A Quiet Place 1 & 2 (John Krasinski, 2018/2020)

Discussions of specific films and franchises.
Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

A Quiet Place 1 & 2 (John Krasinski, 2018/2020)

#1 Post by domino harvey » Sat Mar 10, 2018 11:12 am

Another year, another effusively received horror movie helmed by a comic actor: John Krasinski's A Quiet Place is garnering hyperbolic positive reviews out of SXSW right now. The premise sounds ripe for tension and apparently the film milks it for all it's worth

User avatar
cdnchris
Site Admin
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:45 pm
Location: Washington
Contact:

Re: The Films of 2018

#2 Post by cdnchris » Sat Mar 10, 2018 12:41 pm

The trailers seem really promising so this raises my interest a little more. Didn't realize Krasinski directed it, though. Saw Brief Interviews with Hideous Men but honestly can't recall much about it. Maybe I'm just getting old (we did determine elsewhere middle age was closer to 50, right?)

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: A Quiet Place (John Krasinski, 2018)

#3 Post by domino harvey » Sun Apr 01, 2018 11:46 am

Image

User avatar
Big Ben
Joined: Mon Feb 08, 2016 12:54 pm
Location: Great Falls, Montana

Re: A Quiet Place (John Krasinski, 2018)

#4 Post by Big Ben » Sun Apr 01, 2018 1:48 pm

The only reason I can think of that the marketing department would use IGN in their campaign is that they're hoping to draw in younger people who visit the site for it's more known reason of reviewing and previewing video games. The word of mouth has been great and horror films usually make bank regardless of quality. Feels very much like a "How do you do fellow kids." sort of deal.

User avatar
whaleallright
Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2005 12:56 am

Re: A Quiet Place (John Krasinski, 2018)

#5 Post by whaleallright » Sun Apr 01, 2018 2:34 pm

Since Krasinski is a total wet blanket as an actor, it makes sense that he should move into directing. It worked (at least awards-wise) for Ben Affleck.

User avatar
big ticket
Joined: Thu Jul 09, 2015 6:00 pm

Re: A Quiet Place (John Krasinski, 2018)

#6 Post by big ticket » Mon Apr 02, 2018 1:11 am

Big Ben wrote:The only reason I can think of that the marketing department would use IGN in their campaign is that they're hoping to draw in younger people who visit the site for it's more known reason of reviewing and previewing video games. The word of mouth has been great and horror films usually make bank regardless of quality. Feels very much like a "How do you do fellow kids." sort of deal.
I think it's more likely that they just happened to be the only ones that provided a strong pull-quote starting with the letter 'u.'

User avatar
thirtyframesasecond
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2007 1:48 pm

Re: A Quiet Place (John Krasinski, 2018)

#7 Post by thirtyframesasecond » Mon Apr 02, 2018 12:33 pm

The trailer showed their dopey kid do exactly the one thing the parents told him not to, to imperil the family. Pfft.

User avatar
cdnchris
Site Admin
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:45 pm
Location: Washington
Contact:

Re: A Quiet Place (John Krasinski, 2018)

#8 Post by cdnchris » Mon Apr 02, 2018 1:58 pm

They showed the newer trailer at some movie we took the kids to (Black Panther maybe?) and it was fun watching them tense up and cover their eyes (they also saw the first trailer and reacted similarly). But I was amused by how my son was even flabbergasted by the kid in the opening of the trailer. Kids aren't that stupid.

User avatar
Dead or Deader
Joined: Sun May 08, 2016 12:47 am

Re: A Quiet Place (John Krasinski, 2018)

#9 Post by Dead or Deader » Mon Apr 02, 2018 2:09 pm

Big Ben wrote:The only reason I can think of that the marketing department would use IGN in their campaign is that they're hoping to draw in younger people who visit the site for it's more known reason of reviewing and previewing video games. The word of mouth has been great and horror films usually make bank regardless of quality. Feels very much like a "How do you do fellow kids." sort of deal.

Would that make much of a dent in business when that demographic is already in the toes to see this picture? Reviews for Hollywood genre pictures tend to have little impact on the consumer base, as that base is devoted to genre that most fans don't care if the word came out Krasinski picture was the most abysmal thing to ever be released in theaters. WOM has been positive and the horror genre is a money-maker, nothing in this marketing attempt would convince someone on the sidelines otherwise to check out the film in theaters. A little art film from Germany that got this instantly raved review in the New York Times would help make a dent in the demographic marketers are trying to reach within that particular film. Horror pictures are the most critical-proof genre out of all formulaic genres in cinema.

