Bird box

Sunflower 27 · 02-01-2019 12:05pm

TJ Mackie wrote: »

I don't know about you, but I don't think I could make it out of my driveway blindfolded, let alone drive to my local shop with abandoned cars dotted everywhere. That scene was utterly ridiculous.

I was absolutely furious that they were able to drive right up to the door, so accurately in fact that Charlie was able to say "the door should be just to your left".

Thank God for pinpoint accurate GPS.

Oh come on, if they spent 15 mins navigating there you would say scene was too drawn out.

Sheesh.

theteal · 02-01-2019 12:22pm

I don’t get the hate. I was thinking that Americans must have seriously good gps systems compared to the ones I’ve used but I’m willing to overlook the dodginess of that to get on with the story. All in all, It was quite forgettable but I can’t say I wasn’t entertained.

Sunflower 27 · 02-01-2019 12:41pm

theteal wrote: »

I don’t get the hate. I was thinking that Americans must have seriously good gps systems compared to the ones I’ve used but I’m willing to overlook the dodginess of that to get on with the story. All in all, It was quite forgettable but I can’t say I wasn’t entertained.

It's a film, it's subjective. Some will love, some will like, some will hate. Expecting it to be true to life in every aspect is ridiculous. It's not a true crime documentary.

I think most people are able to overlook a few anomalies in a futuristic film.

gmisk · 02-01-2019 12:44pm

Franz Von Peppercorn wrote: »

The gps and proximity system in a car could be used like that, in fact. Was a fairly clever idea.

Not that I look for anomalies in movies so much but there were far more than that. Like the electricity lasting for more than a day.

Of all the things you could find fault with in the film, that wouldn't be one for me, they could very easily have there own solar panels etc.

Sunflower 27 · 02-01-2019 12:46pm

facehugger99 wrote: »

The GPS driving sequence was so stupid I felt my IQ dropping while I watched it.

Wasn't as bad as the cow being caught up in the tornado in Twister.

Mooooooooooooooooo.

Franz Von Peppercorn · 02-01-2019 2:18pm

gmisk wrote: »

Of all the things you could find fault with in the film, that wouldn't be one for me, they could very easily have there own solar panels etc.

That’s a lot of excuses for something unexplained (along with where the food came from for 5 years).

The gps and proximity system was a fairly decent explanation of how they could get about. It was a suburban street, most people committed suicide in the event so they drove their cars deliberately off the street.

With a gps and a proximity sensor you could get a mile without crashing unless the street was totally blocked. Yes they probably got lucky with stopping close to the door, but it’s a movie.

It’s a good example of how it’s best not to explain much in movies though. Don’t explain anything and people will just not think about it, go too detailed and you need to be perfect.

Bacchus · 02-01-2019 4:26pm

On the GPS debate...

GPS is fairly accurate down to a couple of meters. So that'll keep you on the road. Throw in the proximity sensors and you can navigate around obstacles. It's not that crazy an idea. Feels like it's just being jumped on as an easy example of why we should hate this movie.

Ray Bloody Purchase · 02-01-2019 4:39pm

They really didn't get the balance right when running the 'then and now' stories concurrently. I thought the back story could have been fleshed out a bit more.

It's not awful by any means though.

Sugarlumps · 03-01-2019 10:10am

Watched it last night, wasn’t expecting much. 6 out of 10. Worth watching for Bullocks statuesque face.

05-01-2019 3:31am

I thought it was an interesting spin on the zombie genre. I was impressed with the different ways which they used the gimmick. Mildly entertaining but should have been a half an hour shorter.

Banjaxed82 · 05-01-2019 11:41am

I really enjoyed it, but it should have shave about 20 minutes off.

The ending was a bit cringe from the point of view that it was thematically so on the nose.

I now want to see a cross over of A Quiet Place and Bird Box. Try get down a river in those circumstances.

Walter E GO · 06-01-2019 12:52am

Glad they decided to leave the creatures unseen.
https://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/new-photo-reveals-bird-box-monsters-look-like/

fritzelly · 06-01-2019 1:11am

Thought it was a decent film, I mean I didn't go to the pictures to see it so basically a freebie and hell it's started a craze online which most films could only hope for.

