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Death of a Unicorn (2025)
18 Plays8 days ago
A unicorn dies, but a podcast episode is born. Check out Andy and Hunter's thoughts on Scharfman's directorial debut!
As always, please reach out and let us know your thoughts on Instagram, TikTok, or by email at hazardousopinionspod@gmail.com and chat with us on Discord! If you love movies, add us on Letterboxd! Andy - Eric - Hunter.
Please send us your movie recommendations or suggestions for discussion topics. Be on the lookout for our next episode! Love you all!
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Transcript
Welcome and Announcements
00:00:20
Speaker
Hey everyone, welcome back to Hazardous Opinions. Today, Andy is finally right back where belongs with the pod and being the awesome co-host that he is. Really happy you're back, buddy.
00:00:32
Speaker
Thank you. We'll be discussing Death of a Unicorn that just released last week. A big way you guys can help us is by following us and giving us five stars wherever you get your podcasts.
00:00:43
Speaker
Also, reach out to us with anything movies at hazardousopinionspod at gmail.com or on socials like TikTok and Instagram at hazardousopinionspod and chat with us on Discord.
00:00:56
Speaker
We really appreciate all of you and your support. Now, before we dive in, Andy, how are you
Andy's Movie Binge
00:01:03
Speaker
doing? I'm doing good. i'm ah I'm very glad to be back. I've been watching in a lot of movies over the last, ah was it eight months I've been gone-ish?
00:01:12
Speaker
Too long. Something like that. um Anyways, lots of movies. I've cruised through my list, and now we're kicking it off with ah with a brand new one to get back into it. Perfect. All right. Yeah, yeah. like Like I said, super happy you're back. I'm not um super pressured or anything. Yeah.
00:01:30
Speaker
On the boat captaining myself, I guess. Oh, thank goodness. um Yeah, no, I'm glad you made it back safe. I'm glad you had a lot of experiences and movie watching. Yeah.
00:01:42
Speaker
I mean, I could tell from your letterboxd it was like constant. That's awesome to see, though. Yeah, just I knocked out tons of stuff and found a lot of really good favorites.
00:01:53
Speaker
Heck yeah. All right. That's awesome. So are you ready to dive in? Yeah, let's do it. Yeah. Okay. All right. Here's Death of a Unicorn from 2025.
Plot and Cast of 'Death of a Unicorn'
00:02:04
Speaker
The plot of this is a father and daughter accidentally hit and kill a unicorn while going on a weekend retreat where his billionaire boss seeks to exploit the creature's miraculous curative properties.
00:02:18
Speaker
Now let's meet our cast. Paul Rudd plays Elliot. Jenna Ortega plays Ridley. Will Poulter plays Shepard. Richard E. Grant plays Odell.
00:02:31
Speaker
Tia Leone plays Belinda. And we have Anthony Kerrigan as Griff. The IMDb rating is 6.5 out of 10.
00:02:41
Speaker
And the Letterboxd rating 3.1 out 5. And obviously, since this is newer, just came out last week. Like you said, when we were talking earlier, it will like be subject to change because there's only what, like 2000 on IMDB yeah logged.
00:02:58
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. That's
Movie Review: Opinions and Ratings
00:03:00
Speaker
that's not a whole lot. But and um Andy, your rating on Death of Unicorn and general thoughts since you're back on the mic, we'll start off with you.
00:03:09
Speaker
Yeah. um Yeah, I guess I'll i'll shout out Alex Garfman as well for dick directorial debut on this. um Yeah, correct. So it's always nice to see a ah young director getting getting their feet wet, getting into the big pictures right away and getting a big theater release with their first one.
00:03:27
Speaker
um So that's cool. um But yeah, me and Hunter went to this a couple days ago and formulated our notes. And I had a good time with this.
00:03:38
Speaker
ah There's a lot to enjoy, especially with Ortega's performance, really killing it here. Rudd has got some some good scenes as well. And Will Poulter as well.
00:03:49
Speaker
It's just amazing comedic relief. Yeah. And then Anthony Kerrigan, as you mentioned, as well as Griff. um Just a little side character that I had the most fun with. Overall, this movie was funny.
00:04:02
Speaker
um And it was also very gory, which I enjoyed some of those parts. um But they don't lean too much.
00:04:14
Speaker
Sorry, they don't lean enough into the silliness I think there's too much seriousness that brings you out and you start questioning the reality of seriousness until the comedic parts bring you back into that side. It's a little bit of a flip-flop, but I'd give this a 7.2 overall.
00:04:29
Speaker
I had a good time. i enjoyed it. um There's just some tone mismatch to the movie. Yeah, definitely. And going off of that tonal mismatch, like I will say that's one of my biggest points in my general thoughts and feelings on it. Just very, it bounces around a lot we with tone.
00:04:53
Speaker
And even though it's categorized as a horror comedy, it's I felt personally it didn't take full advantage of that. Like you were saying, the big positives were the performers going into this. Like I was super excited. Immediately, Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega grouped up together as a father and daughter. i I was like, I'm sold. This is in the bag, especially being an a twenty four production too. You know, like they...
00:05:20
Speaker
for me personally, have hardly missed, I would say. And you you've come to enjoy so many A24 films yourself too. um I was kind of, even though I thought this movie had in the bag with its concept, I mean, bringing unicorns and doing horror with it, I was like, okay, intriguing as well.
00:05:45
Speaker
And hitting a unicorn on a nature... preserve is kind of ironic of it um i kind of had that back in my mind thought that maybe a twenty four i i have come across a24 movies that i'm not a big fan of and it's becoming more and more
00:06:10
Speaker
frequent now that eight twenty four is getting bigger and producing more films there might be more misses and that's what i was kind of concerned with and i would unfortunately categorize death of unicorn into that bucket right there yeah it did let me down that's the whole feeling i had throughout the movie i'm like it I don't know. It's just it.
00:06:40
Speaker
The thought and feeling of that hindered my experience. Unfortunately, i couldn't really enjoy myself. I just kept thinking, oh I would have done something different here. i would have done something different here. I would have wrote a different line there or something.
00:06:55
Speaker
Yeah. Just.
00:06:58
Speaker
I mean, i watched the electric state not too long ago. And I'm just going to say soulless, soulless movie there. And I did find a lack of soul in this one as well, unfortunately. And i kept thinking about The Electric State, even though they're two completely different movies and different scales and different production companies, obviously.
00:07:23
Speaker
it It did stick in my mind yeah during this. And I was, yeah, I kind of had an icky feeling the whole time. So... Saying all that, sorry, I was kind of rambling on, but my personal rating would be a two out of five on Letterboxd for this. on your Letterboxd.
00:07:41
Speaker
Yes, yeah and unfortunately. Yeah. No, not two out of 10 in the IMDb terms, but oh that would be horrible. um Still, I mean, 4 out of 10 on the IMDb scale.
00:07:52
Speaker
Yes. that's ah That's a big miss for you. and i I'll get into thoughts. And don't worry, people, if you really enjoyed this. I love when people enjoy something I don't enjoy because that means there's there's something out there for everybody. This just wasn't for me, unfortunately. And no matter how much I love the performers or I love these type of films, especially horror comedies,
00:08:19
Speaker
It's just, yeah, it did it didn't hit that mark. Yeah. Yeah. Interesting. i I expected you to go lower than me. I didn't know you'd be that low. Mm-hmm. Yeah, we we also seen another A24 film together recently, ah Opus.
00:08:33
Speaker
And talking about misses lately. I would exactly i you brought up a point that I was circling there. I just couldn't um I couldn't think of the A24 movie that it was really in the back of my mind during this. And yes, yeah, it was Opus and I would I would link these two, you know, even though they are close in release.
00:08:58
Speaker
Mm I would I would group them together in that disappointing bucket.
A24 Productions Discussion
00:09:03
Speaker
Yeah, I think A24 needs to take a break, take a step back, and, don't know, reevaluate the entire, the way they want to do it.
00:09:13
Speaker
um Like, i you can't ever just put this on what these failures on one person. um No. I'm sure Scarfman or Sharfman probably, you know, did he did great, I think, as a director um for the first time here.
00:09:29
Speaker
Same with the director for Opus. that I would say Opus is a very good direct directorial debut as well. Yeah, exactly. ah it's just It's just something about the writing.
00:09:42
Speaker
like I don't think this movie was miscast at all. I think, honestly, you had the perfect cast for this. You did? Yes. Poulter was perfect. Ortega and Rudd were um both brilliant and were actually believable father-daughter duo.
00:09:57
Speaker
yeah And I really liked their um their characterization at the start and the first half of the movie. um as far as their relationship to each other went.
00:10:08
Speaker
And then it just kind of started to go downhill and you you know you get into that like, okay, now we're just retreading the, okay, the mom died beats the normal, we're getting back together at the end type of thing, even though there was no emotional journey from Rudd he was still he was still his shitty character from beginning to end yes and I think that was one of the biggest misses in this for me as well was Rudd's characterization is not being redeemable I don't know how you felt on that
00:10:40
Speaker
Yes. No, I didn't feel like there was really any journey for any character in this. like Ortega's character, how the story you know presents her, it should have an emotional journey that you know connects with you, and the viewer.
00:11:00
Speaker
But... it didn't connect with me it didn't strike with me like the plot was intending the storytelling was intending you know um ortega's character should ah ripley ridley ridley ridley not ripley wow okay getting the alien there she should have had ah journey but i just didn't i didn't feel it yeah it was pretty shallow it was a shallow journey You see inklings of it?
00:11:29
Speaker
Yes. There's like, you know, the touching the horn scene at the start. um It's like, okay, she's ah she's our age, like she is in real life, um or our generation at least. yeah And so, like our generation, we're all super...
00:11:46
Speaker
you know environmentally and you know all the different things like that and you're like oh that's cool and she's going on her little uh you know save the animals little arc as well as the animals are bringing her closer to her mom who passed away um and she's getting that closure that her mom's in a better place it's just you get two touches on it you get the start scene when she touches the horn And then you get near the end where she kind of reconnects with Rudd and his character, Elliot, about it.
00:12:19
Speaker
But yeah, you don't get that, like the
Character Development and Emotional Impact
00:12:21
Speaker
in-between of her being really torn up about it and like,
00:12:27
Speaker
I don't know. he just yeah It just didn't didn't hit enough. Ortega's performance was giving that emotion and stuff. like She was trying. it's just I don't think there was enough um dialogue about it or like telegraphing of it.
00:12:43
Speaker
Yeah. yeah i uh i don't remember if we talked about her on our like up and coming actors and like that we discussed before um i don't think we did i yeah i don't know if she was mentioned uh but she's really good in this i haven't seen like a lot of ortega before this i know she you know blasted into fame as is wednesday adams um and all of her other smaller roles uh you know her scream stuff as well um And Beetlejuice just recently.
00:13:15
Speaker
Yeah. And X. Yeah, she's horror queen already. Yeah, and she was just not big in my mind until this, though. I think that's one of my biggest takeaways is Ortega can act really well.
