?! Anyway they proceeded to order an insane amount of alcohol and never for a minute ever wore a mask. And somebody somewhere snored for a bit! As for the movie it was part melodrama, part love story and part political thriller. The sci-fi part of the movie is waaay in the background but at least now I know what happened to the worm thingy from Star Wars. LOL On the plus side Timothée Chalamet was excellent in his role. Okay… grumpy old lady signing off. :slinkaway
 
PeterG said:
Matt Lauer, Louis C.K. and Kevin Spacey might disagree with you. 😲
Click to expand...
Louis CK can't disagree with me because he's back touring. More evidence that canceling is not a thing. Lauer and Spacey had more serious accusations so it will take a while for them to come back. But I fully expect them to.

In the old days, people got in trouble, disappeared for a while, then quietly came back, if they wanted to unless what they did was really super serious (i.e., a Bill Cosby situation). Canceling is supposed to be forever and you can't come back even if you want to. I don't see many forevers so I think it's just what it always was... people facing consequences for their actions.


And, yes, Lindsay Ellis was the YouTuber I was speaking of. :D
 
Re guns on film sets, I've been an extra on film/TV sets where guns were involved, and the protocols were very strict. This was in Canada but because the industry unions have common standards across North America, I'm sure the protocols are similar in the US.

If the gun is actually going to be shot during a scene, there is a prop master who is assigned to take care of the gun and nothing else for the entire time the gun is on the set. The gun gets prepared in the prop area, away from the set. When the gun is ready and it's time for the scene to be filmed, the prop master yells "GUN UP" or words to that effect. That means the gun is coming onto the set, and the prop master brings the gun to the set and stays with it the entire time. Everyone is supposed to follow whatever directions the prop master gives while the gun is on the set. The prop master helps the actor who is using the gun in the scene, and when the scene is finished, the prop master takes the gun back to the prop area and yells "GUN DOWN" when the gun is no longer on the set.

If there was a non-union crew at the time this scene was filmed, some or none of this might have happened. I was kind of surprised to read tonight that apparently the assistant director handed Alec Baldwin the gun. That's not supposed to happen. The prop master in charge of the gun hands it directly to the actor and then takes it back when the scene is finished. The assistant director might be giving the actor instructions on how to use the gun, but they shouldn't be handling it. That alone might not have caused the accident, but it sounds like some of the basic safety rules weren't being followed.
 
Last edited:
PeterG said:
Below is my review of Dave Chappelle's stand-up comedy film from 2019. On The Social today (a Canadian talk show, not unlike The View), they were talking about Chappelle's newest film, The Closer. Apparently he's gone even further with his thoughts on the trans community. I'm guessing this part of his movie had more air-time than what he did with Sticks and Stones. There have been calls for Netflix to remove this movie from their platform. I don't want to look into what he said because the last special bothered me enough, I don't need more aggravation.

But from the little that I read, he was at an event at The Hollywood Bowl where he received a warm reception. And he said (my paraphrasing), "if this is what being cancelled feels like, it sure feels good". And at another event he said (in regard to the concerns about trans-phobic material in his film) that he has so much money that he doesn't have to work another day in his life.

Chappelle later said that he would be willing to sit with members of the trans community. :blah:
Click to expand...
Chapelle is still making millions of dollars. Much like JK Rowling neither one of them has really been cancelled.
skatingguy said:
It wasn't this one was it?

Click to expand...
Lindsay Ellis's "cancellation" was ridiculous. She tweeted a valid criticism of Raya and the Last Dragon and people jumped down her throat for it and said she was being racist when she was just pointing out it's similarities to the plot of Avatar: The Last Airbender.
PeterG said:
Aren't being fired and being cancelled the same thing? In that both mean their careers are over?
Click to expand...
Arguably one could get fired without being cancelled. Firing doesn't end a career. And cancel culture isn't really real. If it was Chapelle's special never would have gone up, JK Rowlings career would be over, Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's careers would both be over, Mel Gibson wouldn't have staged a successful comeback, Louis CK wouldn't be playing sold old shows, Kevin Spacey wouldn't be staging a comeback (he's trying, whether it'll work or not remains to be seen but he did film the movie The Man Who Drew God with Franco Nero and Faye Dunaway). I've been hearing talk about Matt Lauer attempting a comeback recently too.

overedge said:
Re guns on film sets, I've been an extra on film/TV sets where guns were involved, and the protocols were very strict. This is in Canada but because the industry unions have common standards across North American, I'm sure the protocols are similar in the US.

