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Barbenheimer (July 21, 2023)

0neAnd0nly

Member
Not really, Barbie, like everything is political. I haven't really followed the film (it doesn't look great to me either) but the effects of Barbie dolls' ideals are well documented and both the manufacturer of the toys and the makers of this film have acknowledged this by trying to reflect a more diverse, inclusive and aspirational take on how women are represented.

I don't think I ever felt particularly represented in movies or toys when I was a kid, and I didn't particularly enjoy that it seemed that every time someone who looked a bit like me (skinny, glasses) was in a tv show or film they were negatively portrayed as boring, nerdy, socially inept. I think it's fairly well documented that women are more likely to be valued based on their appearance, while men may be less perfect, but be valued based on how clever or witty they are. That's not to say, obviously, that no women are valued based on their brains, that would be ridiculous. But the representations of women being valued for being strong, clever, good at sport, etc. Are still less common and we're frequently drawn instead to conclude that women are frequently valued based on their femininity and beauty alone.

So, I don't think it's that bad a thing that Barbie, which was an icon of an impossible beauty standard, is now being used to challenge stereotypes about women.

However, getting Margot Robbie, one of the hottest people in the world, to take the titular role might not be quite so progressive. :messenger_tears_of_joy:

Bro. It’s an effing PLASTIC DOLL.

It isn’t that deep!

Edit: unless you are one of these great philosophers of 2020 Hollywood with their (slightly) above single digit IQs. Then *everything* is deep!

Edit 2: not speaking about you, specifically, Mr Reasonable, just taking shots at Hollywood. Just want to clarify!
 
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OmegaSupreme

advanced basic bitch
I'm not seeing either. It's been some really great marketing though. Although it makes me a bit pissy that we live in a world where a fucking barbie movie will probably gross five times more than dune part two.
 

Mr Reasonable

Completely Unreasonable
Bro. It’s an effing PLASTIC DOLL.

It isn’t that deep!

Edit: unless you are one of these great philosophers of 2020 Hollywood with their (slightly) above single digit IQs. Then *everything* is deep!

Edit 2: not speaking about you, specifically, Mr Reasonable, just taking shots at Hollywood. Just want to clarify!

Well, if you distill it down to a piece of plastic, sure. In that instance, you might as well give a little girl a He-Man or GI JOE or a Transformer, but for some reason it's not all the same to them.

And, from that you might start to think that aesthetics are more important than they initially appear.
 

0neAnd0nly

Member
Well, if you distill it down to a piece of plastic, sure. In that instance, you might as well give a little girl a He-Man or GI JOE or a Transformer, but for some reason it's not all the same to them.

And, from that you might start to think that aesthetics are more important than they initially appear.

I truly don’t feel ANYBODY used to give 2 craps about this.

90% of dolls don’t represent actuality.

This shouldn’t be controversial.

I don’t pick up my NECA ™️ Godzilla GMK figure and get upset because it doesn’t represent real life animals.

I don’t pick up my Playmates ™️ Ninja Turtle and get upset because I ain’t green and trained by a humanoid rat in martial arts.

It IS JUST a piece of plastic. Period.

Adults trying to assign adult problems to kids stuff is absolutely bonkers, and a product of a modern, extremely privileged society.

Just my .02
 
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Cyberpunkd

Member
Are they showing this in Japan?
Awkward Ed Helms GIF by The Office
 

DKehoe

Member
Just booked my Oppenheimer tickets and was surprised at how busy it is for a Friday morning. Hopefully bodes well for the film.
 

Klosshufvud

Member
Just booked my Oppenheimer tickets and was surprised at how busy it is for a Friday morning. Hopefully bodes well for the film.
I couldn't get an IMAX spot. All sold out all weekend. Had to settle for the normal showing :(

I'm guessing between Barbie, MI7 and now this, cinemas don't have many theatre rooms to spare.
 

Grildon Tundy

Gold Member
Each camp seeding their own memes without coordination would have the same effect.

I'm always sus of the rapid rise of memes being organic when it's attached to buying some shit, be it a movie or a celebrity coming back or whatever else. I've seen it a few times where all of a sudden there's a bunch of memes like hey does anyone remember the MUMMY with BRANDON FRASER and then lo and behold the person is soon revealed to be in a new movie
Or the Star Wars Prequel Memes subreddit hitting the front page of Reddit every single day with crap memes once Disney bought the property. Right. Totally organic, grassroots effort
 
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jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
I'm going to see both on Friday. Barbie first then Oppenheimer.

jlOUNzt.jpg

DUDE

Your theater obviously knows what's up. These are showing basically back to back, on the same screen. You even got the same seat for both, so you don't have to move for nearly 5 hours. Enjoy!
 

