330: Tarot (2024)

SPEAKER_02 0:04

You are a Capricorn, you're too smart for this dumb bullshit. Greetings and salutations, and welcome to Hackerslash. If you're joining us again, welcome back. Okay, you can come out now. If this is your first time listening, welcome to the party. We are a horror movie review podcast dedicated to telling you whether a movie is a hack, a total joke, a waste of time, or a slash.

SPEAKER_04 0:29

Totally killer, pun intended.

SPEAKER_02 0:31

We believe horror is for everyone, and as such, we're rating these movies with a perspective we've gained from our varying walks of life and the flavors of fear we fancy most. My name is Chris, I'm your friendly neighborhood slasher enthusiast. This week I'm joined by the Superfly Space Guy Mac.

SPEAKER_03 0:44

You're never to deal with the deck of a stranger.

SPEAKER_02 0:47

The classic horror connoisseur Sean.

SPEAKER_04 0:49

It's my first time being cursed.

SPEAKER_02 0:51

And the paranormal paramour, Binx. You dated someone who was into star signs and shit. This week we're going back to the theater to check out a film exploring what happens at the intersection of curiosity and chaos. This film opens on a quiet night among friends celebrating a birthday, but things take a turn when their lighthearted exploration of their rented home breaches a sacred boundary. What begins as an innocent gathering of horoscopes and card readings ultimately leads them to a desperate struggle for survival with the stars themselves. This week, we're talking about tarot. What were you all expecting going into this?

SPEAKER_03 1:24

We watched this trailer pr I feel like fairly recently with the release of another movie. And I can't remember which movie that was, but it was something we all saw in theater. But even back then when I saw the trailer for this, I was like, oh, so basically this is Final Destination in tarot form.

SPEAKER_04 1:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:41

That's 100% what I was expecting. We saw so much in the trailer. If you watched it, you got a lot of the movie in there visually, I feel like. And so it was like, okay, we get a little 13 ghost little tooth fairy action kind of thing going on here.

SPEAKER_04 1:54

That's super fair. I think just from the trailer alone, you're instantly gonna think final destination. 100% that's it. But I do think what we get out of the trailer, there are definitely some things that looked hopeful, right? Like I think the ambiance looked really cool. I think it looked like a darker film. It looked like it could be a little bit spooky. And so, yeah, I get the whole final destination thing. I think that's exactly what it seemed like. I was worrying that it was gonna be like too much like other movies, too much like what we've seen, and not really something with some substance. But there was that glimmer of just the ambiance and the set design and the lighting and all the spooky stuff that was happening from what we get in that trailer, that I think allowed for some hopefulness going into this movie.

SPEAKER_02 2:41

It's interesting that you both talk about seeing and predicting the final destination of it all in the trailer because I think the trailer was so bland, I didn't give it that much thought. Final destination is definitely something that I considered while watching the movie. But when I remember looking at this trailer and seeing a couple key things, I thought, well, they're showing the best shit right here.

SPEAKER_00 3:05

Well, coming from someone who obviously, especially on this show, talks a lot about astrology, at least, on the tarot front. I maybe don't talk about that as much, but I am very much into it. Regardless of that, I felt like the trailer didn't stick with me. I remember us seeing it definitely at a new release, but I didn't remember much of it. I just knew, okay, well, this is gonna be tarot. I didn't even know its connection connection to astrology until the film started. My biggest takeaway from what I could remember was it was giving like be horror, silly. It's got a group of kids ensemble. So how much of it can you really take seriously? I thought at the very least, it could be a good film for younger viewers, not maybe for us that consume horror on a constant basis. Giving very early 2000s, I went in feeling very defensive of Tarot and feeling extremely hypercritical. Although I shouldn't have been, maybe, because how good of the of a film was this going to be really.

SPEAKER_02 4:10

I was so curious to see what your thoughts would be on this the entire time I was watching this movie. But let me hit you with the top three things I felt. First feeling forced. Forced chemistry, forced plot mechanics. It felt like we were learning how to dance and then clumsily stepping on each other's feet until we got to the tarot of it all. And there's a couple things in the beginning. A, it felt like I was supposed to glean a particular relationship between two characters who I just didn't really buy that kind of dynamic with. It felt fake. Literally, the first note I wrote down was fake. It then took me into the second feeling, which was just this is entirely predictable. And I don't know why I was a little grated by that. I shouldn't have been, because this is a PG-13 horror film with young, very young college-age kids, and I think the trailer sets you up to show you exactly what this movie is. So once I got over myself, and once I just surrendered to the experience, my third feeling was actually entertained.

unknown 5:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:12

Because I had to just accept this movie for what it was gonna be, and then I was all of a sudden on a better track and I was able to have fun with it. The jump scares that are in the movie, the comedy that's in the movie, it hit a little bit better because I let go of any pretense or expectation that I was carrying into the movie with me.

SPEAKER_00 5:29

Right. I felt like I was getting extremely nitpicky when this film doesn't want you to be, nor is it asking you to. It knows what it is. It's very set in its ways in terms of a PG13 film, another book adaptation, by the way, if you didn't know, because I sure didn't until after the credits were rolling. What the fuck? So yeah, it's called Horoscope.

SPEAKER_01 5:56

Cool.

