What movies did you see recently?

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kport
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Re: What movies did you see recently?

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Today I saw The 15:17 to Paris. About 20 minutes of it was very good - I thought the opening scenes were informative, and of course the actual terrorist attack was gripping (even though we saw snippets of it several times as flash forwards), and the final scene, where the three Americans and one Brit were awarded medals, was moving. But, in between, was an interminable 45 minutes? hour? lifetime? watching three men walk around European cities, taking endless selfies, and engaging in mind-numbing banal conversation. I can see the predicament: how to turn a brief incident into a full length film. There was no background about the terrorist, which would have added much to the film. The film seemed to be trying to play to a Christian crowd; yet missed that target (the Principal and various teachers of the 'Christian School' to which the three men were sent (as boys) were anything but 'Christian'). It was muddling. I suppose it made sense to Clint, who is 87.

(The good news is that I now have a Moviepass.com card, which allows me to see one movie a day for $10 a month. I will chalk up to today's movie as a loss that cost me nothing but two hours.......)

By the way, every aerial shot of the intercity SNCF train showed it travelling at about 30 mph. The train portrayed travels at a nominal speed of 120 km/hr (75 mph).
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Re: What movies did you see recently?

Post by Todd »

Those were also pretty much my exact thoughts on "The 15:17 to Paris." It was an awfully long build-up to the climactic - and admittedly well-done - confrontation on the train. I was confused by the Christian references too, as the staff at the Christian school in the film were pretty much the villainous, authoritative school administrators that you might see in a school comedy. I didn't find the boys particularly likeable either, as they seemed to be rebelling against everything for some unknown reason that was never explained. At least they turned into fine citizens as adults, but as was mentioned, their European vacation could have been trimmed down significantly in my opinion. . . . .but then it would have only been about a 40 minute movie.
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angelenroute
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Re: What movies did you see recently?

Post by angelenroute »

I saw three movies (so far) over this holiday weekend (it's President's Day today in the United States).

On Saturday, I saw Lady Bird. Beautiful movie, but it didn't grab me the way I think a Best Picture film should. I'd give it a solid B+.

On Sunday, I saw Call Me by Your Name for a third time. I won't re-review it, except to say it's filled with so many so-called Easter eggs worthy of exploration by topic (music, flies, clothes, time, mirrors, and names). The device has long appealed to me, because as an English Literature major, I was taught how writers often added inside jokes, alliteration, and other fun text play into their work, and I've since infused some of my books with hidden messages as well.

And today I saw Darkest Hour. With Gary Oldman winning so many Best Actor awards this season, I wanted to see what kind of game he had, and why he kept beating Timothée Chalamet so often. :) Well, I'm happy to say it: Gary Oldman was fantastic as Churchill! He did an amazing job, and at one point (Underground scene and the scene right after), he brought me to near-sobbing tears quite unexpectedly. Great movie from start to finish, and it's certainly piqued my interest more now for Dunkirk, which I hope to see very soon.

Dunkirk, The Shape of Water, and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri are next on my to-see list.

"Good writers define reality; bad ones merely restate it." -Edward Albee
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Re: What movies did you see recently?

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angelenroute wrote:I saw three movies (so far) over this holiday weekend (it's President's Day today in the United States).

On Saturday, I saw Lady Bird. Beautiful movie, but it didn't grab me the way I think a Best Picture film should. I'd give it a solid B+.

On Sunday, I saw Call Me by Your Name for a third time. I won't re-review it, except to say it's filled with so many so-called Easter eggs worthy of exploration by topic (music, flies, clothes, time, mirrors, and names). The device has long appealed to me, because as an English Literature major, I was taught how writers often added inside jokes, alliteration, and other fun text play into their work, and I've since infused some of my books with hidden messages as well.

And today I saw Darkest Hour. With Gary Oldman winning so many Best Actor awards this season, I wanted to see what kind of game he had, and why he kept beating Timothée Chalamet so often. :) Well, I'm happy to say it: Gary Oldman was fantastic as Churchill! He did an amazing job, and at one point (Underground scene and the scene right after), he brought me to near-sobbing tears quite unexpectedly. Great movie from start to finish, and it's certainly piqued my interest more now for Dunkirk, which I hope to see very soon.

