#I love the look Pedro gives Denzels character

[tlou-obsessed]

why is this giving me the same vibe

[courtneysmovieblog]

Trailers: Gladiator and Captain America Return

And now we have this month's blockbuster trailers!

The Front Room: Brandy, where have you been?! Not counting that Descendants Disney+ movie, of course.

Flight Risk: I'm sorry, I'm just too distracted by Mark Walhberg's hair in this movie. Did they do it that bad on purpose?!

Heretic: Hugh Grant is definitely in his villain era, and it looks like he is killing it! I have never been so unnerved by a scented candle before...

Nosferatu: Vampires are making a post-Twilight comeback, reminding us all that they are scary.

Here: Tom Hanks and Robin Wright reunite in Robert Zemeckis' film centering on a single space spot of land. Already there are jokes about the de-aged Tom and Robin, and I don't care. This still looks promising.

We Live in Time: Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh fall in love and she gets cancer. This too looks promising!

Best Christmas Pageant Ever!: This looks like it could have gone directly to Hallmark. But maybe it'll be better than that.

Red One: Look, even if the reports about Dwayne Johnson showing up late (among other things) are true, this still looks funny. Chris Evans is another actor that seems to be in a villain era: he literally takes candy from a baby in this!

Gladiator II: Didn't think it needed a sequel. Nevertheless, I will give it a chance for the plot. And by "plot," I mean the man candy of Pedro and Denzel.

F1: It's a racer movie. That's all I know, and I'm pretty sure I won't be interested.

Captain America: Brave New World: I want to support Sam Wilson as new the Cap, but Sharon probably won't be in it. The MCU doesn't even have the guts to continue with her after they destroyed her character. I'll just look at the spoilers if I'm curious.

[hellostarrynightblr]

highlights of January

There will be two sections this time: the new films and the re-watched ones as I have seen a lot of films for the second time this month. This actually brought me to choose the theme of this year’s challenge (albeit a bit too late): second chances. Turns out I enjoy most of the films I used to hate. Go figure.

New in 2022

1. Favourite movies: Good News (1947), 23 Paces to Baker Street (1956), Much Ado About Nothing (1993).

2. Decent films I liked / appreciated but not loved: Nightmare Alley (2021), Sitting Pretty (1948)

3. Best scenes: eavesdropping in Sitting Pretty (1948); the cafeteria number and the library flirting / song (Good News, 1947); Benedick vs the chair / the ‘balcony’ confession / the chapel confession (Much Ado About Nothing, 1993).

4. Favourite genres: romance, comedy, noir, musical.

5. Favourite directors: Kenneth Branagh (Much Ado About Nothing, 1993); Guillermo del Toro (Nightmare Alley, 2021); Walter Lang (Sitting Pretty, 1948); Henry Hathaway (23 Paces to Baker Street, 1956); Charles Walters (Good News, 1947).

6. Favourite actors: this is a lot.

Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, Michael Keaton, Denzel Washington (Much Ado About Nothing, 1933); Willem Dafoe (Nightmare Alley, 2021); Basil Rathbone (The Woman in Green, 1945); Minnie Dupree / Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (The Young in Heart, 1938); Clifton Webb (Sitting Pretty, 1948); Van Johnson (Easy to Love, 1953 / 23 Paces to Baker Street, 1956); Joan McCracken, June Allyson, Peter Lawford (Good News, 1947).

7. Least favourite performances: I couldn’t warm up to Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in The Music Box (1932) but maybe I just don’t like this kind of humour. But also, Keanu Reeves in Much Ado About Nothing (1993). That’s it. I have nothing else to say. What a trainwreck.

8. The most wasted cast: Jack Benny, Ann Sheridan, Charles Coburn (George Washington Slept Here, 1942). I attribute it to slow, practically comatose direction. There were a few moments but overall it was just a drag.

9. The best premise: Sitting Pretty (1948). Lynn Belvedere is my new hero.

9. The best wasted premise: The Woman in Green (1945). Did you have to make it about hypnosis?? Really?

11. Favourite cast: Kate Beckinsale, Imelda Staunton, Jimmy Yuill, Brian Blessed, Phyllida Law, Emma Thompson, Denzel Washington, Kenneth Branagh, Patrick Doyle, Michael Keaton, Ben Elton (Much Ado About Nothing, 1993). I’m excluding Keanu Reeves from the list because that was excruciating. I still like the guy but man was that bad!

Also, just look at Nightmare Alley’s cast! What a powerhouse: Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Ron Perlman, David Strathairn, Tim Blake Nelson.