SPEAKER_00 5:56

So this is based on a short story or short film. There's a couple of them, but it's called Horoscope. It's a clever name. It's just very obvious, right? It's it's already aware that you are watching a film that has to do with tarot and zodiac. And much like tarot and astrology, that already has a very tumultuous stereotype, it tells you what it's what's going to happen. That's the purpose of tarot. So, in terms of a plot, put two and two together, let go of that and just have fun and take in the kills, take in the cinematography, what's going on. Character development is questionable, but that was my ride. I I'm right there with you, Chris. I got it was very nitpicky. I was already writing things down of like, that's not what that zodiac sounds about. And then I was like, what am I doing? Who cares? Just have fun. And then I did. It was a crazy ass ride towards the end.

SPEAKER_02 6:52

Okay, listen, I I just gotta say, real quick, that the fucking second she described Capricorns as rule breakers, I was like, and who's universe? No, what? I follow so many rules, I love rules, I respect rules.

SPEAKER_00 7:06

That instantly had me up in arms the moment that was said, up in arms. I looked to my best friend and I said, What in the hell did they just say?

SPEAKER_04 7:16

False. Look, y'all had a lot of feelings for sure. And I'm not saying nitpicky or anything. I'm not well versed in astrology in tarot cards, so I'm not picking anything out from that aspect of the movie, but we're talking about feeling three different things. You're talking about going through this crazy ass journey of getting back to like enjoying the film and things like that, and that's great for you all. I I can honestly tell you, I went from feeling interested to disinterested super fast, and I don't think it's because I wasn't buying into the tarot card readings or anything. It's just you can enjoy a movie for what it is. I just think that you get to a point where you've just seen it, where you just feel like you've already seen this too many times, and so how many different ways can you shove this down my throat? So I think boredom is the only real feeling for me. Nothing was super interesting, nothing really grabbed hold of me throughout this film. You know, I enjoyed some stuff that the movie did, but overall, nothing really stood out.

SPEAKER_02 8:22

Sean said it really reeks of indifference.

SPEAKER_04 8:24

Yeah. It felt like participation trophy.

SPEAKER_03 8:27

That's some strong words right there. Somebody mentioned movies from decades ago, and that's what I felt. I felt like we were back in the late 2000s, all the way up to like 2009 at the very most, right? It even reminds me of the reboots that were done into in the 2000s. That's what the vibe I'm getting from this movie is like that Friday the 13th reboot. There was another one that we watched, I don't know if it was prom night or something, but it just has this feeling of we don't have to explain too much of everything because you've already kind of seen this before. We just wanted to show it to you in a in a cool, stunning way. I actually participated in watching this and I was like, it's 90 minutes. I'm just gonna pay attention, I'm just gonna kind of see it through. So I I don't think I was bored. Was there a lot that was easy to predict? Sure, of course. Was there a lot of stuff that looked like other movies, like a bazillion percent? But I think my my expectations of it were so low that I was expecting Final Destination, so I wasn't surprised by the experience.

SPEAKER_00 9:25

You say surprised by the experience, and I'd say the most surprising thing about this film is its cinematography and the major arcana coming to life. At the end of the day, yes, this is something that you've seen a lot. I completely agree in terms of early 2000s, that's hands down very reminiscent of that era. So when you remove that part, have we seen major arcana like tarot in that particular way? No. So I was captured by the cinematography, the makeup design, costume design. Man, these tarot cards coming to life, even the tarot cards themselves, the way that they were drawn, was very creepy, very cool. I wasn't expecting that part. I thought that this was gonna be very poor, weird, quirky CGI slash practical effects that didn't come off intimidating, and I found it to be very the opposite.

SPEAKER_04 10:19

Yeah. No, the the cards looked great for sure, and they did look creepy. The creature design, all of that, very cool. There's some issues with the CGI, I think, definitely, but I think that the idea and the creativity there was really cool. I was actually mostly surprised. I felt like it was an unusually long time that we went into the film before getting to the title card. Damn near like 20 minutes into the movie before we got this little intro segment that led to the title card.

SPEAKER_02 10:51

You know, Mac, you mentioned the early 2000s reboots that we got, and it really just reminded me of the 2009 Friday the 13th that has a whole Friday the 13th movie before the Friday the 13th movie actually starts. That's what that title card actually reminded me of in the theater. And you know, Minks, you talk so much about how good the movie looked, and for sure that was a surprise because there's so much room for all of this shit to look really hokey and really bad. But I think that's part of what gave me such a pleasant surprise, and even more of a surprise that I was able to come back around on this movie and have so much fun with it, despite its predictability. And I can appreciate and respect Bingsu what you were talking about regarding its tarot, it's telling you what's gonna happen. There is a certain amount of poetry in that, and I do like it, but there are other parts of the movie that feel way too predictable, and what it does feel like is it would have been better served with no trailer at all, or something very minimal, like the actual deck of cards. Because once you see a very pivotal major scene in the trailer of the movie, and then you see that tarot reading go first, immediately it sends all these flags in your mind of like, oh, okay, well, now I know exactly what's gonna happen the rest of the movie, and it's a bummer.

SPEAKER_03 12:13

And that was honestly a little disappointing, I have to say. The way they cut big pieces of the movie into the trailer was a spoiler. It's not that you told me something that happens, right? But that you told me basically almost everything that happens. It's like you gave away too much and you showed important stuff. You should have left the unimportant stuff in the trailer, but instead we got to see a lot. So the right that like as you're going through it and you're like, I've already seen this, it kind of spoils the fun a little bit of the movie. And when you have that realization that, like, oh, I already watched this person go out, you're like, okay, I know exactly how everything else is gonna unfold after this point.

