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

PeterG said:
Harold and Lillian: A Hollywood Love Story (2015) is quite an interesting movie-industry documentary about two behind-the-scenes people who did SO much for the movie world…yet we’ve never heard of them. Harold started out his Hollywood career as a storyboard artist, drawing out each and every scene for each movie project he was hired for. Lillian eventually moved into film research and props. Her collection of information became a large, invaluable studio library. Harold eventually moved into art direction, earning two Oscar nominations for Terms Of Endearment and the very first Star Trek movie. Lillian never garnered any award recognition, but perhaps she will receive some honourary awards in time. Apparently she is still alive, even though she was born back in 1928.

Trailer for Harold and Lillian: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfc3aAQ_UTI
Click to expand...
What inspired lives! I need to watch this one. Today, I finally watched "Parasite." What an inspired movie. Just so good from beginning to end...
 
I enjoyed Living, the drama starring Bill Nighy. He was up for a best actor Oscar and now that I’ve seen four of the five nominees in that category…it was a real toss-up. All of them were exceptional. The movie itself is strong, although kind of slow at times. Other moments are quite impactful, have some hankies close by. While Nighy did not win an Oscar for this movie, at least he got his first nomination at 72 years of age. But he does have two BAFTA awards, a Golden Globe and a Tony award nomination. And let’s not forget his two Teen Choice awards for his work in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies! :D

Trailer for Living: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVo5kLt_-BU
 
PeterG said:
I enjoyed Living, the drama starring Bill Nighy. He was up for a best actor Oscar and now that I’ve seen four of the five nominees in that category…it was a real toss-up. All of them were exceptional. The movie itself is strong, although kind of slow at times. Other moments are quite impactful, have some hankies close by. While Nighy did not win an Oscar for this movie, at least he got his first nomination at 72 years of age. But he does have two BAFTA awards, a Golden Globe and a Tony award nomination. And let’s not forget his two Teen Choice awards for his work in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies! :D

Trailer for Living: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVo5kLt_-BU
Click to expand...
I really enjoyed Bill Nighy’s performance here - but I felt the film was drowning in sentiment in places. In my view it could have done with a lot more bite - a bit more sting in its tail.
 
IMO Bill Nighy will never outdo his roll as the rock star in Love Actually.

I enjoyed Living I guess - but found it largely slow and unremarkable.
 
Since we were talking the huge numbers for The Little Mermaid, I wanted to share this post:

www.instagram.com

The Shade Post on Instagram: "We love to see it 🫶🏾🥹 #RepresentationMatters (🎥: @hallebailey ) #hallebailey #thelittlemermaid #littlemermaid #disney #disneyworld #rolemodel #fortheculture #houseofculture #houseofculturetv #hoctv"

224K likes, 3,371 comments - The Shade Post (@houseofculturetv) on Instagram: "We love to see it 🫶🏾🥹 #RepresentationMatters (🎥: @hallebailey ) #hallebailey #theli..."
www.instagram.com www.instagram.com

I guess it was a success all-around… where it mattered most.
 
Countdown is a very creative 2019 supernatual horror movie. Elizabeth Lail (TV’s “You” and “Gossip Girl”) plays a young nurse who has a patient who has downloaded an app called Countdown. This app has a countdown of years, days, hours and minutes…until the time of your death. His girlfriend has recently died at the time her app said she would. And the countdown on his app will conclude the very next day. The nurse downloads the app to prove to the patient that this is all nonsense, only to find out she has three days left to live. Countdown is creepy and creative fun from start to finish!
 
Love Is Strange is a decent enough 2014 gay senior romantic drama starring John Lithgow and Alfred Molina. George (Molina) is fired from his as a Catholic school music teacher after he marries Ben (Lithgow). The two end up not being able to cover their mortgage and have to sell. Worse, each must now stay at separate homes of friend and family as no one has space big enough for both of them. There is much about this movie that could be used to take the movie in a very sentimental direction, but instead, their story is told in a more matter of fact way. I think I would have preferred a bit more melodrama myself. At times the movie came across as not quite cold, but definitely rather cool. I’m okay with a movie that isn’t afraid to make me pull my box of Kleenex closer. 😊 Supporting cast includes Marisa Tomei and Cheyenne Jackson.

Trailer for Love Is Strange: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdfA5Ff5e78
 
Buzz said:
This I didn’t see coming at all!

variety.com

‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ Takes Down ‘Jurassic World’ as Seventh-Highest Grossing Film in History With $1.7 Billion

"Avatar: The Way of Water" is now the seventh-highest grossing film in history, passing "Jurassic World" in the global box office record books.
variety.com variety.com
Click to expand...
I finally watched it tonight. I simply wasn’t interested in the franchise. And I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think the focus on the family gives this film a lot of heart. And Pandora remains a visual feast.
 
