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knox
Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2018 12:03 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 18 Mar 2010 Posts: 1245 Location: St. Louis
bartist wrote:
billyweeds wrote:
knox wrote:
Bohemian Rhapsody was fun to watch, but sort of shallow, and the omission of what might have been interesting clues to Freddie's character seemed like missed opportunities.


This movie has gotten some of the most polarized reviews I can remember. Here are two that provide evidence.

https://tinyurl.com/ya37e7g2

https://tinyurl.com/y8k6qp24


Wow, Richard Roeper really didn't like BR at all. But he did catch things I missed, like the fact that the clueless record exec was Mike Meyers - and the resulting meta joke, where Wayne of Wayne's World is basically saying that teenage boys will never rock out to the song in their cars.

I was also unaware that Brian May and Taylor were producers of the film, which somehow makes it now more awful to me.


The guy who played Brian May DID look like Howard Stern in Private Parts.

I guess we could ask of the film: is this the real life, or is it just fantasy?
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Befade
Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2018 12:47 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 3784 Location: AZ
Gromit......Let me know when you see it. I don’t want to give anything away, but your friend is right.....the theme isn’t really shoplifting.....it’s family.

Bohemian Rhapsody: I’d never been a Queen fan so a lot of this was new to me....but after I watched their Live Aid performance on YouTube I was fascinated by Freddie Mercury....his energy, his endurance, his exuberance, his voice. Basically an Iranian with a new name......no one could impersonate him or his teeth. Just because Rami Malik is Egyptian he really doesn’t bring Freddie’s presence to this film.

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bartist
Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2018 4:36 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Posts: 6941 Location: Black Hills
Parsi people lived in India. Driven out of Persia in the 600s (for worship of Zoroaster), so they aren't strictly speaking Iranians. Freddie grew up in India and Zanzibar. A childhood that might have made for interesting bio pic material. But I guess a less commercially viable bio pic.

Meanwhile...

So they've turned the terrific 2010 documentary Marwencol onto a feature film now, with Steve Carrell. I plan to skip. I recall the docu got some praise here, and has a very searchable title. It's not like you'll get hundreds of "false drops" search results. "Last week I was walking my Marwencol and it did the funniest thing..."

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Ghulam
Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2018 2:26 am Reply with quote
Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 4742 Location: Upstate NY
He was from a small town called Bulsar, India, which is not far from my home town. Hence his surname: Bulsara. Bulsar has quite a sizeable community of Parsees. Well-educated, professionals and businessmen.
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Ghulam
Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2018 2:43 am Reply with quote
Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 4742 Location: Upstate NY
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"Roma", in my view, is the best thing Alfonso Cuaron has done since "Y Tu Mamá También". The semi-autobiographical story is set in the Roma section of Mexico City and is focused on a housemaid in an upper middle class family. It is a powerful and touching story. It is Cuaron's tribute to selfless, silent, suffering and hard working (their work never ends) women from the country side who practically become mothers to the children in the house in which they serve. It is also his tribute to the housemaid who took care of him and his three siblings when they were children. Perhaps the best movie I have seen this year.


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gromit
Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2018 1:33 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 9005 Location: Shanghai
I was just gearing up to ask if anyone saw Roma.
I've been hearing lots of good things about it.
Seems to be the arthouse/int'l darling for this year.

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Befade
Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 12:46 am Reply with quote
Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 3784 Location: AZ
I saw Roma today. And I have to say it was the most painful movie I’ve ever seen. I even expected worse at the end. It is beautifully shot in black and white. The settings had a reality you don’t often see. The acting was impeccable. I just can’t say I saw a masterpiece because it hurt too much.

Shoplifting was also about a family but it remains my favorite of the year. I almost saw it again.

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whiskeypriest
Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2018 11:36 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 6916 Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
gromit wrote:
I was just gearing up to ask if anyone saw Roma.
I've been hearing lots of good things about it.
Seems to be the arthouse/int'l darling for this year.
Waiting until after the holidays. It is streaming now on Netflix.

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gromit
Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2018 10:13 am Reply with quote
Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 9005 Location: Shanghai
‘Welcome to Marwen’ is a fantastic misstep


Last edited by gromit on Thu Dec 20, 2018 3:57 pm; edited 1 time in total

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bartist
Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2018 12:15 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Posts: 6941 Location: Black Hills
404 error, on that link. I can probably google the title and find it. I had a feeling they would muck up "Marwencol," the original documentary.


