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axelblaze
Oct 18, 2006

Congratulations The One Concern!!!

You're addicted to Ivory!!

and...oh my...could you please...
oh my...

Grimey Drawer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeISaoQDh2g
(red band trailer so probably at least slightly :nws:)

Sorry to Bother You is the first feature film by Boots Riley, member of hip hop group The Coup. It is kind of a weird mess of a movie but it's also bursting with creativity and imagination. It is also a pretty directly anti-corporate with a story focusing heavily on unions, workers rights, the evils corporations do and way that evil infects good people because, y'know, capitalism.

The story focuses on the amazingly names Cassius Greene (played by Lakeith Stanfield who has been pretty much killing it his whole career so far) who gets himself into a low level telemarketing job. He isn't that good at it until a coworker (played by Danny Glover) tells him to "use his white voice". Cassius figures out how to do this (voiced by David Cross) and starts doing great at his job. As he rises in the company his fellow coworkers starts organizing for better treatment and he has to choose between riding a fast track in a questionable organization or siding with his friends and fellow workers to get better conditions for all.

I am leaving A LOT out (including great performances by Tessa Thompson as his artist girlfriend, Steven Yeun as his more radical co-worker and Armie Hammer as the head of the company he works for) and this movie gets loving weird...sometimes in ways that don't entirely work (in fact there's some stuff end of movie stuff you're probably really expecting me to get into in this OP) but I'll leave most of that for blocks of spoilered text later in the thread.

The only thing I want to discuss here is the movies concept of "the white voice" and why this movie handles it so well. The concept on the surface seems kind of like an obvious play on how black people are treated compared to white people and the basic impediment that being black in America can be due to the deep seeded racism no matter what you choose to do. What I like is this movie takes that a step further and has "the white voice" represent the aspirations of all Americans. That stuff I mentioned is there but on top of that is this idea that everyone wants the confidence and lack of self awareness that comes with being a white male, including other white people. It's not about the reality of what it's like actually be white but more about the fantasy of what it's like to be white. What could have been a basic "white people are like this and black people are like this" thing is instead a unifying symbol. "The White Voice" in the movie is an imaginary aspiration that gets people to do things they normally wouldn't do just to get a piece of the carefree comfort that voice represents. The concept of whiteness is not shown as an oppressor of just black people, but as an oppressor of all.

Anyways, it's a cool movie and you should check it out if i actually opens near you. It has the madcap, "let's put every idea I've ever had into one movie" energy that a lot of first features have and here that is mostly a good thing.

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MTV Crib Death
Jun 21, 2012
I told my fat girlfriend I wanted to bang skinny chicks and now I'm wondering why my relationship is garbage.
Just saw this without knowing anything about it. It's loving buck wild. It's easily one of my favorite movies ever. It just goes all in.

Car Hater
May 7, 2007

wolf. bike.
Wolf. Bike.
Wolf! Bike!
WolfBike!
WolfBike!
ARROOOOOO!
What the gently caress was that? What the gently caress


I thought it was going to be all about the white voice, telemarketing shenanigans, etc

Chairman Capone
Dec 17, 2008

Just saw this and, uh... haha. It went completely insane at the end and I completely loved it. "HORSE PEOPLE STEALING JOBS FROM SLAVES!"

The surface-level trappings may have been absurd but as someone who helped set up a union in my workplace a few years ago, and then had to go through all sorts of bullshit loopholes to renew the contract this year, I loved how we finally got an unashamedly pro-union movie that actually lays it out pretty clearly, even with all the horse dicks and poo poo tank reality shows throughout it.

Also, Steven Yeun is not only a great actor, he's really funny. I'm glad he was on The Walking Dead to get the recognition, and I'm glad he left to get much better roles. I think he's similar to Jon Hamm in the fact that they both became known out of nowhere due to starring in prestige TV drama, but their hearts seem to be in comedy.

Ty1990
Apr 22, 2011

Boy...I totally respect Boots Riley for going this insanely out of the box in his first movie, and I get why people loved it, but this was not my cup of tea. Pretty wild experience though. Go see it if you haven’t.

Optimus Subprime
Mar 26, 2005

Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not let our enemies have guns, why should we let them have ideas?

This movie was balls to the wall crazy, and I can't stop going through certain scenes in my head.

The entire house party scene was insane. I did not expect the movie to have a body horror section.

