KNIVES OUT -- dir. Rian Johnson; Daniel Craig, Michael Shannon, Jamie Lee Curtis, Chris Evans, etc. etc.

Driving around on errands this morning, I remembered Plummer's response when he realizes he might've been given the wrong injection = classic.

Sequel otw as expected: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/knives-sequel-works-centered-daniel-craigs-detective-character-1266533

Nice nice

Knive Harder

Knives Over Forks

Knives In?

craigs character would be fairly low down the list of those id follow to a sequel tbh

much rather follow shannons tortured and twisted failed publisher

Could be interesting if it's a Better Call Saul thing where it shows Craig with a different name and accent until a threat to his life forces him to assume another identity.

Wait that's a Tana French novel nm

I hope he casts Kelly Marie Tran.

craigs character would be fairly low down the list of those id follow to a sequel tbh

Poirot stories are not about Poirot

I would totally see a Knives Out sequel, and yet one of the great things about the movie is that it's a star-studded Hollywood entertainment that's not a franchise.

Why has Knives Out — an old-school whodunnit, unrelated to any established franchise or source material — done so well? Some of the movie’s success might be thanks to good holiday timing, but it also has something that the latest entries in the Star Wars, Jumanji, Frozen, Addams Family, and Maleficent franchises do not: incredible word-of-mouth buzz.

...

The sort of word of mouth that sells out theaters five weeks into a film’s release often has very little to do with critics and everything to do with people telling their friends and family that a movie is actually good. Not “good for a Marvel movie,” not “a little long but has some good special effects” or even “definitely going to win some Oscars,” but good in that way that makes it hard to shut up about — usually the result of a movie exceeding expectations in some, often ineffable, way. That’s what Knives Out is: a pretty good movie that’s exceeding people’s expectations because their expectations for the movies are so damn low.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/annehelenpetersen/knives-out-rian-johnson-box-office-movies

(Johnson has repeatedly said that while he's always been disinterested in sequels, the beauty of doing further Benoit Blanc Mysteries is that they'd not be sequels, just new mysteries about different characters.)

xp it manages to be a whodunnit and fun in a very contemporary american way, whereas a lot of pure whodunnits try to be period pieces or otherwise entangled and it limits the audience

the joke about the house being acquired contemporarily pokes fun at that, because it’s the atemporal element

whodunnit and fun in a very contemporary american way

... while using and playing with all the traditional genre tropes. Obviously "genre tropes, but contemporary!" is not a new idea, but normally it's not done this well.

this was fabulous, loved the coffee cup framing and all the delicious overacting and mugging, like an updated parody of Murder By Death. all the acting was pitch perfect.

Why has Knives Out — an old-school whodunnit, unrelated to any established franchise or source material — done so well?

because America want to see rich people get theirs for once

Kinda surprised how un-twisty it was. I was expecting at least one more surprise in the final third. I think movies like Wild Things have permanently messed up my ‘twist anticipation’ gland.

really happy i went out to see this in the theater, it was so much fun. i was cracking up at random daniel craig line deliveries. the way the tone modulated from farcical to sinister was a neat and difficult trick--thinking of the family descending on marta's failing car like zombie vultures vs. the genuinely unsettling encounter with walt in the hallway of her apartment. it made the last shot feel very well-earned. also, since i haven't seen it mentioned in this thread at least, what a delight christopher plummer is in his scenes.

great cameo by downtown maynard, massachusetts too

I appreciated that Ana de Armas, probably 29ish when this was shot, was able to play a nuanced character that didn’t seem artificially old or young. Just a responsible person, not a kid, who lives with her mom and works a private nursing job, but still has social potential to live out

Just saw it again with Rian Johnson’s commentary in my ear, some great stuff about sets and locations, improvised moments, and especially cinematography. Biggest revelation for me was hearing that Benoit Blanc’s voice owes the most to Ken Burns talking head, writer, and Lost Causer Shelby Foote.

