What movies did you see recently?

[angelenroute]

Last night I saw The Post. Good movie with lots of stars, some in very small roles (look up "The Post cast" in Google to see), but it felt like Spielberg allowed the leads to call it in too much. Streep and Hanks are better than this. They were both very good, just not as good as they could have been, and the music and overall drama lacked something, too. I may be totally off-base, but it felt like a few celebrities (Spielberg, Streep, and Hanks) met up for drinks one night and said, "We should make a movie together," and then just relaxed and had fun with it.

I loved the story, and was happy to have seen it, but I'm as baffled as I am sad that this got a Best Picture nod and I, Tonya didn't.

B-

Haven't seen Phantom Thread or Get Out yet, but I still have some time.

[Todd]

Despite our recent differences of opinion on "Call Me By Your Name," Sean, I agree with pretty much everything you've said here about the other best picture nominees. While I thought "Dunkirk" had an impressive look and feel to it, I, too, had trouble following some of the plot and dialogue. Things would crop up occasionally where I would ask myself, "Where did that come from?" or "I thought he was supposed to be a good guy, not a bad guy" or things to that effect. I thought you hit the nail right on the head with "The Post," too. It just didn't grab me at all, despite the heavy-duty talent involved.

Of all the ones that were nominated, the one I was most looking forward to was "The Darkest Hour." While I thought Gary Oldman was very deserving of best actor and I'm glad he won, I thought there was too much shouting and fiery speeches, and I had trouble understanding much of the dialogue in that one too, partly because Churchill came across (at least in the theater I saw it in) as having a bit of a mush-mouth delivery. When my favorite scene in the movie was the only one that was fictional (the London underground scene where Churchill elicits opinions on the war from the common folks on the train), that's not exactly a ringing endorsement for the movie and I came away from it quite disappointed.

I guess I was hoping "Lady Bird" would win, even though I found it a bit depressing at times. But the acting and story and script were the most interesting to me of all the films nominated for best picture. For me, the far and away best film I saw all year was "Wonder" about the boy dealing with facial disfiguration and how the love and support from his family and friends helped him along the way. "All The Money in the World" and "The Greatest Showman" would probably be my second and third favorites of the year. Sadly, none of those three were nominated.

I never saw "Get Out" or "I Tonya" or "Three Billboards in Ebbing, Missouri" or "The Shape of Water" or "The Phantom Thread." It just seems hard to believe that "The Shape of Water" was deemed better than all the others, as the previews and excerpts I've seen from it looked very weird and unappealing to me. All I could think of when it won best picture was that whomever still survives today who was involved with "Creature From the Black Lagoon" in the 1950's must have had a good laugh, and thought, "Who would have thought when we were making that schlock for Saturday matinees 60 years ago that it would morph into something that someday would be considered worthy of best picture !"

[angelenroute]

The Shape of Water confuses me, too. I see the beauty in it, as I appreciated the great cinematography and music, but it's very odd for a Best Picture winner. Darkest Hour was big and bold, and a great contender for Best Picture, but yes, if the parts of the movie I loved most were complete fabrications of an otherwise true story, what does that say about the production's ability to craft a story based on the facts? And I was warned beforehand that Dunkirk's storytelling was sometimes out of order. I like that in a film, and I like the challenge it puts to my brain, but from what I could tell, there was only one element that was out of order, and it confused the movie rather than charm it. I still haven't seen a couple of the Best Picture movies, but plan to soon.

[angelenroute]

I just saw Get Out. What follows is my best effort to describe it without cursing.

Do not proceed if you don't really want to know about the movie.

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This movie was extremely disturbing, and that's putting it lightly. I was told it had some suspense, but also a lot of comedy and social commentary. I completely disagree. Get Out is a horror movie with some comedy and a very small amount of social commentary. Did Jordan Peele deserve to be nominated for and win the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay? Yes! Did Daniel Kaluuya deserve to be nominated for Best Actor? u-u-ya he did! Did the movie also deserve Best Director and Best Picture nods? Yes! But all the people who told me this was just a fun, slightly scary movie with great social commentary flat-out lied to me. It's a horror movie, and I didn't need to see it. I HATE horror movies.

