|
Source: (consider it)
|
Thread: Movie thread
|
Stetson
Shipmate
# 9597
|
Posted
Tukai:
How much screen time does Christopher Plummer have? I've been wondering how impressive a feat it really was that he was able to prep for the role and memorize all his lines on short notice. (Not that it isn't at least to some degree impressive even if it's a short stint on the screen).
As for myself, the other night I watched Mysterious Skin, and I'm thinking I might be a little late to the party on this one, since it came out well over a decade ago, and I gather made a big impression, but I don't think I'd ever heard of it before last week.
Yeah, it was pretty good, very atmospheric, though at times that seemed like it might have been covering for a somewhat cobbled-together plotline(which is basically fine with me). The film was released in 2004, but the themes(sexual abuse, repressed memory, UFO abductions, all established within the first ten minutes or so) were so quintessentially 80s/90s, and the period detail(again 80s/90s) so sharp, I was wondering if it was meant as pastiche.
Hope it's not too much of a spoiler to observe that the revelation at the end wasn't exactly a shocker, and could probably be guessed by anyone familair with the archetypcal plotline. But that's only a mild disappointment, if that.
Also, very nice to look at, which makes an enjoyably unsettling contrast with the dark and often disturbing material.
[ 15. January 2018, 15:12: Message edited by: Stetson ]
Posts: 6574 | From: back and forth between bible belts | Registered: Jun 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
L'organist
Shipmate
# 17338
|
Posted
Christopher Plummer is on screen for nearly 20 minutes.
There is already talk of him being nominated for an Oscar for his performance and critics are universally in awe of his portrayel of J.Paul Getty, especially those few who are old enough to remember the person.
--------------------
Rara temporum felicitate ubi sentire quae velis et quae sentias dicere licet
Posts: 4950 | From: somewhere in England... | Registered: Sep 2012
| IP: Logged
|
|
Stetson
Shipmate
# 9597
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by leo:
Brilliant film - though the book is better.
Are you referring to Mysterious Skin? If so, I did get the impression that some of the motifs from the book were truncated for the movie, giving it a bit of a disjointed feel.
SPOILERS
Especially the UFO stuff. It's evident that the kid is using UFOs as a screen-memory for having been raped, but it's not quite clear how that's happening. For example, it seems that he and his family DID see a UFO in their backyward, but(unless I missed something), that sighting is never explained away.
--------------------
I have the power...Lucifer is lord!
Posts: 6574 | From: back and forth between bible belts | Registered: Jun 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
Stetson
Shipmate
# 9597
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by leo:
The UFOs are from he author's real life and the book spells this out better.
Most interesting is the non-judgmentalism shows towards the abuser.
SPOILERS
You mean the coach? The film(don't know about the book) seemed to be trying to be avoid the usual Hollywood melodrama approach to pedophilia, but I did think we were meant to understand that his actions inflicted serious harm upon the two boys.
And I noticed that the music changed to somewhat more sinister tones when the interactions with the coach progressed from playing to abuse.
--------------------
I have the power...Lucifer is lord!
Posts: 6574 | From: back and forth between bible belts | Registered: Jun 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
Golden Key
Shipmate
# 1468
|
Posted
Saw "The Post" today. Worth seeing. And a nice little trip to the 70s.
![[Cool]](cool.gif)
--------------------
Blessed Gator, pray for us!
--"Oh bat bladders, do you have to bring common sense into this?" (Dragon, "Jane & the Dragon")
--"Oh, Peace Train, save this country!" (Yusuf/Cat Stevens, "Peace Train")
Posts: 18601 | From: Chilling out in an undisclosed, sincere pumpkin patch. | Registered: Oct 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Trudy Scrumptious
BBE Shieldmaiden
# 5647
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Golden Key:
Saw "The Post" today. Worth seeing. And a nice little trip to the 70s.
Yes, I loved The Post. Also great nostalgia trip for anyone who grew up around printshops and newspapers, as I did. The scenes of them setting type alone were worth the price of admission, although of course the story and acting were great as well.
--------------------
Books and things.
I lied. There are no things. Just books.
