Random Movie Thoughts Thread

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

No spoilers here but I thought it was wonderful. I haven't seen a Greta Gerwig movie I didn't like and I think Barbie may be the best yet. Margo Robbie was perfectly cast but I think Ryan Gosling was too (also a scene stealer). Simu Liu plays a really funny shit-talking Ken but Issa Rae was great as President Barbie. So funny and I give the movie a lot of credit - the heavy topics were not accusatory or in your face. GG took a more satirical approach, it worked. Was it "woke"? Sure, if your definition is a human, compassionate approach to real problems. I laugh thinking about Ben Shapiro cringing at the use of the word "patriarchy" but I have a feeling GG may have wrote a few things in the script for this purpose exactly. Which is hilarious.

There was a protest of sorts but it wasn't right by the theater, it was in an area we have seen protests several times (usually religious) so I didn't pay that much attention. Glad we went to the drive in, lots of kids (not really sure why the PG-13 rating) and very classic drive in junk food. We'll see Opp at the IMAX at some point.

Yup, I had I feeling about this the more I learned about it, and also given who was attached.

 

[Totenkindly]

Got back from Oppenheimer a bit ago. Yeah, it's easily going to be in the top ten of 2023 on critic's list at year's end.

That being said, I'm still processing how I feel about the film as film. Biopics aren't necessarily my favorite kind of drama because of how fact is sometimes fudged but viewers tend to cling to the film narrative as factually accurate since they have no other exposure to the narratives involved. I also found it fascinating that Lewis Strauss / aka "Straws" haha (RDJr) had such a HUGE role in this film and that I might understand more about him than I do about Oppenheimer in some ways. Oppenheimer is more perplexing to me as a person based on this film, while Strauss seems more transparent.

Especially in the IMAX format (and in some ways the SOUND was crazier than the VISUALS), the film could be very unsettling at times and even terrifying -- everything going on "under the hood" in nature that seems to belie the nice quiet qualm we experience going through life daily. The power of the sun, the fact of space between all of our atoms, just the thought of what happens when a chain reaction from nuclear fission occurs and how when they were first doing this shit, no one was quite sure (in a practical sense) how far such a reaction would travel. Nature on the whole is both awe-inducing while also terrifying.

The Trinity test is the main explosion visually covered by the film and it both feels overwhelming and yet inadequate in its portrayal. We never really see the bombs going off in Nagasaki and Hiroshima, although Oppenheimer is constantly shaken after the fact by quick images of what the likely impacts were on human beings.

The film is involved with an intense amount of politics, unexpectedly, versus science per se -- especially with the presence of a Communist party in the USA at that time and the government's paranoia over what that meant leading to all the craziness of the 50's, and then with the big shakeup of a technological invention like a nuclear bomb in conjunction with other major world powers at the time (especially fear of Communist Russia, where no one seemed clear on how advanced they might be).

Nolan has enough balls to voice a cynical view of Oppenheimer (via Strauss) about how he found it convenient to be excited about the science of even achieving such a thing and being famous, then shoving the use of that device off on politicians so that he could in essence wash his hands of it and afterwards decry the ongoing use of such a weapon conveniently. It's an interesting view, although I don't think the film generally supports that and Oppenheimer remains more enigmatic but genuinely remorseful over the can of worms he'd opened and his later efforts to help the world powers to put such a weapon "at check" through checks and balances (no one wants mutually assured destruction) are portrayed as sincere. The opinion of Strauss being well-qualified but having a huge chip on his shoulder due to his lack of a college education (despite his great success as a businessman) + also being a psychologically rigid person, as shown in the film, seems to be borne out in the historical viewpoint as well.

The film does do a good job at (1) conveying HOW many people across the world were involved in the development of this technology and also the practical development in the US and (2) how tight the scientific community was world-wide. it was a close network, with everyone typically knowing everyone else (and having a professional and personal opinion of each other), and yet even when there were extreme amounts of disagreement, how they also tended to circle the wagons when their reputations were manipulated or abused by politicians.

Definitely worth seeing, and the IMAX screen only made the unnerving sequences even more unnerving. One of Nolan's better films and definitely the work of a confident, creative, skilled filmmaker.

it's hard to give the very overflowing cast equal time or interesting things to do. I love Florence Pugh, but her role here was kinda... eh. However, after some generic scenes, Emily Blunt gets a stellar moment in the AEC hearing. Most of them are just supporting the flow of the narrative rather than doing interesting things from an acting POV, tbh. RDJr really gets the standout part in this film, aside from Cillian Murphy. Matt Damon (Gen. Groves) gets a decent amount of time on the screen, as does Benny Safdie (Edward Teller). Josh Hartnett's a bit too much in the film, lol.