If the gun is actually going to be shot during a scene, there is a prop master who is assigned to take care of the gun and nothing else for the entire time the gun is on the set. The gun gets prepared in the prop area, away from the set. When the gun is ready and it's time for the scene to be filmed, the prop master yells "GUN UP" or words to that effect. That means the gun is coming onto the set, and the prop master brings the gun to the set and stays with it the entire time. Everyone is supposed to follow whatever directions the prop master gives while the gun is on the set. The prop master helps the actor who is using the gun in the scene, and when the scene is finished, the prop master takes the gun back to the prop area and yells "GUN DOWN" when the gun is no longer on the set.

If there was a non-union crew at the time this scene was filmed, some or none of this might have happened. I was kind of surprised to read tonight that apparently the assistant director handed Alec Baldwin the gun. That's not supposed to happen. The prop master in charge of the gun hand it directly to the actor and then takes it back when the scene is finished. The assistant director might be giving the actor instructions on how to use the gun, but they shouldn't be handling it. That alone might not have caused the accident, but it sounds like some of the basic safety rules weren't being followed.
Click to expand...
There was apparently a walkout by the union crew that was there over safety concerns. I guess there were a lot of gun safety issues. They brought on non-union people to replace them and the only union people who stayed were the DP and one other person. The local IATSE chapter said the prop master wasn't a member of their chapter. I have a feeling this is going to get really messy and it's all just very sad.
 
Jay42 said:
Chapelle is still making millions of dollars. Much like JK Rowling neither one of them has really been cancelled.

Arguably one could get fired without being cancelled. Firing doesn't end a career. And cancel culture isn't really real. If it was Chapelle's special never would have gone up, JK Rowlings career would be over, Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's careers would both be over, Mel Gibson wouldn't have staged a successful comeback, Louis CK wouldn't be playing sold old shows, Kevin Spacey wouldn't be staging a comeback (he's trying, whether it'll work or not remains to be seen but he did film the movie The Man Who Drew God with Franco Nero and Faye Dunaway). I've been hearing talk about Matt Lauer attempting a comeback recently too.
Click to expand...

As far as I know, Chappelle himself is the only person saying he had been cancelled. And he might have done so facetiously, in regard to the people who wanted Netflix to withdraw his stand-up film from their service. It seemed like a middle finger to the "politically correct" brigade who had the audacity to challenge the brilliance of his work. (Sarcastic tone all mine.)

As for JK Rowling, looks like you're right. I thought her sales would be way down. But since her anti-trans writings, she has released three books. Troubled Blood (written under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith) released in September of 2020 was the #1 book the week it was released, selling double the copies of the previous book in that series. But maybe over time, her new books will see less over-all sales. Not sure how to verify that, though. But her next release, the children's book The Ickabog, was to be re-released at a lower price due to poor sales.

Interesting about Kevin Spacey. I was sure he would never work again. In addition to the movie you mentioned, he is in another movie called Peter Five Eight. But it looks like everybody involved is new to movie-making or are on the D-List.

I heard something about Matt Lauer attempting a comeback last year that went nowhere. But maybe he'll surprise me as well and get work. Yuck. 🤮
 
PeterG said:
But maybe over time, her new books will see less over-all sales.
Click to expand...
I hope so because they suck! ;)

Cachoo said:
Matt Lauer is toxic: I can’t imagine any network wanting him now. He could write under a pseudonym. And he has a daughter—poor kid.
Click to expand...
People have short memories and love a redemption arc.

Plus there are those people who have no issue with how he behaved. They may not say so but they exist.
 
PeterG said:
Interesting about Kevin Spacey. I was sure he would never work again. In addition to the movie you mentioned, he is in another movie called Peter Five Eight. But it looks like everybody involved is new to movie-making or are on the D-List.
Click to expand...
Spacey is by far the most complicated. It could be that he‘ll never work in Hollywood again. The movie with Nero was filmed in Italy I believe and I know France had no real issues with Roman Polanski releasing a movie there a couple of years ago and he still hasn’t served his jail time. So Spacey staging a comeback could end up as a European thing. Who knows really.
 
