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The Movies Thread!

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SnowAngel
(@snowangel)
Maiden of Monday Madness Moderator

The DVD for Jason Bourne is finally in at the library, planning to watch it this weekend.

I watched American Sniper with my Dad and brother earlier this month. It was quite good, even knowing the ending it was still a tearjerker for me and my Dad. I was impressed with Bradley Cooper's portrayal of Chris Kyle.

Arva, I have heard of A United Kingdom as well, but haven't seen it. Would to hear your thoughts on it if you get to see it.

SnowAngel


Christ is King.

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Posted : March 23, 2017 5:55 pm
fantasia
(@fantasia)
Member Admin

Last night I watched 'My Cousin Vinny' as I had seen about 60% of it before on TV, but hadn't ever watched the whole thing. I really liked it except for one major issue.... yet another movie where they had to cram in as many R-rated words as possible. 8-|
My husband and I were once again wishing for a company that would release toned down TV versions of movies as opposed to Unrated movies. We'd buy lots of movies then. ;))

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Posted : April 5, 2017 3:16 am
ValiantArcher
(@valiantarcher)
BC Head and G&B Mod Moderator

I saw Queen of Katwe over this weekend. If you haven't heard of it, it's about a teenage Ugandan chess player; on one hand, it's kind of an underdog sports story, but on the other, it's about chess and it's based off a real and recent (2011?) story. We enjoyed it a lot; it was both simultaneously more heart-breaking and more hilarious than I anticipated. ;)) I had a little bit of trouble following the timeline and connections between the scenes on occasion, but I think that was a combination of editing choices, learning to keep track of the characters/actors, and the fact it takes place over several years. I loved

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the credits where they brought out both the actor and the actual person they were portraying, along with the "here's what happened" info. :D

I was sad to hear that it did terribly at the box office. :( I wanted to see it in theaters, but it came out right before a family wedding and I didn't recover quickly enough from it to catch it in the theater.

Some days you battle yourself and other monsters. Some days you just make soup.

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Posted : April 23, 2017 2:46 pm
Sonny
(@sonny)
NarniaWeb Nut

Anyone looking forward to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 next week! I'm so excited!!! I'm a sucker for anything released as part of the MCU. It took them a few movies to hit their stride, but I've especially been enjoying Phases 2 and 3.

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Posted : April 27, 2017 1:46 am
fantasia
(@fantasia)
Member Admin

This is the second of two movies I'm looking forward to this year :D I don't know when I will get to see it as I have a newborn now, but yes, I'm excited for it.

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Posted : April 27, 2017 4:00 am
Sonny
(@sonny)
NarniaWeb Nut

This is the second of two movies I'm looking forward to this year :D I don't know when I will get to see it as I have a newborn now, but yes, I'm excited for it.

Well I'd come babysit for you! I have an IMAX 14 minutes from my house, so I'm hoping to see it there!

What's the other one you're looking forward to?

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Posted : April 28, 2017 12:55 am
fantasia
(@fantasia)
Member Admin

Beauty and the Beast :) I did see it, but just found it to be just ok. To me the broadway version is perfection so I found most of the movie changes to be odd or unnecessary. :P ;)) But everybody else seems to love it so I find myself in the minority once again (as always :)) ).

My husband and I watched Doctor Strange last night. As Marvel flicks go, I really liked it. There were several parts where I was laughing quite a bit. Definitely higher on the Marvel movie list than most others. (Again, I tend to be very much in the minority on how I rate Marvel movies :P ) Thumbs up to Tilda Swinton. :D

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Posted : May 2, 2017 5:17 pm
stargazer
(@stargazer)
Member Moderator

I recently watched Shadowlands with friends - the 1993 version with Anthony Hopkins playing CS Lewis. I'd seen it before and it's been discussed on here as well, but one thing I really noticed on this viewing is how much it jumps around, with lots of short scenes of a minute or two (for example, Jack talking to his students or to Douglas Gresham).

But all night, Aslan and the Moon gazed upon each other with joyful and unblinking eyes.

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Posted : May 2, 2017 7:36 pm
Sonny
(@sonny)
NarniaWeb Nut

My partner and I saw Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 last night in IMAX 3D.... oh wow!!!!!!! So amazingly good! Funny, touching, sweet... and a great story to boot! So worth the extra $$ to see it in IMAX 3D. I'd like to see it on the big screen at least once more, but in 2D. I love 3D, but I feel that sometimes it gets a little cluttery that way.

