Ep 72 - Knives Out (2019)

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Knives out. 2019, a birthday celebration ends in tragedy when birthday boy Harlan takes his own life after the party concludes. But perhaps not everything is as it seems when world renowned private investigator Benoit Blank is hired to look into that fateful night's proceedings. [00:00:21] Speaker B: Blank, Benoit. Blank. [00:00:24] Speaker A: Blank. [00:00:24] Speaker C: Blanc. [00:00:25] Speaker B: Blanc. Blank. [00:00:26] Speaker C: Pretty close. [00:00:27] Speaker B: Whatever. It's fine. Hello everybody, and welcome back to our Rating the show where I take a movie franchise, break it down by individual movie, give it an overall score and throw it back up on the board. This week I am joined with my two co hosts, Brian and Will. Brian, how are you doing today? [00:00:50] Speaker C: I'm great, Dan. How you doing? [00:00:52] Speaker B: I'm doing very well. Very excited to be discussing this one. Will, how are you doing? [00:00:55] Speaker A: I'm looking forward to talking about this here movie. [00:00:59] Speaker B: I am hoping you're not doing that the whole time. Now, this movie came out in 2019, I believe this one did go to theaters, although its sequels are purchased by Netflix, so they are on Netflix exclusively. Is this your first time watching this one, Will? [00:01:15] Speaker A: Second. Second time. [00:01:18] Speaker B: I've seen it once before and what about you, Brian? [00:01:21] Speaker C: Yeah, this turns out to be my fourth time watching this movie. I didn't realize I'd seen it so much and I have just watched this a couple of weeks ago, but ended up throwing it up in the watch party and sat through it again. I'm glad I did. [00:01:34] Speaker B: Nice. This is only my second time watching this one. Like, Will, I assume you watched it fairly recently when it came out and then again this week? [00:01:42] Speaker C: Yes. [00:01:43] Speaker A: I don't actually know when I watched it the first time. It wasn't like in theaters or anything. I didn't hear a lot about it. I just like somebody recommended it or something. That was that. [00:01:54] Speaker B: So I was watching a lot of movie based podcasts when this came out and it was all any of them were talking about. So I didn't see the theaters. I watched till it was on NetFL or DVD or whatever it was. And I watched it and I was like, it's fine. It's. It's pretty aggressively fine. I will say watching it the second time, I actually enjoyed it more. So that was actually a fun surprise. Will, you and I talked behind the scenes last week where I was saying last week for the Patreon pick we did Shutter island and I was saying, like, I prefer movies when they've got a twist ending, when you don't know the movie's gonna have a twist ending and it kind of comes out of nowhere as opposed to these like, whodunits or like the Shutter Islands, where you kind of like, you know, you're in try and find all the puzzle pieces while you're watching it mode. So I think the fact that I already knew, well, I thought I knew what the twist was in this one. I think I was like, oh, I can just sit back and enjoy the performances and I know where it's going. And then it still had twists and turns that I'd forgotten about. And I was like, wait, where is this going? [00:02:46] Speaker C: And yeah, I found it sucking me [00:02:48] Speaker B: in a lot more the second time than it did the first. Helps that there was a six year gap there. But regardless, did you find that at all in your second viewing? [00:02:56] Speaker A: I think there was like little things that I picked up here and there. Again, similar to Shutter Island. There's a lot of detail put into this movie, be it on the sets, the characters, the what they're saying, how the story twists and turns and so it is re watchable for those elements. But you know, I thought, I thought it was quite enjoyable both times. I, I just think the beauty of this movie and I think maybe why it got such recognition at the time of release was nobody really does a whodunit movie. It was more of like a TV trophy type thing or you know, lots of books, Agatha Christie, Murder, She Wrote stuff. But what Ryan Johnson did in this was kind of flipped the who done it on its head and made into a cat and mouse half an hour into the movie and then kind of flipped back to a who done it at the end. So it's kind of an interesting take on the whole genre and I appreciated that. [00:03:52] Speaker B: Yeah, I really liked that like halfway through the movie they just straight up tell you what happens or at least they, they leave things out so they can still sprinkle things in down the road. But essentially they tell you what happened right off the bat and then it's like, oh, so now I know what's going on. And then they take the rug out from under you, be like, oh, I don't know what's going on? And they show you a little bit more of what's going on, like oh, I okay, now what's happening? And they just kind of did that quite masterfully all the way through to be perfectly honest. Brian, you've seen this a couple of times. How did this viewing hold up? [00:04:22] Speaker C: Every