A Quiet Place (2018) vs. Bird Box (2018)
The central premise of this podcast episode revolves around a rigorous comparison between the two notable films, A Quiet Place and Bird Box, both of which explore themes of survival in worlds fraught with unseen dangers. We delve into the nuances of their narratives, character developments, and the effectiveness of their respective cinematic techniques. A Quiet Place emerges as a profound examination of a family navigating their existence amidst a hostile environment, where silence is not merely a choice but a matter of life and death. In stark contrast, Bird Box, despite its compelling premise, is scrutinized for its lack of depth and failure to engage the audience on the same emotional level. Through this discourse, we aim to illuminate the strengths and weaknesses of these films, ultimately determining which one prevails in this cinematic contest.
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Transcript
Things like that are just some of the things that come to mind for this movie or, sorry, these movies, I should say.
Speaker B:I love it.
Speaker C:Quiet Place did a really good job.
Speaker C:Bird Box sucked.
Speaker B:Welcome to the what's a Verted podcast.
Speaker B:We fashion ourselves cinematic judge and jury.
Speaker B:My name is J.J.
Speaker B:crowder.
Speaker B:I'm here with my co host, Matt Senheider.
Speaker A:I say, I say, I say.
Speaker A:Better red than dead.
Speaker B:And Alec Burgess.
Speaker C:Let's get it.
Speaker B:We appreciate you tuning in.
Speaker B:Go hit that.
Speaker B:Follow subscribe like bell notification buttons.
Speaker B:Tell a friend about us.
Speaker B:Tell a family member about us.
Speaker B:Tell people.
Speaker B:Tell some people in some serious danger due to weird things, whether it be sight or hearing.
Speaker A:Well, don't tell us about it.
Speaker A:If you're in a Quiet Place universe, you're gonna have to sign it to us.
Speaker B:Yeah, write it down or something.
Speaker B:But whatever you do, don't bring noisy toys.
Speaker A:Maybe.
Speaker A:Maybe tell Alec so he can die.
Speaker C:Go for it.
Speaker B:So, yeah, we're.
Speaker B:We're kicking off a new month.
Speaker B: It's February: Speaker B:That's wild to me, guys, that we're already in February and wow.
Speaker B:But yeah, we're kicking off a new month.
Speaker B:We're going old school.
Speaker B:We're going back to the roots.
Speaker B:Alex getting to join us on something we used to do well pretty often, and we haven't done it for a long time.
Speaker B:So we're doing it.
Speaker B:And that is our arbitration series.
Speaker B:So we used to do videos.
Speaker B:It started with some twin movies, but we've kind of branched and we got some twin movies for the month, which is movies that came out same year with similar plot lines.
Speaker B:And then there we've got some that are just similar movies and not quite twins because they didn't come out the same year.
Speaker B:But kicking it off, we're doing a Quiet Place versus Bird Box.
Speaker B:So let's jump into those real quick and then we'll get started.
Speaker B:So let me tell you a little bit about them.
Speaker B: ,: Speaker B:It was written by Brian Woods, Scott Beck, and John Krasinski.
Speaker B:Was directed by John Krasinski, stars Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Millicent Simmons, Noah Jupe, Cade Woodward, and Leon Russom.
Speaker B:I might as well throw in Rotopel too, because that just lists the whole seven cast people cast that this movie had.
Speaker B: ,: Speaker B:It was directed by Suzanne Beer, stars Sandra Bullock, Trevonte Rhodes, John Malkovich, Sarah Paulson, Jackie Weaver, Rosa.
Speaker B:Rosa Salazar, Danielle McDonald, Loray Howery and Tom Hollander.
Speaker B:First one, Quiet Place.
Speaker B:Forgot.
Speaker B:There's a lot to talk about when we do these.
Speaker B:It's about a family who struggles for survival in a world invaded by blind alien creatures with ultra sensitive hearing.
Speaker B:And Bird Box is five years after an ominous unseen presence drives most of society to suicide.
Speaker B:A mother and her two children make a desperate bid to reach safety.
Speaker B:So we're gonna go through, first and foremost, let's talk about these movies.
Speaker B:And it's our verses.
Speaker B:And we're gonna do this right here.
Speaker A:Whoa.
Speaker A:Yeah, we got a verse that was a surprise to the both of us.
Speaker A:That was.
Speaker A:Whoa.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker A:Take my headphones off for that.
Speaker A:The bass hit me so hard.
Speaker B:Say you with your chest.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker B:That' right.
Speaker A:But I want to tell her before we start talking about these movies, I was, I.
Speaker A:I've been pushing to bring back verses.
Speaker A:It's a.
Speaker A:A lot of work for us to do because you have to watch a double the movies, basically.
Speaker A:But I think it's a lot of fun to pit movies kind of against each other.
Speaker A:Especially ones that are so similar, those that come in the same year.
Speaker A:I don't know why Hollywood does that.
Speaker A:Like, there's like, let's just at least two of the same, very same things.
Speaker A:But I think it's fun because the more you do this, whether it's remakes and you do that or movies that are similar, like you're always comparing movies to other movies.
Speaker A:It's usually like you have like the Brahma.
Speaker A:Man, this movie was so good.
Speaker A:Nothing's as good as this.
Speaker A:Well, let's talk about it.
Speaker A:And so I think we'll.
Speaker A:We'll probably do this once or twice a year.
Speaker A:It's pretty time consuming.
Speaker A:But I'm glad that my co stars, co hosts are interested enough to bring this back.
Speaker A:And now we get to pop Alex cherry on some of the OG ness that we.
Speaker A:We used to do and bring it back.
Speaker B:Yeah, it was a lot of fun.
Speaker B:That was.
Speaker B:Yeah, we used to do these.
Speaker B:One of our earliest episodes was one of these, wasn't it?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Why do we the for why do we think twin movies exist?
Speaker A:So, like, those that are similar come out in the same year.
Speaker A:Like that always has been weird to me.
Speaker C:PlayStation and Xbox.
Speaker C:All Hollywood is they gotta beat the blind invasion, alien listening thing.
Speaker C:So you go with two different ideas that are very similar and see which one wins out.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And my understanding is most of it is like, especially like in this case, right you get.
Speaker B:What happens is you get a couple of original screenplays because these ones aren't.
Speaker B:At least, I don't know about Bird Box because I don't know enough about it.
Speaker B:But A Quiet Place was an original thing.
Speaker B:Like, it wasn't.
Speaker B:Yeah, it was original screenplay.
Speaker B:We could have done it last month too.
Speaker B:Like, it would have worked in what we were doing with original screenplays.
Speaker B:But my understanding is there's always treatments.
Speaker B:Not actual scriptings, but treatments that are sold.
Speaker B:And so then those treatments are.
Speaker B:Get taken and they start getting tweaked and writers actually get involved versus just these treatments of an idea around.
Speaker B:Hey, these guys are.
Speaker B:There's aliens that have supersonic hearing and they have to learn how to live in silence.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Or Bird Box, where it's gotta.
Speaker B:Can't look at anything or whatever it is that's out there.
Speaker B:So that somewhere along the line is.
Speaker B:My understanding is that there was a treatment that said due to senses, right?
Speaker B:Like, they have to get rid of one of their senses in order to survive in the world that they live in now.
Speaker B:And so then it grows and expands.
Speaker B:But two people have bought this treatment, two studios or writing groups or whatever it is, and then they go.
Speaker B:And then they're just.
Speaker B:They end up on track to release the same time or in the same year.
Speaker B:It doesn't happen very often anymore.
Speaker B:It used to happen a ton.
Speaker B:Like, if you go back, like, there's tons.
Speaker B:And we've got four of them this month that I think three of the four that we're doing were twin movies.
Speaker B:So I know Mats and I were talking about one last night.
Speaker B:A couple of them last night that he was watching that they came out.
Speaker B:Those are the same year and very similar.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:It's just.
Speaker A:It's an interesting concept, but excited for this month.
Speaker A:Where I wanted the.
Speaker A:At least for me, kick things off is there's two.
Speaker A:We're going to talk about four different kind of areas that we're going to raid against.
