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It’s Movie Time

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Photo Credit:  Wikimedia Commons

One of my close friends, Pat, is an Oscars fan. As soon as the list of nominees comes out every year, she works hard to make sure she has seen all the nominees (in the best picture category – not every category) before the Oscars.  I’ve been getting updates since the list came out of what she’s seen.  She has a pretty good track record; most years she manages to see them all by the time of the ceremony.

I’m the opposite, since I rarely go to the movies. In fact, this year, I have only seen one nominee – Klaus, an animated Christmas film which I didn’t have to leave the house to see as it was a Netflix release (it was very good).  Reviews are not usually worth my notice; if I want to see something, I see it, not matter what the reviewers say.  I can’t ever recall a time when I left a movie screening saying “gosh, I should have listened to the reviews.”

Every now and then I do look, including the Doctor Doolittle reviews this month.  There is always a certain amount of trepidation on my part when Hollywood decides to tackle a beloved book, especially a beloved children’s book.  I’ve seen the trailers and I know that the movie bears very little resemblance to the book.  While I can’t stomach this in, say, Wrinkle in Time (one of my favorite books of all time), it may not be a deal breaker for Doctor Doolittle or even Little Women.  Both have been made into movies multiples times so I feel like the water is already completely muddied.  The newest Doolittle venture has not gotten great reviews but I don’t think that will stop me.  Dare I admit that Robert Downey Jr. is the main reason I will probably go see this movie this weekend?

Do you have an actor/actress who will entice you to see a film? Or one who will keep you out of the movie theatre?

23 thoughts on “It’s Movie Time”

  1. What I connect with in films is not the direction or the acting but the writing. I will eagerly watch anything written by Sally Wainwright, whose creations include Happy Valley, Last Tango in Halifax, Scott & Bailey and a PBS show called Walk Invisible: the Bronte Sisters.

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  2. When all three of us go to a movie, it’s going to be a kids movie / family movie so the previews are for the same. Kelly and I call out “Not it!” for movies we know daughter will want to see.

    I called Not It for Trolls movies or ones just obviously appear to be targeted at 9 yr old boys. Fart jokes? I’m out.

    Kelly simply cannot stand Sponge Bob. There’s a movie coming and she’s already called Not It to that one. I can handle that.

    Daughter and I saw ‘Spies in Disguise’ yesterday and that was fun. I’m trying to explain to daughter how different levels of comedy work. Why one movie is better than another to me. But that’s a really abstract concept in general.
    She nods and tunes me out and rolls her eyes and goes to her room. And that’s about what I’d expect too.

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  3. Rise and Shine, Baboons,

    I have a list of favorite actors who I enjoy: Toni Collette, Robert Duvall (Tender Mercies, especially), Donald Sutherland, Chris Cooper, Glen Close. There are some excellent actors in this new generation, as well. I just cannot remember their names.. I have already seen this latest incarnation of “Little Women” twice. Meryl Streep as Aunt March was her usual version of brilliant, playing a crabby old lady. Greta Gerwig’s production was so creative. The manner in which she dealt with the economic realities of marriage and the limits on women’s roles at the time of that movie setting (and which is still relevant) was the only true reproduction of Louis May Alcott’s book, dealing honestly with the reason that Jo married the professor. It was very cleaver.

    Our house guests leave early tomorrow. We have had a grand time this week, galavanting about AZ and seeing the sights. It is raining here today, actual drops and not just mists with a few drops. This will result in car accidents on the freeways here. It is inconceivable that people slow down from the usual 90 miles per hour so they don’t spin out on slick pavement. Man-oh-man.

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    1. One of my all-time favorite films starred Toni Collette: Japanese Story. I suspect my reaction to this film would not be shared by many viewers, but I just loved it.

      Similarly, I was more enthusiastic about Lone Star than anybody I know. Chris Cooper turns in a strong performance there.

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  4. I’m not a huge moviegoer but I enjoy watching Matt Damon act. Something about his charisma or screen presence draws me in. I tend to like the “old pros” who are so good you don’t realize it because their performances are sublimely understated.

    Chris in Owatonna

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  5. Daniel Day-Lewis was a draw for me, but I haven’t been to a movie in a very long time. I predict that once I am retired I will feel like going to movies. I have enough drama in my work and I really can’t tolerate suspense or tension of any sort. I consider it an occupational hazard.

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    1. daniel day lewis is a gem
      i hear the last one about the fabric guy was to be his last. he is incredible . phantom thread …
      every movie he has ever made is wonderful
      i could do a review of his work anytime. a review of his list of films makes me want to see them all again
      my left foot, lincoln, there will be blood , last of the mohicans , gangs of new york
      great actor.

