[Traveller]

QuickTidal, on 14 November 2019 - 07:27 PM, said:

Man, I love these movies.

They're so good! Kids love them, we have spongebob on far too much at home. Great reason to go to the cinema to see them.

[polishgenius]

I hope it's not as boring as Goodfellas but I'm not optimistic. Looks like Scorsese in full coasting mode.

[Morgoth]

polishgenius, on 14 November 2019 - 05:58 PM, said:

Wouldn't it be great if they cast someone who's actually Arabic in the part.

I think Egyptians might have a thing or two to say about that, all in all, and the Rock is at least of part African descent.

[Gorefest]

polishgenius, on 18 November 2019 - 05:33 AM, said:

I hope it's not as boring as Goodfellas but I'm not optimistic. Looks like Scorsese in full coasting mode.

I've heard a lot of words used to describe Goodfellas, but boring is a new one to me.

[Morgoth]

I watched the Darkest Hour this week-end. Can't go wrong with Gary Oldman! It was, to me at least, a wonderfully made film and I really enjoyed it. Mayhaps it butchers everything the English hold dear, but who cares about their feelings, eh?

[polishgenius]

Morgoth, on 18 November 2019 - 07:39 AM, said:

polishgenius, on 14 November 2019 - 05:58 PM, said:

Wouldn't it be great if they cast someone who's actually Arabic in the part.

I think Egyptians might have a thing or two to say about that, all in all, and the Rock is at least of part African descent.

Yeah, I misspoke, although they speak Arabic they're not Arabic ethnically, but the same deal goes for middle eastern more generally or North African. Which as far as I know the Rock isn't.

Gorefest, on 18 November 2019 - 08:40 AM, said:

polishgenius, on 18 November 2019 - 05:33 AM, said:

I hope it's not as boring as Goodfellas but I'm not optimistic. Looks like Scorsese in full coasting mode.

I've heard a lot of words used to describe Goodfellas, but boring is a new one to me.

As ditchwater. I watched it once, forgot it almost entirely within days apart from a couple of the really famous scenes, and have never had the urge to watch it again.

[Malankazooie]

I mean, if for nothing else, you gotta give the 'prison sauce' a go. Binging with Babish channel on YouTube has steps.

[Abyss]

polishgenius, on 19 November 2019 - 05:59 PM, said:

Morgoth, on 18 November 2019 - 07:39 AM, said:

polishgenius, on 14 November 2019 - 05:58 PM, said:

Wouldn't it be great if they cast someone who's actually Arabic in the part.

I think Egyptians might have a thing or two to say about that, all in all, and the Rock is at least of part African descent.

Yeah, I misspoke, although they speak Arabic they're not Arabic ethnically, but the same deal goes for middle eastern more generally or North African. Which as far as I know the Rock isn't.
...

Black Adam is Egyptian.
The Rock's father is African Canadian, mother is Samoan.
Egypt is in Africa, Arabic is the national language.

...i'm not seeing much ground for angst on this one... i'm reasonably sure Black Adam is not some foundation of the Egyptian national identify.

[polishgenius]

Abyss, on 19 November 2019 - 07:47 PM, said:

Black Adam is Egyptian.
The Rock's father is African Canadian, mother is Samoan.
Egypt is in Africa, Arabic is the national language.

...i'm not seeing much ground for angst on this one... i'm reasonably sure Black Adam is not some foundation of the Egyptian national identify.

Sure and it's not a dealbreaker or anything- it's not like when Ridley Scott cast two white blokes in similar roles- but are you really saying that North Africa and the rest of Africa are the same? Completely different cultures and ethnicities.

And that's not to say there weren't black ancient Egyptians, there pretty certainly were, but Bladam clearly isn't depicted as such.

It's just lazy casting- it'd be an opportunity to build a star with someone descended from that area of the world but instead they've just gone for the biggest name they can think of who looks vaguely like he does.


I mean, that's all separate to the fact that I think The Rock is pretty bad casting for Black Adam anyway.

[Malankazooie]

Coming at the decade from a interesting angle. Something to waste time in any event.

The 10 Movies That Tell the Story of the Last 10 Years

[Aptorian]

polishgenius, on 19 November 2019 - 08:59 PM, said:

Abyss, on 19 November 2019 - 07:47 PM, said:

Black Adam is Egyptian.
The Rock's father is African Canadian, mother is Samoan.
Egypt is in Africa, Arabic is the national language.

...i'm not seeing much ground for angst on this one... i'm reasonably sure Black Adam is not some foundation of the Egyptian national identify.

Sure and it's not a dealbreaker or anything- it's not like when Ridley Scott cast two white blokes in similar roles- but are you really saying that North Africa and the rest of Africa are the same? Completely different cultures and ethnicities.

And that's not to say there weren't black ancient Egyptians, there pretty certainly were, but Bladam clearly isn't depicted as such.

It's just lazy casting- it'd be an opportunity to build a star with someone descended from that area of the world but instead they've just gone for the biggest name they can think of who looks vaguely like he does.


I mean, that's all separate to the fact that I think The Rock is pretty bad casting for Black Adam anyway.