time I watch it seems to get better because I notice more about it. I personally think by the tone of your guys voice. I think I'm going to come in way higher on a rating than you will. I think that this movie is drastically underrated in general. I think that this is not a masterpiece, but really close to it. I think that there is a lot of work put into this. And I think that every time you view it, you find more because there are layers to it. And I do love that you keep getting more information that changes the story you thought you already knew. And so as it comes out, you're constantly going thinking that, you know, because this is a movie, like you said, Dan, you're. You're going into it trying to figure out what's going on, knowing it's a whodunit mystery, let's solve this thing. And you keep thinking you've got it figured out and it keeps evolving. And I just really like that. I really like the plot in this, where they take you along for this ride. There's a ton to this. [00:05:25] Speaker B: Yeah, I have to agree with you on that. I am gonna just branch off for a second there and be like, the cast in this is worth watching on its own. Like, even if you know what the twist is or you don't care about murder mystery movies, the cast is so stacked and they're phenomenal. I think there was one line from Christopher Plummer where I was like. And other than that, the entire movie is just incredibly well done. Daniel Craig, very fun to watch. Chris Evans, very easy to watch. And Anna de Armas. I completely forgot she was in this. I forgot she was the. The lead character, I guess we can say. Incredible job. Tony Collette, like the list. The entire cast, just bananas. Good. [00:06:05] Speaker A: Yeah, it's a. It's a stacked cast and you can tell they're just loving it, right? Like they're full in and it just makes it all the better because of that and kind of like, you know, the clues of the world. Like, the characters are very tropey in a lot of ways. Not all characters, but a lot of, like the family. We're gonna spoil this movie, obviously, everybody. So we always do too. Too bad. Go watch it. It won't ruin. Even if you know it all. Watching the movie, it's. It's so well filmed. The cinematography is beautiful. I don't know who the cinematographer is off the top of my head, but, like, this was all done digital, but it looks very nice, like almost film. Like. Like it's. [00:06:49] Speaker C: They. [00:06:49] Speaker A: They took all aspects to make this look like just such a beautiful movie. But yeah, it's the classic. Who done it? Like, it's all in one house at the beginning. And like, all the tropes are in place. And then they just kind of flip it and you're like, what. What is this is. You're telling me everything. Like, but it's okay because you are rooting for the killer because she's so [00:07:14] Speaker C: good, or you think you are, you [00:07:18] Speaker A: are, you are because she's, she's such a. It's so nice to see a good, truly purely good character that you can actually still invest in. Because a lot of times that can come across as like, very one note and boring, but I didn't find that at all. [00:07:37] Speaker C: Oh, Marta's character is fantastic in this. Okay. Not only does Anna de arms us armas. Excuse me. Do a phenomenal job. I thought her acting was just. Could not be better. I, I couldn't give her enough praise for some of the scenes when she's breaking down crying. You know, she thinks that she's killed Harlan. There's other times when she is under pressure because they're going to question her and she will, you know, throw up if she lies. So she cannot lie. She cannot tell a lie in this movie. And so she's under pressure all the time. And the stress on her face as she navigates this and like you said, clean. She's a pure good character and you're rooting for her to succeed in getting away with murder. It's amazing. Just. It's really incredible. And one of the things that I noticed on my return to this is that there is not one single wasted line of dialogue in this entire film. Every single thing that you hear, even when it's in the background, is important. There's a scene where Marta is listening to Fran ramble on about poison and about her cousin over at the. The lab and all this stuff. And you, you're not even paying attention to it the first couple times you watch the movie. But later, that rambling had purpose and was important in the film. And you didn't even realize it at the time because you're thinking that this scene is about Marta, I mean, being stressed and trying to dodge it and not paying any attention to this crazy woman. [00:09:11] Speaker A: Literally from the first scene of the movie, which is just the opening, showing the house at night time. You see the dogs running in slow motion right there, right from the start. It's a clue. [00:09:21] Speaker C: Everything in this movie is, is. [00:09:23] Speaker A: Is so precisely put into place. And I think Rian Johnson wrote and directed this. And he, he's a well known lover of these kind of movies. Agath Christie, Sherlock Holmes, like, he loves it. And you can tell, like, the details are in There. Not to mention he even