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  6. a couple years ago my mom (who is having a big 90th birthday do on saturday, wife is 60 wednesday…) proclaimed that she would have to stop going to the volunteer thing she did tuesdays because it was getting to be the time of year when her return trip involved driving after dark at 7pm and she wasn’t comfortable driving after dark.
    she has a guy about her age who is a former chemistry teacher at st. john’s who goes up to volunteer every tuesday and she would meet him in the cub foods parking lot up in that northwest corner of the twin cities and he would drive up to st. john’s and back.
    well i told her i’d be happy to pick her up in the morning and run her up to her drop off location and pick her up at the end of the day. tuesday is also the $5 movie night at many movie theaters around and we began going to a movie every week. today you need to reserve your seat ahead of time online in order to get a decent seat at a popular movie so it requires a bit of planning but also gets you a good seat locked in

    i have discovered i like sitting in about the 5th row where when you sit in your chair the screen takes up your entire frontal vision. in the back row you see the full screen but it’s only part of the view. i like to be completely taken in. as a result we see 50 movies a year or so and i get to see and have opinions about lots of what’s offered.the oscars are really a different experience when you know many of the films

    as for artists who call me or repel me
    barbara streisand calls me. tim cruise repels me

    i like many many actors writers directors wes anderson did the grand budapest hotel and i am a fan now if his work . bill murray is a person i trust to make it a good movie, i love jennifer lawrence as a lead and saiorse ronan who i discovered in the grand budapest hotel has become a favorite as seen in ladybird and little women
    diniro and are favorites
    i will see anything tom hanks is involved in ( he reminds me of jimmy stewart on the current age ) and there are many many more.
    a wrinkle in time was a huge disappointment
    little women was great
    dr doolittle doesn’t feel like sacred ground to me but when they do remakes of classics like sabrina or born yesterday i roll my eyes. i guess it’s the only way to get youngsters to watch a movie with a story line rather than a video computer generated special effects extravaganza but doing casablanca with a current box office star would be stupid, luckily it doesn’t come up often. my kids have little interest in the turner classic movie specials i burrow in. bogart and bacall, marilyn, marlena dietrich paul muni, ordinary wells rita hayworth sophia loren, fredastair gene kelly it goes on and on

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    1. Some actors have a talent for choosing great films to appear in. Saiorse Ronan and Tom Hanks come to mind. The other end of the scale would be someone like Michael Caine, who can be great but who also shows up in some awful films. Caine grew up poor, which might explain why he seems desperate to keep working, even when the scripts are terrible.

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      1. I think the same thing about Vincent Price. When he’s good, he’s really good. But boy has he been in some stinkers. I saw one over the weekend which was basically a 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea knock off except that it was an airship. And of course his name wasn’t Captain Nemo, but it should’ve been.

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  7. I don’t recall the last time I saw a movie in a theater. If it weren’t for Netflix, Britbox, and other on-line services, I would be completely out of the loop.

    Of the films nominated for Oscars this year, I have seen several: “Marriage Story,” is one of them, starring Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver. I enjoyed it, though I doubt that it’s good enough to win Best Picture award for which it is nominated. But what do I know, I haven’t seen the other nominees.

    I don’t like so-called “action” movies, so a lot of films that draw huge audiences, don’t appeal to me at all. If you also remove violence, my choices in films are rather limited. I recently watched “the Two Popes,” and enjoyed seeing two very fine actors, Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce, plying their trade. Another movie that I really enjoyed was “Hell or High Water,” with Jeff Bridges in a supporting role. Loved the photography and the score.

    Actors that can lure me to a film include Colin Firth, Jack Nicholson, Tilda Swinton, Joaquin Phoenix, Jeff Bridges, plus some of the other actors mentioned by others. Talking about good actors who have acted in some pretty awful movies, Richard Burton and Robin Williams come to mind.

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  9. Yes, VS, I hope to see Dr. Dolittle today… just because Robt. D. Jr. is int it. : )

    I have sought out films by several actors, i.e. Annette Benning, Frances McDormand, and my current favorite is Isabelle Huppert. I love Morgan Freeman, Tom Hanks… thinking.

    I avoid, as others above, the violent and most of the scary stuff.

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      1. Yes to Robert Redford. And also Pierce Brosnan. The whole Remington Steele and James Bond thing aside, when I saw him in Evelyn, I cried. He can really pull out all the stops if he wants to.

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  10. Any Paul Newman film is worth seeing. At least I don’t recall any that aren’t. Same for Katharine Hepburn and Alan Rickman.

    Philip Seymour Hoffman was in a long list of movies, and I haven’t seen all that many of them, but I’ve seen quite a few of the ones in which he had a major role. Wish he could have been around for another couple of decades. I’m sure he would’ve made some remarkable films.

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