I saw Barbie last summer and really enjoyed it. It was charming, delightful and a bit threatening. It had the production design of a Malibu Barbie Dream House. Margot Robbie gave an excellent performance. It had two very touching moments - the famous America Ferrara speech (which most women were silently cheering as she spoke) and the "Blue Fairy" scene with Barbie's creator, Ruth Handler, made Barbie a real, live person. As I was never a Barbie kid, I didn't expect to like it as much as I did.
The ending: Funny, Barbie makes the choice to be an utterly mundane women.
I saw Poor Things last fall and really enjoyed it. It was sometimes charming, fascinating and very threatening in places. It had the production, costume and make-up design of a crazy child, as if Bella herself was designing the movie. Emma Stone gave a very raw performance. Poor Things wasn't touching in the way the Barbie was, but it was much more dangerous.
The ending: A bit creepy but mostly uplifting. An average rich Victorian afternoon with overtones of The Freaks.
Both movies have a very similar theme - a woman creating herself.
Poor Things was a better movie as it's much more audacious than Barbie, but Barbie was very enjoyable and much more accessible.
Post 2024 Oscars: I predicted Poor Things would win Best Make-up, Best Costumes and Best Production Design. I really enjoyed Emma Stone's committed performance in Poor Things, but thought Lily Gladstone would win for her very quiet performance in Killers of the Flower Moon. But the Oscars followed the BAFTAs in almost all ways and Emma Stone won.
Even though it won only 1 Oscar, the cast/crew of Barbie made the Oscar Ceremony more fun than it had been in years. Ryan Gosling's "I'm Just Ken" was an absolute riot and it was great to involve the audience the way it did.
