Now Playing: What did you see at the movies?

[Millis]

I finally saw Oppenheimer last night (first time at the age of 52! that I went to see a movie by myself) and it was a real experience. I was worried about the run time, either having to use the bathroom too much or falling asleep, but I didn't leave my seat once and found the story riveting. It was definitely loud at times, but I thought that worked with the story to show the massiveness of the bomb. I did find some parts confusing with the time jumps and without sub titles since I've gotten so used to close captioning (I watch A LOT of British mystery type shows). I should say that I went into this movie already loving Cillian Murphy after watching Peaky Blinders, but he was truly phenomenal in this role and I cannot imagine him not taking home an Oscar. His eyes alone expressed the deep conflict between intellectual pride for his creation, and moral despair for the destruction it brought.

[Ladybug]

We went to see Priscilla yesterday, an excellent film based on Priscilla Presley's book Elvis and Me. Last year I could not even finish watching Baz Luhrman's Elvis . Sofia Coppola's film is light years beyond that mess, and there is only one Elvis song in it at the very beginning (she didn't get the rights to use his music).

What stood out to me most was the slow and subtle manipulation Elvis and his cronies performed on Priscilla and to an extent her parents. There was nothing overtly malevolent about him. He was kind and vulnerable and hooked a teenage girl who idolized him. He and his daddy talked a good game to her parents, who had their own reasons for letting her embark on this relationship. People at Graceland were kind and welcoming to her, but much of the film shows how alone and isolated she was and how that factored into him controlling her. A lot of the film is set in his bedroom and she's presented as a doll, a plaything for a man who's an overgrown child. There are so many clever scenes of Elvis and his posse of dudes playing sports, goofing around, partying, and generally acting like frat boys who never grew up. It's not a surprise that to a teenage girl, this seemed completely normal and even desirable. Life with Elvis was fun. He groomed her with puppies (for real), expensive gifts, trips to Vegas, and pills.

Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi were excellent, and I think he's possibly the best Elvis I've seen. He was extremely good at harnessing the attractive qualities of Elvis, then abruptly showing you the darker side of those same characteristics. He got the voice and mannerisms down, without having to go to the ludicrous extremes Austin Butler told us he did. The hair and makeup for Priscilla were so important to this movie, and they nailed it.

Like I said earlier, Elvis Presley Enterprises refused to give Coppola the rights to Elvis's music and the film is better for it because it further centered the story on Priscilla. Using his talent and fame as an excuse for his behavior wasn't possible in this movie because it simply wasn't included. And despite the lack of Elvis songs, Coppola ends the film with the PERFECT song, IMO.

[prisma]

Oh good! You are the first person I have talked to who has seen it. I will put it on my list. I loved Marie Antoinette so I was hoping Sofia would work the same magic with this one.

[FiggyPudding]

I saw The Marvels last night, probably lower tier for Marvel, but I enjoyed it. I'm sad it's underperforming because I'd like the director Nia DaCosta to get more opportunities. I heard there was behind the scenes drama in the making of it but I haven't read those stories.

Pros: The main trio has good chemistry and killer costumes. I liked the humor (esp. two aspects of the plot); and the action was inventive but not too drawn out. The running time is 1 hr 45 minutes. It actually addresses the collateral damage that superheroes cause.

Iman Vellani did a great job and I liked her character's family. Teyonah Parris was also good, fit well with Brie Larson, and was the emotional heart I would say, despite the lack of deep character stuff.

Cons: The villain is bland & underwritten. As a non-comic and non-Marvel tv show person I had to make inferences from the brief flashbacks and dialogue, but I prefer that to a longer movie or unnecessary separate movies. I wanted to know what happened to places post-attack.

I would probably rewatch this more than Captain Marvel, The Flash and certainly more than Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, mostly because of its visuals and mild goofiness. Thin plot, but at least the big conflict at the end is a bit different.

The very last scene pre-credits seems like it could have been post credits. The mid credits scene is mildly interesting (I had to look up a brief explanation). The post credits scene is sound only and not worth it in my opinion.

The 3 cameos were fine and not distracting.

Editing to add that I saw Wonka and loved it. It's charming and heartfelt and I liked all of the musical numbers.

[scarlet]

Poor Things. Holy god, I loved this movie. I hope having already won an Oscar doesn't hurt Emma Stone's chances for a second. What a performance.

[FiggyPudding]

Dec 29, 2023 21:44:56 GMT -4 scarlet said:

Poor Things. Holy god, I loved this movie. I hope having already won an Oscar doesn't hurt Emma Stone's chances for a second. What a performance.

I'm not sure if this made it to my usual theaters but I caught it at our local cinema that carries more independent and foreign films. I found it amusingly odd and fantastical. Emma Stone's arc is incredible and I loved the ending.

Definitely earns the R rating. I hadn't seen any of the director's other work, aside from almost seeing The Lobster a few times. I did read up on his filmography afterwards and I'm glad this is the one I ended up seeing.

Oops I forgot I did see The Favourite but I liked this one much better.

[batmom]

That's high praise. I really liked The Favourite. I'll have to see this.

[mojogirl]

Yesterday I went to the Sing-along Sound of Music at 5th Ave Theater. While it's currently a musical theater venue, 5th Ave was a movie palace for the first 50+ years of it's life, which included 117(!) weeks showing The Sound of Music when it debuted in 1965.

While this was a yearly event pre-COVID, I had never attended and this was the first one since 2019. The hosts were the actresses who played Betty and Judy Haynes in the production of "White Christmas" held there last month, in their blue outfits and feather fans from the "Sisters" number (because there are lots of Sisters in TSoM, get it?)

It was so nice to just relax all afternoon and sing, cheer for Maria, boo at the Nazis, and drink a giant theater cup of cabernet sauvignon. The hosts reminded us that "This is a sing-along, not Rocky Horror" but I did laugh when Liesl gasps when she sees Rolf while the family is hiding at the abbey and someone yelled "No, girl! He's bad now!"