Welcome to FlixChatter’s primary blog series! As is customary for this monthly feature, I get to post five random news item/observation/poster, etc. and then turn it over to you to share your take on that given topic. You can see the previous five-for-the-fifth posts here.
1. We’re now on the last FFTF edition of 2016, wow! Well, just this past week, Netflix Offline was trending on Twitter and it was the biggest news on Flipboard that week. I actually haven’t been desperately wishing to download Netflix movies as even when I’m on the plane where there are no Internet, I usually just watch what’s available on the airline entertainment channel. But I could see that it’s a dream come true for many of you who’ve been wanting to watch movies anywhere on their smartphone or tablet offline. I’d also think it’d have greater appeal in international markets such as Africa and Asia, where internet service is less ubiquitous than it is in the United States.
Now, not everything on its vast library is available to download, but surely all the Netflix Original series/movies would be available. Just don’t expect any of the Disney stuff to be downloadable anytime soon, or ever.
So which films or TV shows have you downloaded or planning on downloading straight away?
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2. Boy, James Gunn has been quite busy lately. On top of working on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2, he actually had time to write the script of this action thriller. One commenter on Youtube dubbed ‘Office Space meets The Purge, yikes! The Belko Experiment isn’t exactly my cup of tea, despite the pretty good cast, but surely it’ll find an audience.
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Now, switching gear to the follow up to yet another reboot of a franchise nobody is really clamoring to see. I gotta admit though, the cast of Tom Cruise AND Russell Crowe, and the fact that Christopher McQuarrie directs it, intrigues me a bit. Behold the first trailer of The Mummy:
It might as well be titled Mission Impossible: Paranormal. Cruise is on the run once again with a pretty girl (half his age) in tow. But is Cruise the mummy?? He’s shown waking up on a morgue after a horrific plane crash with not a scratch on him! That would be a fun twist wouldn’t it? But what is Crowe supposed to be in this story?? Well I’m sure we’ll have more trailers until its June 2017 release.
Anyhoo, thoughts about either one of these trailers?
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3. On Saturday mornings my hubby and I usually sleep in a bit and would watch some stuff on our iPad in bed. We ended up watching the entire episode of Variety’s Actors On Actors series featuring Taraji P. Henson and Ryan Reynolds.
It was really fun to watch these tête-à-têtes as various actors get candid about their struggles and triumphs in the business. There’s quite a lineup in this year’s series, so I plan on watching a bunch of them later.
Have you watched these? Which episode and/or actor pairings are your fave?
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4. Ok, for the fourth question, let’s discuss about cinematic discoveries. It’s up for debate whether 2016 has been a good or mediocre year for movies. But every year I’m always grateful for new talent discoveries… actors who either have been acting for a while (Mahershala Ali) or those who’ve made their debut (Julian Dennison).
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As you can see, I’m eternally grateful to Moonlight for introducing me to SO many great talents! I have to mention the trio of actors portraying the protagonist as well. I might do a full post on this topic later, but for now I’d like to know…
Who’s your favorite talent(s) you discovered in 2016?
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5. This month Five for the Fifth’s guest is Cindy from Cindy Bruchman’s Blog! It’s about a show on Netflix I’ve been curious about… and its leading man (Alexander Dreymon) sure looks very crush-worthy 😉
So here’s Cindy’s question:
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So have you seen “The Last Kingdom”? What do you like about and/or who’s your favorite character?
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Well, that’s it for the DECEMBER edition of Five for the Fifth, folks. Take part by picking a question out of the five above or better yet, do ‘em all!
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FLIXCHATTER FILM BLOG 
Wow can’t believe it’s already another 5 for the Fifth edition! Geez time flies by way too fast when I’m getting older, lol!
1. I don’t watch movies or shows on my smartphone so I won’t be downloading anything from Netflix. Personally, I refuse to watch any movies on a screen that’s smaller than 50inch, only exception is when I’m on an airplane. But I understand that many people do watch movies and shows in their tiny screen.
2. Haven’t watched The Belko Experiment trailer yet but meh on The Mummy remake, like you said it looks like another Mission: Impossible film. Just FYI, Christopher McQuarrie only wrote the film, it’s directed by Alex Kurtzman.
