Read the back story on Hidden Figures. @equationlover. Think you can find some via the author’s website or just googling around. Fascinating about the communities these women came from. Author is pretty interesting, too. Looking forward to both reading the book and seeing the film.
The friend who invited me to see Manchester by the sea said it had gotten good reviews. We both found it to be very slow moving and depressing. I don’t go to the movies to be depressed. I don’t care if it shows complex family relationships. I prefer to be entertained. I also dislike violent movies and will avoid them at all costs. I have walked out of some, like pulp fiction, when they got too violent.
I thought Manchester by the Sea was fabulous (though it was very sad). Thought the writing/script was excellent/felt very real and the acting was incredible. Also saw Loving. Good, but found that one slow and a bit draggy.
I just got back from seeing LaLa Land–my husband and I both thought it was the best movie we’d seen in years! We loved everything about it–it was sweet, sad, funny, great original music, great acting, singing and dancing. A wonderful mix of romance and fantasy and homage to Hollywood musicals with a contemporary twist. Our D’s SO, who is a producer and filmmaker in LA thought it was excellent as well. We came home an immediately downloaded the soundtrack on iTunes–in fact, I’m listening to it now!
Agree, husband and I saw it this afternoon too and loved it. I thought the songs were great and loved Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling.
Ok, so now we have one person in this thread who didn’t like the singing in LaLa Land, and two people who bought the soundtrack. Not everyone likes the same thing. 
“…Hidden Figures is REALLY good! It’s about three African American mathematicians that helped calculate the landing…”
I am not interested in this film, but do find it most compelling that the mathematicians are female. For me, that would be a draw in seeing the film, and certainly important in describing the story.
I am really looking forward to Hidden Figures!
So far, of the three I’ve seen in the last week (La La Land, Jackie, Fences), I’d see all of them again.
Was very disappointed to learn Loving has already departed our area (nothing in Chicago area).
We are also interested in seeing Hidden Figures-seems like a fascinating story and the biographies of the women are very interesting. Also, want to see Manchester by the Sea. .
I actually loved the singing in La La Land. Ryan Gosling did not need to be perfect , that was part of the charm. City of Stars is a beautiful song and the piano is haunting. The singing by Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor in Moulin Rouge appealed to me too, although neither are known for their singing. Sometimes, directors do seem to know what they are doing.
Ok- I will definitely be in the minority here, but just got back from La La Land and did not like it. In fact no one in my party of three liked it much it all. Maybe my expectations were too high going in, but I thought that for a movie billed as so fresh and original that the story was contrived and a bit cliche. Thought most of the singing and dancing was underwhelming. Though the opening scene was clever. And I did really like the dinner scene with Ryan and Emma. Full of good dialogue and acting. That was the highlight for me. But that’s what I look for in a movie- the writing and the performances. I guess that’s why I liked Manchester by the Sea so much.
Oh my goodness. This is an incredible movie. Part documentary/part acted (like reality shows?)(hard to tell?), all unflinching.
[The Other Side](Review: The Other Side - Slant Magazine)
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
SO GOOD! As are the three books overall. Scary! But interesting.
Young adult book series. It was in the theaters but has left here. We watched ON Demand.
H has not read the books and really enjoyed this movie.
While was babysitting tonight I watched “MR.COOK”.
Made me cry. Really just a simple movie that passed the time.
Ended up seeing Fences last night. Excellent film. Long, but the acting was supera. Movie ended at 11:57. Happy new year!
Sometimes on New Year’s Eve, I and whoever is home watch two movies. The unusual pairing of many years ago that we hold up as the standard is “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and “Dude, Where’s My Car?” Last night, D2 and I watched “Money Monster” and “Dope.” I enjoyed them both and especially appreciated being introduced to the latter, which I hadn’t heard of before. Earlier in the week, we watched “Obvious Child,” which also was new to me and also very good.
We watched the movie “Mr. Church”, which was free on Amazon Prime. I never heard of the movie and didn’t know what to expect. It turned out to be a good movie.
Not a movie, but I am looking forward to watching season 4 of Sherlock tonight on PBS.
I saw Rogue One on Friday. I thought it was okay, but perhaps the best thing about it was the ending. I liked the fact that it lays out and honors the sacrifice that is the precursor of the original film. (Loved Diego Luna. 
)
I missed Moonlight, which I really wanted to see. I’m hoping it reappears during Oscar season.
I thought that Loving, which we saw over Thanksgiving, was superb. Slow? Well, I guess so: they certainly weren’t aiming at a courtroom drama, but at a deep exploration of a relationship in its own unusual context. I thought the acting was superb, especially Joel Egerton. Just the way he held his hands and his physical presence was an extraordinary evocation of a working man who wanted to take care of his family. The way the two two actors reacted almost viscerally to each other, especially when dealing with outsiders–their relationship seemed so extremely intimate that everyone else was an outsider, they were a world of two–was remarkable. There was a deep sense of them as country people. I guess you could call it slow, but I just sank into it and was totally absorbed.
My sister just saw Manchester by the Sea, and said it was very good but extremely depressing.
I plan to see Fences. I am a huge fan of August Wilson’s plays, and this was one that I unfortunately missed in the theater.
I saw Hidden Figures and absolutly loved it. I think it should be shown in all schools, as a motivator and a reminder of how far we’ve come.
Just saw Manchester by the Sea today. Excellent! Fine acting all around. Very human, very real. Spot on characterizations and depictions of the region. Very well made.
It reminded me in many ways of two other great movies - In the Bedroom and Ordinary People. Family tragedies, suboptimal communication, raw emotions, families torn apart.