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Author Topic: What Movie Did You Watch This Weekend? The Third.  (Read 425511 times)

Offline killersmom

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Re: What Movie Did You Watch This Weekend? The Third.
« Reply #2295 on: January 29, 2021, 08:28:37 AM »
I had no idea of the length and diversity of Cloris Leachman's career, or the number of awards or nominations she and Cicely Tyson both had received.

So, now, who will be the third?


I was thinking the same thing last night, Jeff.
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Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: What Movie Did You Watch This Weekend? The Third.
« Reply #2296 on: January 29, 2021, 09:07:30 AM »
I was thinking the same thing last night, Jeff.

After I posted, the thought came to me that I won't be surprised if it's Betty White.

Offline B.W.

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Re: What Movie Did You Watch This Weekend? The Third.
« Reply #2297 on: January 29, 2021, 02:15:59 PM »
Cloris Leachman, the decorated actress of stage and screen best known for her role as the annoyingly perfect landlady Phyllis Lindstrom on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, died on January 27, 2021. She was 94. Leachman's manager, Juliet Green, confirms to PEOPLE that the actress died Wednesday of natural causes.




She was a terrific entertainer.  May she rest in peace.

Offline B.W.

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Re: What Movie Did You Watch This Weekend? The Third.
« Reply #2298 on: January 29, 2021, 02:17:47 PM »
Cicely Tyson, Emmy- and Tony-winning actress whose electrifying portrayals of resilient Black women — foremost in the 1974 TV movie “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman” but also as Coretta Scott King and Harriet Tubman — brought some of the first ennobling portrayals of African Americans to a vast television audience, died on Thursday afternoon, January 28, 2021. She was 96.



She was a wonderful actress, as was Cloris Leachman. May Cicely and Cloris both rest in peace.  I'm glad that both women lived to be 96 or 94 years of age.  I admire that they led such long lives and had such long, busy, prolific, and upstanding careers.
« Last Edit: January 29, 2021, 02:26:28 PM by B.W. »

Offline B.W.

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Re: What Movie Did You Watch This Weekend? The Third.
« Reply #2299 on: January 29, 2021, 02:19:02 PM »
After I posted, the thought came to me that I won't be surprised if it's Betty White.




I hope Betty White will live to see her 100th birthday.  I loved "THE GOLDEN GIRLS" (1985-1992).  Betty will turn 100-years-old next year.

Offline B.W.

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Re: What Movie Did You Watch This Weekend? The Third.
« Reply #2300 on: January 29, 2021, 02:23:05 PM »
I loved Ghost.  I don't know that I would call it swoony-romantic, there are definitely sentimental moments and pulls on the heartstrings.



Yes, "GHOST" (1990) definitely has a dash of sentimentality, but it isn't the type of romantic movie that'll make you swoon.  That movie fits into so many genres, not just romance. It also fits into the fantasy, comedy, crime, mystery and suspense, and thriller genres, too.

Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: What Movie Did You Watch This Weekend? The Third.
« Reply #2301 on: January 29, 2021, 08:20:43 PM »


Yes, "GHOST" (1990) definitely has a dash of sentimentality, but it isn't the type of romantic movie that'll make you swoon.  That movie fits into so many genres, not just romance. It also fits into the fantasy, comedy, crime, mystery and suspense, and thriller genres, too.

All I ever see of Ghost is a shot of Patrick Swayze hovering over Demi Moore. Looks a little too swoony-romantic for me.

Offline gattaca

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Re: What Movie Did You Watch This Weekend? The Third.
« Reply #2302 on: January 30, 2021, 09:23:01 AM »
Watched "The Dig (2021)" on NetFlix with Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes. It is based on an interesting, "true story" about something I had no clue even happened in 1939 before the War.  I almost did not recognize Fiennes.  It was refreshing not to be watching re-runs.

Securing ~ 85% on Rotten in both cats. 

IMDB -> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3661210/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
 
Rotten -> https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_dig_2021

NYT ->  https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/28/movies/the-dig-review.html

LAT -> https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2021-01-29/dig-netflix-review-fiennes-mulligan 
"It’s an old-fashioned story told in an unexpected way."
"Existential questions about how we’re remembered, cosmic time and our responsibilities to one another are nimbly woven into the life-altering events faced by each character."
They are referencing the film as a whole. Less subtly, there's a discussion between two characters which frames it loosely as, "If a thousand years were to pass in the blink of an eye, what would be left of us?"

Ebert's site 3 of 4 -> https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-dig-movie-review-2021
"The Sutton Hoo find represented a shift in consciousness around shared ancestry and legacy, and a sense of ownership over the collective past. "

Recommended if you want something not stressful; something anchored in the past of way simpler years (before the war); something which can be a message for the present; something that's overall a positive story for humankind; ...    Stay safe, stay alive!  V.
« Last Edit: January 31, 2021, 08:45:34 AM by gattaca »

Offline Sara B

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Re: What Movie Did You Watch This Weekend? The Third.
« Reply #2303 on: January 30, 2021, 10:00:04 AM »
Thanks, Vincent. I’ll be watching this soon. I’ve seen some of the Sutton Hoo artefacts in the British Museum.