puts, I'm pretty sure Murder, She Wrote plays in this. And then there's a podcast that somebody else is listening to about. About murder. Like, it's throughout they mentioned that he [00:09:53] Speaker C: lives on a clue board because the house looks like a set from Clue. The color schemes of the characters and stuff. Yes. [00:09:59] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, It's. It's. It's well done. It's very well done. [00:10:03] Speaker B: Yeah. I was reading that the cast didn't have the full script because he didn't want people to actually know 100 was going on, but the set designers had to and were going back to him constantly because, like, all of the clocks have to be very precisely timed for any of it to make any sense. So they're constantly going back, like, okay, what is the time in this scene? What scene are you recording now? And, like, most of the cast doesn't know what's going on, but the crew had to be, like, directly on it to make sure, like, everything was in place. I just nailed it. I thought. I thought so much of this movie was really, really well done, even. [00:10:33] Speaker C: It's amazing because there's a couple of things that would seem so out of place and so wrong, but the subtle foreshadowing that you didn't even notice was foreshadowing is so just amazing. You see all these knives behind me. Harland mentions the. That someone wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a stage prop. It's in passing. And you pay no attention to it at all. But he made that subtle mention. It plays a significant role in the very end of the film and makes it work. It's amazing. [00:11:10] Speaker B: For the record, that was the only stage prop on there. He just got incredibly unlucky, like any other knife. And she said no for sure. [00:11:16] Speaker A: But he could tell the difference, which is. [00:11:18] Speaker B: Sure. No, Yeah, I get that. That was just that one moment of, like, wait, did he just. Did that just suck for him? Like, okay, yeah, yeah. [00:11:24] Speaker A: No, but it's all. It all just kind of plays in, like, these. Even the. The baseball's journey. You know how Benoit Blanc talks about the rainbow's trajectory and natural end point or whatever the quote is. The baseball goes through that exact same journey. Right? Because the cheating husband throws the baseball out the window. It goes into Blanc's hands, then goes to the dog, then goes back to Jamie Lee Curtis's. The wife's hand. Hands. She puts it back where she finds the note to find out she's being cheated on by her husband. That full circle thing is just so intricately, beautifully, artistically put together that it's just like a joy to watch it unfold. [00:12:08] Speaker C: And all along she's babbling about her secret language with her father and you think it's a bunch of bs and then you realize when she holds the lighter up to the note and the words come out, there really is a secret language between them. And she figures it out later. You see her husband, soon to be ex husband with a black eye. Just. [00:12:26] Speaker B: That was such a subtle thing. But I loved it. [00:12:28] Speaker C: Yes, it was just fantastic. Just. I love watching this movie unfold. I love watching the acting, the set design, the cinematography, everything. About the only thing that I didn't really notice one way or another, and we've talked about this plenty, was the music, the sound of this movie. It didn't take me out, put me in, change me. I didn't even notice it at all. And that's usually a good thing. I'd rather not notice it. Then have them take a swing at some epic sound that really pulls you out or is a little too on the nose. So no noticeable sound for this that went either way is a good score. [00:13:03] Speaker B: There was a lot of. So I'm not going to disagree with you because the score is not memorable, but not necessarily in a bad way. But there's a ton of sound in the house itself that is fantastic. Where you're in one room but you can kind of hear what's going on in the other room. And they do use that nicely. The creaking sound, floorboards, stuff like that. The dogs barking in the background. They kind of mentioned like, oh yeah, no, I heard dogs at this time. [00:13:26] Speaker C: Like the thumbs up, little things like that. [00:13:28] Speaker B: Like. Like the clue board like you're talking about. Brilliantly done. But you're right, the music itself does not stand out in this one. I love you mentioned the. The go board when he like flips it over and it makes no noise because it's like heavily carpeted. It's just like he doesn't have to say anything. You just got it instantly, like, oh, yeah, he's onto you. I love that. The, the mug at the very beginning that is just like a throwaway nothing mug. When it's like my, my house, my house, my rules, my coffee. Something like that. And it's just this nothing like garbage mug. You think, you don't think anything of it. And at the very end, they never really tell you what she's planning to do with the house, but she's just sitting there drinking from the Coffee. Like, my house, my rules. [00:14:07] Speaker C: Looking down from the balcony. Such a great