00:13:27
Speaker
She can. She can. And yeah, um I think it really helped to have Jenna Ortega and Paul Rudd as... family because their chemistry was there as well but again the writing i don't think capitalized on that chemistry unfortunately agree there there wasn't enough uh build up of their relationship in it and that's what i was talking about with like just not enough telegraphing or dialogue of like these emotional beats it just yeah felt shallow again
00:14:07
Speaker
Also, like the ah me speaking into the lack of them leaning into the comedy aspect, the you know they're teetering the horror comedy line, not really picking one or the other, not perfectly merging them for something like like Hard Eyes. um ah like the The soundtrack, I felt like, was a letdown in this.
00:14:29
Speaker
I think... There was one or two um big songs and they didn never really you know added to anything. i really liked the intro a little bit, but then it kind of felt cut short.
00:14:41
Speaker
And then, yeah, I feel like you could add some more comedic timing into that using songs, you know, running away from unicorns and stuff, especially with Rudd in the forest running away. Yes. Like that could have been a comedic scene of him leaving rather than...
00:14:56
Speaker
oh it was somewhat thrilling and then then he was just back in the house yeah right yeah now that you say that it doesn't capitalize on a lot of things it should have honestly yeah like you have amazing setups that you just like oh and then now we're in the next scene it's like what where are you going with that know and the music and score to this like you said it it was a letdown it also didn't match the film mm-hmm the only time it did and it amplified something in me ah for watching the movie was when the touching of the horn would happen and the horns kind of just wall and like, you know, it's very, or how do you say that?
00:15:41
Speaker
Or orchestral? Orchestral. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. I don't think I've ever said that out loud in my life, but yeah, just, yes, it, it at least capitalized on that yeah and it felt like it matched i really like the cosmic that you bring up that the cosmic stuff was my favorite part by far lean into that yeah yes yeah and it didn't and also like i have a big question for you too um when considering the genre of this horror comedy right do you feel like it was more of a comedy than horror or vice versa
00:16:21
Speaker
hard to say. um Yeah, i I feel like it was pretty fifty fifty It's just that they were so starkly different. like How I see it in my mind is like, oh, you're 100% of the movie, and then um it's just the 50-50 spread out. They're not blending into each other. Correct. It's like, yeah okay, here's 3%.
00:16:48
Speaker
ah three percent of the movie is these comedy scenes here where they're all chatting and making these dumb jokes and then um then you switch and and it's like okay now we're in horror for five percent and then you know you flip-flopping it's it's kind of um scatterbrained yeah honestly yeah like you said they never swam together or like mixed well together it was either horror or comedy really It's like even when the horror was happening, there weren't funny moments for me. And that's that's a letdown in horror comedy. You should have that comedy happening happening as the horror is happening, right?
00:17:29
Speaker
100%. Like there there were no good quip lines really like I was kind of expecting or like... jokes about getting killed by a unicorn you know like yeah none of none of the kills really did anything for me um and one of my pet peeves with films i think you already know this but it it has a lot to do with camera movement and camera work yep when action is happening and especially like in this movie the only action is that like horror going down and the kills
00:18:08
Speaker
show me what's going on. Do not cut away. And I know they are creature effects, so it's a little tougher and you got to kind of figure out how to make the camera angles work and everything with that to make it not look, you know, um, lesser janky or anything, you know, like,
00:18:33
Speaker
Show me what's going on with the kills. They kind of cut away from them too quick sometimes and don't really show the gore that they should have shown. I mean, they did linger on when the unicorn pierced through Richard E. Grant's head, you know,
00:18:48
Speaker
Getting into spoilers here, guys, for it. But yeah, spoiler warning for the rest of this, like plot-wise. we were kind of just doing more general before this. But yes, this will be a spoiler talk.
00:19:02
Speaker
Spoiler warning. Spoiler warning. 100%. The unicorn blood's going to wash these spoilers away. Yeah. The purple... magical curative blood um yeah just like that that scene it capitalized on what i was hoping it would but then that was gone it was just that one kill i felt that had what it should have been had going on yeah so probably didn't like the uh the scientist guy as much i'm guessing no his yeah Yeah. Like, don't know. It's just it.
00:19:34
Speaker
They didn't get very creative with the kills either. I felt. Yeah. Like just um he was stabbed through the back, right? Through the tent. Yep. And then that was done. They didn't really yeah get creative with it or make it funny.
00:19:47
Speaker
Really? i I think they were trying to look for a laugh. at a lot of points in this film but they didn't get the laugh from me it sounds really harsh but honestly and i in our theater i didn't really hear lot of cackling no or big laughs and that's yeah let down there's a couple from some kids i think at one point and it wasn't meant to be a laugh moment no no and oh hey yeah i was gonna ask you about that it was something that was stupid i can't remember what was Do you think that like those parents that took the kids to this movie didn't really have an inkling of what this movie was? They just saw Unicorn and their daughters were probably like, oh, unicorns, like, let's go. you know, it was rated R. It was rated R. They had to make that choice to bring them in there.
00:20:30
Speaker
Yeah. i I feel like if you've seen any of the adverts for it, as you know responsible parents should before they go into it. Yes. I think you know pretty quickly what what this movie is. Yeah.
00:20:42
Speaker
I think the trailers give a lot away for this movie. They do. That's the unfortunate part, too. And that's why I don't watch trailers anymore. I try to avoid them, but you know when you're a theater chair, you're stuck there.
00:20:54
Speaker
Yeah. and That's why I put my head down. it Yeah. um La, la, la, la. Like, not listening. Unfortunately, I think it killed a couple of Poulter's jokes for me, but I thought like he was still really good.
00:21:06
Speaker
I was going to say, that's one point I wrote down in my notes. Poulter, actually, I felt stole the show. um He also wasn't given the best, the greatest lines or writing,
Comedic Highlights in 'Death of a Unicorn'
00:21:17
Speaker
just like all the rest of the characters. And that's why I felt like the jokes didn't really like land a punch for me.
00:21:22
Speaker
yeah um Poulter... Just the way he said some of his things and like how his character was in this story. You're, yeah it's obviously you hope that it would be a highlight and he made it a highlight of the movie.
00:21:38
Speaker
I would say. Yeah. Some of his delivery was just, Folter's always funny. And so like, he glues me to the screen every time he's on, he's got range.
00:21:48
Speaker
Yeah, i I want to know if any of that was ad-libbed, especially his characterization as it relates to him and Griff. Yes, oh my god, Griff! Whenever he would say Griff's name, those were comedy points for me too. He's like, bring me whatever, you want more champagne or something, he's like,
00:22:06
Speaker
Oh, never mind. Griff, never mind. Yeah. Oh, my God. he He was so good. And, like, okay, his character um and how he was funny in this movie really brought me back to where the Millers, Will Poulter.
00:22:19
Speaker
that I thought, yeah, I thought that comedy kind of went together well, and I was pleasantly happy to, like, be reminded of that role from him yeah and him coming back to this because i Recently, just rewatched Guardians 3.
00:22:38
Speaker
And yes, he's a funny character in that, but I would say way different from these two characters in We're the Millers and Death of a Unicorn. So it it was nice to get a different Will Poulter again. Like I said, he's got range.
00:22:52
Speaker
100 i liked his characterization it's just this um techie teen not even teen like i think he's also in our generational sphere he is where he's you know he's a crypto bro of of his parents um that's just doing all these dumb investments but he's not like He's not a failure per se, or they don't lean into that trope of being like a super failure no son. It's just like, oh, he's doing all this dumb stuff with his money, but he doesn't care about the company.
00:23:24
Speaker
So that's why we've got our lawyer here to take over the company. um right Or our VP or in whatever dual role he ah Paul Rudd had. But yeah, I did like... Poulter is is this weird guy that's like, I'm going to try every drug I can.
00:23:43
Speaker
any way i can uh eat or consume a unicorn and snorting that horn like it's freaking cocaine yeah oh my god putting the blood in the champagne eating the unicorn steak like they were doing everything they could and i i enjoyed that throughout the movie yes it was real it was real quick how they got to that too like jesus they already had a piece of meat out of the unicorn and stuff and yeah just taking plenty of blood and shaving the horn you know just yeah getting to work right away we didn't have time to waste with that so i'm glad they did that but when i was talking about the tones being just so mismatched and scatterbrained i do feel like the beats in this movie were some of the beats were kind of off for me too you know ah the story just didn't
00:24:33
Speaker
flow as naturally as I wanted it to. It started off strong in the beginning by telegraphing Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega's characters and um what they're about to do. And the story got moving, you know, without a lot of explanation.
00:24:50
Speaker
You know, I'm glad it it felt natural in that way. But then from then on, it didn't feel so natural. It felt very scattered again. yeah i liked the lack of exposition in the uh that long cold open yes it's just like oh hey we're on the plane you get some nice panoramic shots to start with um or um landscape shots and then uh um i really like that the first scene where she's laying on his shoulder as well on the plane and then um you know he's gonna get the papers and stuff and it turns into a
00:25:26
Speaker
little bit of a missed joke there. but Yes, unfortunately. I did like right away that without any words, you got the characterization that this is a dad who cares about his daughter but has not had the greatest relationship with her lately. like I got that just from the short scene. Exactly. That's what I'm saying. We didn't have to get any word. and Thankfully, Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega are good at performing. and they They telegraphed that for us, I felt.
00:25:56
Speaker
100%. Yep. I think that's that's where the skill of having these A-list actors in um really helps your movie along. The only part is like, it you know, at some point, there's only so much they can do to to fix the script.
00:26:09
Speaker
Yes. And Paul Rudd's character that I felt was going to be home run because Paul Rudd typically plays these characters. It's a measly attorney or lawyer for this rich family that and he kind of just ducks his head and he's pretty submissive. You know, that is a Paul Rudd.
00:26:30
Speaker
thing for sure and from the start of the movie I was really happy he wasn't playing like I love you man Paul Rudd or anything it did feel different and I'm like okay like I love Paul Rudd to death but it it gets somewhat tiring seeing any performer just playing the same thing right 100% you know in different projects so I was glad I'm like hey like this could be going somewhere great mm-hmm And ah get it'll come up again. ah Did not capitalize on his character. The writing just no was not there.
00:27:05
Speaker
i like it It's a double-edged sword because on one hand, like you said, you don't you want you want new things from your performers that you see. And it's like, oh... I'm doing something a a little bit different with Rudd here. um He's morally gray, maybe morally past gray a little bit um yes at certain points. ah Kind of a piece of shit. And then I'm like, okay, but he's still kind of kind of quippy.
00:27:29
Speaker
So I'm like, I kind of like that. But then neither of them really worked because by the end of the movie, when you know he's supposed to be getting to the end of his arc, he both gives up um the morally grayness just out of the blue and there's no like justification for that yeah um it's just okay i decided to be a good person now right at the end when it when it suits me to to survive it was like a switch flipped yeah and it was to serve a happy feel good ending between
00:28:02
Speaker
him and his daughter and stuff like to us audience. But like I said, yeah. Or like you were kind of saying, they just didn't telegraph that very well. Yeah. Yeah. Cause it's like, I hate, I hate to speak so badly, even though it's a fictional character, but like, he's kind of a coward. Like he is.
00:28:20
Speaker
Um, like it wasn't until the tides completely turned where it's like, oh shit. Um, Richard Grant's dead. I forget his character.
00:28:31
Speaker
Um, uh, Mr. Lee ode Odell Odell Odell. um Yeah, the owner of the company. And it's not until he's dead and the tides are turned against them where it's like, oh shit, we don't have the upper hand. All of our guards are dead.
