At min 2:08. Did this scene from a trailer got cut? (A knife flying outside the house)
At min 2:08. Did this scene from a trailer got cut? (A knife flying outside the house)
Blood spurts when you cut the carotid artery. The lesser the cut the stronger the pressure, the further the spurt. He was just starting to cut himself when she walked in.Wait, wasn't he several feet away when he slit his throat? She only opened the door and didn't really walk inside the room.
Yeaaaaaa, that's a bunch of crap. Her being of ethnic decent (because even we don't get clarity on that, pretty sure we got Ecuadorian, Peruvian and Brazilian comments from the entire family( de Armas is Cuban) inherently makes every move this movie makes political, especially when she's stuck interacting with rich white assholes. This movie is steeped in political/socio-economical/racial interaction theater that you cannot escape it. You don't get to make that plate gesture in a movie and it not mean what it means. This is a great whodonut but it is merely one layer of the donut within the donut holes donut of a movie about the politics of working for the wealthy, interacting with privilege when you have none and elder abuse, because even if Harlan wasn't being physically assaulted by his family he was still be abused in other ways that are extremely apparent by the end.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/27/opinion/knives-out-movie.html#click=https://t.co/nFI5jCKIpl
Adore Monica Castillo. I think this perspective is pretty interesting on the film.
See I would agree with you if it wasn't for the call with Meg and the confrontation with Walt in the hallway. She's kind, and she's pure in that she isn't mean or cruel, but she also resists the family members trying to get her to be "nice" and give up the money, and she recognizes that she has the power now and can get what she wantsIt's a bit rambly and misses the mark sometimes, particularly her saying that the jokes about Latino homogeneity somehow reinforces it.
But I don't think she's too far off. Biggest issue on that front is that the character's defining characteristic is moral purity which comes off a bit condescending. She often feels anonymous in a comedy with other awful, but much more funny and charismatic people.
Her means of comeuppance are dictated by a white man's generosity and a white man's intelligence. Her big moments of plot-related agency are calling for an ambulance and tricking Ransom with the phone call. I just don't think it's enough. She does feel more hollow in the film than she should be.
I get why they made the character this way, but this is the side effect of making her so pure and innocent. She often feels like a prop, even when it's not in a scene played for social commentary.
Yeaaaaaa, that's a bunch of crap. Her being of ethnic decent (because even we don't get clarity on that, pretty sure we got Ecuadorian, Peruvian and Brazilian comments from the entire family( de Armas is Cuban) inherently makes every move this movie makes political, especially when she's stuck interacting with rich white assholes. This movie is steeped in political/socio-economical/racial interaction theater that you cannot escape it. You don't get to make that plate gesture in a movie and it not mean what it means. This is a great whodonut but it is merely one layer of the donut within the donut holes donut of a movie about the politics of working for the wealthy, interacting with privilege when you have none and elder abuse, because even if Harlan wasn't being physically assaulted by his family he was still be abused in other ways that are extremely apparent by the end.
See I would agree with you if it wasn't for the call with Meg and the confrontation with Walt in the hallway. She's kind, and she's pure in that she isn't mean or cruel, but she also resists the family members trying to get her to be "nice" and give up the money, and she recognizes that she has the power now and can get what she wants
This hits hard, although ultimately the de Armas character wins out because she's great at her job. She's the only one in the family who actually made something of herself.It's a bit rambly and misses the mark sometimes, particularly her saying that the jokes about Latino homogeneity somehow reinforces it.
But I don't think she's too far off. Biggest issue on that front is that the character's defining characteristic is moral purity which comes off a bit condescending. She often feels anonymous in a comedy with other awful, but much more funny and charismatic people.
Her means of comeuppance are dictated by a white man's generosity and a white man's intelligence. Her big moments of plot-related agency are calling for an ambulance and tricking Ransom with the phone call. I just don't think it's enough. She does feel more hollow in the film than she should be.
I get why they made the character this way, but this is the side effect of making her so pure and innocent. She often feels like a prop, even when it's not in a scene played for social commentary.
