Wednesday, December 6, 2017

FTM 418 - LOVE ACTUALLY

Patrick and Margo Donohue get the shit kicked out of them by love.



Download this episode here. (37.7 MB)

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Also discussed this episode: The Christmas Train (2017), Jim and Andy: The Great Beyond (2017), Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017), Live by Night (2017)

Follow Margo on Twitter at @BrooklynFitChik and @BookVersusMovie

Listen to Book Versus Movie here

50 comments:

  1. What’s the problem with Armie Hammer? I’m not sure what article you’re talking about

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    1. Hello! Here is the article I was referring to. Let me know if you hace any issue. Its from BozzFeewd. https://www.buzzfeed.com/annehelenpetersen/ten-long-years-of-trying-to-make-armie-hammer-happen?utm_term=.it84Jpxlz#.ycWMxVe15

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    2. Thanks

      I didn’t read it all, but i got the gist of it. And that person have way too much time on his hands.

      You want to talk about boring actors that should be stop trying to make happen? There’s tons that are way more deserving than Hammer. Jai Courtney comes to mind. And Scott Eastwood. But even then, can we blame them for trying to work?

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  2. The Amy Smart film is 'The 12 Dates of Christmas'! It is my favorite of all the TV christmas movies. Silly, but tons of fun and the two leads are adorable.

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    1. I can't wait! Been meaning to watch it for years.

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    2. As long as you like Groundhog Day ripoffs (and I do) I think you'll have a fun time.

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  3. RIchard Curtis may have directed some crappy stuff like this and Nothing Hill, but he also directed one of my favorite, About Time

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    1. Love About Time, but I also love Notting Hill and Love Actually.

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  4. great podcast..i am scribbling notes of films to watch!

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  5. Fascinating conversation on a film I never really had much interest in.Don't forget Curtis has form in "dubious" relationships. The Boat That Rocked has the scene where the d.j. let's the young lad have 'sex' with the woman in the dark who believes it to be the d.j. Unconsenting sex with a person? Isn't that rape?
    Fascinating how its the lighter fare that really shows the backward mores of its times in retrospect
    See 'Carry on' series for further examples

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    1. "Fascinating conversation on a film I never really had much interest in." Exactly how I feel! I spent the night discussing this episode with all the friends I was with, after spending 10+ years trying to avoid every conversation about this movie I had absolutely 0 interest in.

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  6. Great conversation as always. I revisited this every holiday season for a long time and went back and forth on it forever. I loved it, then disliked it over and over but after the last two times I gave up on it and agree that it hasn't dated well. I was also 27 years old when I first saw it in 2003 so maybe there's something to that. I find myself cringing now rather than enjoying the film. Don't get me started on that Andrew Licoln and Kiera Knightley thing. Geeez, way to cheat on your husband and way to mope around and make your best friends new wife feel guilty. She straight up lies to her husband "just Christmas carolers". Pathetic. Yeah, this movie is pretty woeful and both of your thoughts are all legit.

    A couple things I like: I've always hoped that Martine McCutcheon does more film. She's fantastic. Oh, and this version of "All I Want for Christmas is You" blows Mariah Carey's version away.

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    1. Nothing blows away Mariah's version. Humbug!

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    2. She would agree with you as she keeps cashin' in on it. https://www.amazon.com/All-I-Want-Christmas-You/dp/0399551395

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  7. To come to the defense of Three Billboards... possibly my favorite film of the year...

    Despite the fact that this film is dealing with very big issues, I don't think this is a "message film" that is pushing good moral positions. It is a very dark, bleak, and angry movie about a lot of issues, but shows that these things cannot be simply solved in a 2 hour film. It deals with racism and sexual assault, but does not come to satisfying conclusion about them BECAUSE it is so bleak and it is dealing with horrifyingly flawed people. So to criticize it for not dealing with them in the most moral way, I think, is to expect something unfair from the film. I don't think the film is about morality. I think it is about anger.

    *slight spoilers ahead

    Also, I don't think "that character" is redeemed. He starts the film an awful person, and ends that way. The good things he does actually are not out of character for him. They are things that are part of his job that he has totally thrown himself into. It's the only identity he has. Just because he joins forces with "her" doesn't make him good, and she knows that. He's still a bad guy, but he is (like a real person) complex.

