It’s been quite some time since I did a movie overview, so let’s round up the horses around the campfire and talk about as many of the films that I’ve seen in recent months that I can remember off the top of my head. I’ll try to keep them relatively spoiler free.
In no particular order:
ROGUE ONE: A Star Wars Tale.
There is much talk about whether one should discuss the shocking ending of this film. I don’t honestly see the point since I knew the ending long before I entered the theater. Hëll, I knew it when I first heard the film announced. We all know the ending, and I’m not talking about the fact that they basically stated the ending in “New Hope.” Logic tells you that there has to be a story reason why we never heard about any of these characters again in the film legacy, and you know what that is as well as I do. So basically we have a film that has the most well known conclusion in the history of filmmaking that wasn’t based on a novel.
Where does that leave us? With a film that has a slow first hour because we all know where it’s going and it’s just a matter of waiting for the cast to catch up with us. When they finally do and it roars into its second hour, it’s a non-stop combat fest that features quite simply THE best action sequences in the history of the Star Wars franchise. Felicity Jones anchors the cast of mostly humorless adventurers, with the sole exception being the snide robot K-2S0 (whom Caroline nicknamed Sass-C3PO), one model removed from Marvin the Paranoid Android and voiced by Disney regular Alan Tudyk.
And holy crap, Governor Tarkin. Voiced by Guy Henry but visualized as Peter Cushing, people in the audience gasped the first time he turned around on screen and there was a perfect computer incarnation of the late actor. You became accustomed to it as the film progressed, but Star Wars people, please, a request: Don’t do that with Carrie Fisher in episode IX. It was creepy enough watching Cushing and he’s been dead thirty years.
Bottom Line—It was overall a well told tale, but it’s the only Star Wars film where, if I never see it again, I’m really okay with that.
LA LA LAND
People were telling us we should go see this and when we asked what it was about, were told, “You should just go see it.”
Well, we did, and I believe I’ve just seen the best film of 2016.
La La Land is the brainchild of Damien Chazelle, previously known for his work on Whiplash (which is likely why J.K. Simmons showed up in a small scene here, appropriately as a restaurant owner who has a difficult relationship with a musician.) But La La Land is as far from the hyper-brutal world of Whiplash as can be. Instead it’s a musical (don’t roll your eyes) tale of love and show business which features Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling (who either knows how to play the piano or faked it better than anyone in film history) falling in and out and in of love while their two personal stories of struggling for success play out through Los Angeles. But that doesn’t even begin to describe a film that starts off with a huge song and dance through unmoving traffic on the 105 Freeway, ranges through a love duet across a starry sky, and even has a musical summary of the entire movie had it gone in a different direction. Gosling is wonderful, but Stone absolutely soars to new heights. I admit I’m a sucker for a film where a successful actress plays a struggling actress because since most actresses struggle early in their career, you always feel you’re getting something autobiographical. The songs were so charming that we immediately ran out and bought the CD. You should, too.
MOANA
“If you wear a dress and have an animal sidekick, you’re a princess.”
That is the single best line of dialogue in any Disney film ever, delivered with perfect tongue-in-cheek sarcasm by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Hawaiian demigod Maui to the princess (I guess) heroine of Disney’s latest epic. Apparently Disney has emerged from the “Can’t have a princess name in the title” stupidity that caused Rapunzel to be called “Tangled” and given us “Moana.” It is the tale of a young chieftain’s daughter who sees that her island is slowly dying and is determined to reverse this creeping environmental catastrophe. How to do so? It involves tracking down Maui and getting him to undo a horrific trick he once pulled that is causing the loss of life all through the islands.
Her only companion once she embarks on her adventure? A brain dead chicken named HeiHei, voiced by—of course, Alan Tudyk, who is one remarkably old chicken since we see him when Moana is about two and later when she’s in her mid-teens. Some fans were speculating that he must be some sort of demigod totem following her around, but I checked and it turns out chickens can live to be twenty years old, so okay. Really old, astoundingly stupid chicken.
I was also pleased to see that Disney was promoting newcomer Auli’l Cravalho, who voiced Moana, with the same energy that they mentioned Johnson in every commercial.
The songs are overall tuneful and memorable (yes, we got that CD as well) and the visuals, especially the waterscapes, are just stunning. I also have to say—and don’t take this wrong—I liked her body. By that I mean, rather than having the standard issue perfect frame of a typical Disney princess, instead her body had thick legs and somewhat wider hips that were perfectly appropriate for someone of that region. Maui was also a huge guy, which prompted some people to complain that he was fat. First of all, no, he wasn’t, he was just big. And second, would someone like to explain to me what’s wrong with a heroic character being fat? I mean, jeez, people.
