Ad Astra (2019) - Astronaut Roy McBride undertakes a mission across an unforgiving solar system to uncover the truth about his missing father and his doomed expedition that now, 30 years later, threatens the universe.

It looked amazing and Brad Pitt wasn't bad in the main role, but I felt the screenplay could have been fine-tuned. 3.5/5

I'm wanting to see this one.

CherryMoon57 said:

January 1972, New Temple Baptist Mission Church in LA. Hard to find the words to describe this unusual concert film. Raw and powerful come to mind... A must-see for Gospel music and Aretha fans alike. It's a 5/5 from me.


At 29, we see her clear deference for her father, the Reverend CL Franklin, who, on the second day, came in to declaim in one segment. We also see Franklin’s awe for her mentor, gospel star Clara Ward, who was in the audience for the second show. Hanging out in the back of the church are Mick Jagger and Charlie Watts, who were in Los Angeles at the time to record Exile on Main Street. Like everyone present, they got whipped up in the ecstatic devotion of performances like Wholy Holy, God Will Take Care of You and Amazing Grace. Each ambled on for seven to 11 minutes, elaborated by Franklin’s enraptured whoops, cries and fills. Her impassioned filigrees invited empathic responses from the choir, and found stalwart support from the event’s MC, the Rev James Cleveland. At the core of it all stood a singer aloof from the crowd but connected, fundamentally, to the eternal.

https://www.theguardian.c...-backstory

poppys said:

Last Rodeo Movie Thread - sucks.

I agree. Something needs to be done about what happened. Start holding people accountable for their actions.

poppys said:

Last Rodeo Movie Thread - sucks.

What happened ?

Joker - My rating for this is ever evolving. My confusion at least got validated by how polarized the critics were on rotten tomatoes ab out it, several giving it one star and others giving it the highest rating. I had both reactions to the movie. It was so hard to watch I was tempted to leave the theatre. However, Joaquin Phoenix was so spectacular and troubling that I stayed anyway. As I was walking out of the theatre, I would have given it 3 stars out of 5, the next day 3.5 stars, and now it has bumped up to 4 stars. The movie has stayed with me more like a great art film rather than a huge boxoffice smash. The level of pain of wanting to connect so bad but being completely unable to felt so real and almost unwatchable. The empathy for the Joker then lures the viewer to in some troubling way to root for the Joker as he gets his revenge. Far from fun but fascinating.

gandorb said:

PennyPurple said:

poppys said:

Last Rodeo Movie Thread - sucks.

I agree. Something needs to be done about what happened. Start holding people accountable for their actions.

EDIT: Never mind, go ahead and bring this to every thread if it helps you get over it. Whatevs...

[Edited 2/19/20 9:43am]

gandorb said:

Joker - My rating for this is ever evolving. My confusion at least got validated by how polarized the critics were on rotten tomatoes ab out it, several giving it one star and others giving it the highest rating. I had both reactions to the movie. It was so hard to watch I was tempted to leave the theatre. However, Joaquin Phoenix was so spectacular and troubling that I stayed anyway. As I was walking out of the theatre, I would have given it 3 stars out of 5, the next day 3.5 stars, and now it has bumped up to 4 stars. The movie has stayed with me more like a great art film rather than a huge boxoffice smash. The level of pain of wanting to connect so bad but being completely unable to felt so real and almost unwatchable. The empathy for the Joker then lures the viewer to in some troubling way to root for the Joker as he gets his revenge. Far from fun but fascinating.

Yeah.

But, then,

the most satisfying bit was when RDN got a bullet in the head.

THAT was the Joker

EmmaMcG said:

gandorb said:

Joker - My rating for this is ever evolving. My confusion at least got validated by how polarized the critics were on rotten tomatoes ab out it, several giving it one star and others giving it the highest rating. I had both reactions to the movie. It was so hard to watch I was tempted to leave the theatre. However, Joaquin Phoenix was so spectacular and troubling that I stayed anyway. As I was walking out of the theatre, I would have given it 3 stars out of 5, the next day 3.5 stars, and now it has bumped up to 4 stars. The movie has stayed with me more like a great art film rather than a huge boxoffice smash. The level of pain of wanting to connect so bad but being completely unable to felt so real and almost unwatchable. The empathy for the Joker then lures the viewer to in some troubling way to root for the Joker as he gets his revenge. Far from fun but fascinating.

Interesting take. I never rooted for him at all. From the very beginning, I just seen him as a villain. A weak person who can't take what life throws at him. That's what sets the Joker and Bruce Wayne apart, for me. Both are driven crazy by traumatic events but the Joker uses this as an excuse to gain "revenge" against the ones who he perceives to have done him wrong whereas Bruce Wayne uses it to spur him on in an attempt to prevent similar things happening to anyone else. The Joker is selfish, Batman is selfless. That's the difference.