User avatar
Lost Highway
Joined: Thu Aug 29, 2013 7:41 am
Location: Berlin, Germany

Re: A Quiet Place (John Krasinski, 2018)

#10 Post by Lost Highway » Mon Apr 02, 2018 3:59 pm

Dead or Deader wrote:
Big Ben wrote:The only reason I can think of that the marketing department would use IGN in their campaign is that they're hoping to draw in younger people who visit the site for it's more known reason of reviewing and previewing video games. The word of mouth has been great and horror films usually make bank regardless of quality. Feels very much like a "How do you do fellow kids." sort of deal.

Would that make much of a dent in business when that demographic is already in the toes to see this picture? Reviews for Hollywood genre pictures tend to have little impact on the consumer base, as that base is devoted to genre that most fans don't care if the word came out Krasinski picture was the most abysmal thing to ever be released in theaters. WOM has been positive and the horror genre is a money-maker, nothing in this marketing attempt would convince someone on the sidelines otherwise to check out the film in theaters. A little art film from Germany that got this instantly raved review in the New York Times would help make a dent in the demographic marketers are trying to reach within that particular film. Horror pictures are the most critical-proof genre out of all formulaic genres in cinema.
It’s not like reviews make no difference, I’m pretty sure art-house/horror cross-overs like The Witch and It Follows were modest success stories in part because of their critical acclaim (and their low budgets).

big ticket did hit the nail on the head in this case though.

User avatar
mfunk9786
Under Chris' Protection
Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 4:43 pm
Location: Philadelphia, PA

Re: A Quiet Place (John Krasinski, 2018)

#11 Post by mfunk9786 » Fri Apr 06, 2018 12:34 am

This is one of the most offensively stupid films I've seen in years. Before I get into spoiler tag territory, I'll just share a little taste with you folks outside the black box:

This film contains a whiteboard that says
Creature

- Blind
- Attacks sound
- Armor
- How many in area??
on it.

Okay, now for the tags.
SpoilerShow
A Quiet Place asks us to ponder how, with terrifying monsters who murder anyone who makes a sound roaming about, full-size New York Posts were printed (it's a good thing we have completely silent newspaper printing presses these days) with "IT'S SOUND!" on the front page (I guess the sports scores are on the back?). It asks us to accept that a couple, grieving the loss of their son, decided that in this hellworld it was a wise idea to carry a new pregnancy to term to replace the young boy who was snatched away and murdered merely for acting like a young boy and making a sound for a fleeting moment. They're gonna have a baby. That cries, screams, murmurs, laughs. A fucking baby. It asks us to marvel at the brilliance of a man who has managed to paste up these newspapers and whiteboards and stare at them as he tinkers with hearing aids in his basement every day. It asks us not to question how he managed to paint all the spots on the floorboards that the family is allowed to step on without making enough noise in the process that he and his family are consumed by beasts, alerted by test floorboard creaks, within mere moments of this feeling out process.

Also featured:

- "quickcorn"
- A child who goes months wondering whether her father hates her or not only to find out that he doesn't the moment he dies, even though he could have just told her sooner since she's a child who went through a horribly traumatic experience
- A man who decides to scream bloody murder as soon as he sees other people - not a moment sooner or later
- Incredibly simplistic methodology for killing these monsters that somehow did not occur to any major government agencies, as far as we can tell, including some Resident Evil boss-style "See the pink and red spots? Shoot them when they're exposed!"
- Again, there are no working radio frequencies and we're to assume many many people have died, perhaps almost everyone on Earth if no one is sending or receiving SOS signals, so these people are the only ones to consider playing different tones/feedback in the direction of SOUND MONSTERS
A Quiet Place doesn't deserve an effort to craft my thoughts any more cohesively than this. In the words of our dearly departed Roger Ebert: I hated, hated, hated, hated this movie.

I so badly want to discuss A Quiet Place with someone who liked it but found (the unfairly maligned, especially now that this piece of shit is a critical darling) Signs over-the-top and/or contrived. I want to know how their brain works. Open it up, and investigate the creamy center.