shot, too. [00:14:12] Speaker B: You. [00:14:12] Speaker C: You didn't need. You know what? [00:14:14] Speaker B: It's. [00:14:14] Speaker C: What it's going to be. These people treated her like trash. They're going to get theirs. And. And the coffee mug tells you that in that scene. I thought it was just fantastic. [00:14:23] Speaker B: And with the one exception of the daughter. Meg. [00:14:27] Speaker C: Yes, Meg, they're all awful to her, [00:14:29] Speaker B: but they're also just awful to each other. Like, she's. Meg is the only person where you kind of think maybe she's a decent person in public, but everybody else in this family, I mean, it's a. It's a trope of the genre. I get that. [00:14:41] Speaker A: Right. [00:14:41] Speaker B: They're all awful. Like, legitimately awful. And I think it's. Most of them are just having a ball with it. Like, having a lot of fun playing those characters. Specifically Chris Evans, who's been in Captain America land for a decade at this point. [00:14:55] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:14:55] Speaker B: And is finally getting to flex as something. Not only not Captain America, but, like, the anti antithesis of that. Being the villain, being the jerk telling people to eat. Like, I think he's having a blast with this. And it was so fun to watch him, like, the entire cast. But for me specifically, Chris Evans was the standout in this movie. He was the one, like, every time he was on scene. Even though I don't like his character, I love watching his character. [00:15:20] Speaker C: Yeah, right. I had a similar experience with Michael Shannon playing Walt. I hated watching his character because he did it so well. He did. He did a sleazy, pathetic guy so well, and he. I hated his character. Props to him on. On nailing that role. And all of them really did it. Fantastic. [00:15:40] Speaker B: I will not eat one iota of. [00:15:44] Speaker A: Apparently that line was improvised, and they kept it in. Apparently, he was the funniest guy on. On set and, oh, I believe a lot of his lines. And Rian Johnson, I guess, was really open to a lot of collaboration with the cast on this, which I. I appreciate as, like, a performance aspect of that because it can really, like, help you further get into your character more. Right, Absolutely. So that's really cool to. To hear some of those stories that the cast was like, oh, I'm gonna do this way. I want to try that, or whatever. And he's like, all right, let's do it. Like, he actually had to re. Redo all of his shots for the end. When Benoit Blanc is doing his, like, ending monologue. He was thinking of doing a lot of cuts. Sharp cuts here there. But he came in like fully memorized. He could have stage played that monologue. And so he just did a lot more longer shots on him and drawn out because he was just like so into the moment of, of the, of the monologues itself. So it's just a, it's really cool when, when the collaborative process kind of takes takes over and you can see the great results of it. [00:16:56] Speaker B: Yeah. Oh, man. The other character I personally really enjoyed, much smaller character, but Frank Oz's lawyer, when he's coming in and trying to like explain to them what's going on and they're like, well, what about this? He's like, did you just Google that? Like, I know what I'm talking about. They're just like, well, maybe I did, but still does it apply? He's like, kinda, yeah. Like, it gives you so many. Like, it's not only an incredibly funny movie, it's a, it's, it's a well crafted movie and it does drop just enough seeds for what's going to come down the road. Like, he mentions the Slayer, the Slayer rule. I think it is of the Slayer clause, like almost in passing. Like, that's the joke. He's just like, did you just Google that? But it turns out Chris Evan also googled that and that's actually his plan for how he's going to discredit her and get the money at the end of the movie. I, I really like how much of this movie comes together. [00:17:49] Speaker A: Yeah, it does. It does come together really well. [00:17:51] Speaker C: It does. [00:17:52] Speaker A: It, it does a really good job of just like giving you enough to keep you wanting more. And they keep giving you more right up to the, the bitter end of it. [00:18:03] Speaker B: Yeah, I'd had, I'd had the ending wrong in my head. Like, I hadn't seen this one in six or seven years whenever this one came out. And I, for some reason I'd convinced myself that the Laundromat scene was Chris Evans had kidnapped Anna De Armas and like, they had to go and get her. And so I was waiting for that to show up and then it was Fran. And I'm like, wait, what's happening? It was just like, oh, I don't even know where this is going. And I've seen it. Interesting. Okay, that's, that's on me. But still. [00:18:30] Speaker C: And what a fantastic take that the lead character doesn't fall into the, the cliche trope of allowing the person to die to hide their guilt. And so that they can succeed, she does the right thing and tries to save Fran's. [00:18:45] Speaker A: Life. [00:18:45] Speaker C: And because she did that, she succeeded in this game of Knives out and, and won