The Accountant is a fantastic 2016 action thriller starring Ben Affleck, Anna Kendrick, J. K. Simmons, Jon Bernthal, Jean Smart, Jeffrey Tambor, and John Lithgow. Affleck plays a man on the autism spectrum who has come from a difficult background. As rough as his childhood was, his father did what he thought was best to prepare his son for adult life. Affleck as an adult works as a small-town accountant, but that’s just a cover for the criminal businesses he works for. When an above-board job arises for a large company, things start to unravel and become more dangerous. Gavin O'Connor directs this movie beautifully. Didn’t hurt that he had such an all-star cast to work with. A great watch from start to finish.
 
watchthis!! said:
The Accountant is a fantastic 2016 action thriller starring Ben Affleck, Anna Kendrick, J. K. Simmons, Jon Bernthal, Jean Smart, Jeffrey Tambor, and John Lithgow. Affleck plays a man on the autism spectrum who has come from a difficult background. As rough as his childhood was, his father did what he thought was best to prepare his son for adult life. Affleck as an adult works as a small-town accountant, but that’s just a cover for the criminal businesses he works for. When an above-board job arises for a large company, things start to unravel and become more dangerous. Gavin O'Connor directs this movie beautifully. Didn’t hurt that he had such an all-star cast to work with. A great watch from start to finish.
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I think roles like the accountant and the agent in Argo are perfect for Affleck because the characters hold so much inside. That suits Affleck. And I want that Airstream.
 
I thought Chappie was a lot of fun. Dev Patel plays a scientist in this sci-fi action movie who has created androids to assist the police force in combatting crime. Chappie is the name of an android Patel is working on during his off time, one that will mimic the thoughts and feelings of humans. One day during transport, Chappie is kidnapped by a trio of (somewhat comedic) criminals who teach Chappie about being human, for worse or better. Hugh Jackman and Sigourney Weaver play the bad guys, whose roles are not well written unfortunately. Instead, the three criminals (played by unknowns) end up stealing the movie. Plus Chappie is a great movie creation (voiced by Sharlto Copley), so good that when harm comes his way, it’s easy to relate to Chappie even though we know he’s not human. Originally Chappie was to be a trilogy, which never happened as the movie was not considered a success even though it made just over 100 million on a 49 million budget.

Trailer for Chappie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyy7y0QOK-0
 
I watched Dear Evan Hansen. The film was trashed by Film Twitter (not sure why everyone seems to hate Ben Platt, I only know him through the Pitch Perfect movies) and no one saw it in the cinema. I know almost nothing about the Broadway version except that it's sad. I thought it was...fine? Not much different in quality from the other musicals of that year, West Side Story and In the Heights.

Was Ben Platt too old? Probably, but whatever. His hair and makeup was very distracting (and why did he lose weight for the role?). The extras on the DVD showed the actor appearing much younger than the character, even with a beard.

The director made one of my all-time favourite teen movies, The Perks of Being a Wallflower (best teen movie of the 2010s, IMO), and I really enjoyed Wonder. But he staged the musical numbers practically the same way--an actor sings sadly while all of the other actors look on sadly. And the music was all sad. At over 2 hours, this movie felt sad and long. I don't want to say they needed dance numbers, but more movement and energy was needed.

But individually, the songs were nice. I actually like the new song for the movie the best? Next time I visit NYC, I will probably see the stage musical.
 
watchthis!! said:
The Accountant is a fantastic 2016 action thriller starring Ben Affleck, Anna Kendrick, J. K. Simmons, Jon Bernthal, Jean Smart, Jeffrey Tambor, and John Lithgow. Affleck plays a man on the autism spectrum who has come from a difficult background. As rough as his childhood was, his father did what he thought was best to prepare his son for adult life. Affleck as an adult works as a small-town accountant, but that’s just a cover for the criminal businesses he works for. When an above-board job arises for a large company, things start to unravel and become more dangerous. Gavin O'Connor directs this movie beautifully. Didn’t hurt that he had such an all-star cast to work with. A great watch from start to finish.
Click to expand...
I loved this movie too. Underrated.
 
Invisible Hands is a 2018 documentary about child labour throughout the world. Do you ever wear clothes or jewelry? Eat chocolate? One mention of the latter is that pretty much anything our children might eat at Halloween exists due to child labour. In Ghana, children are sold into forced labour for a set period of time. The average price for each child is US $34 a piece. And it’s not just third world countries where this is happening. Children are interviewed who have worked on American farms. An eye-opening movie.

