These rote parts were very frustrating and hearing middle aged women cackle and slap their thighs in the cinema made me feel sickive not got a problem with the film exploring the patriarchy.
but it basically has characters repeat THE PATRIARCHY several times, as they obv couldnt find a way to do it without making it explicit.
maybe that IS the best way to do it, to name it, but thats fine for a debate. in a film, i didnt really want it that heavyhanded and preachy.
esp not a film that was sold as a great, fun movie.
Some of the film ideas are hilarious, though. Uno was a heist movie set in Atlanta's hip hop scene, starring Lil Yachty. (That one got cancelled)They're going to run it into the ground like they do everything. Apparently Mattel have a ton of films lined up based on their products. This is the next thing after superheroes, like I said in 'Culture as Advertising'.
But while “Barbie” is wildly ambitious in an exciting way, it’s also frustratingly uneven at times. After coming on strong with wave after wave of zippy hilarity, the film drags in the middle as it presents its more serious themes. It’s impossible not to admire how Gerwig is taking a big swing with heady notions during the mindless blockbuster season, but she offers so many that the movie sometimes stops in its propulsive tracks to explain itself to us—and then explain those points again and again. The breezy, satirical edge she established off the top was actually a more effective method of conveying her ideas about the perils of toxic masculinity and entitlement and the power of female confidence and collaboration.
One character delivers a lengthy, third-act speech about the conundrum of being a woman and the contradictory standards to which society holds us. The middle-aged mom in me was nodding throughout in agreement, feeling seen and understood, as if this person knew me and was speaking directly to me. But the longtime film critic in me found this moment a preachy momentum killer—too heavy-handed, too on-the-nose, despite its many insights.
Kind of agree with this though, that bit was a bit too on the nose. but that was p much the only misfireOne character delivers a lengthy, third-act speech about the conundrum of being a woman and the contradictory standards to which society holds us. The middle-aged mom in me was nodding throughout in agreement, feeling seen and understood, as if this person knew me and was speaking directly to me. But the longtime film critic in me found this moment a preachy momentum killer—too heavy-handed, too on-the-nose, despite its many insights.
Barbie is brilliant. I was surprised by how good it was and how funny and not-annoying. the heavy handedness of the politics is part of the joke - barbie and ken are interacting with the real world for the first time so everything they say is matter of fact and heavy handed - (e.g. "I'm getting a strange feeling, it's like fear but with no specific object" or "I do not have a vagina") and the same when they discover 'the patriarchy' - that's why it works
Tsk! Men, eh?Fancy going to the cinema and haven't decided what to see yet but I messaged a few people about availability. All the men replied saying "Oppenheimer right?".
He really is perfect for roles like this, EG The Nice Guys. He and Clooney are great comedic leading men, in my opinion. They can both strike the right balance of bumbling and charismatic. Clooney especially I think follows well in the footsteps of Cary Grant. He even does a lot of the same bumbling facial expression stuff.ryan gosling is the best comedic actor of our time