because she did the right thing. She took care of human beings and put other people before herself. Even though she had money and, and everything else to lose or gain, she put that all aside and tried to save someone's life, making her even more of a character that you really like and care about. And so her succeeding because of that choice makes you, the viewer, feel good because you're invested in her and you're happy she does it, and you want to see her exceed. And eventually she does because of that, even though you think she's gonna lose because of it. [00:19:26] Speaker B: Well, it shows. Like, she's a nurse. She's working with this elderly gentleman. And it would be very easy to put your cynical glasses on and just be like, oh, well, she wants the money. And at the end, she got the money. Maybe she did convince him. And that's just another way of showing you, like, no, she values human life. [00:19:42] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:19:42] Speaker B: Not money. She's not doing this for the. [00:19:45] Speaker A: Everything she does from the get is selfless. Right. The only reason she goes along with Harlan's plan is because of her mom. Right. So she's not in it from the money from the jump. Yeah. [00:19:58] Speaker C: She finds out, he tries not to, and he slits his throat in front of her. She's like, well, now it's a done deal. I'm not going to waste this opportunity. [00:20:04] Speaker A: And the funniest part is she was right from the start. Right. She was right to call the ambulance for Harland. And if Harland would have let her, everything would have been fine. Like, it's so crazy. Like, everything she did was right. Like, it was. She, she, she didn't, she didn't do anything wrong. [00:20:24] Speaker C: It was just nice to see a movie where we don't see a good person break bad. We see a good person, say, stand on their laurels and, and follow through and, and be that person of, of humility and, and, and caring and whatever. And she makes it to the end and ends up getting the coffee cup. [00:20:44] Speaker B: So I, I will. On top of that, because those are all good points. But on top of that, I'll also say I also really, like, there was no, like, love interest aspect to this because, like, you've got Anna De Armas and Chris Evans are both, like, incredibly gorgeous people. They're together. She's confiding in him like he's a jerk, and she knows it, but it would have been so easy for him to try and manipulate her or Use her or, or get something from her. And I'm just glad they just stayed entirely clear of that. Yeah. And honestly, like, again, Anna Armis is freaking gorgeous and they don't even sexualize her in this movie at all. Like, there's no point where she's any, that was gonna be the bad. Poor word. But any less of a person. Like, she is a doctor. She's acting like a doctor the entire time. Well, she's a nurse, I guess. [00:21:27] Speaker C: But, you know, she has a naturally sad, guilty look, like a pouty kind of face about her. Just naturally. And they really, like, honed in on that with the camera angles and the lighting to really, really push that angle on her. Just the perfect, absolutely perfect role for her in this film. And I, I think that they, the casting of this film is phenomenal and could not be done any better. Even the little Nazi masturbating kid was hilarious. Even though he wasn't ever really doing what they said he was doing. He was just on his phone in the bathroom, basically. [00:22:03] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:22:04] Speaker C: But it was kind of funny that he never really tried to deny any of it either. [00:22:07] Speaker B: No. [00:22:08] Speaker A: But he was a douchebag too, because he was yelling at Marta as well once she got the money. So he was also a douche. But it is what it is. [00:22:16] Speaker B: Yeah, I, I, I know the name Anna De Armas, but I honestly, I don't think I've seen anything in that she's been in other than this. And now I'm actually kind of curious to go check more of her things out because she really surprised me. Like, you're not wrong. Like, her, her look for this, her acting ability, like, it just, it really. She nailed that character. And I kind of want to see more of her in more. Whatever. Shut up, Will. We're moving on. [00:22:42] Speaker A: I didn't say anything. I didn't say anything. I agree. She's a talented actor. [00:22:49] Speaker B: Yeah. And honestly, again, I'm just gonna keep going back to Chris Evans. I really enjoyed him in this film and I've, I've enjoyed him, honestly. I enjoy him as Captain America as well. But even in some of the lesser known movies that I've seen him in, in some of the more independent movies that he does, he's so freaking talented. Like, he's such a solid actor. And there's a reason you love him so much as Captain America, which is by all intents and purposes, a very dull character. [00:23:16] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:23:16] Speaker B: But he makes it his own. He does a really good job with it. And I, I would watch him in Almost anything. And this movie just solidified that for me. [00:23:24] Speaker C: I can't. [00:23:24] Speaker