Trailer for Invisible Hands: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7TqXBiV8CE
 
Finally watched Nomadland. I thought it was just wonderful. It captures a certain type of lifestyle, some of it a result of a failing economic system, and some of it due to choice and personality fit. What I always enjoy seeing in film and in real life are people doing their best with what they got.

For a storyline that just automatically conjures thoughts about the American Dream, the movie is quite judgement-free on everything. It really is up to the viewer. The only think not neutral is the film’s compassion for all of the characters.

I don’t know how many movies there are about rich women of a certain age that drink a lot of wine. I cannot think of one movie other than this that centres around a woman like Fern. McDermand does not often do more subdued roles, but I also appreciate her lived in physicality. She is also a woman with two close friends, a tortured relationship with a sister, and a burgeoning romance with a kind man. But she is deeply lonely too. Her marriage to her dead husband is also well drawn out. We see struggle, silly fun, celebration, deep talks, regret, and a real need to go to the washroom. It’s life.

ETA: this would make excellent skating music. Anyone skate to it?
 
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Ghost In The Shell is that movie that created a backlash before filming even started. Scarlett Johansson was cast in the lead role of a character originally written as Japanese. I’ve just read more about all of this at Wikipedia and it’s quite interesting in how Japanese Americans were upset, but most people from Japan did not think it was a big deal. Anyway, the movie itself. Very flashy, very beautiful and very vacant. Not much story here. I suppose there’s kind of a plot, just enough to hang a lot of fight scenes and car chases onto. Kudos to the technical aspects of the movie, but in spite of the hyped up presentation, I felt this movie was rather a bore. :)
 
Just saw Bros. It was…okay. I never ever fully enjoy Judd Apatow movies—they tend of be overlong and over longer. Bridesmaids, Knocked Up, 40 Year Old Virgin…all meh. The main couple is generally uninteresting, where the main conflict is one of them is hotter than the other. Also, Billy Eichner YELLS ALL OF HIS LINES. My ears are still ringing.

What I loved, though? The LGBTQ committee in charge of building the first US LGBTQ Museum. Representing different neighborhoods of the community, all the scenes of them arguing and cracking jokes was hilarious. They should have centred the movie around the committee, kinda like a gay Steel Magnolias where the main characters gravitate to one place—in Magnolias, it was a beauty shop, in Bros, it would be a museum. Each committee member would have their own romantic dilemma, and make it a gay Love, Actually, showcasing the diversity of queer love. Sure, you can make Eichner and the Luke McFarland the central couple still, but more condensed. And less shouting.
 
PeterG said:
Harold and Lillian: A Hollywood Love Story (2015) is quite an interesting movie-industry documentary about two behind-the-scenes people who did SO much for the movie world…yet we’ve never heard of them. Harold started out his Hollywood career as a storyboard artist, drawing out each and every scene for each movie project he was hired for. Lillian eventually moved into film research and props. Her collection of information became a large, invaluable studio library. Harold eventually moved into art direction, earning two Oscar nominations for Terms Of Endearment and the very first Star Trek movie. Lillian never garnered any award recognition, but perhaps she will receive some honourary awards in time. Apparently she is still alive, even though she was born back in 1928.

Trailer for Harold and Lillian: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfc3aAQ_UTI
Click to expand...
Loved this when I saw it on TCM a few years ago. Such a sweet story, and a really well-made documentary.
 
Buzz said:
The box office news is not great for The Flash or Elementals. Have to admit I have no desire to rush out to see The Flash although this is usually my type of movie. And I’m not even sure why.

collider.com

‘The Flash’ Opens to a Slow Start at the Domestic Box Office

Last year's 'Black Adam' made more on its first day.
collider.com collider.com
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Elementals is perfect for Disney+. No need to see it in the theaters.

The Flash is probably better seen in theaters but there has been so much negative press around its star and also the strike has meant no fresh interviews with the cast. Also, filmgoers aren't raving about it. They aren't panning but they are giving it around a B which translates to 'meh.'
 
manhn said:
I watched Dear Evan Hansen. The film was trashed by Film Twitter (not sure why everyone seems to hate Ben Platt, I only know him through the Pitch Perfect movies) and no one saw it in the cinema. I know almost nothing about the Broadway version except that it's sad. I thought it was...fine? Not much different in quality from the other musicals of that year, West Side Story and In the Heights.

Was Ben Platt too old? Probably, but whatever. His hair and makeup was very distracting (and why did he lose weight for the role?). The extras on the DVD showed the actor appearing much younger than the character, even with a beard.

