Bohemian Rhapsody was just not very good.

Right?? I walked out of the screening with three other people and we all agreed it was an okay by-the-numbers biopic with a pretty good performance at the center. It was FINE, but not Win All The Things amazing.

I sat down to watch Snow White and the Huntsman tonight, and I know it's a fairytale, and I'm still utterly gobsmacked at the idea that 50 heavy cavalry in a fucking line could gallop across a beach and hope to capture a fortified castle.

Do directors on these movies never hire a tactician?

I was more impressed by the evil queen's wardrobe in that movie.

That was pretty impressive!

I was also impressed by the lineup of British actors playing the dwarfs: Ray Winstone, Ian McShane, and Bob Hoskins...

crossposted from FB

I would like to keep up a steady movie watching schedule now that the Oscars are over. I am creating a list of all nominated films that I have never seen. Right now I am focusing on Best Picture nominees and I am starting the list with my birth year just because I have to start somewhere (1928 seemed really really daunting). I'm not even going to put all the years on the list to start. I have 1971 - 1975 and 2012-2015 thus far and it's already 43 titles. If anyone wants to join me, let me know and I'll send you the Google Doc as it is now, we can always modify it to indicate who has seen what. I may reach out to a few of you for direction on where to start and I may be eliminating some due to problematic people unless there is some way to watch where they would not benefit in anyway (if the film is up on kanopy do you think there are royalty payments based on views?).

I'd like to see your Google docs, if only to copy it for myself. I can't even keep with TV these days, as much as I want to watch more movies I just don't see it happening.

I would like to keep up a steady movie watching schedule now that the Oscars are over. I am creating a list of all nominated films that I have never seen.

megan walker had watching parties for all the Oscars winners starting from the beginning. I think she blogged it, so if you want to dip back into some earlier ones that seem interesting and have been forgotten that would be a good place to go.

Last night, I went to catch the new moon landing documentary, Apollo 11, which is in a limited one week run at my local multiplex on their IMAX screen (well, it's a fake IMAX but with a decent sized screen). If you at all consider yourself a space nerd and live close to where this is playing, I'd highly recommend you grab the chance to see this on the big screen. They unearthed some incredibly sharp-looking 65 mm footage from the archives and it's edited beautifully to give you a real sense of immediacy, as if you were right there in the thick of things with the astronauts and all the support staff on the ground. Interesting timing to release this so close on the heels of Damien Chazelle's First Man.

Also, young Bruce McCandless, who was one of the mission control capsule communicators on the ground, could GET IT. (He later became a famous astronaut in his own right -- he's the guy in the suit in this iconic photo). He sorta looked like a cross between young Joseph Cotton and Tom Hanks, except manlier, and I was like, "you can capsule communicate with me any time, Commander." (I mean, I don't actually know if he had a title -- he was in the Navy so maybe? -- but my libido thought he should have one.)

According to Wikipedia, McCandless was a Navy captain. [link]

Interesting timing to release this so close on the heels of Damien Chazelle's First Man.

When else? The 50th anniversary of the landing is this July. (Damn, I've gotten old.)