Between Blanc and Joe Bang, Craig has been more exciting as a comic actor than as an action star IMOBlanc is easily my favorite Daniel Craig character ever. I would love to see more movies with him.
What I was trying to say is that the media I read before this came out really played up the alt-right/trumper angle specifically. Like every other article was about the alt-right teenager who doesn't really have much of a role in the movie. I thought the movie was going to be more focused on conservative racism than it actually was.
There's a difference between earning money and inheriting money. There's also a difference between knowing you got where you are because someone gave you a leg up at the start and declaring yourself entirely self made when you only got out of the gate because someone gave you the means.This hits hard, although ultimately the de Armas character wins out because she's great at her job. She's the only one in the family who actually made something of herself.
Maybe the Plummer character is what's actually off. I can't believe this dude is such a paragon when his kids are so uniformly fucking trash. If money corrupted his children, he should be corrupted too. Or maybe inheritance is the corrupting force -- but I don't think Johnson believes that, because he himself has admitted that his wealthy grandfather bankrolled his first film.
Ah, okay. I knew that group was called Gen Z, and I think I may have heard the term zoomer once or twice before too. I just was thinking it was some new pejorative internet slang word I was gonna have to familiarize myself with.Hahaha. It's the generational term for the generation after millennials. Aka gen z. The 14yo son of Harlan's son is what that's referring to.
I kinda agree, which is why I thought for a while that the whole thing was being engineered by Harlan himself as some kind of final Xanatos Gambit masterpiece of a mystery plot, or something. But I think his plan was to make Marta a logistical impossibility, to the point where she would never even come under suspicion. And Marta did worry about getting something wrong--heck, she did get several things wrong, most notably forgetting where to pull off the road in order to avoid the surveillance camera--and Harlan had to calm her down and keep her focused on what he was saying. And Harlan also said that he was sure he was forgetting something, but he was confident Marta could handle whatever it might be he was forgetting.Overall it was good, although I was really uninvested for about 20 minutes after the first reveal.
I found Harlan's plan to maintain Marta's innocence all sorts of convoluted insanity.
At first, it was interesting to have a mystery writer telling someone how to cover up a "murder," but the plan involves like 6 steps (one of which is climbing to the third floor on an exterior trellis), and she's just a nurse. If she gets one thing wrong, it's gonna raise some serious suspicions with detectives, and given how famous he is, I don't think they will be average-intelligence detectives. He also doesn't consider the whole toxicology angle. With a suicide that comes out of nowhere, the family will definitely want a report done, and that's gonna reveal the morphine. Harlan's plan also involves Marta hiding the truth from detectives, but Harlan also should know how detectives work. Marta can omit truth all she wants, but if they ask her one point blank question, she'll have to lie. Which would be fine if she didn't admit the puking/lying connection, but she does. Just say it's a ridiculous idea and that you're feeling ill that day, done.
It seems like he could have done any number of other things, like maybe write a suicide note explaining that he overdosed himself while Marta was downstairs talking to someone, or something to that effect. But then I guess there wouldn't be a movie.
Yeah, this is why I've said a few times that I hope people don't just zoom in on that one aspect or that one character because it tickles them personally. That's a very, very superficial read of the movie. There's a lot more to it than that, and not all of it is aimed at the "alt-right."I was pretty drunk when posting last night so I didn't get my point across well lol. I agree with your post.
What I was trying to say is that the media I read before this came out really played up the alt-right/trumper angle specifically. Like every other article was about the alt-right teenager who doesn't really have much of a role in the movie. I thought the movie was going to be more focused on conservative racism than it actually was.
My guess is that he probably was corrupted, but that time, old age, self-reflection, the awareness of his own mortality and impending death, and possibly his interaction with Marta in recent years have softened him. If we had seen Harlan when he was in his 60s, say, he'd probably be just as bad as the others, if not more.This hits hard, although ultimately the de Armas character wins out because she's great at her job. She's the only one in the family who actually made something of herself.
Maybe the Plummer character is what's actually off. I can't believe this dude is such a paragon when his kids are so uniformly fucking trash. If money corrupted his children, he should be corrupted too. Or maybe inheritance is the corrupting force -- but I don't think Johnson believes that, because he himself has admitted that his wealthy grandfather bankrolled his first film.
