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Post by jeffersoncody on Mar 29, 2021 13:56:26 GMT
Nomadland (2020) / Chloé Zhao I streamed this from HULU today. It has been nominated for 6 Oscars. It has already received Golden Globes for Best Picture and Best Director and was nominated for GGs for Best Screenplay and Best Actress (Frances McDormand). This is NOT a plot-driven film. It's all about feelings and landscape. After all the hype I was really ready to be impressed. I wasn't. I'm sure this will pick up a few Oscars, but I don't know why it would. The sum total of the film is captured in the trailer. There ain't much more to it. For me, the haunting, achingly human and incredibly timely NOMADLAND - which I have, like FALLING, now seen twice, is the very best film of the year. IMO, none of the other contenders (while good films) even come close to matching it's quality and excellence. If this film doesn't, at the very least, win Oscars for Best Film and Best Actress (McDormand) this year it will be a travesty, as will it be if Anthony Hopkins doesn't win Best Oscar for his shattering, extraordinary performance in the emotionally devastating THE FATHER - I re-lived my mother's last few years while watching this film, and it has even helped me to have a greater understanding of her terrible illness. Both NOMADLAND and THE FATHER touched me deeply.
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Post by kijii on Mar 29, 2021 15:18:35 GMT
One Night in Miami... (2020) / Regina King
Though I don't consider this a great film, I can see why it could be very good as a stage play. This is, it is somewhat stage bound. Though many of our favorite movies are also stage bound, they captivate us by the emotional connections between the actors. This one does not. I do appreciate Regina King's effort of bringing it to the screen: without film I would not have been able to see and experience the play. If I were to consider who should best deserve an Oscar here, I would nominate Kemp Powers for the stage play. (Powers was nominated for the screenplay from his stage play.)
The play brings four prominent black men--Malcolm X, Cassius Clay, Jim Brown, and Sam Cooke-- together in one Miami motel room near the zenith of the Civil Rights Movement. Kemp Powers presents them separately (where they were in their careers at the time) and then presents them together, both in the room and later in one-on-one conversations with each other. Each man comes from a different place in his life and has a different perspective on where he (and they) might fit into the movement: the struggle.
Malcolm X is the intellectual leader of the group, yet his place within the Nation of Islam is near its end. Cassius Clay is the great athlete who becomes Malcolm X's muse. Jim Brown is a great (and famous) football player about to leave football for Hollywood. Sam Cooke is a singing celebrity who attains POWER though his talent and business acumen of the music industry. Each man has something different to contribute to The Movement and we come to see this. This is a "meeting of minds" at a crucial time...
Malcolm X : What kind of message are you sending, though, by doing one show for white folks and a completely different show for black folks, Sam? Sam Cooke : [laughing in contempt] Ha. Malcolm X : No, listen to me, you're performing in places where the only black people not on stage are the ones serving the food. Sam Cooke : Don't you think I know that? I can't tell you how many times I wanted to reach out and punch somebody. Malcolm X : Then, then, then, then strike with the weapon that you have, man: your voice! Black people, we, we standing up! We, we speaking out! Sam Cooke : Umm hm. Malcolm X : Sam, you have possibly one of the most effective, beautiful outlets of us all. You're not using it to help the cause, brother Sam Cooke : The hell I'm not! I got the masters to my songs. I started a label, I'm producing tons of black artists. Don't you think my determining my own creative and business destiny is every bit as inspiring to people as you standing up on a podium trying to piss 'em off?
I loved ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI, found it exhilarating and thought provoking. Fantastic ensemble acting, with a standout turn by Leslie Odom - who has been Oscar nominated. Went in with low expectations and was blown away.