Give it a 6.5, enough suspense (are the boy or girl gonna take off the blindfolds) and the unknown and unseen creatures. I guess the drawings symbolised that the creatures were just your imagination imagining the worst looking thing. Still haven't made my mind up about what would then cause you to commit suicide whilst what I presume were already nut jobs to want to go around killing everyone else (I assume some existing chemical imbalance in the brain)

rob316 wrote: »

I didn't like:
Sandra bullock. She looks like Michael Jackson, awful nose job

Thought that too!

Dave_The_Sheep · 06-01-2019 2:50am

Enjoyable enough film if you don't engage your brain too much, but it's (hopefully) not going to win any awards.

Must read the book. The premise is damn good, which I'm glad for because the cast were pretty wooden (amazingly bar the kids, 'girl' mainly). Malkovich phoned it in, Rhodes (who I had to look up) was terrible, Bullock I've never liked and wasn't won over here at all, the rest, who cares... Tom Hollander was the only semi decent performance in there. The 'past' sequences felt rushed and not a little cheesey, the car scene was beyond silly and while I enjoyed the supermarket scene for the familiar trope it was,

they really should have figured it out from the dude in the loading depot and shot everyone on sight.

For all that though, it did well in the bits on the river. Those parts were genuinely good, spooky and the

"choose who to look"

part was ****ing dark, well played. The look on the kids face was rough. The 'boy' 'girl' realisation was also dark. Interesting to think how kids would develop in a world where either they can't see or they can't go outside.

All in all, a fairly entertaining two hours or so of entertainment. I'll draw obvious comparison with the superior A Quiet Place, which won't do it favours, but I'm still happy enough I watched it. 5.5/6 out of 10. Ish.

JohnnyFlash · 06-01-2019 2:03pm

It was fairly good. Bit of a low budget feel to it in parts. Could have done with at least one pair of norks in it. 6/10.

Underground · 06-01-2019 7:50pm

Didn't get the fuss about this at all. Went in totally blind (pardon the pun) having not read the book.

I initially thought the acting was quite hammy but when I saw Machine Gun Kelly it really did make it difficult for me to take it seriously from that point.

Maybe I'm watching too much US news, but I really thought this was some sort of commentary on Trump supporters. Bear with me.

The fact that any of the crazy murderous people they ran into were white, yet in the house with all the survivors we had blacks, whites, Asians, Hispanics etc. In particular, I think of the guy they run in to during the river journey, the guy who seems a bit hillbilly like. Emploring them to take off their blindfolds etc, it's like he was stopping just short of trying to force feed them "the red pill".

5/10, Watchable.

Sad Professor · 06-01-2019 8:48pm

Yeah, it's allegory for motherhood in the modern world. Bullock seeks to protect her children (and herself) from what she perceives to be evil forces that might infect their worldview. She does this by blinding them until they reach a safe haven where she can finally be a mother to them, a role she previously rejects even before the apocalypse.

Given the growing sense of apocalypticism among certain classes in the US, many of whom are now swearing off having children in the first place, this film really captures the zeitgeist.

Eire Go Brach · 06-01-2019 8:51pm

Ok film. Did not really make sense In terms of the blindfolds and closing the windows.
Check out A quiet place. Similar but much better.

06-01-2019 10:35pm

Sad Professor wrote: »

Yeah, it's allegory for motherhood in the modern world. Bullock seeks to protect her children (and herself) from what she perceives to be evil forces that might infect their worldview. She does this by blinding them until they reach a safe haven where she can finally be a mother to them, a role she previously rejects even before the apocalypse.

Given the growing sense of apocalypticism among certain classes in the US, many of whom are now swearing off having children in the first place, this film really captures the zeitgeist.

Film school twaddle :pac:

Sad Professor · 06-01-2019 11:04pm

Deleted User wrote: »

Film school twaddle :pac:

So is the film.

Cockford Ollie · 07-01-2019 1:35am

Why was my post removed? It's a valid criticism of the film.

helimachoptor · 07-01-2019 10:12am

thought it was ok, wouldnt rewatch though.

johnny_ultimate · 07-01-2019 11:35am

Cockford Ollie wrote: »

Why was my post removed? It's a valid criticism of the film.

Mod note: Because, quite frankly, claiming that the mere presence of characters of different races / sexualities and an interracial couple 'make you sick' is far below the standards of posting we're willing to tolerate in this forum. Criticisms of the film's politics or ideology can be made in a far more reasonable and respectful manner.