SPEAKER_04 12:50

Well, for sure, because it's a predictable film, and so when we get the trailer, lots of movies give us trailers with a lot of information and borderline too much information, but not every movie is super predictable, and so you may get those times where you watch a trailer and you get this little snippet of something, and you're like, Oh, I can already see how this fucking movie's gonna go, and then you watch the movie and it goes a completely different way, and when you get that snippet from the trailer, you're like, that's not the context that I thought it was gonna be in, right? But in this case, the movie's so predictable, you know, you're literally going one, it's predictable, the attempt at like the scare scenes gave it away before the scare scenes even happened, so you couldn't even react, and then it's tarot card reading, it's already predicting what's gonna happen, so if you haven't figured it out by now, it's fucking telling you, and so that's a problem.

SPEAKER_02 13:38

I do think there's something to be said though, in defense of predictability, and not necessarily in defense of how this movie works with its predictability. You walk into a Halloween movie, you know what's gonna happen, you know Michael Marsh is gonna fuck some shit up, you know Lori's not gonna die, except for you Halloween resurrection. That was a rough time. You also know that at the end of the movie he's gonna seem like he's dead and he's not gonna be dead. You don't go into this expecting something refreshing and new, but what you do go into it for are innovative kills, innovative violence, a certain presence of terror and atmosphere. And I think that is what was inconsistent in this movie. It's not necessarily bad that it's predictable. Some bits of it is definitely a bummer, but I think this movie could have still been done with the predictable tarot angle, and it created an atmosphere to just take that edge off. There's a lot of room for that. But I will say this I went to go see this with Allie, and it got her a few times with jump scares, and it made me realize that this movie, while not something for me and the kind of horror that I like, the fun time, it's gonna get you not like it's gonna scare the shit out of you, I think, but it is gonna be a little creepy, a little unsettling if you're looking for a movie to watch with folks who maybe aren't as dead to the world as you are.

SPEAKER_00 15:07

I agree. I think for the average consumer, they're gonna definitely find it creepy or eerie. I went with my best friend, she jumped for sure and was panicked. So it's all in those kills and just the personification of these major arcana that can get you. I I was even spooked a little bit. There's one in particular that had me really not well. Wow.

SPEAKER_04 15:30

We're gonna have to dive into that.

SPEAKER_00 15:32

Actually, two of them actually. One, now that I think about it, the one that I wanted to mention, and then I remembered this other scene that was also fuck nah for me.

SPEAKER_04 15:42

Interesting. I I think that there are spooky vibes to the movie. I stand by the fact that I feel like it had potential to be a very spooky and frightening film. Like I think exploring tarot cards and astrology and horoscopes and all that stuff is interesting. But we love a good magic and witchcraft story. We love the evil spirit, supernatural curse shit from time to time. I just don't think this one handled topic the way that maybe I would want to see. And I don't know that I have the answer right now, but I believe it is a cool and interesting topic. I feel like they showed you too much, and you just saw everything that was meant to be scary as it unfolded, and I did not feel any effectiveness from the moments that I think they wanted to be effective. It felt a little bit flat to me, like in those moments. Like nothing really grabbed me, nothing spooked me, nothing like I didn't get a reaction. I'll react to a jump scene from time to time, but I feel like this one didn't even have scenes where I feel like it was gonna really get you or it was unpredictable. I felt like I knew where everything was gonna pop. So I don't know. It didn't feel super frightening.

SPEAKER_03 16:54

I could tell that there were some jump scares that the target demo is gonna enjoy, and it was mostly like, okay, I see what you're doing there. But to me, this wasn't the scary movie. This was like 13 Ghosts level of scary. We're gonna have some really good makeup effects, but then they linger for just way too long on it. Sometimes that's when they were really effective, is when we mostly see these characters in the shadows and then we get to see them a little bit, but they would like legit just like freeze frame this demon thing's face for like way too long. You're like, okay, it's not scary anymore. It's it's looking kind of funny now. Yeah, exactly that. This also would have been a great stoner comedy. Just saying. I feel like had they pushed it 20% in the right direction, it would have been headed towards comedy.

SPEAKER_02 17:35

What about for 20% in the right direction?

SPEAKER_03 17:37

That's the right way to do it.

SPEAKER_00 17:38

I want to agree, but I'm gonna be that person and say they probably didn't want to lead in too much in that direction because ultimately this is people's religion. This is something that people believe in, and spiritualism is very real. So if they had done that, I think it would have been extremely distasteful for that community. And this film, although I'm not a part of that community entirely, I do like tarot and I like reading about it and stuff. It's not my faith per se, but I do have my best friend as an example. Like this is stuff that she believes in that she practices and and whatnot. So I feel like this film does a good job of making a little fun of it here every now and then. My opening quote is an example and whatnot, but at the same time, respectful that this is something that people truly believe in. I don't think it sensationalizes it extremely. Some of the things that they mention is real and is accurate. Capricorn described not entirely in my opinion, but other signs and whatnot did make sense. It is accurate. So all that to say, is it original? I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 18:46

You know, I think that outside of the tarot card angle, the film isn't super original at all. Like they got the tarot card thing, that's cool. We haven't seen that really. That's pretty fun and interesting, and we have maybe something to work with here. But what ended up happening was you just take out Ouija board insert tarot cards or what have you, right? And it just felt like every other group of teens fuck around and find out with some cursed whatever the fuck and get picked off one by one movie. That's really what ended up happening. So I I do think there was a lot of opportunity to really do something different with something that hasn't been used a whole lot, like that angle. We've seen Ouija boards all the time, we've seen cursed items all the time, we've seen all of this, right? But we have not seen tarot cards really that much, and I think that was a really cool thing they could have done, but it didn't come out very original because they stuck to a very specific formula.