It's interesting to see a black comedian release work which offends the LGBTQ community and he gets a pass. If a gay comedian released work that offended the black community, don't you think it would be yanked off the air in three seconds?

'I stand with the trans, nonbinary, and BIPOC employees at Netflix': Elliot Page voices support for walkout against Dave Chapelle's trans jokes along with LGBTQ stars Dan Levy, Wanda Sykes and more

Jonathan Van Ness from Queer Eye For The Straight Guy is the fourth person in this article to object to Chappelle's "comedy".

‘Dear White People’ EP “Done’ With Netflix Over Dave Chappelle’s New “Transphobic” Special; Comic Lambasted By GLAAD For “Ridiculing” Trans & LGBTQ+ Communities – Update

Maybe this executive producer will think about a show entitled Dear Black Comedians.
 
We were talking about the Chinese-language film An Elephant Sitting Still recently. I am listening to the soundtrack on youtube right now...and just loving it. I think there are a few pieces here which would make for some great figure skating programs:

www.youtube.com

花伦HuaLun - 坏孩子的天空

《大象席地而坐》第九首
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
 
Saw Dune in a theater this weekend. It was a feast for the eyes! I mainly wanted to see it for the visuals and for the spectacular cast, but I was pleasantly surprised by the story. Sci-Fi is not a favorite genre of mine, but I really enjoyed it. Only looked at the time during a few of the action scenes. So many good performances. I don't understand why many people don't like Chalamet, I have enjoyed him in everything I've seen him in.

Apparently Dune is also available on HBO Max. If you can (and are willing) to see it in a theater, that's the way to go in my opinion.
 
"Life of Crime" is a movie about two individuals who set out to engage in the kidnapping of a man's wife for the purpose of holding her hostage until a ransom is paid.

The movie is seasoned with a variety of unpredictable twists and turns that are somewhat comical and amusing.

The captive hostage, terrified at first, eventually morphs into that of an ally to her captors and even develops a romantic warmth towards one of them.

As the story progresses, unpredictability ensues in the most amusing of ways as the initial plan to kidnap a man's wife for ransom develops into something else entirely.

This movie is sure to keep you guessing until the very end.
 
Last edited:
And the last of the documentary reviews (well, for now at least):

5/10 - Watermark is a 2012 documentary about water and humans and their relationship to one another. I found the information for this movie to be rather slight and a lot of the time there was just visuals of water showcased in varying ways in many different locations. An interesting topic...but not really an interesting movie.

Trailer for Watermark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOPLs_ogF-0
 
"Misery" is a movie based on a novel by Steven King whose main character is a writer that finds himself in the care of a deranged crazy woman following an unfortunate car accident that leaves him immobilized and crippled.

The woman initially comes off as a good-hearted and nurturing figure who stumbled upon a car accident of a writer who she happens to have an obsessive love for.

Upon being cared for by this woman, the writer at first feels very fortunate to be in her tender nurturing care, but slowly he starts to notice that she seems to have an unhealthy and obsessive love for both himself and his work.

It is not long until the writer in the woman's care starts to feel more like a prisoner rather than a patient.

Incapable of escape due to his injuries, the writer does make some feeble and unsuccessful attempts at it.

Being forced to write against his will, the writer does what he can to appease the craziness of his obsessive fan while simultaneously trying to do what he can to manage an escape from her lair.

With the crazy obsessive fan going back and forth from being extremely endearing and then down right horrifying, the writers hopes for escape are quite grim, but he doesn't give up.

Eventually the crazy lady meets a brutal death, and the writer finally gets his freedom back.
 
Last edited:
I like the author Fredrik Backman and one of my favorite movies this year was "A Man Called Ove" (2015.) I see now that Tom Hanks is starring in an American version. As much as I like Hanks I'm fine with the original. I'm not sure I want to see it remade.
 
Echo Boomers is a 2020 crime drama about six millennials who rebel against the 1%-er’s of the world. They decide to rob from the rich and give to…themselves. The movie states in the beginning that this is “Based on true story” but then continues with “if you believe” … “in that kind of stuff”. I love the premise of this movie, but these millennials stay true to their stereotype and come off as entitled, self-centred brats. We wait with anticipation for their wreckless, violent robberies to come back to bite them in the ass. And of course, that happens…for the most part. Michael Shannon plays an older man who fences the stolen goods for the brats played by Arnold’s boy Patrick Schwarzenneger alongside Alex Pettyfer. Lesley Ann Warren has a tiny role as a reporter. I liked the movie but didn't like most of the characters.
 
