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Knives Out (2019)


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In theaters November 27, 2019. Stars Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana De Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Toni Collette, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon, LaKeith Stanfield, Katherine Langford, Noah Segan, Edi Patterson, Riki Lindhome, Jaeden Martell, and Christopher Plummer.

I can't wait!

ETA: The release date didn't register when I first posted this, so it might be too early to start a topic for a movie that doesn't come out until November, but oh well.

Edited by krankydoodle
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Well I am glad you posted it, I hadn't even heard of this movie. It looks really good and has a shitload of good people in it. I think I might actually hit the theater for this one.

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I'm not sure about Daniel Craig's accent based on what we heard of it in the trailer, but am really looking forward to seeing Chris Evans in a role so far removed from Captain America. It looks like he's thoroughly relishing taking on a dickish character after playing a hero for so long.

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This looks fun!  I got an Agatha Christie vibe, which was intended per Rian Johnson (no spoilers in this interview):

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Family gatherings can be murder. That’s the literal plot of Rian Johnson’s ensemble mystery Knives Out, due in theaters Nov. 27, and EW has the first trailer and official images. “The idea was to take everything I love about a great Agatha Christie story and put it into a new original story set in modern-day America,” says Johnson (Star Wars: The Last Jedi). “That’s kind of the essence of it.”

No murder mystery is complete without a dead body and Out has a doozy: Academy Award winner Christopher Plummer. The actor plays Harlan Thrombey, a Stephen King-esque author of a series of mystery novels who suspiciously perishes during a reunion with his not-so-nice extended family, including daughter Linda (Jamie Lee Curtis), son Walt (Michael Shannon), and grandson Ransom (Chris Evans). Explains Johnson, “Harlan has built this massive empire up and he has a group of kids and their families who are all adults and who all to one degree or another live based on his success. When the family fortune is kind of in question or up for grabs, that’s when the proverbial knives come out.”

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(edited)
1 hour ago, VCRTracking said:

Is Chris Evans playing Don Johnson's son? Because holy crap that's spot on casting.

Don Johnson's character has a different last name, so it seems like he might have married into the family?  Or be a family friend?  While CE's character has the same last name as his grandfather.  

Chris Evans - Ransom Thrombrey

Don Johnson - Morris Robinson  

Here are the 'influences' there were listed for the film **rubs hand together with gleeeee!!**:

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Johnson cited several classic mystery thrillers as influences on the film, including Evil Under the Sun, Murder by Death, Death on the Nile, The Last of Sheila, Deathtrap, Clue, Gosford Park, The Mirror Crack'd, Something's Afoot, Murder on the Orient Express and The Private Eyes.

Edited by Wynterwolf
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I've known about this film for a while and was already sold just because of the cast. But wow is the trailer fun. Should make it easier to drag friends along to this rather than whatever blockbusters are coming out around then.

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21 hours ago, Wynterwolf said:

Johnson cited several classic mystery thrillers as influences on the film, including Evil Under the Sun, Murder by Death, Death on the Nile, The Last of Sheila, Deathtrap, Clue, Gosford Park, The Mirror Crack'd, Something's Afoot, Murder on the Orient Express and The Private Eyes.

The only one of those I haven't seen is Something's Afoot and The Private Eyes. I only saw a part of The Mirror Crack'd including the ending. Agatha Christie books are fun(she always misdirects the reader to thinking one person did it and surprises you with the real culprit at the end). The adaptations are a chance to have big name actors chew scenery like seeing Maggie Smith and Diana Rigg being deliciously catty towards each other in Evil Under the Sun

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4 minutes ago, Wynterwolf said:

 I LOVE THAT SCARF!!!!!  And the colors are FABULOUS!!!  And the movie seemed to be very well received at TIFF. 

I'm coveting that scarf myself. It would make my year if CEvans got some critical recognition for this.

Someone on tumblr dubbed this "pumpkin spice CEvans."

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1 minute ago, scriggle said:

Someone on tumblr dubbed this "pumpkin spice CEvans."

OMG that's perfect.  I love it. 

And I'd love for CE to get critical recognition for this too, and he's definitely been mentioned (along with Craig, De Armas, Collette, & Plummer) in a lot of the reaction posts that I've seen.  

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Hmm, I'm really torn. I love Murder Mystery Movies/Books.  However, I normally only go to the movies for big sci-fi/action movies which really benefit from the big screen.

I kinda of want to see this in theaters. It looks funny, has a great cast and the sets/filming location looks beautiful.