SPEAKER_00 19:43

Yes, that I agree with exactly. The use of tarot cards is definitely original. The use of astrology and connecting tarot cards to astrology was very neat. You can tell that they did their homework for most of them. But I again I disagree on Capricorn, but I feel like that part is original. However, the execution is very copy and paste of early 2000s. I I feel like it was giving when MTV and the N were doing their own movies and their TV shows. It was giving that era Drag Me to Hell, Final Destination, all these things very reminiscent of that. It would have been cool to see something very unique, and you can still do that with children and teenagers. But I want to go take it back to the beginning, which is this is another book to film adaptation. So if anything, we're really critiquing the book, then we are the film. And that's what's interesting. I didn't know that it was a book adaptation until the credits were rolling, and when you have that in mind, you're like, oh, yeah, here we go again in terms of the industry, copying another book.

SPEAKER_03 20:51

I think you guys have all said it well. It just seems incredibly familiar. That's not always a bad thing. You know, I think if you look at when this was released, we're looking at spring, right around the time that a lot of teenagers are gonna be graduating or moving towards graduation at least. This is a movie aimed at teens, really, is what it is. What do they respond to? Is we're gonna mess around, we're gonna find out. And we could do that in a house that we rented during a thunderstorm, we could do that with a Ouija board, like you mentioned, Sean. Why does it deliver? Because, you know, that's how teens are. They're taking risks and they're learning, and so they respond well to it. However, great, you found a winning formula, and it's probably gonna do well, I hope, for them, but it just makes the overall thing seem really kind of played out for us older folks who are not really into taking risks to find out.

SPEAKER_02 21:43

Yeah, I mean, listen, we've covered it well, right? This movie is an amalgamation of other classic horror films. And honestly, those films that we're thinking of were probably responded to the exact same way by people our age when our movies came out. This movie isn't for everybody, but. But I do appreciate the surface level differences, like you mentioned, Sean Binks, with aligning tarot and zodiac. This kind of shit is what I had in mind the first time I ever heard about the Zodiac Killer.

SPEAKER_01 22:11

Right.

SPEAKER_02 22:11

If only. I think that blurred line and that feeling of it belonging in so many other places, and there it's almost like a Frankenstein of so many other horror movies actually takes us right to the ending of the movie because it felt like Ren's repeat. It felt like a loose PG-13 attempt at recreating a very particular Jordan Peele film. And it wanted to give us that same feeling, but it didn't hit anywhere near as strongly. It was fine, and it was fun. You know, this is a movie where it ended at Trend Alley, and we were both had a smile on our faces, we were having a good time, but it's one of those like in retrospect, it was just fine.

SPEAKER_04 22:50

It was bad. It was so predictable. Like everything was so predictable, it was obvious, it was cheesy. I don't not saying I'm sitting here knowing what the answer is and what direction they should have gone. And I know it's tough to make these films, and and I could never write a screenplay. So I here's the thing like kudos to y'all for making the movie, but the ending wasn't super great. It didn't blow my mind. It was very, very, like you said, rinse and repeat, very predictable, and it just felt bland. I'm not mad at anything, I'm just indifferent.

SPEAKER_03 23:22

I can see that. I feel like the ending here is really interesting because it takes such like an emotional turn that it was kind of cheesy for me. To have such a the power of love kind of moment at the end of this film. And I don't I'm not gonna give away too much by saying that at all, but it's an interesting way to wrap up the story that we got and the violence that we got in kind of a puffy, poofy, fuzzy, kind of silly ending.

SPEAKER_00 23:49

Silly ending is strong. Yeah, that's the way to put it. I almost feel like they shifted the film deep into comedy, right, when it was supposed to be something else. They completely threw the film into another genre for good measure, and it maybe lands for some because there is some explanation that's necessary. I just wish that it wasn't incorporated and maybe figured out in another way. Because it's like, well, you had me at a good spot despite the cliche of it all, and then you shoved me into comedy, and it's like, oh boy, that kind of soured the whole thing. For me in particular, maybe for others, that it is their kind of comedy, they're cool with it, and they just ride that wave. It was choppy towards the end. There's a couple characters that they just it doesn't make sense in terms of their decisions and the purposes of the things that they do, but now I I want to reiterate, I do really love the cinematography of this film, and so there are some very beautiful shots in the ending, though. So I didn't necessarily hate it because of all of this nonsense. I thought it was beautiful to watch, but plot-wise, it's like, well, this movie's predictable, so I suppose I expected nothing less.

SPEAKER_02 25:04

I have a hunch that our scores might be as predictable as the movie was, but let's go ahead and start making our way there before we actually rate this film. Sean, how would you describe the gore score?

SPEAKER_04 25:14

Well, I I do think the makeup and effects on some of the characters and things were pretty good for most of the movie. But in terms of the actual gore, especially when we think of like the gore from the kills and things like that throughout the movie, it's so minimal and you don't really get it's PG 13, so they're not gonna give you like a whole lot that's really going to catapult this gore score anywhere from low. So it's getting a low gore score.

SPEAKER_02 25:38

And what about the animal reports? The tarot state that no animals are harmed in this movie. Let's go ahead and get into our ratings then. Tarot from 2024. Was it a hack or a slash?