Dunkirk, The Shape of Water, and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri are next on my to-see list.

You may be interested to learn that the Underground Scene - and the meeting right after with various people in The House of Commons - were entirely fictitious - they never happened! it is as genuine as would be a scene of General Washington with a corn cob pipe in his mouth, crossing the Delaware in a PT Boat, shouting 'I have returned' to the Redcoats in New Jersey....

http://variety.com/2017/film/columns/da ... 202622763/
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angelenroute
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Re: What movies did you see recently?

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kport wrote:You may be interested to learn that the Underground Scene - and the meeting right after with various people in The House of Commons - were entirely fictitious - they never happened! it is as genuine as would be a scene of General Washington with a corn cob pipe in his mouth, crossing the Delaware in a PT Boat, shouting 'I have returned' to the Redcoats in New Jersey....

http://variety.com/2017/film/columns/da ... 202622763/
Very interested to hear that, though not very surprised, I guess. It's the kind of legend I probably would have known about if it was true. Thanks for the non-history lesson! :)

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Re: What movies did you see recently?

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This weekend, I watched two more awards-season movies, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and I, Tonya. I really enjoyed both films, and I can see why they were nominated for such praise, although it baffles me why I, Tonya wasn't nominated for Best Picture. It's just too well done to have been passed over like that.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri: From what I can gather, this is an original screenplay made to be a movie, and not based on a real story or book. It's got multiple plot holes, situations that are just impossible and ultimately left unresolved, but if you haven't seen it yet, I suggest you just not worry about that going in. The movie seems to have been made simply from a place of fun storytelling, and I believe they succeed in this for the most part. There are little twists and turns throughout, some of which I felt needed even more twistiness, but maybe that's just me. Cool movie, just a bit too crazy. From a moral standpoint, it paints each character in the movie (except one) as flawed but redeemable, and I think there was only one character in the whole movie who didn't seem very flawed at all. It would be fascinating to re-watch the movie from a strictly moral perspective, weighing the positives and negatives of each character by action and dialogue throughout the film. I'd give it a B on its own, but I think the complexity of the characters and the story deserves a bump up to B+.

I, Tonya: Wow. If you're anything like me, you will have a preconceived notion about Tonya Harding going into this film, and you'll think you know what happened back when. You'll also realize how wrong you were. I found this film both fascinating and satisfying in equal measure, and laughed out loud at so much of the zany behavior and dialogue throughout. Allison Janney is amazing as Tonya's mom, and really, the whole cast was fantastic. It's set up like a documentary of sorts, only with lots of super fun crossovers in the storytelling, so the character will be speaking to the camera in the documentary part, and then they'll show the re-creation of the incident they're discussing, but even in that, the character will look at the camera and start talking to us then, too. Hard to describe, but it works! It's a really cool movie, and I was so impressed with the style of it from start to finish. A+

"Good writers define reality; bad ones merely restate it." -Edward Albee
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Re: What movies did you see recently?

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"Just Charlie", a groundbreaking debut feature film both by director Rebekah Fortune and main actor Harry Gilby (who, as a 12-year-old, played Nathan in West End musical "The Full Monty"), is a drama I can't recommend highly enough. Not because it's flawless, but because of the emotional impact it had on me and the phenomenal acting achievement of Harry Gilby. Being a 14-year-old cis-male and starring as a trans-girl - I didn't think it was possible. But it is. That's some serious talent there, and I urge you to watch this as soon as possible! It's also extraordinarily well written - painfully realistic, full of conflict, suspenseful until the very end.

Thanks to TheSkyKid for highlighting this movie: https://www.theskykid.com/just-charlie-2017/
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angelenroute
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Re: What movies did you see recently?

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Last night I watched Dunkirk. The most jaded part of me would say it's not a movie, it's footage. I just felt this was more of a cinematic experience than a true movie, although I certainly appreciated the cinematic experience. The music was powerful and the footage incredibly realistic, but I don't understand how this even entered the conversation to the level it has. Speaking of conversation, there was none! I mean, okay, there was some, but so very little talking overall. Yes, great faces and drama regardless, but when I think of the film from start to finish, it just feels as if a lot of people did their jobs very well, and then they forgot to put a script in there, too. And adding insult to injury, for the times there was dialogue, I missed a good 25% of it because the words were either garbled or incoherent or both.

