Poor Things (Lanthimos, Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo)

[Jark]

not much to go on in the teaser but this looks like it could be a lot of fun



the visuals

 

[VoR]

Full trailer


It’s getting strong early reviews from Venice

 

[Christian]

"Instant classic"! Sounds spectacular.

 

[jivafox]

I'm sure it will be brilliant, but everything about this is turning me OFF.

 

[big ron]

I’m mildly obsessed with Emma Stone after watching Maniac this week so this has been bookmarked in my brain

 

[Finn]

I'm sure it will be brilliant, but everything about this is turning me OFF.

Yeah I hear you on that. The quirkiness looks dialled to the point of overkill, and there are approx 150 actors I'd rather see in a lead role than Mark Ruffalo. But in Yorgos I trust.

I wonder if we'll get a news cycle of ~discourse~ about them not casting a neurodiverse or disabled actor in Emma Stone's role.

 

[Ellie]

On my list for LFF

 

[Christian]

Wins the Golden Lion for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival.

 

[jyxz]

I’ve got Alps and Dogtooth lined up. Can’t wait for this new one too

 

[jyxz]

This was delicious

 

[VoR]

Poll added

 

[jivafox]

Me watching this:

 

[jivafox]

DP

 

[Ellie]

Me watching this:

RATE IT THEN!

Seeing this on Monday as I don’t have time this weekend

 

[jivafox]

RATE IT THEN!

 

[cwej]

I liked this a lot but didn’t quite love it. However, Stone is extraordinary in it - a unique performance that should earn her an Oscar I think.

I usually do like Rufallo and he’s getting praised a lot I’ve seen but I thought his accent was dodgy in places and his performance a little one note.

Dafoe was good though.

The direction is absolutely insane but I thought it was memorable and fascinating.

 

[Sheena]

Absolutely magnificent. It would be 10/10 except for the final scene which was just silly, so 9.5/10, but rounding it up anyway. So WHAT THE HELL.

 

[jyxz]

Absolutely magnificent. It would be 10/10 except for the final scene which was just silly, so 9.5/10, but rounding it up anyway. So WHAT THE HELL.

I enjoyed the last scene but…

Spoiler: Spoiler

thought they would have put God’s brain into the husband

 

[jyxz]

What did Vicky Pepperdine say when she was grabbed in the nethers? I cackled so hard.

 

[jyxz]

See also ‘I must go punch that baby’

 

[Sheena]

I enjoyed the last scene but…

Spoiler: Spoiler

thought they would have put God’s brain into the husband

Exactly what it should have been and which would have given the proper 10/10 rating for me.

I wanted to write that but couldn’t realise how to use spoiler tags on an iPhone, so thanks for that

 

[Sheena]

What did Vicky Pepperdine say when she was grabbed in the nethers? I cackled so hard.

Love me Vicky Pepperdine at the best of times but with that scowl on her mug most of the time was an absolute JOY!

 

[cwej]

I enjoyed the last scene but…

Spoiler: Spoiler

thought they would have put God’s brain into the husband

Spoiler

HANG ON.... WHAT? I thought that's what happened... what did happen!?! They just put an animal's brain in him?


Just seen it was a goat.


For some reason in my head I thought that it was God's brain and it wasn't yet developed but I have just realised that that would have been fully developed and it was only because the girls were the brains of babies that they acted unintelligently at the start... Wake up Cwoj!!

 

[Ellie]

Absolute master class in direction and Stone for the Oscar, surely. She didn’t really deserve it for La La Land, but I have no qualms about her having two.

 

[jivafox]

She should at least swap.

 

[GNL]

I loved this. The sets were really stunning, and Emma was fantastic. My only critique is that it was a bit long, and I was ready for it to end at the wedding scene.

 

[Madíson]

What did Vicky Pepperdine say when she was grabbed in the nethers? I cackled so hard.

I think it was:

“She touched my hairy business!”

 

[Dark Carnival]

I watched this the other day. While I enjoyed it over all, the first half of the movie is pretty hard to get into while Bella is still talking like a child.

 

[Suomi]

Fuck me this was boring

 

[Suomi]

To expand now that the initial dust has settled:

just random scenes spliced together. the whole feel was “give us an Oscar”. no real plot. kind of needlessly gross in places? and just because you can use a fishbulb lens doesn’t mean you’re artistic. the man who played her regular shag was cute and the best thing about it. the steal/homage from 1932’s Freaks at the end kind of undermined her whole point?

2 is generous

 

[Finn]

I liked this overall, but didn't love it. It felt like there was a much tighter 90 minute film somewhere within. Yorgos has done a lot better (Dogtooth, The Lobster, The Favourite) that was less bloated.

The stuff in the house with God and 'London' in general was stronger for me than the international tour stuff. And this isn't purely down to my dislike of Mark Ruffalo, as I didn't mind him in this.

 

[RaspberrySwirl]

I found this both beautiful and unbearable. Too long and as mentioned above too hard to get into, especially the beginning, we sat there and just wanted it to end. But the style and the set is incredible.

I wanted to take pictures of every scene, especially in Lisbon and onboard the ship, and it might say something about the experience of watching it but the only time I decided to take a pic (we were almost alone in cinema) Bella ruined it by vomiting.

 

[untilted]

A friend of mine was slagging Emma Stone off last week saying she’s “one note” and “limited”. I haven’t seen enough of her work to comment really. Can anyone confirm or deny?

 

[jivafox]

Confirm.

 

[Christian]

Deny.

She throws herself into difficult and unconventional pieces of work, and is very charismatic on screen and always a pleasure to watch.

 

[VoR]

I liked this a lot, but I don't know if it holds up to much scrutiny really. Definitely quite slight compared to The Favourite.

My favourite things were definitely the production design and Mark Ruffalo's performance. His ever-present girdle

Stone was great too though, but if she beats Lily Gladstone the internet is never going to shut up about it so I hope for her sake she doesn't.

The random introduction of a new cartoon villain in the last 20 minutes was definitely a bit jarring. I wish they'd just combined that character with Ruffalo's, and had him end up as the goat at the end. He just kind of disappeared after the wedding scene, didn't he?

 

[Ellie]

A friend of mine was slagging Emma Stone off last week saying she’s “one note” and “limited”. I haven’t seen enough of her work to comment really. Can anyone confirm or deny?

Deny. Deny. Deny.

 

[Jark]

Stone was great too though, but if she beats Lily Gladstone the internet is never going to shut up about it so I hope for her sake she doesn't.

why shouldn't she. many first-time nominees don't win and Emma went in headfirst and fully transformed herself for this performance.

 

[VoR]

I'm not saying whether it's justified or not, but Gladstone has such a strong narrative around being the first Native American best actress nominee, that if she loses to Stone who already has an Oscar, there will doubtless be a degree of backlash.

For what it's worth I think they both give strong performances that are so different in tone that it's faintly ludicrous to get too worked up over who was 'better', but Stone certainly had the showier role.

 

[Suomi]

Sandra Hüller should win Best Actress or the whole thing is a fix. Emma Stone was basically just herself in this movie.