DOCTOR STRANGE
Another rare film that truly benefited from 3D, Kathleen has been waiting for this movie her entire life, and she wound up seeing it three times. So that alone should tell you something about the quality.
Possibly the best origin story in the line of Marvel movies because it felt the least like a comic book, “Doctor Strange” tells the story of arrogant dìçk/brilliant surgeon Stephen Strange, who winds up in a devastating auto accident that adds a permanent tremble to his hands. Played with a perfect American accent by Benedict Cumberbatch, Strange follows a path that takes him to Tibet and an unexpected tutor, the Ancient One—an aged man in the comics and a relatively youthful Tilda Swinton in the film. Which of course helped defang the social justice warriors because, hey, this was a role that should have been played by a man of Asian descent except, oh, it’s being played by a woman, dámņ, if we protest than we seem anti-feminist. So nice casting there, director Scott Derrickson. Well-done.
And really, as origins go, you’ve got to love someone who gets his powers not from an accident, not from birth, not from a lab experiment, but because he studies really hard and gets good at it.
The movie becomes something of a buddy film as Strange and good-guy sidekick Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor, who Cumberbatch owned in “Twelve Years a Slave,” so I figure this is a step up) team up to prevent the sinister plans of a villain so evil that I’ve seen the film several times myself and I still can’t remember his name, but he’s played by Le Chiffre from “Casino Royale” so you know he’s gonna be wonderfully nasty.
It’s likely the movie isn’t in theaters anymore at this point, but if you haven’t seen it, then do, because it’s worth seeing on the big screen since there are so many things in some background shots that simply will be missed on a smaller screen.
ALLEGIANCE
“Allegiance” first came to life on the west coast some years back, which was when I saw it. Starring George Takei and Lea Salonga, it is based very loosely on George’s own experiences as a child in a Japanese interment camp back during World War II. A musical that is set mostly in the 40s but with a wraparound in present day, it eventually moved to Broadway where, astoundingly, it ran for less than five months. Reviews were mixed and the Star Trek crowd didn’t turn out to support Mr. Sulu apparently.
But now thanks to Fathom events a filmed version of the Broadway production showed up in theaters a couple weeks ago, and the David family was there to take it in. The show was as wonderful as I remembered, and indeed had gotten only better since the first time I’d seen it. By all accounts, the theaters throughout the country were packed, and it did so well that Fathom will be rereleasing it for a couple of days in February. So you have a second opportunity to go check it out and I suggest you scurry over to the Fathom website and see what theater near you is playing it. If you’ve got other plans for those days, change the plans.
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Gosling apparently spent 6 months practicing the piano so it could look as realistic as possible. So there’s some commitment…
Watching carefully, it looked like he *was* playing the pieces, but not exactly to the recorded music — there’s a few timing slips, a few places where you can hear notes that aren’t being played.
I agree, the best fake in the history of piano players on screen, but pretty clearly not shot live. The vocals, on the other hand, were either recorded live on set, or the best lip-synch ever engineered.
“And really, as origins go, you’ve got to love someone who gets his powers not from an accident, not from birth, not from a lab experiment, but because he studies really hard and gets good at it.”
THANK YOU. Last decade JMS wrote a miniseries that revised Strange’s origin such that he was the Prophesied Chosen One. Bleah, didn’t care for that AT ALL.
Peter David: I also have to say—and don’t take this wrong—I liked her body. By that I mean, rather than having the standard issue perfect frame of a typical Disney princess, instead her body had thick legs and somewhat wider hips that were perfectly appropriate for someone of that region.
I noticed that her body was different too. It looked like she had some muscle on her arms and legs, which I thought was a pleasant surprise, and appropriate, since if she’s learning wayfinding and doing things like swimming and pulling ropes, you’d expect some meat on her bones. I hope it’s a sign of a shift in Disney design, and not just a one-time thing.
Peter David: Maui was also a huge guy, which prompted some people to complain that he was fat.
I saw him as being muscular, albeit stocky.
The fat thing has LONG been a gripe of mine about Hollywood, and the East Coast TV equivalent.
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Fat people on film are either:
Stupid/Ignorant
Evil
Sleazy/Creepy
Lazy/Slacker
Dirty
Or some combination of the five.