When I saw Darkest Hour, it made me want to see Dunkirk, but honestly? Darkest Hour's passing references of Dunkirk were better than the movie Dunkirk. They showed at most 30-40 small boats showing up. C'mon now. I wanted to see the channel filled with them for a movie of this scope, and more soldiers shown on the beach besides. With all the great effects of the film, surely they could have multiplied the boats and soldiers digitally.

I've thoroughly trashed the movie here, so I completely understand if people want to argue my points. I just felt it was lacking a script, and it left me disappointed. I'd give it a B-, because at only an hour and 46 minutes, a great script was sorely lacking and could have easily been added to make it an A film.

"Good writers define reality; bad ones merely restate it." -Edward Albee
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Re: What movies did you see recently?

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angelenroute wrote:Last night I watched Dunkirk. The most jaded part of me would say it's not a movie, it's footage. I just felt this was more of a cinematic experience than a true movie, although I certainly appreciated the cinematic experience. The music was powerful and the footage incredibly realistic, but I don't understand how this even entered the conversation to the level it has. Speaking of conversation, there was none! I mean, okay, there was some, but so very little talking overall. Yes, great faces and drama regardless, but when I think of the film from start to finish, it just feels as if a lot of people did their jobs very well, and then they forgot to put a script in there, too. And adding insult to injury, for the times there was dialogue, I missed a good 25% of it because the words were either garbled or incoherent or both.

When I saw Darkest Hour, it made me want to see Dunkirk, but honestly? Darkest Hour's passing references of Dunkirk were better than the movie Dunkirk. They showed at most 30-40 small boats showing up. C'mon now. I wanted to see the channel filled with them for a movie of this scope, and more soldiers shown on the beach besides. With all the great effects of the film, surely they could have multiplied the boats and soldiers digitally.

I've thoroughly trashed the movie here, so I completely understand if people want to argue my points. I just felt it was lacking a script, and it left me disappointed. I'd give it a B-, because at only an hour and 46 minutes, a great script was sorely lacking and could have easily been added to make it an A film.
I understand completely your argument, Sean. I think, in defense of the film, it is designed to be seen from the British perspective. That was truly Britain's darkest hour, and I am afraid the US sat on the sidelines, unwilling to become involved, until Pearl Harbor dragged it into the war - by then, on two fronts. That said, it provided, for Americans at least, a useful history lesson that helped one understand The Darkest Hour. (As a sidenote, when I lived on the Dorset coast, the harbour had a number of 'small boats' still bobbing on their moorings; a memory to all that they really did do the task. You cannot take away from them the pluck and spirit that saved a nation, and probably a world.) So, whether the movie was good, bad or indifferent, the lesson it teaches our generation is a worthy one.

That aside, no one film ever trumped(sic) its portrayal of the naval combat of WWII better than this, with the score written by none other than Richard Rodgers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K75yDdY-fGQ

That series of black and white films for television is matched by the incomparable World at War Series, with a score by Carl Davis:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWbOnyfusI0
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Re: What movies did you see recently?

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I saw The Shape of Water last night. Strange but beautiful, beautiful but strange. I don't think it deserves either Best Picture or Best Actress, but I do agree completely with the nominations. As to Best Director, well, I'm not exactly an expert, but maybe? Guillermo del Toro wrote the (original) screenplay, directed and produced the film too, and I wouldn't have been too shocked to see he played "the monster", although no, that wasn't him. It's a great movie, and deserves lots of praise, but I don't think it deserves to win either Best Picture or Best Actress. Maybe Best Original Screenplay, but even there, I think Get Out is more deserving (even though I still haven't seen it). As for my grade, I think A-.

Still haven't seen* Get Out, The Post, or Phantom Thread.

-Sean

*I first wrote "need to see" and then changed it. I don't need to see any of these, but I do think it's fun to, and I've had enough time and apps this year to make it happen.

"Good writers define reality; bad ones merely restate it." -Edward Albee
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