Honestly fuck Harlan too. Raising them to be tit-suckers and then expecting them to be self sufficient on there own? Is he serious? That whole family was dependent on you by YOUR design and now you want them to be self reliant out of the blue?
A massive theme of this movie is how, when it comes to wealthy white people, class and race trump personal politics when personal wealth is on the line.As a disclaimer I really liked the movie and I'll post my thoughts later, but I don't think there was a particularly strong anti alt-right/pro immigration message. The message never went further than basic insults against trumpers and alt-right zoomers.
She was a minor character, but she was at the Memorial party.I just loved this movie and it's an easy contender for one of the best of the year. I do have a couple of problem: when they got to the laundromat scene, Marta finds Fran, and I'm wondering "Who the heck is Fran?" I had to look her up after the movie, and remembered she found Harlan's body in the beginning, but I don't remember seeing her between those scenes. Also, while Marta is focused on for the second half, the rest of the family mostly vanishes.
And now I want donut holes.
She was a minor character, but she was at the Memorial party.
She showed Marta and the granddaughter (can't remember her name) where the weed was, and told Marta about that Hallmark movie.
I LOVE Nick and Nora. Couple goals for sure.Try out The Thin Man from the 1930s. It and it's sequel we're very fun.
I clocked Evans' involvement with the dogs barking during the night not being explained and then immediately barking at him, and the antidote being missing as well as the will on goings.
Didn't put two and two or all the pieces together about swapped medications and what not so the ending still gave me some catharsis explaining how "everything" fit into place.
Even if the mystery wasn't a complete twist, or expertly buried, I enjoyed the moment to moment content of the film immensely.
As soon as Ransom became a side character I was like "yeah he did it". That's my dumb writer brain thinking ahead to what would make sense for the plot instead of just enjoying it.
Also, they almost got me with the red herring of Richards' baseball. One of the lieutenants had a baseball tie on, so I was like "ooo maybe thats a hint?"
edit, I also thought the movie thought it was being more clever than it actually was with its cinematography. Like when they were interviewing Marta and she was the only person who was framed in the center of the circle of knives. When I can figure out what you're trying to say, you're saying it pretty loud.
Overall, really enjoyed it. Fun movie.
I both called it and didn't call it.
Not too long into the movie I called that she was responsible for the dude's death but I didn't call every twist that came after it, including the twist that I was wrong. When it showed that she was responsible i thought the rest of the movie was gonna be her trying to cover her tracks from Daniel Craig. Thought Ransom was too obvious but I guess I overthought it, though I knew the old woman was gonna pin it on him anyway. This was probably the best Clue since Clue, especially those credits. That credits art screamed Clue.
Loved the family. They reminded me a bit of the family in Ready or Not in that they were all a bunch of rich assholes but some of them were a lot less of assholes than others, but when push came to shove between them and the money they weren't afraid to step over that line and turn full heel. Most notable case is Linda who was pretty fond of Marta going straight to "YOU BITCH!" when she finds out that she got left everything. Also appreciate that the patriarch of the family was a legit good guy who did his best to help her out. Also lol at the alt right kid. They nailed that archetype perfectly.
Overall I thought it was a great movie with amazing cinematography, nice little background easter eggs and callbacks (The "My House, My Rules, My Coffee" mug being passed from the patriarch to Marta when she wins the game by playing by her rules, him telling her that they "wouldn't know a real knife from a prop", the centering of the knives on Daniel Craig as his head fills the center of the knife "donut" the shot at the end where she's now above them all, Chris Evans being called 'Ransom', etc.)
Daniel Craig mentions dogs being a great judge of character, before we see them warmly great Marta, warmly greet Linda, and then bark at Ransom. That was my tip off he was behind whatever was happening, but I loved how well they paced the subsequent twists and turns.
Great film, a lot of little details to appreciate on subsequent watches.
"The Last Jedi" of murder-mystery movies.