Where have you gone, M. Night Shyamalan?
Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you
Woo woo woo

User avatar
MoonlitKnight
Joined: Thu Mar 19, 2009 10:44 pm

Re: A Quiet Place (John Krasinski, 2018)

#12 Post by MoonlitKnight » Fri Apr 06, 2018 5:09 am

whaleallright wrote:Since Krasinski is a total wet blanket as an actor, it makes sense that he should move into directing. It worked (at least awards-wise) for Ben Affleck.
Yeah, I've struggled with Krasinski ever since the last 5-6 seasons of The Office. I think few people will dispute that Jim and Pam became utterly boring once they hooked up, not to mention rather unlikable at times (they seemed to become rather smug in their happiness together, IMO). This feeling was only further cemented when I read an interview with him several years ago in which he basically gushed over Emily Blunt the exact same way Jim always gushed over Pam... leading me to surmise that he pretty much WAS Jim Halpert. Nonetheless, I wish him the best of luck in this and his subsequent directing endeavors.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: A Quiet Place (John Krasinski, 2018)

#13 Post by domino harvey » Fri Apr 06, 2018 11:01 am

What's wrong with husbands loving their wives?

User avatar
mfunk9786
Under Chris' Protection
Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 4:43 pm
Location: Philadelphia, PA

Re: A Quiet Place (John Krasinski, 2018)

#14 Post by mfunk9786 » Fri Apr 06, 2018 11:22 am

I agree about Jim and Pam, but it's The Office's writers you'd have to take that up with. Enormous and bizarre leap to take to extend it to the guy's personal life.

User avatar
barrym71
Joined: Mon Nov 29, 2004 2:52 pm
Location: NYC

Re: A Quiet Place (John Krasinski, 2018)

#15 Post by barrym71 » Fri Apr 06, 2018 11:58 am

I'm so glad that I am not the only person who hated this. As mfunk indicates, it is a relentlessly stupid film that evokes both Signs and Resident Evil in unflattering ways. As near as I can tell, A Quiet Place is getting universal acclaim and I am completely mystified why. Other than the sound design, I'm not sure there's much to recommend here. It's a tidy collection of jump scares tied together with a flimsy, cloying family narrative.

User avatar
mfunk9786
Under Chris' Protection
Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 4:43 pm
Location: Philadelphia, PA

Re: A Quiet Place (John Krasinski, 2018)

#16 Post by mfunk9786 » Fri Apr 06, 2018 12:04 pm

Don't Breathe, too, which didn't get close to this much attention upon its release but was playing with some of the same filmmaking concepts in much more original and enjoyable ways. Much scarier, as well

User avatar
thirtyframesasecond
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2007 1:48 pm

Re: A Quiet Place (John Krasinski, 2018)

#17 Post by thirtyframesasecond » Fri Apr 06, 2018 1:20 pm

The Guardian gave it 5/5 and Blunt/Krasinski have been promoting the heck out of this film in the UK this week - at the same time giving so much away that I'd only consider this on TV.

User avatar
Apperson
Joined: Mon Dec 05, 2016 3:47 pm
Location: Oxfordshire, UK

Re: A Quiet Place (John Krasinski, 2018)

#18 Post by Apperson » Fri Apr 06, 2018 1:37 pm

The film has made $4.3million in Thursday previews. Just for comparison, Don't Breathe and Split made $1.8 and $2million on their Thursday on their way to a $26million and $40million weekend respectively, with the latter having considerable pre-release hype and Shyamalan's name recognition, so it's looking like it'll break out big.

User avatar
Luke M
Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2007 9:21 pm

Re: A Quiet Place (John Krasinski, 2018)

#19 Post by Luke M » Sat Apr 07, 2018 5:15 pm

mfunk9786 wrote:I so badly want to discuss A Quiet Place with someone who liked it but found (the unfairly maligned, especially now that this piece of shit is a critical darling) Signs over-the-top and/or contrived. I want to know how their brain works. Open it up, and investigate the creamy center.
Here you go.

User avatar
mfunk9786
Under Chris' Protection
Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 4:43 pm
Location: Philadelphia, PA

Re: A Quiet Place (John Krasinski, 2018)

#20 Post by mfunk9786 » Sat Apr 07, 2018 5:43 pm

No thanks

Cde.
Joined: Sun Dec 02, 2007 6:56 am
Location: Sydney, Australia

Re: A Quiet Place (John Krasinski, 2018)

#21 Post by Cde. » Sun Apr 08, 2018 11:58 am

How many staircases
SpoilerShow
have nails sticking up through them? Who has ever used a nail this way outside of Kevin McCallister, who was actively trying to hurt people? The nail has been hammered down, so presumably someone, after pushing a nail up to where someone's foot will probably land, thought that this should be dealt with. Why not just saw the sharp part off? How was getting snagged on a sack enough to bend it to an upright position? Has no one stepped on this bent nail in the middle of a stair before and said, 'ow'?
This little detail is a major lynchpin of the central setpiece of the film, and it's lack of situational or logical basis is symptomatic if the stupidity of the writing throughout.