    Loved the show Margo! And thanks for the positive 'While You Were Sleeping' shout out (still my all time fav rom-com)!

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    1. Snaps of approval are a thing, right? It's not just some lie they told me in third grade?

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    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    3. You're thinking of Snap, the band from the early 90's who did "The Power".

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    4. Thank you for introducing to me to the happiest 3 minutes and 45 seconds of my life.

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  8. That was a delightful demolition of this movie. But any chance you two could talk about a movie you both like? Say...While You Were Sleeping?

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  9. You do know John Oliver came off as a petulant child in the Dustin Hoffman interview right?

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    1. Hoffman is a creep but Oliver should have not taken the job if he felt conflicted. The panel wasn't just him and Hoffman.

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    2. Read the Hollywood Reporter. I was wrong when I commented yesterday.

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    3. I wish Adam Riske was the internet. Class.

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    4. I wish he was the internet too but only because TRANSCENDENCE is my favorite movie.

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    5. Also, we all need to take a minute to appreciate Margo's "Well, actually..."

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    6. HA! :) Yes, cheers to Margo and to all you fine folks. This site gives me a little breath of sanity in internetland.

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    7. I'm just gonna say it. Margo is pretty great, actually.

      P.S. Transcendence #Walkout

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    8. Thanks you Chaybee, Adam and Patrick!

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  10. Being a bit of a romantic at heart I do enjoy these types of movies. When Harry met Sally possibly my fave?
    I can't deny any of your points made. This film certainly has some problems. The biggest one being I have been to America a few times. I am British. I have a cheesy British accent just like Colin. I so wanted that part of The film to be true. Sadly it wasent

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    1. That is really interesting. When I go to America, people love my accent. I have a way of speaking rather than accent really, as I was taught how to talk 'properly' as part of my LAMDA exams. So I am 'well spoken'. Many people think I sound posh, which they like. I like to point out posh people have terrible diction so that is a different accent haha.

      Most Americans I have met love me repeating 'banana' and 'tomato' because I sound like Hermione Granger probably. I love it when they join in and try and copy me. Genuinely, someone did understand me when I said water once because I always say my t's. I think it is also when they ask where I am from and I say London, they get super excited anywhere I go, which is always nice. It is also actually quite nice when people like the way I talk haha.

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  11. This was a really great conversation!
    Margo, you are so cool, but you need to work on that English accent haha. Come to London next December, it will help the accent and it really is that gorgeous here! Actually, I would say the film doesn't even do it justice. I can give you a list of places to go too haha. Message me on twitter!

    Notting Hill also has a huge problem in the fact that it looks like Richard Curtis has never been to Notting Hill. I hardly ever see all white people, especially not in Notting Hill. It is one of those things that you don't notice about a place until some white straight male filters out all the cool, integrative, mix of cultures and types of people. Random comment, Martine is also a good singer. And, While you were sleeping is probably my favourite Christmas movie.

    I really like the elements of the discussion where you really dive into the gender dynamics and the problems the film has. You both did a great job with that!

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    1. Aw, thank you! My Brit accent is usually pretty good but I had the sleepies the night we recorded. Next time I am in London, I want the full tour!

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  12. Great conversation! I remember feeling those same feels when the movie came out... Really disappointed, confused (with so much star power, how could it feel so thin?), and totally annoyed by that damn kid and everyone around Liam Neeson WHO WON'T LET HIM GRIEVE. Also, what IS Martin Freeman doing? It totally confused my why no one seemed to question what that "job" was (porn stand in, I presume? But, again, why do they need to be naked?)...

    I was totally mystified as to why it was so beloved, even then (with the exception of the high points mentioned: Thompson, Rickman, Nighy) and it's actually pretty validating to intelligent people articulate the same concerns now.

    Anyhoo - Margo, it was great hearing from you again - Looking for the next romcom TAKE DOWN (jk; you can take down ANY genre you want).

    Great episode!

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  13. The first time I saw this movie I thought that Emma Thompson's performance belonged in a different, better movie. I also thought the movie was FINE, but I didn't love it. Then I watched it again a.few years later, and my review of "Fine" turned into "WTF?! Eww, no."

    I always love it when Margo comes on the podcast. She is SO FUN!

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