Maybe I'll make this a matinee

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16 minutes ago, Morrigan2575 said:

Maybe I'll make this a matinee

Good idea!!  This has the perfect vibe for a matinee!!!  

I also get the feeling Ransom is going to be plagued by dogs periodically through the entire movie.  Which tickles me to no end.  

Edited by Wynterwolf
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35 minutes ago, Wynterwolf said:

Good idea!!  This has the perfect vibe for a matinee!!!  

I also get the feeling Ransom is going to be plagued by dogs periodically through the entire movie.  Which tickles me to no end.  

Proof Chris Evans can act? Ransom appears to hate dogs and they hate him back.

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2 hours ago, Morrigan2575 said:

Maybe I'll make this a matinee

I make everything a matinee, lol. 

I'm going to go see this unless I land in the hospital again. It looks super fun and I'm most excited about Jamie Lee Curtis and Toni Collette who are two of my faves. 

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I want to like this. I saw a poster advertising it. The trailer was rough for me. They use that same overbearing music so it's hard to tell what viewing the actual movie will be like. The set decoration, costumes, etc. seem a little interesting but the color palette seems like that same combination of bleached out cloudy day/high contrast blue and orange that gets used for blockbusters. It's just more muted and there isn't one scene with a blue filter.

I did love The Brothers Bloom. There are some solid actors. I feel like maybe I'd enjoy this more as a play. The movie elements don't seem to be helping. Basically, it's no Clue. The one character who seems like fun from the trailer is the Chris Evans character.

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I saw an early screening last night.  Pros: Great cast and really good as a dark comedy. It gives nods to previous detective shows and movies while trying to flip the script on the genre. Cons: the murder mystery was a bit lame and too much time was spent on political issues and a particular plot device. 

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I just got back from seeing this.  I thought the acting was good, and I enjoyed the bits that focused on the family and their bickering, but overall I'm slightly disappointed.  I thought the middle of the movie dragged quite a bit.  And I hate to be that person, but as a nurse I can say the plot actually made no freaking sense.  Spoiled in case you haven't seen it yet, or don't care to have your suspension of disbelief ruined. Also it's long and ranty.

 
 
 
 
Spoiler

Firstly it's never really explained why Harlen has a nurse.  It appears he had a PICC line (which is a relatively long term IV access), which is usually used of people who need antibiotics at home or some other IV infusions.  So what was wrong with him?  You don't just a PICC for the heck of it.  Now for the most important bit, you don't give 100mg of ketorolac at once!  He'd be bleeding from his eyeballs!  Ketorolac is an NSAID pain reliever and it has similar side effects to ibuprofen, including bleeding.  The normal dose for an adult is 15-30mg, probably less in someone who's 85.  So even if the vials were switched in real life he would have never gotten close to 100mg of morphine. It's also impossible to mistake a morphine and ketorolac vial, ketorolac is light sensitive and the vials are always amber, morphine is clear. Also, the amount of liquid she injected could not possibly have been 100Mg of morphine.  First of all morphine and ketorolac don't have the same concentration. Morphine typically comes in 2mg/1ml strength, which means she would have to inject 50mls to give 100mg. Ketorolac usually comes 15mg/1ml.  So to give 100mg (even if that is an insane dose) she would give about 6.5mls which if the contents of the vials were switched would be 13mg of morphine, certainly not good but not 100mg.  She was using a 10mls syringe which wouldn't fit 100mg of morphine anyway, hell there wasn't even 100mg in that vial (yes, other concentrations exist, but I've never seen them and there would be no reason for a nurse who was supposed to be giving 3mg to have them).  Next, while 100mg of morphine is a tremendous amount it isn't a 100% death sentence in ten minutes.  As the movie itself proved later when the maid was injected with it and not only was alive at least two hours later but talking.  If Harlen had stopped breathing Marta could have done CPR until the medics arrived and administered Narcan.  And admittedly she was freaked out, but she should have noticed that maybe it wasn't morphine when Harlen was able to stand up and calmly talk to Joanie, he would have at least been high as a kite at that point if not unconscious.  The fact that she's just leaving morphine lying around willy nilly also doesn't say much for her nursing skills either.

I usually let medical errors go in TV and movies, but when the entire plot hinges on one and they get it so completely wrong, well it hampered my enjoyment to put it mildly.

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I enjoyed it, though not as much as I had expected to after all the glowing reviews. The cast was great across the board, but I wish we had gotten more of the family. Riki Lindhome got maybe two lines and same with Jaeden Martell. Don Johnson was a surprise. I know he's been having a bit of a career resurgence, but I didn't expect him to be so good in a comedic role.