Speaker A:But the thing that was just my first question for both of you is, obviously Bird Box came out in Netflix, so watch it at home.
Speaker A:Did all of us see A Quiet Place in theaters or not?
Speaker B:I did.
Speaker C:Yes, I did.
Speaker B:With which he says, that is great.
Speaker A:And I think that's gonna be the thing I always come back to with this, is these.
Speaker A:Both of these movies are movie, like movie theater movies, in my opinion.
Speaker A:And I think Bird Box, I think it's, in my opinion, suffered a little bit because I would have liked to experience that in theaters, but A Quiet Place was to me one of the more unique.
Speaker A:Excuse Baby Ray in the background.
Speaker A:One of the more unique things that I've experienced in cinema in a while.
Speaker A:It's one of the things I remember going and seeing in person and experiencing it with the audience.
Speaker A:I don't know if you all had that kind of same experience where it was so quiet, no one did want to make a sound, like.
Speaker A:And when you did, like, you probably had that bonehead that like yelled at some point just like.
Speaker A:Because I was like, oh, like, Like I just.
Speaker C:You leave me alone.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:But I had like, I really appreciated the experience I had with the people I was watching with and with the movie theater.
Speaker A:And I thought it was really unique and interesting and different and memorable.
Speaker A:Like, I still remember what that felt like, going to see that in theaters.
Speaker A:And honestly, that's hard to compete against.
Speaker A:Like, it felt like an event.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Quiet Place was.
Speaker B:Was one of those things that I hadn't seen a movie that intrigued me from like, haven't seen anything like this before in a very long time.
Speaker B:And so I was really excited that.
Speaker B:And I love John Kinski and Emily Blunt and like.
Speaker A:Well, you, like, you felt like you're part of the movie a little bit in a sense.
Speaker A:And so what I'm trying to get at is that.
Speaker A:But then with Bird Box coming out later and it being at home, like, I just, it felt like.
Speaker A:It just felt like a.
Speaker A:Like a stepsister, stepbrother and just.
Speaker A:And like you're like, ah, this is cool.
Speaker A:But like I just kind of did this and I did this with a bunch of people with louder sounds.
Speaker A:Felt really tense and like experiencing it together.
Speaker A:And I'm going to watch this other thing at home.
Speaker A:And it just didn't.
Speaker A:It never hit the same for me.
Speaker B:Yeah, I would agree that that was.
Speaker A:Just my general sense, like, that I wish we could have more experiences like this at movie theaters.
Speaker A:Again, like, the last thing I felt like that was kind of like Dune too.
Speaker A:I felt like I was kind of a part of something a little bit.
Speaker A:And that to me is it's really hard to do with movies these days.
Speaker A:And we just get away from it because it's so easy to just say, ah, let's release it on stream.
Speaker A:Which is great and convenient.
Speaker A:But we lose the magic of what makes for like an event, like a movie that you're excited to go to.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:That's.
Speaker A:I think most what I appreciated about these two movies we're talking about, especially with the Quiet Place.
Speaker A:Like, I just wanted to make sure I called that out.
Speaker B:Yeah, I love it.
Speaker B:Completely agree.
Speaker B:So what's our first topic, Matson?
Speaker B:What are we.
Speaker B:What are we comparing these two?
Speaker A:All right, first one's pretty simple.
Speaker A:Storyline and plot development is what we're going to discuss first.
Speaker A:I've done a lot of talking, so I'll stop for a little bit.
Speaker C:What do we think now?
Speaker C:Story.
Speaker B:Go for it.
Speaker C:Oh, boy.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C:First time doing this, Little nervous.
Speaker C:That's okay.
Speaker C:What do we compare?
Speaker C:Do I just start talking about which is better or which I like?
Speaker A:So I'll.
Speaker A:I'll lay the scene, like, think.
Speaker A:I think what helps to talk to our audience about is think about these two movies in the sense of some of the things that I can think about that are a little bit different.
Speaker A:Is the world building there?
Speaker A:I think there's some stark contrast between both of these movies.
Speaker A:One was very psychological versus one that was a little bit more, like, slightly suspense, more thriller.
Speaker A:And then, like, did we feel like one was maybe more predictable than the other?
Speaker A:Things like that are just some of the things that come to mind for this movie or.
Speaker A:Sorry, these movies, I should say.
Speaker B:I love it.
Speaker C:Quiet Place did a really good job.
Speaker C:Bird Box sucked.
Speaker C:No.
Speaker C:So for watching.
Speaker C:Watching a quiet place, I think they immerse you immediately, right?
Speaker C:And you are learning about this world while it's already unfolded and it's happening around you.
Speaker C:And it's no.
Speaker C:No setup, nothing.
Speaker C:You just dropped right into it.
Speaker C:And to kind of speak to what Max was talking about, that kind of makes it real, right?
Speaker C:Like, oh, no.
Speaker C:And then there's, you know, incredibly large times of this quiet place where there's no sound, none.
Speaker C:It's not even, like, white noise in the background.
Speaker C:There's just nothing.
Speaker C:Versus Bird Box gets the whole kind of start to, you know, and you see what it was like before.
Speaker C:You see what's happening, and then you kind of get the aftermath and you see how it flows through.
Speaker C:But for me, watching Bird Box, it felt like most of the focus or whatever was on how is Mallory gonna have this kid.
Speaker C:Not necessarily about whatever's happening to everybody else, but it's a big kind of focus or seems to be a huge draw to the aftermath, like, what's gonna happen to this child that she has?
Speaker C:And so it's that that was my entire focus while watching Bird Box on both occasions.
Speaker C:And, you know, kids are just terrible little gremlins.
Speaker C:I hate their guts.
Speaker C:So it wasn't much of an emotional pull for me versus on the other side with a quiet place, like I.
Speaker C:I can't help it.
Speaker C:I just make noise like I'm dead in this world instantaneously versus, you know, I Bird box.
Speaker C:I just got to stay inside too easy.
Speaker C:So I don't know.
Speaker C:That was.
Speaker C:I felt like a quiet place.
Speaker C:Kind of did it better for me.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker C:If I had to vote, which I'm gonna.
Speaker C:Because I like Singer's a loser.
Speaker B:I mean, we'll get there.
Speaker B:Right now, we're just compare.
Speaker B:But yeah, I mean, I think it makes sense what you're saying, and I.
Speaker B:I think for me, like, I don't disagree with you, and I think from a story perspective, like, what gets me.
Speaker B:I think the difference between Bird box for me and a quiet place is what you kind of leaned into there, Alec, is that you drop into this world.
Speaker B:And one, it's a world of silence by necessity.
Speaker B:And it was funny.
Speaker B:So when we.
Speaker B:Before you start talking, like, I know that you can't do the silence.
Speaker B:So I was like, I'm not gonna say anything and watch Alex squirm right here because it's like one of those things right where it's in.
Speaker B:And that was a quiet place.
Speaker B:Got me.
Speaker B:Like, I sit down and I'm like, oh, I don't like how quiet this is.
Speaker B:Like, it's awkward.
Speaker B:Nobody likes that much silence, typically.
Speaker B:And so.
Speaker B:And then the other thing that it does in.
Speaker B:In terms of story is Bird Box has some intensity to it, and it's.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:It's a thriller.
Speaker B:And it's like, oh, God, this is uncomfortable, but really is uncomfortable for me with quiet places.
Speaker B:They put you in the most traumatic opening that I.
Speaker B:That you can think of in this story.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:So you have this family that you're immediately like, this is wild.
Speaker B:They had to put these sand lines up, and they're being quiet.
Speaker B:The dad's being smart, shuts down the toy.
Speaker B:Can't let the noise get made, whatever.
Speaker B:And then through an act of being a good big sister and trying, you know what I mean?
Speaker B:Like, it ends up in the worst possible scenario.
Speaker B:And then you jump back to, we're still in this world of silence, but now there's this lingering event, traumatic event that this family's dealt with.
Speaker B:And you want them to recover, but how are they recovering?
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:And so you have this underlying family dynamic that's happening in this world of pure fear and going against our normal nature of talking and being loud and obnoxious.
Speaker B:And so it's really.
Speaker B:There's multiple layers to the story.