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Even the heroic ones, even the leads, always an object of mockery and derision, and they have to overcome all of those flaws to be the hero. And even then, they are still the lovable loser at the end. The Peter Griffin archetype. Chris Farley, Larry the Cable Guy, Danny DeVito, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Seth Rogen, even Kevin Smith plays himself as a stoner sidekick. The last fat leading man who I can genuinely remember being portrayed in an entirely positive light was the late great John Candy, and more often than not, even he was played as a bumbling idiot who got lucky.
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Can I just get a GD fat Captain America??
She looks like a healthy, athletic tween/teen girl.
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I remarked along those lines to Kate when i heard some people were complaining; and then i thought and i said “For her supposed origin and genotype, she’s not quite anorexic…”
Rogue One – saw it, loved it
Moana – saw it, really loved it
Doctor Strange – saw it, loved it
La La Land – pretty people and their pretty problems, pass
Allegiance – didn’t see it, never heard of it, really want to see it now
Thanks for doing this! Can we look forward to a TV roundup in the future?
I caught “Rogue One” and “Moana” back-to-back last week.
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Long time since i’ve done something like that (ticket prices being what they are).
The Ancient One’s being a woman didn’t stop people from complaining that she wasn’t Asian, unfortunately.
I have to say, Maui never read as fat to me, so I didn’t really get that complaint. He’s not ripped or anything, but the guy’s a tank.
Since I’m not a big movie goer, I’ve only seen Doctor Strange of the films listed and that was last Monday at a local theater (South Bend, IN). They were only showing it once a day – late afternoon – and I was expecting to have the place mostly to myself since it came out in early November. Very happy that there was a good crowd (Whether it was because it was January 2 or just lots of people who wanted to see it didn’t matter) for a very good movie.
You know what’s a good movie. Passengers. Seriously go see it. I don’t want to say much else about it.
Have a look at Andy ‘Copernicus’ Howell’s video review and you may think otherwise. Almost nothing in the film makes any sense, from a huge, luxurious starship … with everybody in suspended animation?! Why a swimming pool – just one example – if no one is awake to use it? They have great-looking ballroom-like sets, but no back-ups if one of the sleep capsules breaks down? Hello? And on and on. And one of the worst ad campaigns ever. Close up of the two leads giving no clue as to what period in time the film is set in and how many people know of Morse code any more, much less the code for SOS?
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Now, ARRIVAL, that was one heck of a movie.
But I like pretty people looking at each other and copious explosions and Chris Pratt’s butt. 🙂 Well, if I remember right, I think they said they’d wake up a few months before arrival. And you could argue it’s like a Titanic story about backups (it’s not supposed to fail). And the lack of SOS was due to the distance between Earth and the ship. The biggest discrepancy I think is the fact that Chris Pratt’s character didn’t wake up an engineer but instead a pretty girl and they could have alternated the sleep pod in the end. Maybe one day I’ll check out Arrival.
K-2SO is another argument for the case that the Empire treats droids better than the Rebellion does. He was, presumably, content working for the Empire until the Rebellion kidnapped and brainwashed him to fight — and die — for their side.
In all eight movies, there has been exactly one instance where a droid was treated as an equal to biological beings. And that’s the Bounty Hunters scene from Empire Strikes Back — Vader is addressing the entire group as equals, including IG-88. In every other instance, droids are treated as property at best. Witness the casual discussion of wiping the memories of R2-D2 and C-3PO (which actually occurs), among countless other indignities.
The notion of “droid lives matter” is ironic, coming from you.
I intended that as a fun little aside, a light little theory (kind of like “R2-D2 and Chewie are secret deep undercover Rebel agents” and “Jar-Jar is a secret Sith Lord”), just something for casual speculation.
Any particular reason you feel this overwhelming urge to pick a fight? ‘Cuz I’ll decline.
And not respectfully.
While I enjoyed the Doctor Strange movie, I thought that there were several places that if failed.
There wasn’t enough time spent showing him studying to become a sorcerer. The film made it look like he took a weekend off to do his studies and suddenly was able to conjure and mystically gesture with the best of them when he was sent to Greenwich Village.
I also didn’t think that enough time was spent setting up that DOCTOR Strange was a major áššhølë of a surgeon. There were a few seconds of arrogant attitude towards his fellow doctors and a little bit of interaction with his ex-girlfriend at the beginning of the movie that gave you an idea that he wasn’t the nicest of people, but other than his being a dìçk after his accident, he didn’t really come across as being extremely cocky as he should have been portrayed.
I also didn’t think that Mordo’s “turn to the dark side” (stealing from Star Wars) was convincing and I didn’t see how he determined that there were too many sorcerers as he stated in the after-credits epilogue. How many sorcerers did we see in the movie? Maybe ten? It didn’t work for me.
