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March 28, 2024, 02:53:40 PM

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Men (2022, Alex Garland directs Jessie Buckley & Rory Kinnears)

Started by Magnum Valentino, June 03, 2022, 07:30:04 AM

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Magnum Valentino


BritishHobo

I have. Not at all what I expected, in a good way.
Spoiler alert
Very slow burn, and then, well, you know. I can see it being incredibly divisive, and absolutely fair enough. But I quite liked it as a mad fucking fable.
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Jessie Buckley was incredible, as she always is.

Shaky

Trying to convince my girlfriend to go and see this (with me, obviously) - how "horror" is it, without spoiling anything?


Quote from: Magnum Valentino on June 03, 2022, 07:30:04 AMAnyone seen this yet? Can't stop thinking about it.

Are you telling me that you enjoyed watching men, and that ever since, you can't stop thinking about watching men?
Have I got this right?
Don't get me wrong, it's the current year. Absolutely no judgement here, I just want to make sure I've got this right.

Sorry everyone, I stopped myself from doing this twice yesterday.
There, it's done now. I can move on with my life.

Oh, and yes, I'm looking forward to this when it's available to none cinema goers.

Magnum Valentino

Laughed out loud there at the phrase "don't get me wrong, it's the current year".

mjwilson

Caught this yesterday, think I might need to see it again to try and put the pieces together.

Bence Fekete

Decent horror yarn. Garland improving directorially. Actors acting. A script that mostly serves than grates. still just a tad too shallow plot/subtext-wise for me to get that enthused but the set-pieces are always a worthwhile comp. 7/10 tessellating giger dongs

JamesTC



neveragain

Quote from: JamesTC on June 05, 2022, 04:27:07 PM
Spoiler alert


I'VE IMPALED MY HAND ON A SPIIIIKE
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Haha.

Yes, it's a film that has left me torn (much like the- no spoilers). Excellent acting and inventive repulsive gore. If the subtext means what I think* then it's all a bit simplistic.

*
Spoiler alert
She sees all men as the same because of her trauma, and comes to closure at the end by realising her ex was a shit.
I have no idea what all the births were about, although it was amusing to read Kinnear performed them naked in a cow field at 3am.
[close]

JamesTC

I did genuinely crease up and have to hold in laughter at the special effect I referenced above.

My interpretation, which is no doubt complete nonsense, is this:

Spoiler alert
All the different Rory Kinnear aside from the landlord are hallucinations which are supposed to represent different aspects of James. In reality, I think she murdered the landlord with the axe to put James to rest (hence the blood at the door when her pregnant friend arrived).

I've read the big vagina birth scene is supposed to represent men passing down traits to the next generation. So is it saying James is just a victim of society? Seems letting the mad sod off, if you ask me.

Amazingly, I hear that they needed no special effects for the ending sequence, as Rory Kinnear grew all the vaginas himself in order to give birth to more birth giving Rory Kinnears.

I never expected, as I merrily trotted my way down to the picture house, that I would see Rory Kinnear's vagina today.
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Noodle Lizard

I thought it was alright, but it really lost its way (or revealed that it never really had a way) in the third act. Seems to be a bit of a pattern with Garland.

The set-up and first bits were all quite effective, but the influence of other "elevated horror" was very obvious, and my interest in it followed a similar trajectory. I noticed I was getting bored right around the time the
Spoiler alert
home invasion stuff started happening in earnest
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and sadly I kind of remained bored until the end, despite "that bit" being quite something in and of itself. I'm not exactly sure what the meaning was, but I can't imagine I'd be especially blown away by whatever he intended with it.

Fine to wait until it pops up on streaming, I reckon.

13 schoolyards

I thought it was interesting the way "getting bored" seemed to be the point by the end - rather than an
Spoiler alert
escalating series of horrors or rising tension or anything like that, the aim seemed to be her realisation that yeah, men are a bit shit and all their antics are just a way to try and get your attention so they can focus back on themselves
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Noodle Lizard

Quote from: 13 schoolyards on June 06, 2022, 07:58:54 AMI thought it was interesting the way "getting bored" seemed to be the point by the end - rather than an
Spoiler alert
escalating series of horrors or rising tension or anything like that, the aim seemed to be her realisation that yeah, men are a bit shit and all their antics are just a way to try and get your attention so they can focus back on themselves
[close]

Sure, and that's all well and good, but very difficult to pull off cinematically without your audience also losing interest - especially so if the point you're making is something that could effectively be summarised in a tweet. There have been plenty of films (and music, literature, comedy etc.) which deliberately play with tedium and repetition to great effect or evoke something or other, I just don't think this one managed it. Assuming that's what he was actually trying to do, of course.

I noticed my intrigue had waned during the scene with
Spoiler alert
the priest in the house
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, if that clarifies anything. I had been enjoying it up until I realised we were in the end-game there. I may well change my mind once it's festered in there for a bit, but that hasn't happened with any other Garland project which I thought started well but didn't stick the landing (Devs being the most recent example).