Cockford Ollie · 07-01-2019 11:40am

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Mod note: Because, quite frankly, claiming that the mere presence of characters of different races / sexualities and an interracial couple 'make you sick' is far below the standards of posting we're willing to tolerate in this forum. Criticisms of the film's politics or ideology can be made in a far more reasonable and respectful manner.

I never said the presence of such characters made me sick. I said the ideological indoctrination made me sick.

johnny_ultimate · 07-01-2019 12:28pm

Cockford Ollie wrote: »

I never said the presence of such characters made me sick. I said the ideological indoctrination made me sick.

Mod note: To avoid any such confusion in the future, I would personally recommend not posting a list of characters' races / sexualities directly followed by the phrase 'made me sick'.

And let that be the end of this train of discussion.

Cockford Ollie · 07-01-2019 1:01pm

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Mod note: To avoid any such confusion in the future, I would personally recommend not posting a list of characters' races / sexualities directly followed by the phrase 'made me sick'.

And let that be the end of this train of discussion.

The simplest thing for you to do is not misrepresent what I say.

Keyzer · 07-01-2019 1:58pm

Back on track...

I thought the film started well but very quickly descended into absolute nonsense.

It's really disappointing the garbage being produced these days. Having said that, I watched the Revenant recently (masterpiece) and Children of Men (amazing).

Bowlardo · 07-01-2019 3:49pm

Keyzer wrote: »

Back on track...

I thought the film started well but very quickly descended into absolute nonsense.

It's really disappointing the garbage being produced these days. Having said that, I watched the Revenant recently (masterpiece) and Children of Men (amazing).

100% agree with you on everything. I’m really worried that this really poor film is getting good review. I was listening to moncrief on the radio and someone texted in to the movie wasn’t very good he was utterly dismissive of thae text saying something like “we’ll have none of that it was a good movie “
If we continue to lower the bar we will continue to get **** movie.
Netflix is content over quality

3DataModem · 07-01-2019 3:52pm

Bowlardo wrote: »

Netflix is content over quality

Netflix is data over everything.

If millions of people watch it to the end and it only cost 20m to make, then job done.

Kingp35 · 07-01-2019 3:56pm

I enjoyed it to a point. It's too long, the car gps scene is ridiculous and the ending annoyed me as to how 'neat' it was. Passable entertainment though.

It's not a patch on A Quiet Place.

07-01-2019 3:56pm

3DataModem wrote: »

Netflix is data over everything.

If millions of people watch it to the end and it only cost 20m to make, then job done.

Does it matter if anything is watched to the end? Surely they only care about subscriber numbers. This film essentially has gone viral. I only watched it to be part of the zeitgeist. It's worrying that a distinctly average film has performed so well.

gmisk · 07-01-2019 3:58pm

3DataModem wrote: »

Netflix is data over everything.

If millions of people watch it to the end and it only cost 20m to make, then job done.

In fairness they did a pretty ok job with that budget.

As I posted earlier the film was just OK imo, I enjoyed the book, I do think its a tad victim of its timing, it has obvious comparisons to a quiet place (which arent helpful as that one IMO was a fantastic film). Shame as the book was wrote in 2014.

Netflix need to really up the quality of their "original content" (as well as the content they are buying and branding as original content) especially when it comes to films.

lawred2 · 07-01-2019 4:00pm

It was grand - I enjoyed it

The Specialist · 07-01-2019 4:03pm

The first 2/3 of the movie were grand and quite watchable, the last 3rd and ending bored the life out of me - I couldn't even tell you what happened for most of it. Completely zoned out once the forest/river stuff started.

DrumSteve · 07-01-2019 4:05pm

Keyzer wrote: »

Back on track...

I thought the film started well but very quickly descended into absolute nonsense.

It's really disappointing the garbage being produced these days. Having said that, I watched the Revenant recently (masterpiece) and Children of Men (amazing).

WRT Children of Men, I was only thinking of this the other day as there are two scenes that always stick in my head.

The one shot through the apartment block (obviously) and when they rob the car and get chased off the farm. Most tense sequence I've seen in years. Amazing film.

Sad Professor · 07-01-2019 4:11pm

I actually thought the river stuff was semi decent. It was the apocalypse and flashbacks to the house that I thought were terrible. We've seen those scenes a million times before in far better movies. Maybe if it had embraced the fact that this was a reject b-movie script and had a little fun with the concept, but it takes it all so seriously. Bullock seems to think she's in The Road.

