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Knives Out

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    Knives Out

    Watched it yesterday afternoon. Much hyped Rian Johnson murder mystery (both written and directed by him) in the classic Agatha Christie mould. He's a big fan of Peter Ustinov's Poirot and similarly to those adaptations, this has a very good ensemble cast (Christopher Plummer, Jamie Lee Curtis, Daniel Craig, Don Johnson, Chris Evans, Toni Collette, Michael Shannon etc). I enjoyed it for the most part, but did find Craig's southern accent terribly grating.

    #2
    I kind of think that was deliberate - a nod to Finney's Poirot.

    I liked it a lot, though it took a while to get going. It both subverted the whodunnit tropes enough to avoid feeling by-the-numbers and fulfilled them in a satisfying way. I was disappointed that some of the characters, Riki Lindholme's in particular, were under-used.

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      #3
      The trailer for this film is so teeth-grindingly annoying that I cannot contemplate any circumstances that would persuade me to go to the cinema to watch it.

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        #4
        I won’t be going near it, either

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          #5
          I enjoyed it, it was lots of fun but I agree that some of the cast was under used. I knew I was predisposed to like it on the very first few shots when you could see that the lighting was naturalistic. I hadn't realised how tired I was of technicolour or colour balanced or whatever, false coloured cinema.

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            #6
            Originally posted by Ray de Galles View Post
            The trailer for this film is so teeth-grindingly annoying that I cannot contemplate any circumstances that would persuade me to go to the cinema to watch it.
            That's kind of on you for watching trailers. Don't do that, they ruin films.

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              #7
              I love the trailers (as that guy at the Odeon says) and a cinema trip is always slightly spoiled if I miss them.

              They ruin films if they give too much away but are valuable if they pique your interest or, in this case, tip you off to stay the hell away.

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                #8
                Except they are a totally unreliable indicator of the quality or even tenor of a film. If they don't give too much away, they deliberately mislead you.

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                  #9
                  There may be occasions when they're "a totally unreliable indicator" regarding a film but to the practised eye and weighed up alongside trusted reviewers that should be a rarity.

                  I can think of very few occasions when a trailer has been a factor in my decision to see a movie but proved to be significantly misleading, or conversely when a trailer has contributed to my choice to give a film a miss in the cinema which I've then regretted when I've caught up with it on TV.
                  Last edited by Ray de Galles; 03-12-2019, 12:22.

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                    #10
                    I haven’t seen any trailers. It just sounds good and got great reviews so I’ll see it soon.

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                      #11
                      Saw this today. It was great. Served as another reminder that I have an irrational yet deep dislike for Toni Collette, but she was fine in it. As was Don Johnson, who I always consider a bit of a lightweight. Craig was great; so was Plummer.

                      We both thought it was ten minutes too long.

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                        #12
                        Saw this today. Was lots of fun. Great smash cuts in the early interrogation scenes.

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                          #13
                          There are plans for at least another film with Daniel Craig’s character. I guess he’s supposed to be like an American Hercule Peroit.

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                            #14
                            Suits him better than James Bond, by now. Craig was a great match for that role, but he's getting far too old. Better play a famous detective from Louisiana instead.

                            I really should check out the rest of Rian Johnson's oeuvre. His three Breaking Bad episodes were wonderful, and I had time for both Looper and Star Wars VIII. Are Brick and The Brothers Bloom any good?

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                              #15
                              Brick is cool. I don’t remember if I saw Brothers Bloom.

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                                #16
                                I enjoyed it a lot. Everyone was great, but I was surprised how good Ana de Armas was. (And I didn't recognise her until the credits rolled.)

                                I'd only seen her previously in Blade Runner 2049, where she was fine, but seemed to be mostly eye-candy.

                                And although it's not a comedy, there are some genuinely laugh-out-loud moments.

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                                  #17
                                  It's not a comedy?

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                                    #18
                                    Imma go with comedy.

                                    In that vein, it's amazing how many people think Parasite is a horror movie based on its title. That I get.

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                                      #19
                                      Originally posted by Ginger Yellow View Post
                                      It's not a comedy?
                                      It's a whodunnit. With some jokes.

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                                        #20
                                        It's modeled on a whodunit. It's an homage to a whodunit. But I'm not sure it's a whodunit.

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                                          #21
                                          Originally posted by Stumpy Pepys View Post
                                          It's a whodunnit. With some jokes.
                                          So is Clue. It's still a comedy.

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                                            #22
                                            Originally posted by WOM View Post
                                            But I'm not sure it's a whodunit.
                                            I think it ends up being one. As I said above, it subverts the genre while also embodying it. It's an homage/revisionism and also ultimately an exemplar.

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                                              #23
                                              To be contrasted with Brick, which plays with the genre but is not a comedy noir. Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid or The Big Lebowski - comedy noirs.

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                                                #24
                                                Originally posted by Ginger Yellow View Post
                                                I think it ends up being one. As I said above, it subverts the genre while also embodying it. It's an homage/revisionism and also ultimately an exemplar.
                                                I agree. Whodunits are typically solvable, I think. Whether you do or you don't, you could. I might be misremembering, but I don't think Knives Out was solvable.

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                                                  #25
                                                  Saw this tonight and enjoyed it. Enjoyably hammy but fun (and with a little political edge added to the mix).

                                                  Like Ray I had seen the trailer and been massively put off. It was this thread that convinced me to give it a chance. So, ta.

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