12. Favourite on-screen duos: Kenneth Branagh + Emma Thompson (Much Ado About Nothing, 1993); Maureen O'Hara + Clifton Webb (Sitting Pretty, 1948); Claudette Colbert + Fredric March (Honor Among Lovers, 1931) (I’m choosing to ignore how absolutely disturbing the plot is and just enjoy the rapport between the characters); Esther Williams + Van Johnson (Easy to Love, 1953) (another idiot male but still an enjoyable film); Van Johnson + Vera Miles (23 Paces to Baker Street, 1956); June Allyson + Peter Lawford (Good News, 1947).

13. Favourite on-screen relationships: Connie Lane + Tommy Marlowe (Good News, 1947); Benedick + Beatrice (Much Ado About Nothing, 1993).

14. Favourite characters: Connie Lane / Tommy Marlowe / Babe Doolittle (Good News, 1947); Benedick / Beatrice / Don Pedro (Much Ado About Nothing, 1993); Phillip Hannon (23 Paces to Baker Street, 1956); Lynn Belvedere (Sitting Pretty, 1948).

15. Favourite quote: If it proves so, then loving goes by haps; some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps (William Shakespeare curtesy of Much Ado About Nothing, 1993).

16. Favourite fact discovered in 2022: Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson used to be married. I love this fact so much, it gives me so much life! But I hate that he cheated on her with Helena Bonham Carter. That breaks my heart... But at least I understand why their chemistry is so palpable in Much Ado About Nothing (1993).

17. The most overrated film: The Music Box (1932). 8.0 imdb rating is a bit much.

18. The most disappointing film: The Woman in Green (1945) disappointed me because I loved pretty much all the films from Basil’s Sherlock collection up to this point and this one turned out to be really underwhelming. George Washington Slept Here (1942) is another one, but I already mentioned why I dislike this film above. It’s not worth repeating myself.

19. The most overrated / overlooked film: Good News (1947) is too pure for this world!

20. The biggest surprise: Much Ado About Nothing (1993). It’s so stupid and cheesy and hilarious! I adore this film!

As far as the actors go, Van Johnson is a revelation. I’ve liked him before but watching him now is like stepping into a bubble, nothing else matters and it’s just so very comforting.

I was also smitten by Minnie Dupree in The Young in Heart (1938). What a sweet, sweet lady…

21. Best cinematography: Dan Laustsen (Nightmare Alley, 2021). No competition whatsoever.

But also, a guick shoutot to the gloomy, mysterious and attractive 23 Paces to Baker Street (1956) curtesy Milton R. Krasner.

22. Best set design: Nightmare Alley (2021). It’s unsurpassable as far as I’m concerned.

24. Best costume design: I have no idea who to personally credit, so I’ll just credit the film overall: Nightmare Alley (2021).

24. Best music: Good News (1947)

25. Best production choice: casting Clifton Webb in Sitting Pretty (1948).

26. Worst production choice: casting Keanu Reeves (Much Ado About Nothing, 1993); glorifying workplace harassment (Honor Among Lovers, 1931); the hypnosis scenes (The Woman in Green, 1945).

27. The film of the month: overall quality-wise, Good News (1947). Enjoyment-wise, Much Ado About Nothing (1993).

[hellolittleogre]

Fic Title Meme

I was tagged by @fontainebleau22  @northstarfan and @inkformyblood

Thank you guys!

Look at the most recent 20 fanwork titles on your AO3 account and answer the questions below.

My Virtues Uncounted                                                                                              Drunk Texts                                                                                                      Dead Man Banging                                                                                            Billy x Goody College AU                                                                                  Give me a thousand kisses                                                                               With a Smile and a Song                                                                                Send Nudes                                                                                                Dangers of Bedtime Reading                                                                         Cupid is No Longer an Archer                                                                              In Vino Veritas                                                                                                   Five Times Eddie and Richie Kissed                                                                The once and future king                                                                                  What Dreams May Come                                                                                Babel Fish                                                                                                    Promise you the stars and the moon too?                                                        Care

1. How many are you happy with?

Roughly about half of them, I’m happy with Send Nudes, Cupid is no longer an Archer, The once and future king. I’m also happy that my in-the-tags joke Dead Man Banging was promoted to a title. My virtues uncounted was a happy accident, I pulled it from a title generator and only later found out that it was from a song called Shrike, which is very fitting for Billy Rocks and has the first line “ I couldn't utter my love when it counted...” which, yeah.

2. How many are…not great?

Ouff, about the other half? Somebody told me that calling a fic Billy x Goody College AU was the Untitled Goose game approach to naming things. I either seem to go for very functional names or cheesy quotes. I’m unhappy with Drunk Texts but couldn’t think of anything that would thematically go with Send Nudes.

3. How many did you scramble for at the last minute?

Most of them, the title is usually the last thing.