The director made one of my all-time favourite teen movies, The Perks of Being a Wallflower (best teen movie of the 2010s, IMO), and I really enjoyed Wonder. But he staged the musical numbers practically the same way--an actor sings sadly while all of the other actors look on sadly. And the music was all sad. At over 2 hours, this movie felt sad and long. I don't want to say they needed dance numbers, but more movement and energy was needed.

But individually, the songs were nice. I actually like the new song for the movie the best? Next time I visit NYC, I will probably see the stage musical.
Click to expand...

I felt pretty much the same as you. My excitement level for this movie was quite high, what with all the Broadway success/buzz. But I felt the tone stayed at an awkward and repressed and tense level pretty much throughout the movie. Not a fun way to spend your time. So not much with highs and lows. I did find Colton Ryan as Connor Murphy to be the highlight of the movie for me. He brought energy to a somewhat stunted movie. Interestingly, Ryan was never featured in that (or any other) role on any major stage, although he was an understudy for three various roles.
 
MacMadame said:
Elementals is perfect for Disney+. No need to see it in the theaters.

The Flash is probably better seen in theaters but there has been so much negative press around its star and also the strike has meant no fresh interviews with the cast. Also, filmgoers aren't raving about it. They aren't panning but they are giving it around a B which translates to 'meh.'
Click to expand...
With so many legal problems was Ezra the best choice? (Insert better than Ezra quip). Others have been “cancelled” for less.
 
I saw two movies this weekend: Spoiler Alert and The Fablemans. Spoiler Alert is about an online tv reporter who forms a relationship with an art photographer, but tragedy strikes. It was pretty good. Heartfelt but wholesome.

The Fablemans? This movie was soooo boring. And Michelle Williams? An abysmal performance. What was this?
 
Cachoo said:
With so many legal problems was Ezra the best choice? (Insert better than Ezra quip). Others have been “cancelled” for less.
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I think they had already shot the movie by then though. They shot it in 2021 and a lot of the troubles happened in 2022. Though there were some minor things happening in 2019 & 2020, but I can see why they would ignore that to get a hot new actor in their very troubled film. (I mean they started working on it in 2015 and I lost track of how many writers and directors were attached to the project.)
 
Japanfan said:
One of my rules of thumb when it comes to movies is that if Catherine Keener is in it, is going to be good (saw her just a few days ago in 'Begin Again' with Mark Ruffalo and Keira Knightly - quite an enjoyable film.
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I just watched Begin Again recently and it was a good choice to do it. But Keener has a thankless role. Keira Knightley is the centre of the movie and Mark Ruffalo has the other major role. Knightley is quite good, but Ruffalo is doing his nebbish schtick which is kind of sad and routine. I did like how Knightley's role was written, avoiding all (or most of?) the traps female characters fall into in a romantic comedy type of movie. And the end was a good switch-up to how things usually go.

Begin Again was written and directed by John Carney, who earlier wrote and directed the musical romance Once (the one where "Falling Slowly" won the Oscar). And after Begin Again, Carney directed the coming of age musical Sing Street (Golden Globe nominee for best comedy or musical). So he's pretty much a master at these types of movies.

Begin Again co-stars Adam Levine in a strong performance. Levine's too-gorgeous-for-words song "Lost Stars" was Oscar nominated. Hailee Steinfeld, James Corden and Rob Morrow round out the cast.

Trailer for Begin Again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTRCxOE7Xzc
 
I thought the beginning of Fences (Viola Davis and Denzel Washington) had a somewhat weak beginning. Some schticky comedy that sort of missed the mark. But not too much longer into the movie, it gets more serious and really hits it’s stride. Both these actors deserved their Oscar nominations and Davis deserved her win. She has some powerhouse scenes in this movie and I dare anybody to not be in awe of her talent. Overall, the movie is a bit tough to watch given the serious subject matter. But when you’re in the mood for some serious high-quality drama, this one is definitely worth your time.
 
PBS recently aired the concert film "Carole King: Home Again - Live In Central Park". It was a free 1973 concert in New York where 100,000 people showed up. The concert begins with four songs from Tapestry and then three songs from Fantasy, her most recent album at that time. It's great to hear her sing live and get to see just how much she loves music while she performs. The only downside to this special is that it only included nine songs, whereas the music album version of the concert has eighteen tracks. :(

Some interesting things about King as I was reading about this concert:

  • Her first solo album "Writer" (released the year before Tapestry) only sold 6,000 copies. :eek:
  • Tapestry was the first album to be certified to have sold 10 million copies, a sales feat also accomplished by Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Trouble Water"
  • Before Tapestry, King's writing was limited to melodies. Only when she began a solo recording career did she write most of the lyrics in addition to the melodies
A live clip of "Home Again" from this concert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQHR1J9i8tI
 
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