Speaker B:And I think the problem that I have With Bird Box is it's just a bunch of people in a shitty situation that have to like, either decide whether they're going to be shitty humans or they're going to give up or they're going to keep fighting and take care of each other as best they can.
Speaker B:And so it's like, human nature sucks.
Speaker B:And so what?
Speaker B:Like, I know where that one's going versus rooting for this family.
Speaker B:I think to me that's the big difference in the story is I am uncomfortable with this family, but rooting for them, for McJump, and then I'm like, why are you associating yourself with half of these, with any of these people in Bird Box, I'm like, just leave them.
Speaker B:Go away.
Speaker B:You have no familial ties to most.
Speaker B:You know what I mean?
Speaker B:Like, just get these kids and go do your thing.
Speaker B:So I, I don't know.
Speaker B:Like, that's, to me where it's like the difference is, is I'm immediately attached and ready to rock and Bird Box.
Speaker B:Like, I'm only attached because I love Sandra Bullock.
Speaker B:Like, that's it, right?
Speaker B:Like, so that's, that's the big difference.
Speaker B:But when it comes to plot and story, that's where I, the comparison is.
Speaker A:Yeah, I'm, I'm very close to what JJ was gonna say.
Speaker A:Like, ditto's the tldr.
Speaker A:But I think if Bird Box didn't have Sandra Bullock, as we'll talk about shortly as well, another category, I think it's just a.
Speaker A:I mean, I, it would have just been another Netflix movie that released, but no one really talked about.
Speaker A:But they obviously were smart, knew they had to go get a go getter.
Speaker A:Whereas like A Quiet Place, obviously it did have some.
Speaker A:I mean, Emily Blunt and John Krasinski are, they're, they're pretty, pretty good in their own right.
Speaker A:And there's definitely some star power there.
Speaker A:But this is the type of movie being a quiet Place that I think so that unique concept still was so new and different and like I said, an event.
Speaker A:I think what people still would have been talking about and listening to it and, and I think it's just the, the family aspects of a quiet place that really endeared me to that progression and the struggle of the, the daughter with the hearing aid and how she just still felt guilty.
Speaker A:The whole family felt guilty.
Speaker A:But they were having the birth of this new child that was kind of a new beginning, but a new beginning in a really hard place.
Speaker A:I think it just landed better than a Bird box that had Some somewhat similar premises, but just felt more predictable in a story that you've seen a thousand times, just told in a slightly different way.
Speaker A:So for me, I mean, I.
Speaker A:It's a pretty easy.
Speaker A:Give it to a Quiet place on this one.
Speaker A:No doubt.
Speaker B:I like it.
Speaker B:Chalk one up.
Speaker B:What's next, Matson?
Speaker A:All right, the next one's.
Speaker A:We.
Speaker A:We'll.
Speaker A:We'll go to.
Speaker A:We'll jump around.
Speaker A:Yeah, we'll do the next one we kind of alluded to.
Speaker A:We'll talk about character development.
Speaker A:Let's have JJ Go first.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I think for this one, like, there's a.
Speaker B:A stark contrast.
Speaker B:And I say that because, in my opinion, A Quiet Place has multitudes of character development, like, specifically around John Krasinski's character and Millicent's character.
Speaker B:Like the daughter and son, or daughter and father dynamic of.
Speaker B:You have a daughter that to.
Speaker B:Like, you mentioned Matson, that blames herself for her baby brother's death.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And a dad.
Speaker B:And then she assumes that her dad does too.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And so there's this tension there that makes sense.
Speaker B:And so you have to see it developed all the way through to the end where, you know, Krasinski gets to make this grand gesture of, you know, distracting the monster so that his kids can survive.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And so it's like, there's a ton of it in that and in Bird Box, Like, I don't think there's much at all.
Speaker B:Like, I mean, there's a little bit, obviously, with Sandra Bullock, because she's got to learn that this is a tough world and she wants to be good at blah, blah, blah, blah, but she's the only one.
Speaker B:And the rest of them, like, they're just who they are.
Speaker B:They're paper cutouts of a character that drives the story for Sandra Bullock.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:There's no dynamic of.
Speaker B:And I think, to me, when I think about, like, an example of this in this mo.
Speaker B:In the movies, like, for A Quiet Place, the moment where Emily Blunt's character looks at John Krasinski's is like, keep them safe.
Speaker B:Like, you know what I mean?
Speaker B:Like, go take care of our kids or whatnot.
Speaker B:I don't remember what the exact line was, but, like, that, to me, is this moment where you're like, oh, everybody's having this serious situation, and they're having to learn about each other and work with each other and love each other, whatever.
Speaker B:Then Bird Box.
Speaker B:I'm like, this.
Speaker B:We could have taken all of the extra people out of this.
Speaker B:And other than the fact that they create tension For Sandra Bullock's characters and these kids, like, I don't need them, right?
Speaker B:We could.
Speaker B:Clever writing.
Speaker B:Could have just had this be about Sandra Bullock and the two kids and maybe one or two of the other characters, but the rest, they're all there just to be MacGuffins and parts that break this story and make it more difficult.
Speaker B:And I'm like, that, to me is like, there's huge depth of character in one and there's no depth of character in another.
Speaker B:And so it's like, these couldn't be two for me on further ends of a spectrum when it comes to character development.
Speaker B:Like, one is a master class and the other is just like, typical.
Speaker B:We've got a huge star.
Speaker B:Let's just put a bunch of names and faces that everybody recognizes that don't actually have any depth whatsoever.
Speaker B:Like, anybody could have played these characters and any character could have been stuffed in this and made a poor decision or a good decision and nothing changed.
Speaker A:I mean, I think the easy, shocking decision for me is it's hard to compete against the couple in the movie that's also a couple in real life.
Speaker A:Like, I mean, talk about is some on screen chemistry.
Speaker A:I mean, that I think just jumps off the page.
Speaker A:And I.
Speaker A:To me, I just think the.
Speaker A:The emotional tension in A Quiet Place is carried as JJ talked about the opening scene through the end of how this movie ends.
Speaker A:Like, this movie really makes you feel something.
Speaker A:And it does that throughout the.
Speaker A:The aspects of that movie where a bird box like Sandra.
Speaker A:Book's an amazing.
Speaker A:I'm not trying to take anything away from her.
Speaker A:You feel for her and some of her decisions.
Speaker A:But the supporting cast that JJ talks about, I don't think ever moves the needle.
Speaker A:They're just kind of there.
Speaker A:And I think A Quiet Place made a good decision where they didn't involve anybody else.
Speaker A:They just had the.
Speaker A:The chaos of the environment and the aliens.
Speaker A:But it was.
Speaker A:It was a family tension and they just kept it there.
Speaker A:And they were smart because they could have had some other rando from one of those other farms with the signal come in and, you know, added a whole another 15 minutes to some tension plot point.
Speaker A:Easily could have done that.
Speaker A:We've seen so many movies that have to grab onto something like that to make the story more than what it is.
Speaker A:And I felt like Bird Box is more of that.
Speaker A:Where A Quiet Place was really smart.
Speaker A:Just said, no, we're going to lean in.
Speaker A:We got enough of this little family.
Speaker A:It's gone through a lot.
Speaker A:We can tell the story Here.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:I was gonna say, any character development that I saw Bird Box really wasn't earned.
Speaker C:Like, you have little moments of what you would expect from, like, the beginning and then it jumps to the end, but there's nothing in the middle that would lead to that.
Speaker C:For example, the one comes to mind is a little Ray Howery.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Who you know, right off the bat, smartest guy in the movie.
Speaker C:He's like, I'm not leaving the house to go supermarket.
Speaker C:You.
Speaker C:You know where it is.
Speaker C:Here's the keys.
Speaker C:This is as far as I'm going to.
Speaker C:Five minutes later, he's the guy who saves the group by charging at fish fingers.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:And it's like, help me get.
Speaker C:Because me as a person, I'm not going to supermarket.
Speaker C:While I'm there, I am certainly not tackling fish fingers.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Save a bunch of random strangers.
Speaker C:Like, you have to help me get to that point.
Speaker C:Or understand how he got to that point.
Speaker C:Because up until this point, he's been made.