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Posted : May 5, 2017 1:42 am
ValiantArcher
(@valiantarcher)
BC Head and G&B Mod Moderator

I got to see Moana and Finding Dory over the weekend for the first time.

I really liked the cultural elements/setting of Moana and the animation was lovely. Overall, though, I think a combination of things made it just okay - I think it was overhyped to me, enough elements were floating around (spoilers, gifs, references, song lyrics, etc.) that my brain put together a bit of a different picture of things, such as Maui

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I couldn't figure out why on earth Maui was a hero when he kept trying to sneak out of deals and toss Moana out and such - it wasn't until after the movie ended that I remembered he was a trickster; it's mentioned when he's introduced, but the movie was portraying him as a hero and everything I'd heard about him out-of-the-movie portrayed him as one too, so it completely flew past me
, and then it broke the fourth wall/was too self-aware a couple of times which I found jarring
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the princess/not-princess discussion, the "bioluminescent" explanation, and another thing or two I'm forgetting
.

On the other hand, I liked Finding Dory a lot. ;)) It was nice to see the old characters again and the new characters were great (

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Bailey and Destiny especially cracked me up ;))
), and the
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flashbacks to Dory's childhood were all sweet (and usually sad, so touching)
. I guess the overarching story and arc about Dory resonated with me, especially
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Dory's parents telling her that she had found her way home, in her own way, and then the acknowledgment on several sides that she was never going to "fit in" but that didn't make her any less of a...fish, I guess. ;)) And that her way of looking at life and acting, although out of the ordinary, didn't mean she was wrong. I know people like that, and it was just...really good to see that perspective.

Some days you battle yourself and other monsters. Some days you just make soup.

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Posted : May 17, 2017 2:52 pm
fantasia
(@fantasia)
Member Admin

I watched Moana last night as well. I definitely enjoyed it more than you did Valia. ;)) I've decided that my opinion of movies is inversely affected by how hyped a movie is before I watch it. :P With the exception of the climactic scene in Frozen (because it's so poignant) I liked Moana a lot more. Actually, one of the biggest things I loved about Moana was that it

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had no romance, THANK YOU!!!!
And I also really liked
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the twist at the end with the big fire goddess being the corrupted life goddess
.
The two things I didn't care for were the
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crab which drove me crazy
and the
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obligatory "you have offended me so I'm going to leave, but it's ok, I'll be back later to save the day" that Disney ALWAYS sticks into their film
. :P
My daughter liked it a lot too so I'll probably get it at some point. :P ;)

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Posted : May 19, 2017 7:41 am
The Rose-Tree Dryad
(@rose)
Secret Garden Agent Moderator

I saw Moana around Easter and I liked it. I actually thought it was a better version of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader than Walden's VDT was. :P Which unfortunately isn't saying much, but it definitely did a better job capturing that longing to discover what's out there.

I liked it better than Frozen, but not as well as Tangled. Most of the music was good (I really liked "I Am Moana") and the visuals at the end were pretty spectacular.

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I hadn't seen much of the movie aside from the clip of Moana's first song, so I went into it pretty blind as well, fk. I also really liked the twist at the end! Didn't see that coming. I do agree with Valia that Maui's image as a hero and someone who just wants the appreciation of humans didn't really seem to jive with his repeated attempts to ditch Moana. It did occur to me that maybe he just wanted to go and get his hook, then come back and free her from the cave. He may have not been really comfortable hanging around humans without the magical device that made him special/useful, but I don't think I should have to be inferring so much. :P It's definitely a place where the story is lacking a bit. In general, I find Maui to be a little more forgettable than he should be... but then again, the movie's called Moana, not Maui. ;)

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Posted : May 19, 2017 1:00 pm
ValiantArcher
(@valiantarcher)
BC Head and G&B Mod Moderator

re: Moana - so, fk and Rose, the movie wasn't hyped for you beforehand? I typically enjoy it more if it isn't hyped as well... The big thing you all liked,

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the earth goddess being the lava monster as well,
was one of the things I knew beforehand, so it had no impact on me and I actually didn't realize
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it was really supposed to be a big twist... XD
Ditto the things you disliked, fk. ;))
I understand why people like the music, but it didn't really catch me. Well...except "You're Welcome" has been popping up in my head ALL week, but I didn't even like it that much. :P (Though, the scene in the movie reminded me of Hercules for some reason, so there's that. ;)))