Also Johnson storyboards his movies himself with bad line drawings, and one of the key payoffs for Marta’s story, of knowing by look and feel which drug was which, wasn’t in his first draft but was pitched by his first readers.

wow yeah shelby foote did basically talk like that

omg that is awesome

We’re still in theaters this weekend! If you haven’t caught @KnivesOut yet or if you want another shot of whudunnitness we’ve got you covered. Though I can’t promise it will equal the splendor of my original storyboard vision. pic.twitter.com/95rzRbSmBE

— Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson) January 19, 2020

lmao

nice to know that i share the drawing ability of a successful film director

I don't :(

Hahah I love the Safdies reply to that.

People laughed at my boards, but they’re helpful. pic.twitter.com/jzGPHWSnjM

— SAFDIE (@JOSH_BENNY) January 19, 2020

that last effort has me humming "that aint workin, thats the way you do it"

And we're off:

Update: Lionsgate's CEO says a Knives Out sequel is officially happening. Production is getting underway soon. https://t.co/USnQHmBWN7 pic.twitter.com/atjZjrlL39

— Peter Sciretta (@slashfilm) February 6, 2020

Blanc. Benoit Blanc.

this movie fucking ruled!!!

I always associate detective stories with medicine, but daniel craig reminded me of someone particularly charismatic and brilliant I trained under which endeared me to his character even more than I might have otherwise. totally bought the accent and was ROLLING at “detective KFC” or whatever that diss was

ensemble cast overall was fantastic I thought. ana de armas was really good! so much goodness in her character. hope she gets some critical love for this role. and man did she look good in this movie

"CSI: KFC"

how's the novel

SUPER racist! v glad he updated it.

what novel?

saw this around Xmas and k3vin otm, Daniel Craig was great as was everyone else especially Ana de Armas. it is always good to see Craig cutting loose w/an accent and w/his not inconsiderable comic chops and natural charisma. the manner in which the mystery was "solved" early on was an excellent red herring, for how it all continued to pile up thereafter. biggest laughs in the theater came from the Gravity's Rainbow zing and "that was the dumbest car chase of all time!" plus:

"I spoke in the car about the hole at the center of this donut. And what you and Harlan did that fateful night seems at first glance to fill that hole perfectly. A donut hole in a donut's hole. But we must look a little closer. And when we do, we see that the donut hole has a hole in its center. It is not a donut hole, but a smaller donut with its own hole, and our donut is not holed at all!"

This movie was lit

i am somewhat ashamed, but also not, to share with you that at the climactic shot of marta holding the mug on the balcony i whispered to myself, "boom. suck it"

very good movie, i think it's safe to say that the shushing during the denouement was the best part.

A donut hole in a donut's hole.

I heard the rest of his monologue but I was giggling through it after he dropped this

I appreciated that Ana de Armas, probably 29ish when this was shot, was able to play a nuanced character that didn’t seem artificially old or young. Just a responsible person, not a kid, who lives with her mom and works a private nursing job, but still has social potential to live out

btw this is super OTM

When they were like "Harlan was friends with his nurse" I was ready to roll my eyes and grimace through a bunch of painful pandering that played up the lecherous old man angle but then they showed the two of them interacting and I sat there going "wait, I'm buying that they ARE friends, this rules, what is happening" and that reaction made me so much more invested in the subsequent events and the family's behavior; all of that rests on how pitch-perfect de Armas was in that role and her obvious chemistry with the rest of the cast.

i probably said this already but her joy and saltiness and confidence with harlan was utterly at odds with how she behaved with anyone else (apart from her family) - it was a great, bold choice to show that contrast and reveal this other side of her that’s basically hidden throughout the rest of the movie

otm

Love Finds Knives Out
Out West with Knives Out
Knives Out Rides High
Knives Out Gets Spring Fever
Judge Knives Out and Son
Knives Out Meets Debutante
Knives Out's Private Secretary
Life Begins for Knives Out
The Courtship of Knives Out
Knives Out's Blonde Trouble https://t.co/GnIHqL8Pt3

— Matt Prigge (@mattprigge) February 11, 2020

btw i guess i will see this. MoMA is having a Craig retro in March; do you think the theater audience experience will add much?

Sure, it's well filmed!

(Plus, I love watching any movie with a twist or surprises or shocks with a crowd just to hear the reactions.)

The audience I saw it with was really into it. Lots of laughs throughout. Definitely enhanced the experience.

It absolutely benefits from a packed theatre and a big screen for laughs, gasps, and pretty / unshowy photography.