SPEAKER_04 25:49

Well, listen, I'm gonna jump in here because mine is really short and sweet. I'm not gonna sit here and talk a whole bunch about the movie. I think that this film uses a very tired and played plot, and it's even got more tired and more played characters. I feel like it's just stuff we have seen and seen and seen again, and there was just nothing really surprising there. There was just nothing that really separated itself from any other movie that fits this criteria. It squandered all opportunities to be truly scary or frightening, especially with the scenes that were truly meant to be scary, but they just fell flat and they were not effective at all. I think the film was extremely predictable, and I know that sometimes that's okay when we talk about Halloween, when we talk about Friday the 13th, we talk about some of these things that we know when we're going into what we're going to get, but those films I feel like are still fun to watch and you're still rooting for something. This film is nothing more than just some cookie cutter bullshit. That's what it felt like. That didn't feel like it really went out of its way to give me anything, and I'm not going out of its my way to give it anything other than a hack.

SPEAKER_03 26:56

Wow. I I do have to give it credit for being very polished. You know, I think visually, Binx has mentioned it, the cinematography here looks good. A lot of the effects on screen look good, a lot of the set looks good. I think they did a really good job visually in this film. It feels new and it feels fresh, even if the story is something from you know the early 2000s. You know, you gotta give it some credit for look looking good. Past that though, it's pretty surface level there. This is a summer blockbuster hit being engineered for the masses, and there's nothing wrong with that. You know, I love watching Fast and Furious movies. I haven't seen them go to space yet, but I'll give them credit for being junk food. It's candy, it's pizza, it's it's hamburgers, right? And so, like every now and then you need something like that. It's maybe not necessarily the best food for you, but here and there it's it's okay. I've gotta have realistic expectations for it. But I think when I got home and my wife asked me what I thought, I was just it simply wasn't good. So uh it's not something that I can give too much positivity towards because it's right there at ambivalence, and then did you like it? Would you recommend it? The answer for me was no. So I think because of that, it has to be a hack.

SPEAKER_00 28:06

Well, well, well. I gotta tell you, I expected this immensely, and I didn't do a tarot reading to do it. I just knew that this was gonna happen this way. So I went into this film prepared to be harsh as hell, and I was surprised that I left decently entertained. I've had a problem lately with my expectations being set and then being extremely disappointed. So perhaps this not being the case after so many episodes, it feels like, where I've just even set my bar pretty low and yet still disappointed, that this pleasantly surprised me. I left decently entertained despite ready to rip this movie to shreds. And I can see how the skeptics, aka the two of you, would definitely roll your eyes and this not be your kind of film, of course. I think that the beauty of this film is not only that it toes a line of being self-aware while respectful for those that believe in tarot and astrology, but it also is visually incredible to look at. So I want to say for my astrology girlies out there and those that love astrology and tarot, you have to understand two things going into this. You need to understand that there are things that need to happen to keep the story going along. Okay. That's just obvious. No matter what sun sign you are, no matter what's going on, you need certain characters to get to point A to point B, right? And then two, this whole tie to the zodiac signs and astrology is something that I didn't anticipate. I think that it worked out that I forgot this trailer immensely, and maybe that impacted my watch because I didn't know that zodiacs were going to be connected to this. And ultimately, when it comes down to it, your zodiac sign has very, very little to do with who you are as a person. It's like not even a twelfth of who you are. Your son sign specifically, right? The day that you were born, the month that you were born. Very little to do with your personality. So if you know that going into it, just have a good time. Let that stuff go, anyways. Because if you're too busy getting upset about whether Capricorn or Virgo really does the things that it's supposed to, you're gonna hate this film. And again, I I'm speaking strictly to those that are hypercritical and love Zodiac like me. Because once I was able to remove that, I had a good time, I had fun, and visually this movie carried the film from beginning to end. The production team, bravo to you. Without it, this would have been a hack, but I'm giving it a soft slash for now.

SPEAKER_02 30:39

Well, nothing I love more than knowing that Binks and I are aligned on our bullshit because look, this movie might not knock your socks off. It's okay. Even if it's depiction of Capricorns is bullshit. I think I'd consider this a really great AMC A-list movie. So like the one that you can catch to really get a bang for your buck, hit your weekly movie quota, or maybe even just catch it streaming and just put it on one night. I wouldn't call it the best horror we're gonna get all year, but it is standard fare for PG 13 horror filled with jump scares to give you a fun outing on a Friday night, and that is okay. It doesn't have to be more than that. And this isn't one I'd even encourage you really to watch alone. Not because it's scary, but because it is certainly far better enjoyed with company. Like I do wonder, Mac, if you and I have been watching this movie together, would we have had enough fun talking shit that you may have come around on it just a little bit? Maybe. Maybe not.

SPEAKER_01 31:32

Maybe.

SPEAKER_02 31:32

There are some movies that you watch out there to have a serious scare. And there are others you watch because it's just a fun little spooky time, and sometimes it's dumb bullshit, and it does enough of that dumb bullshit to get a slash from me. And with that, tarot from 2024, now showing in theaters, has earned two slashes and two hacks. Now you can find this movie in theaters. If you're listening to this episode post its theatrical run, you can check the link in our show notes to see where you can find it right now. Either way, go check it out and then join us in the second half so we can dive into this tarot deck together. See you in a bit.