Casting the biggest action movie star for your action movie is not lazy, it's just good business. Especially considering how hit and mostly miss the DC films seem to be.

Also the Rock is pretty much a perfect pic for Black Adam. Tall, built like a tank, brown and the rock is an excellent heel. The Rock, if you take all the catchphrases and eyebrow winks away, is an intimidating presence.

[QuickTidal]

FORD V FERRARI was damned excellent. Really really enjoyed it. Very interesting true story, and I hear they stuck as close to events as possible while only embellishing a few beats. Matt Damon and Christian Bale especially were really well cast and brought the drama. James Mangold is really a director I often enjoy.

[polishgenius]

Aptorian, on 20 November 2019 - 08:11 AM, said:

Casting the biggest action movie star for your action movie is not lazy, it's just good business. Especially considering how hit and mostly miss the DC films seem to be.

Good business and laziness are not mutually exclusive. And you talk about hit and miss but the size of the star doesn't seem to have any bearing on the size of the hit, for DC. Their biggest take is from a film starring a guy who was struggling to scrape a million for films he was leading even after appearing in Justice League. And beyond that all the stars are being drummed out while Margo Robbie and Gal Gadot, who were both known but not huge, go into the stratosphere on the back of it. They've obviously got the platform to pick someone up and boost them to superstardom, so yeah, I'm gonna stick with this is lazy.

[QuickTidal]

Took my daughter to see FROZEN II. It was excellent!

[QuickTidal]

BfuckinK, on 25 November 2019 - 03:22 PM, said:

I just don’t know what it is but I can’t physically sit through those things so I’ve never seen most or taken mine to show. I bought them when they were younger and told em to go nuts.....in the other room lol

Oh I quite enjoy them actually. Disney and Pixar really go out of their way to make the animated stuff for kids be enjoyable for adults as well.

[amphibian]

My partner and I saw The Farewell (with Awkwafina) at home. Very, very good. The pressures of family and the central concept of "give someone you love the best time you can even if it's difficult for you" was exceptionally well delivered.

There's several extremely funny parts that are mostly happening in the background, so pay attention to that as well as the foreground stuff.

[QuickTidal]

Oh, I forgot we also saw A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD on Friday, and it was a few things.

1. It was NOT what I was expecting. I was expecting a more biographical look directly at Fred Rogers, which this is not. That said, it was quite good telling the story it tells which is how in the late 90's Rogers life interweaves with the life of a young investigative journalist with a bunch of family issues stemming from his father.

2. It's got WEIRD ass scene transitions...basically the director took the concept of the Mr. Rogers Neighborhood opening with the miniature town diorama of the Rogers house/street...and expanded it to be used as the real films transitions...so it pans out and you see all of Pittsburg in hand-made diorama, or the streets and cars of the city where the scene is about to take place ect. So it switches often from the actual live scene to these almost Michel Gondry grassroots artsy sequences and back again. It's VERY strange and quite jarring. They also kind of follow this suit when they use a Mr. Rogers video tape of how a printing press prints magazines...which shows a sort of 70's/80's documentary of the concept accompanied by the "manufacturing line" piano music...that transitions weirdly into the first scene in the Esquire magazine HQ offices where the protagonist works...and then that is never used again. I feel like this movie is just WAY more artsy than I expected it to be.

3. It's well-acted across the board, with especially Hanks doing a stellar job. And I'm quite glad that while Hanks does a serviceable (if not perfect) job of imitating Fred Rogers speech, I'm VERY glad he didn't attempt to duplicate his very distinct Pennsylvanian accent. He does however ALMOST do a Rogers imitation that is a tad too much Forrest Gump...making Rogers soft-spoken, deliberate speaking seem as if he might have a disability that limits his speech instead of the just very frank and deliberate way Fred spoke.

I feel like overall this was good, but not great. The documentary on Netflix, WON'T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR, is much more worth your time to get a dose of what made Fred Rogers tick. I think this is especially clear when there is a scene in this film where Fred tells Lloyd to take a moment of silence to remember those who loved him and how they resulted in his being who he is (and everyone in the restaurant does this with them because they heard Rogers say it)....this exact idea and scene is in WON'T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR and the denouement of its point is MUCH more hard hit there because you get everyone replying that they largely thought about their mothers. In this film, the scene you never land that notion and it just ends with Fred saying "Thank you for doing that with me Lloyd"...which feels like it absolutely wastes the potential of that scene.

So while A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD is good, WON'T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR is MUCH better.

[Malankazooie]

Well booger eaters, you went apoplectic when Ed Sheeran appeared in GoT. So you better not slip on this.

Ed Sheeran Appears In A New 'Star Wars' Teaser, So Rumors Of His 'Episode IX' Cameo May Be True

So, if this proves out and I don't hear at least one complaint, imma excoriate your hypocrisy, full force. Know what I'm sayin' ?

[Aptorian]

One of the most talented and successful musicians in modern times.

[polishgenius]

Aptorian, on 25 November 2019 - 09:07 PM, said:

One of the most alented and successful musicians in modern times.

Shame he uses his talent for evil.