Reading is for losers. Listening is where it's at.
That is to say, you can now listen to WIT+ instead of taxing your precious eyeballs. If you so choose. Just click that little play button. But be gentle, please.
“You Taste Like A Burger.
Is it possible for a movie to become “too big”?
I don’t mean financially - there’s never a “too big” for studios in that respect - I mean in the societal sense. In that the movie is no longer just the movie, but a sort of idea-ship with so many cultural barnacles attached that it starts to no longer resemble the vessel it once was, but an entirely new entity.
I touched on something akin to this a few weeks back when I said that each movie breeds infinite offshoot events. But to get more specific, I’ve been thinking about how Barbie has gotten so much attention and been seen by so many people, that if you haven’t seen it yet, you’re no longer watching Barbie, you’re basically watching Barbie and The Opinions1. Which can lead audiences to experience the movie far differently than the creators intended them to.
This is not a new idea of course. Artists have often discussed how once they release their art into the world it’s no longer just theirs, but that of the individual receiver as well as the cultural collective. Sometimes it can be maddening to them and other times it’s entirely purposeful (e.g. the director who refuses to tell how a movie ends and prefers to leave it up to interpretation, thus igniting opinionated conversation).
With Barbie in particular we saw this massive pre-release hype cycle where even before people saw it, they loved it. And then once they did see it, they confirmed that, they really did love it!!2
But what about those who didn’t love it? Because I’ve talked to a number of people recently who were less than keen. Did they really just not enjoy it and never would have no matter the surrounding conversation? Or was there a little opinion devil sitting on their shoulder reacting to all the shit they already heard about the thing? In essence, were they reacting to the movie, or the idea of the movie as well as all of the opinions being shoved in their face?
Now I’m not saying people aren’t allowed to dislike something many other people enjoy entirely on its own merits, far (far) from it. I’m just pondering at what point does the discourse move from surrounding a movie to becoming an intrinsic part of it. Because especially now it’s quite difficult to go into a movie without any pre-conceived notions and even more so for a movie like Barbie - a film that, if it exists, might be a more than worthy candidate for the “too big” distinction. Because most movies don’t have this problem or even get close to becoming “too big” such that the moviegoing experience will be altered materially. They have the exact opposite problem of not being talked about enough.
But small bits of information can affect your viewing. Hell, even an email like this where I try and avoid too many plot points / spoiler-type info. It’s one reason I often talk about how special it is to go into a movie where you know literally nothing about the film. I’ve very rarely had this happen in the past 15 years, but when I have, it’s been a delight.
But it’s also another reason why it’s fun to see a movie on opening weekend if you can. You get to experience something a little less encumbered. A touch more… authentically?
But then again, the conversation is inevitable so whose to say one experience is more authentic than another.
It’s just… different, I guess?
NEWSY BITS 👾
They Review Movies on TikTok, but Don’t Call Them Critics [a few things:
Curation matters. People have been needing it forever and they are only needing it now more than ever. Especially in media.
This is not unlike the “blog boom” back in the day that created many of the non-traditional movie sites that are now very traditional and basically mainstream.
Should I get on TikTok? A poll:
] - The New York Times
Netflix finally streams video games, too [it’s just a test in a couple countries, and you use your phone as a controller atm, but this is definitely a big push for them, so expect more soon] - The Verge
EXTRA CREDIT MOVIE(S) 📝
The Adults - real life, but make it a movie. Michael Cera goes back home to visit his sisters after the death of their mother. The reviews say realistic human scenarios and emotions abound in a movie that will likely be a nice discovery for many. Playing in Limited Theaters This Friday
Landscape With Invisible Hand - alien invasion movie, but make it kinda romantic and quirky. Two teenagers broadcast their love story to aliens as a means to make cash, but the aliens call shenanigans saying they’re not really in love. The reviews say it’s a heck of an effort trying to meld tones, but that it mostly works. Playing in Limited Theaters This Friday
I feel like Strays is for two types of people and two types of people alone.