Like TLJ, KO seems to exist to subvert tropes of it's genre. But the movie wasn't as smart as it thought it was. Seemingly the lack of a twist was the major twist. A suicide remained a suicide. Chris Evans entered the movie as the likeliest suspect of the "murder" and it pretty much ran a straight line back to him by the end.
Personal opinion but the lack of surprise should not be the surprise.
Maybe a better "twist = no twist" would have been the closing shot of Marta drinking from the "My house. My coffee. My rules." mug and then she giving a subtle smile before cutting to credits. The realization that Marta was in fact the "murderer". And the murder weapon? The family's greed.
The movies continually establishes that the family kept fucking themselves over and then further by attempting to amend with greed. And Marta is the innocent girl who accidentally "kills" and then spends the movie trying to lie and obstruct the truth. That then she would be revealed to have used the family's greed as a tool to con them out of their own fortune and fool the maybe-not-as-good-as-he-thinks-he-is legendary detective with her "good heart".
IDK feels like Marta actually being the bad guy would have worked better to subvert murder-mystery tropes than pretty much knowing the whole story in the first 20-30 mins and then waiting for the movie to get there.
The pure protagonist doing it is pretty common among horror and suspense. All the Saws, Cry Wolf, Happy Death Day, Sleepaway Camp, etcI also find this to be TLJ of murder mysteries seeing as it's GOAT material.
Okay, that out of the way =P, Marta doing it wouldn't have made sense with the flashbacks she had and her guilt throughout the movie about it. It also wouldn't really subvert a trope? I suspected her early because she seemed least likely to do it seeing as she's "pure" and has nothing to gain, which follows the "person you'd least suspect is the murderer" trope. It's the person the detective "trusts." It actually surprised me that they showed she did it and she ended up really being pure because those people nearly always end up being the murderers.
Out of the blue ? what in the world lol
He tried being a father to everyone and acted out of good will with VERY clears boundaries, which ALL got violated by every single person bare Marta. He changed his testament after he had enough with people's bs, which ultimately culminated with Ransom. Its absolutely not out of the blue since he had 1 on 1 all day long before his birthday party, he just was cleaning house as a birthday gift to himself
The pure protagonist doing it is pretty common among horror and suspense. All the Saws, Cry Wolf, Happy Death Day, Sleepaway Camp, etc
I dunno, I just watched Death On The Nile (1978) for the first time having never seen or read any Agatha Christie except for Murder On The Orient Express (1974), which I had just watched the day before.
I had the whole thing figured out about 40 minutes in, when Simon gets shot in the leg, and that movie is 2hr20min.
I still enjoyed it and it's one of the most beloved films of the Who Dunit genre. In fact, it was fun picking out Rian Johnson's references, like the piano.
A couple small things I noticed on my second watch that I missed on the first watch: When Linda is recalling the memory of the birthday cake being lowered in front of her father, she and her husband are the ones behind him, smiling. But when Walt is recalling the same memory he is imagining himself and his wife and son behind Harlan, smiling.
This is basically an Ace Attorney movie without Phoenix Wright I love it.
I feel like we were missing one last gotcha though. Chris Evans as the bad guy sounded way too obvious (though he's super compelling) and I would've loved to see something bigger like the whole family was in on it or something. Still the characters and performances were spot on and I wish more screenwriters wrote in alt-right assholes just so the other characters can dunk on them.
What's shocking is that anyone could find this movie dull 😐 It was the most energetic, brisk, and lively movie I've seen in some time.It was alright. Not too exciting and the initial round of interviews felt plodding. This is all very low stakes.
Not sure why this is reviewing so well. It's okay but sorta dull all at once. The biggest problem? Even with the reveal; it wasn't THAT exciting. And there's something really offputting re: the most awful member of the family being the killer.
Oh shock!
6.5/10ish
Ransom isn't the most awful, they're all two faced garbage people, only Fran and Marta are good peopleIt was alright. Not too exciting and the initial round of interviews felt plodding. This is all very low stakes.
Not sure why this is reviewing so well. It's okay but sorta dull all at once. The biggest problem? Even with the reveal; it wasn't THAT exciting. And there's something really offputting re: the most awful member of the family being the killer.
Oh shock!
