Just so I know the pulse of the room--are we considering casting a spoiler, or just in this case where the character even appearing is a spoiler?

I think it was only spoilery in conjunction with the other part I said. I don't think the actor's appearence on screen would have indicated what direction the character was going to go in or that just knowing they were in it would have given anything away, though either might have set certain expectations.

To clarify, I don't think knowing an actor in a movie is spoilery unless they are already known to be a particular character which usually means a sequel.

Haven't seen the movie, but the idea that there is a spoiler for anything in a biopic about the most chronicled President in history is intriguing.

the idea that there is a spoiler for anything in a biopic about the most chronicled President in history is intriguing.

I think you can have spoilers for a biopic in the same way you can have spoilers for an adaptation - knowing what the real history is doesn't mean you know exactly what version of the story will wind up onscreen. There were many MANY people avoiding Hobbit spoilers (even if they'd read the book) since they didn't want to know what was changed/left out/where the movie ended in relation to the book, etc.

What Jess said. That was exactly my thinking in white-fonting what I did.

I saw Identity Thief, and first off if you read that there's something after the credits, don't stay for it. It's just audio, and it's a repeat of an exchange from the movie that's not even that funny. Odd choice.

Anyway- the movie itself entertained me. In general I am the stiff prudish one on the road trip with the whack-a-doodle, and I still would kick Zach Gallthingy in the nuts. But I am apparently enslaved by Melissa McCarthy, and she continues to entrance. And Bateman is clearly an expert sympathetic straight man.

So it was that version of that story that worked for me. A lot.

Sat with weirdos, though. There was a red band trailer, and the people to the right said "They can do that?" ... just about the red band, not about the contents of the trailer. And when, during the movie, someone got FOOD ON THEIR FACE, the people to the left of me exclaimed "Oh no!"

Yeah, those are going to the bet worst things that happen in this movie, for sure.

Also, please don't Shazam during the movie. Maybe they need to say that explicitly.

Hmm. Having just read this article [link] complaining that Melissa McCarthy is playing too many loud crass and obnoxious characters, and also there is a joke made about her physical unfitness, and you shouldn't make that joke.

I'm a little sceptical of an article that says a woman should play sweeter and warmer characters and ease up on being a "spectacle".

The role she plays in Identity Thief has remarkable abandon. There is pretty much nothing that character will not do. But that also speaks to a range that the author is claiming she lacks. I don't remember the nuanced Bridesmaids character in such a way that Sandy 2.0 is a horrible thing--this character has two orgasms in this movie, at least--one solo, and one with a partner, and I think that alone is pretty remarkable. Never mind the fact that she is, yes, unfit (as we saw in some of the trailers) but she's also strong and able to defend herself. The whole fucking movie is about how remarkable she is--it's not just a redemption, it's a revelation. She's sexual, sweet, funny, insecure, looking for love, able to love back when she gains confidence, irrepressible-- she's a million things, and yes, a couple of them are loud and unable to run far, but the author is not mentioning anything you don't see in the trailer. There's a reason you pay money to see the whole thing--because there's more than in the previews.

Grr. I feel like the article is "Can't you just cross your legs at the ankles and not the knees?" whereas an "I don't like that kind of comedy" would be more apropos. That's a good enough reason to dislike the movie, but not a good enough reason for her to stop playing roles that include those facets.

I'm having (another) Chris Evans craving, so I marathoned Cellular (William H. Macey, never change, ILU), Push (I have an unholy love for the whump he takes in that movie), and took a risk on some Tennesse Williams movie. The latter was fairly engaging, although there was a lot of stuff that I wish I knew more about, like how long Jimmy had worked for the Willows, if he'd been there before his father, how he'd met Fisher. But CE was delish. Some prot-Captain America numminess there. And it was hilarious how he kept ditching Fisher without taking his leave. And I don't know if it's a TW thing, but the end was ambiguous, or maybe I'm just used to movies where the two main characters finally overcome their misconceptions and personal failings and prejudices when it turns out they've been mutually in love all along. But unless I'm being obtuse, it read like Jimmy was accepting her marriage proposal purely for convenience. Which is sad.

And then, what was with the random gay dude in the bathroom watching Jimmy pee with a leer, and Jimmy punching him out?

It felt like an unexplored thread. There seemed to be a lot of unexplored threads.

But, for CE lusting, defintely worth the rental.

I think Push is underrated. That was a good movie, and I love that it was set in Hong Kong instead of New York or L.A. or the usual.

Beau and I just got back from Side Effects. I was looking forward to seeing this movie - it is Soderbergh and I have tended to like his films.

Beau hated the film. I didn't hate it, but the movie was incredibly predictable. Far more predictable than I thought possible. I also think the trailers showed way too much of the film. Beau didn't like it because he thought it violated some tenets of storytelling (and let me tell you, that really gets his goat).

That kind of thing bothers me a bit less - but I thought there were logic holes you could drive a spaceship through. I think the movie needed to be a bit tighter because there were genre shifts that made me think the 3rd rewrite cut out a lot of the movie that was most interesting to me.