Resurrecting the Movies thread...

[serious crayons]

And if it weren't for BetterMost, I wouldn't know he's gay.

If it weren't for BetterMost, I'd never have heard of him, period. I've never heard of the TV show and didn't know he was on one until Jeff said so, and I barely noticed him in Magic Mike. In fact, I doubt I could pick him out of a lineup of handsome young stars now.

That said, I'm not closely following the casting of FSoG (and by the way, I'm amused that you guys are!).

But it's true, sometimes people are less aware of pop-culture things than you'd think. For example, a few years back I mentioned at a gathering of my ex-husband's family the rumors that Tom Cruise is gay. Every person there (average middle-class suburbanites, reasonably well-informed about current events and the like) was astonished. Not one person had ever heard such a thing.

In any case, I salute Matt Bomer. That a young, handsome, potential romantic lead actor is out is fantastic. Tom Cruise and John Travolta (or someone like Tom Cruise and John Travolta, if in fact they're straight) must look at his example and sigh wistfully. Even Keanu Reeves, whom I've kind of gathered over the years might be gay (but might not be; feel free to correct me if you know otherwise), while not making such a big show of being not-gay as to marry actresses, undoubtedly felt he couldn't do it.

[Jeff Wrangler]

In any case, I salute Matt Bomer. That a young, handsome, potential romantic lead actor is out is fantastic. Tom Cruise and John Travolta (or someone like Tom Cruise and John Travolta, if in fact they're straight) must look at his example and sigh wistfully. Even Keanu Reeves, whom I've kind of gathered over the years might be gay (but might not be; feel free to correct me if you know otherwise), while not making such a big show of being not-gay as to marry actresses, undoubtedly felt he couldn't do it.

Actually, if you think to Google Matt Bomer--which only occurred to me now--it's pretty clear. Heck, he's got three kids with his partner!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Bomer

[delalluvia]

Stuart: A life backwards Based on a true story of an author (Benedict's character) who decides to write a biography of a homeless man (Tom Hardy's character) and the odd friendship they develop.  I need to watch this again before I give it a rating because it wasn't what I was expecting.

First off - culture shock - what is 'homeless' in the UK is apparently not the same as someone considered homeless in the US.  Stuart is considered 'homeless' but he actually does live in government housing and owns a car.  In the US, when you're homeless you are truly homeless, you are living under bridges or in dumpsters or in a box in a back alley somewhere and have nothing.

Secondly, Stuart the character is really bad off - he's ill, a heroin addict and an alcoholic, so he mumbles.  And it is very very difficult to understand what he is saying, so I was stuck concentrating on understanding his words instead of focusing on what he was actually saying and what it meant, so I played catch up the entire movie, lagging behind in meaning and being divorced from the emotions of the story because I wasn't getting most of Stuart's dialogue.

Tom Hardy is spectacular in this role.  I think he either won a BAFTA or was nominated for one and deservedly so, but my goodness, the man can't put two words together in person.

OK, I'm sorry to say I had to watch this about 4 times with Stuart's dialogue getting more and more understandable with each viewing.  Yes, the more I understand what he's saying, the more emotionally tied I get to the movie and it's really become very poignant and I find myself in the unusual circumstance of having seen a movie like 3 times, but suddenly bursting out laughing at something Stuart said that I didn't understand the first 3 times.

I give it a 7.4/10.

Lighting on the movie is horrible though.  Whoever they had doing the lighting thought that full on klieg lighting in every closeup was the correct technique and I'm not fond of the soundtrack.  It sounds really cheesy.

[serious crayons]

Actually, if you think to Google Matt Bomer--which only occurred to me now--it's pretty clear. Heck, he's got three kids with his partner!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Bomer

Here's a sample of what out celebrities encounter:

When basketball player Jason Collins became the first openly gay man in American professional team sports earlier this year, he quickly found himself the target of death threats. When Frank Ocean spoke frankly of his love affair with another man, the New York Times noted he soon became “the target of dozens of death threats and antigay comments on Twitter, mostly from men.” When musician Chely Wright came out, she says her record sales “went directly in half” and that “My life has been threatened. I get nasty letters every day, ‘I’m through with you Chely Wright, you’re going to hell.’” And when actress Rayven Simone came out this summer,  a bunch of her former Disney-era fans promptly declared their childhoods had been “ruined.”

http://www.salon.com/2013/10/29/sean_hayes_doesnt_owe_us_an_apology_for_not_coming_out/

[Jeff Wrangler]

That said, I'm not closely following the casting of FSoG (and by the way, I'm amused that you guys are!).

It's kind of difficult to avoid it when they make a fuss over it on the morning chat shows--unless, of course, you avoid the morning chat shows. 

[serious crayons]

It's kind of difficult to avoid it when they make a fuss over it on the morning chat shows--unless, of course, you avoid the morning chat shows. 

Oh. Well, I do (avoid them). I used to watch them daily while working out, but pretty much fell out of the habit around the time Katie Couric left the Today Show. Unfortunately, much the same happened with my morning workouts.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Oh. Well, I do (avoid them).

I'm not so sure I wouldn't be better off if I avoided them, too, but Today is more or less the only way I keep up on what's going on in the popular culture. And some hard news, too.

[delalluvia]

Still feverishly in the midst of my Benedict Cumberbatch kick.  

I'm not sure this qualifies as a movie, so mods, feel free to move it:

Parade's End 8.5/10

Wow, this is a mini-series, came out on HBO.  Benedict Cumberbatch was nominated for an Emmy for his role as leading man Christopher Tietjens.  I'm glad Michael Douglas won, but OMG, was Benedict robbed.

He was - as usual - brilliant in this role.  It's a 5 part series and if you love him, or the British Edwardian era or Downtown Abbey, you will very much enjoy this.

I started off thinking I'd watch one episode a night but instead watched all 5 hours in a row and found myself unable to sleep at 3 am on weeknight.  

Parade's End is based on a tetralogy by Ford Madox Ford. It is set mainly in England and on the Western Front in World War I.  It has been hailed it as "possibly the greatest 20th-century novel in English".

It is a character study on the life of Christopher Tietjens, a genius government statistician from a wealthy landowning family. His wife Sylvia is an upper class beauty who seems intent on ruining him but at the same time, admires him above all other men and tries to win his love.  Tietjens may or may not be the father of his wife's child. Meanwhile, after deciding with typical 'famous last words' to remain faithful to his not quite loveless marriage as per the standards of the gentleman's and social and cultural code he embodies ("the parade" of the title), he meets Valentine Wannop, a high-spirited pacifist and suffragette.  Despite their instant attraction, Tietjens keeps to his code and does not pursue her despite what vicious gossip starts. The series follows Tietjens as WWI approaches and then his progress in the army in France and Belgium, as well as Sylvia and Valentine in their separate paths over the course of the war.  It includes direct references to the changing social and gender roles and women's rights.

Benedict's portrayal of a man caught between eras, lashed by convention and its breakdown, attacked from all sides, becoming "a man with no friends whatsoever" and in constant emotional pain will make you believe you can fall in love with a fictional character.      

His wife is actually much more sympathetic here than the novels, apparently, which is good as it adds to the depth of her character and the emotional turmoil of Christopher.  IOW, she's not what you expect.

As one reviewer said,

"It makes Downtown Abbey look like Teletubbies".  

Must see.

[oilgun]

Look who's on the cover of Vogue Homme this month, Alain Delon's youngest son, Alain Fabien:

[oilgun]

R.I.P. Paul Walker

Irony of ironies, he died in a fiery car crash.