00:28:46
Speaker
Now I think I'm going to have some you know morals and I'm going to get my daughter out of here. I didn't have empathy towards him like I should have. And it's Paul Rudd. So that's really tough to make happen. But I think the weak writing made that happen.
00:29:01
Speaker
At least, you know, in my feelings, maybe other people did connect with the characters more and they they felt something for that father-daughter relationship like they should have and the dead wife and everything.
00:29:14
Speaker
Yeah. um Those beats just weren't beating for me. Yeah. you're like uh it's like three quarters to the movie you have this crucial scene where even though his character arc was lackluster you still could have turned it around where he's offered the gun when they're going on the hunting party yes that's where you say he finally gets the guts to stand up and defend his daughter not the interest of his company and his personal interests i thought that's where it was going Yeah, and then he takes the gun and he goes out. And it' was like, oh, okay, I guess we're doing something different with this character, which yes is a thing on its own that's not necessarily bad that you want to say, hey, my main character's a piece of shit, but um do something with that?
00:29:58
Speaker
I don't know. Yes. Yeah, just... Yeah, that was well said, yeah actually.
00:30:06
Speaker
The inciting incident with hitting the unicorn with the vehicle... In the beginning, I'll kind of go to the beginning and I did yeah ah did kind of do my notes kind of chronologically um while the story was playing out. But the inciting incident with hitting the unicorn with the vehicle, great up until the badly done CGI. Did you see the car when it was turning on the highway?
00:30:32
Speaker
um i noticed a lot of iffy cgi in this yeah i was so focused on the front bumper damage i'm like okay that thing looks horse-sized i know they said it's not a horse yes but there's barely any damage to that car i get it's a i think it was a range rover and probably pretty sturdy we do come to find out this was the baby unicorn as well yeah smaller unicorn but still still five six hundred pounds i don't know like Yeah, so I was so focused on the damage. i didn't look at the yeah CGI. If you're going to hit a tank of a unicorn, you better have more damage on that vehicle. Yeah, I get you. Also, taillight.
00:31:10
Speaker
Yes. Yeah, headlight. Right, yeah. um And yeah I just really noticed that bad CGI. And like for that event of the film, I feel like it just should have been um more tightened up.
00:31:27
Speaker
Mm-hmm. and looked over. Yeah. Because that, that's what kind of gets us into the whole thing. Yeah. I mean, that's your inciting incident. It should be, you know, exciting and not just, um, uh,
00:31:39
Speaker
Yeah, I didn't, I don't know if it was my ice lakes were in the back row. I didn't bring my glasses for the movie. i was like, wow, that unicorn is really blurry when they were like driving up to it and had that that shot from the inside of the car there. Yes. um And i was like, I guess that's, you know, taking it to give the characterization that obviously they're not paying attention.
00:32:03
Speaker
Yes. So if it's blurry you, it's obviously not visible to them. It's like it comes out of nowhere. But yeah just that whole, yeah, run up to hitting the unicorn was so like, eh.
00:32:14
Speaker
I should be locked in at this point, right? You're supposed to draw me into the film with this. And yeah it just did not hook, line, and sink me. Yeah. yeah I was like in Ortega's or Ridley's um head at that point. I was like, why the fuck are you texting on your phone while you're driving in this mountain pass?
00:32:33
Speaker
Like, yeah if it's not a unicorn, it's probably a deer or you a raccoon or something running across. there's obviously going to be nature around yeah you should have been a little more vigilant but you're going on twists and turns but yeah no kidding anyways on the um the starting stuff even though i didn't like the crash i do uh really like the aftermath of it yes i think that's some of the best parts of the movie as well um not only like the cosmic stuff like we talked about but then you got um the really sudden cutaway from the cosmic stuff to Paul Rudd's little humorous part there yes and i know you visibly like we're like what the fuck in the movie and yeah i was ah probably looked over at you yeah yeah
00:33:24
Speaker
I was like, that was one of my favorite parts of the movie that I thought that was really funny. And, um, I thought that was perfectly comedically timed. See, like that matches the tone of what was set up for right from the jump.
00:33:37
Speaker
Yes. Yeah. Just with the accident before that wasn't getting the reaction I wanted, but yeah, thankfully it was followed up by that where I could laugh and,
00:33:48
Speaker
yeah Yeah, maybe it wasn't more laughing. It was more of what the fuck, kind of like you said. um Because I honestly, with the comedy, i I think you could probably back this up, but I only laughed maybe twice yeah throughout the movie. And that's not good when you are going to a horror comedy. Right.
00:34:08
Speaker
And I can't help that. I wasn't in a bad mood or anything. I mean, I should have been in the best mood because I knew i was at ah another movie with you again. And yeah it was great. And we're going to pot about it. And it's going so fun.
00:34:20
Speaker
we're just two for two since we've been back though i know oh man we better see a good one yeah yeah next one we're gonna go see alto knights break this funk there we go yeah because we know there should be sustenance to that one at least yeah yeah and you're doing some more gangsta stuff man can't wait can't wait okay before we get before we get going on that yeah um
00:34:45
Speaker
The nature preserve setting is gorgeous, though. I will say that. I mean, I'm a sucker for mountains. You know this. Yeah. Set wise. Yeah. Amazing. Amazing.
00:34:56
Speaker
But again, the word's going to come up for me capitalizing on it. I felt like they could have ah done more with that beautiful setting, but they didn't. And. I wonder if that's maybe a location shooting thing.
00:35:11
Speaker
i don't I don't know if where they were, if they like actually filmed on location or not. Yeah. that The house was wonderful too. Yeah, I was going to say I did like the the set design of the house a lot. lot yep I thought everything in there screamed, you know, person that has too much wealth yeah for their life. Yes.
00:35:29
Speaker
And it also screamed a house set in the mountains on a nature preserve, too. I felt like it fit with the with that. yeah And I thought it felt lived in, and I thought it was a great space for a horror movie. Yes. Obviously, it didn't capitalize on all of that, but no there was some really good...
00:35:49
Speaker
um Like during some of the chase scenes near the end, I thought there was some really good use of the house there. Yeah, like the hallways and the quick turns into all the different rooms and stuff. Yeah, yeah. I agree. I agree with that.
00:36:03
Speaker
I thought the unicorn, even though we haven't gotten to the parent unicorns yet, I thought the baby unicorn design could have been better.
Unicorn Design and Aesthetics
00:36:13
Speaker
It looked awkward to me.
00:36:14
Speaker
i Not majestic, right? Like a unicorn should be. I thought that was almost intentional, maybe. Maybe. like i to make it a little more goofy? yeah Yeah. It was almost like the adult ones were more predatory and then like ah from Alien vs. Spider-Man. And then um the little one was just like just a weird version of it's not quite there into the full horror thing. Like freaking Donkey from Shrek, honestly. The the face and the mouth kind of just reminded me. I thought of Donkey right away.
00:36:47
Speaker
Yeah. In the morning, I'm making waffles. The horn was good, though. I liked that, and I liked the glowing thing. was neat. Like we were talking about with the cosmic, and... um Yes, yeah, their horns.
00:37:01
Speaker
That is one thing that was drawing me in. I wish they did more of that. that That's leaning into the cosmic. They should have kept rolling with that. And I love folklore.
00:37:12
Speaker
So when they were starting to when Jenna Ortega's character was starting to read up on unicorns and their lore, I'm like, okay, give me more of this too. I liked her finding out things and kind of um trying to predict where things were going to go and how they can fix this whole thing.
00:37:28
Speaker
I really enjoyed that. And yeah, the the effects along with the score of the horn when it's like glowing and buzzing and vibrating, like it did really look cool. I liked that. That wasn't badly done effects at all, I didn't think.
00:37:42
Speaker
No. And i on the ah the folklore that you mentioned, I found myself a little confused by it. Same. She kept printing off all these things and then All these big pictures and...
00:37:53
Speaker
was like, okay, they went to a unicorn museum or something before or something that had unicorns in it in a museum. was like, why why do we keep going back to this? This seems really weird. It seemed like something...
00:38:07
Speaker
and i don't get maybe a flashback with her mom to add some more emotional depth and then it's like oh they're at the museum and then she remembers seeing it um yeah uh yeah i don't know it just it felt weird to me i i just didn't understand a lot of the lore stuff but i'm interested in the lore of unicorns as one of those you know mythical things that we can add into our or movie universes Yeah, yeah, and it it was really cool that, you know, we started to find out that it wasn't all majestic and happy like we think unicorns are, and obviously folklore can get ah very dark at times.
00:38:46
Speaker
So at least that was feeding into the horror comedy of it all and getting us prepared for how the unicorns would act. Yeah. just they were trying to tack that on to the movie and kind of give it a little more heart I felt and had Jenna Ortega's character actually doing something and being useful um again just didn't capitalize I felt I I'm sorry keep using that word it's just I think yeah that's the word that kept popping up in my mind it was kind of like oh you're building me up and you're
00:39:22
Speaker
taking me up on the roller coaster but then the drop isn't that great after or something like that you know that kind of just a letdown for many moments for me in this film which is so sad to say i i'm sorry i'm being a negative nancy over here but um i know we we discussed this a little bit before as well but just one little minor thing gotta bring up the vape yes I, well, I guess we're in 2025 now, so it's not same year, but 2024 had two huge movies with vape hits or was blink twice this year.
00:39:56
Speaker
Blink twice was last year last year. Yeah. Um, yeah. Two big movies last year with random vape hits. And then we got like five in this one. Yes. Yeah. And that's what kind of makes you feel like you are being plopped into today. Right. Which is harper nice instead of it's kind of going away from cool cigarette smoking, you know, in movies to vaping instead now. And it's yeah, it's pretty funny. And it definitely ah it reflects the times, though.
00:40:22
Speaker
Yeah, 100%. And it's one of those nice subtle things of characterization that, okay, she's ah she's a teenager. She's a young, rebellious teen. I mean, yeah, like with her nose piercing and stuff and how she presents herself. It's, yeah, it was very obvious what they were telegraphing with that.
00:40:42
Speaker
highlights and everything yes i thought it was good this is our um you know our 2000s emo goth phase but this is the new new version of it right yes adapt into the 2020s um yeah i always like it because i mean it's so like you have to set up so much to give the characterization of smoking or cigars and stuff like that yeah ah you have to take time and show those and vapes it's just like someone's hitting in the back or during a scene Yeah, right.
00:41:10
Speaker
And you could tell she was hiding hiding it from her dad. So i I knew that punchline would come up like, oh you vape? yeah you know like And I'm so glad it finally happened because i didn't I didn't know where that was going. Or, I mean, since you brought up Blink Twice, the vape is essential, actually, in in the story for Blink Twice. Yeah.
00:41:33
Speaker
I wasn't hoping it would copy that, but I was hoping there would be like a little more something with it and with the unicorns or something. Like yeah it could have added to the wackiness, but they didn't take advantage of that either.
00:41:47
Speaker
i think it was, you know, a mix of characterization plus comedic relief. Like the, I think it's when she's looking at the lore and figures out the trueness of what's really going to happen.
