Barbie - should we be excited or horrified?

[Pencil]

Oh and it opens the same day as this: Quite the double feature

[C2H5OH]

My vote is for 'horrified'.

[Pencil]

The reason I'm undecided is the 2001 spoof, which is sorta amusing. Also, I've heard that Gerwig has some cred as director, but I haven't seen any of her movies. My instinct leans towards horrified. Making a goofy trailer does not a good movie make.

[running coach]

One features a bomb. The other features a bombshell.

[JimNightshade]

Love.

[Flying Saucerian]

We can be both.

[JimNightshade]

Love.

[Wolf Larsen]

That teaser trailer is amazing, I laughed my ass off. Of course, the movie they are parodying is one of my all time favorites.

[Pencil]

Lene Grawford Nystrøm who sang will turn 50 in 2023. Oh how tempus fugit.
spoilered for huge size pic



ETA @Wolfie - agreed on both counts. At best, they'll spoof the whole Barbie concept and it'll be silly fun. About the way of the LEGO movie. But I don't think Mattel is known for their great sense of humor. It all depends on how heavy a hand they have in the final product.

[Zeener Diode]

I can't see how this movie would precipitate the fall of western civilization, any more than Spice World or Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band already have. If anything, Margot Robbie is someone I'd watch on the big screen just to, um, study her acting chops.

[Guinastasia]

Horricited? Excified?

[Pencil]

Crap, I decided to bump this thread and saw that the post before this was by Guin. :sad:


Anyway, new trailer is up, and they are certainly making fun of the whole Barbie-World.

I'm not gonna see this in theatre, but certainly when it hits streaming.

[Flying Saucerian]

If I heard right, they're not permitted to use the Aqua song 'Barbie Girl' but still...

[What Exit?]

That preview does not make me want to watch the movie. Maybe I'm not the audience for it.

[claudius]

Originally Posted by Guinastasia

Horricited? Excified?

THIS

[C2H5OH]

Originally Posted by What Exit?

That preview does not make me want to watch the movie. Maybe I'm not the audience for it.

Yeah, but look at all the 'dissin' Ken got! "Beach you off!"

None of those guys had even a Trumpian 3" mushroom. They have suggestive, but otherwise useless bulges, that don't amount to anything. That might be worth a laugh or two.

I'm actually thinking of seeing that movie. Once. While I'm drunk...

[Senpai]

I saw half of the trailer on a Youtube ad and my face warped in a grotesque manner. Margot Robbie or not, I'm not touching that stank piece of parody. Not for me.

I didn't care for Barbies as a kid, either. Tossed 'em aside in favor of plushies instead.
They ruined Care Bears nowadays, I tell ya.

[C2H5OH]

Originally Posted by C2H5OH

I'm actually thinking of seeing that movie. Once. While I'm drunk...

Hey, it made Jar Jar Binks watchable... Once... While I was drunk...

[JackieLikesVariety]

Originally Posted by What Exit?

That preview does not make me want to watch the movie. Maybe I'm not the audience for it.

I was thinking it's a terrible idea for a movie but the preview made me think maybe it would be funny. I mean, the way her feet stayed the same shape as her high heels when she took them off? it's sick*, but it's funny. so maybe I am the audience for it? I never liked or wanted to play with any dolls as a kid also prefering plushies.



* you know, because high heels do actual damage

[thylacine]

Be interesting to see how far they can go using the brand and Margot is usually pretty good value. I’ll wait for it to come to streaming or free to air, no hurry. I was not in any way in to dolls but my friends all were.

[stormie]

Hoo-boy. No.

[Flying Saucerian]

Originally Posted by JackieLikesVariety

I was thinking it's a terrible idea for a movie but the preview made me think maybe it would be funny. I mean, the way her feet stayed the same shape as her high heels when she took them off? it's sick*, but it's funny. so maybe I am the audience for it? I never liked or wanted to play with any dolls as a kid also prefering plushies.



* you know, because high heels do actual damage

Not exactly. Most Barbie feet really are shaped like that so they can wear heels. So they're spoofing that.

[JackieLikesVariety]

yes, I know that's what they are spoofing. I'm saying that worked for me: I thought it was funny.

doesn't mean the whole movie is but it could be.