Davy88gtbwxyc said:
"Misery" is a movie based on a novel by Steven King whose main character is a writer that finds himself in the care of a deranged crazy woman following an unfortunate car accident that leaves him immobilized and crippled.

The woman initially comes off as a good-hearted and nurturing figure who stumbled upon a car accident of a writer who she happens to have an obsessive love for.

Upon being cared for by this woman, the writer at first feels very fortunate to be in her tender nurturing care, but slowly he starts to notice that she seems to have an unhealthy and obsessive love for both himself and his work.

It is not long until the writer in the woman's care starts to feel more like a prisoner rather than a patient.

Incapable of escape due to his injuries, the writer does make some feeble and unsuccessful attempts at it.

Being forced to write against his will, the writer does what he can to appease the craziness of his obsessive fan while simultaneously trying to do what he can to manage an escape from her lair.

With the crazy obsessive fan going back and forth from being extremely endearing and then down right horrifying, the writers hopes for escape are quite grim, but he doesn't give up.

Eventually the crazy lady meets a brutal death, and the writer finally gets his freedom back.
Click to expand...

Davy88gtbwxyc said:
"Misery" is a movie based on a novel by Steven King whose main character is a writer that finds himself in the care of a deranged crazy woman following an unfortunate car accident that leaves him immobilized and crippled.

The woman initially comes off as a good-hearted and nurturing figure who stumbled upon a car accident of a writer who she happens to have an obsessive love for.

Upon being cared for by this woman, the writer at first feels very fortunate to be in her tender nurturing care, but slowly he starts to notice that she seems to have an unhealthy and obsessive love for both himself and his work.

It is not long until the writer in the woman's care starts to feel more like a prisoner rather than a patient.
Click to expand...

Kathy Bates won an Oscar for her performance - so well-deserved.:cheer2:
 
The final section of movies I watched a while back are classics (or from that time period!). First up:

7/10 - Foreign Correspondent is a 1940 romantic thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Joel McCrae stars as a New York reporter assigned as a correspondent in London on the verge of World War II. There are spies, car chases, imposters along with romance and even a bit of comedy. This was an enjoyable movie to watch.

Foreign Correspondent was nominated for six Oscars, including best picture and screenplay, but did not win any. It has a 95% fresh score at rottentomatoes.com with critics and 81% fresh with viewers.

Trailer for Foreign Correspondent: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXbQ7CRaAao
 
Integrity said:
Saw Dune in a theater this weekend. It was a feast for the eyes! I mainly wanted to see it for the visuals and for the spectacular cast, but I was pleasantly surprised by the story. Sci-Fi is not a favorite genre of mine, but I really enjoyed it. Only looked at the time during a few of the action scenes. So many good performances. I don't understand why many people don't like Chalamet, I have enjoyed him in everything I've seen him in.

Apparently Dune is also available on HBO Max. If you can (and are willing) to see it in a theater, that's the way to go in my opinion.
Click to expand...
Having just seen it in a theater, after watching it on HBO Max first, I have to say... the theater is the best place to see it. The scope is soooooo much more impressive (and the sandworms are much scarier). I only wish it wasn't two years before we get to see the rest of the story (Dune Part 2 is scheduled for release in the fall of 2023). I agree with you about Timothee, by the way. I thought he was excellent as Paul. And I'm really interested in seeing his interpretation of the young Willy Wonka.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

  • Sash
Total: 28 (members: 1, guests: 27)

Similar threads

AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)
ISU trying to modernize, is it working?
2
Replies
43
Views
4K
jägerbomb
jägerbomb
Sylvia
‘Let’s Talk About It’ Skate Ontario podcast with Pj Kwong
Replies
1
Views
1K
victorskid
victorskid
VGThuy
The Shibutanis Thread 7 . . . Years Later
Replies
10
Views
2K
my little pony
my little pony
Desperado
Anyone here into watching soaps?
2 3 4
Replies
107
Views
9K
three fingered jack
T
Sylvia
Lorraine Hanlon Comanor: "I Was Supposed to Be on the 1961 Flight That Crashed, Killing the U.S. Skating Team"
Replies
1
Views
1K
AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)
AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)
Back
Top
Do Not Sell My Personal Information