There were a lot of funny moments, like Michael Shannon coming back at Chris Evans's "Eat shit" directive with "I will not eat one iota of shit!" and Daniel Craig casually referencing "the Nazi child masturbating in the bathroom."

I love star-studded whodunnits (well, any type of whodunnit really), so I really hope this does well, especially since Rian Johnson has mentioned the possibility of doing more movies featuring Daniel Craig's Benoit Blanc.

Edited by krankydoodle
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10 minutes ago, krankydoodle said:

I enjoyed it, though not as much as I had expected to after all the glowing reviews. The cast was great across the board, but I wish we had gotten more of the family. Riki Lindhome got maybe two lines and same with Jaeden Martell.

Yes -- there was a long period where I doubted whether I had been hallucinating that Walt had introduced his wife. In general I would have liked more of the family relationships, and a little more about the different games Harlan played with his children.

I went to see it last night and although I enjoyed it reasonably well there were a few things I had a hard time with. If I had known in advance about the vomiting I probably would not have gone to see it just because of squeamishness. But squeamishness aside, the conceit that we are guaranteed to know whether Marta is lying because she automatically vomits whenever she tells a lie felt tonally too cartoonish for the rest of the movie and I could not suspend my disbelief that this was plausible. 

I was a little annoyed by the way they used the creaking stairs to establish the timeline but seemed to only count each return trip as one incident when there would have been a gap between the trip up and the trip down (or vice versa).

I did like though Linda's letters from Harlan, and the bit about the Go board falling on the floor causing Joni to come up the stairs. Both of those paid off in a satisfying way.

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On 7/2/2019 at 7:51 PM, VCRTracking said:

Is Chris Evans playing Don Johnson's son? Because holy crap that's spot on casting.

I saw this last night, and I cannot tell you how surreal it was to see these 2 playing son & father. Yes, it's perfect casting, but it's also surreal to see two iconic actors a) in the same movie, and b) playing family.

Loved this movie. I haven't had laughs like that since Girls' Trip. Everyone was great, but Ana de Armas and Daniel Craig were my standouts. And kudos to Lakeith Stanfield - who usually plays the quirky character - for doing a nice turn as the straight man cop to Daniel Craig's kooky PI. I'm gonna watch this so many more times.

ETA:

Quote

This seems perfect for a 4pm showing followed by dinner with copious amounts of good wine.

This is exactly what I did with my sister and her friend last night. And it was delightful!

Edited by Gillian Rosh
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I just came back from seeing it. I enjoyed it a lot, but not as much as I hoped to. I mean, would I see it again? Absolutely. It had a great cast and some very witty dialogue that made me laugh (and not many movies in recent years can get a good laugh out of me) but I think part of my disappointment is with how they laid out the story, and I guess with the twists being fairly predictable for me. I had at least 65% of them worked out (or half worked out) by the last half hour. 

Though they got me surprised on at least three moments (which is why I can still say I really liked the film), I felt like they were holding back a bit, especially with the family stuff. They laid out a lot of groundwork but then they seemed to lose the whole plot with the family to follow Marta and the detectives elsewhere.

I was really surprised at not only how the detectives took everyone's alibis at their word, but that it was mostly the truth. And I was pleasantly surprised with the actual outcome of Harlan's death. But it did leave me wondering throughout the entire second half on what the actual twist would be, as it would be too easy if it was the entire story. 

Ana de Armas did an excellent job as Marta. I kept thinking that she looked so similar to Felicity Jones, so that distracted me a little bit. Daniel Craig did a great job at PI Blanc (I mean, accent aside....he really had me convinced all throughout the film that he was a fake PI putting on a phony Southern accent). 

There was a lot of great payoff. There were subtle, and not so subtle, moments that were really well done. And really, that's why I can say that my disappointment with some of the film can easily be forgiven because everything else was really well done. I'd much rather a concise, even if predictable, story than one filled with too many twists that make no sense because they're only created for twisty reasons. 

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My husband and I just got back from this and we both loved it! 

The only part I wasn't a big fan of was her vomiting when she lied because I am very squeamish with vomit. But I didn't think that was too awful and I mostly just looked away. 

I wish they would have spent a little more time on family dynamics with Harlan himself. I think that would have been interesting but there wasn't time for that, I suppose. 

I had it mostly figured out before the last 30 minutes or so of the movie, but that didn't make it less enjoyable for me. I would definitely watch this again and am glad it's getting good reviews! 

