I just watched that last night too. Going into it not knowing anything is definitely the way to go. I enjoyed it and my mind was working OT trying to figure it all out as it was unfolding.
Yup I went into it knowing nothing and that was perfect, it wasn’t bad but definitely would work better as a shared experience film. In a group setting that would have sung the film’s praises like I hear others doing
The Munsters is one of the greatest movies I've ever watched, ignore the critics this one is a hidden gem. Hilarious and well acted with amazing special effects this is my favorite horror movie of the year.....
Spoiler!
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Watched Barbarian as well.
One of those movies where my wife was yelling at the screen for the actors not to do things and GTFO was the primary response. ;-)
It was decent, enjoyed.
I'm glad I didn't watch the trailer for Barbarian before I watched it. The description of the movie doesn't give anything away (maybe misleads a bit) so it was really enjoyable to be taken in by the "twist".
Yeah, I agree. I knew nothing about Barbarian on the way in and was very glad that I went in that way. Its the only way I recommend it to any of my friends who haven't seen it. Don't google it or watch a trailer or anything like that. Just watch it and enjoy.
barbarian is a lot of fun . justin long's performance/part catapulted it from a movie that could have been forgettable one into a pretty fresh experience . love movies that lean into a non formulaic direction and have fun with it
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The last 2 movies I've watched were mediocre reboots:
The Matrix Resurrections: This was a strange one. The Matrix was well suited for a reboot with the idea of a repeating story already built into the lore. There was some interesting things done with the story and I enjoyed the meta and social commentary aspects but other parts were a mess. For example they recast two important characters but I'm not sure why as they were barely important to the plot. My biggest gripes by far were the action and effects being sub par. I know Keanu is aging but there was next to nothing for fight scenes and what action there was did not come close to the original. Overall I was entertained but disappointing. If this had better action I would have upgraded from mediocre to recommended. 5/10
Ghostbusters Afterlife: Succeeded in cramming in as much nostalgia as possible for the original but failed in matching the charm and humour. More of a standard supernatural movie that had some interesting mystery elements but lost me in a 2nd half that dragged on and on. The story needed to be more streamlined with a sillier tone and less reliance on constant references. Not sure how you can make a Ghostbusters movie boring but here we are. I did really enjoy the cinematography though with some beautifully shot scenes. 4/10
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Firstly in the cinema without knowing a thing about it, bar the basic outline (airbnb stay goes wrong) and then again the other night to see my wife's reaction to it. The highlight of the second viewing is how Keith is handled knowing now that he's an innocent dude, just a bit awkward. That scene where he's sitting patiently at the table with the bottle of wine gives off weirdo vibes on the first viewing. Great misdirection in those scenes and a very good performance from Skarsgard portraying that.
Then the film swerves off down a new path (my wife momentarily thought the Disney app glitched out) and obviously the suspense is gone on the second viewing, so it pretty much just plays out as comedy whereas the first time round was comedic but with a mix of where-the-####-is-this-going? The 80s flashback is probably unnecessary and pulls the viewer away at a moment of high tension. The actual reveal of what's going on is silly and unsatisfactory. Oh it's a serial killer/captive women/incesty thing.
The film suffers from the typical horror movie poor character choices. Who books an airbnb without scoping it out online first? Who wakes up the next day, sees the absolute dump they're staying in, gets a warning from a local about the neighbourhood and still decides to stay there? For that matter, how does an airbnb even exist in that neighbourhood? Surely it would've been broken into and ransacked by now.
The ending disappointed me because I thought the film was going to have something interesting to say about cancel culture. Justin Long's character has a moment where he says "Am I a bad person? I think I might be a bad person. Or am I a good person who just made a bad decision?" and I was mentally applauding some nuance being added to that conversation... and then he just goes and throws a woman to her death.
Still it's a fun film, not great, and worth watching a second time just to see the first half of the movie play out with new eyes.
Firstly in the cinema without knowing a thing about it, bar the basic outline (airbnb stay goes wrong) and then again the other night to see my wife's reaction to it. The highlight of the second viewing is how Keith is handled knowing now that he's an innocent dude, just a bit awkward. That scene where he's sitting patiently at the table with the bottle of wine gives off weirdo vibes on the first viewing. Great misdirection in those scenes and a very good performance from Skarsgard portraying that.