A: I can't tell who you're more interested in. [00:23:27] Speaker C: Isn't he in Honey Don't. [00:23:31] Speaker B: I think familiar with that. [00:23:32] Speaker C: Someone told me to check that movie out. I do believe it stars Chris Evans or he's the. The co star in it. So that's one I'm going to be checking out because I. I agree. I like Chris Evans too, and just about everything he does. [00:23:45] Speaker B: Yeah, Max Furnish. I might be a little smitten. Was there anything else I wanted to say before we move on? Will, do you have anything else? Are you good to. No. [00:23:51] Speaker C: I mean, just so many fun details [00:23:53] Speaker A: in the movie that I could talk about forever. But I mean, just go watch it and then watch it again and then watch it again. If you. If you enjoy it the first time, you'll enjoy it. I, I believe this movie succeeded where Shutter island failed in the fact that this movie is re watchable for all the fun details in the movie, whereas I didn't find Shutter Island. Maybe it's just not a fun movie. You know, where this one is fun, this is. [00:24:22] Speaker C: This one is fun, but it's also serious. [00:24:25] Speaker A: It's got the dark moments. It can turn on a dime. There's times when you're like, oh, dang, what's gonna happen now? Right. [00:24:31] Speaker C: Characters that you love and hate and love to hate. [00:24:34] Speaker A: Exactly, Exactly. So I just find that this one is like, so much more re watchable than something like Shutter island, where maybe you watch it twice and you call it good on that one. [00:24:45] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:24:45] Speaker B: There's a scene in Shutter Island. So you're talking about how, like, everything in this movie plays off of itself and builds to something else. And even the throwaway lines aren't throwaway lines. Correct me if I'm wrong, because I would love to be wrong on this. When we were watching Shutter island at the very beginning, when he's kind of going through the asylum still pretending to be a marshal, you see a very thin old woman who just kind of does this. [00:25:10] Speaker C: Yes. [00:25:12] Speaker B: That felt so incredibly like that was just made to put in the trailer and had no purpose in the movie whatsoever. [00:25:18] Speaker C: Nothing to do. Yes. She was not related to anyone or anything. Nothing. [00:25:21] Speaker B: Right. That had been in this movie. It feels like that would have connected to something or two or three things. And I feel like that is the major difference for me between Shutter island and Knives at him. [00:25:31] Speaker A: I. I guess it. I mean, I could argue that. How I could see it is she was told, like, Everyone else to play this game, play along. And so she's like, I'm not gonna let out the secret because she's like a mental patient, maybe lobotomized. Like, who knows, right? Like. So I think it's possible a tell of like this is all a game right from the get. But again, it is what it is. I, I do agree with what you said. I feel like this movie does a better job of making the details more interesting and more important seeming than Shutter island did. But it is what it is. They're. They're very different movies for various reasons. [00:26:16] Speaker B: Sure. 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[00:27:10] Speaker C: Absolutely. So I think that Anna de Armas should have got some awards for her performance in this. It was absolutely phenomenal, as was the rest of the. The cast couldn't have been cast any better. I love this movie from start to finish. And every time I watch it, I glean a little bit more and realize just how great this was done. I said it early on. I'm going to say it again. I do think this movie is underrated. I don't think that people are appreciating it for how well done it is. I'm giving this movie an89, which I think anything that's 90 and above is a masterpiece. So this is as close as you can get to a masterpiece without being an actual masterpiece. I have very little critique to do to this, to this movie. It was, it was just great. It, it's a wonderful. Who done it that, you know, there's going to be twists and it still catches you up. So fantastic. Go see this one. [00:28:08] Speaker B: So unlike Brian. This is only my second time checking this one out and the first time that I watched this, I'd seen a lot of movie podcasts. Everybody was raving about this movie. I think it was up for some Oscar buzz or nominations the time. So I went into this with a very, very high expectations and I didn't love it. I didn't. I didn't really care for it all that much, to be honest. So this is one that I kind of wrote off. I did end up watching Glass Onion. We'll get to that next week. Have not seen Wake Up Dead man yet, but this is a movie where I. I'd kind of written it off and I'm so glad that I went back to this one because it jumped significantly for me on the rewatch. I really enjoyed it a lot more than the first time and honestly, I don't know that I ever would watch this one again after my first viewing. And now I'm kind of looking forward to revisiting this one in like two, maybe three years. I don't think I'd