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19 minutes ago, Jenniferbug said:

The only part I wasn't a big fan of was her vomiting when she lied because I am very squeamish with vomit. But I didn't think that was too awful and I mostly just looked away.

What helped is that they used an audio cue (stomach gurgling) so it was very easy to look away before the vomiting happened. I appreciated that little touch because I didn't realize that it was likely a very helpful tool for people who ARE squeamish about vomiting.

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21 minutes ago, Lady Calypso said:

What helped is that they used an audio cue (stomach gurgling) so it was very easy to look away before the vomiting happened. I appreciated that little touch because I didn't realize that it was likely a very helpful tool for people who ARE squeamish about vomiting.

Yes! And they made sure to focus on her swallowing a lot so I was like "yep, just going to stare at my feet for a minute". 

Was that the house from Clue? I'm 99% sure it was, but haven't read anything that says for sure. 

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1 hour ago, Jenniferbug said:

Was that the house from Clue? I'm 99% sure it was, but haven't read anything that says for sure. 

Wikipedia says that the mansion in Clue was in Pasadena California and has since burned down.

All interior scenes were filmed at the Paramount lot, with the exception of the ballroom scene. The ballroom, as well as the driveway gate exteriors, were filmed on location at a mansion located in South Pasadena, California. This site was destroyed in a fire on October 5, 2005.[10] Exterior shots of the Pasadena mansion were enhanced with matte paintings to make the house appear much larger, and these were executed by matte artist Syd Dutton, in consultation with Albert Whitlock.

The location in Knives Out was the Ames Mansion in Borderland State Park in Massachusetts.

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I just got back from seeing this and I LOVED it!  It didn't matter that I had it mostly figured out.  I loved seeing how it would all play out in the end. 

It was just so absurd and farcical, much like Murder by Death (which I also loved), and I really needed the good laugh Knives Out gave me.

Does anyone know how much of this (script and characterization) was improvised?  Toni Collette was perfect in her role, as was Jamie Lee Curtis.  I tried to pay attention to the portrait of Harlan to see if his expression changed (a la Young Frankenstein), but I couldn't tell.  It would have been a nice touch to have it with a slightly happier expression after Ransom was carted away and Marta subtly took ownership (by using Harlan's mug).

Daniel Craig was hilarious.  Especially with the piano thing at the beginning.  So absurd.

Of course I knew Ransom grabbed the prop knife from the Roulette Wheel of Knives, and I started laughing right away.  I don't think some of the other people in the theater figured it out immediately, because they were giving me the side-eye.  They did join me laughing when they did get it.

I do admit that I'm not a fan of the vomit, but we only actually saw the vomit in one scene, and it was minor to me.  I appreciated the aural warning, and I also appreciated that Marta was discreet and tidy about it for the most part.  Ransom deserved to be vomited on.

The one scene that I did have to look away was the spider part.  I may have nightmares about that.  I mean, I appreciate spiders, since they eat other, ickier critters, but I really don't even want to think about one crawling on my face.  <shudder>

I would absolutely pay money to see this again. 

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On 11/27/2019 at 8:38 PM, Proclone said:

I usually let medical errors go in TV and movies, but when the entire plot hinges on one and they get it so completely wrong, well it hampered my enjoyment to put it mildly.

Same complaint as you, except from the legal side.  The will that the lawyer flashed around wasn't valid in Massachusetts because it didn't have the signatures of two witnesses on it. 

On 11/30/2019 at 5:51 PM, Lady Calypso said:

Ana de Armas did an excellent job as Marta. I kept thinking that she looked so similar to Felicity Jones, so that distracted me a little bit.

I was distracted by seeing Dave Chappelle in this, but it turns out it's not him.  Doppelganger for sure.

Edited by StatisticalOutlier
specified Massachusetts. + spelling
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7 hours ago, Billina said:

My only complaint was that I wish we had seen more of the family, instead of following Marta, so much.  I liked the character of Marta, but I wish the Thrombeys had been fleshed out, more.

This is how I felt.  I thought the movie dragged a bit in the middle because of this.

The car chase got a lot of laughs though.

I definitely wanted more of the Thrombeys.   Everyone was good; Daniel Craig, Jamie Lee Curtis and Chris Evans stood out for me.   I wanted more snide comments and bickering, dammit! 

I was glad that Marta wasn't portrayed as saintly (we see her getting impatient with Harlan, for example) - just an honest, kind person.   I rolled my eyes a bit at the puking - it was played for laughs but was so silly and a too convenient way to show she wasn't lying. 