Like I said, overall I enjoyed the movie, but it could have been much better.
As for Ryan Gosling playing piano in LA LA LAND (which may very well be my favorite movie of the year), here’s what is on the IMDB about it: “According to composer Justin Hurwitz, all the piano performance featured in the film was first recorded by pianist Randy Kerber during pre-production. Ryan Gosling then spent two hours a day, six days a week in piano lessons learning the music by heart. By the time filming had begun, Gosling was able to play all the piano sequences seen in the film without the use of a hand double or CGI.
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Because the director wanted to shoot the scene in the tradition of old musicals without cuts or editing, Ryan Gosling practiced playing the piano and played it himself in one take on his first day of shooting. Co-star John Legend–who is a classically trained pianist–says he is “jealous” of how quickly Gosling learned to play so well.”
If I may, I’d also like to recommend “Sing.” It’s kinda predictable, but the singing is great. It’s essentially “American Idol” meets “Zootopia.” Go see it with a child, they can enjoy the visions of singing and dancing pigs, gorillas, porcupines (I have the feeling that the quills Ash shoots out during performances would bring big money on eBay), a mouse, elephants, and others. (Now that I think about it, the movie owes a little to the “Dance of the Hours” sequence from “Fantasia.”) The adults can enjoy the range and quality of the songs. Among other things, Seth MacFarlane does nice covers of “Let’s Face the Music and Dance” and “My Way.” I plan to see “La La Land” in the next week, but, for now, I have the CD for “Sing” playing in my car.
That movie’s right up my alley, but I heard an Eminem song during a commercial. Nope, can’t do it.
Not that familiar with Eminem or his songs. I just checked the soundtrack on IMDb and nothing by him is listed. It may be the song didn’t make it to the final movie, or it’s one from the track “Auditions” which has brief excerpts from different songs as different characters try out.
This is in reply to Kim’s reply to me.
Eminem is a rapper who likes to rap about how much he hates gay people and how much he wants to murder his wife and mom. Real charmer.
I know who Eminem is I’ve just heard little, if any, of his music. I’m planning to make next Thursday, which is my day off, a musical day, seeing “La La Land” and a second viewing of “Sing.” At this point, I’m nearly positive there are no Eminem songs in it.
I made today a musical day, going out to see “La La Land” (Which I need to see again due to a lengthy bathroom break) and then “Sing” again. I listened carefully and heard no Eminem songs, and did not see his name listed in the musical credits. I think I can safely say that, if you go to see the movie, you will not hear any Eminem songs in it.
“Maui was also a huge guy, which prompted some people to complain that he was fat. First of all, no, he wasn’t, he was just big. And second, would someone like to explain to me what’s wrong with a heroic character being fat?”
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O.o
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Do those people know any full-blooded Samoans? I’ve known a few- and not just as in watching them on WWF and WCW while growing up. Yeah, there are smaller Samoans and Samoans who can work like mad to look cut like Greek statue, but there are a hëll of a lot of Samoans who are just naturally big sum bìŧçhëš who can throw me around with one hand. And, no, that’s not just random hyperbole but rather actual experience with a guy in a DT class.
Sadly, there WAS complaining about Swinton as the Ancient One, including a series of messages between her and Margaret Cho that were cringe-worthy, if you ever liked Margaret Cho.
Well, I just read up on that exchange that somehow flew under my radar. The actual exchange of messages is perfectly reasonable and interesting on both sides. It’s Cho’s summary of it months later that is extremely odd.
PAD
I agree. Apparently it never occurred to her that Swinton would, instead of apologizing or ranting or making this a “she said/she said” situation, simply post the entire exchange with just a “I’m gonna leave this right here” attitude and make Cho look very foolish.
Comedy is one of the hardest things to pull off. Why do so many comedians, having mastered this, decide they need to become political pundits, something anyone with a wi-fi connection and a modicum of wit can master very easily?
The thought process behind the casting of Tilda Swinton seemed silly and wrong-headed to me. They didn’t want an Asian man because they were afraid he’d be a stereotype. Great, except the Ancient One in the comics was never a stereotype; he was just … an old Asian man. And they didn’t want an Asian woman because they thought she’d be another kind of stereotype, the “dragon woman.” Okay, but, again, nothing about the Ancient One in the comics suggested that he’d be a dragon woman if he were a woman. So, white woman it was.
He was also Tibetan, which was a no-go because China buys a lot of movie tickets. Or not, depending on how many Tibetans you put in the story.