---

One HUGE complaint: I never go to AMC because I remember how bad I hate their seating. Welp, to see the IMAX version (and stupidly getting tickets two days before the showing -- so there was almost nothing available), I had to go to an AMC up in Owings Mills.

While the sound and the visual was pretty great, the experience itself was reminiscent of flying on a cramped airplane when you're stuck seats into the middle -- people are bunched against each other in the seats because the seats are too small and you have to fight over the armrests, and for anyone to get out during the film, there's no space to move and everyone over to the aisle has to get up (fun).

Worse, I was in physical agony by an hour in because the seats were SO awful, not providing much support and sloping downwards. It made it difficult to focus on the movie. I actually considered leaving a few times because it was so painful, and I tried every position known to man (that wouldn't have gotten me arrested). Eventually I settled on turning sideways and sitting on either one of my hips because it was the least painful and most endurable. It wasn't just me either, people around me were regularly shifting around, sitting sideways, leaning way forward, etc. What a shit theater. It has really turned me off to IMAX in the future unless I can find a theater that has decent seats; I'll stick with my Regal leather recliner seating, thanks very much.

Three hour film, so really testing things to the limit. In my favor, I have a notorious wimpy bladder, and I managed to get through the entire film without needing to step out + then bought groceries before coming home to boot before running to the BR.

 

[Totenkindly]

I remember watching the last hour of Oppenheimer and all the contention over how to handle the Russians, thinking this is why I spent my entire childhood looming under the shadow of the prospect of nuclear war. It's something my kids will really never grasp.

 

[The Cat]

I remember watching the last hour of Oppenheimer and all the contention over how to handle the Russians, thinking this is why I spent my entire childhood looming under the shadow of the prospect of nuclear war. It's something my kids will really never grasp.

At least we got some good music and movies out of it.​

 

[Totenkindly]

Women drove the historic “Barbie” opening, making up 65% of the audience, according to PostTrak, and 40% of ticket buyers were under the age of 25 for the PG-13 rated movie.

“It’s just a joyous time in the world. This is history in so many ways," said Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros.' president of domestic distribution. “I think this marketing campaign is one for the ages that people will be talking about forever.”

“Oppenheimer” audiences meanwhile were 62% male and 63% over the age of 25, with a somewhat surprising 32% that were between the ages of 18 and 24.

Where I was, a larger than expected (from my perspective) number of younger people were in Oppenheimer IMAX, I would guess people in their 20's. I thought there would be less women and less younger people than what I actually saw in the theater.

But I guess my weird comment on the above -- they are making age sound drastically different, but for Barbie if 40% were under 25, that means 60% was above 25, and for Oppenheimer it was only 63% so really not that much different like the statement seems to want to mask. I guess the deal is that they didn't really expect so many under 25 to start with for Oppenheimer, however -- and since Barbie was PG-13, even younger kids could get into see it whereas Oppenheimer was rated R and had a higher mandatory age minimum.

 

[Totenkindly]

Brilliant!

 

[Totenkindly]

Generally pretty accurate. The whole Kro character in Eternals was just getting interesting when they made a stupid plot turn. The Ralph Bohner thing was another misfire.

I have mixed feelings about Gamora.

10 Worst Character Arcs In The MCU, Ranked

These MCU characters had their arcs wasted.

screenrant.com

 

[ceecee]

Where I was, a larger than expected (from my perspective) number of younger people were in Oppenheimer IMAX, I would guess people in their 20's. I thought there would be less women and less younger people than what I actually saw in the theater.

But I guess my weird comment on the above -- they are making age sound drastically different, but for Barbie if 40% were under 25, that means 60% was above 25, and for Oppenheimer it was only 63% so really not that much different like the statement seems to want to mask. I guess the deal is that they didn't really expect so many under 25 to start with for Oppenheimer, however -- and since Barbie was PG-13, even younger kids could get into see it whereas Oppenheimer was rated R and had a higher mandatory age minimum.

Women are always saving everybody's ass.

 

[Totenkindly]

Went back and watched Interstellar again today. Now there is a film I would like to see in IMAX. I saw it in the theater and remember being blown away. on my big-screen in 4k, the sound and visual profile is just astonishing.