watch it again right away, but it might jump up again the next time I watch this one. I have gushed about the cast. I will do it even more. So we didn't really discuss Christopher Plummer. This is one of his final roles in this movie. He did a phenomenal job. I think the entire cast is just absolutely a plus in this one. It's the, the, the takeaway that I will give or the negative to this that I'll give is entirely on me. Where I don't love watching movies where you know there's going to be a surprise ending. I would much rather watch a movie where there is a surprise twist that you don't see coming in any way, shape or form. But that being said, even knowing that there was a twist coming, even thinking that I knew what the twist was, I had a blast watching this one this time and I. I'm legitimately curious to watch this one for a third time down the road. I gave this one a 74. I really enjoyed it. [00:29:40] Speaker A: Well, let me start by just doing a little shout out again to Chris Plummer. We talked about him and Clean's Canadian shout out when we watch Sound of Music. Now he's back and still Canadian as ever and obviously talented as ever. So that being said, yes, all the cast in this movie is fantastic. Love, love, love it. We didn't even really talk about the you know, capitalist, wealthy game players versus the, you know, less fortunate or lesser class and, and how that is battled in this movie and brought forth, you know, but it's there. And I like the way it plays out in this movie how, you know, the Trombley family thinks they're better than everyone. And even the Harlan. His whole goal was to like switch the way he was doing things, cut his family loose so that in the end they would better their lives. But at the end of his life, the first thing he thinks of is to play another game and do it the same way he's always done it. And I think that's so well written, right, because you always fall back on what you know. And then Marta's choice of not playing the game the way everybody else plays it is the exact reason why she always wins go against him and the exact reason why she makes it out of this movie on top. And I just think there's again, so many layers to this movie. Like a glass onion. Maybe you could say that it's super worth the watch. Brian thought he would come in the highest here, but I'm gonna, I'm gonna out him by one. I'm giving this movie a 90 out of 100. When it comes to a whodunit, I think you can't find much better than this movie. It is just really well thought through and really well laid out for the audience to laugh and enjoy and wonder and just soak it all in in the end. [00:31:42] Speaker B: I, I will agree. As far as whodunits goes, I don't think there is a better than this movie. Although maybe next week maybe we'll see. But like, than this franchise, this is easily my favorite of this genre. This is just not my favorite genre. [00:31:57] Speaker C: I'm very excited to get into the rest of this franchise because I have not seen any of these. I know. I haven't either seen this one four times. [00:32:05] Speaker B: You haven't seen Glass Onion once? [00:32:06] Speaker C: I have, yes. But I knew we were gonna put this on the list, so I kept myself from watching the next ones and just re watch this a couple of times. [00:32:16] Speaker B: Fair. [00:32:17] Speaker A: That's totally fair. And I, I have no excuse. Like this one came out. I didn't watch it when it was in theaters. I watched it like a couple years later and really enjoyed it. And then the other ones came out on Netflix. I had every opportunity to watch him, but just never got around to it. And so I'm excited to watch the next. [00:32:33] Speaker B: So I'm the only one. I'm the lowest on this movie. And I'm the only one that's seen the next one. Interesting. [00:32:38] Speaker A: Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. [00:32:39] Speaker B: Well, I will look forward to asking you that same question next week. Anyways. [00:32:43] Speaker A: Yes. Max Carnage. Each movie, I believe, is a separate story with separate characters. Aside from the detective. [00:32:50] Speaker B: Yeah. Inspector LeBlanc is the only one that comes back. And. [00:32:54] Speaker A: Yeah, he's going with three lines. Yeah. [00:32:57] Speaker B: Not LeBlanc. It's not Joey. [00:32:59] Speaker C: It's just long. [00:32:59] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. Yes. Blanc. Benoit Blanc. [00:33:05] Speaker C: And what a cool accent he dawns and carries through the whole show. You know when he gets excited and figures it out and sees the toxicology report and jumps in there with such enthusiasm. Clean, you said. He really carried that and made longer shots out of what was intended. And. And it showcased there really well. He was just into another great performance in there. [00:33:26] Speaker A: The other beautiful thing is he knew it right from the jump that she was lying. Right. [00:33:30] Speaker C: Yes. [00:33:33] Speaker A: He looks down and sees it and then he calls it out at the end. Right. But he also does a couple other things. [00:33:38] Speaker C: He says he just looks at the evidence without. Without any kind