Since I saw it though, and am capable of objectively recognizing its greatness, I give the movie a solid A.

I just give my friends who pushed me to see it a solid F.

[angelenroute]

One more movie review (for now) and my Best Picture summary

Phantom Thread was a very good movie, but it fell far short of my hopes and expectations. I won't spoil the ending or movie for any of you, except to say there was an element, especially at the very end, which I found too weird to believe. Neither do I feel Daniel Day Lewis deserved an Oscar nod for this character, although I am VERY happy his character type now exists so prominently in cinematic history, as it's certainly a rare type that deserves attention and future comparison. B.

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Best Picture grades in order of my highest grade to my lowest grade:

Call Me by Your Name: A+
Darkest Hour: A
Get Out: A
The Shape of Water: A-
Lady Bird: B+
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri: B+
Phantom Thread: B
The Post: B-
Dunkirk: B-


Special Mention:
I, Tonya (not nominated for Best Picture, but should've been): A+

On my list to see soon: The Florida Project and Love, Simon

[kport]

New movies have dried up, for the moment, so I bit the bullet and went to see one that I had thought was made from a book for kids. A Wrinkle in Time is a story I was well aware existed, but hadn't crossed my reading list. Thus I was prepared to 1) either like the film or 2) walk out half way through.

I did some homework first. The critics are being somewhat harsh, but I was entertained throughout. Apparently Disney has taken out some of the religious imagery, and tampered with a beloved tale of redemption. I do not know, as I have not read the book. But what I saw was a wonderful story, beautifully filmed (loads of CGI, except the cave scene - the best, in my opinion, as it was a conventionally constructed set).

The acting was uniformly strong; I thought Oprah handled her role very well, as did Reese Witherspoon. Storm Reed and Levi Miller (from the 2015 movie Pan) were assured, but the star of the whole film turned out to be its youngest actor, Deric McCabe who, at nine, simply stole the show. This kid had to play the entire range of emotions, but his scene in the cave - when he becomes 'It', which is clearly meant to be Satan/Evil, is stunning.

If you know the book, you may find the film a disappointment. If you do not, you will see it as an allegorical representation of man's fall coupled with hope and the lesson that 'finding your dream' is always the best course to take.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhZ56rcWwRQ

[kport]

My new MoviePass is burning a hole in my pocket (unlimited films at any cinema for $7.95 a month - yes, it is true!) so I went to the first showing of 7 Days in Entebbe. Quite a good yarn, and certainly better (and, I suspect, more accurate) than Raid on Entebbe. It is a Working Title Film, produced by Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan - the same team behind BETM (film and musical). There is also a strong connection with modern dance and dancers, which opens and closes the film, and appears in the middle. I cannot describe it, but I can strongly recommend this film for those who like the genre. (I never knew that the only Israeli casualty was Benjamin Netanyahu's brother.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd9xcQj78Sk

[CJ-Rochester]

LOVE, SIMON is a totally charming, delightful and romantic film. It’s a coming of age story in the style of the great John Hughes movies of the 1980s, but with a gay protagonist. I laughed, cried, and loved it!

[angelenroute]

On Friday night, I went with a bunch of friends to see the movie Love, Simon. Thankfully, we had gotten our tickets in advance, because it was a sold-out crowd of mostly younger people (easier and easier for me to say with each passing year, but I digress).

I was a bit reticent to see the film originally, because I was worried it would smack of teen dramedies I'd seen in the past. Truth be told, some of the start of the film was this way. That said, it quickly found its feet and tone, and featured some super clever misdirection throughout. By the end of the film, I was crying, and the applause and cheering from the young audience gave me an enormous sense of hope for both the future and the present!

Go see Love, Simon, and you'll see what I mean. A.

[cheltonian]

I watched Call me by your name a couple of weeks ago. I've had to wait for the DVD release as the film wasn't screened anywhere near here. I absolutely loved it, the ending haunted me for days afterwards.