I remember being disappointed in the theater at the ending and I still have trouble buying into how someone could transmit quantum data via morse code, and the son's character (Casey Affleck) just seems so sullen and dead-headed that he's annoying when he's on the screen. I think Nolan could have better tied together how love is quantifiable -- feelings aren't necessarily quantifiable, but when you love someone, you know them, you have a relationship with them, you have special things between you, and this knowledge that Cooper and Murphy share (plus the faith they have in each other) is what enables Cooper to find the proper time and access point and for them both to be believing that communication is occurring. So it's not quantifiable perhaps in the way that Amelia tries to suggest, but it creates cogent and tangible pathways that can be utilized as conduits for sharing the information so crucial to the survival of the human race.

but the rest of the film is just so stellar and moving, it just leaves me in awe. Watching the waves crash on Miller's planet, or the ice frozen wasteland of Mann's, or the Endurance flashing by as it circles Gargantua, it's all just rather jaw-dropping. And unlike some of what Nolan puts together on his own writing-wise, there's a lot of emotion inherent in this story conveyed by a solid cast. I think Inception is cool and has its own moments of catharsis but I think Interstellar aside from the few flaws I have mentioned is just better written and avoids the feeling of infodump better.

Plus, Ellen Burstyn -- Mackenzie Foy and Jessica Chastain are great, but Burstyn is in the movie like five minutes and totally blows her scene out of the water. She's such a remarkable actress.

it also has one of the most insightful/creative scores Hans Zimmer has put together. So unexpected but so appropriate and almost divine.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

it also has one of the most insightful/creative scores Hans Zimmer has put together. So unexpected but so appropriate and almost divine.

Lots of pipe organs from what I remember.

 

[Totenkindly]

Lots of pipe organs from what I remember.

yeah totally unexpected approach but ends up being very appropriate. It's transcendent and mixes nature with the divine. Who else gets away with putting pipe organ sounds into a movie soundtrack?

It's really funny with the main theme -- i saw the film, liked the music, then promptly forgot it -- later I saw a Youtube video that had 25 minutes of a song on repeat and listened to it incessantly because I loved it so much... then was like, "DOH, that's Zimmer's theme from Interstellar."

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

yeah totally unexpected approach but ends up being very appropriate. It's transcendent and mixes nature with the divine. Who else gets away with putting pipe organ sounds into a movie soundtrack?

It's really funny with the main theme -- i saw the film, liked the music, then promptly forgot it -- later I saw a Youtube video that had 25 minutes of a song on repeat and listened to it incessantly because I loved it so much... then was like, "DOH, that's Zimmer's theme from Interstellar."

If I don't see barbenheimier this weekend I'll probably revisit this. I remember it getting a less favorable reception than Inception but I quite enjoyed it beyond thinking that certain parts maybe should have been on the cutting room floor (some of the stuff with Matt Damon, basically).

 

[Totenkindly]

If I don't see barbenheimier this weekend I'll probably revisit this. I remember it getting a less favorable reception than Inception but I quite enjoyed it beyond thinking that certain parts maybe should have been on the cutting room floor (some of the stuff with Matt Damon, basically).

That would be interesting to hear. I was cool with the Damon stuff although he got a little too talky. I found it really interesting how Cooper is suspicious of Amelia's objectivity because she was in love with Edmunds because "Dr. Mann" had been touted as "the best of them" (I also think he was wrestling over trying to be objective in regards to his feelings about his kids vs Earth, so he kind of went overboard and slammed Amelia in not letting her make anything looking like a subjective decision) -- and it turns out Mann was fudging the data because he was a coward and didn't want to die alone in outer space.

So despite trying to be "objective," people are people and it turns out Amelia was actually correct despite her emotional entanglement... Edmunds' data was more consistent and better.

 

[Totenkindly]

Everything to Know About the Polly Pocket Movie

Following the success of 'Barbie', Mattel is bringing another popular doll to the big screen. Here's everything to know about the Polly Pocket movie starring Lily Collins.

people.com

Yeah.... so that's where this is going now?

Sigh. Fine. All hail the new MCU: Mattel Cinematic Universe

 

[Red Herring]

I am watching Killing Eve for the first time (currently at season 3) and loving it but the product placement is really a bit too much for my taste. They are constantly munching Pringles, Haribo or Kellogg's coco pops, holding the product in the camera and even explicitely mentioning the junkfood.

