WB's BARBIE THE MOVIE starring Margot Robbie (2023) 7 7

[Straw-Man]

On 8/16/2023 at 8:50 AM, sfcityduck said:

Since at least Birth of a Nation (1915) a racist ode to the KKK.

You are of course right that the folks posting about cowboy movies appear to feel politically threatened by Barbie and this looks like an intentional effort to disrupt the thread. The box office numbers have got to hurt given the reaction and desperate attempts to equate a cowboy movie which finished 20th in 1993 (below Cool Runnings, Hocus Pocus, etc.) to Barbie’s popularity. 

funniest post without trying to be funny i've ever seen on the boards.   can't stop giggling about it.

[Gatsby77]

On 8/16/2023 at 7:27 PM, kimik said:

So, Margot Robbie appears to be the reason the film was ever produced. Good for her.

That's my guess.

I'm old enough to remember when Amy Schumer was attached to star as Barbie.

[F For Fake]

On 8/12/2023 at 11:02 AM, drotto said:

I hope more and more directors start opting for practical effects again, and real sets again. They convey so much more feeling, tension, and emotion, plus CGI has become so sterile and dull.  I also feel it holds up so much better.  Look at the stunts in the original Indy films.  They still look great, as opposed to the over use of CGI in IJ5.

This was one of my favorite aspects of the film, the production design. I'm sure it was goosed by CG, as that's just par for the course these days; but for the most part, it felt like an old-fashioned, physical, tangible thing. Barbie was a real delight, very much enjoyed it. There's a little cognitive dissonance with one of the smartest, funniest, and most original movies of the year being born from a heartless consumer behemoth, but it is what it is. Good for all involved.

[Bosco685]

On 8/16/2023 at 9:50 AM, sfcityduck said:

Since at least Birth of a Nation (1915) a racist ode to the KKK.

You are of course right that the folks posting about cowboy movies appear to feel politically threatened by Barbie and this looks like an intentional effort to disrupt the thread. The box office numbers have got to hurt given the reaction and desperate attempts to equate a cowboy movie which finished 20th in 1993 (below Cool Runnings, Hocus Pocus, etc.) to Barbie’s popularity. 

Did you take yourself seriously when making this post?

Lordy, if someone mentioned Comedy/Dramas what declaration would have been associated with this theme. A giggling mess of emotions over Barbie??

[F For Fake]

Also, I bought the max amount of shares on HSX (150,000) and have made out like a bandit, to the tune of something like $78 million. Best investment I ever made. Now, if there was any way to turn that into ACTUAL money, instead of it just being an absurd time-waste, that would be nice.

[sfcityduck]

 

On 8/17/2023 at 8:40 AM, Bosco685 said:

Did you take yourself seriously when making this post?

Lordy, if someone mentioned Comedy/Dramas what declaration would have been associated with this theme. A giggling mess of emotions over Barbie??

There are a lot of folks of certain biases and political persuasions getting up in arms about Barbie's alleged, and this is the laughable part, "attack on men". Ben Shapiro, Piers Morgan, various politicians many folks on the internet posting such views without even having seen the movie. What drives that kind of thinking? Fear of Barbie's message. 

This thread has some comments that are based on politics of an extreme persuasion that, IMHO, only were made due to fear.

So, yeah, I'm serious that Barbie is inspiring fear in some folks. Clearly not you - which is why I admitted above one of my comments was stupid. 

[Bosco685]

On 8/17/2023 at 1:37 PM, sfcityduck said:

 

There are a lot of folks of certain biases and political persuasions getting up in arms about Barbie's alleged, and this is the laughable part, "attack on men". Ben Shapiro, Piers Morgan, various politicians many folks on the internet posting such views without even having seen the movie. What drives that kind of thinking? Fear of Barbie's message. 

This thread has some comments that are based on politics of an extreme persuasion that, IMHO, only were made due to fear.

So, yeah, I'm serious that Barbie is inspiring fear in some folks. Clearly not you - which is why I admitted above one of my comments was stupid. 

But I also wouldn't assume just because some got into the Western discussion for a while it was motivated by being intimidated or rattled by the Barbie movie.

If anything, it proves more are into Western content than realized. And in my case - with that last Western post - it was a follow-on joke from the Western thread. So thank you for recognizing that, as I've repeatedly posted the box office progress of Barbie (which has been quite impressive).

[TupennyConan]

Margot Robbie deserves 2023's Best Producer for Barbie. 

Ryan Gosling deserves 2023's Best Actor [male, female, other] in Barbie.   

Barbie deserves 2023's Most Entertaining Movie Experience [Spiderverse comes in second, but fairly well a distant second]. 

[TupennyConan]

Now, let's talk westerns!

 

[Gatsby77]

Finally saw this last night.