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Post by kijii on Mar 29, 2021 16:08:30 GMT
Best Picture
“The Father”------------------------------------------ YES“Judas and the Black Messiah”-------------------(Not Seen--YET) “Mank”--------------------------------------------- No Thanks“Minari”---------------------------------------------GOOD “Nomadland”--------------------------------------NO “Promising Young Woman”------------------------GOOD and entertaining “Sound of Metal”---------------------------------Interesting “The Trial of the Chicago 7”------------------------------- YESBest Director
Thomas Vinterberg (“Another Round”)---------------I haven’t seen this—It’s in Danish David Fincher (“Mank”)------------------I generally like Fincher's films but not this one Lee Isaac Chung (“Minari”)-------------------Probably the best of the list Chloé Zhao (“Nomadland”) Emerald Fennell (“Promising Young Woman”)--------------Good presentation BAD OMISSION that should have been considered)-----------“The Father” (Florian Zeller) Best Actor in a Leading RoleRiz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”) Chadwick Boseman (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”)----------------Intense in a limited way Anthony Hopkins (“The Father”)------A must win for Tony here (he was GREAT, IMO) Gary Oldman (“Mank”)------------------------------------No Steven Yeun (“Minari”)--------------------------------Don't rule him out Best Actress in a Leading RoleViola Davis (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”)---------Viola gets too limited of an exposure for a Best Leading Actress, so it is hard to judge Andra Day (“The United States v. Billie Holiday”)---------I liked her Vanessa Kirby (“Pieces of a Woman”)-----------------------No, I don't get why she was nominated Frances McDormand (“Nomadland”)------------------------Well, it's Frances, and Carey Mulligan (“Promising Young Woman”)----------------GOOD Best Actor in a Supporting RoleSacha Baron Cohen (“The Trial of the Chicago 7”) Daniel Kaluuya (“Judas and the Black Messiah”)-----------Haven’t seen yet, but trying to fine it Leslie Odom Jr. (“One Night in Miami”)---------------------GOOD Paul Raci (“Sound of Metal”) Lakeith Stanfield (“Judas and the Black Messiah”)----------Haven’t seen yet, but trying to fine it Best Actress in a Supporting RoleMaria Bakalova (‘Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”)-----------Silly spoof but fun at times Glenn Close (“Hillbilly Elegy”) Olivia Colman (“The Father”) Amanda Seyfried (“Mank”) Yuh-jung Youn (“Minari”)-------------------------------My favorite so far with Glenn Close as a close 2nd
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Post by jeffersoncody on Mar 29, 2021 17:41:08 GMT
Best Picture “Judas and the Black Messiah”-------------------(No Seen)Best Director Thomas Vinterberg (“Another Round”)---------------I haven’t seen this—It’s in Danish Best Actor in a Supporting RoleDaniel Kaluuya (“Judas and the Black Messiah”)-----------Haven’t seen yet, but trying to fine it Lakeith Stanfield (“Judas and the Black Messiah”)----------Haven’t seen yet, but trying to fine it This was my capsule review when I saw the gripping, thought provoking JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH a little while ago kijii. * Daniel Kaluuya would seem like a sure bet to win this category - his astonishingly accurate impersonation of Hampton's gravelly voice is quite something and he carefully, but seemingly effortlessly, reveals all the rich intellectual and human potential in a visionary young man cruelly cut down in his prime. Stansfield's nomination mystifies me - he's good, but if he was going to be nominated it should have been in the Best Actor category, and IMO Lance Henricksen in FALLING - giving the performance of his career , should have received the Supporting Actor nom instead. As for Vinterberg's soulful, darkly funny, sad, very human ANOTHER ROUND. I would urge you to see it. It's a wonderfully well made, one-of-a-kind film with a marvelous melancholy and moving lead performance by Mads Mikkelson and a heartbreaking supporting turn from Thomas Bo Larsen. To say this film has some serious emotional depth is an understatement.
