I don't think I've seen any Marvel movies since Captain America: Civil War, fk - that one kinda burned me out, especially after Age of Ultron. I may try to see Thor: Ragnarok but we'll see...

I was looking at World magazine's website and ran across a favourable review of On Wings of Eagles - a film about Eric Liddell in China after his time as an Olympian. His time in China was something new I learned about when reading The Flying Scotsman, and something that is probably overshadowed by his Olympic career. I have no idea how accurate it is, and apparently it came out in 2016, so I'm wondering why I've never heard of it. Anyone seen it?

Valia, this is really cool, because I have On Wings of Eagles down on my Christmas list! I heard about this film when I was reading up on Joseph Fiennes playing Luther in the 2003 movie (Fiennes portrays Liddell in OWoE). Yes, Liddell's years in China, and ultimately in the POW camp, are definitely overshadowed by his Olympic career, and while I very much respect his stand in keeping to his principles by not competing on Sunday, his life and testimony shone even brighter in the POW camp, as he gave of himself over and over again until his (humanly-speaking) untimely death.

I am very eager to see this film and hope it is accurate to his honourable life. Wish we could watch it together!

This upcoming film, The Man Who Invented Christmas, sounds very interesting, although I'm not particularly fond of the title. As a great appreciator of Dickens' works (my nearly 91 year old father may be one of the biggest Dickens' fans in the world ), and especially A Christmas Carol, I am curious. Again, may it be faithful to what really happened. It releases on Nov. 22, the same day as another film I have been anticipating since the news of its production came out, Darkest Hour. It is obvious that the makeup/prosthetics Gary Oldman underwent to transform into Winston Churchill is phenomenal! Let's hope his characterization and a faithful story is just as excellent.

Hoping that for Christmas I will receive a DVD of a limited release film that came out in June, simply called Churchill, with Brian Cox as the Bulldog. It has been impossible to find in local stores, 'though the DVD released on Oct. 3. The focus of this movie is the 96 hours before the World War II invasion of Normandy.

Edit: Dunkirk's DVD releases on December 19. That is definitely going on the Christmas list too!

Well, it took forever, but my husband and I finally watched Guardians of the Galaxy 2 last night. In two words? Massively disappointing. All of the scenes I liked were the scenes in the trailer, so I just needed to watch that and I was good to go.

I couldn't agree more. As my brother says, "Marvel sure can make a trailer this year!" The best parts of GotG2 and Thor Ragnarok are already in the trailer. GotG2 felt forced and they added a lot of low humor just for its own sake. Spider-Man had a "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" vibe that is soooo not Peter Parker. He's supposed to be the goody-two-shoes of the MCU! The polar opposite of Tony Stark! Which is what made it such an interesting pairing as demonstrated in the fantastic scenes they share in Civil War. And now Thor Ragnarok. Whaaat? The filmmakers were apparently going for a comedy (for the topic of Ragnarok -why?). There were some really great things about the movie (Cate Blanchett!), and some genuinely funny parts, but I felt like the show didn't have the emotional punch or even the humor since they never let me get any emotional traction. They were too busy doing comedy bits all the time. And I was distracted because none of the characters (with the possible exception of Bruce Banner) felt consistent with the previous movies of the MCU. Suddenly Thor rivals Tony Stark for snarky dialogue?
The Marvel movies have been a bit disappointing for me lately. But ever hopeful, I’m looking forward to the Black Panther movie!

Interesting; I really loved GotG2. Like, a lot. I should re-watch it, certainly, and reevaluate, but I really liked it. Ragnarok on the other hand just failed to me. Good story line, but the writing was super forced. Made me sad, because I went in expecting to love it.

There is a lot that I liked about GotG2. The message was really good, and some of the scenes were great (Baby Groot!). The same is true of Spider-Man -I consider the Vulture to be one of the best designed and portrayed villains in the MCU! Thor Ragnarok... well, maybe it will grow on me.

Has anyone seen Murder on the Orient Express yet? I was impressed, the movie is designed to run on the cinematography and acting alone, and both are great in my opinion. Some very clever camera work was involved. I enjoyed it very much, but then I'm an Agatha Christie fan. And a Kenneth Branagh film fan. Yeah, he's still the best Henry V. (Sorry, Tom Hiddleston!)

It's ok Sonny, it seems like most movies I do like nowadays everybody else hates. I figure my tastes must just be weird.
Spiderman-Homecoming just arrived in the mail today. I'm looking forward to watching it.

I actually liked GotG2 better than the first one. I thought they hit the emotional beats with most of the relationships better. It did devolve into silliness multiple times though. Which I don't mind as when I watch a superhero movie mostly I just want to have fun. A deeper story like with Winter Soldier or Wonder Woman is great, but most superhero movies don't balance dark and light very well despite the subject material so if I can only have angst or fun I'd rather just have fun. That's probably why Ragnarok is now my favorite Thor film.

