Movie Thread

[hmaria1609]

Went on "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" courtesy of Kanopy.  Great lines and plenty of laughs!

Since the movie is leaving Kanopy this month, I'm glad I came across it.

[Hegemony]

I am so looking forward to "Catherine, Called Birdy." It looks like a rousing, well-written adventure, and the presence of the inimitable, scene-stealing Andrew Scott doesn't hurt. Out in theatres Sept. 23 as of Sept. 23, coming to Amazon Prime on October 7.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8tdJa3yiFM

[Sun_Worshiper]

Elvis

Baz Luhrmann's biopic, focusing on the exploitation of "the King" by his longtime manager, Colonel Tom Parker. On the up side, the actor who plays Elvis is wonderful, the movie showcases Elvis' brilliance well, and it is very engaging by the end. In terms of critiques, it takes a while to get going and Tom Hanks turns in a very odd performance that is, let's just say, not his best. These issues notwithstanding, I think this movie got Elvis right and I quite enjoyed it. I also think it handled the racial dimension of Elvis' story very well, without stopping to give the audience a lecture.

Grade: A-



Everything, Everywhere All at Once

Action comedy about a family that faces animosity towards one another and financial ruin. I could try to explain the plot further, but it is really better to go in knowing as little as possible. What I will say is that this movie is very much in the Being John Malkovich vein. It is also very funny at times. On the critical side, it is convoluted and perhaps a bit too clever for its own good. But overall it is a lot of fun.

Grade: B+



The Black Phone

Horror movie about a kid who is kidnapped and imprisoned in Ethan Hawk's basement, and has to find his way out, with help from earlier kidnapping victims that call him on the titular black phone. This is a pretty effective horror film and it also has a lot to say about victims and abuse (it is not subtle in its commentary). The performances are also quite good, with Hawk being downright terrifying at times.

Grade: A-

[mamselle]

I am so looking forward to "Catherine, Called Birdy." It looks like a rousing, well-written adventure, and the presence of the inimitable, scene-stealing Andrew Scott doesn't hurt. Out in theatres Sept. 23 as of Sept. 23, coming to Amazon Prime on October 7.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8tdJa3yiFM

I found a re-re-read this book a dozen times over the years. It's beautifully done; hope the film bears that out!

M.

[hmaria1609]

Somewhere in a box at home, I have the original 1994 paperback edition I bought from a Scholastic book fair at my K-8 school.
Here's an example of the cover:
https://www.abebooks.com/Catherine-Called-Birdy-Karen-Cushman-Harpercollins/31210999218/bd?cm_mmc=ggl-_-US_Shopp_Trade0to10-_-product_id=COM9780064496834USED-_-keyword=&gclid=CjwKCAjwm8WZBhBUEiwA178UnKMu8_SKc1q1rPpJXFinLWhHD2FnHwOcXzIVZusliI2AAtLxZjKsCRoCoo8QAvD_BwE
It was also used for the audiobook jacket.

[mamselle]

Yep, that's the one...

Love that cover....her expression is priceless!

M.

[ab_grp]

We watched Green Book last night.  I liked it more than I thought I would.  I'm sure it's probably familiar to most folks here, but it's the story of a blue collar, rough around the edges Italian White guy (Viggo Mortenson) who's hired to drive a well educated (three doctorates!) Black piano virtuoso Dr. Shirley (Mahershala Ali) on his concert tour through part of the midwest and then the deep South.  A big part of the job is making sure Dr. Shirley gets from concert to concert safely, navigating where he can stay via a "green book" travel guide for Black people.  The movie is very heavy-handed and obvious in what it does show about race relations.  Some of the big challenges seem either not to exist or to be dealt with very quickly, and I wish they delved a little more into aspects like Dr. Shirley's relationship with the other (White) members of his musical trio.  Despite this, and despite what I've read since about Dr. Shirley's family contesting some of the story, I did enjoy the movie very much (particularly the music).  I'm not a huge Mortenson fan (he's fine, but I'm just not as gaga over him as some are), but I thought he did a great job here, in so far as he just blended right into his character, and I ended up forgetting he was even in the movie.  Ali was excellent as usual, conveying the pride and pain and all the push and pull of his character very well. 

[Sun_Worshiper]

We watched Green Book last night.  I liked it more than I thought I would.  I'm sure it's probably familiar to most folks here, but it's the story of a blue collar, rough around the edges Italian White guy (Viggo Mortenson) who's hired to drive a well educated (three doctorates!) Black piano virtuoso Dr. Shirley (Mahershala Ali) on his concert tour through part of the midwest and then the deep South.  A big part of the job is making sure Dr. Shirley gets from concert to concert safely, navigating where he can stay via a "green book" travel guide for Black people.  The movie is very heavy-handed and obvious in what it does show about race relations.  Some of the big challenges seem either not to exist or to be dealt with very quickly, and I wish they delved a little more into aspects like Dr. Shirley's relationship with the other (White) members of his musical trio.  Despite this, and despite what I've read since about Dr. Shirley's family contesting some of the story, I did enjoy the movie very much (particularly the music).  I'm not a huge Mortenson fan (he's fine, but I'm just not as gaga over him as some are), but I thought he did a great job here, in so far as he just blended right into his character, and I ended up forgetting he was even in the movie.  Ali was excellent as usual, conveying the pride and pain and all the push and pull of his character very well.