Speaker C:He's kind of the joke of the group.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:Because he's the one who's got the conspiracy theories and he's writing a novel in a college rule wide notebook.
Speaker C:Like, I'm not sticking my neck out for any of you.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:And then you're going to make fun of me on top of that.
Speaker C:Like, no, screw you.
Speaker C:But anytime they had that, what you'd expect to be the final kind of character development, it was really wasn't earned.
Speaker C:I mean, the same way where you have, you know, Sandra Bullock finally names the kids right at the end and she's been calling them girl and boy for the entire movie because, you know, don't form attachments.
Speaker B:Totally get it.
Speaker C:Understand they're with you.
Speaker C:But then it's just, you know, there's.
Speaker C:There's no way to earn that to.
Speaker C:Then all of a sudden, it's just a nice way to wrap up the movie.
Speaker C:Like.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:So, yeah, it's like, all is happening in Quiet Place and then none of it.
Speaker C:Or just kind of.
Speaker C:It's like, for Bird Box, they had the formula.
Speaker C:Or like a Mad Libs.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker C:And they just wrote in the answers for the Mad Libs and.
Speaker B:Okay, we got a script.
Speaker B:That's funny.
Speaker B:I like that.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Well, and I think the simplicity of A Quiet Place, too, to kind of imagine you get seven people in the cast, and one of them's already dead, and the other one only serves to show John Krasinski's character how to distract at the end.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Like, so it's a Mirror of what we're gonna see at the end.
Speaker B:Outside of that, it's.
Speaker B:It's four people living in a house.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And so it's just like.
Speaker B:And yet there's so much development of each of these main characters.
Speaker B:Like, even the kid, like, the son, like.
Speaker B:And the dot, like, geez, dude, it's just a ton.
Speaker B:And then Bird Box is full of just amazing cast.
Speaker B:They're just unnecessary.
Speaker B:And to your point, don't only move the needle through breaking what they've already established as a character.
Speaker B:And so it's like, yeah, it's a good point.
Speaker A:I hate when Hollywood does that, though, to Alex.
Speaker A:Like, but you think I'm stupid.
Speaker A:I know we.
Speaker A:I just watched five minutes ago.
Speaker A:Like, how am I supposed to believe that this is what they would do now?
Speaker A:Like, but that happens so often.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:Turn on a dime where it's just like, what.
Speaker B:How does that happen?
Speaker B:Why would he do.
Speaker B:Yeah, Because I'll tell you right now, Bird Box land.
Speaker B:Nobody's getting in that house.
Speaker B:Nope.
Speaker B:Be like waving from the window.
Speaker C:Bye.
Speaker B:And waving with my gun.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I dare you.
Speaker B:So anyway.
Speaker B:All right, Clear third one.
Speaker B:Yeah, I'll kick.
Speaker A:I'll kick this third off.
Speaker A:I've already honestly talked a lot about this cinematography and sound design.
Speaker A:Again, I go back to kind of what I started off with this versus podcast.
Speaker A:It's just the event that A Quiet Place is.
Speaker A:To me, Bird Box is like many movies we've seen.
Speaker A:I don't.
Speaker A:To me, I didn't feel like there was anything revolutionary or groundbreaking or different.
Speaker A:Good expected suspense and loud noises and.
Speaker A:And music and.
Speaker A:And things that I've seen in many movies, but I've never again quite experienced anything like a Quiet Place in theater.
Speaker A:Just.
Speaker A:It's like JJ talked about.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:I mean, I can tell you I've never seen a movie like it that embraced silence like that.
Speaker A:There's been movies where they didn't play music during, like, a part, and it was just straight dialogue.
Speaker A:And we.
Speaker A:Some of those movies, and you can create tension that way, but they don't do it for very long.
Speaker A:Or there's been movies that they play an eerie sound like every movie does.
Speaker A:And that works too.
Speaker A:But I've never seen anything where I felt like while I was watching the movie was like, I don't want to make a sound either.
Speaker A:Like, shoot.
Speaker A:I don't want to slurp for my drink.
Speaker A:I don't want to crinkle this rapper.
Speaker A:I don't want to knock over whatever it may be in the theater.
Speaker A:Like, you didn't want to be that person because you were in it with him.
Speaker A:And that was an amazing experience to be a part of that and.
Speaker A:Or be that one person in our movie theater that yelled out at some point that no one is expecting me.
Speaker A:Like, oh my gosh, like, what are you doing?
Speaker A:Like, you're gonna die now.
Speaker A:Like aliens coming through the screen and ending your life.
Speaker A:I just thought it was.
Speaker A:It was so beautifully done.
Speaker A:I think visually speaking, both were smart in the sense that they never really gave you like a lot of glimpses of the alien.
Speaker A:Like, I don't think, like the CGI for A Quiet Place, for instance, was like, incredible, but it wasn't.
Speaker A:Wasn't bad.
Speaker A:But I like the decision by Molt Movies to kind of not ever reveal their hand a ton if they kind of did at the end with A Quiet Place.
Speaker A:But I think it was a smart culmination of showing you like that oh, shit moment.
Speaker A:But, man, I.
Speaker A:I mean, to me, A Quiet Place is just so unique.
Speaker A:And I got to give it on the sound especially.
Speaker A:And then cinematography, I think me breaking closer to even for both of them.
Speaker A:But an incredible experience in terms of a quiet place for that.
Speaker B:What about you, Alec?
Speaker C:It's tricky because, like, we.
Speaker C:We've all talked about Max and again, just saying the fact that the sound from A Quiet Place plays such a huge role, like 100%.
Speaker C:I do it all the time.
Speaker C:It wouldn't be like on purpose, but.
Speaker C:Oh, shit.
Speaker B:Oh, fuck.
Speaker C:As just like a natural reaction.
Speaker C:And so, you know, when it's that quiet, I'm just getting there type of a thing because you don't want to mess it up.
Speaker C:But Bird Box is.
Speaker C:Cites a tricky one, right?
Speaker C:Because the equivalent would be to have black screen for certain moments and really lean into the audio.
Speaker C:And I don't think it would land as well.
Speaker C:Like, I think it could be cool if done right.
Speaker C:But there's so many ways you could mess that up.
Speaker C:Because you'd almost have to film it from like a first person perspective, right?
Speaker C:Because both these.
Speaker C:It's second person, right?
Speaker C:Third person.
Speaker C:Yeah, one of those two.
Speaker C:But in order to kind of go with the sight and spin it in the same way Quiet Place does, you would have to almost do it from a first person perspective, which would be cool, but also really difficult to do and pull off.
Speaker A:But yeah, I feel like people would hate that.
Speaker A:It's like that movie.
Speaker C:It's like you love it or you hate it.
Speaker C:There's no in between.
Speaker A:What's that Cloverfield.
Speaker A:I actually like that movie, but many people hated that because it was that first person perspective.
Speaker A:And I actually really like that movie.
Speaker A:But a lot of I don't.
Speaker A:Generally speaking, cinema, they trashed on it.
Speaker A:And I feel like that would be.
Speaker C:More of that because it almost.
Speaker C:It takes it and makes it that real kind of aspect.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:Versus because that's Quiet Place.
Speaker C:They'll do that with the audio.
Speaker C:And it doesn't matter.
Speaker C:You know, everything else that's going on that you can see doesn't matter because the rule is you can't make noise versus quiet place.
Speaker C:It's almost like you're just observing what's happening and it makes it less impactful, I guess, having it go from that way.
Speaker C:But I was just thinking if we opened up a quiet place with just black screen, you have kind of like the heavy breathing going back and forth of someone running, crashing through a forest or whatever it is.
Speaker C:That would be the equivalent to what they do in a quiet place.
Speaker C:And then you're kind of sucked in this world.
Speaker C:And you can still have the back story that's going on and the flashbacks to the previous time where it's.
Speaker C:You get the story of what's happening and how it devolves into this.
Speaker C:But if you did the entire present as just like a black screen, kind of having to listen to the cues, I almost think you could do something like that and have it be successful.
Speaker C:But the way.
Speaker C:Yeah, the way Atlanta for me just didn't land.
Speaker B:Yeah, I think that's.