4. How many did you know before you started writing/creating, or near the beginning? 

In Vino Veritas and Cupid is no longer an Archer. For CiNLaA I knew I wanted the Don Pedro quote from Much Ado About Nothing because of the connection of characters played by Denzel Washington getting into matchmaking

5. How many are quotes from songs or poems?

Most of them I think.

6. How many are other quotes?

Maybe Babel Fish can qualify as it is a concept from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy?

7. Which best reflects the plot of the story/content of the fanwork?

I mean, Five Times Eddie and Richie Kissed?

8. Which best reflects the theme of the story?

The once and future king, reflecting the theme of falling in love again with somebody who you thought you or hoped you’d gotten over.

9. Which best reflects the character voice of the story/pov of the fanwork?

Uhhh Send Nudes? Its stupid and horny?

10. Which is your favourite title?

Cupid is no longer an archer

I’m tagging @lazaefair @poemsingreenink  @villa-kulla @harvestingred and anybody else who feels the spirit move them

[picturepowderinabottle]

tbh? pedro's look in the great wall when he's already cut his hair and washed is hot and needs more recognition. he's so handsome what the fuck that's a man (he's gonna play the villain in the equalizer 2!! I love a king!! I was just waiting for him to play a villain omg he's gonna kill it)

I wanna kms but i haven’t actually seen The Great Wall yet… 😬 mostly because of the lack of time during release date, and then those reviews… but from the posters, trailers and all the materials i’ve watched i think he looks just so different from other characters that he has ever played?? like his appearance is much darker, the look he gives with his facial expressions gives me goosebumps honestly.. (well his existence always gives me goosebumps so 💁💁)But does it stop me? Will it ever??

AND YES!! It’s gonna be the first sequel Denzel Washington has ever done which is pretty impressive, i mean Pedro co-staring him as a villain. A VILLAIN!Well we all know what that means… (another production where in the end his character dies)

On the other hand i was rooting from him to play along Tom Hardy in that Venom movie though 😕 so i was a bit disappointed when Riz Ahmed got the part (anyway, he’s great too so i’m trying not to think negatively).But if not comic book adaptation, then co-staring an icon!Either way he always wins!

[joereid]

Top 10 Movies of 2016

I wrote about my favorites in movies and TV over at Decider last week, but here’s my straight-up Top 10 movies of the year. With apologies to movies I haven’t gotten to yet, most prominently Toni Erdmann, Fire at Sea, Aquarius, and The Love Witch. Also I ranked O.J.: Made in America as my #1 TV show of the year, so it felt redundant to put it here too. No judgments if you ranked it as a movie. Obviously. 

Runners-Up: I thought this turned out to be a GREAT year for movies, best exemplified by the fact that I had a bitch of a time keeping these 15 movies out of my top 10:

#25 The Lobster (director: Yorgos Lanthimos) #24 The Witch (director: Robert Eggers) #23 Kubo and the Two Strings (director: Travis Knight) #22 Everybody Wants Some!! (director: Richard Linklater) #21 La La Land (director: Damien Chazelle) #20 Hunt for the Wilderpeople (director: Taika Waititi) #19 Love & Friendship (director: Whit Stillman) #18 Sing Street (director: John Carney) #17 Lion (director: Garth Davis) #16 Other People (director: Chris Kelly) #15 Fences (director: Denzel Washington) #14 Julieta (director: Pedro Almodovar) #13 Certain Women (director: Kelly Reichardt) #12 Cameraperson (director: Kirsten Johnson) #11 Mountains May Depart (director: Zhangke Jia)

My Top 10 Movies of 2016

10. Jackie (director: Pablo Larrain) It took me a while to get into the headspace of Jackie, and what a strange little animal it seemed then. Natalie Portman's accent seemed insane, the scenes felt overly gauzy and frustratingly vague, the score felt overworked. But the more time I spent with Jackie, the more intoxicated I was by whatever fog the movie exists in. Portman's performance clicked, the specificity of Larrain's focus felt more and more revolutionary, and the whole enterprise felt an exhilarating experiment on memory, idolatry, and the spaces at which our politics and our myth-making converge. 9. The Invitation (director: Karyn Kusama) I write a lot about movies on Netflix for my job, but by FAR my favorite discovery of the year was the meticulously built suspense of The Invitation. From the opening credits winding ominously through the Hollywood Hills to the slowly dawning terror of the final moments, I haven't felt this tense through the entire run of a horror movie since The Strangers. Featuring some great performances (in particular Tammy Blanchard, Logan Marshall Green, and John Carroll Lynch), and a premise that draws upon every time someone at a party told you they just started seeing a new yoga instructor.