Posts: 7428 | From: Closer to Paris than I am to Vancouver | Registered: Mar 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
Golden Key
Shipmate
# 1468
|
Posted
Yes. Going in, I had forgotten they would've used hand-set type. That was fun--as were the rotary phones! I sometimes miss that rhythmic way of dialing, and finding just the right time to let go of one number, and go on to the next.
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Trudy, you might like Terry Pratchett's novel "The Truth", about the first newspaper in Ankh-Morpork. Has much of the nitty-gritty of putting out a paper.
--------------------
Blessed Gator, pray for us!
--"Oh bat bladders, do you have to bring common sense into this?" (Dragon, "Jane & the Dragon")
--"Oh, Peace Train, save this country!" (Yusuf/Cat Stevens, "Peace Train")
Posts: 18601 | From: Chilling out in an undisclosed, sincere pumpkin patch. | Registered: Oct 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
|
Posted
Two film reviews that I feel mildly embarrassed about posting to follow the last one.
Jumanji:Welcome to the Jungle and Justice League
Mild spoilers for the perspicacious.
Annoying how this software eliminates returns, isn't it?
Necessitating these irrelevant lines of text.
As annoying for me as it is for you.
Trust me.
Anyway, Jumanji is a fun film. Not a great one, barely even good in some ways, but very fun. Which is all it pretends to be. An adventure film based on video games. It does poke fun at them, but not so much from an insiders POV that an outsider cannot enjoy. The action is fun and purposefully OTT. The plot is very predictable and nearly every scene is telegraphed. But, come on, that is what it is supposed to be. Is it a worthy sequel to the original? No, but please, Robin Williams, so it never could have been. It goes in a different direction. My one complaint is that some of the actors went too far into parody in attempting to portray teens. Too far over the top.
Was this film worth an attempt at a review? No.
Is it worth watching? Yes. Just do not expect too much.
Now Justice League. I wanted to love the film. No, not just because of Gal Godot ![[Razz]](tongue.gif) . I actually like Affleck's Batman and the teasers of Momoa's Aquaman, Miller's Flash and Fisher's Cyborg. And there lay my biggest disappointment with this film. The actors were fine, Miller was adorable, and they felt as if they were walking on from completed origins. The writing, on the other hand, did not. It is difficult to convey a fully-fledged person and their conflicts without writing vignettes at least, but it can be done. Just not by anyone DC hires.
The exception is Affleck's Batman. He truly does carry is backstory through the film and Affleck is well suited to this role. I say this as someone who is not his biggest fan.
Worth watching, yes. And on a big screen, just not for full price.
Caveat: I expected little going in, so wasn't disappointed when that is what I received.
--------------------
I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
|
Posted
It drives me mad because the writing is =easy= to fix=. You can do that with Word. No actors necessary! How can they go to shooting without a solid script? It's madness.
--------------------
Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
| IP: Logged
|
|
Oscar the Grouch
Adopted Cascadian
# 1916
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Jane R:
I have seen Paddington 2 and it is very nearly as good as the first film, something which you can't say of many sequels.
Paddington 2 has finally reached North America.
Wonderful film which is even better than P1. Hugh Grant should get an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor (something Phoenix Buchanan would never get!). A genuine "feel good" movie. What is probably most impressive is that the writers and Ben Whishaw have managed to do an amazing job in portraying Paddington perfectly. He is just as he appears in the books.
--------------------
Faradiu, dundeibáwa weyu lárigi weyu
Posts: 3871 | From: Gamma Quadrant, just to the left of Galifrey | Registered: Dec 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Stetson
Shipmate
# 9597
|
Posted
Weekend roundup:
Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland.
I had put off watching this for a while, because I am NOT a Burton fan(except for a couple of his more realistic films). And this was even worse than I had anticipated. I get the impression that someone at Disney wanted to do a pseudo-feminist, sword-and-sorcerized version of Wizard Of Oz, but couldn't get the rights.
Flags Of Our Fathers
Clint Eastwood's somewhat iconoclastic take on the famous flag-raising photo from World War II. Geenrally(if slightly stereotypically) reverential in its treatment of common soldiers, quite cyncial in its view of the the politicization and commercialization of patritoic imagery, as well as of heroism itself. Recommended, if only for its interesting history on the creation of that photograph.
