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

Kasey said:
Saw "The Last Showgirl" today. I didn't think much of the movie as a whole, however, Pamela Anderson was indeed amazing, and Jamie Lee Curtis was phenomenal. I swear, Curtis just gets better and better in every movie I see her in. All of the supporting actors were very good as well.
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Yeah, to me, it was a case study of a woman so engrossed in her life She fails to see how what goes on in her mind is no longer the reality of society and culture around her. At the end of the movie it doesn’t really answer anything …I will say that. But the performances of that entire cast I thought were so good and Jamie Lee I think is completely throwing herself into every role she’s had in the last few years. and she seems to be getting a bit of momentum for supporting category.

I saw a clip of Pamela on the view, and Joy said that she did not even realize that was Jamie Lee Curtis.

Fun fact, Pamela’s daughter in the movie, Billy Lourd is the daughter of Carrie Fisher.
 
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Aussie Willy said:
I saw Almodovar's latest movie The Room Next Door with Tilda Swinton and Julieanne Moore. Again another very good movie from one of my favourite directors. Although disconcerting to see an English language film from him. It really is a quiet movie with a subtle music score. I felt the relationship between Swinton and Moore was genuine and natural. As he has grown older he has become like Clint Eastwood in his directional style which is focusing on telling the story without a lot of bells and whistles.
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Cinephiles would note the very prominent nod to Douglas Sirk from Almovodar right down to the interior design of Martha's (Tilda's) condo and rental house.
 
ilovepaydays said:
Official trailer - Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
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Sept. 21, 2024:
ilovepaydays said:
I'm back home from watching the documentary "Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story". Being that it still in it's opening (only showing right now in the 🇺🇸 as a Fathom event on September 21 & 25 and then it's not released again in theaters until November 1 in the 🇬🇧), I will put my review in spoiler.

My rating for this documentary is 8.8/10. I think Super/Man is easily the one of the best documentaries I've seen in years. In a normal film year, I think it would be a no brainer to be nominated for an Oscar and probably win. But there's a number of great documentaries that came out of Sundance in January (Daughters, The Greatest Night in Pop, Sugarcane, and Porcelain War) and also at the Toronto Film Festival (The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal, Will & Harper, and Your Tomorrow). But a lot of those went straight to Netflix for distribution and I'm not sure what the exact Oscar eligibility rules are.

Super/Man alternatives between two timelines: 1970s to the accident with Reeve's acting career and personal life, and The accident to present day with Reeve's recovery journey and activism. This documentary gave an excellent explanation of Reeve's journey as an actor and how Superman was such a breakthrough movie. There was also a lot of discussion about how Reeve's insane success as Superman affected everything about his other acting roles and his personal life. Before watching this, I didn't know that: 1) Christopher Reeve and Robin Williams were roommates in the 1970s in NYC, and 2) Reeve and Williams were classically trained in acting at Julliard.

The documentary does a sobering job is explaining Reeve's injury and ALL the medical issues he had in the months and years afterwards. The interviews of Reeve's three children were very raw about how they felt about their father and Dana Reeve. I got teary eyed when I saw clips of Reeve's memorial service. One negative part I had was that among the actors who were also interviewed was Glenn Close. One of her remarks about Robin Williams was, “I’ve always felt if Chris was still around, then Robin would be alive.” That was unsettling for me to hear. I got teary eyed again when Will Reeve discussed dealing with both his father's (2004) and mother's (2006) deaths within that short amount of time.

Overall, I was so glad to have watched this documentary and I hope it moves to a streaming service soon. I get the sense that this documentary will motivate a lot of younger people who haven't seen Reeve's Superman movies to then watch them. And hopefully, further innovations will develop to help those with spinal cord injuries.
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CNN Films Brings the Television Premiere of “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” to CNN on Sunday, February 2 at 9pm ET/PT: https://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/...ory-to-cnn-on-sunday-february-2-at-9pm-et-pt/
 
Kasey said:
Saw "The Last Showgirl" today. I didn't think much of the movie as a whole, however, Pamela Anderson was indeed amazing, and Jamie Lee Curtis was phenomenal. I swear, Curtis just gets better and better in every movie I see her in. All of the supporting actors were very good as well.
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I May see it this week.
 
ilovepaydays said:
Box Office Mojo - U.S. Domestic Box Office: Weekend 2

Notable opening next week: One of Them Days, I’m Still Here (Limited 🇺🇸 and 🇪🇺), September 5 (Expands), and Sing Sing (Re-Release! 😲 Although it looks limited right now.).