Chairman Capone
Dec 17, 2008

On further reflection, I do have one big complaint about the movie: not enough Terry Crews. You can't just tease him in a scene and then basically not do anything with him.

Ulf
Jul 15, 2001

FOUR COLORS
ONE LOVE
Nap Ghost
I was blown away. Plenty of misses in the first half of the movie, but the creativity more than makes up for that. Then it just ramps up all through the second half.

Is there a name for the style of magical realism that the movie used? Not the phone gags that we see in the trailer, they are pretty tame and I think it was a mistake to have Cass saying "what the gently caress" as his desk shook going into the first one. I mean more the hallucinatory transitions and acceptance of unreality

Ulf fucked around with this message at 17:20 on Jul 14, 2018

Ferrinus
Jun 19, 2003

i'm finding this quite easy, i guess in part because i'm a fast type but also because i have a coherent mental model of the world
I liked this movie a lot, but frankly the movie’s back half wasn’t really psychedelic enough. They kind of dropped the magical realism in favor of (goofy) sci fi, while I’d have preferred it go really nuts Generation P style.

(Generation P is a movie about a guy who gets into advertising in post-Soviet Russia. It’s reminiscent Sorry to Bother You in a few ways.)

an owls casket
Jun 4, 2001

Pillbug
My wife and I saw it last night and we both liked it a lot. The scene towards the end where Cash goes on a talk show circuit to expose the horse people plan and the public ends up not giving a poo poo felt distressingly believable.

Ulf
Jul 15, 2001

FOUR COLORS
ONE LOVE
Nap Ghost
What do people make of Mr. ________, and the fact that he hides his Left Eye?

Med School
Feb 27, 2012

Where did you learn how to do that?
Saw this with my wife and it’s one of my favorite movies I’ve ever seen.

fadam
Apr 23, 2008

Is the white headband with a red spot on it a visual reference to another movie? I know it looks like the Japanese flag, but is there more to it than that?

Strep Vote
May 5, 2004

أنا أحب حليب الشوكولاتة
It was a great hallucination and i loved it. I'm going to have to process it more. I've been a fan of Boots Riley since he was put on the terrorist watchlist.

Strep Vote fucked around with this message at 23:48 on Jul 14, 2018

Serf
May 5, 2011


I had to drive quite a ways to see this movie, but it was worth it. The whole thing owned from start to finish, from the very relevant opening bit right to the absolute loving end. Boots Riley delivered one hell of an anti-capitalist movie, which is not something you see portrayed with as much honesty as you get here. Lakeith Stanfield and Tessa Thompson are two of my favorite actors right now, and I hope they both keep getting work because they're fantastic in this. Steve Yeun and Arnie Hammer were also excellent.

When the first horse person showed up I kinda lost my poo poo because the movie had just inured me to the absurdity of late capitalism, and the equisapiens snapped me out of that because they were completely out of left field. From listening to the album, I had expected a demonic twist, but going sci-fi with it ruled. It was at that point that I realized this movie was saying something weird as hell and I couldn't wait to see where it was going to end up. Everything after that made total sense too, with the stock prices shooting up and people defending the horse people process because that's just some poo poo that you know would happen in real life. I like that the film doesn't gently caress with electoralism, and even in the end rejects reformism too. When a pissed-off army of horse people start busting into the CEO's home you're pretty much down with the revolution too.

My only issue with the film was that the pacing was a little weird, and it kinda over-used fade transitions to other scenes. It felt like some things happened too fast, and the ending was a little rushed.

the holy poopacy
May 16, 2009

hey! check this out
Fun Shoe
FUUUUUUUUCK

that is all.

Whoever cut the previews did a magnificent job, I hope they lure in a whooole lotta people to get blindsided.

Maxwell Lord
Dec 12, 2008

I am drowning.
There is no sign of land.
You are coming down with me, hand in unlovable hand.

And I hope you die.

I hope we both die.


:smith:

Grimey Drawer
Very good film. It feels a bit like it had a few things cut, or rather that Boots Riley plots so fast that if you blink you miss stuff that turns out to be important later (both the statues and the football team being key to the big strike scene)- and yeah, the comic timing is sometimes off, some jokes don't land as well as they should. But it's as much absurdism as comedy, and is part of a broad tradition of surreal, semi-sci-fi satiric film. (Glover's explanation of the white voice brought to mind Space is the Place and how that film defined blackness.)