00:41:57
Speaker
And she takes that big hit she's just like, fuck or shit or whatever she said. yep you know i like that that was funny because because it's the timing of the line with taking a drag off the vape you know i get you yes totally something um fucking kids these days do yeah yeah pretty much yeah and she just like yeah constantly hit hits it it's kind of like uh it's a reactionary thing because she's obviously stressed out in this situation so so yeah yeah anything to help it right
00:42:28
Speaker
asswell is going to bring up I think it was like in her highest stress moments is when she was always hitting it too. Yes. Yeah. Like she was running at at some point and she took a hit. She was going. Because it's second nature to her too. She is just whipping it out, you know. um Jenna Ortega with acne threw me off right away because never, never have seen her. she's She's always had great complexion. I mean, we can say that. She uses unicorn blood.
00:42:53
Speaker
ah She must in her day-to-day life. ah But I'm glad the mystery of the unicorn cured it. At least there was a little mystery with the unicorns.
00:43:04
Speaker
Could have been more in this story, and they could have held some stuff back. I liked the the cancer stuff. What do you think about that? Yes. Sorry, what was the name, Roland?
00:43:18
Speaker
ah Oh, no, it was... Odell. Odell. Okay. Interesting. Odell getting his cancer treatments. And I thought that was kind of cool that it was so quick and he was back and youthful.
00:43:33
Speaker
Like it wasn't perfectly done, but no like, you know, the normal expected, oh, hey, he's better again. It didn't have to be a long drawn out thing. And we had to have something major happen besides the acne going away.
00:43:47
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Of course, so cancer. That's the biggest one. Yeah, yeah. And um of course, the rich people are having bad ideas about it instead of great ideas.
00:44:00
Speaker
um And I mean, lately, we have had so many eat the rich movies, especially in the horror comedy realm, which is nice, like, um like the menu. um And Triangle of Sadness wasn't horror, but I kept going back to that movie when when I was watching this one um because there have been so many amazing ones. up Blink twice as well. yeah um likek twice There have been amazing ones lately that have launched up into
00:44:35
Speaker
my favorite movies even but this one just didn't do it as well and i thought it was really lacking that uh messaging underneath that so many of those have had like very strong messaging that you can really chew on this kind of just It was kind of like a generic run through it yeah of Eat the Rich. It's like, here's the worst person that we could characterize yes in the film, especially you know on the backs of ah stuff like the United Healthcare shooting and you know not to get too political, stuff like that. like yeah The sentiment people are feeling in the public sphere um about um pharmaceuticals and the healthcare care industry.
00:45:19
Speaker
And they're like, okay, I'm sure they already had this you know written out and planned before that shooting, but um it kind of feels like on the back of that like oh haha like you get so many people that like agree with a someone who killed someone um yeah so obviously you're gonna agree with us killing all these people in here and uh so that's why we'll depict them that way um right but yeah like it was just so cartoonishly evil almost Yeah, yeah, it was. And, I mean, kind of fits with the goofy tone they're going with, like killer unicorns. yeah That's very goofy. But yeah um those still both feel mismatched and not the same goofy. Yeah.
00:46:01
Speaker
Yep. yeah the Yeah, the cartoon goofy versus the, you know, like super biting political satire. Yes.
00:46:13
Speaker
Or social commentary. Like, yeah, it just didn't match. No. Yeah. Like they were, they were giving a message that you would be hard strung to find someone that disagrees with like, Oh, Hey, there's these really shitty people exploiting people for profit.
00:46:29
Speaker
Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. All right. And yeah. Yeah. And yeah. Is there something deeper there? Right. Yeah. It was just like, here you go. Here's this. And yeah, just didn't have enough for me to feed off of or anything.
00:46:46
Speaker
Um,
00:46:49
Speaker
Did the emotional center of the story reach you? I know we kind of like touched on it, but I feel like I went on my points more. I wanted to kind of hear from you, like just, yeah, in general, the emotional.
00:47:01
Speaker
Yeah. we We talked a little bit about um ah Ridley and Elliot's characterization. And i i mean, they're the core of the movie, of course.
00:47:12
Speaker
um There's no redemption arcs at all for any the rich people.
00:47:20
Speaker
not really yeah okay so you kind of were on the same wavelength as me then like i got it from from ridley from from ortega um but i just some heart yeah i just didn't ever feel it from rud like even at the end i'm like he's just trying to save himself he doesn't care and how does that happen with the paul rudd character usually he hits you right in the heart you know like he's very good at that at being funny but also very emotional Yeah.
00:47:46
Speaker
Yeah. ah Yeah. I don't know how you do that to Paul Rudd, but but like I said before, I was into it. If they want to take a different way with his character than he's normally typecast as, but he just didn't do anything interesting with it.
00:48:00
Speaker
No. No, yeah, and it's and it's unfortunate. Love you, Paul Rudd. Love you. yeah we do. Keep drinking that unicorn blood. Yes. Oh, my gosh. That man is aging like fine wine, and I hope it's like that for us, too.
00:48:12
Speaker
you know um Of course, Will Poulter, when I finally cracked up, was the hot tub scene with Will Poulter and him yeah just talking to Paul Rudd's character. And It was just funny hearing him talk to a person like, you know, um like Elliot.
00:48:30
Speaker
Just two very different people. And I always find those conversations interesting, like what they talk about and how they act. And oh my gosh, him just, him yelling for um Anthony Kerrigan's character.
00:48:44
Speaker
yeah What was his name again? Griff. Griff. Griff. and that's That's when he said, nevermind. Yeah. Yep. you That was probably the funniest scene in the film for me. It was good. ze Yeah, Griff, we didn't talk about him too much yet, but Kerrigan, he was amazing, his performance here. like He didn't get a whole lot to do, but like just you know the fact of what he was being called on to do from Poulter and everyone else, and his little subtle characterizations. And then um i really liked his arc, actually. His was probably one of the only ones I felt completed.
00:49:19
Speaker
Yes. Where he was totally subservient at the beginning. Like he didn't really show lot of signs of disgust or anything towards the orders he's being received. Right.
00:49:29
Speaker
And then, you know, by the end, he's like, okay, I've worked for you guys for a long time. Go fuck yourselves. Yep. Yep. That's amazing that he turned out to be an actually good person. He went to go get help, actually. Oh, oh my gosh.
00:49:42
Speaker
I was so scared for him when he was running, though. I for sure thought he was going to die. And he's like... The little um twist where it's like, I have kids too. I have a family. yeah Yeah. Oh yeah. I knew that.
00:49:54
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You've worked for, or he's worked for you for how long and you don't even know this about him. It's yeah, of course. I thought people, That was the one point of the thing that wasn't so cartoonishly evil or like more.
00:50:09
Speaker
i like the depth of that one compared to some of the other jokes about rich people. Yes. like Oh, yeah. Didn't even really know about her. Yeah. Her housekeeper or whatever his role is. Manservant. Yeah. Like bodyguard or something. Yeah.
00:50:24
Speaker
She didn't really know about his family or is like the charity jokes and stuff in the intro just didn't hit for me. you like no Yeah, we're evacuating the kids or we vaccinating them.
00:50:35
Speaker
Like, yeah, just um very obvious plain jokes. Yes. And I like those little toss away ones like you were just talking about. And, you know, you totally understand right away.
00:50:49
Speaker
I do feel like Anthony Kerrigan was wasted though, unfortunately. Like I felt like um he could have been in there more and he could have amplified the comedy. But also we do know the writing isn't that strong in this film. So would it have really made a difference?
00:51:05
Speaker
um I just felt like Bill Hader totally got Anthony Kerrigan with being in Barry. And that's like perfect. No ho Hank. Hmm. But in this one, yeah, they they didn't use him to his full potential, unfortunately.
00:51:22
Speaker
yeah i Yeah, I mostly agree with that. I liked him. I thought he was was my standout part of this. He was doing the most with, yeah, what he had for sure. Yeah. Him and Will Poulter, felt like, you know got the spotlight at times, and that was really nice. Yeah.
00:51:39
Speaker
Sorry to backtrack a little bit, but you're good. um Back on the the Rudd Ortega s thing. forgot about it. There's one scene. um So she he accuses her about the vape thing ah when they're trying to have a moment.
00:51:54
Speaker
Yes. So he gets kicked out of the room. ah the Okay. you know Classic dad not understanding the the true depth of ah his his child's emotional journey. Not being super, super aware, yeah unfortunately.
00:52:07
Speaker
you But then you get this nice like
00:52:12
Speaker
back-to-back shots where Ortega is looking at um pictures on her phone of her mom, her mom and herself. And so you get this a little bit of emotional in depth where it's like, oh, she's remembering her mom.
00:52:25
Speaker
And then you cut to Rudd out on the door and he's still being really bad at his attempts. But he's very subtly playing with his wedding ring. yes and i really liked that a lot like if they could just delve into that kind of stuff with their please relationship like oh obviously he misses his wife too um and it was very subtle like just a little pan out from him playing with his ring yes and i like that that they're both struggling just in their different ways Yeah, yeah. And they need to find a way to come together with that and yeah get on each other's level and realize that they're in this together. 100%. Yeah, definitely.
00:53:05
Speaker
ah Was it too fast with the company taking General Ortega and Paul Rudd's characters into the lab? um when they wanted to test everything once uh jenna ortega's uh acne went away and stuff was that too fast do you think to get into that i was just so confused for a few scenes yes i was like yeah i was off yeah off kilter i'm like okay are we switching to kidnapping are we what like what are we doing here um i'm like okay it was just a quick test then you didn't need that weird
00:53:40
Speaker
wake up red herring of of them seeming like they're kidnapping them um right or gonna be leaving them it almost seemed like it was gonna switch to okay they're gonna be trapped while they have to view all these bad events going on to the unicorn and then they're gonna you know escape and save the unicorns type of thing i'm like okay they're gonna play it you know that standard beat yeah um But they didn't.
00:54:06
Speaker
And then we just went back to do we capitalize on this? And yeah, it just weird for me. I was confused for a little bit. Yeah. And it doesn't feel like a pleasant surprise when they do veer away from what you were expecting either, really.
00:54:21
Speaker
Yeah. It's not like, ooh, I like that. it was kind of like, huh? Yeah. Yeah. So I totally get what you're saying there. It just, yeah, it was just one of those scenes would have cut entirely. I'm like, you just confused me.
00:54:32
Speaker
Like, you could have just permissibly asked them and still went along with the thing and then went to your presentation pharmaceutical thing.
00:54:44
Speaker
Right. um Yeah. Yeah. Just weird, weird off tone thing there. Yeah, I agree. Paul and freaking Elliot, there's literally crab and you're asking for an omelet instead. When everybody was eating and there's seriously crab legs all over, I would have dug right into that. Unless he has a shellfish allergy. I maybe could understand. All right, get just give me ah you know an omelet that I could just make at home.
00:55:12
Speaker
yeah take full advantage of the rich especially when they're dicks like those ones are yeah but yeah i thought that was funny how he was asking for an omelet and then um it's this entire spread
00:55:25
Speaker
And then Griff comes with the omelet. Yeah. I kind of forgot about that. So I'm glad that came back around. Yeah. Like right before the scene was about to end, he gets his omelet. Yeah. yeah Presses it off and he comes back to pay it off. Yep. I like that. um I've never had crab.
