What MOVIE(s) have you been....seeing? watching?

I watched La La Land last evening.
I had, inadvertently, read the spoilers on this forum and Gregarius' theory is what actually saved the ending for me. It makes perfect sense, the problem is that the scene is not shot in the way that's obvious that it is his perspective.

It is a good movie, all in all, very enjoyable, goof chemistry, good music and photography, but I don't think it has any lasting appeal. I can't picture it being a Broadway hit without some major overhaul. There's not enough comedy or drama to keep it going, basically no secondary characters and very few ensemble numbers (which are actually the weakest parts of the movie). It will probably get some Oscars - I can imagine a bunch of Hollywood stars shedding tears over it saying: "This is exactly my life, music numbers and all".

I watched "A Hologram for the King" which is basically Joe vs. the Volcano part II, with a washed up Tom Hanks headed to Saudi Arabia to try and make a big sale. Of course he has a wacky Saudi sidekick who loves American music and they hit all the mandatory Saudi marks: public executions, hijabs, invisible Filipino workers, fancy cars and a building bubble. It felt like Qatar. Still, it was infused with quiet melancholy, and I enjoyed it on a gut level. I've been taking swimming lessons, so

SuperflyTNT wrote: Finally saw Rogue One. Disappointing in ways - I wanted Forrest Whittaker to be more active in the film.

The ending is great.

It's very slow, like A New Hope was, and it's much more Guns of Navarrone than Empire Strikes Back. Cool film, just wish it was 20m longer and the "offshoot extremists" had more
involvement.

Fucking Death Star tho. Holy shit.

I finally saw Rogue One yesterday and had a similar reaction overall. The Death Star attacks were reminiscent of the planetary destruction wrought by the Necromongers in The Chronicles of Riddick. Besides Forest Whitaker, I would have liked to have seen more screen time for Mads Mikkelson and Jimmy Smits, though at least Donnie Yen got good scenes.

I waited about one week too long to see this movie, because it was a week ago when a stupid old man spoiled the ending for me. I was briefly tempted to punch him in the face while shouting SPOILERS!

Gary Sax wrote: ^yep, confused the two because I saw the fences thing while walking out.

This seems to be a thing now

Vlad wrote: It will probably get some Oscars - I can imagine a bunch of Hollywood stars shedding tears over it saying: "This is exactly my life, music numbers and all".

YES. I haven't seen it, but a fucking musical about how tough it is to be a handsome/beautiful entertainer? Holy shit, the Academy won't be able to resist. Will they pick the movie about the gay black teen or the movie about the life they think they lead? Hmm.

HMMMMMMM.

Moonlight is lucky that the Golden Globes have a category for Drama that excludes La La Land or that movie wouldn't see any big awards this year. Actually that's not true, they'll get Supporting Actor.

jeb wrote:

Vlad wrote: It will probably get some Oscars - I can imagine a bunch of Hollywood stars shedding tears over it saying: "This is exactly my life, music numbers and all".

YES. I haven't seen it, but a fucking musical about how tough it is to be a handsome/beautiful entertainer? Holy shit, the Academy won't be able to resist. Will they pick the movie about the gay black teen or the movie about the life they think they lead? Hmm.

HMMMMMMM.

Ha. I loved La La Land, more than Moonlight (which I think is a little overrated... eh, La La Land probably is, too), but your comment is spot on.

Well, I think Jeb classifying it as a 'fucking musical' shows a deep unappreciation for the genre and what the Academy finds good in movies. If La La Land was a drama, it wouldn't even get noticed by the Academy. Also it IS really tough being a handsome/beautiful entertainer. It's practically impossible to find success.

I think the story in La La Land is actually stronger than, say, Cafe Society.


I don't want to start anything political so PLEASE avoid doing so, but with Meryl Streep taking a bunch of time to speak against Trump at the Golden Globes, I'm guessing we're going to see much more of this at the Oscars? What do you guys think?

Casey Affleck not only won last night, but he won best actor earlier at another awards festival. At that one he used his speech to read a scathing review of his performance by one movie critic. It was really funny.

I hope the Oscars show does one, maybe two good Trump digs, especially if incorporated creatively into film footage or something. What I don't want is every acceptance speech going off on Trump. For crying out loud, that feeds into his self-obsession. Just be about the art.

Musical or not, La La Land was pretty darn creative and charming in some ways. I think it deserves praise and probably at least some Oscar love, regardless of it being self-congratulatory as a Hollywood success story (which I don't think it ever revels in, anyway).

oh, it'll win all the big stuff (Director, Best Picture). I agree that it's charming as balls. I really don't know if Emma Stone will be able to hold off Natalie Portman though. That's gonna be close.

What worries me about the Trump stuff is that the Streep speech against Trump has become the MAIN story coming out of the Golden Globes, which is stupid.

The fact that *A STORY* came out of the Golden Globes is probably more significant than anything.

Politically, don't forget, this is the honeymoon. The criticism of Trump is going to get much worse once he's in office. That he took to Twitter to call Streep "overrated" (?!) means it'll be a long hard slog. Celebrities love to be noticed, and Trump vs everyone that says he's a bad person is going to be ridiculous.

It should be noted, I hate musicals. So don't take any extra offense in my "fucking musical" comment. But come on: a decent musical about the entertainment industry? It's heroin for MPAA members. "Oh, it's true, it is really hard!" Sure it is. Most folks fail and then get actual jobs like the rest of us. They don't end up in the MPAA getting to vote on things like this winning best picture.

That's more than fair, Jeb. But i'm seeing a similarity with both you and Vlad's beef with La La Land. You guys realize it's a movie for people that are romanticized about Hollywood, right? For people that actually like and dream of Hollywood. Maybe you guys aren't the target audience.

Are you sure you know what the MPAA is? Aren't they simply the group that rates movies. Members of the MPAA include Disney, Paramount, Universal, etc. I think you mean the Academy which is short-form for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Seems to make sense that those 7k members get to vote on stuff like this instead of folks with actual jobs since we're not in the industry. I like that only Actors can nominate other actors. It's pretty cool that it's a peer-group approach. For instance if Black Barney could vote, I'd once again pencil in, "Kristen Stewart's short shorts" for best performance. No one needs that.

Hey, although both Jeb and I are obviously like the smartest people ever and are totally right in everything, everything we say, I love musicals and he doesn't. And I liked LLL. It's just overrated and not nearly as good as Black&White Fury Road (or maybe Moonlight, which I still haven't seen) and I think it's unfair it will be getting all the trophies.

Speeches about Trump are going to be the hallmark of these Oscars and the next 3 (unless impeachment). I was totally cool with Streep's speech, btw, because it was well-constructed, felt very honest and whatever are your feelings about Trump, he totally deserved that shellacking. But I suspect now every Hollywood celebrity is going to jump on I-hate-Trump-too-wagon, mainly out of fear that unless they say it out loud in front of the cameras they'd face ostracism. This is going to get old very soon.

Yeah, I meant the AMPAS, not the MPAA. I don't want schlubs voting--that is what makes THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION the greatest film ever made at IMDB. At the same time, I don't think any other film can get a fair shake when one of the candidates this year is a soothing backrub to members of the voting committee. It might actually be the best film! I just think it doesn't matter. Why am I even commenting on this? They picked DANCES WITH WOLVES over GOODFELLAS. It's a trash award.