[ 21. January 2018, 13:58: Message edited by: Stetson ]
Posts: 6574 | From: back and forth between bible belts | Registered: Jun 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
Stetson
Shipmate
# 9597
|
Posted
Downsizing.
The premise is is pretty much a gimmick(ie. a guy gets shrunk down in size as a socially-conscious lifestyle choice), and doesn't even really do much with the gimmick. Once the main character gets shrunk and moves into an eco-friendly community for "little people", it becomes basically a story about a guy living in an affluent, eco-friendly gated community, with the possibilities emerging from his new physical state going largely unexploited.
I'd guess that the reason for that is, the writers soon realized that shrinking a guy to the size of a matchbox is useful mostly for advancing slapstick scenarios, but they had more high-minded aspirations than that, so more-or-less abandoned direct engagement with the original premise.
Definitely the weakest effort I've seen so far from Alexander Payne, who should probably stick to realistic comedies from now on.
Posts: 6574 | From: back and forth between bible belts | Registered: Jun 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
Ian Climacus
Liturgical Slattern
# 944
|
Posted
Just back from seeing "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri".
As a fan of Frances McDormand she did not disappoint: she was amazing. I also loved "In Bruges" so having Martin McDonagh as the director made me want to see it.
Flawed and damaged characters; over the top at times; dark, black humour: the film had it all and more for me. An interesting array of characters, pain and suffering interspersed with joy, great filming and locations -- I really enjoyed it.
Posts: 7800 | From: On the border | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
leo
Shipmate
# 1458
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Ian Climacus:
Just back from seeing "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri".
As a fan of Frances McDormand she did not disappoint: she was amazing. I also loved "In Bruges" so having Martin McDonagh as the director made me want to see it.
Flawed and damaged characters; over the top at times; dark, black humour: the film had it all and more for me. An interesting array of characters, pain and suffering interspersed with joy, great filming and locations -- I really enjoyed it.
I saw that earlier this week.
--------------------
My Jewish-positive lectionary blog is at http://recognisingjewishrootsinthelectionary.wordpress.com/
My reviews at http://layreadersbookreviews.wordpress.com
Posts: 23198 | From: Bristol | Registered: Oct 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Gill H
Shipmate
# 68
|
Posted
Just back from Coco. Utterly beautiful, heartwrenching (thanks Pixar, you moved me to tears again) and fun film.
I think we were the only ones in the theatre who knew who Frida Kahlo was though!
--------------------
*sigh* We can’t all be Alan Cresswell.
- Lyda Rose
Posts: 9313 | From: London | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Ian Climacus
Liturgical Slattern
# 944
|
Posted
A hot day, so I stayed indoors watching one of several movies I bought with a gift card.
1972's "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie" (Le Charme discret de la bourgeoisie) was on a list of must-see films I came across and it is very much worth seeing. It concerns 6 well-off friends whose dinner plans are continually interrupted by increasingly bizarre events.
I didn't find the characters likeable, perhaps the point! as they seemed entitled and happy to look down on others, but the story was engaging, the script tight, the scenes well done and the ending suitably mysterious. Enjoyed it.
Posts: 7800 | From: On the border | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Eutychus
From the edge
# 3081
|
Posted
Just back from The Post, which is certainly timely and has a nice nod to All the president's men in it.
--------------------
Let's remember that we are to build the Kingdom of God, not drive people away - pastor Frank Pomeroy
Posts: 17944 | From: 528491 | Registered: Jul 2002
| IP: Logged
|
|
Enoch
Shipmate
# 14322
|
Posted
Have any Shipmates been to Darkest Hour?
I probably won't go to see it. He had his faults but for all that, Churchill was a great man. We owe a big debt to him. But patriotism, 'our finest hour', 'fighting them on the beaches' etc has become such a poisonous brew at the moment that I don't think I can face it.
Has anyone seen it? Are my fears irrational, or are they justified.
--------------------
Brexit wrexit - Sir Graham Watson
Posts: 7610 | From: Bristol UK(was European Green Capital 2015, now Ljubljana) | Registered: Nov 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
Stetson
Shipmate
# 9597
|
Posted
Climacus wrote:
quote:
I didn't find the characters likeable, perhaps the point!