Keyzer · 07-01-2019 4:21pm

DrumSteve wrote: »

WRT Children of Men, I was only thinking of this the other day as there are two scenes that always stick in my head.

The one shot through the apartment block (obviously) and when they rob the car and get chased off the farm. Most tense sequence I've seen in years. Amazing film.

I was amazed by the cinematography in the movie - incredible.

CrankyHaus · 07-01-2019 4:23pm

Bowlardo wrote: »

I was listening to moncrief on the radio and someone texted in to the movie wasn’t very good he was utterly dismissive of thae text saying something like “we’ll have none of that it was a good movie “

Moncrief is like that with anything he doesn't exactly agree with, treats it like it's beneath him to even debate the point.

I'm surprised so many people even watched this, though I'm grateful for their opinions. The Ad on Netflix turned me right off: it looked like derivative Apocalypse twaddle of the kind that's everywhere nowadays.

Children of Men is fantastic. I love how popular appreciation of it seems to have slowly and organically grown in the 12 years since its release. So much detail in the world building like Theo wearing a London Olympics 2012 top or the shard (not built at the time) being incorporated into the London skyline. The film improved a lot on the book I thought.

What Netflix original movies from the last 12 months would people recommend?

johnny_ultimate · 07-01-2019 4:27pm

CrankyHaus wrote: »

What Netflix original movies from the last 12 months would people recommend?

Roma, Shirkers, Other Side of the Wind (slight health warning on that one - it’s excellent IMO but I reckon a lot of people would bounce off it), Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Private Life, Land of Steady Habits, Cam, Annihilation, Apostle... think all of them are worth the time to varying degrees!

CrankyHaus · 07-01-2019 4:34pm

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Roma, Shirkers, Other Side of the Wind (slight health warning on that one - it’s excellent IMO but I reckon a lot of people would bounce off it), Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Private Life, Land of Steady Habits, Cam, Annihilation, Apostle... think all of them are worth the time to varying degrees!

Thanks. I had no idea Annihilation was on Netflix, I've been meaning to watch it for a while. It's interesting how much stuff can hide on Netflix if you're only relying on what its algorithm serves up as recommendations.

facehugger99 · 07-01-2019 4:45pm

Keyzer wrote: »

It's really disappointing the garbage being produced these days. Having said that, I watched the Revenant recently (masterpiece) and Children of Men (amazing).

Agreed.

The fact the movie is complete garbage in almost every way is fine. The fact that there are so many people saying they enjoyed it is concerning.

I don't want to live in a world where Bird box is considered an ok movie.

JohnnyFlash · 07-01-2019 5:06pm

facehugger99 wrote: »

Agreed.

The fact the movie is complete garbage in almost every way is fine. The fact that there are so many people saying they enjoyed it is concerning.

I don't want to live in a world where Bird box is considered an ok movie.

Hyperbole is a feature of many modern movies. Just saying like.

restive · 03-02-2019 12:00am

Saw it tonight. Ok but not a patch on the quiet place.

Kirby · 23-03-2019 12:25pm

I kept waiting for the twist or reveal.....

It never came.

Who or what were these creatures? What do they want and where do they come from? Why do they make people want to kill themselves? Why were some (clearly mentally ill) people happy to see them and largely unaffected....and why would these people want everyone else to see?

These aren't questions you can just gloss over when your entire movie revolves around them. Apart from some shoddy CGI with the boat on the river, visually it was excellent considering how low its budget was but ultimately I can't get over the massive hole in the movie regarding the creatures.

I thought Bullock was quite convincing, as per usual. The young girl was good too. It's hard to find decent child actors. I wouldn't be heaping the massive amount of praise on her she seems to be getting elsewhere...but she was passable which I guess is good enough. The supporting cast impressed me and unlike some I have no issue with Malkovich.

The ending made no sense. Okay, so the birds can give you a warning. So what? You can't fight these things so a warning wont do you any good. Whats to stop the roaming band of loonies from just breaking in to the blind school? And how in the hell do they FEED a hundred people like that?

Why did this movie get so much buzz and praise? I don't get it. A Quiet Place is a far, far superior movie.

gmisk · 25-03-2019 5:55pm

Kirby wrote: »

I kept waiting for the twist or reveal.....

It never came.

Who or what were these creatures? What do they want and where do they come from? Why do they make people want to kill themselves? Why were some (clearly mentally ill) people happy to see them and largely unaffected....and why would these people want everyone else to see?

