Amph At The Movies (film discussion thread)

I went to see Murder on the Orient Express for a second time yesterday. I always love Kenneth Branagh's acting and direction. The first time I saw the film in November, the ending blew my mind. I more closely analyzed Daisy Ridley's performance this time around. I can see why Branagh thought she could handle it. First time, I thought she might have been connected to the murder, but I couldn't gauge her motivation, although I could understand her desire for silence in light of her relationship with Dr. Arbuthnot. I think it's weird that Dr. Arbuthnot favors Stalinism, but communists did have a habit of taking advantage of the persecution of African Americans during the Cold War. I'm not sure how African Britons would feel about Stalin, but it's an interesting question. At any rate, I suspected everyone of being involved in the murder over time, but there were so many twists and turns that I as amazed by Poirot's revelation that all of the passengers participated in the killing. I also felt that Josh Gad, Derek Jacobi, Judi Dench, Willem Dafoe, and Penelope Cruz did a great job, just as Leslie Odom and Ridley did. For my part, I'm just amazed that Olaf (Gad), Rey (Ridley), the Green Goblin (Dafoe), M (Dench), Alexadner Corvinus (Jacobi), Angelica (Cruz), and Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) were all in the same film together. I'm not sure if I should count Branagh as Prince Hamlet or Dr. Victor Frankenstein, or both.

I had never seen any other versions of this story, but I read the original novel before Christmas and I liked it. I have a Jennifer Lawrence-level crush on Daisy Ridley because of Star Wars. Same goes for Felicity Jones. I have all of her movies in a pile now.

 

^Well, Branagh certainly couldn't been counted as Gilderoy Lockhart in that movie.

 

This looks cool.

 

I've been seeing a lot about this Slinder Man movie(besides the court drama and people with their petitions) and hoping it is as good as The Conjuring

Edit
*looks back one page* oh,well,ok

 

Okay, I finally got on the ball with my end of 2017 retrospective. I'll post some of them in here for fun. Hopefully you guys like these. My ideal is that I get you guys to actually watch some of these that you may have missed! Second would be hearing your comments on the ones you have seen!

I end up seeing a lot of movies from the previous year in any given year. Sometimes it's because movies open very late in a year; other times it's because foreign films and indie films only reach theaters in my area the year following their release. I've found a good way to think about the end of the year retrospective is to separate the films I saw in 2017 into two categories: 2016 releases I didn't see until 2017 & 2017 releases I saw in 2017. I'm starting here with the 2016 categories: the top ten female performances, the top ten male performances & the ten best films. We'll get to the 2017 releases shortly.



Annette Bening – 20th Century Women

Few actresses are capable of the kind of nuances Bening displays as a troubled mother struggling to relate to her son.



Golshifteh Farahani – Paterson

As Adam Driver’s girlfriend, Farahani gives an unexpectedly delightful comedic performance that is utterly charming.



Greta Gerwig – 20th Century Women

Gerwig gets out of Baumbach’s directorial influence and gives her best dramatic performance yet as a free-spirited, but troubled, artist.



Anne Hathaway – Colossal

Hathaway is a revelation as a messy, self-destructive alcoholic who finds herself in a situation that only be called cosmically weird.



Sandra Huller – Toni Erdmann

Huller’s performance as a business woman forced to deal with her eccentric father hits every note absolutely perfect, whether comedic or dramatic.



Isabelle Huppert – Elle

As a victim of a violent rape, Huppert delivers a masterclass performance that refuses to adhere to the usual norms or go anywhere you expect it to go.



Noa Koler – The Wedding Plan

As a devout Jewish woman who is holding out hope that God will provide her a husband, Koler deftly balances broad comedy with subtle drama to give a hilarious, heartbreaking performance.



Garance Marillier – Raw

Marillier makes her feature debut with a performance of ferocious intensity as a young vegetarian struggling with new, perverse desires after she first tastes meat; as unflinching as acting gets.



Cynthia Nixon – A Quiet Passion

As poet Emily Dickinson, Nixon gives perhaps her finest performance; witty and charming, but also dark and haunting, it’s a roller coaster ride.



Kristen Stewart – Personal Shopper

A young woman haunted by grief finds herself haunted by other forces and Stewart turns in an ambiguous, iconic performance.