As broad as the satire is- it's taking on basically all of modern capitalism- it feels a lot more coherent than something like Southland Tales or Body Melt. Like an actual movie and not just a collection of good ideas.

Jerkface
May 21, 2001

HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE DEAD, MOTHERFUCKER?

Fallen Rib
This movie owned and a white lady walked out in my showing once the giant horse person dick showed up. I had only seen the initial trailer, which plays up the telemarketing aspect, and I had read some tweets by the cast/crew that this was a radical anti-capitalist film, but I was unprepared for just how direct and to the point the message is. Steven Yuen's character straight up saying they do the work, they make the profits, they should have dignity was cool and at the end when Cassius kicks in the door and screams I was hype.

Nissin Cup Nudist
Sep 3, 2011

Sleep with one eye open

We're off to Gritty Gritty land




Boots Riley is pretty rad and I like his music, so I'll prob see this eventually


Its apparently good?

Golden Bee
Dec 24, 2009

I came here to chew bubblegum and quote 'They Live', and I'm... at an impasse.

Nissin Cup Nudist posted:

see this


Its good

Golden Bee
Dec 24, 2009

I came here to chew bubblegum and quote 'They Live', and I'm... at an impasse.
One thing not mentioned anywhere is the neighborhood bar and its VIP room. It has an unchanging “exclusive” password and is worse and more crowded than the regular bar. Which goes to the theme of the movie.

friendly 2 da void
Mar 23, 2018

This movie was a poorly edited mess and I loved every minute of it!!

Nanigans
Aug 31, 2005

~Waku Waku~
Anyone else catch the CEO handing Cash the apple, aka the fruit of knowledge, right before watching the movie, thus waking him up from all the bullshit? I'm sure it's meant to be obvious, but it made me feel smart for a sec.

Also, I am curious about the eyepatch dude with no name. Anyone have an idea about that?

Gatts
Jan 2, 2001

Goodnight Moon

Nap Ghost
This was a good movie that kicked in gear when Armie Hammer's character came in. It touches on a lot of things culturally too, reminding me of Bamboozled by Spike Lee, and I think manages to get some insight into the headspace of the wealthy elite I've experienced. Not completely, but does hit a nerve that exists there.

It's not earth shattering but it's a great and well done debut. Hoping for the next one by Boots. I'm wondering if a better budget or more experience and skillful execution would have made it better to commit to the fantasy route. It could have gone further with a consistent tone/style but this works as it feels more raw and natural and practical.

Gatts fucked around with this message at 21:33 on Jul 15, 2018

Gatts
Jan 2, 2001

Goodnight Moon

Nap Ghost

Nanigans posted:

Anyone else catch the CEO handing Cash the apple, aka the fruit of knowledge, right before watching the movie, thus waking him up from all the bullshit? I'm sure it's meant to be obvious, but it made me feel smart for a sec.

Also, I am curious about the eyepatch dude with no name. Anyone have an idea about that?

Eyepatch feels like a person who sold his soul. He has no name, even that's blanked out. His left eye is covered which means he's bought into the bullshit. Like, at one point he speaks genuinely to Cash but it's to guide him to his point of view in life. At the end, he bites into an apple and leaves. I wonder if there's something supernatural there or religious theme or something. I don't want to say the Devil but he's someone who has bought into the system.

Alastor_the_Stylish
Jul 25, 2006

WILL AMOUNT TO NOTHING IN LIFE.

I appreciated the brutality of the violence the police inflict on peaceful strikers, leaving heads cracked open and bodies scattered. In a rah rah let's all band together and stand up for ourselves context, they just get loving battered and bloodied. Just like in real life time and time again, the police will loving kill you to enforce corporate will.

china bot
Sep 7, 2014

you listen HERE pal
SAY GOODBYE TO TELEPHONE SEX
Plaster Town Cop

friendly 2 da void posted:

This movie was a poorly edited mess and I loved every minute of it!!

came here to say this. Patton Oswalt's voice on the fancy eyepatch man killed me every time

e: also, my audience lost it when W. Kamau Bell showed up

Donovan Trip
Jan 6, 2007
This is the best movie I've seen in years. Go see this movie.

Len
Jan 21, 2008

Pouches, bandages, shoulderpad, cyber-eye...

Bitchin'!


Alastor_the_Stylish posted:

I appreciated the brutality of the violence the police inflict on peaceful strikers, leaving heads cracked open and bodies scattered. In a rah rah let's all band together and stand up for ourselves context, they just get loving battered and bloodied. Just like in real life time and time again, the police will loving kill you to enforce corporate will.