6.5/10ish
Wasnt that out of the blue, he cut off Chris Evans from his will but never mentioned he would stop supporting him any time soon.Honestly fuck Harlan too. Raising them to be tit-suckers and then expecting them to be self sufficient on there own? Is he serious? That whole family was dependent on you by YOUR design and now you want them to be self reliant out of the blue?
I feel like he didn't have a beff with her.He just trusted she wouldn't need the inheritance. She was probably the best of the bunch and only snapped becauseOne thing I think I missed: what was Harlan's beef with Linda (Jamie Lee Curtis)? Like, her husband was cheating, and her son was evil (moreso than anyone realized), and her company wasn't entirely self-made vis a vis the million dollar loan, but at the end of the day she herself hadn't really fucked up, had she? She'd been the most independently successful of all his kids. Did I miss something Ransom said about her company?
Obviously after the shit hit the fan she joined in (slash lead) the family in ganging up on Marta, but I figured there had to be a reason she was taken out of the will, right?
Ransom isn't the most awful, they're all two faced garbage people, only Fran and Marta are good people
Harlan was a horrible father, they were terrible people but they didn't get there on their own. His parenting hurt them all, and was a contributing factor in how they ended up in life. His ideals weren't up front, he was a cold and distant figure who moved them around on his whims and of course they'd do what he says: he's the patriarch of the family with all the power. Marta deserved the inheritance, and was a good person but that was because she was raised in a good family not because of Harlan. It's not like he was interested in raising his family like Marta's was.
Harlan was a horrible father, they were terrible people but they didn't get there on their own. His parenting hurt them all, and was a contributing factor in how they ended up in life. His ideals weren't up front, he was a cold and distant figure who moved them around on his whims and of course they'd do what he says: he's the patriarch of the family with all the power. Marta deserved the inheritance, and was a good person but that was because she was raised in a good family not because of Harlan. It's not like he was interested in raising his family like Marta's was.
Pretty great set-up having him be a famous mystery novel writer. Makes it real easy to convince yourself early on that this is all an elaborate plan or magic trick by him.Great movie, can't wait to see it again to see all the pieces set up. Despite seeing the entire plan, and Harlan slitting his own throat I kept thinking "He's alive somehow!" until close to the end. Played myself lol
A horrible and cold father ?
Like how could you even know, he took the time to detach from his own family. He's clearly not depicted as a horrible guy in the movie, rather than someone who misjudged the bonds going within it and decided to take a deeper dive for his birthday, when all the family was gathered
He also took a stand for his daughter, asking the husband to tell he was cheating on her or he would. That's far from being horrible, hes not responsible for how people act after he makes an act of generosity toward them. He didn't even HAVE to be generous in the first place. Greed and stupidity was what he couldn't control about them. You don't control your child / your family
Also lol at the "they didn't make it on their own", of course you don't, there's always someone to look upon. Rarely people make it entirely by themselves
Every single family member was relying on his good will and support to do something and it has nothing to do with his parenting, period
I got the impression that Harlan was a great father, but he felt that he spoiled his kids and held them back with the amount of dependence that they had on him and his fortune. He, however, relied on Marta for company and she never asked him for anything, which is why he left all his stuff to her.
Linda and Walt were the only two who were ACTUALLY his kids and they were probably the least awful along with Meg. Linda refused to shit talk Walt and Walt is just kinda passive. Neither of them were shown to be any kind of awful until they found out that their money, house, and possessions were all going to Marta. Before that they were gonna help her out with whatever. That said, they themselves were kinda shitty parents based on how Ransom and Jacob turned out.
I don't think Harlan would've left Meg out to dry. He knew she and Marta were friends and Marta would probably help her with college tuition.
Just watch Columbo, every episode is basically a film (1 hour+)What are some of the great whodunnit films?
I've seen Orient Express.
She worked hard to become a really good nurse, she was doing fine without the white benefactor. Whereas the other Thrombey's got all of their power/money/influence from their rich father.
She worked hard to become a really good nurse, she was doing fine without the white benefactor. Whereas the other Thrombey's got all of their power/money/influence from their rich father.