Yes, in Bunuel, people above a certain income level are usually shown in a less than complimentary light.
SPOILER
"If Mao said that, he didn't understand Freud at all."
SPOILER
Posts: 6574 | From: back and forth between bible belts | Registered: Jun 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
Ian Climacus
Liturgical Slattern
# 944
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Stetson:
Yes, in Bunuel, people above a certain income level are usually shown in a less than complimentary light.
Ah, thanks. They were rather unlikeable.
Will need to find more by Bunuel.
Posts: 7800 | From: On the border | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Stetson
Shipmate
# 9597
|
Posted
quote:
Will need to find more by Bunuel.
You can probably find his early films with Dali on YouTube, L'age D'or and Un Chien Andalou(they're more Daliesque than Bunuel's later stuff).
I'm guessing you could find Simon Of The Desert as well, which if I recall correctly is a satrical metaphor for religion. It's only 45 minutes long, and has a pretty funny denoument.
Posts: 6574 | From: back and forth between bible belts | Registered: Jun 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
Pine Marten
Shipmate
# 11068
|
Posted
Ooh no - that horrible eyeball scene gave me nightmares for years when I saw it when I was a child.... ![[Ultra confused]](graemlins/confused2.gif) ![[Eek!]](eek.gif) ![[Waterworks]](graemlins/bawling.gif)
--------------------
Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead. - Oscar Wilde
Posts: 1731 | From: Isle of Albion | Registered: Feb 2006
| IP: Logged
|
|
Stetson
Shipmate
# 9597
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Pine Marten:
Ooh no - that horrible eyeball scene gave me nightmares for years when I saw it when I was a child....
Interesting. I had already heard about that scene before I watched the film(as an adult), so I wasn't shocked or even really disturbed.
The baby-carriage scene from Battleship Potemkin, on the other hand, did give me the creeps, when I woke up early one morning and turned on the TV to see it playing(odd that I happened to turn it on right at that scene).
Posts: 6574 | From: back and forth between bible belts | Registered: Jun 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
Nicolemr
Shipmate
# 28
|
Posted
I just showed for a group of library patrons a rather slight little animated movie called Tock Dog. It was decidedly so-so, though it had a few cute moments. It's about a Tibetan mastiff who wants to be a rock star.
--------------------
On pilgrimage in the endless realms of Cyberia, currently traveling by ship. Now with live journal!
Posts: 11803 | From: New York City "The City Carries On" | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Pangolin Guerre
Shipmate
# 18686
|
Posted
I saw Darkest Hour, and wasn't mad keen on it. It was a visually dark film, rather overdoing the "atmosphere" in the way it was shot., and rather oppressive for it. The House of Commons looks like it was shot during a blackout. Oldman does a decent impersonation of Churchill, but didn't give me much of a glimpse into Churchill's psychology. As well, the tube scene was an unnecessary fictional distraction. A bit too much of "a little touch of Harry in the night." B-.
Call Me By Your Name was just beautiful. Oddly (or perhaps not, given my age) I most closely identified with the father. Hard-won but elegantly worn wisdom in that man. Little happens by way of event, but it builds so gracefully toward its last 15 minutes. Does mother know? I want to know, does she know about what? Father? Son? (And, in my experience, mothers always know, even if they refuse to recognise that they know - but that's for another thread.)
Lady Bird. What? A mother-daughter film in which the two women are not entirely likeable, no leavening quirkiness - in fact, down right frustrating sometimes. How the Hell did that get made? No car chase? No redeeming boyfriend? Just trudging on through life. Unusual emotional honesty for an American film, at least one getting this kind of distribution. I have to see it again. I think that I'll like it even more.
[ 01. February 2018, 00:22: Message edited by: Pangolin Guerre ]
Posts: 758 | From: 30 arpents de neige | Registered: Nov 2016
| IP: Logged
|
|
Stetson
Shipmate
# 9597
|
Posted
quote:
It was a visually dark film, rather overdoing the "atmosphere" in the way it was shot., and rather oppressive for it. The House of Commons looks like it was shot during a blackout.