It's well directed, and entertaining in spite of the awful script. I agree with mfunk that Don't Breathe was a lot better.
Last edited by Cde. on Sun Apr 08, 2018 4:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
aox
Joined: Fri Jun 20, 2008 12:02 pm
Location: nYc

Re: A Quiet Place (John Krasinski, 2018)

#22 Post by aox » Sun Apr 08, 2018 12:11 pm


User avatar
Magic Hate Ball
Joined: Mon Jul 09, 2007 6:15 pm
Location: Seattle, WA

Re: A Quiet Place (John Krasinski, 2018)

#23 Post by Magic Hate Ball » Sun Apr 08, 2018 12:43 pm

I love how blatantly that article is just the content of the tweet fluffed up with redundant information to grab your click revenue. Advertising: the true silent horror!

Anyways, I loved this movie. The nail scene was a riot and the overall textures were really lovely (mmm anamorphic film), and even though there were a few moments of camp (IT'S SOUND!) they were fairly well balanced by the bursts of brutality and overall joy the film takes in its own procedures. It reminds me of Black Mirror's Metalhead as well, not only in the suppressed, hushed vibe but the perverse pleasure it allows you in considering the initial catastrophe, which are almost certainly more exciting to imagine than to see.

User avatar
cdnchris
Site Admin
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:45 pm
Location: Washington
Contact:

Re: A Quiet Place (John Krasinski, 2018)

#24 Post by cdnchris » Sun Apr 08, 2018 12:55 pm

Cde. wrote: This little detail is a major lynchpin of the central setpiece of the film, and it's lack of situational or logical basis is symptomatic if the stupidity of the writing throughout.

It's we directed, and entertaining in light of the awful script. I agree with mfunk that Don't Breathe was a lot better
Like the staircase there were a lot of irksome things in this film. My biggest gripe, though involves a character's sudden realization:

One thing in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation that has bothered me (which I do realize is ridiculous) is how D'Angelo's character figures out why the Christmas lights weren't turning on. Throughout the sequence we see characters turn on and off the garage light, which of course is where the problem lies because of the ridiculous wiring, but other than one moment she's not around to see the relation. Yet she figures it out in a "a-ha!" moment. We see the problem but she really has no way in knowing.

This film had something similar:
SpoilerShow
How the hell did the daughter just realize that her ear piece was hurting the creatures? The first time she wasn't even aware a creature was there and the second and third time I feel there was too much going on to correlate the two. She turned it off too quickly to see. And then out of nowhere she just clues in and turns it on when they're cornered. If it was still on at that moment I would have bought it but it was just too convenient, like the Christmas light gag.
There were a lot of stupid moments in this, and it had a tendency to ruin good moments with cheap jump scares. The lazy exposition through newspapers and the white board, as mfunk pointed out, was eye rolling. But when it worked it worked well I thought. Krasinski does build up some good tension, it does move at a good pace and there are a couple moments that are genuinely sad. I also thought it succeeded at times at playing with the film's central gimmick in terms of sound design.

If you really consider this the worst film you've seen in a long while then I would say you're doing pretty good, but I'd actually rank it along with Signs (since it was brought up) and Don't Breathe, films I like but hurt by really bad decisions. It bugs me that Don't Breathe drops that tricky moral line by turning the antagonist into a complete psychopath and Signs (though I think it does fine in terms of hitting home its themes on on faith) really lost a lot once the alien shows up.

And speaking of Shyamalan, I have to say this film probably would have benefited from him being behind the camera, even though I think Krasinski did handle some of the suspense fairly well.

User avatar
thirtyframesasecond
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2007 1:48 pm

Re: A Quiet Place (John Krasinski, 2018)

#25 Post by thirtyframesasecond » Sun Apr 08, 2018 2:18 pm

Don't Breathe also gives Rocky a 'noble' reason for her life of crime; she's trying to get her sister away from a drunk/arsehole mother/stepfather. Don't Breathe wasn't especially original - and you can see the references to other films there - but it was well done and pretty scary.

Post Reply