Of course, it's not easy to satisfyingly wrap up an ambitious idea, and he's far from the only one who struggles to do so. I'm grateful, at least, that he's out there giving it a go when he could easily have settled for an easy career penning Danny Boyle scripts.

neveragain

If it's any help, I found myself getting restless in the first act of the film (when there's a lot of tension-building walking about in the countryside) but when it came to the 'home invasion stuff' I was more settled as I was expecting that sort of horror.

iamcoop

Well I just watched this and I think at this stage I have a couple of things to say.

A) I think some of the points made were cumbersome and obvious

B) I thought it was fucking amazing.

There were a couple of scenes that had me more frightened than anything I've see in the cinema for years. (At one point I realised I had my hand over my mouth in terror and at another point I realised I was clutching my pearls).

I thought the
Spoiler alert
domestic scenes and flashbacks to the relationship were incredibly powerful and disturbing.
[close]
.

Up until the
Spoiler alert
car chase
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I thought this could be an all timer for me.

(Probably important to add when it comes to horror tropes
Spoiler alert
Home invasion AND masks are two things that just get me. Nowt I can do about that psychological weak spot
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).

There's a lot to take in and I'd like to see it again.

It's not a like for like comparison but I have the same feeling as I had when I saw Mandy in the cinema - ie it has a load of fucking problems but I kinda think it might be a masterpiece.

Junglist

Agree with that @iamcoop

While the themes and message of the thing are blatantly clear and obvious, what it managers in tension, feel, and with certain scenes completely elevate it for me.

Mandy is a good comparison as strip away that weirdness and the visual delights and its absolutely piss poor.

I've always been a sucker for visually inventive stuff though.

holyzombiejesus

Just got home after watching this. Ha ha! Was good fun leaving the cinema with everyone doing a WTF grin at each other. It was well made guff, really. Not much about it stands up to analysis or any kind of deep-thinking but it was enjoyable all the same. Having said that, I don't really like this kind of fever-dream film-making and I preferred the more straightforward horror that the trailer promised. Reminded me of lots of other stuff, particularly some Lars Von Trier and Penda's Fen.

BTW, did anyone get a trailer for The Black Phone before their screening? That looks so so so so so so shit.

Noodle Lizard

Quote from: holyzombiejesus on June 08, 2022, 09:00:49 PMBTW, did anyone get a trailer for The Black Phone before their screening? That looks so so so so so so shit.

Yes! When it finished, someone behind me said "That looks SO FUCKIN' SCARY". Noisy eaters too.


The woman in it was really pretty, I liked the clothes she was wearing and her daft haircut.
Aw no! Am I a men?
That dress was really nice and her withnail coat as well, and that jumper and pants combo.

I liked it. It got proper batshit towards the end, which always earns you extra points.

Spoiler alert
I really liked how all the lads were played by the same guy who looked a little bit like David Walliams, though he couldn't quite pull off the same level of creepiness.

Yeah, I think that's what it was, wonky male attitudes and behaviours passed on through the generations, but also she was so damaged by her husband that she was seeing him reflected in all other men, and she'd tarred them with the same brush so they all started to appear the same and blend into one.

Good fun for the most part, it was a shame the lass didn't have too much to do towards the end, just stand around pulling a face at all the bonkers crap being served up on her lawn.

Yeah, I thought of partridge during that bit as well :D Also, the naked lad at the start reminded me of that Limmy character he'd do as little stings in between sketches, especially when he was trying to get through the door.

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samadriel


elliszeroed

I was enjoying it until the home invasion stuff ramped up, with the landlord killing the crow.

A perfectly good film could have been made with the woman and the man in flashbacks. I found that more suspenseful than the house stuff.

Tokyo van Ramming

I've only seen it once, but now you've mentioned it that bit was sharply disorientating to me and might have been the point where the story shifted from her reality into what followed.

iamcoop

Quote from: holyzombiejesus on June 08, 2022, 09:00:49 PMBTW, did anyone get a trailer for The Black Phone before their screening? That looks so so so so so so shit.

With risk of detailing the thread I have seen The Black Phone and can confirm it's one of the worst films ever made. And that's me being favourable.

Oh wow, off the list it goes.
It had been on my radar, and the rottentomatoes score seemed decent.

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_black_phone

The general consensus of critics tends to be shit when it comes to horror films. They seem to rate the best ones low and the worst ones high.

Junglist

Quote from: ImmaculateClump on June 30, 2022, 04:37:45 PMOh wow, off the list it goes.
It had been on my radar, and the rottentomatoes score seemed decent.

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_black_phone

The general consensus of critics tends to be shit when it comes to horror films. They seem to rate the best ones low and the worst ones high.

I'm not as scathing, but it's just some generic nonsense. Nowt special about it ay all.

iamcoop

Quote from: ImmaculateClump on June 30, 2022, 04:37:45 PMOh wow, off the list it goes.
It had been on my radar, and the rottentomatoes score seemed decent.

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_black_phone

The general consensus of critics tends to be shit when it comes to horror films. They seem to rate the best ones low and the worst ones high.

Yeah, I was fooled by the critical consensus which seemed to veer from "good fun" to "great".

I go and see all horror at the cinema anyway and Gateshead Vue is a fiver a ticket for all films but I thought it was beyond fucking bobbins.

(However I saw it off the back of seeing Men and All My Friends Hate Me the week before, both of which I thought were excellent so maybe I'm being too critical).