Last movie you watched......

I enjoyed it and ignored all the people crying about this film being an anthem to incels.

 

Same here. One of the things I feared the film would do was give the Joker a true origin story, which he’s never had. I think Phillips did a great job showing his descent into madness (his origin, as it were) without letting the viewers know for sure who Arthur Fleck really is. Fleck is as much a persona as Joker, and we’re left unsure of how much, if any, of his backstory is reliably true. He’s not sure about who he really is, which helps explain why nobody else ever really knows who he is. I’m also glad they veered away from the plot point about the Waynes, as that would have been utterly ridiculous.

 

I don't think the people writing the reviews about the movie are the ones who loved Cats. Its first run on Broadway ended in 2000 and I thought the pop culture view of Cats has changed since them and younger people laughed at it.

 

Cats is not my favorite play, but I had high hopes given the cast.

Here's the song T-Swift wrote for the movie. It's lovely, but it felt shoehorned into the production.

Swift has the potential to be a good actress. However, her voice is all over the place and it's way, way too thin and breathy for ALW's mack truck of a score. Seeing and hearing her perform alongside people with more extensive theatre bona fides reminded me of Carrie Underwood's attempt at The Sound of Music a couple of years ago. Audra McDonald had the right kind of voice and experience to do a live on the air production of TSoM and she performed circles around Underwood.

I've never understood why people pick musicals that are notorious for their difficulty when they set out to expand their profiles as entertainers. Who did it right? Reba McEntire.

She picked projects that spoke to her strengths. Seems like it would be smarter to be better than your material and work your way up to coloratura emoting than the other way around.

 

It sort of fits in with the comics. There have been multiple origin stories for Joker, but just like you describe the movie, even the Joker isn't sure which story is true. He spoke about it in The Killing Joke. "If I'm going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice!"

 

Ready or Not; some obvious things but well written.

 

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Plotless and pretty boring. The sets were cool, but the movie dragged a lot. Might be his worst movie.

 

Universal Notifies Theaters 'Cats' Is Being Updated With "Improved Visual Effects"

I've never heard of anything like this. Movies - particularly big budget movies - are usually tested and tinkered with months before they premiere. Movies that get trashed or poor responses from test audiences usually get scuttled over January and February or moved directly to video.

 

"Knives Out." Very enjoyable.

 

Bombshell.

I know the story very well. And the movie does an outstanding job of building drama and making it suspenseful despite knowing the outcome.

The three leads are all fantastic. Theron and Kidman do a great job playing real people. And Robbie as a composite character works very well.

Not sure how they put the weight on Lithgow to play Ailes, makeup or CGI. But it was fantastic. And Lithgow is great.

No idea if this movie has a wide audience. Probably because of the talent in it.

It really landed for me. I have a tiny bit of first-hand knowledge, and A LOT of trusted second-hand knowledge of the culture and feel inside the Fox News building.

From what I know, this movie absolutely nails it.

 

To say The Two Popes takes liberties with facts is an understatement - the visit at the center of the film never happened. But it does do an effective job as a framing device to present the the "two sides" of the Catholic Church, the order, majesty and heirarchy of Benedict and the people-focused efforts of Francis. It's probably way too harsh on Benedict who pretty much had to answer for all the failings of JP II and clean up the mess and take the brunt of criticism that should have been directed at his predescessor - but Hopkins does a good job humanizing him. Pryce is great as Francis, who would probably be leading the Dem nomination given his efforts on behalf of migrants, combating global warming and income inequality.
The Two Popes: What Actually Happened When Francis Met Benedict

 

Saw Cats today. Having read the reviews I went in expecting two hours of Cronenburgian body horror and a recitation from The King in Yellow, but what I saw was pleasant enough and enjoyable (even if some of the cast, Dench and Elba in particular, only hinted in the direction of singing). Maybe years of watching horror movies has skewed my judgment, but I have to wonder how much of the disgust is performative. If nothing else I give Hooper credit for taking a rather bold approach at a time when Hollywood seems as risk averse as ever.