They weren't cops they were a PMC brought in to beat the poo poo out of the peaceful protestors

turtlecrunch
May 14, 2013

Hesitation is defeat.
I respect this movie, but honestly thought it was pretty boring. Nary a laugh to be had (by anyone in my audience), more like an occasional smile and also horror, so check yourself before you go in based on the trailer. I can't say I was entertained, but it's a good movie still somehow.

And Mr. Censored Eyepatch was definitely because he was a sellout. He is The Sellout, the sellout who has existed since the dawn of time, and all he can do is draw others in with him. Also throw in religious apple crap since every movie has to have that.

Audience had 2 walkouts

HUNDU THE BEAST GOD
Sep 14, 2007

everything is yours

Len posted:

They weren't cops they were a PMC brought in to beat the poo poo out of the peaceful protestors

Weren't they even called "Scabwater"?

the holy poopacy
May 16, 2009

hey! check this out
Fun Shoe

HUNDU THE BEAST GOD posted:

Weren't they even called "Scabwater"?

It's Stackwater (the first time I heard it I thought it was "scatwater", but it shows up on a news ticker later.)

china bot
Sep 7, 2014

you listen HERE pal
SAY GOODBYE TO TELEPHONE SEX
Plaster Town Cop
a double feature of this & Black Dynamite would be midnight movie heaven

i am the bird
Mar 2, 2005

I SUPPORT ALL THE PREDATORS

turtlecrunch posted:

I respect this movie, but honestly thought it was pretty boring. Nary a laugh to be had (by anyone in my audience), more like an occasional smile and also horror, so check yourself before you go in based on the trailer. I can't say I was entertained, but it's a good movie still somehow.

I laughed a lot and so did my theater, but I do think a lot of it was nervous laughter.

Some of the funniest poo poo was also the most tense. Everything at the house party for instance. A room full of white people chanting "rap" and then Cash's absurd response. Michel Dongry's claymation video.

"I am offering you 100,000,000 :)"

got any sevens
Feb 9, 2013

by Cyrano4747

china bot posted:

a double feature of this & Black Dynamite would be midnight movie heaven

Or Repo Man


This owned

BioThermo
Feb 18, 2014

I think the line I laughed hardest at went something like "cynthia rose, who went viral with the video "have a cola and smile, bitch," has just signed a recording contract worth the equivalent of four white children."

I think my favorite bit of magical realism was the ever-changing photo of Cash's father.

I remember goons having a nice chuckle over ghost riding the whip back in the day, so I was smiling like an idiot when Mistah F.A.B. himself showed up for a cameo.

zer0spunk
Nov 6, 2000

devil never even lived
They lost me at horse people. But it's got some rad moments here and there. I'm glad it's doing well though, it seems like any showing anyone I know sees including myself is sold out. Not bad for an indie with a small marketing budget not from A24.

zer0spunk fucked around with this message at 02:38 on Jul 17, 2018

Donovan Trip
Jan 6, 2007
Spoiler that poo poo man

I thought it was pretty blatant symbolism and rode the line of humor and the truth very well. Honestly this whole movie is that quote "if you're going to tell people the truth make them laugh or they'll kill you"

That Dang Dad
Apr 23, 2003

Well I am
over-fucking-whelmed...
Young Orc
I caught this over the weekend having gone in completely blind. Holy poo poo!

My intellectual brain can admit it's uneven, weirdly paced, at times cut together in ways that don't always work, but the film is so full of creative frenzied energy that I didn't care. I laughed, I cringed, I said "What the gently caress?!", I had an absolute blasty blast.

I was also impressed by how fiercely political it was in "unsafe" ways. Hollywood has a tendency to churn out fairly anodyne liberal appetizers but this was a bombastic, joyfully angry, angrily joyful unabashedly left-rear end film.

I love weird movies that swing for the fences and this film swung its rear end off. Don't read about it, just go see it and buckle up

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graventy
Jul 28, 2006

Fun Shoe
I went in completely blind too! I'm fairly certain I saw a trailer sometime earlier this year, but when I sat down in the theater I realized I wasn't even sure what kind of movie this was supposed to be, other than "reviewing well".

It was a wonderful surprise.

It's not perfect, but it says a lot of things that most movies don't dare say. I left the theater feeling jazzed and smiling.

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