Speaker B:I think that's the crux of this whole situation with these two is one plays well to the medium, to immerse you in the world.
Speaker B:Right, the silence.
Speaker B:And we've talked about this in when we reviewed A Quiet Place too.
Speaker B:Like the.
Speaker B:The silence almost being an additional character.
Speaker B:Especially like, I love the moments.
Speaker B:Why can I never remember the girl's name with Reagan?
Speaker B:Because they lean into the fact that she is deaf.
Speaker B:And so when it's from her perspective or we're focused on her, like it is completely and utterly silent.
Speaker B:Like there is no.
Speaker B:And that immersion is.
Speaker B:It's not possible to do without doing some weird things that are going to turn some people off with sight.
Speaker B:And I think for me, the one thing that gets me with Bird Box from a.
Speaker B:From a cinematography standpoint is they do what they can to show the.
Speaker B:The danger of what you.
Speaker B:You know what I mean?
Speaker B:And they do it with like the weird quick.
Speaker B:Like there's almost like a distortion of the screen when they're like the Visuals there.
Speaker B:Like you get that weird pan out kind of thing as like everybody's seeing whatever it is they're looking at, but there's no sense of danger other than they go cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs after they see whatever it is that they see.
Speaker B:Whereas with a quiet place, even though you don't ever see the actual monster until near the mid to the end of the movie, there's enough seeing it and hearing that, like that's to me one of the worst things.
Speaker B:Like when that old dude screams or when the, the, the at the very beginning when the rocket ship thing goes off and you hear the trees, because that's.
Speaker B:I don't know if either of you, I mean Alec, I'm sure you probably haven't, but if you ever been out in the woods and you hear that sound far off, like it's creepy, you're like, is somebody out there?
Speaker B:Is that an animal?
Speaker A:Grizzly bear, yeah.
Speaker B:What the is that?
Speaker B:And then to know that there's like this and then all of a sudden just this blur of a creature goes flying by, right?
Speaker B:Or this thing jumps on this old man.
Speaker B:Like that visual tied to the silence really helps, right?
Speaker B:Bird Box, it's tough because you can't show they, they made a choice in this one to not show what you're actually looking at.
Speaker B:But there's nothing that truly represents the fact that there's real danger other than what happens after they look, right?
Speaker B:So yes, it creates tension and discomfort, but from a cinematography, there's no real threat to me.
Speaker B:It's just keep your eyes closed.
Speaker B:And that's where I go back to what you're talking about, Alec.
Speaker B:Like, why would you leave the house?
Speaker B:If I can keep my eyes open in the house, if it's just outside, I'm never leaving my house.
Speaker B:And my house's windows will be boarded up, blocked and hanging out, right?
Speaker B:Threat averted.
Speaker B:In a quiet place, there is no threat aversion because unless you're on like we find out in a quiet place too.
Speaker B:And even there they get up, they're on an island where they can't get to, right?
Speaker B:So it's like the whole world is a place of danger in both movies.
Speaker B:But I don't have anything from a viewing perspective to tie me to that danger in Bird Box other than what happens to them after.
Speaker B:And that's just a play on.
Speaker B:They become suicidal, if you will, and they, you know what I mean?
Speaker B:So it's like to me, that's the big difference is that I have a complete and Utter representation of my plot point and danger in a quiet place.
Speaker B:Whereas Bird Box.
Speaker B:And I get why they made the decisions that they did.
Speaker B:Like, how do you show something of that nature?
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:You got to be pretty clever.
Speaker B:And this is where I get worried about these writers, because if you can't figure out a way to show it, whatever it is, and maybe it's different because if it were me writing, it'd be different for every person, and I want to.
Speaker B:And I would show that as soon as they open their eyes, like they're seeing something.
Speaker B:And it's different for every person, whether it's their greatest shame or their greatest fear or whatever it is.
Speaker B:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker B:I need as a viewer in this particular film.
Speaker B:I've also talked many times on our podcast about sometimes not showing a monster is the greatest thing you can do.
Speaker B:But I need to know that it's a monster in Bird Box and not just some visual stimulation.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:I need to know one or the other.
Speaker B:If it's visual stimulation, then show me that stimulation.
Speaker B:Let it be unique for each person.
Speaker B:Something like that.
Speaker B:If it's a monster, then give me glimpses of the monster.
Speaker B:Make me understand that there's a monster, and then never show it to me fully.
Speaker B:I'm fine with that, because I'm worse at creating scary things than you can ever be.
Speaker B:However, they don't do either of those things in this way.
Speaker B:They leave it completely up to me, which I understand the decision, but it just doesn't work as well to me as what a quiet place does of immersing you in that sensory deprivation versus in Bird Box.
Speaker B:I don't have to ever feel that.
Speaker B:The other thing that I thought, too, was, like, they don't have to do it a lot.
Speaker B:But even if, like, early on in the film, when we're first introduced, just have a blank black screen or they're wearing a cloth.
Speaker B:So there's no such thing as, like, with what they're wearing, there's no such thing as a pure blackout.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So let me see.
Speaker B:Just the shadows, like I'm looking through something.
Speaker B:Just give me that level of discomfort versus me having to create it all in my mind.
Speaker B:And I think it becomes more from a cinematic perspective.
Speaker B:Much more.
Speaker A:This just in the monster in Bird box is actually JJ's booty hole.
Speaker B:That would do that to people.
Speaker C:Not a pleasant image.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker A:That.
Speaker C:That doesn't explain why that one lady was like, hi, Mom.
Speaker C:Though, like, now it's just weird.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Know, it could be awkward.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Unexplainable.
Speaker B:On that one.
Speaker A:Well, let's, let's round us out to our, our last topic and we'll start with JJ in this one.
Speaker A:I think this is the one that'll be.
Speaker A:We talked around it about this a little bit, but let's talk about the suspension intention of these two movies and which one did it better.
Speaker B:Yeah, again, I think this one's an easy decision for me.
Speaker B:And that is a quiet Place because it's about this family and the tribulations and it's kind of alec.
Speaker B:We've talked about this a million times though, in the podcast and all of us have.
Speaker B:But like, when I'm watching A Quiet Place, like I'm in this film with these people, like, I am rooting for them.
Speaker B:I want them to survive.
Speaker B:Like, and I'm watching them grow, I'm watching them fall short in places and all these different areas.
Speaker B:And so the intention for me is we're in an area that is in this terrible place with a scary monster and you can't make noise or they're coming for you and that's how good their hearing is.
Speaker B:But I'm more interested and I get a lot of the dynamics with this family.
Speaker B:In this Shitty Place is a movie about this family who's going through some, has been through some, and is trying to move forward and find a life for himself in this terrible world that is this movie and everything else is the backdrop for it.
Speaker B:And it does it so well because you're like rooting for this family in this terrible situation.
Speaker B:Bird Box to me gets in in its own way.
Speaker B:Like in my opinion is the best way I can describe it.
Speaker B:And that is, it has a great premise, but they make it all about the fact that Sandra Bullock's in it.
Speaker B:Like that's their claim to fame.
Speaker B:And then there's like some great cameos with a John Malkovich and a Lorraine Howery and even Machine Gun Kelly for whatever God awful reason he was in this movie.
Speaker B:But that's the, that I'm talking about.
Speaker B:Like, they didn't have the concept and the intention that that Quiet Place did to tell this story.
Speaker B:And so they had to superficially fill it with things that keep your attention.
Speaker B:That being a bunch of crazy famous faces, even to the point of bringing in people that are super famous, like the Sister with Sarah Paulson at the beginning.
Speaker B:You know what I mean?
Speaker B:When we find out what's going on.
Speaker B:And so it's like, to me, that's the, the sign of superficial storytelling is you have to load it full of Huge cast that don't actually do anything.
Speaker B:There was no reason for that cast.
Speaker B:And so are you really telling a great story or are you doing it in the best possible way?
Speaker B:No, because you're just keeping my attention or other people's attention through huge actors and famous faces that you pop in in weird situation.
Speaker B:So to me, yeah, that's the difference is I'm fully invested in a quiet place in Bird Box.
Speaker B:I'm just watching something.
Speaker C:I think he said my name.