I had a similar reaction after watching on an airplane. It is shmaltzy and predictable and the treatment of race is, as you say, heavy-handed and obvious (and I get why Spike Lee hated it), but it is also a fun and enjoyable watch.

[hmaria1609]

"Lady Jane" (1986) on Kanopy
Well done movie about Lady Jane Grey, dramatic license aside.

[ab_grp]

We finally got around to watching Pig last night (about a man's search for his stolen pig).  A few tissues were required.  I thought it was a very good movie, and it was certainly different in a lot of ways than other movies I've seen.  Something was nagging me afterward, and I think I have figured out that there was some kind of disconnect for me in the layers of emotion.  The story was superficially very sad at times, and I felt a deeper sadness at times, but it's almost like there was some middle layer that was missing and wasn't connecting the two, or that it was slightly out of alignment or something.  Like I knew I was supposed to feel sad, and I did, but I wasn't exactly sure what I was reacting to.  Anyway, this is a very bad description of my reaction to a movie that seemed as though it deserved higher ratings than it received on some platforms (although I wonder if others had a similar feeling about it that made them rate it lower than they would have otherwise).  It got a 97%/84% on Rotten Tomatoes but only a 6.9 on IMDB, for example.  Nicolas Cage played his role convincingly, and I would not have recognized his costar Alex Wolff as the son from Hereditary had the name not stuck out.  There were some plot points that I certainly would not have expected, and not all is explained by the end.  Is it one of those movies that I just have to think about more or let settle more? Or is it one that is meant to be unsettling? It's a difficult movie to sum up, but I would recommend it. 

Last weekend was apparently the time for dark fairy tales.  We rewatched Pan's Labyrinth (devastating and always captivating).  We also watched for the first time a recording of the original Broadway cast in Into the Woods.  I had always heard great things about it growing up and wasn't disappointed.  The songs are memorable and lyrics are clever, and the cast (including Bernadette Peters and Joanna Gleason) is wonderfully talented.  I just wish there were subtitles available so that I could catch it all.  Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf were probably two of my favorites, though I'm not sure that the Wolf could make it past the appropriateness police these days.

[Hegemony]

Ab_grp, where did you find the recording of Into the Woods?

[ab_grp]

Ab_grp, where did you find the recording of Into the Woods?

I got it on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Into-Woods-Sondheim-Bernadette-Peters/dp/B00NC9TT8A/

[Hegemony]

Thanks, ab_grp.

Well, we watched Catherine Called Birdy. Some very good performances, but the movie had a rough time maintaining the tone. Some witty lines and comic episodes mixed in with some scenes of a different nature (grueling childbirth, infant death, etc.). A bit meandering, and I thought the choice of modern music was a wrong choice. The reviews discuss the fact that it ends differently from the book, and parts of the ending were a little questionable. Still, some wit and style. Overall I'd give it a B or B-.

[Sun_Worshiper]

We finally got around to watching Pig last night (about a man's search for his stolen pig).  A few tissues were required.  I thought it was a very good movie, and it was certainly different in a lot of ways than other movies I've seen.  Something was nagging me afterward, and I think I have figured out that there was some kind of disconnect for me in the layers of emotion.  The story was superficially very sad at times, and I felt a deeper sadness at times, but it's almost like there was some middle layer that was missing and wasn't connecting the two, or that it was slightly out of alignment or something.  Like I knew I was supposed to feel sad, and I did, but I wasn't exactly sure what I was reacting to.  Anyway, this is a very bad description of my reaction to a movie that seemed as though it deserved higher ratings than it received on some platforms (although I wonder if others had a similar feeling about it that made them rate it lower than they would have otherwise).  It got a 97%/84% on Rotten Tomatoes but only a 6.9 on IMDB, for example.  Nicolas Cage played his role convincingly, and I would not have recognized his costar Alex Wolff as the son from Hereditary had the name not stuck out.  There were some plot points that I certainly would not have expected, and not all is explained by the end.  Is it one of those movies that I just have to think about more or let settle more? Or is it one that is meant to be unsettling? It's a difficult movie to sum up, but I would recommend it. 

Weird movie, but great.

[Stockmann]

My wife wanted to watch Starship Troopers for some reason. OK, so they have faster-than-light travel but not cellphones, drones, guided missiles, autonomous vehicles or any kind of AI or even friggin' tanks. I just couldn't take it seriously.