3. "Anyone here interested in this movie?" In response to Reply # 0
I only ask because I see there's a supposed Barbie-Heimer scheme of gimmick I see with folks supposedly planning to see both flicks on the same day.
The only vague interest I have in this movie is who is the supposed target audience for this movie.
Not enough interest to see this movie of course, but I am curious how a major studio thought it was wise to plunker down dollars to bring this to the big screen.
"Sean sparks like John Starks, nah, Sean ball like John Wall" - Rest In Power Forever Sean Price.
4. "I'd think there's a HUGE built-in audience for this. " In response to Reply # 3
I'm not seeing it myself, and I'm definitely not the target demo. But Barbie has a LONG history of popularity. I mean even if we just look at the 80's run from when I grew up, Barbie during that time was more popular with girls than Transformers was with boys. And the Transformers franchise has made billions at the box office. Then consider the fact that Barbe was huge as a brand over several generations, and you have an audience for it that goes across multiple demographics.
Only surprise to me is that it took this long to make a live action film...as much as the film industry mines nostalgia from our childhoods this seems lime a no brainer to me.
>but I am >curious how a major studio thought it was wise to plunker down >dollars to bring this to the big screen.
8. "Glad to hear a good review for this " In response to Reply # 7
I know many people were going to take it for what it shows with the Barbie world and the silliness of it, but I figured there was a deeper story, I'm glad to hear it's a good one.
I'll have to do back-to-back Oppenheimer and this.
sometimes u gotta leave ur inner nigger in the bank vault. - desus
20. "far exceeded my expectations too" In response to Reply # 7
i love how the film directly addressed the criticism of Barbie having unrealistic body standards and how modern girls don't love the doll in the same way previous generations did
-the opening scene...those little girls did the thing LOL
- Ryan Gosling knocked it out the park...
- Will Ferrell was brilliant, as usual
- now that I think about it, the movie reminded me of The Good Place...i was halfway expecting Michael and /or Bad Janet to pop up when shit went left in BarbieWorld
- it definitely follows the Toy Story model of acknowledging the cosmic connection between the toy and the person who plays with it...i love that.
d
"i do more for both our communities than you'll ever know." - Heinz "But rest assured, in my luxurious house built on the backs of people darker than me, I am sipping fine scotch and scoffing at how stupid you are." - bshelly
10. "RE: Barbie (Greta Gerwig, 2023)" In response to Reply # 0
was at a dinner gathering last night and one of the wives (not the..how can i put it, pretty sure she's never seen a greta gerwig/noah baumbach movie) was talking about taking their daughter (age 10) and other friends all going together to watch Barbie this weekend... and i feel like there's gonna be so many cases of people going into this and then walking out (early??) thinking "what the fuck was that?"
like "classic" adam sandler fans, having no idea, buying tix to see Punch Drunk Love..
Frank Longo Member since Nov 18th 2003 86812 posts
Fri Jul-21-23 12:18 AM
11. "It's definitely wild that this 100+ million opening weekend movie..." In response to Reply # 10
... is essentially "THE LEGO MOVIE but not for kids and riddled with anxiety." Obviously going to be a massive hit-- and I imagine it'll have staying power-- but it's way less of a "feel good" movie than the trailer has led everyone to think, I think.
Frank Longo Member since Nov 18th 2003 86812 posts
Fri Jul-21-23 12:26 AM
12. "An impossible balancing act, can't stick the landing, but mostly good." In response to Reply # 0 Fri Jul-21-23 01:18 AM by Frank Longo
I'll just copy/paste AA Dowd here, even though I was overall more entertained than he was.
"Spirited, inherently hopeless effort to reconcile all the competing imperatives of making a live-action Barbie movie in the year 2023. It's knowing prefab camp that both revels in and loudly interrogates the retro appeal of Barbie. It's representationally inclusive while gently acknowledging that Mattel's forays into diversifying Barbie were, of course, financially motivated. It bites the hand that feeds (plays?) by pointing out the gender disparity within a company with a predominately female consumer base, while also covering for that company by making it look hip and self-aware enough to cop to its disparities. It nods to everything bad that's ever been said or written about Barbie as an iconic product even as it essentially gives everyone permission to forget all that and have fun... The whole thing is animated by neurosis more than joy, which is what I found most interesting about it: Is there a little of Gerwig's offscreen wrestling with the assignment in Barbie's onscreen existential crisis?"