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Post by kijii on Mar 29, 2021 19:23:27 GMT
Best Picture “Judas and the Black Messiah”-------------------(No Seen)Best Director Thomas Vinterberg (“Another Round”)---------------I haven’t seen this—It’s in Danish Best Actor in a Supporting RoleDaniel Kaluuya (“Judas and the Black Messiah”)-----------Haven’t seen yet, but trying to fine it Lakeith Stanfield (“Judas and the Black Messiah”)----------Haven’t seen yet, but trying to fine it This was my capsule review when I saw the gripping, thought provoking JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH a little while ago kijii. * Daniel Kaluuya would seem like a sure bet to win this category - his astonishingly accurate impersonation of Hampton's gravelly voice is quite something and he carefully, but seemingly effortlessly, reveals all the rich intellectual and human potential in a visionary young man cruelly cut down in his prime, in this category. Stansfield's nomination mystifies me - he's good, but if he was going to be nominated it should have been in the Best Actor category, and IMO Lance Henricksen in FALLING - giving the performance of his career , should have received the Supporting Actor nom instead. As for Vinterberg's soulful, darkly funny, sad, very human SECOND ROUND. I would urge you to see it. It's a wonderfully well made, one-of-a-kind film with a marvelous melancholy and moving lead performance by Mads Mikkelson and a heartbreaking supporting turn from Thomas Bo Larsen. To say this film has some serious emotional depth is an understatement. Where did you see JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH?Is it streaming somewhere?? Daniel Kaluuya's day may be coming soon. I remember him from Get Out. Have you seen Minari yet? It certainly looks like a contender...
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Mar 29, 2021 20:57:55 GMT
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Post by jeffersoncody on Mar 30, 2021 6:25:25 GMT
This was my capsule review when I saw the gripping, thought provoking JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH a little while ago kijii. * Daniel Kaluuya would seem like a sure bet to win this category - his astonishingly accurate impersonation of Hampton's gravelly voice is quite something and he carefully, but seemingly effortlessly, reveals all the rich intellectual and human potential in a visionary young man cruelly cut down in his prime, in this category. Stansfield's nomination mystifies me - he's good, but if he was going to be nominated it should have been in the Best Actor category, and IMO Lance Henricksen in FALLING - giving the performance of his career , should have received the Supporting Actor nom instead. As for Vinterberg's soulful, darkly funny, sad, very human SECOND ROUND. I would urge you to see it. It's a wonderfully well made, one-of-a-kind film with a marvelous melancholy and moving lead performance by Mads Mikkelson and a heartbreaking supporting turn from Thomas Bo Larsen. To say this film has some serious emotional depth is an understatement. Where did you see JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH?Is it streaming somewhere?? Daniel Kaluuya's day may be coming soon. I remember him from Get Out. Have you seen Minari yet? It certainly looks like a contender... I saw JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH on HBOMax the day it was released kijii. It`s no longer available on HBOMax, but I would think it is now available on some digital platforms. It will be out on BluRay and DVD shortly I imagine. And yes, I have seen MINARI, it`s a beautiful film, and Yuh-jung Youn could well snag an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress - IMO, her only competition is the young Maria Bakalova; who knocked it out of the park with her absolutely hilarious performance in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Mar 31, 2021 12:13:05 GMT
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Post by Prime etc. on Apr 1, 2021 7:03:19 GMT
HYSTERIA 1965 Robert Webber loses his memory after a car crash and seeks to figure out what is going on. Jimmy Sangster cranked out a number of these Hammer suspense scripts and they blur together somewhat-and usually they have a very small cast and limited locations. Well this does not have much more, however it does feel less claustrophobic than some of the others--in fact this story is so Hitchcockian--if only it had a Herrmann score--I suspect it would feel more memorable. Maurice Denham is particularly good as the private detective.
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Post by Prime etc. on Apr 2, 2021 5:35:19 GMT
THE DOUBLE MAN 1967 - Sometimes a movie will inexplicably it on a digital shelf and I had assumed I had already watched and then realized I had not. This was a really good spy thriller with Yul Brynner giving an intense performance--one that requires a change half way through which I picked up on so the surprise didnt come as such a surprise. The effects used to create a certain illusion is very good for the 1960s--I would never have thought they could have someone pass in front of someone else which should have been impossible before CGI yet they did it-and it looked convincing to me. Clive Revell has a fairly large part as a shell-shocked MI5 agent. The story is shot in the Austrian Tyrol which was also used in Assignment K and On Her Majesty's Secret Service--so here we get to see the night skiing by torchlight parade. It sure looks pretty watching those lights against the snow.