8. Silence (director: Martin Scorsese) A nearly three-hour, racially dubious meditation on faith from a director who's provided me with more peer-pressure guilt trips from film critics than actual movies I've enjoyed over the last decade was not adding up to something I figured I'd enjoy. But Silence is more than just the best Scorsese movie since ... The Aviator? Goodfellas? It's a committed, rigorous, and deceptively complex story about faith and imperialism, anchored by an Andrew Garfield performance of such thoughtful vulnerability that it makes you incredibly grateful that Marty took a break from Leonardo DiCaprio. Also Rodrigo Prieto's cinematography is breathtaking.

7. Hail, Casear! (director: Joel and Ethan Coen) I like when the Coens are having fun. I know the knock on them is that they're supposed to be looking down their noses on their audience and having a laugh at their expense, but all I found in Hail Caesar! was an affection for people who dedicate their lives to something as silly and often contradictory as the movie business. Josh Brolin is probably doing better work than I give him credit for at the center, but I won't apologize for all of my attention going to Channing Tatum's dancing and Alden Ehrenreich's rope tricks. 

6. Manchester by the Sea (director: Kenneth Lonergan) When the narrative about this one got boiled down to a) it's unspeakably sad, and b) it's white-male feeeeeelings pornography, I was confused. Well, maybe not confused; I know how Twitter works. More dismayed. To me, Manchester by the Sea is Kenneth Lonergan at his finest, and that means so much more than simple grief or patriarchy or for Pete's sake "Oscar bait." Lonergan infuses his movie with so much more humor, so much more complexity, so much more recognizable feeling than you're expecting by the description. The relationship between Casey Affleck and Lucas Hedges's characters defies any kind of prescribed arc, instead presenting two characters who fit at impossibly odd angles.

5. Little Men (director: Ira Sachs) Ira Sachs has become so good at making movies about how the Big Things in life — love, family, fellowship, generosity, power, resentment — are inextricable from the small things. In the movies, we tend to gloss over things like rent or income or expense. Making it work is a matter of will or serendipity, usually both. In Little Men, Greg Kinnear and Paulina Garcia are good people whose resentments would usually be overcome in a movie by a grand act of love or charity or luck. Sachs knows better, but he also knows that the sum of life and the beauty of lives isn't about it all working out. And that's only the groundwork in this lovely movie featuring a central friendship of boys that is as beautiful, sweet, and gently painful as anything this year.  

4. Moonlight (director: Barry Jenkins) Moonlight features such strong, simple storytelling, and that economy of language is all Barry Jenkins, and he deserves all the praise he's getting for it. But that's not the reason we're talking about this movie. There's something truly remarkable when strong filmmaking meets revelatory acting meets the kinds of stories and lives that we are STARVING for. There's sadness here, yes, and tragedy, but I can't help but feel an undercurrent of celebration just for the radical act of making poetry out of lives that are usually not even afforded prose. 

3. 20th Century Women (director: Mike Mills) What a difference it makes listening to Annette Bening narrate about the universe and mortality versus listening to Ewan McGregor talk about same. I could never latch onto Beginners, despite the fact that its subject matter was targeted right in my general direction. But in his follow-up, Mike Mills had me cast under a spell from moment one. Bening is superb, playing a woman who's both incredibly wise and incredibly aware of how much she doesn't know. Any shot of her silently reacting to another character is to be treasured forever. And my darling Greta Gerwig does such wonderful, beautiful work as a scene partner here, taking her moments when they come but also as supportive an ensemble player as she's ever been. But it's those moments of narration, where the plot of the movie gives way to the longview, and we get to ponder a bit about the long arcs of time, and it was so beautiful, I nearly melted into my seat.

2. American Honey (director: Andrea Arnold) Andrea Arnold's great big American road trip is sprawling and sweet, dangerous and and desirous. It doesn't work for everyone, and I think I get that. But even if Arnold isn't seeing America through a photorealistic lens, the version of America she's showing us feels true in its emotions and textures and jealousies and desperations and explorations. Sasha Lane, Shia LaBeouf, and Riley Keough are standouts in the cast, but the movie truly comes alive in the group scenes, where the energy of a whole generation explodes into something visceral and charged.

1. Arrival (director: Denis Villeneuve) I first saw Arrival at the Toronto Film Festival in September, and I was blown away by its emotion and intelligence in service of a sci-fi story that became a story about language and bridging unbridgeable gaps. I next saw Arrival a few days after the election, when the film's ideas about facing fearsome and unknown futures and seeing the end from the beginning were all the more moving. What's beautiful about Arrival — besides the photography and the music and Amy Adams — is how our only salvation grows out of achieving complete and total empathy and nothing less. Thats what unlocks everything. It's a beautiful message in a movie that might normally have merely been an exquisitely crafted, deeply emotional sci-fi tale. I didn't see anything else that year that blew me away so thoroughly.