By Caitlin & Brian Beesley
The latest in our scattershot series of father-daughter cyberchats after viewing trailers for soon-to-be-released films ...
“Taken 3”
CAITLIN: He kicks some serious butt with that defibrillator, to be sure.
BB: That’s pretty wild. The latest in medical weaponry. That scene alone tells me this might be worth paying $8 to see.
BB: Yes, but I am capable of suspending my disbelief, at least when it comes to cinema.
CB: True, true. And the ridiculousness helps this movie franchise. I think people will go see it because they enjoy seeing Neeson play an aging secret agent-type character who has a family to protect. Of course, most of the unintentional comedy comes from that aspect of it.
“Selma”
BB: Powerful stuff. Subject matter: heavy duty. Casting: airtight. Must see.
CB: Must see, but if the soundtrack has any rap in it, I’ll be incredibly disappointed.
BB: Bet it doesn’t, but I see where you might have that concern. Oh, and it’s got Oprah in it.
CB: That doesn’t really make me want to go see it more, and it may make we want to see it less. What has Oprah been in lately that’s blown you away? What has Oprah been in ever that’s blown you away?
BB: She was awesome in “Dumb and Dumber To.”
CB: Some critics have said that David Oyelowo doesn’t look anything like MLKjr., and whether or not this is true, he sure does remind me of Martin Luther King Jr.
BB: From just viewing the trailer, it looks to me like he inhabits that role, and that’s a big selling point.
CB: Bonus: Throw Tim Roth into the mix as an angry Southerner (Alabama Gov. George Wallace) and Tom Wilkinson (President Lyndon Johnson), for once not playing the antagonist or a shady character, and you’ve got yourself the makings for a fantastic movie.
BB: Oh, geez, Tim Roth AND Tom Wilkinson! And Oprah. Don’t forget Oprah.
“Theory of Everything”
CB: So just comparing this movie to “Hawking,” the fantastic 2004 TV movie with Benedict Cumberbatch, I’d say this one is a lot more geared toward his relationship with his first wife then his actual work, which I suppose is fascinating and all, but we know how that turned out. You’d be much better off doing a romance between someone like J.R.R. Tolkien and his wife — MOVIE RIGHTS! I CALL MOVIE RIGHTS ON TOLKIEN’S LIFE!
BB: Yeah, making a dramatic movie out of “A Brief Moment in Time” would be a challenge. “Theory” kinda of reminds me of “A Beautiful Mind,” which was a fine film. But the trailer still set the hook — I want to see it.
CB: Of course, at the same time, a movie that tries to encompass an entire relationship, and add in all the rest of his struggles with scientific theories might be too much. I’m not sold, but I’ll see it.
BB: They do need to compress these stories down to roughly two hours, you understand.
CB: The great thing about the TV movie, mind you, was that it ended after he’d come up with his theory of Hawking radiation, before his disease became too incapacitating. That ended on just the right note. This one follows much more of his life and that will either be bad for the plot or bad for the characters, but who knows.
BB: Eddie Redmayne’s performance as Hawking also looks stellar. Or should I say interstellar?
CB: His performance looks phenomenal from the trailer. Let’s hope the movie doesn’t suffer the same fate as “Interstellar” — ambitious but plagued by too many black holes in the plot.
“The Imitation Game”
CB: Mark Strong and a comb-over? Yikes. And poor Charles Dance, he’s just typecast all over the place. How much do you want to bet that Matthew Goode’s character will end up being the Soviet spy. Must see, it’s got all the best current, popular Brits who can actually act. I’d probably be willing to go see it even if they’d thrown an American ( ala Tom Cruise in “Valkyrie”) in the mix.
BB: Ah, yes, another movie about a British genius. Must be that time of year. Regardless, a must-see spy thriller.
CB: Well, for once there’ll be no romance between the two main characters, which I applaud, though the reasons for that don’t apply to most others (semi-spoiler alert).
BB: Yes. And it’s got Oprah. I mean, Benedict Cabbage Patch.
CB: And that will be the most difficult choice women have to make when they go to the movie theater: a free car or Benedict Cumberbatch on the big screen. Personally, I’d choose the latter!
“American Sniper”
BB: Totally must see. Saw the first trailer, which was really just a teaser, and it whet my interest. The latest trailer really knocks it out of the park.
CB: The first trailer is agonizing, but the second is much more satisfactory. Bradley Cooper could really turn the tables during Oscar season. And if he doesn’t, well, then this proves more than any other role he’s had, I think, that he doesn’t just pull off characters, he becomes them. There’s no way the academy is gonna pick him over Michael Keaton, though.
BB: I dunno. From the little I saw, I was impressed.
CB: We’ll have to debate the Oscars later. All I know is, Cooper looks great, the movie looks intriguing, and, with the death last year of Chris Kyle, the U.S. soldier whose book the movie is based on, I think this one is going to have some serious traction.
BB: This is the coming cinematic attraction I most want to see, essentially.
CB: Agreed. The trailer, and Cooper’s performance, make the story look so much more complex than I think we civilians like to admit war times’ black-and-white landscape to be. Compelling to be sure. --- Brian Beesley is 360’s production editor; his daughter, Caitlin, is a student at the University of Idaho. They are both movie aficionados.