Speaker C:I'm not sure.
Speaker C:But I don't think the Alec wanted.
Speaker A:To make sure before Alec not to be confused with Alex.
Speaker B:That's true.
Speaker C:Boom.
Speaker C:I don't think there is any intention with the suspense in Bird Box.
Speaker C:I think they try, but they can't stick to their own story and their own rules long enough to make it make sense.
Speaker C:Like even the point where you have Greg who shows up, right.
Speaker C:And Greg who's just an off off a human being, but at the same time, right, you know, it's easy.
Speaker C:Somebody who's looked there's the birds give no sign of it, right.
Speaker C:Even though they were have alerted before and continue to alert throughout the movie.
Speaker C:There's no sign that Greg is bad from the birds.
Speaker C:They even check.
Speaker C:So it's like, okay, this can be disguised allegedly.
Speaker C:Why, you know, and then we can't look at this at the, you know, whatever this thing is unless you're like a psychopath.
Speaker C:So I'm safe.
Speaker C:But you know, there, there's now rules to this.
Speaker C:Like if you're already crazy or whatever, then it doesn't affect you.
Speaker C:And now you have this, this is that, you know, I guess existential threat, right?
Speaker C:To get people out of the house.
Speaker C:So you have this premise where, you know, jj, you and I and Matt, we talked about likes to stay in the house.
Speaker C:Boom, you're good.
Speaker C:It's like, oh, well, that doesn't move the story along.
Speaker C:So how do we get them to leave their house?
Speaker C:Oh, well, I guess, you know, the only reason to leave your house would be to help someone else.
Speaker C:But if they, you know, this person could be outside, then, you know, they must have looked at it.
Speaker C:Oh, I guess, you know, we have to have a reason for them to be okay to look at it.
Speaker C:And then it just one after the other.
Speaker C:You're almost undoing this.
Speaker C:Any suspense that you had built to the point that it's extremely predictable and it doesn't hit you when it's time, right?
Speaker C:Like they everything they set up to be like, oh, hey, why does that happen?
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:Doesn't matter anymore.
Speaker C:It just kind of goes out the window because they.
Speaker C:In trying to explain everything, they lose any sense of suspense that they've built up.
Speaker B:Agreed.
Speaker A:I don't even have anything more to add.
Speaker A:I would just be piling on top of the.
Speaker A:The both of you.
Speaker A:I just.
Speaker A:I've already said it a million times, like, it can't be no sound and terrify me in a theater more than anything else.
Speaker A:A bird box, like, like I've said, it's just.
Speaker A:It's movies I've seen before that have been rehashed out with the star.
Speaker A:And it's not that it's uninteresting.
Speaker A:It's just something that I've seen in other places.
Speaker A:But a quiet place is something that I'd never seen.
Speaker A:And, I mean, I just remember.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:I never.
Speaker A:I don't really buy, like, definitely.
Speaker A:I mean, movie theater.
Speaker A:I'm not a big popcorn person.
Speaker A:I'll eat popcorn.
Speaker A:But, like, treats.
Speaker A:I'll bring those in myself.
Speaker A:Because, come on.
Speaker A:Movie theaters, like, unless I have.
Speaker A:When I had my A list membership and I was getting a ton of points and things were, like, half off, nobody's in their right mind.
Speaker A:Should be paying full price for, like, a bag of candy there.
Speaker A:It's like, triple the amount that you could get at a local grocery store.
Speaker A:But when you're opening those things up, man, they make sound.
Speaker A:And you always try to do it, like, during, like, a part of the movie that's louder.
Speaker A:We all do that.
Speaker A:Or you, like, you open your soda can or whatever.
Speaker A:Whatever you're doing, you don't have that in that movie.
Speaker A:And you're like, I can't be this person that's making all this sound like, my friends are going to look at me.
Speaker A:The person next to me that I don't know is like, joe, you're gonna kill him.
Speaker A:They want to do that.
Speaker A:But the bird box at home, you're just kind of like, all right.
Speaker A:Like, well, I'm not gonna die watching this on screen because I don't even know what this looks like either, but just hard to replicate that.
Speaker A:And I wish we had more reasons to go to the theater like this one and experience things like that.
Speaker A:Easy win for a quiet place.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I think a great example of, like, the big difference between these two is, like, the Apex situation.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So in a quiet place, you have the.
Speaker B:What's her face in the bathtub?
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:And, like, this thing's crawling up the stairs, and she's silently screaming.
Speaker B:She's freaking out that part.
Speaker B:Like, you're just.
Speaker B:At least for me, like, I was just.
Speaker B:My skin was crawling, going.
Speaker B:And it's such an impressive performance.
Speaker B:And like, you just feel the weight of it all.
Speaker B:And then in Bird Box, like, I just was like, is she really navigating, right?
Speaker B:Whitewater rapids and nobody can see right now.
Speaker B:And I'm supposed to be what, Scared, intent?
Speaker B:Like, I was like, first of all, I've white rider rafted quite a few times.
Speaker B:They're toast.
Speaker B:They're toast.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:Not gonna happen.
Speaker B:So then I'm like, yeah, so the.
Speaker B:Just the.
Speaker B:The apex of these movies alone, where I'm supposed to feel the most tension, and in a quiet place, I'm like, can I leave?
Speaker B:And then Bird Box, I'm like, yeah, you're done.
Speaker B:You wouldn't make it down that river without being able to see.
Speaker B:You wouldn't.
Speaker B:It just would not happen.
Speaker B:And so it's like, yeah, that's a great.
Speaker A:To me get tan here to explain the.
Speaker A:The pains of childbirth.
Speaker A:Thankfully, epidurals do magical things, but I can't even imagine not.
Speaker A:Not making a sound.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:It's a nightmare.
Speaker A:Tay.
Speaker A:Yeah, she's.
Speaker A:She's yelling up at us.
Speaker A:She says, a nightmare.
Speaker A:So they did a good job.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:But I wanted to ask a trivia question.
Speaker A:What do you.
Speaker A:What was the.
Speaker A:The budget for both of these movies?
Speaker A:It's actually very close as well.
Speaker C:125 million.
Speaker A:Way lower.
Speaker B:I was gonna say.
Speaker B:I'm gonna say for a Quiet Place, 40 million.
Speaker B:And Bird Box, 60.
Speaker A:Still very far off.
Speaker A:Quiet Place, approximately 17 million.
Speaker A:Bird Box, 19 million.
Speaker A:Which you really think about it cheap.
Speaker A:We don't have, obviously, how much Bird Box grossed?
Speaker A:But I have two other questions.
Speaker A:So in terms of a quiet place, how much did it gross worldwide?
Speaker B:I gotta be.
Speaker B:Quarter of a bill.
Speaker B:250 million.
Speaker C:180 million.
Speaker A:340.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker A:I mean, you think.
Speaker A:Think about how much money made some money.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's.
Speaker A:That tells you all you need to know about why they made a number two right there.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:And even now, and I'm like, well.
Speaker A:And maybe we did do something right here.
Speaker A:Probably should make another one.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Bird Box.
Speaker A:How many accounts?
Speaker A:Watch this on Netflix.
Speaker A:I will preface and say it is one of the most watched films at the time.
Speaker A:So sure.
Speaker A:Scope your numbers.
Speaker B:22 million, 30 million.
Speaker A:45 million.
Speaker B:That's crazy.
Speaker B:I mean, Mike, you know, watched it once, now twice, Unfortunately, I think that's the.
Speaker A:When you go back to the power of.
Speaker A:Of a star, I think think about what Netflix has done with some of these movies that we've seen and reviewed even on here.
Speaker A:Like, that aren't great, but they put in the rock or Sandra Bullock or Ryan Reynolds or someone else.
Speaker A:And I mean, I, I think that carried.
Speaker A:They probably even have like the.
Speaker A:More like this.
Speaker A:They probably have stats.
Speaker A:Like, look, you put the rock in this movie, I can guarantee you we're gonna get 20 million people at minimum to watch this movie.
Speaker A:And they probably like, literally, I'm sure they have that data now.
Speaker A:They could just say, what star are we doing?
Speaker A:Here's how much we're gonna pay based off that.