I am also currently rewatching Fritz Lang's "M" from 1931 though (one of my absolute favorites) and suddenly noticed that right ijn the first scene there is advertisement for UHU glue and in the scene that introduces Peter Lorre as he is standing in front of a shop window displaying cutlery that cutlery is very visibly made by Zwilling (the twin logo). Both brand still exist 90 years later (UHU has been around since . I doubt Lang was paid for it, so probably not the same, but still feeling a it weird.


EDIT: Small correction: UHU glue was only invented in 1932. This must be referring to another brand (possibly UHU magazine). My bad. But Zwilling was founded in 1731.

 

[The Cat]

I've always said Burn Notice is my favorite car commercial. I really get a kick out of the image I have in my head about an executive saying to the script writer: "I know he's a burned spy and he's in this life and death game of cat and mouse in literally every episode but we're gonna need you to have the bad guys important locations for their current badness to be scattered across Miami, and have Michael Weston's voice over talk about the importance of having a well handling fuel efficient suv with all wheel drive and a suburban appeal?" And the writer repeating it word for word back to the executive in a mocking voice before going: "Yeah. Yeah sure god damn it, why not Keith. Why fucking not?"

 

[Red Herring]

I've always said Burn Notice is my favorite car commercial. I really get a kick out of the image I have in my head about an executive saying to the script writer: "I know he's a burned spy and he's in this life and death game of cat and mouse in literally every episode but we're gonna need you to have the bad guys important locations for their current badness to be scattered across Miami, and have Michael Weston's voice over talk about the importance of having a well handling fuel efficient suv with all wheel drive and a suburban appeal?" And the writer repeating it word for word back to the executive in a mocking voice before going: "Yeah. Yeah sure god damn it, why not Keith. Why fucking not?"

I don't mind recognizing a brand, but if they really rub it under your nose ... to quote our national poet : "We feel the purpose and become untun'd"

 

[The Cat]

I don't mind recognizing a brand, but if they really rub it under your nose ... to quote our national poet : "We feel the purpose and become untun'd"

exactly. I actually find it less jarring in shows like american dad where they talk about the weirdness of suddenly having a meet up in burger king and talking about the food because the realities of making television have changed.

 

[Totenkindly]

Just got back from Barbie. Still working through my feelings about it. Random thoughts:

• I think it gets better as it goes, unlike "Oppenheimer" which I felt started strong in the first ten minutes, then diminished, then had a few mini peaks throughout but leaving feeling somewhat all over the place.
• Highly defensive conservative criticism suggests they were looking for things to obsess over and/or also checking out before the end of the film. [Is anyone surprised?] Sure, it's a woman-centric film, but it tried to address issues baked into society for both men and women as a whole.
• I was only offended when Gerwig randomly slammed Zack Snyder's Justice League -- come on, I like your film AND I like ZSJL!
• Personally I'm fine with the adult jokes (the Beach off / Beat Off joke was maybe the clumsiest because it kept going and going?) , but it turns out a lot of young girls ended up attending... in my row today there were probably 4 girls who were only in the 6-8 age range? It was kinda funny at one point when someone said "Vagina" in the film and one of the little girls shrieked "VAGINA!" about ten seconds later, lol. There are some folks who are gonna do active parenting tonight and/or discussions if they haven't had them yet. it was really more of a teenager and adult film in terms of content, not as much for the 5-10 year old bracket honestly although they probably enjoyed some of the Barbieland imagery. also, the film shows a relationship between her mom and daughter coming together over shared Barbie experience and/or how they feel about Barbie, so... that is cool too if it's reflected in the viewers to tighten those bonds and create conversations.
• Kate McKinnon and Michael Cera for the win -- tbh, they were some of my favorite characters.
• Margot Robbie of course was great. I mean, she's pretty great in everything I have seen her in, even when the movie sucks balls the blank area where plastic legs split from Ken's torso.
• I felt like the film reached beyond shallow matriarchy and patriarchy and tried to find a place where everyone can stand. That place is not entirely explicable and also complex, but it's also not a "solve once and be done" but an ongoing way to live and engage each other. Viewers should be taking opportunity to listen and understand where different people are coming from.
• I really really loved Rhea Perlman and was so glad she was in this. Her scenes made me tear up. She was so wonderful.
• Of course America Ferrera's speech. There was a lot in there.

I guess I am free to read other reviews/comments now, after avoiding it for a week.

 

[Red Herring]

exactly. I actually find it less jarring in shows like american dad where they talk about the weirdness of suddenly having a meet up in burger king and talking about the food because the realities of making television have changed.

Speaking of burgers, it CAN work and even become an iconic scene.