[stormie]

If I was stoned?
But it looks perfect for a home watch

[JackieLikesVariety]

stoned is certainly the way to watch a movie

[eleanorigby]

I probably won't pay to see this in the theater, but I'd like to see Ryan Gosling's take on Ken. I bet it's hilarious.

[Pencil]

Both Greta Gerwig (Director and screenwriter) and Noah Baumbach (screenwriter) have some serious cred at being serious. They've worked together on several projects. Why did Mattel sign off on them collaborating on this? And why did the screenwriter of Lady Bird (GG) and The Squid and the Whale (NB) want to do this?
I've always seen Ryan Gosling as a more able version of Channing Tatum, i.e. eye candy but sort of teflon-y human. Margot Robbie seems to embrace being eye candy/sex object and very capable and serious actress.
And it's an extremely thin line between parody and homage.

This is just to say that I really cannot connect the dots here.I can certainly see the quartet above doing a parody. But, again, why would Mattel want that?

And what's next? The Hot Wheels movie? I'm sure that's being planned for in case Barbie does well.

[Detroit Hoser]

Pretty sure I've mentioned it on the board before, but back in my day I abhorred playing Barbies...unless I could be GI Joe, who never had to change his clothes and lose his shoes, and got to ride around in a GI Joe Jeep. My friend Cindy Adderley from across the street would come over with her Barbies and we'd set up the fold out Barbie house that was my oldest sister's and Joe and Barbie would go on dates to the drive-in in the GI Joe Jeep. They watched the Banana Splits and Three Stooges, same show played every day. He'd put his arm around Barbie with his bendable elbow and wrist, and they'd awkwardly sit there, motionless, with Barbie's arms straight out, as though she were terrified of the muscular castrato with facial scars who was brutishly trying to grope her without success.

All this to say hell yes I'm watching this when it hits a streaming platform.

[FairyChatMom]

The trailers are hilarious, but I doubt I'll spend any money to go see it. Maybe when it's streaming for free.

FWIW, I still have my Barbie - a blond bouffant, so not the first generation. I think she's in my nightstand drawer...

[Detroit Hoser]

Do you also have Skipper and PJ?

[Pencil]

Latest trailer:

A bit clearer now. It seems as if they're doing a loving roast.

[JackieLikesVariety]

OK, as with so many trailers I now feel like I've seen ALL THE GOOD PARTS and there is no need for me to actually see the movie.

the shoe choice is hysterical.

[What Exit?]

Wil Ferrell acting like Wil Ferrell detracts from my interest in seeing this movie.

[Zeener Diode]

I'll watch it when it appears in my streaming library.

[Rat Diva]

I'm pretty "meh" about the whole thing, but I do give them credit for casting an openly trans actress (Hari Nef) as one of the Barbies.

[Rebo]

I'd watch it in my recliner, after a big ol' bowl...

but I can't partake until I retire. I guess I'll just get drunk instead. "I'll beach you off!"

[Pencil]

Originally Posted by What Exit?

Wil Ferrell acting like Wil Ferrell detracts from my interest in seeing this movie.

This. It looks as if he's phoning in the same stuff he did for the LEGO movie.

Although Gosling donning a second pair of shades made me chuckle a bit.

I'll see it on streaming. No way I'm paying to see it in a theatre.

[Wolf Larsen]

Well, I went and saw it with Mrs. Larsen, Wolfette and her husband. We saw it at a Cinebarre and they had Barbie inspired cocktails. I was actually tempted to get one that looked actually good.

Frankly the movie opening kinda drags. But when the movie finally gets rolling, its quite good. It manages to walk the tightrope between being affectionate to the underlying material and realizing that the world has changed and is a much more complicated place. It deals with some hard questions and doesn't take the easy way out in the ending. Margot Robbie does a really fine job. Rhea Perlman and America Ferrera are both brilliant casting. I could have done with less Will Ferrell, but them's the breaks. The set and costume design is amazing and wonderful. This is going to be a blockbuster.

One big annoyance had nothing to do with the movie itself. The theater ran almost an hour of coming attractions and commercials for the theater chain and refreshments. A couple of coming attractions and one "please turn off your cell phone" would be cool, but this was really over the top.

[Flying Saucerian]

I'm just moving some stuff around...