# Movies you've seen recently (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [September 29, 2014, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906 "2014-09-29T21:53:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 353
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2023, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/7057 "2023-07-25T15:04:25Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > My husband and I are going to see this next weekend, as it’s apparently some kind of feminist manifesto judging by my girlfriends’ responses. We were intrigued by the trailer. I think in 1993, this might have been a bolder movie. In 2023, not so much. I didn’t even find the big monologue from America Ferrera to be a big truth bomb or anything. The movie feels kind of after its time. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2023, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/7058 "2023-07-25T20:37:33Z")
I liked _Murder by Death_ (“Listen! Cow on wall speaks!” “Moose! It’s a _moose_, damn you! And use your damn prepositions!”) more than _Clue_, but they are kind of apples-and-oranges. Haven’t seen _Barbie_ yet, but I’ve heard good things about it (including from my youngest son, who saw it with friends this weekend), and I expect I’ll get around to it eventually. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2023, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/7059 "2023-07-25T20:48:47Z")
I found both _Murder by Death_ and _Clue_ disappointing. They were both a bit try too hard, with a lot of annoying mugging. I found the _Psych_ parody of _Clue_ funnier than either movie. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2023, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/7060 "2023-07-25T20:57:36Z")
All right, to heck with all of you, I really enjoyed _Clue_. We haven’t seen _Murder by Death_, though after watching the trailer just now the whole Chinese accent thing is probably going to feel ugh anyway. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2023, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/7061 "2023-07-25T20:59:00Z")
I saw _Clue_ ages ago, and the Chinese accent thing was cringy then. It’s gotta be worse now. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2023, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/7062 "2023-07-25T21:00:05Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > I saw _Clue_ ages ago, and the Chinese accent thing was cringy then. _Murder by Death_ you mean? That’s the one with Peter Sellers as “Sidney Wang”. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2023, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/7063 "2023-07-25T21:06:53Z")
The problem I have with _Clue_ and _Murder By Death_ is that you can’t solve the mystery, because _MBD_ is just surreal, and _Clue_ has multiple solutions. I want a murder mystery parody to also be a decent murder mystery. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2023, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/7064 "2023-07-25T21:08:11Z")
Yes. I’ve seen them both, and they tend to merge together in my brain. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2023, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/7065 "2023-07-26T02:01:20Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I’ve got the feeling I would appreciate it a lot more if I understood the source material, which as far as I can tell is modern art, French filmmaking and IDK what. I presume the reason that it’s set in France is that Anderson has lived mostly in Paris since 2005. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2023, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/7066 "2023-07-26T05:11:47Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > I presume the reason that it’s set in France Well, the parts not set in Kansas… ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2023, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/7067 "2023-07-26T07:57:26Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > We haven’t seen _Murder by Death_, though after watching the trailer just now the whole Chinese accent thing is probably going to feel ugh anyway. Oh, FFS! Not directing this at you in particular but since there have been similar comments from others, let me say first of all that Peter Sellers is doing a Charlie Chan parody, so of course it’s a Chinese-accented English dialect, and the fun is directed at the original stereotyped Charlie Chan portrayal. Secondly, it’s hardly a major part of the movie – he’s just one of a roomful of parody “famous detectives”, among them Peter Falk playing a stereotypical American gumshoe, and at least three – Alec Guinness, David Niven, and Maggie Smith – playing stereotyped British detectives. Are we also to be offended by Peter Sellers as the stereotypically French Inspector Clouseau, or the French knights in Monty Python’s _Holy Grail_? It would be a terrible loss to comedy if we so easily took offense at everything that we misconstrue what is actually being parodied or entirely lose our sense of humour. _Murder by Death_ may not be for everyone, but it’s a great work by the great Neil Simon and a group of very fine actors and I unreservedly recommend it. ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2023, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/7068 "2023-07-26T11:30:36Z")
I noticed that in the trailer for _The French Dispatch_. No idea if that was intentional though! It was like spot the actor from a Bond film. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2023, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/7069 "2023-07-26T12:19:41Z")
I’ll dip my toes in. Clue is one of the greatest comedy movies of all time and I believe it may be the movie I’ve seen more times in my life than any other. One of the great movies of the 1980’s and certainly a top 5 or top 10 comedy. Murder by Death was lame. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2023, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/7070 "2023-07-26T14:15:34Z")
Looks like the “Barbenheimer” phenomena is a real thing. **Barbie** and **Oppenheimer** have a combined weekend box office of more than $500M worldwide, in the fourth largest opening weekend in box office history. And neither film is a sequel, prequel, or part of a franchise. A contributing factor seems to have been that a large part of the audience decided it made sense to try and see both of these films during the weekend. Quite a pairing. If you had told me before this weekend that one of the films was going to make more than $150M and the other more than $80M, I’d have guessed Oppenheimer for the larger box office. [![](https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,g_center,q_60,w_1315/6541a480e0c1a4fe70d2770989ede6e3.jpg) ](https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,g_center,q_60,w_1315/6541a480e0c1a4fe70d2770989ede6e3.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2023, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/7071 "2023-07-26T14:46:25Z")
> [@peccavi](#): > > And neither film is a sequel, prequel, or part of a franchise. There have been many Barbie movies. > **[List of Barbie films](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Barbie_films)** > > Since 2001, Barbie, a fashion doll manufactured by American toy and entertainment company Mattel, has starred or featured in 42 CGI or computer-animated feature films and streaming television films which since then has become a core component of an eponymous media franchise. > In response to a growing rise of digital and interactive media as well as the gradual decline of the sales in dolls, toys and accessories in the 1980s, Mattel partnered with animation studios to produce films which were br... ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2023, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/7072 "2023-07-26T14:55:04Z")
to peccavi regarding the ticket gross: Really? “O” is rated R which restricts the audience a great deal. There is no attraction for “O” among young teens and children. And the promotion for “O” is, “best seen in IMAX” which limits theaters. Only 30 worldwide can show the 70mm reels; just 19 in the US. I’m sure it fine on the 35mm IMAX and even on a widescreen but I’m going to our local 35mm theater this coming weekend. Barbie is a family show with a few different levels. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2023, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/7073 "2023-07-26T16:39:48Z")
> [@peccavi](#): > > And neither film is a sequel, prequel, or part of a franchise. And that was a relief! Finally an original story (Barbie). At the viewing we saw there was a trailer for yet another mutant superhero movie, and the reaction in the theater was just flat. I hope that’s a sign that that trend is at an end. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2023, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/7074 "2023-07-26T16:52:34Z")
We are big Marvel fans but even we have lost enthusiasm for most of the MCU offerings these days. Though I will say **Across the Spiderverse** was outstanding. It’s really hard to overstate how original and compelling it is. The other stuff? I can’t remember the last one we saw before that. We ran out of steam during a long string of Disney TV shows. Not even my favorite superhero, She-Hulk, was worth watching. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2023, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/7075 "2023-07-26T18:19:55Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > We are big Marvel fans but even we have lost enthusiasm for most of the MCU offerings these days. Though I will say **Across the Spiderverse** was outstanding. It’s really hard to overstate how original and compelling it is. I’ll keep going with Marvel, but Guardians of the Galaxy 3 was terrific and kind of felt like an ending, at least for that group. I don’t think the movies will ever have a definitive ending. It will just fizzle when no one wants to go anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2023, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/7076 "2023-07-26T20:05:47Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I’ll keep going with Marvel, but Guardians of the Galaxy 3 was terrific and kind of felt like an ending, at least for that group. Oh, yes! I forgot about that one. I thought it was really well done. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906.md?page=352) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906.md?page=354)