00:55:41
Speaker
don't know if it's, is it good? what What's up with you, man? Yeah. I've just never had it. I know you're adventurous, but like, are you adventurous with food? I semi like,
00:55:54
Speaker
I'm a foodie for sure. Like I like trying a lot of things. Yeah. Yeah. But I'm also very basic. Like you don't like spice, you know, all that stuff. Yeah, for sure. When we went to the Indian place, you had to ask for, yeah, the yeah the lowest. I love new flavors, just not the extreme versions of them.
00:56:12
Speaker
Yeah, after eating a hot chip, I think my taste buds are destroyed with spice. So anything with a little spice is too spicy for me now. I'm like really let down by that. Maybe you just need another one to reverse the effects.
00:56:25
Speaker
Should I try it? Yeah. I would love to throw up again. Yeah. i am I'm actually going up to the East Coast though in August maybe. We'll see what I'm doing with my trip. and So I'm going to try and try all of the seafoods there. You really should. You're going to get so many like fresh things. And that's better than you know what we could get here in North Dakota where we are not near the ocean all.
00:56:49
Speaker
Yeah. Try all the lobster and crab for me, okay? Yeah. Okay, perfect. I can't wait to hear what you think. I will not be trying any unicorn steaks though. Uh-uh. No, especially like, could you eat something that's like oozing purple?
00:57:02
Speaker
I mean, it's something new to get used to, I guess, compared to red. Yeah. And it was interesting too, because, you know, instead of blood, you got that purple stuff. And I do feel like they did do a nice effect with the purple stuff where it was kind of like glistening sometimes. So it did seem like blood when light would hit it a certain way.
00:57:20
Speaker
So when that steak was being cut and stuff, I was, I was really eyeing the steak and it took me a couple looks, but then I finally realized that it was a unicorn steak, you know, once that purple was coming out, but yeah, I didn't catch it right away.
00:57:35
Speaker
Yeah, i i it popped up in my mind. I'm like, it wouldn't surprise me if he's eating a unicorn steak. But I was like, would they go through all the process of processing a chunk of the meat right away?
00:57:49
Speaker
wanted to see Griff, you know, out there cutting off a piece of the unicorn or something. Oh God. That could have been a comedic moment for sure. i don't know why they didn't do that. Fuck these guys. yes Oh my God. Yeah, just shaking his head, like sawing off of something.
00:58:04
Speaker
Oh, my gosh. See, Andy, we could have gave them some tips to like take full advantage. and Hazardous consulting. Yes. um Even though it might not be the best, it's still consulting.
00:58:16
Speaker
No, for sure. I mean, like, you tell me to write a movie with, like, you get a basic premise in your mind of the unicorn stuff. I probably couldn't write a great movie.
00:58:27
Speaker
Honestly, no. And, like, that's why this movie jumped out at me. Like, yeah, horror with unicorns. Like I said, it was really interesting interesting interesting and intriguing to me. i just...
00:58:39
Speaker
feel like it didn't... ah I wanted to be surprised, and I wanted ah freshness, but I felt like there was none, yeah unfortunately. um And I would say the horror needed to be more pronounced.
00:58:57
Speaker
It was so... The beats of the horror, it was not there for a long time, and then it just shows up randomly. You know, like with the gore and the killing, that only starts, what, like a little more than halfway through?
00:59:13
Speaker
Yeah, it's somewhere around there. The film, and besides that, it was just you hitting the unicorn, basically. And they shot the unicorn, too. I guess that's a little bit of horror. But yeah, the horror moments just felt um the seeds weren't spread ah well.
00:59:31
Speaker
If that makes sense? Yeah. Most of the horror isn't great here. I do like there's the scene in the woods after Rudd's out there. he gets the little night vision goggles.
00:59:44
Speaker
Yes. I thought that could have been done a little bit better, but it was pretty decent, actually. Yeah. Yeah. I liked especially the final one where he sees the unicorn company. He's like, oh I'm going to just move.
00:59:54
Speaker
And then that other guy gets fucking. Oh, my God. Carded away. literated Yeah. Oh, geez. oh gee Like that stuff, that was kind of fun. Yeah. Yeah. And the setting in the forest was kind of cool, like with, you know, the fog and mist all around and you can't really tell where the unicorn's at and stuff. oh Yeah.
01:00:10
Speaker
What did help for sure for the effects for this movie was the darkness with the unicorns. You can't really... tell the effects as much as like pure daylight like it started out and that's maybe why the effects of the unicorn felt off to us a bit because it was in the daylight and it was kind of more per like mistakes or not mistakes but like If they didn't brush up on it or it wasn't totally perfected, we could see yeah those little glimpses into it. Especially when you're on the big screen and it's that close up of a shot.
01:00:48
Speaker
Exactly. The parent unicorns just looked amazing, though, in the darkness. And I i really, i loved both of their designs for sure. mm-hmm yeah i liked the their designs overall um like they were a little majestic but they weren't too far off from like a normal horse um it was interesting i liked them um i do think that they erred in having the one poster like they get the two posters the one where it's covered in the blanket yes that one i think is really good they should just use that poster only
01:01:23
Speaker
I liked that one a lot more. The perfect white. And then yeah um they got the one where Ortega is like screaming at the other one or whatever. They both their heads are together. Yes. Yeah. I think Jenna's kind of like looking out to the side and the unicorn is like really close with its snout. Yeah.
01:01:39
Speaker
That one, stupid poster, for one. And also, I think that shot, when you get to it in the movie, is a little bit dampened because of that. Yes, because that image has been everywhere for us leading up to the movie.
01:01:51
Speaker
And you're you're focusing on it, and it's like, okay, it doesn't look as cool when you're that close. No, no, yeah. See, like... there weren't that many great shots in this i will say not shots like was like oh wow you know nothing nothing too impressive unfortunately and hopefully hopefully the director since it was their first movie like you know hopefully he finds more of his niche in that i guess Yeah, 100%. I hope he takes away from this one. Maybe stays with a twenty four I don't know how they do their directorial rotations. but That's a really good question.
01:02:31
Speaker
because i mean I know Ari Aster has done all of his movies in eight twenty four Yeah, he does a lot with them. And he um and Eggers. He produced or co-produced on this one, actually. um Is that right?
01:02:44
Speaker
Yeah, so there's some Ari Aster in this one. Strange. Strange. Oh, I can think of one shot, though, that did stick out with me. When the unicorn was laying down in the forest, when it was all dark and foggy and misty, and the horn starts glowing.
01:03:01
Speaker
That was really cool. I liked that a lot. Yeah, I liked that stuff a lot. ah He was the executive producer for this one. Sorry. Oh, okay. Gotcha. Let me second find it.
01:03:13
Speaker
Yeah. So, I mean, he had a he had a hand in it and I could i could see it in some parts. Like there's there's a little bit of an essence of Aster here. um Sure. But don't know.
01:03:24
Speaker
Not. Kind of more of the what the fuckness ah yeah of this all. Yeah. ah When it was revealed that there were two parent unicorns, I wasn't in shock at all.
01:03:36
Speaker
um Were you? No, and i i honestly expected like even more than two. like I thought maybe it would just be like whole family out here. boy. It's now their they really opened up a hive. Yeah.
01:03:49
Speaker
Everybody would have been fricked. Yeah. Dang. Yeah, don't know. I liked it, though, because then it, I think two actually was a pretty good number because then you had, you know, threats from both sides. It wasn't too much to follow, like have to follow.
01:04:02
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, I agree. And you could tell like which unicorn was where. Yeah, yeah, that was nice. And they differ differentiated them enough in their designs and stuff, I felt. I was really hoping, and and we did get to pay off, like they killed Odell first.
01:04:18
Speaker
I was like, oh, that would have been a great scene since he's kind of, you know, the big bad-ish for the for the movie. um For them to do like a duo murder, um which probably sounds really fucked up, but like, you know, both unicorns killing him, but then they just did the head stab.
01:04:34
Speaker
Yes. But then the fucking innocent nurse lady, the the other doctor, sorry. Yeah. She gets torn apart by both of them. I was not expecting her to die. she like And it sucks because she was actually not a bad person.
01:04:46
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, I was actually shocked by that. But I'm glad it wasn't Anthony. Yeah. And then i was like, oh, not the person I was hoping to die. But like that was a really cool kill. And in that way, that was like gruesome and cruel almost to do to a decent person.
01:05:02
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, 100%. If that happened to Odella, you'd be like, that was fucking cool. Exactly. Then i was kind of questioning the unicorns a little bit and not totally on their side anymore. But um I mean, they redeemed it with...
01:05:17
Speaker
you know obviously the ending yeah yeah and we'll get to that well i i wanted to know your thoughts on that like um i don't know if i missed it or what but near the end with rud coming back with the horn like do you know what happened there why why is he alive why is the unicorn just on his side now like that whole ending did that make any sense to you not really other than the unicorns being very intelligent maybe connecting with ortega and paul rudd's like kind of like visions that cosmic thing going on maybe there was a bit of an understanding between the unicorns and them and like i mean i know we're outsiders looking into it but obviously
01:06:07
Speaker
it's apparent that they are trying to help and that they are the good people so i i think the unicorns also sensed that or saw that yeah if that makes sense yeah i just thought that was weird it was a little yeah i thought i was gonna kill him which of course it's not convenient right like kind of convenient yeah he's just back and i'm like oh okay oh okay yeah there's no um
01:06:33
Speaker
Yeah, it didn't feel like a payoff at all. Yeah. anything It was like, oh, okay. Came back. The whole crux of the folklore and stuff, the the whole maiden thing that felt like it came out of nowhere as well, when she's just like, and now they're laying down in front of me. It was just inserted. Yeah. Like...
01:06:52
Speaker
That's when it was starting to get interesting for me. And I like i liked what Will Poulter's character was doing. And i was I was getting a little ramped up and excited for the ending. i just feel like all the air went out of the balloon when executing it, though, for me, at least.
01:07:09
Speaker
yeah i Yeah, I did like when we were switching it because it's not like, oh, now it's not money a profit motive. It's he's just a fucking drug addict on this unicorn stuff and he's getting the cosmic the thing in his eyes.
01:07:22
Speaker
Like I really liked yeah where he was going with that. Yes, I loved the eye effects where, yeah the swirls were going on, the cosmic of it all and Yeah, I really liked what Will Poulter's character was doing throughout this movie. And kind of it was kind of nice that he became the last one of the family and like last line of defense for their plans, I guess you could say.
01:07:44
Speaker
ye i liked i liked that. And I felt like the spotlight was able to be put on him more that way. I think that's why he kind of stole the show too. That that helped him steal it.
01:07:55
Speaker
Yeah, and becoming the secondary bad guy-ish. Yeah, right. It was very ironic when Odell was the first one to go out of the family because he always was supposed to be the first one to go, especially with his cancer.
01:08:12
Speaker
yeah He was going to die either way. you know So I like the irony of that kill. I think that's what kind of backed it up for me too. And yeah I liked that kill at least and that made me feel something.
01:08:25
Speaker
The other ones really unfortunately didn't. I thought, don't know, it was cathartic because you know like he's a big bad guy, so you're hoping he gets killed by the unicorns, but it's also like you know exactly that he's about to get killed by the unicorns.
