771 replies to this topic

[amor de cosmos]

let's not forget it's a wonderful life

Edited by amor de cosmos, 09 December 2021 - 10:43 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Saw West Side Story last night.

 

Whatever.

[Nparker]

Another remake no one needed.

[Victoria Watcher]

Here is my longer take.

 

All I knew about the play is that it was a very successful musical based on two rival gangs in New York in the 50's or 60's.  Which I always thought was a bit amusing, a bunch of tough guys singing and dancing. 

 

But other than that, I knew nothing of the plot.

 

They did not provide any subtitles for a fairly significant amount of Spanish-only talk.  Which I did not find all that problematic, even though I know no Spanish.   Some will find this downright irritating I bet though.

 

Despite it being a very long movie, the actual "falling in love" aspect is very weakly played out.

 

The whole thing seemed a bit weak.  I think Spielberg went woke too, in his portrayal of the whites as the bad guys, the Peurto Ricans as the suppressed.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 11 December 2021 - 08:20 AM.

[Nparker]

The whole purpose of remaking this movie was to correct the "errors" from the past.

[todd]

The only time I saw it they took us in elementary school to see the high school theatrical production of it. I remember when it got to the sex scene I said to the person next to me isn’t this inappropriate for a school? he replied they're high school students I guess. In hindsight it was inappropriate I think.

[Victoria Watcher]

Looks like the Golden Globes are going bust. Might be cancelled by the celebs.



Despite the changes, it is unclear whether any of the actors, directors and musicians nominated for Golden Globes will attend the 2022 ceremony, which had been one of the biggest Hollywood awards shows in the run-up to the Oscars.

Rapper Snoop Dogg was the only celebrity on hand on Monday to announce the nominations for the awards, which will be announced on January 9.


https://www.aljazeer...-by-controversy


NBC earlier this year dropped plans to televise the swanky awards dinner in Beverly Hills, citing a lack of diversity.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 13 December 2021 - 09:50 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

I'll go see Belfast tonight.  I like The Troubles.

 

Rotten Tomatoes.

 

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 14 December 2021 - 04:08 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Here is my longer take.

 

All I knew about the play is that it was a very successful musical based on two rival gangs in New York in the 50's or 60's.  Which I always thought was a bit amusing, a bunch of tough guys singing and dancing. 

 

But other than that, I knew nothing of the plot.

 

They did not provide any subtitles for a fairly significant amount of Spanish-only talk.  Which I did not find all that problematic, even though I know no Spanish.   Some will find this downright irritating I bet though.

 

Despite it being a very long movie, the actual "falling in love" aspect is very weakly played out.

 

The whole thing seemed a bit weak.  I think Spielberg went woke too, in his portrayal of the whites as the bad guys, the Peurto Ricans as the suppressed.

 

 

 

Steven Spielberg managed to get critics on board for his ambitious “West Side Story” remake. The moviegoing masses? Not so much.

 

Over the weekend, Disney and 20th Century Studio’s reimagining of “West Side Story” collected just $10.5 million in its domestic debut, a dismal result for a movie of its scale and scope. The lavish musical, one of the best reviewed movies of the year, carries a $100 million budget and faces an uphill battle to profitability. Given its price tag, industry insiders estimate “West Side Story” needs to generate at least $300 million globally to break even in its theatrical run. The film is playing exclusively on the big screen and doesn’t have a hybrid streaming component, which could help ticket sales in the long run… but it has an awful lot of ground to make up.

 

 

https://variety.com/...erg-1235131598/

[Victoria Watcher]

I'll go see Belfast tonight. I like The Troubles.

Rotten Tomatoes.

Seems to be winning lots of awards.

I’m not sure.

I think you might have to be previously interested in the subject matter.

I can only give it a 3.5/5.

[Victoria Watcher]

Pre-sales for Spiderman No Way Home are the largest ever in most markets.

 

 

 

 

As far as its U.S.-Canada prospects go, Sony is seeing at least $130 million at 4,325 locations, and Thursday previews starting very early at 3 p.m. with all the strength of Imax and PLF screens. Rivals and tracking see the opening much higher in the $175M+ range, possibly even $200M, though everyone is high because No Way Home is the biggest movie they’ve seen on tracking for quite some time — reminiscent numerically to big December openers like the month’s No. 2 Star Wars: The Last Jedi ($220M) back in 2017, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker ($177.3M) in 2019, and Star Wars: Rogue One ($155M) in 2016.

 

https://deadline.com...end-1234891192/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 15 December 2021 - 03:43 PM.

[AllseeingEye]

Just..."wow". I watched "14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible" last night on Netflix: I cannot possibly recommend it highly enough, its one of the most amazing examples of human endurance and sheer will - not to mention pure guts - that I have ever seen.