Then the film swerves off down a new path (my wife momentarily thought the Disney app glitched out) and obviously the suspense is gone on the second viewing, so it pretty much just plays out as comedy whereas the first time round was comedic but with a mix of where-the-####-is-this-going? The 80s flashback is probably unnecessary and pulls the viewer away at a moment of high tension. The actual reveal of what's going on is silly and unsatisfactory. Oh it's a serial killer/captive women/incesty thing.
The film suffers from the typical horror movie poor character choices. Who books an airbnb without scoping it out online first? Who wakes up the next day, sees the absolute dump they're staying in, gets a warning from a local about the neighbourhood and still decides to stay there? For that matter, how does an airbnb even exist in that neighbourhood? Surely it would've been broken into and ransacked by now.
The ending disappointed me because I thought the film was going to have something interesting to say about cancel culture. Justin Long's character has a moment where he says "Am I a bad person? I think I might be a bad person. Or am I a good person who just made a bad decision?" and I was mentally applauding some nuance being added to that conversation... and then he just goes and throws a woman to her death.
Still it's a fun film, not great, and worth watching a second time just to see the first half of the movie play out with new eyes.
(third paragraph) because then you wouldn't have a premise for a fun movie
why do some people insist on combing through a fictional films premise with a real life perspective to say "that would never happen! " .. especially horror which is a genre that is built upon characters with unnaturally poor survival instincts
it's fiction ..
I liked the bait and switch .. the character was irredeemable in retrospect so it makes sense and was a laugh out loud funny moment . great movie
Last edited by TrentCrimmIndependent; 10-28-2022 at 07:55 PM.
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(third paragraph) because then you wouldn't have a premise for a fun movie
why do some people insist on combing through a fictional films premise with a real life perspective to say "that would never happen! " .. especially horror which is a genre that is built upon characters with unnaturally poor survival instincts
it's fiction ..
It's fiction!? And here was me thinking it was a documentary. Thanks for the correction.
Look, the fact that I watched it a second time means that its illogical premise wasn't a dealbreaker for me, but at the same time it is possible to write fiction that makes sense, even within the horror arena. The setting here for instance could have been a rural rental and the story would've played out the same without raising questions.
It's fiction!? And here was me thinking it was a documentary. Thanks for the correction.
Look, the fact that I watched it a second time means that its illogical premise wasn't a dealbreaker for me, but at the same time it is possible to write fiction that makes sense, even within the horror arena. The setting here for instance could have been a rural rental and the story would've played out the same without raising questions.
we've seen the rural alternative many times . i think it added to the freshness of the premise that it was set in an urban michigan neighborhood from hell
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One thing that was never explained in Barbarian or maybe I missed it.
Spoiler!
What the hell was up with the rental company? Justin Long's character was told by the company managing the rental that nobody was staying at the house yet clearly they would have records of booking it seeing the lady complained about the double booking. That part doesn't really make any sense unless we are to believe it's the worst rental company ever that doesn't coordinate with the rental apps.
I liked the twists in the story and it was a decent enough movie. Could have been better but that's the case with most horror movies.
With today being Halloween, this week's list will be my top 10 favorite horror movies of the year so far. It's been one of the best years for horror that I can remember so there will be some solid films left off the list and I haven't seen everything yet. But if you're in the mood for a good horror film today you can't go wrong with any of these:
X
Barbarian
Scream
Smile
Black Phone
Fall
Watcher
Crimes of the Future
Nope
Men
One thing that was never explained in Barbarian or maybe I missed it.
Spoiler!
What the hell was up with the rental company? Justin Long's character was told by the company managing the rental that nobody was staying at the house yet clearly they would have records of booking it seeing the lady complained about the double booking. That part doesn't really make any sense unless we are to believe it's the worst rental company ever that doesn't coordinate with the rental apps.
I liked the twists in the story and it was a decent enough movie. Could have been better but that's the case with most horror movies.
I just assumed
Spoiler!
they're a bare minimum management group (eg cleaners only show up before a booking) and the previous rental(s) were supposed to have already ended, but no one goes to actually verify if the clients left