Here's a (possible) working link....

https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/review-marwen-fantastic-misstep-59918130

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Ghulam
Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2018 9:38 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 4742 Location: Upstate NY
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"Private Life" must surely be included in any Top Ten list of 2018 movies. A middle-aged couple, afflicted with infertility, trying desperately to have a child, get on a roller-coaster ride of assisted reproduction, adoption, and even third-party reproduction. It is a rough and agonizing trek told with empathy but also with a lot of humor. Tamara Jenkins' direction is exquisite. Superb performances from Kathryn Hahn, Paul Giamatti, and Emily Robinson. Sparkling dialogue, replete with erudite literary references (Paul Giamatti's bedside reading: Knausgaard's "My Struggle", no less!). It is on Netflix.



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Syd
Posted: Thu Dec 27, 2018 1:09 am Reply with quote
Site Admin Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 12887 Location: Norman, Oklahoma
Aquaman is a good example of a pretty good film that falls victim of too many and often confusing action scenes, some of which come across as ludicrous. (The battle against the crustaceans comes across as both confusing and ludicrous and I was rooting for the crabs.) I thought the best scenes were at the beginning with Aquaman's mother and father, though Jason Momoa and Amber Heard were fine as Aquaman and Mera, she of the fluorescent red hair (and very skintight scaled suit. Nicole Kidman looks fine in hers, too.) I thought Orm made some really good points and didn't seem totally evil.

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Syd
Posted: Thu Dec 27, 2018 1:30 am Reply with quote
Site Admin Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 12887 Location: Norman, Oklahoma
Mary Poppins Returns is somewhat mixed, partly because the family crisis is a repossession during the Great Depression rather than rescuing the family unit itself (the children here are devoted and the father--Michael Banks, the son from the original--is a loving and devoted father). Mary Poppins seems like an intruder in this family.

The other problem is that it's too derivative of the original film, like they're too afraid to strain too much. Bert the chimney sweep would be kind of ancient, so we have Jack, Bert's former apprentice, who is a lamplighter, and has a production number with other lamplighters. Jack also has the two outstanding songs in the movie, the second which devolves into a production number with other lamplighters. Also, instead of us thinking he has something going on with Mary Poppins, he has the hots for Emily Mortimer, who pays Jane Banks (the daughter from the original film), which shows very good taste.

No complaints on the acting, with Emily Blunt ably taking on Mary Poppins. She's not Julie Andrews, but a very good singer and actress in her own right., and owns the part very well. Lin-Manuel Miranda is great as Jack, and, as I mentioned, Emily Mortimer is great.* Ben Whishaw is overshadowed as Michael Banks, although he does pretty well as an overmatched but loving father.

This is the only film I've seen this year which the audience applauded.


*I have to confess that I thought through the entire film she was Alison Sudol, who plays Queenie in the Fantastic Beasts movies. There's a certain similarity in acting styles, including me immediately falling in love with any character they play.

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gromit
Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2018 11:17 am Reply with quote
Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 9005 Location: Shanghai
So I decided I was naughty good this year and treated myself to a heap of Dvd's. Actually perfect timing since the weather just turned cold (and sometimes rainy), and I have a week off.

My haul o' self-presents:
Roma
Life Itself
Blackkklansman
Ballad of Buster Scruggs
I Am Ali
Human Flow (an Ai Wei Wei film)
OJ: Made in America (3 discs)

And 2 kinky Robbe Grillet sets from the BFI:
The Man Who Lies and other films
Trans-Europ Express

I also upgraded Virgin Suicides to the Criterion edition, since my old dvd is underwhelming, and it's a good film, I revisit now and then.

I haven't had such a big Dvd haul in years.

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gromit
Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2018 11:18 am Reply with quote
Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 9005 Location: Shanghai
Some others films which were around but I wasn't familiar with:

- Under the Silver Lake
(I seem to recall thinking this wasn't for me, but forget why)

- The Miseducation of Cameron Post (was this recently on someone's worst of the year list?)

- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (HBO film)
(The book was terrific, but the science was by far the best part and the family issues at the end the weakest -- and I'm guessing this focuses more on the family issues and people involved.

Any thoughts on those?!?

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