SPEAKER_00 32:09

Do you crave the thrill of the unknown? Do you dare to dance with destiny? Then pick up the phone and dial 1-800 Curse Me for Madame Bianca's mystical tarot hotline. The future is waiting and it's dying to meet you. At Madame Bianca's, we don't use just any tarot cards. Our deck is imbued with ancient charms and a whisper of the forbidden. Each card is a portal, a peek into the mysteries of the beyond. Who needs ordinary when you have an extraordinary consequence? Wondering if love is in the stars? Or maybe when you'll land that dream job? With Madame Bianca's cursed cards, you'll find out what fate has in store. Just hopefully not the literal kind. Because at Madame Bianca's, our forecasts go beyond simple fortune. They're supernatural. Call within the next 15 minutes, and we'll include an inclusive peek at our most enigmatic card, the Skull of Destiny, for free. But beware, it might just reveal more than you bargained for. Madame Bianca's mystical tarot hotline, where your future is always in the cards, whether you like it or not. Call 1-800 Curse Me today. That's 1-800 CurseMe. Disclaimer, Madame Bianca is not responsible for any destinates unwhelmed, fates altered, or curses unleashed. Consult your psychic advisor before making any life-altering decisions.

SPEAKER_04 33:40

Yeah, we have a solid nine kills that we can confirm in this film. There's a hint at some more with Baron's death and like the mention of those close to him and what have you, but we're gonna play it safe with nine tonight. I think this movie really had that strong final destination vibe to it, especially for the kills specifically, and there are at least a handful of decent ones to talk about. So let's deal the cards. What was your favorite kill?

SPEAKER_02 34:06

Alright, listen, I'm shouldn't get this shit out of the way. Even though Capricorns are not Capricorning in this movie, he definitely had the best death because holy shit, that was Final Destination. Alright.

SPEAKER_03 34:16

That was good. I liked it because it was basically his fault. If he didn't react to being scared, then he wouldn't have gotten squashed by a train. It's not like the entity had to push him like some of the other kills.

SPEAKER_02 34:28

You mean if he wasn't so sensitive?

SPEAKER_03 34:30

Exactly.

SPEAKER_04 34:31

It was the deception playing off of the whole distractions and fear and all that bullshit. It was pretty good though.

SPEAKER_02 34:38

All I'm saying is if I am told that the hermit's light is gonna lead me down the wrong track, you wouldn't catch me near a train station.

SPEAKER_00 34:45

I gotta tell you, the hermit approaching him at a at a swift motion there, that was one of the moments where I was like, oh fuck no. It was well done, well executed. All these kills were done beautifully, but that one in particular was a big fuck no for me. I think that yes, although disagree strongly with how Capricorns are depicted, because there's no way on this planet that a Capricorn would be fucking around and finding out, well, to some extent, right? Like you do love going into abandoned places, but the key here is that he already knew that something was kind of awry with the deaths of his friends. You know what I mean? So that's the part that doesn't make sense. You know that something's sketch, and then you're gonna go into places by yourself. Nah, a Capricorn is way smarter than that.

SPEAKER_02 35:34

For sure. I will say though, that I did feel a little seen when he comes into some good financial fortune and love is in the air, only to get wiped out by reality moments later. I mean, that is relatable. 700 bucks.

SPEAKER_04 35:48

I just don't understand how there's like suddenly like no people in these subways. What the fuck happened to all the people and what time is this? And in a city that needs a subway, you're telling me there's not even a homeless person pissing in the corner? Like what the fuck is happening here?

SPEAKER_00 36:05

So here's the part. Well, the homeless part, yes, because that makes sense. The police officer mentioned that he was at an abandoned train yard.

SPEAKER_04 36:15

Well, he like moved into it, didn't he? Like he ran into like the an area he shouldn't have been in, kind of thing.

SPEAKER_00 36:20

I suppose. That just makes me believe that perhaps these cards, what they were doing, is also manipulating his vision and sight because we see that with Paxton, right? And Taurus, where that's true. The fool was making him seem like he was by himself in this elevator or in this hallway as it was open, but his roommate apparently was there trying to get his attention. So perhaps that's what the hermit was doing with you know, with this guy. He was making it seem like he was by himself in this subway. That's the only way I can rationalize it truly, because yes, why would that fucking place be empty as fuck? And then maybe the abandoned train yard part, sure. Yeah. But the rest of it, walking towards that direction, suspicious.

SPEAKER_02 37:01

Yeah, it was also reminding me of scary stories to tell in the dark.

SPEAKER_00 37:05

Yeah, for sure. With the red light, for sure. Oh yeah, that was a good one. Another good one, just to be biased. It's Paige's kill, Virgo, and that's not just because I'm a Virgo, but yes, it is. I loved her kill because I found it to be maybe one of the more sinister ones.

SPEAKER_04 37:24

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 37:25

You just wanted it to happen already because it was agonizing, it was torture, and the actress really gave it her fucking all. You saw her snot, you saw like she was losing it, and that's the kind of stuff I want to see. It's so realistic. You would be losing your literal mind, snot everywhere, crying, your eyes swollen as hell from how much you're crying if you knew you were about to die and potentially saw two bits. Like that's just what's gonna happen to you. It gave me goosebumps, and more importantly, the reason it gave me goosebumps wasn't even all that. It reminded me of Insidious with the fact that they're all like watching, they're super pale, the vibe, the way that their eyes are very big. It was giving insidious, and I wanted to melt into my chair and leave the theater.

SPEAKER_02 38:16

100%. When I was watching that scene, I was like, oh, these bitches are just out here in the further.

SPEAKER_04 38:22

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:23

They're in the further.