I hate that in films. It's usually used to inject artificial gravitas into the storyline("Ooh, dim lighting, must be something important going on"), and you get confused as to whether it's intentional, or if there's something wrong with the physical condiction of the film or the device you're watching it on.
--------------------
I have the power...Lucifer is lord!
Posts: 6574 | From: back and forth between bible belts | Registered: Jun 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
Gracious rebel
Rainbow warrior
# 3523
|
Posted
Not exactly a movie, but a TV series I have just watched on DVD. It was shown last year on BBC 'Broken' starring Sean Bean as a Catholic priest in a gritty Northern setting.
Not an easy watch. There were days when I couldn't face watching another episode as I knew it would sting too much.
Realistic, messy, we see the priest, ministering to parishioners who find themselves in all sorts of tragic situations, while fighting his own demons. Absolutely amazing. As a portrayal of what it truly means (and costs) to try to offer genuine Christlike pastoral care in the real world, I don't think it has been bettered.
How did I manage to miss this when it was on TV last year? Anybody else seen it? What do the Catholics here think?
--------------------
Fancy a break beside the sea in Suffolk? Visit my website
Posts: 4413 | From: Suffolk UK | Registered: Nov 2002
| IP: Logged
|
|
Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
|
Posted
We went to see The Shape of Watger yesterday. Highly recommended -- I think that science fiction films have finally moved beyond action-adventure or horror to art.
--------------------
Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
| IP: Logged
|
|
Eutychus
From the edge
# 3081
|
Posted
If you can find The Insult playing anywhere near you, drop everything and go and watch it, and remember you saw it here first when it wins an Oscar for best foreign-language film.
--------------------
Let's remember that we are to build the Kingdom of God, not drive people away - pastor Frank Pomeroy
Posts: 17944 | From: 528491 | Registered: Jul 2002
| IP: Logged
|
|
Mr Clingford
Shipmate
# 7961
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Gracious rebel:
Not exactly a movie, but a TV series I have just watched on DVD. It was shown last year on BBC 'Broken' starring Sean Bean as a Catholic priest in a gritty Northern setting.
Not an easy watch. There were days when I couldn't face watching another episode as I knew it would sting too much.
Realistic, messy, we see the priest, ministering to parishioners who find themselves in all sorts of tragic situations, while fighting his own demons. Absolutely amazing. As a portrayal of what it truly means (and costs) to try to offer genuine Christlike pastoral care in the real world, I don't think it has been bettered.
How did I manage to miss this when it was on TV last year? Anybody else seen it? What do the Catholics here think?
I'm not a Catholic.
I thought it was the best thing I saw last year. Massively moving and extremely powerful.
--------------------
Ne'er cast a clout till May be out.
If only.
Posts: 1660 | From: A Fleeting moment | Registered: Jul 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
Stetson
Shipmate
# 9597
|
Posted
All The Money In The World.
Saw it on the weekend. Yeah, it was good, though, in keeping with the general trend of Ridley Scott's recent output, wasn't exactly cutting-edge in either it craftsmanship or narrative technique.
And granted, this could be a bit of kneejerk film-snobbery, but I found myself thinking that Kevin Spacey would have been more interesting as J. Paul Getty. Christopher Plummer is actually an actor of rather limited range, and his performance seemed like yet another rendition of the same partician, corporate villain he played in Wolf, 12 Monkeys, Syriana, and Inside Man.
--------------------
I have the power...Lucifer is lord!
Posts: 6574 | From: back and forth between bible belts | Registered: Jun 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
|
Posted
Too bad Spacey's character doesn't seem to match his talent.
--------------------
I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
jacobsen
seeker
# 14998
|
Posted
I'm catching up on Disney! Bedknobs and Broomsticks. More than 30 years old, and dated, but quite entertaining.
Angela Lansbury, who plays the apprentice witch, has come a long way from the actress who featured in a book on "Broads". It must be an advantage not to be an ingenue or romantic lead - she has had a long-running career as a character actor - detective in "Murder she wrote", and also in theatre. And that's with multiple joint replacements.
I find cinemas' surround sound too loud, and am rarely around to watch films on TV, so rely on DVDs. Unless I'm at a friend who has catch-up - my TV is too elderly for that.
