I like those stories. I was on a film set a few years ago. I was talking to the location manager. I asked him how the movie was going. He said it was a total piece of crap! It was released anyway with a big star.
Just a bit off topic:
I saw a piece on the Consumer Electronics show in Vegas. They showed the new wallpaper thin TVs with incredible pictures, clear, crisp color.
All I could think of was “What is worth watching on TV anymore?” All the creativity is going into the engineering of a fantastic TV and so little is going into the shows that are on it.
I guess it depends on how you define “TV”. I think there is actually much better fare these days if you include streaming like original Netflix/Amazon series and such.
Yes, most of the things we watch on “TV” are on HBO/Netflix/Amazon.
TV has never been better. All the terrific shows on HBO, Netflix etc are so well written and thoughtfully acted. I think it’s the movies (in theaters) that are suffering.
Denzel came to my high school when he was a struggling actor doing Soldier Story, the play, at our local venue. Who knew he would become a big star, and my celebrity crush!
Gotta love the one-name mention and instant recognition. Even if that cat’s name was Michael (oh, wait, that one is taken, in some circles, for the one-name recognition spot), we’d still all know who you were talking about.
He’s the only Denzel I know. 
Finally saw La La Land. I have slightly mixed feelings. The visuals are glorious and the movie overall was very charming, and I was definitely in the mood to be charmed. And I loved the locations SO much; I live in the LA area and I knew every single location intimately. Loved that aspect of the moving. Also, It is worth the price of admission to see that stunning opening dance number on the big screen.
But … as everyone else has said, the singing of the two stars really is subpar. Before I saw the movie, I thought that perhaps it would add a sweet vulnerability to the movie, but no … It was definitely a flaw in my mind. A big one.
That said, I really could watch Emma Stone all day.
If I had just stumbled into this one off the street, it is possible that my socks woukd have been knocked off. I think it is all the hype and talk of Best Pucture that left me just a tiny bit underwhelmed.
All that said, I would still recommend it, especially for the achingly nostalgic vision of LA in its very best light.
Saw Hidden Figures today. We’d been looking forward to it, and it was great.
Thanks @nottelling …we are seeing it this afternoon. I’m finding I’m more curious than anything. Of course I have high expectations, but after reading your post maybe I can lower them a bit and have a better experience.
I just finished all 8 episodes of the 2016 War and Peace today.
Lily James is so adorable in the role Natasha.
Looks like many of the movies folks discussed in this thread were nominated and several won GGlobe awards
You may want to see Rogue One.
@conmama – Did you see La La Land? How did you like it?
We ended up not going…boo! We bought DS a car the day before and I think DH was feeling poor…haha. Hopefully we will go soon. Now with it winning so my awards I want to see it.
@ucbalumnus I already saw *Rogue One *, but that’s not the point. Hollywood has figured out that we’ll watch action and comic book movies with mixed casts. What they haven’t figured out is that we might watch more thoughtful movies which actually might reflect minority experiences.
D2 and I went to see Hidden Figures yesterday. D2 is not easily won over by movies, but she loved this movie, and so did I. Honestly, I was not put off by the typewriters or smoking. I was more put off that even in eras I lived through, there are a lot of unsung people that aren’t white men who performed critical roles that we never even know existed. I am a NASA history buff (have shelves of books on the topic, some published by NASA, others from various space program participants). No mention at all of this group. I have the Hidden Figures book, and am looking forward to reading it. I am especially intrigued by whether the part about the mainframe and the first programming group is accurate. That isn’t just 1-2 people.
I took my 14 and 22 yr. old Ds to see Hidden Figures this weekend. I did notice the playing down of racism (I had already read half of the book which describes it in more detail.) but felt it didn’t detract from the story being told. My 14 yr. old is on the cusp of the “Do I like math or do I not like math?” age. After an early scene where a young Katherine solves an equation on the blackboard, my D enthusiastically whispered to me: " I know that." Yup, I did a happy dance in my head. My other D is in law school said it was the right movie to watch before heading back to school.
We finally saw Rogue One. It filled some of the gaps and had some good casting for the continuity of the female lead over time.