WoodyStare

Member
Oppenheimer 70mm IMAX was sold out for a few days so I have to wait until Tuesday morning. Got my Barbie tickets ready for this Thursday evening. Can’t wait for both of them.
 

HoodWinked

Member
YT algorithm served me a nice video of some of the background of both films and how they may have ended up at the same release date.

 

Spaceman292

Banned
I dont know who in their right mind would watch Barbie over Oppenheimer but we need to name and shame every man who does. Women i can understand. They grew up with barbies being shoved down their throats, they dont care for WW2 like we do, but if i see the barbie female to male splits be anything below an 90:10, i want names and their twitter handles.
Yeah, why would anyone want to see a movie that looks fun? All real men want to somberly be reminded about the lingering threat of nuclear armageddon. Guns and WW2. Anything else is for dumb women and queers lmao

/s

You sound very insecure
 
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DKehoe

Member
I couldn't get an IMAX spot. All sold out all weekend. Had to settle for the normal showing :(

I'm guessing between Barbie, MI7 and now this, cinemas don't have many theatre rooms to spare.
The one I booked was an IMAX screening so I'm glad I didn't wait much longer to book mine.
 
DUDE

Your theater obviously knows what's up. These are showing basically back to back, on the same screen. You even got the same seat for both, so you don't have to move for nearly 5 hours. Enjoy!
i haven't checked the full day but i wouldn't be surprised if they are rotating the screen between barbie and oppenheimer all day. i'm seeing them on the "Superscreen" (not IMAX) so I'm not sure about all the normal smaller screens.

and i think when i account for adverts i should have just about over an hour between Barbie ending and Oppenheimer starting.

edit: Barbie is getting only 1 showing on Friday and Oppenheimer is getting 2 on the Superscreen. On the normal screens there are 20 Barbie showings and 12 Oppenheimer.
 
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Ememee

Member
Very, very excited for both. Watching both on Friday.

I don’t know what has analysts stumped: You’ve got two movies, polar opposite ends of the spectrum, that look entertaining in their own different and respective way. Most refreshing of all, neither’s a damn superhero flick. Barbie’s a popular IP, but it’s uncharted territory.

And I just really dig baby goose and Nolan. Even though I didn’t catch his last two flicks.
 

F0rneus

Tears in the rain
Wasn't always that way. Amy Schumer :lollipop-medical: was originally cast as Barbie, but she left the project when the studio rejected her script rewrites.

Different movie altogether now though!
It is my opinion, so take it as it is but I believe that Margot Robbie is slightly prettier than Amy Schumer. Again just an opinion....
 

EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
Barbenheimer preliminary results:

Barbie
$110 million opening weekend preliminary estimate
RT: 89% Critics, 90% Audience
IMDb: 7.8/10
Metacritic: 81

Oppenheimer
$50 million opening weekend preliminary estimate
RT: 94% Critics, 94% Audience
IMDb: 9.0/10
Metacritic: 90
 

FunkMiller

Gold Member
Barbenheimer preliminary results:

Barbie
$110 million opening weekend preliminary estimate
RT: 89% Critics, 90% Audience
IMDb: 7.8/10
Metacritic: 81

Oppenheimer
$50 million opening weekend preliminary estimate
RT: 94% Critics, 94% Audience
IMDb: 9.0/10
Metacritic: 90

Very good for both, and a clear sign audiences are interested in something new, that isn't a fucking superhero or Lucasfilm.
 

EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member

Top 5 preview numbers this year:

giBW1lN.jpg
Considering Oppenheimer is R rated and almost 3 hours long, and up against the biggest movie of the year, quite the strong showing still. Should have good legs.
 
Having now seen both I have to say it's a load of rubbish the whole thing. Waste of time and money going to see both of them. Barbie was shit and I suppose Oppenheimer wasn't terrible but bored me and it's my least favourite Nolan movie easily.
 
I live in Japan and it seems it’s not even decided yet when Oppenheimer will be released here.

I mean it’s understandably anyway a hard sell in Japan. It’s just a feeling awful movie here in Japan. I remember going here to a nuklear bomb museum and that was already hard to see even for me as a foreigner.
 