of. What's the word I'm looking for? Tell. [00:33:47] Speaker B: Prejudice. [00:33:48] Speaker C: Yeah. Without any prejudice. He just looks at the truth and lets it take him to the. To the end. And he did that this time. And there were so many times when he winds up at the end when the truth arrives there. It was really kind of cool, just like he said. [00:34:04] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:34:05] Speaker B: There's. [00:34:06] Speaker A: He also mentioned the foot. Right. Like. Yeah, to her. He says it to her. Right. Multiple times. He mentions the foot. Like he knew before she knew that the blood was there. [00:34:18] Speaker B: As a viewer, I really liked that they didn't use the fact that she threw up if she lied more than they did. Because that's not something I necessarily want to watch constantly. [00:34:28] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:34:28] Speaker B: But as a detective or as somebody in the house, I would have been using that constantly. If the person who's got probably the most information literally can't lie to me. Like, I'm pulling a Chris Evans, I'm taking you out for dinner. And we're like, we're having a chat and there's nothing you can do. [00:34:43] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah. When I was rewatching that scene and you watch it and he's like, here, have mine. And he's like, could you bring me a bowl? To the. To the waitress? You don't notice what he's doing until it's done. And then he says, you just ate a big plate of these beans. And now I'm gonna ask you the question. You know, here's the bowl to throw up in and everything. It was so funny that it was so premeditated. [00:35:05] Speaker B: Oh, he knew what he was doing for sure. I loved it. [00:35:07] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. [00:35:08] Speaker B: And then the, the scene there again, just gushing over Chris Evans. The scene where they're talking and she tells him everything. You don't really see him, her telling him everything, but it kind of skips in. He's just like, huh. And then you see the actual implication of that where it's like he realizes he's. And he's like, yeah. Huh. It's like it works so perfectly in both situations. It's just one of those, like, it's such a nothing little line. I get noise that he makes, but it's so good. It's so for him. [00:35:36] Speaker C: And then, even then he says, I wonder why he would tell me that you always beat me at go. And then that leads to later. Why would that be a part of the conversation? Why would you be talking about go when you were arguing over the will? It just, it's so cool. It's just so cool how every single line in this movie has importance. [00:35:55] Speaker B: And with that, we've got Knives out, coming out in second place at 84. Now, this is only the first movie in the franchise. We'll have to see where the rest of them go. But honestly, I'm just gonna throw my cards out there. I think this is a contender for top three. Having not seen the last one and two of you have not even seen the second one. If they can keep the quality up, and I do have some faith in Rian Johnson, this, this could not drop very far, if at all, or possibly go up. What do you guys think? That's hard to say. Neither of you have seen either of the movies? Never mind. [00:36:26] Speaker C: I'm simply hoping that the next two additions to the franchise will be close to as good as this. I never expect sequels to be better than the original. That rarely ever happens. But I do hope that 2 and 3 are at least worthy additions to this franchise. And if that's the case and it stays above the 28 trilogy, or 28, 28 days, 28 years, whatever. I don't even know what we're calling that. If it stays above that, I'm gonna be happy. [00:36:57] Speaker A: Okay, I, I agree. I, I'm kind of excited to have our first true franchise because Kill Bill and Dollars, wishy washy. But like, yeah, having this up in the 80s, I'd be thrilled if they can have some, some consistency in, in each picture. I'm happy for that. And maybe we can make a whodunit fan out of Dan yet. We'll see. [00:37:20] Speaker B: I mean, if they keep these performances up, I'm gonna have to. Gonna have to get on board. [00:37:24] Speaker C: What if there's a plot twist in the third movie, he scores a 95 for it? Didn't see. [00:37:33] Speaker B: I think it's interesting that, like, of the top movies, I have the lowest score, and of the bottom movies, I have the highest score. I didn't notice that until just now. I'm like, oh, that's not. That doesn't. That's not a great look, Dan. [00:37:47] Speaker A: That's funny, though. [00:37:48] Speaker C: It is funny. [00:37:49] Speaker B: Hey, gotta. [00:37:50] Speaker A: You gotta play somewhere. You gotta play some. [00:37:52] Speaker B: Absolutely. All right, that is our rating of Knives out, but what's yours? Leave a comment down below. I'd love to hear from you. We record this every Thursday night over at Twitch tv. The head over there and drop a follow if you want to hang out with us live. Or if you made it this far in the video, you probably enjoyed it. Hit subscribe and, like, so that we see you in the next one.