Type One: the kind of person who loves our canine friends so irrationality that it doesn’t matter what they’re doing, these people are not just enjoying it, they’re literally entranced, as if high on some new street drug nicknamed “puppy love” that sounds like a sweet thing but is actually a hardcore narcotic that makes any four legged friend turn into THE CUTEST FUCKING THING EVER, JUST STOP, SERIOUSLY STOP, BUT DON’T YOU FUCKING DARE STOP, CUZ IF YOU DO I WILL GRAB YOU AND HUG YOU SO TIGHT YOUR LOVABLE LITTLE RIB CAGE WITH SNAP IN TWAIN AND YOUR BIG SAUCER-LIKE PUPPY EYES WILL POP OUT OF YOUR GOD DAMN SKULL. *ahem* Dogs rule.
Type Two: the kind of person who finds the idea of a sweet, innocent, couldn’t imagine him doing anything mean or aggressive looking dog saying he is going to “bite his dick off” in reference to his offensively abusive owner not just funny, but HI-larious.
For everybody else, it’s like, a talking dog movie that is - as the studio’s marketing team is hammering home harder than a 1990’s porn star - rated R.
Point is, do you wanna watch some fluffy pups voiced by funny comedians Will Ferrell, Jamie Foxx, Randall Park and Isla Fisher misbehave? You do? You’re so naughty. *tee-hee* 🤭
Sure it all sounds a little goofy, but leave it to a throwaway YouTube comment to hit the hardest…
“Boy, even when you play it for laughs, an innocent dog loving a shitty owner who abandons him is still heartbreaking.“
And honestly, if any owner was as shitty as Will Forte is in this movie? Yeah, his dick should definitely be bitten right the fuck off.
And then peed on.
Out: Friday
Where: Theaters
1 hr 33 mins | R | 🍅: TBD
It’s another superhero movie where… *readers eyes glaze over and they start to look off into the distance* No, no, no wait, just let tell you about his cool new suit, it has these awesome… *readers fall into a deep, deep sleep instantly*
Fuck it. Ignore the super... *reader begins yawning* ...boring stuff that only an idiot would lead with and let me get into what you might actually find interesting here. See, unlike a certain franchise that should probably just get donated to its local NPR station already, Blue Beetle is a movie that looks to genuinely be about family. Because while it’s an easy word to say, it’s a much harder thing to convey (hey! that rhymes!).
The family at hand is that of Jaime Reyes (Xolo Maridueña), aka the Blue Beetle. It’s a family of Mexican-Americans that is, who’da thunk it, portrayed by Mexican-American actors, including George Lopez as a goofy uncle who kinda seems to typify the tone of the movie - which is far more heartwarming-zany-goofball than the ultra-serious-am-I gonna-poop-or-am-I-just-angry-face vibe of previous DC movies.
Without getting too far into snooze category, I do have to say that outside of the familial and culture specific aspects, you should expect some pretty standard regular dude becomes, uh, not regular dude stuff. But you still might enjoy it even in spite of that, as most critics have.
And while it doesn’t look like it’ll reach anywhere near the stratospheric heights Black Panther did in being the first Black supeeeer…awesome dude who can punch real good, the 19% of the population who are Latino or Hispanic but make up 30% of movie tickets sold, should appreciate the first Latin… screw it, SUPERHERO.
“every verbal and visual detail regarding socioeconomic divides, or micro- and macro-aggressive racism, is there on purpose. Virtually none of that stuff’s in the trailers, of course.“ - from the Chicago Tribune review of Blue Beetle
Out: Friday
Where: Theaters
2 hrs 7 mins | PG-13 | 🍅: 82%
Make sure and pay attention to the first one.
Fremont - one of the better, and more interesting, looking movies I’ve seen in a while. A sardonically toned story of an Afghan refugee (Anaita Wali Zada in her first role) trying to figure out life in the US while working at a fortune cookie factory. Also stars Jeremy Allan White from The Bear.
Vacation Friends 2 - the sort of surprise hit during “the bullshit” gets a sequel.
Sitting in Bars With Cake - Yara Shahidi from Black-ish and Grown-ish leads a story about a girl whose friend pushes her to uh, make cakes and bring ‘em to bars. Hence the title. Other stuff happens too, promise.
You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah - Adam Sandler brings his entire family along. Literally.
good name for a band?
or at least they had to say so, because they were already so invested - something else I’ve discussed in the past