SPEAKER_04 38:24

I think that they did a lot inside with her, like inside of the box, right? I think I felt all of that emotion too, and I think it was really well done. I resonated with the feeling of like you're trapped in this tiny space, and there's this fucking saw coming through anywhere, you don't know where it's coming through. It keeps like pushing through right by your face, and like that shit is just nerve-wracking. And I felt a little bit of that. I still wanted a little bit more, and I know it's PG 13, but I still wanted a little bit more, like maybe pan out to like the outside experience and the box being like you're almost sawed through, but and then give me some blood or something like that. Like, give me something, just a tad bit more.

SPEAKER_00 39:02

But then that would have changed the rating, and we know it. They had to stay within the confines of PG 13, fam. They had to.

SPEAKER_04 39:10

Oh man, it's so bullshit. Like just more blood gets it to rated art. It's such bullshit.

SPEAKER_00 39:17

I know. But here's what I'll say. What I didn't love about that kill, or maybe I didn't love it, but maybe in retrospect I'll be glad that it panned out this way, is that Virgo's the only one where you don't really hear her entire reading. You barely hear it because at the time when her cards are being dealt, it goes to Paxton hearing like something from the door, the door slamming. So you don't actually hear what her reading is, therefore you can't really tell how she's going to die. You only hear briefly like the bag of trips, you know that it's gonna be the magician. Yeah, but it doesn't get into strong interpretations of what's gonna happen to her.

SPEAKER_02 39:58

It says that she's gonna be pulled in two directions.

SPEAKER_01 40:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 40:02

Okay, right. Besides that, like the saw, what I had in my mind was like, is she gonna be strapped to a table and stretched?

SPEAKER_00 40:10

Yeah, that would have been cool, but not the sawing. I guess I just if you maybe were streaming the film and you could really take a moment to pause and really hear it, you could probably put two and two together faster that it's a magician and being pulled into two places, so thus the sawing thing. But for me, I didn't have enough time to compute that, so I barely heard her reading, therefore I barely could foresee what was gonna happen to her.

SPEAKER_03 40:34

I mean, she was cut off while she was, you know, hearing her her tarot.

SPEAKER_00 40:39

Dang. Yeah, yeah. Nice.

SPEAKER_03 40:41

Those were actually both of my favorites as well. So I just want to take a moment to shout out one of the most ridiculous ones, and that is with Golem from Lord of the Rings playing the hangman here. Yep, yep. That was legit just Golem, right? That's about as far as they went there. Is that was my least favorite. I want to just call it as being my least favorite kill in this movie because that character, I think we didn't even have to see. We could have just had them be blanked out in the shadows or something, because the noose was the worst part of that anyway, right? That's the scary part of that kill. Such a bummer for her to go out that way, but but yeah, just the fact that they used that bad of a looking character when all the other ones looked really cool, bothered me.

SPEAKER_04 41:23

For sure. I think we have to also acknowledge Elise. I feel like Elise's kill, the first kill we get, is good, right? I think the jump scare that we get in the attic is super predictable. I think we all know that that shit's fucking gonna happen. And unless you're just jumpy at large like increases in decibels out of nowhere, it's not super effective. But I do think it was pretty cool, creepy build to it. I think it fell flat a little bit, but I think very cool. Like you got the whole haunted vibes, you're in your room, you hear something, you peek out the fucking ladders down again for the second fucking time, and you know that's fucked. The thought process to ever go up that ladder, I will never understand, but I know we need this thought process for a successful horror movie because we need dumb people to do dumb shit, and Elise did that for us, and that's great. We we love that. She goes up there, pretty spooky vibes, right? You got the little candle seance bullshit going on up there, that's kind of creepy. And I think that was the first time we get like the visual of the card coming to life, no? So, like that was kind of cool. I might have spent uh a little bit too long on the visuals, maybe for that. I think less is more a little bit, but I think it was a cool vibe and just getting your head or whatever beaten in with that ladder. That's pretty hardcore. But yeah, I think that's a good kill.

SPEAKER_02 42:40

Yeah, we did spend a little bit too long on it.

SPEAKER_04 42:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 42:43

What sucks is that for as good as that kill is, it completely lost its weight for me because I had seen it so many times in the trailer.

SPEAKER_04 42:52

Right.

SPEAKER_02 42:52

And that's such a bummer.

SPEAKER_04 42:53

It is a bummer, and it's also kind of like spoon feeding you, like you're almost dumb. Like it's like, here's the card, and then here's the creature from the card right behind it in some predictable jump scare, and it's like, okay, that's super on the nose. We now understand that the cards are coming to life. Cool. Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_03 43:11

You also hear the echo of the of the horoscope read or whispered or whatever effect they used while it's about to go down.

SPEAKER_02 43:20

Yeah. In my mind now, anytime I do anything, I'm gonna just hear Binx's voice. You are a Capricorn, you're too smart for this dumb bullshit. Oh boy.

SPEAKER_00 43:29

Yeah, I don't know if I really loved the whispering of the horoscope as the kill is gonna happen, because it's like, well, you're already final destination. You're not even trying to hide it.

SPEAKER_02 43:41

Now you know what they're trying to be? They're trying to be the auditory version of the James Horn flashback.

SPEAKER_00 43:47

Yeah. I suppose just in case you missed it and didn't put two and two together, that's it right there.