--------------------
But God, holding a candle, looks for all who wander, all who search. - Shifra Alon
Beauty fades, dumb is forever-Judge Judy
The man who made time, made plenty.
Posts: 8040 | From: Æbleskiver country | Registered: Aug 2009
| IP: Logged
|
|
Gill H
Shipmate
# 68
|
Posted
Angela Lansbury is indeed amazing. Loved her small but effective role in the recent BBC version of 'Little Women' as Aunt March.
Back to 'Bedknobs and Broomsticks' which really does look as if Disney wanted to do 'Mary Poppins 2 - now with added Nazis!'. I grew up with 'Disney Time' on TV every Easter and Christmas, so must have seen that football match dozens of times. But my favourite part is 'Portobello Road'. Who knew multiculturalism was so easy? Just ask the Sherman Brothers to write a catchy tune and get everyone to do a dance number. Sorted!
--------------------
*sigh* We can’t all be Alan Cresswell.
- Lyda Rose
Posts: 9313 | From: London | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Stetson
Shipmate
# 9597
|
Posted
Black Panther.
All the discussion of the cultural/political significance aside, It was nice to see a Marvel film that wasn't loaded with cross-references and in-jokes.
Though I gather the next installment is gonna have the hero teaming up with The Avengers, so I guess that was too good to last.
--------------------
I have the power...Lucifer is lord!
Posts: 6574 | From: back and forth between bible belts | Registered: Jun 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
Stetson
Shipmate
# 9597
|
Posted
Phantom Of The Opera.
Yep, THAT one. Lon Chaney, 1925. Another one of those "I can't believe I didn't see this before the age of 49" entrants for me.
I guess both the film and Chaney's performance live up to their time-honoured reputation. He certainly was an expert at conveying voiceless emotion(a generally required talent in those days, though he was probably better than most).
I did find find the film somewhat LESS romatic than the Lloyd Webber treatment(which I'd wager is now most people's idea of the story). You get the impression that the Phantom really is just a creep, not someone you would dress up as when proposing to your girlfriend(yes, I have heard a credible story of someone doing that, dressed in the Lloyd Webber costume).
I don't know if I had ever before seen a black-and-white film tinted in the way that this one was. Plus, the Masque scene is in actual Technicolor.
Posts: 6574 | From: back and forth between bible belts | Registered: Jun 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
Stetson
Shipmate
# 9597
|
Posted
The Running Man.
I think this was the first time that I'd ever seen the whole thing in its entirety. "The Game Where The Players Die" does have an honourable enough pedigree(The Minotaur and all that), but I find it to be one of the more overused tropes in recent sci-fi, and I don't think it was much more original in 1987 than it is now.
Jabs at reality TV are both prescient, but for that reason, also a little stale by contemporary lights, since the rise of the genre has of course been accompanied by a rise in criticism of it("The Kardashians" now being short-hand for whatever aspects of pop culture that someone doesn't like). So that part of the storyline probably isn't as cutting-edge as it admittedly might have been in the late 80s.
Other than that, everyone does their job competently enough, especially Richard Dawson as a man-you-love-to-hate villain. Though, for true appreciation, it probably helps for that bit of casting to be a surprise. Which it probably isn't for most viewers now. (If they know who he is, which, if they don't, it's even less effective.)
[ 17. February 2018, 16:00: Message edited by: Stetson ]
--------------------
I have the power...Lucifer is lord!
Posts: 6574 | From: back and forth between bible belts | Registered: Jun 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Stetson:
Black Panther.
All the discussion of the cultural/political significance aside, It was nice to see a Marvel film that wasn't loaded with cross-references and in-jokes.
Though I gather the next installment is gonna have the hero teaming up with The Avengers, so I guess that was too good to last.
Whilst the MCU maintains continuity and twists its story-lines through each other, I don't think it is completely accurate to say that the Avengers films are instalments in the individual character's own story-line.
Whilst it the film suffered from a few flaws that, I think could have been tweaked, it was easily one of the top Marvel films, and I think the best. It also deserves a top place in the pantheon of superhero films, regardless of who made them.
