Barbie

[puckhead]

I've noticed a pattern that the farther in advance a movie is advertised, the worse it tends to be.

Behold the great pink outlier! (I still haven't seen it)

 

[Dr. Jones]

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This tells me that movies aren't dead. Poorly written, poorly directed, and poorly marketed movies are dead.

Write original stuff, and it will get the eyeballs if marketed properly.

 

[Rivercard]

This tells me that movies aren't dead. Poorly written, poorly directed, and poorly marketed movies are dead.

Write original stuff, and it will get the eyeballs if marketed properly.

True, and that Covid is no longer keeping folks out of the theatre.

 

[Ronin]

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[Cheesebeef]

Barbenheimer'd yesterday, with Barbie being the second of the double bill. This was a blast. 1st and 3rd Acts were absolutely amazing. 2nd act was solid enough to get from point A-C with some great moments in between. Two rockingly fun hours at the movies.

Overall, I couldn't be more impressed with Greta Gerwig. Her directorial debut was a killer coming of age, original indie that made 50 million domestic and got nominated for Best Screenplay/Director/Film. Followed that up with an engrossing adaptation of a beloved classic, making over 100 million bucks while getting nominated for Best Picture. And her next movie is a gonzo, go for broke, funny/four quadrant movie event of the summer, making a cleverly subversive comedy out of a HUGE property... which I'm betting gets nominated for Oscars for Robbie, Gosling in Supporting and wouldn't be surprised at a Best Picture/Best Adapted Screenplay for Gerwig when all's said and done. Hell, I wouldn't put Best Director out of the running either simply for how she brought Barbieland/Kendom to life.

I can't wait to see what Gerwig does next at this point.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Just realized Narnia is what Gerwig is doing next. That’s super disappointing. Losing her voice to a remake of a okay franchise film robs moviegoers of something fresh and new moving forward.

 

[Chaplin]

Just realized Narnia is what Gerwig is doing next. That’s super disappointing. Losing her voice to a remake of a okay franchise film robs moviegoers of something fresh and new moving forward.

I don't know, a female filmmaker jumping genres in an extreme fashion is pretty damn refreshing.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I don't know, a female filmmaker jumping genres in an extreme fashion is pretty damn refreshing.

If she was making the jump to something original in that genre, I’d be jumping for cinematic joy. Jumping for a retread franchise makes me feel like we’re just losing another young/Uber talented director to franchise fare, ala Ryan Coogler.

Probably doesn’t help that I never cared for the Narnia franchise. I’ll give it a whirl now that she’s in the director’s chair, but I’d so rather see her blaze her own trail, rather than trying to relight one that went cold a decade ago.

 

[Shaggy]

Blows me away that it is 2023 with reserved seats, etc. and there are still people in the comments on that TikTok that feel it's totally okay to buy a ticket for film A, change your mind, and go see film B. SMH.

But whats the difference? I know seat arrangements will be off, but aren't the tickets all priced the same?

 

[Brian in Mesa]

But whats the difference? I know seat arrangements will be off, but aren't the tickets all priced the same?

Yeah, but you would likely be sitting in someone else's seat given that these two blockbusters released at the same time and most showtimes were sold out. It's not like you're switching seats to go see some B movie with plenty of empty seats. When the people who actually purchased the seats show up there is confusion and you've got to move again and it's a big disruption, etc. Not like when it was open seating and it didn't matter.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Yeah, but you would likely be sitting in someone else's seat given that these two blockbusters released at the same time and most showtimes were sold out. It's not like you're switching seats to go see some B movie with plenty of empty seats. When the people who actually purchased the seats show up there is confusion and you've got to move again and it's a big disruption, etc. Not like when it was open seating and it didn't matter.

Yup.

I care a lot about where I’m sitting in a theater. If I’m not close to dead center, I’m a little pissy.

 

[Devilmaycare]

Yup.

I care a lot about where I’m sitting in a theater. If I’m not close to dead center, I’m a little pissy.

FIFY

I like to be about 1/3 of the way off center to the left when facing the screen and hate sitting right of center. I think it's a throwback to how the seating was set up in the old auditorium theaters like Camelview. I watched so many movies there that it sort of locked me into it.

 

[Jersey Girl]

First female (I believe) to post in this thread. Saw it last weekend with my sister. Left my daughter (8) at home since I am a smart parent and, for the most part, trust the ratings (PG-13).

When I initially heard this movie was coming out, I didn't really pay it any mind. But, the more I heard, the more I was interested. So off sis and I went.

We really enjoyed it. We laughed, we cried, we commiserated. This movie touched on a lot of things I've experienced in my life as a woman and as a mom. I thought it was well done.

Oh, and Ryan Gosling has never looked so freaking good. He's definitely Kenough.

 

[Covert Rain]

Yup.

I care a lot about where I’m sitting in a theater. If I’m not close to dead center, I’m a little pissy.

Same. The wife thinks I am picky but I like to be towards the bottom (but not all the way at the top and definitly now down in front) but dead center in the row.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

This movie was fantastic. Entertaining, thought provoking, and frankly fun. Robbie and Gosling were terrific. So many people won’t get this at all.

There were five people sitting in front of me talking about it afterward. They totally missed the core of the movie.

 

[MadCardDisease]

My wife threw me a surprise 50th Birthday party and it was full of Kenergy! Everyone was dressed up as either Barbie or Ken. It was a throwback to the 25th Birthday party she threw me when we were dating and it was also Barbie themed because that was the only thing on sale at Party City.

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[jbjarko]

Just watched this for the first time. What an incredible movie

 

[UncleChris]

Just got back from seeing it. The premise had potential but I thought that the execution had a lot of stumbles. The dolls know nothing about the real world but navigate it seamlessly once they get there. Allan (Michael Cera) makes no sense -- he's a one-joke gag until his defining scene, which completely violates his character in a way that isn't even acknowledged, much less explained. (Trying to avoid spoilers here.) Will Ferrell can make almost any material work well but was given garbage to work with. The final "defeat" of the Kens was illogical and confusing. Kate McKinnon was great and they needed more of her. The end with Rhea Perlman was bizarre and reached for an apotheosis that the rest of the movie hadn't prepared at all.

All that said, I think you'd have to be a special kind of clueless to find the movie offensive. Of course it indulges in some negative stereotyping, as does pretty much any comedy under the sun. Everything is drastically oversimplified for satirical effect, and there's nowhere near the depth you find in (for example) a typical Pixar film -- but I don't think there's supposed to be. It's an intentionally distorted look at human interaction from the perspective of a main character who, by design, lives in a world of distortion and serves to propagate distortion. It's not Barbie's fault that she's incapable of nuance, and I think that's part of the point.

Wife and I finally got around to watching this last night.

Thanks to @elindholm for saving me a lot of typing. Agree totally with your thoughts on this.

My wife was bored with it and fell asleep. Really got a kick out of the opening 2001 a Space Odyssey riff, but it pretty much fell off a cliff from there. I did enjoy the sets/cgi for Barbie world and there were a few funny moments. But it didn't take long for the silliness to wear thin and the 'obviousness" of what they were doing to cause some significant eyerolling. By the end of the film, I felt sorry for the actors for having to just act annoyingly goofy for 100 minutes or so. Ultimately, it was awkward, silly, and only mildly fun. Glad I saw it at home for free.

BTW, Kate McKinnon can do no wrong in my book.

 

[Covert Rain]

Just watched this for the first time. What an incredible movie

I just rewatched this with my daughter again and it surprisingly holds up. Now I need to watch Oppenheimer to repeat the Barbenheimer.