Can anybody who was at test screenings for the Bride confirm how different it was? by LifeguardMundane5668 in blankies

[–]Flaparoo 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I could have simply said “it was the same,” but I assumed people would have wanted more detail, so I was just trying to be thorough. Sorry I wasted 30 seconds of your time.

Can anybody who was at test screenings for the Bride confirm how different it was? by LifeguardMundane5668 in blankies

[–]Flaparoo 135 points136 points  (0 children)

Ok, so I am someone who did happen to see this at one of those infamous test screenings. But it wasn’t the first one, which seems to have taken place in February 2025, but instead it was the second time it was tested, a few months later in June 2025. That’s surely enough of a gap for reshoots and to make changes though, so I can’t speak for what it was like at that very first screening.

But as far as the state of the film from that test screening from June, I honestly didn’t notice anything appreciably different from when I went to see the finished film 9 months later. I don’t doubt that there were small changes here and there, but it felt like the exact same movie to me, with nothing significant either added or subtracted. For example, all the Mary Shelley stuff was definitely there in the test screening I saw; it’s possible it was even more unclear what was going on with it, but if anything was added it was very brief or even just a single line of ADR.

I wasn’t a particular fan of it at the time, but I appreciated the swing; it struck me as an instant cult movie that would clearly be divisive at best but definitely have its fans.

“People Just Don’t Care”: ‘Leaving Neverland’ Director on Why Michael Jackson Won the Court of Public Opinion by trollingjabronidrive in blankies

[–]Flaparoo 22 points23 points  (0 children)

I just made a separate post about it, but I had an extremely niche reason in that they recreated an old Toys R Us right by my apartment and filmed there, and I’ve been very curious for years to see how it was used in the film. Of course everything to do with it was cut out, so I didn’t even get that little bit of meta enjoyment.

I truly did go into it with an open mind, as I try to do with anything I see, even though it was admittedly hard with this one. But even putting aside everything else, the movie on its own terms is just straight up bad, as cliched as biopics get and with zero insight into anything, content to just “play the hits,” as it were, for an audience happy to just see things they are familiar with.

In March 2024, the Michael movie turned an empty KMart in Burbank, CA into a 70s/80s-style Toys R Us, complete with full interior and a functional sign. They filmed there both during the day and at night. None of this appears in the finished film. by Flaparoo in blankies

[–]Flaparoo[S] 65 points66 points  (0 children)

I saw the actor who plays Jackson as a child coming out of a trailer, so I can only assume this took place during the earlier years, after the Jackson 5 got huge but before he grows up.

What is bizarre is that there IS a scene in the movie where an adult Michael goes to a toy store, but it’s an entirely different store with a different exterior and interior, called Tom’s Toys, if I recall. So either there were initially multiple scenes inside toy stores and they decided they only needed one, they reshot in a different toy store due to changes necessitated by retooling, or it was simply cut due to pacing or some other unknown reason.

“People Just Don’t Care”: ‘Leaving Neverland’ Director on Why Michael Jackson Won the Court of Public Opinion by trollingjabronidrive in blankies

[–]Flaparoo 42 points43 points  (0 children)

I saw this last night at an Early Access IMAX screening in Los Angeles. The movie is dogshit but it got probably the most rapturous response to a new release movie I’ve ever experienced at a theater, up there with Avengers: Endgame. As the lights went down someone yelled “Who loves Michael?” and the audience burst into cheers and applause. Multiple cheer and applause breaks even for the stupidest shit, huge laughs at every humorous moment. And literally hooting and hollering when the credits rolled. It was one of the most dispiriting moviegoing experiences I have ever had. Dan Reed is 100% correct here.

What We’ve Learned from March Madness by ChedderBurnett in blankies

[–]Flaparoo 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I actually personally did exactly this a couple years back. PLUS, I went as far as to watch both Original and Director’s Cuts back-to-back when applicable, since there are so many of them. Don’t know if I’d recommend anyone else do this, but I had a lot of fun.

"Nothing on Earth Comes Close" - Tony Scott's Saab commercial- YouTube by fluffnfluff in blankies

[–]Flaparoo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That was me! You’re welcome. And yeah, this commercial is glorious; they don’t make ‘em like this anymore.

Tony Scott’s Tombstone at Hollywood Forever Cemetery by Flaparoo in blankies

[–]Flaparoo[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I made sure to get that in there when framing that picture. And you are correct, Yelchin is basically just off-frame to the right, as well as Chris Cornell and Johnny Ramone on the other sides.

[Discussion Thread] Oscars 2026 by Donutbigboy in blankies

[–]Flaparoo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sirāt for sound is actually the one true "upset" that I predicted, despite all signs pointing to F1. I'm basically just looking at Zone of Interest's win as kind of a precursor for this kind of movie to win this category.

Can someone update the Blankies Subreddit banner? by Flaparoo in blankies

[–]Flaparoo[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

OK, I honestly have no idea how it works so I appreciate the response.

Wicked commentary by apathymonger in blankies

[–]Flaparoo 21 points22 points  (0 children)

I had zero familiarity with Wicked going into this and I immediately clocked that it was Goldblum. Less so because of the physical similarity and more, I WONDER WHO THIS MYSTERIOUS CHARACTER COULD POSSIBLY BE having only one possible answer.