I plan to do six posts: top ten female performances from 2016 that I saw in 2017; top ten male performances of 2016 that I saw in 2017; top ten films of 2016 that I saw in 2017; top ten & five honorable mentions female performances; top ten & five honorable mentions male performances; top ten & five honorable mentions films of 2017. Might post that last one in the Best Filmed Entertainment thread; we'll see.

 

Nolan talking about 2001

It's why he thinks kids should see it. I saw 2010 first. Then finally caught 2001 years later to see what lead to the mysteries.

 

Here the 2017 films that I've seen:

The Good
- Hidden Figures
- Split
- John Wick 2
- The Lego Batman Movie
- Get Out
- Logan
- Kong: Skull Island
- Life
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
- Wonder Woman
- The Big Sick
- Baby Driver
- Spiderman: Homecoming
- War for the Planet of the Apes
- Dunkirk
- Atomic Blonde
- It
- Blade Runner 2049
- Thor: Ragnarok
- The Shape of Water
- Star Wars: The Last Jedi

The Bad
- Underworld: Blood Wars
- Transformers: The Last Knight
- The Dark Tower

The Meh
- The Founder
- A Dog's Purpose
- Beauty and the Beast
- Ghost in the Shell
- King Arthur: Legend of the Sword
- Alien: Covenant
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
- The Mummy
- Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
- Kingsman: The Golden Circle
- Justice League
- Bright

 

My only disagreements with your list would be that I liked Ghost In The Shell A lot, Alien:Covenant was surprisingly good, POTC sucked.

 

Never been a fan of that cell animation stuff. Will still check this out...

That being said someone needs a spot on “My 600 Pound Life.” He let himself go big time.

 

My expectations for those films definitely affected my opinion.

The anime version of Ghost in the Shell is one of my favorite scifi films and I couldn't but help comparison the live action version with the anime. And in that comparison, the live action film just doesn't live up to it which I discussed in the Ghost In The Shell thread.

Alien: Covenant was a let down from. It was closer to the space trucker theme and horror elements of the original film, but it just didn't expand the mythology as I hoped it would. I thought it would explore the home world of the Engineer instead of destroying it and thus just continues the tropes of Alien 3 and 4 or whatever.

I have very very low expectations for Dead Men Tell no Tales and the film exceeded those very very low expectations. That's not to say I think the film was great, just as not as bad as I expected to be.

 

If I had to make a hot take prediction I’d say Laby Bird takes best director and Get Out takes best picture.

 

I hope there's another mistake in reading those awards, but I would assume there's no change of a "La La Land" and "Moonlight" mix up happening again. The Oscars has been under much scrutiny of the past couple of years with the hashtag #OscarSoWhite that it wouldn't surprise me if Lady Bird get nominated for best director. This Thursday, the Director Guild will announce the nominees for their awards with the winners announced on Feb. 2. I think this will give us a better indication of the front runners than the Golden Globes.

 

Definitely one of the more stacked years. Lady Bird, Call Me By your Name, Shape of Water, And 3 Bill Boards all have a chance, with Get Out being a wild card.

Sag will also give us a good indicator.

 

I anticipate a Gerwig nomination for director and maybe even one for Jordan Peele, though Del Toro might still win and, I think, probably does deserve it more. I think a McDormand win for Actress is as close to a lock as these things get. Rockwell has serious Supporting Actor momentum, but the supporting categories can get wonky. I anticipate a Three Billboards win for Best Picture, but it's not a sure thing. I hope something better than Shape of Water wins score. One aspect of that film that just really didn't stand out at all, except for that one sequence (you know the one) was the music.

 

I’m just completely shocked that King Arthur’s score hasn’t gotten any recognition for the awards. It’s one of the best I’ve ever heard and added so much to the film. The Last Jedi would be my second choice. As dissapointed as I was with Blade Runner, that would be one of my runner ups. Dunkirk, Planet of the Apes and Wonder Woman also had great scores. Does The Greatest Showman count? I’m not sure if original score means just the background music or the original songs as well. If it does, then that’s right up there too.