Speaker A:Like, we're all about data these days.
Speaker A:I bet you that there's someone has that in their like, Excel sheet.
Speaker B:Oh yeah, well, they just did another one that was just that like, they just recently released one with Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx coming back.
Speaker B:Like, called Back in Action.
Speaker B:Horrible movie.
Speaker B:It's bad.
Speaker B:Don't watch it.
Speaker B:It's terrible.
Speaker B:But I guarantee people are watching the out of it.
Speaker A:My brother told me to watch.
Speaker A:He didn't say it was like.
Speaker A:I don't think he just said it was funny.
Speaker A:But he also likes to laugh at a lot of stuff.
Speaker B:But it has moments, don't get me wrong.
Speaker B:Like there was some moments.
Speaker B:Like there was a.
Speaker B:There's one character in it that made.
Speaker B:Casey and I both were chuckling, but only at this character and the rest of it.
Speaker B:You're just like, whatever, what a waste of you.
Speaker B:Because there's some big talent in there.
Speaker B:Like, I was like, Jesus.
Speaker A:But that's what gets.
Speaker A:That's what, that's what happened these days.
Speaker A:That's what gets people to watch things now because we can't.
Speaker A:The.
Speaker A:The cinema as we known.
Speaker A:Like these original screenplays, all these things.
Speaker A:Like, is that what gets people to the.
Speaker A:The streaming or to the movie theater?
Speaker A:Not really anymore.
Speaker A:It's what stars in this movie.
Speaker A:Do I like them enough?
Speaker A:Do I respect them enough to watch this?
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:Because I even.
Speaker A:I'll tell you that, that just literally happened to me.
Speaker A:I don't even.
Speaker A:I didn't even see the whole preview.
Speaker A:It was like a 20 second snippet of Bill Skarsgard in this car that was like attacking him or something.
Speaker A:I don't know if you guys have seen the preview for this.
Speaker A:I don't even know what it's called because I didn't even see the whole thing.
Speaker A:But I like him a lot as he's one of my favorite actors.
Speaker A:And I was like, I might need to Watch this movie.
Speaker A:It's a weird.
Speaker A:He, like, he's in, like, what looked like a Range Rover.
Speaker A:That is, like, he's being harassed.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Locked.
Speaker B:It's called Locked.
Speaker A:And it.
Speaker A:I like him.
Speaker A:And I was like, man, I know he's a good actor.
Speaker A:I know this movie might be weird, but he's amazing.
Speaker A:And I know he probably acted his butt off for this.
Speaker A:And I only care about it because he's in it.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's fair.
Speaker A:And I feel like that's more of what Hollywood is these days.
Speaker A:Like, let me.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:I gotta get the star to validate the plot.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:That's crazy.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I'd never even heard of that one before.
Speaker A:Watch the preview for it because I'm gonna have to watch the whole thing.
Speaker A:It's terrifying.
Speaker A:For the part, I did see, like, I've been locked in a car before.
Speaker A:There was one time my dad, we're going to the beach.
Speaker A:He went into the.
Speaker A:The grocery store.
Speaker A:It with me and my little brother was really, like.
Speaker A:It was hot.
Speaker A:Like, it was supposed.
Speaker A:He was supposed to come up pretty quick for whatever reason.
Speaker A:Maybe it was.
Speaker A:It wasn't as long as I ever thought it was.
Speaker A:But it got.
Speaker A:It was starting really, really hot.
Speaker A:And I tried to open the door and everything was a Toyota Sequoia that we still have.
Speaker A:Like, the alarm went off because, like, it thought, like, it was set to lock.
Speaker A:Like, lock, lock.
Speaker A:So you tried to do that and the alarm went off.
Speaker A:And I remember, like, I was panicking.
Speaker A:Like, it was hot.
Speaker A:It was getting hotter.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:I was really starting to worry.
Speaker A:I don't remember how old I was, like 10 or 11.
Speaker A:But I mean, if I was in it for a long period of time, like.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I mean, people have.
Speaker A:I'm sure it wasn't close to dying, but I started to, like, actually panic.
Speaker A:Like, I was worried.
Speaker A:Like, this is not good.
Speaker A:I need my dad to come back.
Speaker A:Like, now.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:That's crazy.
Speaker A:And I saw that movie.
Speaker A:That movie is.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:We're going off a whole tangent now.
Speaker A:But yeah, yeah, put in a good actor.
Speaker A:That's what Netflix and all these services do now.
Speaker A:Like, that's half the battle.
Speaker B:Yeah, agreed.
Speaker A:Anyways, so circling back now, we've talked about the movies.
Speaker A:I think it's pretty clear to our listening audience when we give the.
Speaker A:The rating for each of these movies, it shouldn't come as a shocker.
Speaker A:I guess I'll go first.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Well, let's tell Alec because he's never done it before.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:So we do together.
Speaker C:Do we rate both?
Speaker B:Do we rate Both?
Speaker B:Our typical 0 through 5 scale, you're ate both.
Speaker B:And then who won?
Speaker B:Which one won?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:Oh, okay.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So for me, honestly, Quiet Place is a five.
Speaker A:Like, I, I.
Speaker A:This movie, I'm not gonna spend a ton of time talking about again, but, like, it's a complete movie to me.
Speaker A:From the.
Speaker A:The emotional investment to the just unique event that I felt like I was a part of the character progression.
Speaker A:Even watching this movie again, I.
Speaker A:It's never going to be the same as the first time, but there's still enough there that is intriguing to me that you pick up on and be like, man, what would that be like?
Speaker A:Like, it's very easy for me to insert myself right into any members of those family, especially now that I'm a dad.
Speaker A:Like, oh, my gosh, dude.
Speaker A:Like, it's just, like, amped it up in another.
Speaker A:Another stratosphere.
Speaker A:Everything about it, I just feel like, is done really well, and it never.
Speaker A:Yeah, there's points this movie that aren't.
Speaker A:Aren't fast.
Speaker A:You guys know that.
Speaker A:Listen to me.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:I want things to continue to progress at a decent pace.
Speaker A:Everything about this movie feels intentional, feels right, and feels exactly what it needs to be.
Speaker A:And the ending of this movie just.
Speaker A:Oh, man.
Speaker A:Like, if you don't have.
Speaker A:Like, if it doesn't make you feel something, you don't have a heart.
Speaker A:Like, that, that amount of sacrifice and what that means for the family, like, tugs at your heartstrings, and I think it just takes you on an emotional journey.
Speaker A:And it's a unique movie, the opposite of that bird box.
Speaker A:Like I've kind of said before, I just feel like it's a movie that we've seen various versions of this.
Speaker A:It has kind of a unique play, but it came after A Quiet Place that, to me, did it way bigger and way better and just felt like kind of like the little stepbrother.
Speaker A:So I'm gonna give it a 2 compared to the 5, and absolutely, by my ratings, absolutely.
Speaker A:A Quiet Place did it better.
Speaker B:All right, Alex.
Speaker C:All right.
Speaker C:I'm gonna be a five for Quiet Place as well.
Speaker C:The only kind of knock that I have against it is that it's set up perfectly to be a standalone film.
Speaker C:And then they went, and now they've got a sequel and Quiet Place Day one, and it looks like they're turning it into a whole universe thing.
Speaker C:And so if that was going to happen, it's almost like, go back in time, keep John Krasinski's character around for a little bit so you can build upon that rather than.
Speaker C:Because, like Matthew was saying, you know, it's gut wrenching at the end because you know it's coming.
Speaker C:You're like, dude, are you kidding me?
Speaker C:And it's a, it's a nice way to put a nice little bow on top.
Speaker C:Then because of the success you know, you have now, this sequel you have, they're doing all these spin offs and John Krasinski is still involved in it, but not having him on screen except for the occasional flashback sequence, really just kind of, you know, it sucks.
Speaker C:Bird Box, on the other hand, gets a 0.5 because what the name of the movie is Bird Box.
Speaker C:But nowhere does it say anything about why birds are special and why they can sense whatever entity, demon, thing or magic is going on.
Speaker C:And that is, in my opinion the laziest that anybody can be is we're gonna call it Bird Box.