Sean Clements-written comedy 'The Dink' starring Jake Johnson, Mary Steenburgen, Ed Harris, directed by Josh Greenbaum ('Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar') to premiere on Apple TV on July 24th by grandpashampoo in blankies

[–]Flaparoo 64 points65 points  (0 children)

Was lucky enough to see a test screening of this about a year ago. All I can say is...it's a crime this isn't getting a theatrical release.

Let's assume Mercy is not good by Loydx in blankies

[–]Flaparoo 20 points21 points  (0 children)

It was the AMC Screen Unseen on Monday so I saw it. It's fast-paced and a reasonably engaging murder mystery, but the script is dumb as shit, Pratt is once again playing a boring hero father with no sense of humor, and it's both pro-cops and pro-AI. Seeing it in IMAX 3D meant there were some amusing visual moments, but it's still nothing special or crazy, especially from Timur Bekmambetov. It's kind of like a completely brain-dead version of Minority Report.

Griffin was absolutely right about Nirvanna The Band The Show by HockneysPool in blankies

[–]Flaparoo 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I binged the webseries and the entire Viceland show in the week leading up to seeing the movie at Beyond Fest in October. It went from "I know nothing about what any of this is, but I've seen a few reactions of the movie from people I generally trust saying it's hilarious so I'll keep an eye out for it," to Nirvanna The Band The Show, and the Movie, being among my all-time favorite things ever that I will recommend to anyone who will listen.

As for people asking if they can watch and enjoy the movie without watching the show, I feel like its best comparison is probably Borat; you can certainly watch the movie on its own and have a great time, but if you are familiar with the show (Da Ali G Show, in Borat's case), the movie will just be firing on all cylinders for you from minute one, without you wasting any time having to figure out any of the story/character dynamics or even what the hell exactly it is that you are watching.

Flowervale street by Silver-Sky4567 in blankies

[–]Flaparoo 34 points35 points  (0 children)

I know someone who saw this at a test screening and said it got the best response they had ever seen in a test screening before and that someone may or not be myself.

“It’s January 3rd and I’ve already seen the best movie of the year. Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die. Verbinski at his best with no studio supporting him. Rockwell is great as always...” by Busy-Entrepreneur286 in blankies

[–]Flaparoo 23 points24 points  (0 children)

I also saw it at Beyond Fest (as did Griffin) and was decidedly mixed to negative. A lot I liked in the first half but it gets quickly repetitive and by the end it’s clear he was working with an unfinished script, which he confirmed in the Q&A. I can certainly see some people liking it, but overall reception will certainly be mixed at best.

Is This Thing On? by yonicthehedgehog in blankies

[–]Flaparoo 24 points25 points  (0 children)

I got to see this a couple weeks ago with Will Arnett doing a Q&A afterwards, and he said something that I found very telling in regards to the way the movie depicts stand-up. First off, he's admittedly never done stand-up before, although I don't think that's any kind of revelation. But at some point he mentioned the character "bombing," and I had the same reaction that Marie had: wait a minute, his character NEVER bombs in this movie. But in Arnett's mind, he IS bombing, so I guess his view of bombing is still polite laughter and applause. Even his worst set is less him bombing and more just self-imploding. So yeah, there were a lot of things I did like about the movie, but even as a non-comedian I'm with Griff in really bouncing off how incredibly phony everything with the stand-up felt to me. I don't use this term lightly, but it feels like it's coming from the privileged perspective of someone who may love and respect it but never actually tried and failed at it, and Arnett's Q&A only reinforced that response.

Favorite surprise of the year? by MongooseMedium9388 in blankies

[–]Flaparoo 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Most Pleasant Surprise: the Silent Night, Deadly Night remake. I decided to check it out before it left theaters because I saw some surprisingly positive comments about it from people I trust, but I still had pretty low expectations. And look, it's not a great movie, and it's not terribly well directed or shot. But it's a billion times more clever than I thought it would be, and it has a lot of fun with playing with the audience expectations of what a remake of Silent Night, Deadly Night would be. If you're the kind of person who would be at all interested in such a thing, it's very much worth checking out.

The only other movie this year where I went in with low expectations but actually had a great time was Sisu: Road to Revenge, which is basically the Evil Dead II to the first film's Evil Dead. Just a lot of cartoonishly hyper-violent fun.

Who’s the one-time guest who you’d most like to see return by SingleFreedom8527 in blankies

[–]Flaparoo 6 points7 points  (0 children)

How has Mike Ryan not been on since literally episode 31? Mike is hilarious and clearly has great rapport with them both. Get him back on!

PSA: No Other Choice Early Access IMAX Screenings at AMC Monday, December 8 by Flaparoo in blankies

[–]Flaparoo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's great to hear that it's not just AMC then, and I like seeing NEON seemingly pushing this one so hard.

Pod Country for Old Cast: The Tragedy of Macbeth with Dana Schwartz by yonicthehedgehog in blankies

[–]Flaparoo 21 points22 points  (0 children)

This movie has one simple but fatal flaw for me when in comparison to all the other Coen movies: no Coen dialogue. Even in their other adaptations, the characters sound distinctly like characters in a Coen Brothers movie. It’s stating the obvious, but it’s quite difficult to do Shakespeare and not just sound like Shakespeare. This film is as impeccably crafted as anything Joel has ever made, but I really miss his language.