 

Offhand it is one of the very few TV viewing experiences that I can recall and would remotely compare with Ken Burns "The Civil War" which has been called the greatest use of the (television) medium ever. "14 Peaks..." comes pretty darn close IMO.

 

It is the story of Nirmal Purja, a British-Nepalese Special Forces member who takes on the challenge of summiting the world's fourteen 8000-ft mountains - he does them ALL - in SEVEN months. The previous record was achieved in seven+ YEARS.

 

Its an absolutely spellbinding story and the filmography is mind-blowing. The guy is superhuman in terms of determination and stamina and makes Olympic athletes look like lily-white paperweights by comparison.

Check it out you won't be disappointed!

 

https://en.wikipedia...g_Is_Impossible

[Mike K.]

Cool, I’ll check that out.

For reality shows and documentaries, I always ask myself if the main character did it, imagine what the guy with the camera following along can do.

[AllseeingEye]

Cool, I’ll check that out.

For reality shows and documentaries, I always ask myself if the main character did it, imagine what the guy with the camera following along can do.

 

The documentary is full of "holy s*** I can't believe they did that" moments. At one point on one climb Purja falls/slides 100+ meters straight down a sheer ice wall.

 

As part of his training - just for starters - he'd lift weights in the gym from 11pm - 2am come home, change then run 20 kilometers with a 75-lb backpack; he did that for six months. And that was only a fraction of his training. He climbed one these behemoths hung over, lol. Guy should be wearing a cape, red boots and have a stylized "S" on his chest.....

[Victoria Watcher]

Saw the new Spider-Man while we still can.

I liked that the past Peter Parkers were back, but otherwise, bit of a weak plot.

I mean it’s kind of the same as every superhero movie plot.

A bunch of hand to hand combat. Seems to me guns would be better weapons.

[todd]

Watched the first Spider-Man on an airplane back when everyone would share the same screen, now if I watch Spider-Man it just feels like I’m on an airplane

[Victoria Watcher]

Much to nobody’s surprise, Spider-Man: No Way Home made a ton of money this weekend—enough for it to have the third-biggest worldwide opening of all time and the second-biggest domestic opening of all time, pandemic be damned—and now box office experts are racking their brains to try and solve the mystery of how this movie found so much success when nearly every other movie is struggling to get much attention in theaters.

 

We’re not box office experts here, we merely have an academic curiosity about it, but it seems likely to us that Spider-Man: No Way Home made a lot of money because… it’s a movie about Spider-Man, one of the most beloved superheroes across multiple generations. Also, it’s a known-quantity superhero movie that went straight to theaters, with no option to stream it at home, so people would want to see it no matter what. Also, people are sick of worrying about COVID, and it was just a matter of time before something caused the dam to burst, which every movie studio has been betting on since last fall.

 

But let’s hear what the experts had to say: Variety ran the numbers and determined that Spider-Man is a popular character, having appeared in nine standalone movies in two decades (counting Into The Spider-Verse) and a handful of the biggest movies of all time beyond that—to say nothing of the Venom movies, which are propping up Sony’s nascent Spidey-related cinematic universe—which account for trillions of dollars in box office money.

 

David A. Gross, owner of film consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research, told Variety that “most big series struggle to maintain their success this late in their run,” but 20 years in, “Spider-Man is exploding.” That’s a bit like being surprised that one McDonalds location can make money even after every other McDonalds location has made money, but it is probably fair to point out that people started to get pretty sick of Star Wars after Disney released the last movie, and Spider-Man is as popular ever (if not more popular).

 

 

 

https://www.avclub.c...spid-1848249964

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 22 December 2021 - 04:34 AM.

[Nparker]

I watched part of a Spider Man movie once. M'eh.

[AllseeingEye]

As a kid in the 60's I grew up surrounded by the DC Comics and Marvel superhero character/universes - I collected and still have many of the comics from those days some of which have substantial $ value including the first X-men issue and an early 1970's re-issue of Superman No. 1 - and I could care less about any of these "comic" movies. Saw the 1978 Superman with Christopher Reeve and the first Batman with Michael Keaton; they were more than sufficient.

 

I've seen snippets of the Spiderman franchise and I also don't get it. They are really nothing but orgies of special effects and little to no substance otherwise IMO. I find myself pining for movies with - you know - actual acting involved, movies that tell a story. One reason I suppose I really enjoyed Netflix' "14 Peaks" mentioned above because it tells a fascinating story that I was completely unaware of, and about a "real" superhuman superman. It was so impactful the first time I watched it again last night.

 

I enjoy special effects as much as the next person, within limits, but I'd far FAR rather experience great ACTING. Examples of the latter to me - special effects completely absent I should add - include Raging Bull, One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, Rain Man, and Nobody's Fool one of Paul Newman's very best movies ever. 

[LJ]

My favourite movie with a complete lack of special effects was All the Usual Suspects.