01:08:42
Speaker
Yes. Yeah, it was never a question for me, oh are the unicorns going to be on his side now? I yeah kind of knew something was going to happen. exactly i polter gets kicked at the end i like his oh man okay that and serves him right right yeah yeah i i kind of like that that it's just kind of like a back kick yeah it's like get the hell out of here you know i thought that was good um the wife was the only one that i was less interested in yes yeah i do like the i like i like tia leone yeah
01:09:16
Speaker
but yeah her character i felt like had the least amount going on in the family yeah and then like she was just also comically bad um yes as in you know like over cartoony um yes definitely her acting was good but yeah um her her death also it was just very like Like it was slow and you almost be like, yeah, serves you right.
01:09:45
Speaker
But I was just hanging on the edge with Will Poulter being there. I'm like, I'm waiting for a really good comedic payoff. And then it just wasn't there. I'm like, I think I'm misunderstanding the tone. I was waiting for him to shoot her by accident. Yes.
01:09:57
Speaker
Oh, I thought so too. And again, felt like all the air just got let out of the balloon there. It was supposed to be a very great comedic moment with him just saying, oh, fuck this and just running. Yeah.
01:10:11
Speaker
But it didn't land for me again. 100%. Yeah. Yeah. yep I agree with you. And that's unfortunate. Yeah. I think it would have been better if even though I was expecting it um or we were both expecting it sounds like him shooting for it having the bravery to do it but then missing and like you know hitting her or something.
01:10:29
Speaker
Right, right, yeah, that's just hilarious, man. Yeah. And one of the worst weapons to have, a bow and arrow. Yeah. You know, oh man, you can't trust him with that. i loved Ortega just taking it seriously the whole time, too.
01:10:44
Speaker
was like, he just told you that he hasn't shot this thing in years or like only you went to a few practices, he doesn't know how to shoot it. And then she's still scared of him holding it from like two feet away.
01:10:57
Speaker
i'm like... I don't know if he's drawing back far enough. No, yeah, yep. Yeah, but never really had the chance to see I would love to see if like he did try and end up killing Rod or Ortega or something and then just yeah missed or the arrow just flopped.
01:11:15
Speaker
Right, yeah yeah. Just something more funny to get me cackling. like you You need that. that's That's one of the most important movies. and um Of course, like going with the tone too, horror comedy, that's when you need a hit on it.
01:11:29
Speaker
like the the one-liners are great and all but like the build-up and then um pretty timing execution close after subsequent payoffs like oh yeah actually only got a couple lessons and then failing to use it oh yeah we tied it together yes and it worked well you could do that great with bolter yeah oh definitely The ending, the the the imagery, i will say, um another shot I'm thinking of is when the unicorns were laying by Ortega.
01:12:02
Speaker
I really, i liked that a lot. Yeah, I did. I thought the the color palette as a whole was pretty good for this movie. um I know how you felt about that, but I thought the purple and black was a good palette.
01:12:15
Speaker
Like most of the movie was dark or purple, black and white, I guess were the primary colors here. And I'd like to see this, you know, with your your color thingies. It'd be nice. Oh, sure. With my Hue sync lights. Yeah. If it would do the purple more.
01:12:29
Speaker
Yeah, because like when it's daylight, it's so ah vibrant and everything. And then in the darkness, they do. I'll give it that they take advantage of the um times in the day.
01:12:41
Speaker
And I do really enjoy that. It was quite a bit of the movie was in the dark that really helped the creature effects. on Yep. ah Yeah, I like that a lot.
01:12:53
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. I thought the um rapid shift today was a little weird. Like that caught me off guard. Same. and I was like, oh, I guess I wasn't looking out the windows, but was it day already?
01:13:05
Speaker
Oh, geez. I mean, did all that have to take that amount of time? Yeah. I don't know. I was like, okay, we're getting ready for a nice ah dawn ending of this movie or something. or Yeah, dawn.
01:13:18
Speaker
And... and And it was a full daytime. i was like, okay. yeah Interesting choice. Yeah. um ah We have touched on the ending pretty much with yeah but ah with Paul Rudd's character being revived as well as the baby unicorn.
01:13:36
Speaker
And we both kind of agreed that it didn't really land for us, wasn't a very solid ending, right? um
01:13:47
Speaker
Did you think the baby unicorn was going to stay dead? Um, no, because they, I mean, I'd have to watch it again to be sure, but I think they had a couple subtle things where like the blood was healing at certain points, like just little minor things if you're paying attention to the unicorn. Right, yeah. Because it's a magical creature. it Yeah. Yeah, maybe isn't dead dead like they think it is. Right.
01:14:14
Speaker
Yeah, and I was starting to pick up on some of that. I was like, because I thought I saw the blood coming back in at one point. ye i was like, okay, maybe it is healing. And then, yeah, and then they confirm it later on.
01:14:25
Speaker
You got to kind of wonder too, like, do they ever die? Yeah. Yeah. Can you kill a unicorn? Well, I wonder if cutting off the horn did it, because then he didn't seem like he was reviving.
01:14:37
Speaker
oh hey, okay. Until put it back. Maybe some of that magical cosmic power went away by taking removing the horn. Yeah. Mm-hmm. And... That just made me think of when the unicorn was introduced to everybody, when its body was chilling in the vehicle, or when it was trying to escape, and then they end up shooting it. yeah The comedy really should have landed when the discovering of the unicorn happened for like all of our characters that we follow. I felt like it should have more comedic heft.
01:15:09
Speaker
I remember a line being... like It was from Jenna Ortega, I'm pretty sure, and just like... Blunt as hell, she's just like, um it has a horn coming out of its head. that That's a unicorn. When they were trying to make excuses that it wasn't a unicorn. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that that just did not make me laugh like they wanted two Yeah. I was just like, come on, can we get to her line? Because I remember you know her line from the trailer as well. and i think Okay, and I didn't watch the trailer, so okay.
01:15:38
Speaker
That's one of the things that undercut for me. i was like, okay, come on, I know this line's coming. I've heard this, yes. Yeah. yeah Yeah, just...
01:15:48
Speaker
the The shock of it all and the the weird, wacky craziness of the story and the reality that they're in it should have been more apparent there.
01:16:01
Speaker
All the unicorns are white now when they run off. I did like that. um Do you know why they are white I think that they're naturally white.
01:16:14
Speaker
Like, well yeah the baby dies. yeah And then i think it's just because they have to go on their killing spree. The parents turn black. They're kind of in mourning.
01:16:26
Speaker
Evil form, I guess, or whatever. And then, yeah, they turn back when they're done. Okay, so there is an evil and a good form. I think so. Okay, that makes a lot more sense to me. Or maybe more of a Something's out of balance in the universe. So now we need to fix it.
01:16:43
Speaker
Yep. Yeah. Yeah. So like that, that missing piece is there now. Yeah. Because of the killing, ah the hitting of the unicorn. Yeah. ah do i do want to say as well on the the kills um that we covered a little bit. I thought some of the henchman kills were neat.
01:17:02
Speaker
um Agreed. Yeah. There's the one part where Ortega is hiding under the car and the other guy gets his head smushed. Yes. I thought that one was really good. I like that she turned away instead of looking at it.
01:17:14
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. And please, like, that's what I was kind of hoping for though from these kills is like linger on it more. Use that rated R um rating.
01:17:25
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. hundred percent. um That was one of the better kills for me. I think yeah the the female doctor is probably the top. And then that, that's head smushing is probably my second. I do keep thinking of the woman scientist or doctor. or Yeah.
01:17:41
Speaker
Yeah. Can't remember. whatever she Oh, well. um I wish it was executed better because that was like... ah It was a cool kill between the unicorns. Like, yeah both unicorns doing it and, like, we were hoping for that. But...
01:17:55
Speaker
I almost didn't know it was too chaotic to where like I couldn't really get my eyes on it if that makes sense. Yeah. It was kind of just oh it happened and then it's gone. Yeah.
01:18:06
Speaker
Maybe I would just have to rewatch the part again you know to kind of really consume it. But it was a nice comedy bit with the crime scene looking super bad once the police showed up though.
01:18:17
Speaker
Yeah, that was. Yeah, it's kind of a it's an obvious thing in movies when we get to those endings and it's like, oh God, how how it must look to these cops that just showed up.
01:18:29
Speaker
that was honestly ah usually i think about that stuff ahead of time i'm like how are they going to explain this away exactly but since they're on a reserve i'm like maybe they'll just leave not say anything true but uh good yeah griff showed up with the cops and i i really liked that amazing yeah i'm here to help but i see that i fucked things up further Yeah. Oh, I'm so happy that Griff came back eventually.
01:18:53
Speaker
Dude, the last little comedic bit with him, with him rolling up the window. Yes. I love it. Yeah. I like, I thought that was also good. Um, like just showing his social class that his car isn't new enough that he's still got a roll window.
01:19:09
Speaker
Yes. He's working in
Unicorns' Role in the Plot
01:19:10
Speaker
this huge ass mansion out in the hills, but he's still driving this, you know older version of the car. It really correlates. It matches up. Yeah. Yeah. I feel you.
01:19:20
Speaker
I was really hoping the unicorns wouldn't just run off like they did before they ended up coming back in the ending. I was like, kind of like, uh, you know, like, don't, don't leave.
01:19:31
Speaker
Yeah. um So I'm really glad they ended up coming back and helping them. Yeah. I thought that was good, but I'm also like, well, now I'm thinking about after and I'm like, that's good. Just explain more or create more issues.
01:19:45
Speaker
Very true. How do they get out of that? And are they just going to stay on the preserve forever now? Yeah. And like, just not talk to anybody? Like, do they have a dash cam? Is the cop going to be living? Are they going to kill the cop? Yeah. Oh my gosh. like Would the unicorns kill a cop?
01:19:59
Speaker
Yeah, because now they have more bodies to hide or they don't kill the cop in order for the cop to be able explain their story. And now there's unicorns that are known to
Sequel Speculation
01:20:10
Speaker
the world. Right, yeah. that That could become a huge thing. Holy crap. All right, we need a sequel, right?
01:20:16
Speaker
Yeah. No, I know. Just kidding. Just them running loose in the city, killing people. Oh my God. Just a killing spree. you The unicorns going to a city like New York city would be insane. Yeah. Yeah.
01:20:27
Speaker
Um, it's just a, it's a death to a unicorn, death to a society or something. Yeah. Yeah. Death of a society. Yeah. so yeah Oh my gosh. They're running around. It was pretty majestic when they were running alongside the vehicle, though.
01:20:40
Speaker
i'll I'll give it that. And I like that all three of them were running with each other. And I felt like that was kind of a nice payoff in terms of the unicorns, at least. Yeah, for the characterization. I like that. yeah And it just connects them more with our main characters. I like that relationship.
01:20:57
Speaker
At least I had something to grab there. In a way, though, I just really couldn't pin down the identity of this movie. And I'm really struggling and I'm frustrated
Searching for Cohesion in the Film
01:21:09
Speaker
with that because usually I can.
01:21:10
Speaker
you know i can like ah have I think of the movie in my mind and I'm just like, okay, yeah, that's what it is to me. This one was really tough. Yeah, I'll definitely have to digest this more over time. I think so too for me.
01:21:25
Speaker
I think it's just like I walked away enjoying it, but I'm also like, I don't entirely know what it was. like Exactly. You didn't know what it was. I can't wrap my arms around it completely. And that it's frustrating for both of us. I'm sure we we like to know that stuff and like feel it.