3liteDragon

Member
Barbenheimer preliminary results:

Barbie
$110 million opening weekend preliminary estimate
RT: 89% Critics, 90% Audience
IMDb: 7.8/10
Metacritic: 81

Oppenheimer
$50 million opening weekend preliminary estimate
RT: 94% Critics, 94% Audience
IMDb: 9.0/10
Metacritic: 90
Up it for both, Barbie's projected for a domestic opening of up to $170M & Oppenheimer at $95M.



 
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BlackTron

Member
Given what intel we already had about the Barbie movie, I'm surprised so many people from GAF were willing to go see it. As a movie about a little girls toy with a political message crammed into it, I wouldn't reward this with my money on mere principle, even if I had curiosity to check it out just for being fun (of which I have little, because it's Barbie.)

I wish Oppenheimer, a real ass film with historical accuracy, had 150m and Barbie, a movie about a toy tailored to deliver a political message and is not even appropriate for kids, had fucking nothing.
 

EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
Given what intel we already had about the Barbie movie, I'm surprised so many people from GAF were willing to go see it. As a movie about a little girls toy with a political message crammed into it, I wouldn't reward this with my money on mere principle, even if I had curiosity to check it out just for being fun (of which I have little, because it's Barbie.)

I wish Oppenheimer, a real ass film with historical accuracy, had 150m and Barbie, a movie about a toy tailored to deliver a political message and is not even appropriate for kids, had fucking nothing.

No R-rated movie has ever pulled a $150 million opening weekend. It's tracking around $75 million, so around #12 all-time for an R rated opening despite coming out opposite the biggest movie of the year, which took most of the available screens in theaters.


rw56KeW.png


Wouldn't surprise me if the total gross ends up in the top 5.
 

BlackTron

Member
No R-rated movie has ever pulled a $150 million opening weekend. It's tracking around $75 million, so around #12 all-time for an R rated opening despite coming out opposite the biggest movie of the year, which took most of the available screens in theaters.


rw56KeW.png


Wouldn't surprise me if the total gross ends up in the top 5.

For being R rated and being up against Barbie, it's actually doing pretty great. But TBH I really pulled "150m" out of my ass, I just think we shouldn't be rewarding these movies we know are bad "just to check it out". By the time we've seen it, they already have our money. I'll wait until I have the opportunity to see it for free, if I ever watch it.
 

EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
For being R rated and being up against Barbie, it's actually doing pretty great. But TBH I really pulled "150m" out of my ass, I just think we shouldn't be rewarding these movies we know are bad "just to check it out". By the time we've seen it, they already have our money. I'll wait until I have the opportunity to see it for free, if I ever watch it.
Ultimately it's all entertainment. People will go see it if they think they'll have a good time.
 

Chiggs

Member
Very happy to see two non-superhero movies do well. Curious to see what the drop for Barbie is next week, though.

Dead Reckoning has fallen completely flat. I didn't see that coming.
 

Kilau

Member
Very happy to see two non-superhero movies do well. Curious to see what the drop for Barbie is next week, though.

Dead Reckoning has fallen completely flat. I didn't see that coming.
Being a two parter killed my excitement to see it in the theater.
 

DKehoe

Member
Seems like it's benefited both which is cool to see. More people getting out to the cinema is great to see when there's been a lot of uncertainty around it.
 

Tams

Member
I live in Japan and it seems it’s not even decided yet when Oppenheimer will be released here.

I mean it’s understandably anyway a hard sell in Japan. It’s just a feeling awful movie here in Japan. I remember going here to a nuklear bomb museum and that was already hard to see even for me as a foreigner.

I've been to both atomic bomb museums.

They're moving for a while, but it gets boring seeing just endless 'look how awful atomic weapons are', even 'woe is me' after a while, without any so much as an acknowledgment as to why the bombs might have been dropped.

Very selective memory of history there with no nuance.

Germany approach what happened there much better.
 

Toons

Member
Very good for both, and a clear sign audiences are interested in something new, that isn't a fucking superhero or Lucasfilm.

I mean, ones a massive toyline and ones a biopic, which has always been a thing, but I agree that this variety can only be healthy.
 
I've been to both atomic bomb museums.

They're moving for a while, but it gets boring seeing just endless 'look how awful atomic weapons are', even 'woe is me' after a while, without any so much as an acknowledgment as to why the bombs might have been dropped.

Very selective memory of history there with no nuance.

Germany approach what happened there much better.
Selective memory is also a common problem with American museums. They will always try to avoid showing certain things.
 
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