Great production and costume design, great leads, some very funny scenes and bits, but ultimately it's hard to balance all the broad comedy and important social commentary and corporate defense and existential crisis drama that Gerwig is trying to do all at once here. The balancing act is an admirable endeavor but a fairly impossible one. Results were a mixed bag for me-- but obviously I'm going to be alone on this as everyone on social media seems to love it.
And obviously it's the best marketing campaign in ages. Gonna make a shitload of money. Everyone in marketing has earned their pay and then some. (Assuming Zaslav gives them bonuses, which he won't.)
Fun side note: I saw it at Century City Mall, and Century City receives several shoutouts in the movie, absolutely delighting both me and my audience.
13. "RE: An impossible balancing act, can't stick the landing, but mostly goo..." In response to Reply # 12
I think it did stick the landing…just an act early. America’s monologue at the weird house was perfect. I don’t know how she could have shifted it better towards the end and done less circling, but I think it’ll be interesting to see what kind of legs it has.
17. "probably my fave scene in the movie" In response to Reply # 13
>America’s monologue at the weird house was perfect
id imagine most people's fave scene if they have one.. i was waiting for the half the women in the auditorium to stand and erupt in applause--but i think most of the room was halfway tuned out by the "weirdness" by then..
i cant remember another movie where i was laughing as the credits rolled..(great joke to end on)
"It bites the hand that feeds (plays?) by pointing out the gender disparity within a company with a predominately female consumer base, while also covering for that company by making it look hip and self-aware enough to cop to its disparities."
Will Ferrell in a pink tie made Mattel look cool and self-aware? Mattel instantly profiting off Ken's male version of their toy world? Farrell telling America Ferrera that her ordinary Barbie idea was idiotic, until another company man told him he'd make money off it?
complaining this movie overlooks real issues on the preface of having fun, then complains the movie is "more neurosis than joy"?
I read the full review and he gives Baumbach full credit for writing Ferrera's speech instead of Gerwig? talk about patriarchy!
Honestly - it’s funny, subversive, and fun mostly. A musical number too much for me, personally. It’s way too heady for people under…I dunno, 13? to get most of the jokes and commentary but it’s very well done.
15. "This was pretty good and fun" In response to Reply # 0
If you had told me that the twist is that Barbie experiences a deeply destabilizing awareness that she is subject to history and then uses that psychic turmoil to pry open an understanding of the nature of being then I probably wouldn't have believed you. But there it is. Not even subtext but big, shining text.
Gosling and Robbie were perfect just having fun out there. America Ferrera was devastatingly sneaky at making me care about the mother/daughter angle. Lots of weird, fun performances by the supporting cast. Michael Cera just leaned into his purposelessness. I know Issa Rae was the president of Barbieland or whatever, but standing out as any of the other Barbies seemed pretty tough so nice job to her. Simu Liu made his chaotic role as quasi-antagonist Ken look sensible and well-planned even though I'm sure it wasn't.
______________________________
"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"
21. "wow perfect synopsis here. very well said" In response to Reply # 15
"i do more for both our communities than you'll ever know." - Heinz "But rest assured, in my luxurious house built on the backs of people darker than me, I am sipping fine scotch and scoffing at how stupid you are." - bshelly
I hadn't really looked into it before it came out so I didn't know what to expect. It really was way different than anything I could imagine it would be.
26. "I'm sorry but this was a really bad movie." In response to Reply # 0 Mon Mar-18-24 03:13 PM by Heinz
I understand the sentiment of wanting to support positive messages for young women, but to assert that this movie is well-made suggests either poor taste or an inability to differentiate between personal feelings and objective opinion. Frankly, it's not good. I wish the comedy had been pushed further to salvage the dialogue and story. I had hoped to enjoy this movie, especially since we watched it with our two girls, but we were all just shocked by its poor quality. While our girls enjoyed it, their standards may be low, given they watch Peppa Pig for hours, LOL.
On the bright side, Billie Eilish's song is a perfectly written song (video is trash) and deserves all the accolades. Def the highlight of the movie. I'm puzzled as to why the Ken song was performed at the Oscars—it's simply not a good song. Sooo bad. Rather Gosling sang that Jodeci song like he did for Disney lol
27. "i was surprised how bad it was too" In response to Reply # 26
like you said. positive messages...great. but the movie as a MOVIE...way too heavy handed throughout. cool concept and message but i really did not like how they went about it.
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