I was able to feel some sympathy for the Joker in this movie because in my mind, it wasn't the real Joker. I subscribe to the fan theory that the Joker who later meets Batman was inspired by Joaquin Phoenix's character--maybe even one of the masked youths in the riot at the end.

sexton said:

EmmaMcG said:

Interesting take. I never rooted for him at all. From the very beginning, I just seen him as a villain. A weak person who can't take what life throws at him. That's what sets the Joker and Bruce Wayne apart, for me. Both are driven crazy by traumatic events but the Joker uses this as an excuse to gain "revenge" against the ones who he perceives to have done him wrong whereas Bruce Wayne uses it to spur him on in an attempt to prevent similar things happening to anyone else. The Joker is selfish, Batman is selfless. That's the difference.

I was able to feel some sympathy for the Joker in this movie because in my mind, it wasn't the real Joker. I subscribe to the fan theory that the Joker who later meets Batman was inspired by Joaquin Phoenix's character--maybe even one of the masked youths in the riot at the end.

Yes, the character was much more complex than the pure evil joker of the Batman movies. After all, no one is born a villian and this just showed the forces that led to his losing his humanity. I imagine if I see another Batman move, I will fully root against the joker despite having some empathy for him in this movie.

sexton said:

EmmaMcG said:

sexton said:

I was able to feel some sympathy for the Joker in this movie because in my mind, it wasn't the real Joker. I subscribe to the fan theory that the Joker who later meets Batman was inspired by Joaquin Phoenix's character--maybe even one of the masked youths in the riot at the end.

I never subscribe to fan theories. How would a fan know what the writer of the movie doesn't? Besides, if that particular fan theory was confirmed to be real, it would completely devalue the character of the "real" Joker by making him some copycat loser. Not only that, but it would make The Joker movie kind of pointless. It's supposed to be an origin story for The Joker but if this is not the real Joker, then what's the point?

Director Todd Philips said that theory could be true: https://www.latimes.com/e...d-phillips

"Maybe Joaquin’s character inspired the Joker. You don’t really know..."

sexton said:

EmmaMcG said:

sexton said:

Director Todd Philips said that theory could be true: https://www.latimes.com/e...d-phillips

"Maybe Joaquin’s character inspired the Joker. You don’t really know..."

Sounds like he's just trying to keep the conversation going. It's all publicity. The thing is, if it's not stated in the movie, it's not true. That's how I look at it. Besides, like I said, that would really ruin the whole film for me so I can't accept that to be true. In the inevitable sequel, I suspect we'll know for sure and I'd be very surprised and disappointed if Arthur Fleck was killed off and another, "real" Joker took his place. It would render the first movie pointless. The Joker had a decent origin story for the character who will become Batman's greatest enemy. The connection and parallels between him and Bruce Wayne would be lost if they just decided all of a sudden that he's not the real Joker and that the real Joker was just a copycat criminal. Devalues the whole premise. Plus, they've already done that "not the real Joker but is instead the inspiration for the Joker" twist in the TV show Gotham. And it was stupid. So I don't think they'd make the same mistake twice.

If the director is okay with the audience believing that theory then I'm going to go right on believing it.

If a sequel does get made (and everything I've read so far says it won't--at least not by Phillips), I would think it would be a continuation of Joaquin Phoenix's character from the first movie. That is whom everyone liked.

sexton said:

sexton said:

Ad Astra (2019) - Astronaut Roy McBride undertakes a mission across an unforgiving solar system to uncover the truth about his missing father and his doomed expedition that now, 30 years later, threatens the universe.

It looked amazing and Brad Pitt wasn't bad in the main role, but I felt the screenplay could have been fine-tuned. 3.5/5

Agree! The script fell apart after Pitt and Lee came face to face - the father son reunion was anticlimactic and I felt let down after the build throughout the story held kind of a Heart of Darkness anticipation.

EmmaMcG said:

sexton said:

If the director is okay with the audience believing that theory then I'm going to go right on believing it.

If a sequel does get made (and everything I've read so far says it won't--at least not by Phillips), I would think it would be a continuation of Joaquin Phoenix's character from the first movie. That is whom everyone liked.

Well we can agree to disagree for now. Until the sequel. Which will definitely happen because Warner Bros have so far made a complete pig's ear of their superhero movies so they won't rest until they ruin the few good ones they've stumbled upon. Then we'll know for sure if he's the real Joker or not. And if it turns out that they do go down the same route that the Gotham TV show went down, I'll buy you a drink 😉

I'm impressed that there is a Guinness emoji on this site.

DiminutiveRocker said:

sexton said:

Ad Astra (2019) - Astronaut Roy McBride undertakes a mission across an unforgiving solar system to uncover the truth about his missing father and his doomed expedition that now, 30 years later, threatens the universe.

It looked amazing and Brad Pitt wasn't bad in the main role, but I felt the screenplay could have been fine-tuned. 3.5/5

Agree! The script fell apart after Pitt and Lee came face to face - the father son reunion was anticlimactic and I felt let down after the build throughout the story held kind of a Heart of Darkness anticipation.

SPOILER

In the end, Pitt's character did what the original space team had intended to do. But they would have all been still alive. Were three lives really worth it for closure?

sexton said:

DiminutiveRocker said:

Agree! The script fell apart after Pitt and Lee came face to face - the father son reunion was anticlimactic and I felt let down after the build throughout the story held kind of a Heart of Darkness anticipation.

