- Jun 11, 2014
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Founding Member
Lots of people are idiots.Gotcha. Lots of people think this though.
The fact that it was going up against Venom and A Star Is Born didn't help, either. It'll do well in awards season.I will say the whole flag discussion really hurt this movie at the box office -- I know I wasn't excited because of it -- having been burned by preachy Hollywood movies over the years. But Ox told me that, much like you just said, it was far from that, and a worthy successor to Apollo 13 and The Right Stuff in NASA movie history.
Irony is that there are plenty of people who hate "patriotic" movies and NASA in general that are thrilled by the so-so box office -- the same type of folks that the "What? No Flag?" people are likely opposite.
You can put this at the feet of the producers for not getting in front of this better, or Gosling for botching the quick sounder that got parroted all over, or an overeager offense society that failed (like me) to investigate beyond that moment to see the truth for itself.
I will be seeing it as soon as I can - and believe that this movie will be stronger long term than it is in the short term.
Didn't he do that Space Cowboys flop?The fact that it was going up against Venom and A Star Is Born didn't help, either. It'll do well in awards season.
Anyway, if people want a "rah rah America" space movie, get Clint Eastwood to make one. He can call it American Astronaut or something else ridiculously heavy handed.
Oh yeah, forgot about that one. Evil Soviets put a satellite with nukes in it into space, and years later the old ass Americans have to save the day.Didn't he do that Space Cowboys flop?
You're young. ;)The fact that it was going up against Venom and A Star Is Born didn't help, either. It'll do well in awards season.
Anyway, if people want a "rah rah America" space movie, get Clint Eastwood to make one. He can call it American Astronaut or something else ridiculously heavy handed.
Not only is Dr. Smith a women but Judy Robinson is an AA girl. Can you say Hollyweird SJWism?Do they still allow Dr. Smith to be alone with the boy?
I was pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed this oneThe Foreigner - Stars Jackie Chan and Peirce Brosnan. Chan plays a Vietnamese immigrant living a peaceful life in London with his teenage daughter. One day a bomb set by a group trying to bring back the IRA goes off and his daughter is killed in the explosion. He goes daily to the police station for updates, but noone can provide him any information and his heartbreaking past is revealed. He decides to take matters into his own hands and goes to find the people responsible.
Pierce Brosnan plays a former IRA member who is now a government official in Ireland. He is trying to figure out who is doing the bombings to put a stop to them internally before to much is learned that he doesn't want to come out about the past. This is where the two begin to cross paths and a game of cat and mouse begins as both hunt for the people responsible. Going beyond this begins to get into spoiler territory.
I recorded this movie as one of those I'm bored lets give it a try things. I will say I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. The actors all do very well in their roles and the story lines, although confusing at times if you are not paying attention, all come full circle at the end. If you are looking for a descent movie to watch I would recommend this. 6.5/10.
^^Love Chan (how old is that guy now?). Will give this a look.
Not only is Dr. Smith a women but Judy Robinson is an AA girl. Can you say Hollyweird SJWism?
Just saw it today and liked it but probably not as much as you did. I thought they did a very good job of showing what kind of guy Armstrong was. He was like a lot of engineer type guys who make up in smarts and logic what they lack in warmth and emotion. America (including TV types) wanted him to be more of a John Glenn type of personality but that just wasn't him and I think some people at the time were a little miffed about it. I thought the movie over did the whole spinning thing in a lot of scenes. And I found it to be pretty slow moving in general. They could have edited about 20 minutes out. In fact, some guy who apparently came to see it by himself fell asleep in his comfortable reclining movie chair and was snoring almost as loud as the rocket engines on lift off. The whole theater was cracking up. Also, the whole flag thing was a nothing burger.First Man.
As someone who has been a NASA geek from childhood (grandfather was a NACA and NASA engineer), I can confidently say that no other film or production has nailed NASA space flight like this one did. As for the rest of the film, it was also brilliant. I remember thinking when this film was announced that it'd be kinda tough to make an interesting movie about Neil Armstrong since he really wasn't that remarkable personality wise. But Gosling nailed the role, Claire Foy was fantastic, and Chazelle mixed in the perfect amount of drama and action. I'll say that the shaky cam was a bit much at times watching on a big format screen, but that's my only minor complaint. Moon landing scene was incredible. I'm glad we went 30 minutes out of our way to catch this one in a large format Dolby theater just for the moon landing and Gemini 8 scenes. Great film.
And as far as the whole flag controversey is concerned, a few things should be noted. 1. The astronauts planted the flag together because the pole was incredibly awkward and difficult to plant, Armstrong didn't do it by himself. 2. The picture of the astronaut saluting the flag is of Buzz Aldrin, not Neil Armstrong. 3. There's a clear shot in the film of the LEM on the Moon with the American flag next to it. 4. This movie wasn't about #murica beating the Soviets (although it did touch on the space race at times).
SQ and I saw Bohemian Rhapsody this afternoon. Now I'm a huge Queen fan, so I've been waiting for this release quite literally for years, as it went through a variety of rewrites, recasts, fired directors, new producers, and other delays. It hasn't gotten the best of reviews, which I understand, but for anyone who even has a passing interest or liking of Queen and their music, it's highly enjoyable.
My one big problem with it, and I knew this going in, was Freddie Mercury's story was sterilized and sugar coated by request of Brian May and Roger Taylor. I understand they want to protect their old friend's image, so I get it, but I feel like the film could have had a better emotional impact if they had been willing to show more of Freddie's darker side. They touched on it a bit, but largely left it as more of a "family friendly" retelling of his personal life and drug use. I will say that Rami Malek's performance was outstanding. From what I understand, he spent countless hours of countless days perfecting Freddie's on stage presence, which had to be painstaking and extremely difficult. Freddie isn't known as the best lead man in history for no reason.
I feel like if they had made this a straight Queen biopic instead of trying to tell a more whitewashed version of Mercury's life with the band, it would have been better as a film. Having said that, I still loved it. They absolutely nailed every single performance set piece, there were some good laughs and some very emotional moments, and the Live Aid scene was the stuff of legends. I had straight goosebumps the last 15 minutes of the film. They also did a phenomenal job with costume and makeup design, so look for it to get nominated for those come Oscar season.
In summation, if you're a big Queen fan, get out and see this film in a theater. If you're not a big Queen fan, re-evaluate your taste in music and go see it anyway.