Omnibus movies Q&A thread including trivia

[Jizzelbin]

Three I've been trying to get through in the past day or so:

*Between Two Ferns The Movie*: cute little expansion of the brief absurd interviews between comedian Zach Galifianakis and various A-list celebrities.

*Le Mans*. Kind of a grim little movie about the "24 Hours of Le Mans" race. Steve McQueen vehicle plus some female eye candy, I guess. This one I did finish, but to be honest, it's kind of boring IMHO.

*Steve McQueen : The Man and *Le Mans**. Somewhat interesting little documentary about the so-called King of Cool. Probably not for everybody, but it has its moments of interest.

[Elendil's Heir]

Meh. Not a big fan of Zach G. What little I've seen of him other than in The Hangover has underwhelmed me.

I have to confess, I don't think I've seen any complete Steve McQueen movie other than The Towering Inferno. The Great Escape has been on my list for awhile, though. And did you know about this movie?: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tao_of_Steve

My latest five:

Nuremberg: Its Lessons For Today
A restoration of a post-WW2 US government film, intended to highlight Nazi atrocities and warn against the dangers of political extremism, racism and anti-Semitism. Some harrowing concentration-camp imagery.

Filmmakers for the Prosecution
Documentary about the making of that film, drawing upon German archival and propaganda footage, which also supported the Allied prosecution of Nazi war criminals at Nuremberg. Mostly interesting.

Brazil
Hadn't seen this 1985 Terry Gilliam neo-Orwellian sf dark comedy in awhile, but it still holds up really well. My favorite bit: Robert De Niro, totally badass, as a commando plumber.

Backs Against the Wall: The Howard Thurman Story
Documentary biopic about a black theologian, teacher and mystic who mentored MLK, among others.

Good Night Oppy
Documentary about the Mars rovers and how amazingly well they did, and kept on doing, long after they were expected to fail. The filmmakers shamelessly anthropomorphize the machines, but by the end you can hardly blame 'em. Worth seeing for any fan of space exploration, Mars, robotics or science generally.

[Elendil's Heir]

Here we go. My most recent five:

In the Loop
A British political satire loosely based on the runup to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Not enough laughs, although Peter Capaldi is very good as an unprincipled, abusive, hard-charging spin doctor.

The Spy Who Loved Me
Arguably Roger Moore's best James Bond movie. Hadn't seen it in years, and it was fun. Barbara Bach is quite yummy as a Soviet spy; the white Lotus Esprit which turns into a missile-armed mini-submarine is awesome. I noticed, though, that the captured Soviet nuclear submarine crew is never seen - only the American and the British crews are. Hmmm. Wonder what happened to them...?

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
A young author visits Guernsey island soon after WWII and discovers that a folksy book club there is hiding a secret which, of course, she feels bound to uncover. A good-looking and feel-good film.

Gangs of New York
Martin Scorsese's film about NYC street gangs before and during the Civil War. Well-produced and a fine cast, but much too long, and it badly downplays the racist roots of the July 1863 draft riots. Not sure I can recommend this movie.

Trailblazing Women in Ohio Politics
Pretty good new documentary with a self-explanatory title. Worth a look for anyone interested in women in politics generally.