--------------------
I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
jedijudy
Organist of the Jedi Temple
# 333
|
Posted
I'm another one that saw Black Panther. Daughter-Unit, her dear hubby and I went together, and we really enjoyed it! The story was a good one for people like me who had never seen one of the comics. The fierce women were awesome!!!
Just a heads-up...there are two extras during and after the credits. Don't leave as soon as the movie is over!
I also saw The Shape of Water. I liked the film, but it was very odd. I don't think it counts as a spoiler to mention that it's a bit disturbing that the cleaning women were cleaning and cleaning, but everything looked dark and filthy. Let's just say, I wouldn't get in that tub!!!
--------------------
Jasmine, little cat with a big heart.
Posts: 18017 | From: 'Twixt the 'Glades and the Gulf | Registered: Aug 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Pangolin Guerre
Shipmate
# 18686
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Gill H:
Angela Lansbury is indeed amazing. Loved her small but effective role in the recent BBC version of 'Little Women' as Aunt March.
Back to 'Bedknobs and Broomsticks' which really does look as if Disney wanted to do 'Mary Poppins 2 - now with added Nazis!'. I grew up with 'Disney Time' on TV every Easter and Christmas, so must have seen that football match dozens of times. But my favourite part is 'Portobello Road'. Who knew multiculturalism was so easy? Just ask the Sherman Brothers to write a catchy tune and get everyone to do a dance number. Sorted!
I remember loving Angela Lansbury as the (rather sinister) Grandmother in The Company of Wolves.
Posts: 758 | From: 30 arpents de neige | Registered: Nov 2016
| IP: Logged
|
|
Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by jedijudy:
I also saw The Shape of Water. I liked the film, but it was very odd. I don't think it counts as a spoiler to mention that it's a bit disturbing that the cleaning women were cleaning and cleaning, but everything looked dark and filthy. Let's just say, I wouldn't get in that tub!!!
Yes, wasn't it strange?
The Creature from the Black Lagoon in a Fred Astaire romance. I noted how all the good guys were the under-people of that time period -- women, handicapped persons, blacks, gays, creatures of unlovely species that were not cute. They were never the heroes of all the media stuff that we were shown, the TV, the movies. But they all worked together to help each other. The people at the top, the white men with the power who were confident they were the stars, would stab each other in the back at the drop of a hat.
--------------------
Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
| IP: Logged
|
|
lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Stetson:
Black Panther.
All the discussion of the cultural/political significance aside,
Except, let us talk about this a bit.
The world building was amazing here. Not perfect, but better than any Marvel attempt so far.
The others are either pretty much our world with a few fantasy elements or complete fantasy. For Wakanda they needed to create a civilisation and ethos that did into exist, yet still blended with reality. And without being a cliché stereotype.
Add in strong, fierce women who were not dominated by the males and address cultural issues and current politics: this film is larger than the sum of its parts.
[ 21. February 2018, 22:13: Message edited by: lilBuddha ]
--------------------
I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
louis crandall
Apprentice
# 18781
|
Posted
Just got back from seeing The shape of water.
I thought it was an excellent film. hoping to see Black panther next Saturday.
Posts: 9 | From: Edge of the Fens | Registered: May 2017
| IP: Logged
|
|
louis crandall
Apprentice
# 18781
|
Posted
Also looking forward to seeing The breadwinner and Mary and the witchs flower- the latter made by studio ponoc who are Studio Ghibli alumni if not at the cinema then as soon as they come on dvd. also big fan of Makoto Shinkai.
Posts: 9 | From: Edge of the Fens | Registered: May 2017
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
Stetson
Shipmate
# 9597
|
Posted
Getting this in before the sinking...
Somewhat coincideantally, given subsequent events, I watched Dogma the other night, for the first time since it came out in '99.
I wasn't overly impressed with it the first time, and my opinion didn't change much upon a re-screening. There are some fairly amusing set-ups and runs of dialogue, but the overarching theology seemed derived from the plot-line of one of those ridiculous Catholic-themed horror films, like End Of Days. And at least those are usually redeemed by having cool visuals.
But credit to Kevin Smith for trying to grapple with religious themes in a youth-oriented ruanch comedy. Gotta go.
Posts: 6574 | From: back and forth between bible belts | Registered: Jun 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
Printer-friendly view