3. Never heard of this show before you mentioned it here. Looks interesting.
4. None that I can think of right now.
5. Haven’t seen it yet but looks cool!
I know right? I saw 2017 calendars on sale everywhere and I’m still in disbelief!
I’m with you Ted, I can’t stand even watching films on my laptop, though at times I have to if it’s a screener link. But I figure countries where Internet isn’t as ubiquitous as here, people are rejoicing.
Yep, I feel like Cruise practically stops acting now. He plays the exact same character as Ethan Hunt in ALL of his franchises!!
I’m really curious about that Last Kingdom series too now!
I think at this point in his career, Cruise is pretty much doing a cruise control on his films. He tried hard to win the Oscars in the late 90s and early 2000s but never got it. Now it seems he’s going to just star in any big film the studio offers him. I do wish he’d take more riskier role in smaller films, heck he might finally win the golden statue if try to do something else besides big action pictures.
Yep, he’s on ‘cruise control’ ahah. Well that’s the thing when people do good work ONLY to win Oscars. I mean people should do the work that fulfills them creatively, not to win accolades. Yeah I think if he puts a bit of effort I think he’s capable of turning a great performance.
I think for Cruise, he became a superstar so early in his career then of course he wants to win awards after getting the fame. His work in Rain Man, Born on the 4th of July, Jerry Maguire and Magnolia should’ve won him at least one Oscar. While some of his later pictures, I can tell he really tried to get the Golden Statue, including his last bid in The Last Samurai. Now that he’s getting older, he doesn’t want to lose the leading man status and only accept roles in big pictures. Who knows maybe once he’s in his 60s or 70s, he might accept a riskier role and win one.
Well I kinda have a feeling The Mummy might tank so maybe then Cruise might use his producing power to actually do serious films with a compelling story, instead of just another MI action flick. Yeah, maybe when he’s in his 60s, which isn’t that far from now, ahah.
I would be very surprise if The Mummy is a hit, with the exception of the last two Mission Impossible films, Cruise’s other pictures were box office disappointments. But it appears the studio is going to spend a lot of money promoting this film, I don’t think it’s going to pay off in the end. Cruise’s star power has diminished for a while now.
Yep, I have a feeling we’ll have 5-6 trailers and countless tv spots by the time this thing is released! Nope I think it won’t be a big hit. I mean I’m still excited for the new MI movie, but only because Rebecca Ferguson will be back! 🙂
1. When I’m about to fly somewhere, I’ll look at My List and decide.
2. That Belko thing seems along the lines of some past horror film themes and you nailed about The Mummy reboot; so far, I’ve not been too impressed with some of the 2017 trailer sneaks.
3. First I’ve heard of these. Will have to check them out.
4. I’ve yet to see ‘Moonlight’, but Mahersala Ali from his previous work (Nick Cage, etc.) has impressed me.
5. I’ve not seen ‘The Last Kingdom’ but now I’m intrigued to see it. Thanks for the heads up, Cindy.
Sure! It’s on Netflix. One season. 8 Episodes. It’s really entertaining.
Good thing it’s only 8 episodes, easy to catch up on! I might watch it after I’m done w/ Black Mirror (only 12 episodes total for 3 seasons!), though I also wanna catch up on Luke Cage too! So many shows so little time!
Hi Michael!
Yeah I like that we have the option if there’s a particular Netflix movie I wanna watch on my iPad.
The Mummy reboot looks so generic, I think even w/ that cast, I don’t know how well it’d do.
Ahah you meant Luke Cage right? Though who knows maybe one day Nic Cage might have his own series about himself 🙂 I really like that Ali guy, so charismatic!
Yep thanks to Cindy now I have another show I can binge on 🙂
The Tom Cruise ‘The Mummy’ seems like a fun summer ride. I enjoyed Julian Dennison’s performance much in ‘The Hunt for the Wilderpeople’. Because of you recommendation, I rented it. It reminded me of a Wes Anderson film. I thought it kooky and funny.
Hi Cindy! Glad to hear you loved ‘Wilderpeople’! I have a feeling you’d find ‘What We Do In The Shadows’ funny as well, it’s by the same director, Taika Waititi. It’s a hilarious mockumentary about vampires living together in a flat in NZ.
Glad to hear NZ is having an upswing!