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Post by Lebowskidoo 🦞 on Apr 2, 2021 17:46:13 GMT
Tap (1989)
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Post by Nalkarj on Apr 3, 2021 2:27:56 GMT
Last night I watched Breakdown (1997, dir. Jonathan Mostow). Nitpicks aside—I thought some minor plot points didn’t go anywhere, and I wish the opening mystery had a bit more of a “what on earth’s going on here” vibe—this is an excellent thriller, sharp and to the point. ________________________________________ Tonight I watched an unusual Sherlock Holmes movie, Without a Clue (1988, dir. Thom Eberhardt). This has a great premise: Sherlock Holmes (Michael Caine) is an idiotic drunken actor masquerading as a genius sleuth while the real detective work is done by Dr. Watson (Ben Kingsley). Watson hired Holmes to play the detective originally because he didn’t want the medical board to know he was detecting as a hobby, but now he no longer wants to play the fool, especially as Holmes is always drinking and/or getting into mischief. The problem is this is more or less a one-joke movie, and that’s the joke. Holmes and Watson go somewhere, Holmes is a fool, Watson whispers all the deductions to him, no one pays attention to Watson, Holmes amazes everyone with “his” deductions. Repeat. The movie is consistently charming, full of Doyle references, but it’s just never all that funny. The jokes seem stale—and particularly stalely staged. Henry Mancini wrote the music, which is reminiscent of his work for Blake Edwards (particularly Victor/Victoria, a much funnier movie), and while watching I kept wondering what Edwards would have done with this material. Even if the few jokes had stayed the same, they probably would have been funnier with his handling. Amusingly enough, the mystery—because even a spoof Holmes movie needs a mystery—is nearly identical to that in a better and wittier Holmes movie, The Great Mouse Detective, which came out two years before. Not that it really matters one way or the other, but if it’s a coincidence it’s quite a coincidence! Anyway, I was hoping to love this one because that premise is so clever, but at most I just mildly liked it. Alas. Watching it did, however, remind me that I’ve long wanted to adapt a somewhat similar Holmes book and movie, The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, into a musical. So that’s a positive.
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Post by kijii on Apr 3, 2021 3:20:08 GMT
Da 5 Bloods (2020) / Spike Lee
Spike Lee's latest feature film can be seen on Netflix. It starts slowly and then builds. Finally, it pulls you along because you can't leave it.
Paul (Delroy Lindo): Dear David. Son, if you're reading this, you know I've met my maker. I gave this letter to my main man, your godfather Otis, when we landed back in Nam. I came back to confront the demons that haunted me and tortured you. I made you feel like you weren't loved. Our brother Stormin' Norman always commanded us Bloods, love one another. In that way, I failed you, man. All I can say to you is, I'm sorry I put you through holy hell. Believe me, this just came. It wasn't your fault. There are things about me that you will never know or understand, David. I wish I could turn back the hands of time. I can't. Nobody can. But to eternity and back, your dear mother, Jackie, and I will love you always. You best believe I will love you always, son. Your father. Your dad.
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Post by Prime etc. on Apr 3, 2021 6:30:14 GMT
I had a double feature of the Arnaz kids..
First I watched the tv-movie WHO IS THE BLACK DAHLIA? 1975 starring Lucie Arnaz as the title character. Kind of creepy at times. Efrem Zimbalist Jr, Ronny Cox, Donna Mills, and Sid Haig as a tattoo artist (because in those days only bad girls got tattoos).