I was torn on whether or not it was smart of the movie to show so much from Marta's POV - we see Harlan cut his own throat, for example - so we know she's pretty much on the up and up.  I was holding out some hope for an ultimate plan on her part but nope.  

I was thinking Detective Blanc wasn't the sharpest because he missed the blood on her shoe but then in the wrap up he  had seen it from the beginning and was trusting her for a reason. 

The house was fantastic and its own character - I love those gothic type mansions.  Also, I don't usually notice costumes but did here - everyone looked like their character types and were so gung ho about their roles, it was fun to watch; I just wanted more.

Thought I liked it overall, I didn't love it the way I was hoping. 

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Thanks for your expertise @StatisticalOutlier and @Proclone.  I have to imagine that would be frustrating.  I don't have medical or legal expertise so it didn't take me out of the movie.  I do, however, have expertise in TV movies and the plot of the alleged "Hallmark" movie did take me out of the movie for a bit.  While Danica would definitely star in a Hallmark movie, I believe the plot they were describing was more suited to Lifetime.

I thought the movie was a lot of fun.  The performances were good and the script was funny.  That made it worth going to see for me.

My major quibbles are related to the mystery aspect of it. 

The movie did plant a lot of clues to the "twists" so none really surprised me.  Sometimes I felt like they needed to plant those clues, as with the final knife moment.  And sometimes I felt like they really didn't.  For instance, as soon as Harlen mentioned using a medical switcheroo in one of his books, I knew exactly how Marta wouldn't be responsible.  Mystery is one of my favorite genres so I likely would have guessed anyway but I think it would have been more of a surprise in general had they not focused on it.

And I do agree that the first half at the mansion was superior to the part after they left.  There's nothing quite like the atmosphere of one location with nowhere to hide. About 3/4s of the way into the movie, I did feel that it could have had another edit.  2 hours and 10 minutes is a bit too long for this.  I probably wouldn't have cared had it all stayed at the mansion and had the big reveal been in front of everyone but it was more noticeable with the way the last 1/3 was structured.

Ultimately, what I wrote would have been my suggestions to the movies creator to even make it a better movie but it still falls into the a) worth it and b) would recommend it category for me.  My theater really seemed to enjoy it and would applaud quite a bit so I see why it's doing well.

I love this genre so I would be happy if Rian Johnson wanted to make more.  I don't necessarily need to see Daniel Craig's detective again.  I'd be just as happy with someone else playing a similar role.  What I really want to know is what happened with Neil, Joni's late husband.  Was I the only one who suspected foul play when it came out that he died?

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4 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I don't have medical or legal expertise so it didn't take me out of the movie.  I do, however, have expertise in TV movies and the plot of the alleged "Hallmark" movie did take me out of the movie for a bit.  While Danica would definitely star in a Hallmark movie, I believe the plot they were describing was more suited to Lifetime.

Wow.  This thread is chock full of experts!  Filmmakers beware.

I'm glad you mentioned this because I thought I recognized Danica McKellar's name as being the girl on the Wonder Years.  So I looked it up and I had no idea she was even still acting, nor that she'd gotten a degree in Mathematics.  Actually, the trivia section of her IMDb page is real funny.

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I did enjoy Knives Out though not as much as I expected based on the reviews.  I think critics like Rian Johnson's films more than audiences do.  I was loathed to give him more of my money after The Last Jedi and and like in that film, he continues to subvert expectations strictly for the sake of subverting expectations.  

I thought once we the resolution was discovered, it was very predictable.  I also think Johnson didn't flesh out the family nearly as much as he should of and they were a little underdeveloped.  For instance, what was Linda's issues with her father considering she had her own money?

Don Johnson and Michael Shannon were great though and I laughed out loud during their "fight" scene.  The movie was funny but I thought it would have a little more humor in it.

Christopher Plummer, not surprisingly, was great.  Daniel Craig was really good too.  Fun seeing Frank Oz too and M. Emmett Walsh.

99% Rotten Tomatoes good?  No, not even close.  But a good, entertaining movie that's the perfect kind of movie to see around the holiday season.  I would definitely see it again.

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Others have mentioned thinking some actors looked like others.  I was distracted by the lawyer.  I kept thinking "I know that voice.  Who is that?  Maybe he does voice overs or something?"  lol  Then we find out it was Frank Oz.  Of course we know that voice!  

I enjoyed it.  I laughed and enjoyed Chris Evans telling everyone to eat shit.  Like Oprah in reverse.  Shit for you!  And shit for you! And shit for everybody!   

Edited by bunnyface
to finish thought
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