Speaker C:Why?
Speaker C:Well, because birds consensus why and not explain that.
Speaker C:And you can easily do it, right?
Speaker C:You have this guy who kind of explains what they're dealing with.
Speaker C:You know, he's a little psychotic, but you just don't.
Speaker C:A little snippet about birds, that's all you gotta do.
Speaker C:A little explanation about why birds can sense this.
Speaker A:It's the, it's the metaphor.
Speaker C:What metaphor?
Speaker A:The symbolism of the bird box is a literal box that contains birds which serve as a warning system for the characters.
Speaker A:The birds can sense the presence of the unseen entity and their agitation alerts the characters to danger.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker C:So why, what makes birds special?
Speaker C:Like, does it work with a cat?
Speaker C:Can I stick a cat in a box?
Speaker C:Do all birds apply?
Speaker C:Can I stick an ostrich in a box?
Speaker C:Like there's no reasoning for it to be called Bird Box or no reason for the birds to have that and they just kind of gloss over it when you could turn into a really cool plot point.
Speaker C:And that's just the epitome of laziness.
Speaker A:Alex.
Speaker A:Alex stated his case and I feel like I need to knock myself or down to like Bird Box wins.
Speaker A:No, I need to knock my score down to like a.
Speaker A:A 1.5 or a 1.
Speaker A:Now I feel convinced.
Speaker B:That's funny.
Speaker C:Zero.
Speaker C:Zero point five.
Speaker C:Quiet place, easy.
Speaker A:Yeah, Bring us home.
Speaker B:I'm also giving quiet place A5.
Speaker B:I agree and disagree with Alec in that.
Speaker B:I mean, we've done, we did a quiet place too.
Speaker B:And I'm pretty sure I scored it really high too.
Speaker B:I like a quiet place too.
Speaker B:I hated day one.
Speaker A:I've never seen day one.
Speaker A:I just didn't feel like it was worth seeing.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:It's not.
Speaker B:And it.
Speaker B:And it.
Speaker B:Because it kind of does what Bird Box does.
Speaker B:Like, it takes something that worked, right?
Speaker B:Or a concept that worked, but then it dilutes it and it's.
Speaker B:It becomes about the two leads versus the two leads in the first one and the leads in the first one.
Speaker B:Like, it didn't matter who was playing it because the story was so damn good.
Speaker B:Now, the acting was great, which you needed, and that helped pull it along.
Speaker B:But, like, the story was just so damn good.
Speaker B:And the day one, it's just.
Speaker B:It just didn't have the same feel because you're not immersed in that silence and awkwardness.
Speaker B:Like you're learning why they had to do that anyway.
Speaker B:It doesn't matter.
Speaker B:But, yeah.
Speaker B:So a five for Quiet Place.
Speaker B:I think it's a master class in so many different ways of movie making.
Speaker B:Like doing something different, utilizing the lack of sound and really leaning into something that most people would be terrified to do.
Speaker B:And that is very little if.
Speaker B:If any dialogue.
Speaker B:I mean, the only real dialogue you get is the kid and John Krasinski at the waterfall.
Speaker B:Like, that's it.
Speaker B:Like, outside of that, it's all sign language, which is cool, but it's.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:It was brave.
Speaker B:It was.
Speaker B:Nobody done anything like that before, at least that I know of.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:And then just the acting was amazing.
Speaker B:The story, this, the character development.
Speaker B:To me, it's just.
Speaker B:That's why it's a 5.
Speaker B:It's a damn near perfect movie.
Speaker B:Bird Box.
Speaker B:I'm gonna give it a one.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:Look, I want to like it because there are moments that make me uncomfortable, but it's mostly specifically when Greg comes in.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:But that's because it's.
Speaker B:And I think, well, what I was thinking of when Alec was talking about Greg and, like, the whole situation there of how they had to force this.
Speaker B:How do we make them come out of the house so we can further the plot and move the story along?
Speaker B:It's one of those things where the stark contrast between these two movies is very prevalent there as well.
Speaker B:Like, Quiet Place moves naturally through its story and progression.
Speaker B:Bird Box had to be forced into it.
Speaker B:And the only reason it works is the shock value.
Speaker B:And that's the difference is a Quiet Place never goes for shock value.
Speaker B:You're just shocked because it's toys with you.
Speaker B:Bird Box.
Speaker B:You have shock value throughout.
Speaker B:A couple places like Stupid Machine Gun Kelly and His Girl, and they're just like, I'm Just gonna leave.
Speaker B:But why?
Speaker B:Like that's stupid.
Speaker B:So it comes back to like all of these poor choices were forced to make you uncomfortable or make you feel a certain way that A Quiet Place just naturally did so based on its writing and its story.
Speaker B:So there's the difference for me.
Speaker B:Five and a one.
Speaker B:I was hoping to never watch Bird Box again.
Speaker B:But in this, in this comparative nature, it was worth watching because you just see how good a Quiet Place really is when you compare it to what it was.
Speaker B:It's direct competition in the same year it was.
Speaker B:Just didn't.
Speaker B:Poor Bird Box just didn't stand a chance.
Speaker B:So Quiet Place wins it for me.
Speaker B:So I think pretty, pretty even across the board on this one.
Speaker B:I'm excited for some of the ones later because I think we'll have some, some difficulty agreeing.
Speaker B:But on this one I think it was easy.
Speaker B:It's a good way to start.
Speaker B:So there it is.
Speaker B:We're back.
Speaker B:I love doing the arbitration series, so if I had a gavel, I'd start smacking.
Speaker A:There it is.
Speaker A:A Quiet Place Verdict spoken.
Speaker B:More to come.
Speaker B:We got three more of these.
Speaker B:Fun.
Speaker A:Definitive.
Speaker A:There isn't.
Speaker A:There isn't a split decision here.
Speaker A:No obvious.
Speaker B:This one was easy.
Speaker B:Easy peasy.
Speaker B:All right, well, Alec, tell everybody where they can find us.
Speaker C:Happy to.
Speaker C:So thank you for tuning into week one of our month of arbitration series.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker C:That's the name of it.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Twinsies something or another.
Speaker C:Thanks.
Speaker C:Thank you, Rich and CB for choosing movies for this topic.
Speaker C:And did they select this topic or is this one with that?
Speaker B:No, this one we picked because Matson's been jones them for it and we thought it was a good idea, so.
Speaker B:But they picked the pairings.
Speaker C:Got it.
Speaker C:So thank you, Matson, I guess for, you know, getting this in there because this was cool to do first one.
Speaker A:I know my people.
Speaker C:Yeah, I'm never gonna say anything nice about you ever again.
Speaker C:That was cool.
Speaker C:Check us out on YouTube, guys, or on Patreon to get involved with the content.
Speaker C:We're gonna be doing quite a bit more the topics coming out.
Speaker C:A lot of voting gonna be happening pretty soon.
Speaker C:So join us at what's our Verdict Reviews to get involved in that process.
Speaker C:While you're there, check out the what JJ's like 350 something videos extra on there on that Patreon behind the scenes content extra episodes.
Speaker C:Anything you guys would ever want related to what's our verdict?
Speaker C:Check us out there with that.
Speaker C:I'll kick it back to our Titan of terror, the Colossus.
Speaker C:Of clout.
Speaker C:Jj.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker B:Yeah, we've got an active vote on there, so if you want to jump in and get to voting for the next little while, you can vote for March's movies.
Speaker B:Yeah, which that's gonna be a fun topic too.
Speaker B:So we'll see how that goes.
Speaker B:But thanks, Alec.
Speaker A:Shout out to JJ for a sweet graphic.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker B:In fact, since we're done with it, let's watch it one more time because it was fun to make.
Speaker C:Damn nice.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Now I'm have to figure out a way to make one where it's like the winner pops up.
Speaker B:I don't know what I'm gonna do.
Speaker A:Not a bad idea.
Speaker A:I probably can help with that too.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:But yeah, there it is.
Speaker B:This has been fun.
Speaker B:Looking forward to the next three episodes where we do more of this arbitration stuff.
Speaker B:And with that, as always, we appreciate you tuning in.
Speaker B:Catch you on the next one.