These aren't questions you can just gloss over when your entire movie revolves around them. Apart from some shoddy CGI with the boat on the river, visually it was excellent considering how low its budget was but ultimately I can't get over the massive hole in the movie regarding the creatures.

I thought Bullock was quite convincing, as per usual. The young girl was good too. It's hard to find decent child actors. I wouldn't be heaping the massive amount of praise on her she seems to be getting elsewhere...but she was passable which I guess is good enough. The supporting cast impressed me and unlike some I have no issue with Malkovich.

The ending made no sense. Okay, so the birds can give you a warning. So what? You can't fight these things so a warning wont do you any good. Whats to stop the roaming band of loonies from just breaking in to the blind school? And how in the hell do they FEED a hundred people like that?

Why did this movie get so much buzz and praise? I don't get it. A Quiet Place is a far, far superior movie.

Its a fairly "ok" version of a good book IMO. Bullock was poorly cast for the role IMO but was ok.
It was always going to suffer from comparisons to a quiet place as it came out after, despite the book being around well before (I think 2014).
In fairness the book gives no explanation of the creatures either.
They also made some changes from the books which added nothing, for example they found and used dogs in the book, the ending in the book is also darker from what I remember.

DavyD_83 · 25-03-2019 10:48pm

When the reveal of the blind school came I kinda assumed the next step would be that to stay they would need to be blinded, and expected it to end with her realising the choice in front of her.
Afer going through so much to survive, would she be willing to do that to herself and the kids

Bowlardo · 26-03-2019 11:21am

facehugger99 wrote: »

I don't want to live in a world where Bird box is considered an ok movie.

I love this sentence. I feel exactly the same way

gmisk · 26-03-2019 11:26am

DavyD_83 wrote: »

When the reveal of the blind school came I kinda assumed the next step would be that to stay they would need to be blinded, and expected it to end with her realising the choice in front of her.
Afer going through so much to survive, would she be willing to do that to herself and the kids

You would have probably preferred the book ending in that case.
https://www.bustle.com/p/the-bird-box-book-ending-ending-is-so-much-darker-than-the-film-in-this-scary-way-15643844

nix · 26-03-2019 2:36pm

Kirby wrote: »

I kept waiting for the twist or reveal.....

It never came.

Who or what were these creatures? What do they want and where do they come from? Why do they make people want to kill themselves? Why were some (clearly mentally ill) people happy to see them and largely unaffected....and why would these people want everyone else to see?

These aren't questions you can just gloss over when your entire movie revolves around them. Apart from some shoddy CGI with the boat on the river, visually it was excellent considering how low its budget was but ultimately I can't get over the massive hole in the movie regarding the creatures.

I thought Bullock was quite convincing, as per usual. The young girl was good too. It's hard to find decent child actors. I wouldn't be heaping the massive amount of praise on her she seems to be getting elsewhere...but she was passable which I guess is good enough. The supporting cast impressed me and unlike some I have no issue with Malkovich.

The ending made no sense. Okay, so the birds can give you a warning. So what? You can't fight these things so a warning wont do you any good. Whats to stop the roaming band of loonies from just breaking in to the blind school? And how in the hell do they FEED a hundred people like that?

Why did this movie get so much buzz and praise? I don't get it. A Quiet Place is a far, far superior movie.

Took the words right out of my mouth.. Watched this last night and i'm lost how the movie got so much buzz, the marketing machines in full throttle i guess

DavyD_83 · 27-03-2019 1:57pm

gmisk wrote: »

You would have probably preferred the book ending in that case.
https://www.bustle.com/p/the-bird-box-book-ending-ending-is-so-much-darker-than-the-film-in-this-scary-way-15643844

FFS
"It's just been unveiled that Bird Box's book ending is even darker"
The ending of a book published in 2015 had just been 'unveiled'
But yeh, thanks for that, send like Netflix butchered the ending in that case. To me that was the natural conclusion.
There is no sense to seeing people being safe in the blind school just because birds would make some noise. It was never set up that the bird were any sort of defense, just a warning (from my memory).
And for the blind ppl, taking in ppl with sight is just exposing themselves to the risk.
I would have found that ending, or even a hint at that far more satisfying, as it is they've tagged on a 'hopeful' ending to something which otherwise was kind of interesting and full of people merging to make tough choices to survive.

Kinda reminds me of Dexter the happy lumberjack

Bird box

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