Ahah well after the massive scale of Lord of the Rings, nice to see smaller NZ movies! LOVE that LOTR joke in ‘Wilderpeople’!
1. 13th was the last film I downloaded recently as the only thing I’m waiting for are Oscar screeners for some films including the ones currently out in theaters in case I’m unable to see them.
2. The Belko Experiment looks interesting. The Mummy re-boot….. EH… it’s the same old shit from Tom Cruise and why does he have to get top billing over Russell Crowe?
3. I haven’t seen any of those things and I’m not really interested.
4. I can’t think of anything at the moment since I haven’t seen a lot of new films lately.
5. I haven’t seen The Last Kingdom and I’m probably not interested at the moment as swords and castles for some reason don’t appeal to me.
Hi Steven! 13th is that documentary from Ava Duvernay right? I still need to see that one.
Yeah, seems that Crowe’s star wattage has diminished quite a bit if he’s doing an action flick as second banana to Cruise!
Well, on #4, I’m curious who they’ll be once you see some of the new 2016 films. It’s always fun to discover new talents!
Yeah, it’s that documentary as I don’t have Netflix so I chose to download it through torrents which wasn’t easy to find.
I may not be a fan of Russell Crowe but having him as a second banana to Tom Cruise is just downright insulting. Especially since Cruise does the same movies over and over and over and over and over and over again and again and again and again.
Well I think both are talented actors, but Cruise seems to have quite acting, he basically just runs around in every movie he does, and for some reason he’s shirtless more often too as he gets older [shrug]
If you pay attention to WWE, Tom Cruise is like John Cena. Someone who is always in the spotlight and never lets the younger and more talented guys to get their chance to shine.
1. For movies, I think I’d prefer to watch in the comfort of my couch/living room where I have an internet connection. But for TV shows I’d might download and catch up on episodes on my lunch break lol.
4. I’m going to have to see Moonlight after your positive review. Mahersala Ali is my favorite actor from Luke Cage, he was also in another Netflix series House of Cards but smaller role.
5. ‘The Last Kingdom’ sounds like it’ll be up my alley, good pick Cindy!
Hey Eddie!
Yeah me too, I rarely watch stuff on my iPad and never on my iPhone. But yeah, I think for a half hour show I don’t mind, either.
Moonlight is SO good man, hope you take the time to see it. I hope Mahersala Ali continues to get work, be it on tv or films. So excited he’s in Luke Cage, gonna binge on that as soon as I’m done w/ Black Mirror.
So I finally watched The Belko Experiment trailer, it’s basically a copy cat of a Japanese film Battle Royale. Instead of kids killing one another, it’s a bunch of corporate workers. Guess Hollywood really ran out of original ideas.
Yep, I think that story’s been done over and over.
1) Wasn’t even aware of this thing Netflix is doing. It’s not an issue for me really since I’m always around my computer. I’m not that fussed about “having to watch something all the time because I just have to be plugged in at all times.” Stupid millenials having to be so entitled to easy everything. Makes me sick.
2) The Belko Experiment looks . . . erm, how do I put this delicately. Lame? Haha. And don’t even get me started on a new Mummy film. I died of laughter watching the trailer. So awful.
3) This is the first time I’ve even heard of the Actors-on-Actors show. Really cool stuff. I must take a note of it and tune in for this particular one you’ve included. I like both actors, a lot.
4) I love discovering new talent — this is a great topic! I think I would also go with those who you have selected from Moonlight. Mahershala Ali was the most established of them all that I noticed. He has been phenomenal in House of Cards and I’ve made a point to follow him in basically everything since. As usual, I’ll be sure to include a couple of picks in my annual awards post. I have this feeling one of them (at least) will be from Moonlight. 😉
5) I don’t do so well with the magical realism stuff. Just weird to me. But cool to see there actually IS an alternative to Game of Boring.
Hi ya Tom!
Mwahahaha, tell us how you REALLY feels about Millennials 😉 I hear ya, they’re definitely the entitled generation. I’m 41 so I grew up w/ VHS tapes!!
Yeah that Mummy trailer is laughable. Not scary at all, more like terrifyingly bad!
I visit Variety site often, I like reading about industry news instead of actors gossip. Yeah the Actors-on-Actors show is really cool and well-made, the pairings are quite interesting too.