01:21:43
Speaker
Yeah, like we're getting a lot of really good, um I mean, you know some miss some hits. Comedy horror mixtures lately. Yeah, yeah. like um Like Totally Killer coming out and Hard Eyes is the biggest one I could think of. Still can't wait to see Hard Eyes. Nell just brought that up the other day. I'm like, oh no, I do have to watch that. You're right.
01:22:03
Speaker
And that's one of the 2025 hits so far that's that's top of my list. Oh, I'm so excited to watch it. I think that's my my highest rated one for the year. And Your Monster, for me, it was a really good horror comedy.
01:22:15
Speaker
you know Just thinking about one that just came out, like you said. and yeah um And I think that's why this one stuck out to me more. like a sore, what's that term?
01:22:28
Speaker
Sore thumb? Yep. Yeah. Yep. I think that's why. Sore horn. And i'm I'm so sorry. I'm usually not this negative, you know, ah especially about movies, something I really love, but I do have to point out what I thought and felt, you know, and,
01:22:43
Speaker
I mean, I'm kind of glad that we have these movies that aren't as great because they it feels like they keep me honest about the movies I do love and and passionate about. I can kind of, in my mind, pick out now and differentiate, okay, this is a good movie and this is what it does well in this movie.
01:23:03
Speaker
It is a big personal thing, though. and I ah can't be too analytical about them. And, you know, my opinion isn't the only opinion and correct. I know that.
01:23:14
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, the consensus seems sitting around a six, a little bit lower six rating for both of the sites. And that's kind of mid.
01:23:27
Speaker
So, it's I mean, it's kind of mid-movie. Yeah. And I would definitely say check out the reviews on it by at least ah Joe and Clara on Letterboxd.
01:23:38
Speaker
Their reviews really matched, I think, with what I felt in general. They really hit it hit on it for me at least. Yeah, I did read Joe's. I liked it.
Film Comparisons and Critiques
01:23:49
Speaker
Good. Okay.
01:23:51
Speaker
There was this other guy that made a comment as well or a thing on Death of a Unicorn that was kind of just perfect. Robert E. Acuna, just so I give him credit for it.
01:24:04
Speaker
He's one of the but people on Letterboxd here that reviewed it. And he just has a really good, like it it's like a whole page in depth of it. And he goes into a lot of...
01:24:18
Speaker
Different points of it that I think hit really well. He compares it a lot to Jurassic Park, which I thought was interesting because didn't feel like I got those vibes when I went through the movie, but I guess I can it after. But looking back, I can see it too.
01:24:33
Speaker
Yeah. I was trying to think of movies that this reminded me of for our you know section, and it was really tough. This movie has no depth, no extraordinary extraordinary reveals, no metaphors, and definitely no clever analogies.
01:24:49
Speaker
At its core, Death of a Unicorn is just a bloody monster movie and easily the most mainstream movie A24 has ever made. Yeah. And I felt like that itself like really summarized what this was for me. It didn't feel A24 to me.
01:25:02
Speaker
Yeah. At all. Yeah. I like that. I like that you brought that up. All right. i'm I'm on his wavelength for sure. Yeah. um And, you know, I don't want to be mean about it. Like, it it seems like I saw some interviews from Paul Rudd and General Ortega on this movie and like kind of going over the ending and stuff. And it seems like they really enjoy it or enjoyed making it and stuff and have a connection. So that's nice. And I hope other people find a connection to it, too.
01:25:31
Speaker
Yeah, they can. For sure. and and it's like It's worth the watch. I enjoyed this movie overall. I came out enjoying it. um Seven is more on my my liking scale.
01:25:43
Speaker
Yeah. there i But I can acknowledge that there's you know a lot of flaws in the movie. I don't
Viewing Recommendations
01:25:50
Speaker
know if I would recommend this as a theater watch. like No. With how expensive theaters are getting, save your money a little bit. I'd say for a streamer.
01:25:58
Speaker
Streamer, yeah. At home. Once it comes to... or where where does a24 go do they go to usually max they go max yeah max has a lot of a24 okay yeah yeah once it comes to max check it out but yeah i i'd say it's worth it and it could be a fun date night movie or something just toss it on on a friday night or something yeah or if you got more mature kids in their teens or something i think kids maybe they'll find some enjoyment they would like this yeah i think so too it's just goofy enough to be fun Yeah, yeah, for sure. And, you know, um we don't have much unicorn content. So, yeah, this is it's refreshing in that way, at least.
Symbolism and Themes
01:26:38
Speaker
And that's just why i was a little disappointed with it. And I hoped it would have been better. Yeah. um Yeah, it's always interesting when we get to foray into a new realm of mythology or a new story that it's been touched before, but not in depth enough. And this is what we get. don't know.
01:26:57
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. You know, i I couldn't write a better story. So i I can't say the specific things that would make it better. I just, I do know my feelings, you know. And um the message that I do latch onto this movie, and I want it thrown in our faces any chance possible, is that the unicorns represent our planet and what we do as humans to it and treat it like garbage for our own benefit.
01:27:25
Speaker
yeah I do like that. I'll always take to that messaging, you know but I just wasn't hit on enough. Yeah, i I don't think it was a through line enough. Like, yeah, you got Ortega, Ridley being super environmentally friendly throughout and you know talking about all that stuff. But yeah, I i don't think it was a strong enough theme.
01:27:49
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. um I'm always a sucker for family members that come together at the end of a story like this, like a bizarre, crazy event takes place to impact the troubled relationships at the core and realize how much they need each other in the end. But the journey to get there was hindered by the pacing and writing, unfortunately.
01:28:12
Speaker
Are those kind of all your thoughts on Death of a Unicorn? Yeah, i I went through my notes. i I want to have more good things to say about it because to justify my rating, especially. i didn't hear. Yeah, yeah. Can you think of anything all? Like big points that go into your rating?
Influences on Movie Ratings
01:28:32
Speaker
ah I do know that, you know, most theater watches are usually half a point to a point or half a star to a star. i experience it yeah The experience of it in itself.
01:28:46
Speaker
100%. Than if I watch the streaming or something. So, I mean, it's probably closer to the six, six and a half mid-range. um For just the movie itself. Yeah. if ah If I had watched it streaming. Yeah.
01:29:00
Speaker
So I acknowledge that, but I don't know. I just, I enjoyed it. um Like I had a good time, even though I was cringing and turning my head in a lot of scenes. See, and I kind of sensed that from you. So I thought we would be more aligned. Yeah.
01:29:17
Speaker
Yeah. I don't know. It's really hard to go back in time and feel exactly what you felt after a movie. Like I get you. Uh, like, was it cabin in the woods or not?
01:29:29
Speaker
Yeah. Knock at the cabin. not Yeah. I remember talking about this a bit. Like that one's one of my ones that's in the nines for me. um And like, that's a really high rating for me. I don't usually give that out too often.
01:29:41
Speaker
No, you don't. um But that was just one of those movies that like I saw it in theaters when it came out and it just hit really hard and I really enjoyed it. And it's one of those ones that like, well, if I rewatch it again, I know that experience is not the same.
01:29:58
Speaker
Sure. so I would be curious for you to rewatch it. Yeah. Might not hit that again. the ending let me down, and unfortunately for that. It was a really good movie up until, you know.
01:30:09
Speaker
Yeah, i have I have seen that a lot with my theater watches. I think, yeah, I have to point to a point higher than what I would watch it normally. Yeah, I understand that. And i mean, also what factors into my rating sometimes is who I watch it with.
01:30:22
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. So it was really it was really nice to go to it with you and like you know really flesh out our thoughts this way. I'm glad we saved them totally. Did not say a single thing and didn't rate on Letterboxd.
01:30:36
Speaker
Now we can. Now we can. Now we can. Yeah, for sure. Which um just kind of shows you like my true rating of Opus 2. Like I gave that one ah six out of 10. Yep. ah Which is mid for my rating scale.
01:30:49
Speaker
But yeah, if it wasn't a theater, watch it. And it was our first movie yeah when you were back. Yeah. So it'd probably be closer to your rating if I'd watched it anywhere else. I think that's why I rated it the way I did too. Yeah. Or if I'd watched it myself, you know, without good company and stuff.
01:31:04
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Hey, thanks. I'm good company. Yeah. All right. You are too, buddy. Thank you. Yeah. No, it's, it's really fun. Cause I know how passionate you are and it's just fun to share movies with you in that way too. Instead of just talking about them.
01:31:18
Speaker
For sure. yeah reminds me of should move on to that i feel like any other like just mid monster movie kind of falls in this bag very fair yeah something like the monkey that came out yeah this year which was i didn't like that was also a team ah mid and i couldn't really wrap my arms around that identity either yeah even though it even though it was osgood perkins and i've liked his other films It was another one where you got these really strong or trying to be strong family ties and
Comparing 'Death of a Unicorn' to Others
01:31:53
Speaker
you know bringing the family to the end. And I just didn't feel anything. it just Yeah. Like they wanted me to.
01:31:58
Speaker
Didn't care. Should I bring up my my one that I did write down? Yeah. While you're still looking? Yeah. um I did put down triangle Triangle of Sadness, even though it's a neon film and it's not a twenty four It's in eat the rich story and satirical comedy but done better i also know that 824 has given me better films than this so i did feel let down now that 824 is growing by the years and producing more films i'm sure the same thing will happen just like with opus as well um it'll occur again and that's just reality because they they are like they're stretching themselves more and trying to get out there more and there will be some misses and that that's all right
01:32:40
Speaker
So, I mean, that's that's all I kind of wrote down and wanted to touch on with the Reminds Me Of. It's it's not super one-to-one with Triangle of Sadness, but yeah.
01:32:51
Speaker
Yeah. Jurassic Park is a really good one because, like, it's trying to take advantage of this um very i rare, lucrative creature, you know?
01:33:04
Speaker
And, um yeah, just exposing it for bad intentions. I feel like there's another film that's on the tip of my tongue where like the child is taken away and the parents coming back for it.
01:33:20
Speaker
But what? Uh, it's such a very specific feeling and I know what you mean. Yep.
01:33:29
Speaker
It's like either they take an egg or a young child of a thing or yes. And it was like a weird creature. Yeah. i don know like you said Like I said, I feel like I know this vibe really well. I just can't put my finger exactly on what I know it from. If any listener can think of a movie that is pretty close to this, send it our way. We would love to see your answers and what you think.
01:33:59
Speaker
Sorry we didn't have ah much for that. i Yeah, it was really tough to pin down.
Recent Watches and Future Plans
01:34:06
Speaker
But yeah, um we go to now watching. Yeah, yeah, let's do it.
01:34:11
Speaker
Yeah. Do you want to kick it off? Sure. um So just this weekend, visited um my sister and her fiancé in Beulah because my parents ah came to visit. So with them, I checked out Mufasa finally.
01:34:27
Speaker
um since it's on Disney Plus for free right now and really love that it was trying to do something original with the Lion King property instead of a one-to-one like the other live-action Lion King was with the original.
01:34:42
Speaker
um I'm glad they were adding on to the story in some way. Yeah. ah and Barry Jenkins, I think really made it look stunning at points. And, um, a lot of shots were awesome. The animal effects were very well done. Um,
01:35:01
Speaker
But ultimately, i mean, spoilers for Mufasa, anyone, spoilers. um Scar, his turn in it just did not hit me in the heart like I wanted it to. Because that's a very important character like in my movie mind. Because, yeah, i still love the Lion King to death and love him as a villain and everything.