Meanwhile, The Brutalist is continuing to further expand in the 🇺🇸. I’m going to get to see it next weekend! I’ll put a review (in spoiler) here after I see it. I think it’s sticking in major cities for right now.
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It opened in Scottsdale on Jan 9. I have such a busy week that I may not get to see it this week.
 
Judy said:
Nope, nope and nope - I cannot do horror movies. It’s a me thing 😝😝😝😝. I have movie rules 🤣🤣🤣😝😳
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There’s some types of horror I can’t watch - like body horror. It’s why I’m still 😬 about watching The Substance.

I did enjoy watching Heretic, though. Hugh Grant is my current dark horse pick to get into to the Oscar Five over (probably) Daniel Craig (Queer).
 
Started my countdown to the Oscars today by seeing A Complete Unknown at the theatre. Folk music was a big part of my childhood thanks to my older sister and her large collection of albums. I loved everything to do with Dylan singing the songs but wanted full versions. They seemed incomplete. I wanted a full concert. This does reinforce what a songwriting master he was at the time. So many songs. Chalamet's performance was wonderful. The singing, the attitude, the mumbling. In spite of having loved Edward Norton since I first saw him in his high-school production of Pippin, I didn't know he was Seeger right away. When the camera was looking at him straight on, he looked very different. I assume it was the hairline. But as soon as it went to profile, there was no doubt. Embarrassing. I knew he was in the film, but I hadn't read much about it. I can definitely see Chalamet or/and Norton getting noms or wins. I enjoyed the film because of the performances, acting and musical, but I don't think it's a great movie. I think Norton can move right into playing Mr. Rogers after this role. He kept reminding me of him.

When we were exiting the movie, almost everyone was talking about how wonderful it was hearing all the music.
 
Meanwhile, this happened on the red carpet during 🇬🇧 premiere of A Complete Unknown. 😎 🚲 🟩

Is Timothée one of the few guys who can pull a move like this off? 😜

BTW, anyone know if those uber Lime bikes are actually good to ride? Just looked it up in my area (Northern Virginia). It’s $1 to unlock + $.39 a minute. 😱

I’m pretty sure that Capital Bikeshare is $1 to unlock and $.05-.15 a minute. The bikes and e-bikes between the two look the same.
 
So…..has anyone seen Kneecap? It just received six BAFTA nominations. It available to rent on Amazon Prime in the 🇺🇸 for $5.99. 🤔
 
annie720 said:
Yep, saw it on Netflix a couple of weeks ago and posted about it here. I'm glad I saw it but it's not for those sensitive to vulgar language.
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Thanks - I just added it to My List on Netflix.

BTW, speaking of recent movies, A Real Pain is now available on Hulu. 😀
 
I watched "A real pain" tonight in my hotel room. I think it's my favorite movie of the year so far. Culkin and Eisenberg both were brilliant, and the smaller roles were well-acted as well. Loved the music and the dialogue.
 
Kasey said:
I watched "A real pain" tonight in my hotel room. I think it's my favorite movie of the year so far. Culkin and Eisenberg both were brilliant, and the smaller roles were well-acted as well. Loved the music and the dialogue.
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A friend of mine was telling me about this movie today. One of the characters, she is sure, is bipolar; he acted just like her son. I don’t know anything about the story, though.
 
I just saw the animated movie “Flow”. A group of animals of different species help each other survive a worldwide flood. That’s the premise. The animation is beautiful. The animal sounds used are effective (no words). And the themes of empathy, friendship, and loyalty are incredibly touching. I don’t think it’s a kids movie, maybe too abstract without a human-language script, but the themes are like those of “Charlottes Web” - caring for each other. I highly recommend it.
 
Re the brutalist - I read it was released earlier solely on the coasts and goes into wider release some time in January. I loved Adrien Brody in The Pianist and Liberty Heights so I will be seeing this one.
 
Just got back home from watching The Brutalist. Being that it's still in limited release in the 🇺🇸 and it expands nationwide here and releases in the 🇬🇧 next week, I will put my review in spoiler.

Are you wanting to watch a 3.5 hour characterization of the wealthy "American" mentality vs. the struggling Non-Western European immigrant experience? Then you'll want to see this film.