 

the movie was meh and a nice take on the mythos but the score was one thing i really liked.Like that song about young man hunting or some thing.When it started play i was like

 

So, a couple of weeks ago Jodi Foster stated her opinions about Hollywood blockbusters and super hero films in an interview with Radio Times magazine where she stated:

Now, instead of the usual fare of commenting on the parts of her statement that I disagree with, I'm going to comment on the parts I do agree with (to a certain degree). I do believe most movie goers are motivated to leave their homes and pay around $15-$20 a ticket for some good entertainment and a sort of theme park experience. An opportunity for escapism and to venture into another world for a couple of hours. Basically, people want the most bang for their buck; especially in the day and age of "on demant video streaming" and recreating the theater experience at home. I think the viewing habits have changed because of the blockbuster spectacles as they become cultural events and talking topics in social media.

And I do agree that the Hollywood machine is churning out content to appeal the masses, as the movie industry is pretty much like any other industry in that they want to turn a profit. Even in the Golden Age of Hollywood, the movie studios wanted to cash in on their star actors. It's that in today's world there are so many other alternatives for entertainment, more specifically the method to view a film that there was ten years ago. Netflix certainly changed the movie industry and continues to do so as they invested millions of dollars to produce their own original films by working deals with directors like Martin Scorsese and Matt Reeves, and securing rights to other IP like Mark Millar's comic book properties with other companies like Amazon following suit.

Moreover, the turn around time for a movie to be released in a theater and then find its way to home video is merely a matter of months. It's common practice for movie fans to wait for films to find its way to a streaming service rather than spend a pretty penny on a movie on a ticket; especially when there's no real advantage or difference in seeing a movie in a theater and at home. In many ways, it's preferable to watch a movie at home as you don't have to worry about getting dressed (i.e. getting out of pjs), driving to a theater, dealing with uncourteous members of the audience, high prices on food and beverages and whatnot.

So, basically the movie going audience habits and attitudes have changed and it takes a Hollywood blockbuster to get the masses into the theaters as more and more watching movies outside a movie theater is becoming more preferable.

 

This feels off.

 

Hellraiser 2 is still the best. When they made Pinhead just another slasher villain it went down hill with a quickness.

 

Okay, here is my list of the ten best male performances from 2016 movies that I caught up with in 2017. My female list had one movie (20th Century Women) that placed two performances on my list (Annette Bening & Greta Gerwig). This list has a movie with a huge ensemble that actually managed to place three actors on the list! Also, my female list had two movies that won't be showing up in my top ten; this list has a whopping FIVE! That means a lot of great performances in movies that weren't quite great enough to make the top ten films list. That's a good thing, I reckon.



Avraham Aviv Alush – The Women’s Balcony

Alush’s performance as a charismatic young rabbi with an extremist agenda is compelling and chilling.



Sharlto Copley – Free Fire

In a movie entirely populated by loose cannons, Copley’s unstable character is one of the most unstable and Copley goes as crazy as he ever has.



Adam Driver – Paterson

In an extremely natural, very minimal performance, Driver perfectly inhabits the character of an erstwhile poet/bus driver with wit, charm and ease.



John Carroll Lynch – The Founder

As one of the doomed McDonald brothers, veteran character actor Lynch gives one of his finest, most evocative performances.



James McAvoy – Split

McAvoy gives a pitch perfect masterclass as a man with 23 different personalities in this dark thriller.



Robert Pattinson – The Lost City of Z

Heartthrob Pattinson is nearly unrecognizable as a gruff explorer in this quiet, minimal performance.



Jack Reynor – Free Fire

Reynor has no vanity he creates, it not the most evil, certainly the most venal and repulsive character in this ensemble thriller.



Sam Riley – Free Fire

Young actor distinguishes himself with a star-making, brilliant performance of incredible intensity.



Peter Simonischek – Toni Erdmann

Simonischek lands both the hilarious comedy and the painful drama as a prankster estranged from his adult daughter in this genuine tour de force.



Jason Sudeikis – Colossal

Sudeikis is phenomenal and frightening as he first uses his considerable charm and then slowly strips it away to reveal a truly toxic character in his best performance so far.

 

A lot of love for Free Fire.

 

Yeah, Armie Hammer & Cillian Murphy were also in serious contention for inclusion on the list. It's just . . . I mean, what an ensemble.

 

I have not seen any of those.

 

Bob Odenkirk getting his own John Wick style action thriller

http://birthmoviesdeath.com/2018/0...tting-his-own-john-wick-style-action-thriller