Shockingly good.

Took a concept that could have been a throwaway and made it a compelling comedy with something to say -- and kudos to Mattel for allowing that needle to be thread.

Best analog I can come up with re. taking a potentially silly concept and wildly over-performing with something amazing:

Pirates of the Caribbean --

Can you imagine pitching a pirate movie based on a Disney themepark ride - especially when the last big-budget pirate movie (Cutthroat Island) was one of the biggest box office bombs of all time and literally bankrupted the studio?

[Bosco685]

 

Edited August 20, 2023 by Bosco685

[kmfbaloo]

On 8/20/2023 at 8:44 AM, Bosco685 said:

 

Just wild

[F For Fake]

I think the box office success of Barbie really shouldn't have been a huge surprise. It's a universal brand which has dominated "girls toys" and pop culture for 50+ years. That alone would have accounted for a big opening. However, they also actually made a GOOD MOVIE, like, a terrifically good one, so add up the pop culture cachet plus good word of mouth, and it was bound to be a huge hit.

Similar situation with Super Mario Bros. I didn't care for it, but even I could see that if you made a halfway decent movie with model-accurate characters, which have been similarly woven into the nostalgia and pop culture identities of so many millions of people for about four decades, you have a recipe for success. Barbie was a huge IP AND a good movie, which appealed to women without pandering to them, and had enough jokes and great performances to persuade even the most dudiest of dudes. Super Mario, not nearly as good of a film (IMO) but the fact that it LOOKED like what people wanted a Mario movie to look like, and it wasn't out and out terrible, made for a great success. 

[sfcityduck]

On 8/22/2023 at 12:34 PM, F For Fake said:

I think the box office success of Barbie really shouldn't have been a huge surprise. It's a universal brand which has dominated "girls toys" and pop culture for 50+ years. That alone would have accounted for a big opening. However, they also actually made a GOOD MOVIE, like, a terrifically good one, so add up the pop culture cachet plus good word of mouth, and it was bound to be a huge hit.

Similar situation with Super Mario Bros. I didn't care for it, but even I could see that if you made a halfway decent movie with model-accurate characters, which have been similarly woven into the nostalgia and pop culture identities of so many millions of people for about four decades, you have a recipe for success. Barbie was a huge IP AND a good movie, which appealed to women without pandering to them, and had enough jokes and great performances to persuade even the most dudiest of dudes. Super Mario, not nearly as good of a film (IMO) but the fact that it LOOKED like what people wanted a Mario movie to look like, and it wasn't out and out terrible, made for a great success. 

Your analysis is spot on. 

There was a lot of early commentary on the movie, before anyone had seen it, that declared it would suck and fail that was based on nothing more than disagreement with its political/ethical messaging. If Hollywood has taught anything it is that political/ethical messaging doesn't sink movies. To the contrary, those sort of slants have spawned a lot of successful classics ... when the movies themselves are good.

[jsilverjanet]

On 8/22/2023 at 2:34 PM, F For Fake said:

I think the box office success of Barbie really shouldn't have been a huge surprise. It's a universal brand which has dominated "girls toys" and pop culture for 50+ years. That alone would have accounted for a big opening. However, they also actually made a GOOD MOVIE, like, a terrifically good one, so add up the pop culture cachet plus good word of mouth, and it was bound to be a huge hit.

Similar situation with Super Mario Bros. I didn't care for it, but even I could see that if you made a halfway decent movie with model-accurate characters, which have been similarly woven into the nostalgia and pop culture identities of so many millions of people for about four decades, you have a recipe for success. Barbie was a huge IP AND a good movie, which appealed to women without pandering to them, and had enough jokes and great performances to persuade even the most dudiest of dudes. Super Mario, not nearly as good of a film (IMO) but the fact that it LOOKED like what people wanted a Mario movie to look like, and it wasn't out and out terrible, made for a great success. 

I was at a small comic show a couple weeks ago and asked some dealers if they had seen Barbie and they all said a resounding "no" I said that I wanted to see it and they all looked at me strangely and said "really???" I said sure, why wouldn't I want to go see Margot Robbie for 2 hours on the big screen.

Of course there are other reasons (I'm looking at you Ryan Gosling! JK)  I like the director, I enjoyed the movie she made Frances Ha! (writer with Noah Baumbach from the Squid and the Whale) and Lady Bird

Edited August 22, 2023 by jsilverjanet

[jsilverjanet]

from Frances Ha!

 

[jsilverjanet]

while Margot seems to be getting a lot of the credit here, Greta and Noah should get most of it

[jsilverjanet]

this week  I will see it

[Bosco685]

 

[jsilverjanet]

On 8/22/2023 at 5:56 PM, Bosco685 said:

 

not bad for the greatest western of all time!