Then I watched AUTOMAN the tv-pilot starring Desi Arnaz Jr. as a nebbish computer genius for the police department who creates the ultimate computer program which takes the form of a spectral being called Automan, with his trusty herald Cursor. You have to hand to Glen A Larson for being able to take movies of the day and convert them into "ridiculous drivel" as guest star Patrick Macnee says about it. Camilla Sparv who I have not seen since the late 60s, shows up as an Interpol agent while Robert Lansing is Arnaz's partner--and Doug McClure pops in as well. And Sid Haig appears as a biker gang member.
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Post by Prime etc. on Apr 4, 2021 5:58:48 GMT
GET CARTER 1971 -- Finally watched this much talked about film. I had seen the remake on tv but I didn't know what that was about and I don't think I finished it. I began to think this was veering into comedy but then they got to the "home movie" and Michael Caine became very different from his usual self. Very gritty and bleak locations. That oceanside mine car location was quite an interesting visual for such a sequence.
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Post by persistenceofvision on Apr 5, 2021 1:42:44 GMT
In the Soup (1992) Steve Buscemi lives in an NYC garret, dreams of being a film-maker and is in love with the woman next door (understandably, as she's Jennifer Beals). A backer for his unfilmable script materialises in the form of charismatic small-time gangster Seymour Cassel, who'd like him to do some odd jobs in return... Likeable offbeat comedy with a lot to recommend it, including gorgeous black-and-white photography.
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Post by kijii on Apr 5, 2021 3:43:01 GMT
The Mauritanian (2021) / Kevin Macdonald
Good movie based on the book, Guantánamo Diary by Mohamedou Ould Slahi. The story is true. There are over 700 prisoners in Guantánamo; some have been there for more than 15 years. Most have never been charged for anything. This is the story of one such man.
Teri Duncan (Shailene Woodley): Fuck... he fucking confessed. Nancy Hollander (Jodie Foster) : To what? Teri Duncan : To everything. To financing 911, to hijacking the planes, he fucking ordered spreadsheets, inner workings of Al Qu'aida. Why didn't he tell us that he confessed? Nancy Hollander : That's not the first time in history that a client's lied to his lawyers. Teri Duncan : Look at this, look at his one - he admits to acquiring explosives to blow up LAFs. The millennium plot? Nancy Hollander : What's your point? Teri Duncan : He's guilty! He's fucking guilty! Nancy Hollander : [shrugs] Maybe he is. He still has a right to counsel. Teri Duncan : I'm not saying he doesn't, I'm saying that he helped to kill 3000 civilians and we're doing everything we can to get him out. Nancy Hollander : We're doing our job.
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Post by Ass_E9 on Apr 5, 2021 23:08:53 GMT
Classics-wise, It Happened One Night and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town.
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Post by persistenceofvision on Apr 5, 2021 23:37:49 GMT
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) One of IMDb's 250 Top Rated Movies, and one of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die. So I guess I'm closer to death now. Watching this I realised it's the first ever silent film I've watched that wasn't a comedy. The style takes a bit of getting used to but after about an hour I was won over. The English soldiers' uniforms look so World War One that it's hard not to believe this was deliberate.
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Post by kijii on Apr 6, 2021 3:56:45 GMT
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020) / George C. Wolfe
2nd viewing on Netflix. Great August Wilson stage play brought to screen. After seeing Viola Davis and the late Chadwick Boseman walk away with two SAG awards, I viewed this again. I wouldn't be surprised if either, or both, walked away with Oscars too. However, I still favor Anthony Hopkins and Andra Day.
Ma Rainey : They don't care nothin' about me. All they want is my voice. Well, I done learned that. And they gonna treat me the way I wanna be treated, no matter how much it hurt them.
Ma Rainey : The blues help you get out of bed in the morning. You get up knowing you ain't alone. There's something else in the world. Something's has been added by that song.
Ma Rainey : White folk don't understand about the blues. They hear it come out, but they don't know how it got there. They don't understand that that's life's way of talking. You don't sing to feel better. You sing 'cause that's a way of understanding life.
Ma Rainey : The more music you have in the world, the fuller it is.
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