":zdie40qd]Has anyone seen Murder on the Orient Express yet?

Yes! I thought it was excellent. It suffers from the same fate as all Agatha Christie adaptations where if you already know the ending there's a lot less tension, but Branagh is a brilliant director and the cast was incredible.

My sisters and I loved Engaging Father Christmas, I think it was even better than Finding Father Christmas. I definitely need to read the book again. Engaging Father Christmas and Christmas Homecoming are my favorite 2017 Hallmark Christmas movies. I was really surprised how well Hallmark did with everything in Christmas Homecoming. Usually their military stories are well meaning, but miss the mark. That was not the case with Christmas Homecoming.

My library has Dunkirk on order, so I put a hold on it, sixth on the list so when they actually have the DVD I should get it within a few weeks.

I have been hearing a lot about Murder on the Orient Express, definitely interested in seeing it when it is on DVD. I think I saw on Tumblr that Death on the Nile is going to be made next.

SnowAngel

Hey, has anybody else here (except johobbit--I know you have ) seen the movies put out by Little Crew Studios? The first is The Runner from Ravenshead and the second The Defense of New Haven. (Really, really hoping there is a third).

Not a superhero movie, exactly--it is a family style movie, and definitely not a Hollywood blockbuster. Maybe that's why I like it so well?

I wrote a review of it here: https://ailethelgin.wordpress.com/2016/09/22/the-defense-of-new-haven-a-movie-review.

On their website http://littlecrewstudios.com, they have been doing an Our Story/behind the scenes feature, which I have been enjoying.

aileth, I'm afraid I haven't seen anything by Little Crew Studios.

I missed all the Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 discussion by a page, but we watched it the other day and - kind of surprisingly - I'm much closer to fk on this one. I never actually saw the GotG2 trailer and I went in with low expectations (partly due to the previous discussion), but the things I disliked overweighed the things I did. Don't get me wrong, there were things I liked - Groot had some cute moments, some of the humour was funny, and there were some good character moments - but the cavalier attitude toward

did not sit well with me, nor did the offcolour humour (and there seemed a lot more of it than in the first movie?).
Also, most of the major items had been spoiled for me (), so it lost the element of suspense it otherwise might've had.
And the credit scenes - there were five of them and only about two of them made sense, and those were the two that didn't tie into the grander plan... Anyone have an explanation for what the credit scenes were supposed to be showing?

I'll probably see Thor: Ragnarok when it comes out on DVD... I know a lot of people who loved it - and it seems that most people who didn't, didn't like the campiness - but the spoilers I have been unable to avoid have not been encouraging...

Saw Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Very random and assorted thoughts below.

I liked The Last Jedi, but it dose have some problems. I loved pretty much everything they did with Luke, Rey, and Kylo Ren. All three performances were great, especially Mark Hamill.

Everything else was just okay. I like Poe and Finn's arcs, but I think they needed to trim the fat in places, the

while I didn't hate it I think it takes up too much screen time and could be completely cut out and the film would be better for it.

I might get into the theaters to see "The Last Jedi", but it's soooo hard to go see a movie in the theaters with a nursing baby. Still on the to-do list.

But I did see "Wonder Woman" last night. It was okay, but I also didn't find it to be anything particularly special. It's funny how I keep watching super hero movies even though there are very few that I really REALLY like, just to keep up with the movie lore. I'll probably see Thor 3 when it comes out on DVD for that exact reason.

In the meantime, I'm ready for a Super Hero movie break. *says the person who has the Lego Batman movie next on her Netflix list*

The Last Jedi ... it's strange, I love it and hate it. It got some things so right, and some things so wrong. At some point I'll need to watch it again to see what I really think about it. Seeing Episode IX may change my perception of the story, perhaps ... but my main issues were

I enjoyed Thor Ragnarok, but it doesn't feel like the previous movies. The characters are different and the Shakespearean tone is gone.

It's also very much a Taika Waititi film - I love Hunt for the Wilderpeople - but I think the only thing that keeps me from really liking this film is that the tone is so different.

Has anyone seen Justice League? FK, I'll admit I'm the same in terms of DC movies. I do tend to enjoy the Marvel ones. I was disappointed. I like Wonder Woman but I think DC missed out on building on what worked with that film. I liked it a lot more than I thought I would, but it felt very ordinary. I also saw it a couple of weeks after seeing Thor Ragnarok so it didn't survive the comparison terribly well (especially as Justice League tried very hard to be funny). The best thing about it was Barry. I think it missed a huge opportunity in

There are several films coming out here this month that I want to see - Darkest Hour, Coco, and Early Man - Aardman's latest, I'm especially excited for this.

Has anyone seen the "Showman" movie yet?

I'll be interested to hear how it presents the way Barnum bought and used a dwarf for a Sideshow. Barnum is famous for using and probably inventing the word 'midget' (seriously not acceptable for referring to Little People today).