Love your review of Moonlight btw! Apparently I misspelled Mahershala Ali’s name, but I’ve fixed that now.
I haven’t seen a single episode of GoT, but ‘Game of Boring”? Ouch!
Yeah I just can’t stand Game of Thrones to be completely honest. I loathe how it has gotten to the point where if you don’t watch the show, you’re ostracized because of it. Like, you are an uncool person because you don’t watch the show. It’s all a bit silly to me really. But yeah, I kinda went off on a tangent here. Sorry about that. lol
Yeah, some series have become so overrated. GoT and Walking Dead especially. I don’t think I’ll be watching either, catching up w/ Black Mirror now, wow that show is bonkers!
AMEN buddy. God I tried to watch GoT and couldn’t stand it. And then when I said to some folks on a forum I used to use that I can’t stand it, they trying to say I’m trying to act cool for not being into it. So god-damn immature man.
Even the Telltale Games game version of GoT was awful! And enjoyed all their other games
It’s just so idiotic that some rabid fans always make people who don’t watch certain shows feel bad. I mean we watch what we watch and we like what we like, it’s incredibly immature to slam others who aren’t into the same thing. That is just mind-boggling to me.
me too! When people said ‘oh he’s pulling the ‘I don’t watch it to seem cool’ card on a forum, and I had been posting there long enough to know that most of the regs were older than me, I just couldn’t fathom it. Wasn’t the greatest forum tbh, I’m glad I left it. I guess i liked it cos it was small and it was aussie
Forums are full of odd people, most of ’em have too much time on their hands, that’s why I rarely visit ’em.
3) I first heard about Variety’s Actors On Actors over at Cinematic Corner, I haven’t watched them yet, but I intend to. Variry also did a recent roundtable of musicians on musicians incl. Sting, Tori Amos, Pharrell & Justin Timberlake which I enjoyed.
4. hmm, well I haven’t seen your picks. Discoveries? Maybe the leads from Sing Street. Don’t know their names.
5) Unfortunately I haven’t seen The Last Kingdom or GoT
I’ve only watched a few episodes of Variety’s Actors On Actors, but I like what I’ve sen so far. Oh I didn’t know they did that w/ musicians too, but that made sense.
Oh yeah, the young leads of Sing Street are good! The main kid is only like 14-15 years old when he did the film I believe.
I’m not really a fan of Cruise or Russell Crowe, but I think I might enjoy watching Maximus Decimus Meridius punch the living daylights out of Ethan Hunt!
Mwahahaha, GREAT comment Paul! Yep, let’s hope that scene IS in the movie!
3. LOVE Actors on Actors. Saw a few last year and throughly enjoyed.
5. The Last Kingdom is now in my queue. The reviews on Netflix say it’s not as good as Vikings, so we shall see since I’m a rabid Vikings fan. Season 4 just started last week and it’s as good as ever.
Hey Becky! They’re fun to watch. If only we could get one on Rufus with one of his co-stars 😉
I might give The Last Kingdom since it’s on Netflix (read: FREE!), plus the leading man is VERY easy on the eyes, he..he..
With you biiiig time on Julian Dennison. That kid has a very bright future, especially given how well that film did. I can’t imagine it had a massive budget… though it sure looked great!
I’ve been watching some videos of his w/ his twin brothers. He is hilarious and charismatic, so confident for being such a young kid too. I hope he gets another good role like this again.
Oh, and as for TV shows, I’m trying to get through Westworld but the end of each ep isn’t really wanting me to watch the next one, so I’m only at ep 5. I hope it gets more tense cos its got nothing on mr robot imo, that movie hooked me like no TV show ever has, not even Fargo
Hmmm, I’m actually not as fond of Mr. Robot the more I watched it. I did finish season 1 but not really sure I want to get into season 2. I sure hope Westworld will hook me, as usually I love what the Nolans do.
I didn’t know the Nolans were involved. I don’t actually like much of their recent stuff. Perhaps that’s why I can’t really get into it. I’m trying!
I think Mr Robot sucked me in because the main character reminds me of myself a little too much. Minus the hacker part, everything he says, the way he acts, it feels like I’m watching myself. My dad actually though so too.
I still think its amazing though. And season two is veeeery interesting Ruth!! 😉 Everything begins to tie together and it goes in some crazy places
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