This film does have some pretty explicit scenes and there's one particularly jarring scene of SV. If you would prefer to avoid this, I would recommend skipping this film.

My overall rating for The Brutalist is 8.5/10. This film is visually GORGEOUS and the score is GREAT. I also think the performances by Adrien Brody (Laszlo Toth) and Guy Pearce (Harrison Van Buren) are deserving of Academy Awards nominations. I don't know if Brody is actually getting a second Oscar (he has won the Golden Globes, because there's Chalamet (A Complete Unknown) and Fiennes (Conclave) and the competition for nominations for both Supporting Acting categories are INSANE. It wouldn't surprise me if The Brutalist wins Best Picture.

Also, how was this film made with a budget of only about $10M? :eek:

Laszlo Toth arrives in America after surviving the Holocaust. He was a very successful architect in Budapest before WWII, but now he's working random jobs to support himself and get his wife and niece to the U.S. Laszlo also becomes addicted to heroin. After a botched job redesigning Van Buren's library, Harrison comes back to Laszlo and hires him to create a project dedicated to his mother. There are two problems: 1) The project clearly becomes obscene and expensive, and 2) It seems that Laszlo is getting "groomed" for something.

You then have a fifteen minute intermission (with a countdown clock) showing a picture from the Toth wedding in front of a Budapest synagogue.

Part 2 begins with Laszlo reuniting with his wife Erzsebet (Felicity Jones) and his niece Zsofia. Laszlo is shocked to discover their physical ailments. Erzsebet has conflicts with Laszlo about their intimacy. The building project is running over budget and into logistical problems. Harrison eventually becomes disgusted with Laszlo and "shows" him how "his people invite their persecution". Laszlo implodes on the project. Erzsebet confronts Harrison in front of "Van Buren, Inc." and the Laszlo's are kicked out of the Van Buren compound. Harrison then runs off and disappears.

The epilogue is a showcase in Venice about Laszlo's work. It turns out that the design of the Van Buren Center resemble the concentration camps that imprisoned Laszlo and Erzsebet.

Three issues I had with this film: 1) WTF happened to Harrison Van Buren after he disappeared? Did he run away forever? Commit suicide? You get this sequence of the search for him that goes into the unfinished building and I kept thinking we were about to see his body. But you end up just seeing.....the cross showing from the moonlight? :huh:, 2) The designs themselves - of the buildings, interiors, and the furniture. I don’t think it looks like it…….works, and 3) This film wasn't based on a true story. There is no actual “Van Buren Center”. Finding that out afterwards soured me on this film.

You will be in the theater for about four hours. There some things done very well in this film, but I probably won’t want to see it again.
 
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FYI, "A Real Pain" is on Hulu now. I watched it last night. I was a bit reluctant to see it, partly because my family history includes relatives in Poland killed in concentration camps. For various reasons, Benji really dominates the movie. (He really is a pain! And in pain. Kieran Culkin does a very good job. Maybe because he himself can relate to at least parts of the character? Eisenberg reportedly was quite surprised by Culkin's approach to the job, sometimes not knowing if Culkin would show up on set or know his lines.) I'm still processing the movie.
 
I was a bit disappointed by A Real Pain. I couldn’t get into it. I remembered the places they showed but once they got inthe train, I started losing interest. May beI need to see it again. That can happen with some movies. Second time I get it.
 
Kasey said:
I watched "A real pain" tonight in my hotel room. I think it's my favorite movie of the year so far. Culkin and Eisenberg both were brilliant, and the smaller roles were well-acted as well. Loved the music and the dialogue.
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I just watched it. I totally agree with you. Culkin especially was great.
 
I drove all the way to see The Brutalist, which was playing in the mall. I drove around and around to find a parking space. By the time I found it, it had been 30 minutes past the start time. I decided to postpone Brutalist and watch September 5 instead. It was just 90 minutes, and followed by an interview of the director, actors, writer. It was on my list to see, so I didn’t mind it. Now I need to figure out when to see the 4 hours long Brutalist. It is running at just one theater.

September 5 is a well made movie. I knew how it would end, but I didn’t remember much of what preceded it. One thing that confused me was that they announced the games(1972 Munich Olympics ‘suspended’ but then we saw a volleyball game being played.

The movie is not about how it ended but the process the ABC crew went through from beginning to end. It was an interesting perspective on the events that happened during the 1972 Olympics.
 
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