SPOILER

In the end, Pitt's character did what the original space team had intended to do. But they would have all been still alive. Were three lives really worth it for closure?

yeah, the script jut didn't gel in that last third.

sexton said:

EmmaMcG said:

Well we can agree to disagree for now. Until the sequel. Which will definitely happen because Warner Bros have so far made a complete pig's ear of their superhero movies so they won't rest until they ruin the few good ones they've stumbled upon. Then we'll know for sure if he's the real Joker or not. And if it turns out that they do go down the same route that the Gotham TV show went down, I'll buy you a drink 😉

I'm impressed that there is a Guinness emoji on this site.

@ Sexton and EmmaMcG:
P.S. the head of DC films @WB is an old co-worker of mine and the below is what the plan is

Warner Brothers isn’t slowing down their output on superhero films at all, nor should they. Audiences still love superheroes, and, despite a few misses, fans continue to love the DC Comics brand. So there is selling power in these titles, they just needed to be paired with the very thing all great movies have: a compelling story.

For those still wishing to see Batman and the Joker clash once more on the big screen, there likely isn’t any reason to worry. As Todd Philips explained, these characters exist to be reimagined again and again. So while we may never see Pattinson and Phoenix go head to head, there will surely be a Batman chasing after a Joker in a future film to come.


https://www.forbes.com/si...a4f2a10db7

DiminutiveRocker said:

EmmaMcG said:

DiminutiveRocker said:

@ Sexton and EmmaMcG:
P.S. the head of DC films @WB is an old co-worker of mine and the below is what the plan is

Warner Brothers isn’t slowing down their output on superhero films at all, nor should they. Audiences still love superheroes, and, despite a few misses, fans continue to love the DC Comics brand. So there is selling power in these titles, they just needed to be paired with the very thing all great movies have: a compelling story.

For those still wishing to see Batman and the Joker clash once more on the big screen, there likely isn’t any reason to worry. As Todd Philips explained, these characters exist to be reimagined again and again. So while we may never see Pattinson and Phoenix go head to head, there will surely be a Batman chasing after a Joker in a future film to come.


https://www.forbes.com/si...a4f2a10db7

I really wish Warner Bros WOULD stop making superhero movies. They killed their own DCEU after just 2 movies. Birds of Prey was an awful "sequel" to an awful movie and is on course to lose money despite a relatively low budget. The Batman looks like it's shaping up to be another disaster. Superman has been D.O.A. since Christopher Reeve's second movie. Wonder Woman 84 doesn't look like it's got the same charm as the first one. But none of this is new. Warner Bros always make a bollocks of it when it comes to their DC movies. Because they just can't resist getting involved. Richard Donner made 2 brilliant Superman movies. Warner decided to step in and we got Superman 3 (the one with Richard Pryor) and Superman IV: The Quest For Peace. Fast forward a few years and Tim Burton brings the best version of Batman to the big screen. Dark, gritty and weird. Just like Batman should be. But then Warner sticks their beak in and and we get 2 movies that make Adam West's Batman look menacing. But that's not all. Because Zack Snyder was just 2 movies in to his proposed shared universe (supposed to rival the MCU) and once again, Warner gets cold feet and hires another director and outside editors to completely mess it up. Don't be surprised if they make The Joker 2 and have Will Ferrell take over the lead role and fill the whole thing with dick jokes. At this point they should either bring in Paul Dini and Bruce Timm to helm a new series or they should just give up and sell their DC properties to Disney.

DC characters are still very strong brand. Waiting to see how The Batman and Wonder Woman 1984 and Aquaman 2 all go down. Wonder Woman and Aquaman both made strong showings at the box office as well. Despite your thinking it was awful, Birds of Prey got 78% on RT and has garnered approx 153k BO worldwide. It was blown out this past weekend by Sonic the Hedgehog whose reviews were not as positive (Carrey's popularity carried it). So there you go, audiences are fickle.

[Edited 2/21/20 16:54pm]

Birds Of Prey is an absolute failure, it's not even making it's money back.

Aquaman and Shazam were excellent and Joker was an obvious success, so, DC/WB is still strong.
It's likely that they will continue to be hit or miss going forward.

DJ loved Rambo.

2freaky4church1 said:

DJ loved Rambo.

What is your problem?

2freaky4church1 said:

DJ loved Rambo.

DiminutiveRocker said:

2freaky4church1 said:

DJ loved Rambo.

Yes. Hilarious! You two should take that act on the road.

Pain & Glory - Absoolutely love this. No one like Almodovar! 4 stars out of 4.

[Edited 2/23/20 5:53am]

djThunderfunk said:

DiminutiveRocker said:

Yes. Hilarious! You two should take that act on the road.

gandorb said:

Pain & Glory - Absoolutely love this. No one like Almodovar! 4 stars out of 4.

[Edited 2/23/20 5:53am]

I still need to see this! Almodovar is one of my favorites. I hear Banderas turned out a career best in this role.