**********DOCTOR STRANGE SPOILERS**********
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I had no issue with the casting- especially after watching the film. The reason being that they kill her in the film. If you know your history of the character, The Ancient One was around for a good long while after Strange is introduced. They even fought side by side against threats later in Strange’s time as Sorcerer Supreme.
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We know that this Ancient One has lived a long time, but there’s no reason to assume the title was her’s alone. There’s always the possibility that they introduce a new holder of the title at some point down the line; perhaps even Wong. You achieve the needs of this story, and you establish that this is (like the Batman film trilogy’s Ra’s al Ghul) a manufactured myth and a title that is passed down over the generations.
Cumberbacht was excellent as Strange, yes. The rest of the casting was … not quite a disaster, but really needed to be scrapped and started over. Mordo looked more like a trustworthy bodyguard than the mad, power hungry magic user he was showed in the early Ditko comics. Wong, always portrayed as a thin, wiry sort, looked more like a football quarterback. At least his ‘character’ worked well. As for the film itself, it is supposed to be about magic, yet most of the time they aren’t throwing around magic zaps, but doing kung fu shtick.
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All that INCEPTION bending building stuff? Ugh.
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Worst of all, the character of the Ancient One who came across as a powerful bully who shoved Strange around until he ‘saw the light’ and then just threw him out. What the heck were the writers thinking?!
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On the plus side, again the character of Strange, the astral plane, Dormamu, Strange’s way to ‘beat’ him, many of the set designs.
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Hopefully a sequel would involve a more competent production crew. But, keep Cumberbacht.
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As for the actress portraying The Ancient One, feel free to have a look at an article where Margaret Cho speaks of her conversation with Swinton about the latter taking the role an Asian should have had.
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Look it up at news(dot)nationalpost(dot)com / arts / movies / as-a-scottish-woman-living-in-the-highlands-tilda-swinton-wants-you-to-know-she-understands-the-plight-of-under-represented-asians
“As for the actress portraying The Ancient One, feel free to have a look at an article where Margaret Cho speaks of her conversation with Swinton about the latter taking the role an Asian should have had.”
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No. Look for Swinton’s perfect response.
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What did she say? Nothing. She just published their exchange. The original discussion they had made her look just fine, and seeing the exchange they had makes Cho’s revisionist history version come across as self-serving and dishonest.
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http://jezebel.com/tilda-swinton-sent-us-her-email-exchange-with-margaret-1790203875
Actually, I don’t particularly like Cho’s characterization after the fact.
But it was clear to me that Swinton totally didn’t get the controversy or why people were upset. Not one bit.
LA-LA-LAND? Saw the trailer and … Run away! Run away!!! From the comments here I’m guessing they didn’t quite convey the desired reaction.
I guess it didn’t. I called it the best film of the year and a few days later the Golden Globes agreed with me. Go check it out.
PAD
I saw it yesterday. It’s a great film. It’s got wonderful musical numbers. I know musicals seem to bypass the Willing Suspension of Disbelief for a lot of people, but an interview I listen to b/n the Director and Terry Gross really helped me.
He mentioned that one thing that was considered a weakness of film versus novels is that it’s much harder to get a view of the interior thought processes of characters in film. He saw the musical as a way to get at that “interiority.” I interpret this to mean that a character in movie standing on the sidelines of the leads’ lives would see a perfectly mundane relationship happening and all the musical magic is happening the leads’ heads.
Plus it’s just a magical film that anyone who isn’t an enemy of fun should love.
Still playing here so I might just do that, thanks.
:sigh:
I’m guessing this means ‘Moana’ will get screwed in the Best Song category at the Oscars. Sorry, Lin-Manuel.
Hello Peter!
I don’t know if my computer internet connection messed up the first message so I’m writing again. I’m Mike from reach-unlimited.com a website from Manila, that is a reading advocacy website.
I would like to request if we can get an email correspondence interview with you about your novelization work for various movie tie-ins and media properties–how does a writer put together a novelization of an existing non-book media story–we’d like to ask you about your researc and wrok process if possible and get a look at your writer workspace.
We have previously interviewed other novel writers in horror, sci-fi YA fiction and men’s action-adventure and would like to feature someone who specializes in adapting to novel format, media properties and movies.
Here is a link to our website: http://www.reach-unlimited.com/category/meaningful-life
Please message me back if an interview is possiblea and we hope you get along this year as healthy and funny as you always are. Cheers.
Michael Kanoy
Sure. Just write to me at padguy@aol.com.
Doesn’t anyone think “Passengers” is a rip-off of “50 Girls, 50”?