Summer, my mom, and I watched the first 45 minutes of Doctor Strange tonight. We're not at all impressed so far. I've heard good things about it (including from you, fk ;))), but it has three huge strikes so far: Benedict Cumberbatch's American accent is terrible (I can't figure out what he's saying half the time and my brain just can't connect), I have no sympathy for Stephen Strange, and they have gone way overboard with the lights and angles and swooping bits. :P Plus,

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the Eastern mysticism always looked dubious to me and so far it hasn't done anything to correct that impression. To be fair, we've only made it through the first intro, but the lights and angles and camera jerking has kicked up into high gear in it... Also, the hands. *shudders*

Some days you battle yourself and other monsters. Some days you just make soup.

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Posted : May 19, 2017 6:21 pm
Meltintalle
(@mel)
Member Moderator

I don't recall having problems with Cumberbatch's enunciation, but then I wasn't expecting any particular accent from him so that may have helped?

Thinking back after several months, the things I remember about Dr. Strange are the visual effects, the visual effects, and Mads Mikkleson's character's sparkly eyeshadow. :p

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I spent an enormous chunk of the movie going, "Why is his face so familiar? Have I seen him in something else?" and then when the credits rolled I realized it was the guy whose face I'd seen all over the internet. :p (And then Rogue One happened and I didn't recognize him until he was clean shaven...)
A lot of it was like watching a kaleidoscope, which I thought was really cool, but maybe ended up overwhelming the story? I do remember hoping that Stephen Strange would have some sort of epiphany
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but it was more like the one trailer for Doogal | The Magic Roundabout where he was like, "The mighty hero couldn't make it today so I came instead." The side characters were far more interesting - the nurse, the sidekick who turned away from the 'true path'... and, of course, the librarian who had some of the best humorous moments.

Speaking of movies where the protagonist goes out of their way to be obnoxious, I watched King Arthur: Legend of the Sword the other day. I haven't run across any positive reviews, which wouldn't have surprised me after the trailer I saw, but I ended up enjoying it.

We have hands that fashion and heads that know,
But our hearts we lost - how long ago! -- G. K. Chesterton

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Posted : May 21, 2017 12:20 pm
ValiantArcher
(@valiantarcher)
BC Head and G&B Mod Moderator

Mel, I may've been moderately expecting an English accent, but I've seen enough things with him to have been fine with a number of different accents. But the American accent he tried here? It was awful; I may be partially keyed to it having heard a number of bad fake American accents - I guess it does have not being as shrill as some others in its favor.
I do agree the visual effects stood out - which completely failed for me. The spinning, anti-gravity, and kaleidoscope effects all made my head spin and the technicolor reminded me of slightly muted 1970s Doctor Who episodes right after they first discovered technicolor. :P ;)) And I think it did overshadow the story, especially in the

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first scene where Stephen was sent on the journey out of his body and then to a lesser degree in some of the fight scenes
.

We finished Doctor Strange last night. Our impression of the first half pretty much played out for the second half. The introduction of some of the side characters helped a tiny bit, but not enough. I've also seen enough sci-fi that the climax

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being a time loop (not to mention Mordo's going rogue and against everything he had worked for???)
didn't really feel new or even that interesting,
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though I suppose the solution being the time loop, as opposed to them looking for a solution from the time loop, was a newer variant
. Neither did I have sympathy for or interest in the Ancient One -
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she seemed very much like a stock questionable authority figure, complete with lack of explanation, a lot taken on trust with someone completely devoted to her, and her doing the same things she taught against, not to mention dying
. Also, I took the final message as being
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"sometimes you have to do bad things for good reasons"
, which didn't fly with me - am I missing something? I also didn't buy the climax trying to look like character growth for Stephen -
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for someone with a fear of failing, a time loop means infinite chances to get it "right" without any consequences or lasting record of getting it "wrong". Also, the Ancient One told him, right before she died, that he had thought everything was all about him and that he still thought that; I never really saw that changed? Other than possibly what looked like a possible decision for him to NOT use the dark powers to fix his hands because there actually wasn't a way to do it?

So, yeah. I don't really think it was worth the time watching it for me... That said, I'd be curious to hear thoughts from others (thanks, Mel!), especially fk, who loved it. ;))

Some days you battle yourself and other monsters. Some days you just make soup.

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Posted : May 21, 2017 3:05 pm
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