Offline gattaca

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Re: What Movie Did You Watch This Weekend? The Third.
« Reply #2304 on: January 30, 2021, 10:22:34 AM »
^^^ Ah,  be interested in your take and if you knew any of the story before the film.   ;)  Stay safe, stay alive!  V.

Offline Sara B

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Re: What Movie Did You Watch This Weekend? The Third.
« Reply #2305 on: January 30, 2021, 10:28:54 AM »
The actual discovery is very well-known, but I don’t know any of the background.

Offline Gillian

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Re: What Movie Did You Watch This Weekend? The Third.
« Reply #2306 on: January 30, 2021, 11:14:59 AM »
The Dig


I knew quite a bit about the background for the Sutton Hoo dig and am well acquainted with the finds on display in the British Museum. Archaeology and historical jewelry are two of my big fields of interest, so I threw myself at this film as soon as it became available on Netflix.

I liked how quiet and low-key it was, how much went unsaid or was said with a minimum of words. I liked the setting and how much the landscapes were showcased. The two main characters were very appealing, they seemed human and humane, decent, multi-layered, relatable. Superb acting.

The purpose of the film seemed to be to give the viewers insight into the lives that were most connected with and touched by the Sutton Hoo find, at the point in time of the excavation but drawing lines from their past and into their futures, putting the big issues they grapple with - life, death, legacy - in relief when played out with the ancient Anglo-Saxon burial as backdrop. The film did not give a complete overview over the excavation and the finds - that wasn't the main purpose, I think. The timeline had been significantly compressed, as happens in all such movies.

So yeah, I should have really enjoyed this. Why didn't I?

The landowner, Mrs. Pretty, was 56 years of age during the dig in 1939. Carey Mulligan who plays her was 35 at the time of filming.

Another important character, archaeologist Peggy Piggott, is played by Lily James, who I must say gets a lot of 'everywoman' roles when she is anything but your ordinary woman. Maybe male filmmakers think that's how every woman OUGHT to look. Or they think they need a gorgeous babe to draw an audience.  ::) Anyway, beautiful Lily has been fitted out with a pair of glasses to make her seem more bookish and dowdy, I assume.  ::)

Lily's character comes across as a bit clueless, emotional and ditzy, stumbling into finding the first jewels, not realizing her hubby is gay... The whole characterization seems off, compared to who this woman really was and what she achieved professionally IRL.

In addition, they saddle Peggy with a (fictional) handsome love interest, and Mrs. Pretty is also shown to be romantically interested in her hired excavator.

So my main gripe? Interesting, active, knowledgable real life women with important roles to play in historic events apparently cannot be portrayed on screen the way they looked, nor looking their actual age. Not even in a serious, artsy movie like this. They have to be prettified, de-aged, made more cute and consequently less 'threatening', and their overt sex appeal must be increased. And they have to be engaged in romance, - what else could they find to occupy their little lives?  :-\

In short, the portrayal of the two main women characters, specifically all the unnecessary changes made compared to their RL personas, pisses me off.
Slava Ukraini

Offline Gillian

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Re: What Movie Did You Watch This Weekend? The Third.
« Reply #2307 on: January 30, 2021, 12:09:33 PM »
As a follow-up to the above, I'd like to add a link. The British Museum has been putting out various small videos showcasing and discussing artefacts of the collection during the pandemic.

In connection with the premiere of 'The Dig', a short video has been published in which Doctor Susan Brunning, the curator of the Early Medieval Europe collections at the BM, presents the Sutton Hoo helmet in an extremely interesting, informative and engaging manner. I think this is an excellent way to get to know a bit more about the most important and fascinating object from this burial.

Link - give it a go!

Slava Ukraini

Offline gattaca

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Re: What Movie Did You Watch This Weekend? The Third.
« Reply #2308 on: January 30, 2021, 02:49:48 PM »
^^^ Thank you!  I agree with everything you stated above regarding this film.   It has weaknesses which several reviewers surfaced but I liked your summary take on it!   ;)  "They have to be prettified, de-aged, made more cute and consequently less 'threatening', ..."

The age delta between 56 and 35 is troubling. I will guess backers felt they needed a younger Mrs. Pretty to make the film more appealing vs being accurate - sadly one of Hollywood's greatest flaws.  It miffs me a bit that they did not reveal her being older during the dig, even at the end though they did reveal how the British Museum did not honor her stipulations on the gifts for recognition initially, but did so only more recently. This was one of the ending footnotes.

I too felt some of the side stories could have used a few more edges and and they got way too obvious using Peggy Piggott as a source of sympathy for her treatment by all the men in her life at that time.   Thanks for the summary!!  V.
« Last Edit: January 31, 2021, 02:26:49 AM by gattaca »

Offline killersmom

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Re: What Movie Did You Watch This Weekend? The Third.
« Reply #2309 on: January 30, 2021, 05:29:03 PM »
The actual discovery is very well-known, but I don’t know any of the background.

I had never heard of this, so had to look it all up! It's fascinating!
"Life can only be understood backwards. Unfortunately, it must be lived forward."
... Kierkegaard