01:35:24
Speaker
But... His switch in the movie is very quick. It was not drawn out like I wish it was. And for good reasoning too. Behind his turn.
01:35:39
Speaker
So, yeah, I was a little let down, but, you know, I had fun with my family watching that one. And then I did show them one of my absolute favorites that i also showed you, Blink Twice. And my mom's a big thriller person.
01:35:52
Speaker
So I figured, hey, this is a really good eat the rich thriller. So let's do it. And we'll make us think of happy vacation times a little bit, being on an island.
01:36:03
Speaker
um And, yeah, it was a blast watching it with them. um I absolutely love that movie. Yeah, they enjoyed it. It was fun. um Right now, not a movie, but my wife really wants me to finish Parks and Rec. She got me started on that yeah pretty soon after we started dating and stuff. So I just forgot to return back to it. And I think I just have the last two seasons to go. So okay watching that, like, you know, getting that in before bed and when I'm not checking out new movies.
01:36:33
Speaker
Yeah, um that's a Chris Pratt where you guys start, right? Yes. And i really prefer that Chris Pratt. Yeah. Yeah. It's still one of those. but you call them sitcoms? Is that what they fall into? It's kind of like The Office.
01:36:48
Speaker
Yeah. It is. Yeah. I can't the exact term for it. done better, but. Yeah. ah Hazardous opinion, probably. I've seen most of those shows. like I've seen The Office, Community.
01:36:59
Speaker
weird Community I love. the The groups of just comedy shows. Yep. But yeah, I just haven't seen Parks and Rec yet. ah Parks and Rec is really, really good. A lot of great performers come from there. Actually, it's crazy.
01:37:12
Speaker
Yeah. Especially Nick Offerman. like Love the guy. yeah He's perfect in that role too. um I like him in Last of Us a lot. Yes. Oh, yeah. And I'm so happy he's out there doing prestigious stuff like that because he should be.
01:37:27
Speaker
And um Civil War just ah last year. no Yeah, as the president. Yeah. twenty four It was icky seeing him as that president. but yeah And he wasn't featured a whole lot either.
01:37:40
Speaker
no. He was pretty subtle. um yeah it might be a24's most popular or like biggest hit so far is civil war yeah i mean they really marketed the hell out of it and yeah you know alex garland has become a known name thankfully um especially in the a24 space and it just seemed like a huge movie so i mean the budget was big yeah yeah you know yeah um and yeah that's about it that's all i've been watching lately what about you man uh yeah i got you know a lot as usual um so i mean coming back so i'm not really fully settled into a full routine yet so i've got a lot of movies i'm filling in here and there to distract yourself little bit i've watching a lot of shit but also like a lot of
01:38:35
Speaker
average stuff like i don't think anything has like wowed you super hit me lately um actually i got one uh so predestination from 2014 is that with ethan hawk it is i've had that on my watch list for a long time So um this one is the Spear Egg.
01:38:58
Speaker
um The two co-directors, I think they're brothers. Okay. um They did like a Jigsaw movie and like not really anything big, but they also did Daybreakers, which is also a really big... um um ethan hawk movie that i'm a huge fan of that's also been on my watch list and i think you brought it up recently so i am excited for that one that one's one of my favorite vampire movies oh perfect i need a good vampire flick And because it just takes a different approach on things. And Predestination was another one of those things where maybe it's just in these two directors wheelhouses to take known concepts and switch things up. a So it's time travel.
01:39:40
Speaker
And um Ethan Hawke is...
01:39:45
Speaker
I don't even know how to describe the chronology of events here because, you know, nothing is ever chronological and in time travel movies. No, no. um It's just a really weirdly messy time travel movie. Like messy as you got to wrap your head around all the different the ways that time works.
01:40:06
Speaker
You're going to make me think, Andy. Wait for it. It's actually really cleanly done. Oh, perfect. like okay It's super understandable. And I think maybe after an hour, i understood where the movie was going.
01:40:22
Speaker
i don't know if that's a pro or a con. like Even though I knew where it was going, the surprise and the twist at the end was still good for me. um like Just how they deal with this. I love twists.
01:40:34
Speaker
It's basically the source code plot a little bit. yeah i've seen that source code came before this um my boy jake uh ethan hawk's trying to stop a person who is bombing um all these buildings and stuff and just killing tons of people and so there's this one event in history that they know is going to come up um where there's a huge bomb where like thousands of people die um so they're trying to stop that so he's like going back in time and he's like okay we need to go earlier and
01:41:05
Speaker
and doing all these things so he's jumping around and fixing things and pretty quickly you just get like entranced in the story oh okay Wow, you're already selling me.
01:41:16
Speaker
Yeah, so that that one's the top one. yeah, it's Ethan Hawke and Sarah Snook is the supporting actress in that. I love her in succession. I would love to see her again. Yeah, she so she was very good. awesome So that one stood out to me a lot.
01:41:34
Speaker
um I can't remember if I recommended you Traders. I know you've seen my review on it. i You did, ye um that one was one of those unique movies where i'm like amazing concept even though i didn't like the movies the execution wasn't yeah yeah um and then finally saw den of thieves one and two hey what did you think i thought the first one was amazing i think i actually liked it better than heat um no ah yeah no heat i know i'm gonna get a lot of heat for that but uh
01:42:07
Speaker
hazardous opinion rolling out from andy you're right right as he gets back but like i wasn't a huge fan of heat when i watched it but den of thieves was just like perfect uh i loved it um it was everything i wanted from a heist action movie second movie is decent um decent as a sequel could be for that I'm looking forward to it because yeah i did finally check out ah the first one actually yeah not far removed from when you checked it out yeah um just yeah like couple months back it's a it loses some things because of course you know the characters and it's built up so you don't have you have audience superiority in the second one about like the what everything's going on whereas in the first one you haven't seen the first one yet right or no I have okay
01:42:56
Speaker
Yeah. And the first one, there's twists that the audience isn't aware of. So like, it's supposed to be, you know, twists at the end that like, oh, that's surprising that that happened. um The second one's kind of, you know, you're following these other characters that you already kind of know what's going on.
01:43:15
Speaker
Oh, gotcha. Okay. So they don't really pull you in for the same loop that the first one does. Yeah, it's not just a recreation of the first one. Okay. i just I felt like the first one was trying to be heat, but yeah heat's better to me, at least.
01:43:31
Speaker
Yeah. I agree with you know half of that, at least. I think it was trying to be heat. um Yes, a modern heat. Yeah. And then for for TV shows, I'm ah going through another South Korean flick. It's a Netflix miniseries called The Silent Sea.
01:43:48
Speaker
oo um So this one's a horror sci-fi. Oh, wow. It's like eight episodes, I think it is. Animated or live action? Live action. Okay. So it's got... I should pull it up so don't miss his name.
01:44:01
Speaker
It's got a decent cast of characters. It's got the guy from Gong Yu from Train of Busan, which we also covered on the pod. Oh, yeah. So he's the main character in that. And then he's also the... um I can't remember the game they play in Squid Game. um He's also like the recruiter guy in that.
01:44:21
Speaker
So I think he's kind of a bigger South Korean actor. Like I've only seen him in these few things, but like he's super good and I like him. i love that actor. Train to Passan, he was really good.
01:44:32
Speaker
i think he's got range too, you know, especially from Squid Game. ah So he's good and then lot of the other actors have been in you know a lot stuff as well. But basically it's they're going to the moon.
01:44:45
Speaker
um The earth has ran out of renewable fresh water. So we're like it's starting to become this big class system where it's like you only get a certain water allowance a day because we have so little.
01:44:58
Speaker
um And everyone's fighting over water and everything. So they go to the moon to get some samples that were lost on there. And there's so much that's just shrouded in mystery. And it's just a really, really good sci-fi stuff going on.
01:45:14
Speaker
I know you love your sci-fi. And then like the first, ah like episode two and three has some really good like horror stuff going on. So, and I'm i'm only on like episode six, so I'm not done yet, but it's it's really good so far.
01:45:27
Speaker
Awesome. Okay. I'm glad you're enjoying that. That's good. Okay. Yeah. Oh, I suppose a new episode of White Lotus tonight for me. So i I'm excited about that. Love in season three. So that's one of my all time favorites.
01:45:41
Speaker
I've seen that pop up on the streamer, so i'm I'm thinking of maybe starting that. It'd be easy to get through, honestly. um See if my dad would be interested. in then just Just warn your dad ah beforehand. And I'm going to warn you, too. i it's It's a dark comedy, and there's just some unexpected events that happen that you're like, whoa, okay, you know.
01:46:04
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, so just a fair warning, but it's like, I love that shock factor in it, honestly. So, yeah, I hope you guys enjoy it.
01:46:15
Speaker
Well, yeah, that's that's pretty much all I have. Same here. I mean, tons of other movies I could talk about for hours, but nothing that's like super standout. For sure. Yeah.
01:46:26
Speaker
Yeah. I can't wait to do more episodes now that you're back and we'll kind of yeah flesh out more of what we're watching and checking out. Cover more. Yeah. And if you guys have anything for us, please, please send it our way.
01:46:39
Speaker
Yeah.
Closing Remarks and Engagement
01:46:40
Speaker
ah Yes. We're doing some sci-fi stuff next month for April. Yes. Yeah. What do we got, Andy? We got Interstellar. We do. From 2014. So it's, yay.
01:46:52
Speaker
11 years old now. If I can do my math correctly. So excited to talk about it. Hunter's not a fan of this one. Yeah. If we can already prep this. um Yeah. I'm just warning you guys ahead of time. It's not one of my favorites, but I'll get into it. I'll explain it.
01:47:11
Speaker
it's ah It's not in the top... I think it's in the top 10 movies of all time still. I think it's like... No, maybe it's 11th or something. It's not up there for no reason is what I'm trying to get at. So I'm going to say this to you. i you know It's a hazardous opinion. and Yep. That's all I got.
01:47:30
Speaker
Yep. So well we'll get into that one. And I know it. And we're going to be, you know, playing with the format now that I'm back and, you know, just seeing what works for us. So please bear with us.
01:47:41
Speaker
um I think we're hoping to do maybe three, four episodes a month. So don't hold us to anything, but expect, you know, content to be, you know, flowing back normally again here.
01:47:55
Speaker
Yes. So ready for it. Yeah. Yeah. And hope you guys are ready for it. Thank you. Thank you so much for listening and supporting. um So lastly,
01:48:07
Speaker
Make sure to follow us on socials on TikTok and Instagram at hazardousopinionspod. Join us on Discord and follow our individual accounts on Letterboxd. All the links will be in the episode description for you guys.
01:48:19
Speaker
If you want to reach out to us, you can email us at hazardousopinionspod at gmail.com. Also, if we could have you guys follow and rate us wherever you get your listening today, it helps out a ton.
01:48:31
Speaker
We appreciate your support and thank you so much for listening and be on the lookout for that Interstellar episode next week. Yep. Or last week or whenever time works. Yeah. Time is weird. According to Interstellar in space.
01:48:44
Speaker
Bye, guys. yeah' See ya.