SPEAKER_02 43:52

I want to call it a different death. And it is the one that I found to be the most predictable the moment I saw this person enter the film, and that was all. Alma because Alma is fake Sally Hardesty who also shows up forty something fucking years later after being the only one in her friend group to survive a mysterious massacre to be the wise person to lead this new group and get her vengeance and cut things off only to get fucking wrecked herself also by being stabbed. The second I saw her, I'm like, alright, you're down to repeat this role. You're just copy paste Sally Hardesty, stay woman, different accent.

SPEAKER_04 44:31

Pretty much.

SPEAKER_00 44:32

Here's my issue with Alma in general. How are you gonna be in this shit for so many years, Queen? A 17-year-old discovered what needed to be done in two days flat. How is that possible? What have you been doing all of this time? You're gonna tell me that you've studied astrology and tarot for all this time to try to figure out how to take it down, and it never occurred that you needed to Uno reverse card this bitch. Right. Never? It never occurred to you.

SPEAKER_04 45:02

Right.

SPEAKER_00 45:03

Also, what did you expect was gonna happen when you summoned the astrologer that she was gonna say, hey, what's up? Hello? No.

SPEAKER_04 45:09

Right. Just have a cordial conversation, sit down, really hash some shit out.

SPEAKER_02 45:13

Yeah, absolutely not. I actually do have a question for you, Binx. Al, you had this thought, and I thought I need to get Binx's take on this. Was the astrologer a Gemini?

SPEAKER_00 45:23

No, who should have been a Gemini was actually the Leo.

SPEAKER_02 45:26

Yeah, fuck that guy.

SPEAKER_00 45:28

Grant is a thousand percent the Gemini. That is my other gripe with this film.

SPEAKER_03 45:32

Nailed being a Leo.

SPEAKER_00 45:34

Okay, towards the end, he then nailed being a Leo. At the beginning, Mac, come on. Poster child of a skeptic was trying to be logical with all of them, especially with the site. As they were looking it up, he already was fact-checking them. As they're pulling up the site, being like, Yep, it's a scam. Da-da-da-da-da. And then he entered his Leo. So I'm just saying.

SPEAKER_01 45:54

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 45:55

The signs that were represented in this film needed to be this way. Because if it was any other ones, this shit would have gone very differently. If there was an Ares in this bunch, nah, fuck that. It would have been done in a wrap. How so? Because a thousand percent an Aries would have grabbed the Pisces, Madeline, by the hair and told her, shut the fuck up. You're not leaving this vehicle super fast without even a second thought.

SPEAKER_02 46:20

Amazing. So it's a perfect group of people who just lack enough fucking fortitude to actually take a step to preserve anyone's life. Find you an Aries, you'll stay alive.

SPEAKER_00 46:30

The astrologer is actually, I would dare say, maybe a Scorpio, because a Scorpio is willing to do the hard thing, the passionate thing, without a second thought. And they go from zero to five thousand. And this astrologer a thousand percent said, Revenge? That's my middle name. You want to fuck with me? I'm gonna take you there. And that's a Scorpio. Hmm. Fascinating. All that being said, speaking of the astrologer, when she is presented with the backstory of everything, that's when it really dawned on me how beautiful this film is. Like it I it was starting to come at me in waves, right? It it started with Elise's kill, actually, the blue lighting on her face when we're just staring at it. I was like, damn, okay. And then it was when we got that backstory, and I know that's already towards the end, but that was what solidified it for me. That was the moment that I was like, well, the production team as a whole carried this film. So what's my favorite thing? Is it the prop design? Is it the costume design? The cinematography. I think all three in combination killed it. Like they made this movie, and that's what really propelled it to be a slash for me. Because you never expect that kind of work.

SPEAKER_02 47:44

Yeah, for sure, everything came together really nicely. I think for me, the set design really did step it up a bit more. The cinematography is great, but it's also, I think, not even like the best that we've seen. It's just really, really solid. But the set design, and I'm sorry, Elise's Libra symbol being laid out in candlelight, absolutely gorgeous.

SPEAKER_04 48:07

Yeah, the movie looks great from a visual standpoint. I agree. I think the set design was really well done. I think the ambiance that they were able to capture for this movie, some really great lighting choices. You know, you you talked about the you know, the blue light on Elise's face. I think just the moments that we have, like the candle-lit things, and I think overall, all of that visually is just really well done. I even think the soundtrack, to be honest, was actually really good for this film, which sometimes can be pretty hit or miss or just unforgettable or kind of lost in the sauce, it just kind of blends in and you don't really notice it, but it did stand out. And so I do agree. Visually, the movie looks great, even the soundtrack was pretty good.

SPEAKER_03 48:51

Yeah, I gotta I gotta jump on board with that, Sean. The lighting in this film and the color grading is fantastic. There's so many shots here that have like a soft glow that when you see candles in one of the scenes, it's absolutely believable. It feels like there's candles there. They really nailed. I mean, there's like a big shift in colors in between some of the scenes here where we have really cool and really warm. They were able to make that happen without you even noticing it, to be honest. So I I think, yeah, the lighting here, the color really accents the rest of the fine work they were doing visually.

SPEAKER_00 49:28

And that being said, a moment that I thought was going to be my favorite kill and was absolutely incredible visually, just I suppose ended up being my favorite scene. And that is Paxton's not kill, the fool.

SPEAKER_04 49:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 49:47

Also my favorite scene. Great job, great choice. Something about the torture of it all, okay, about him toying with Paxton, like it was a fun game, but from the perspective of the elevator scene, it was just incredible. That's what gave me like goosebumps for sure, because I just wanted it to end. I wanted the fool to finally just do something already. Please take him out. I can't take this anymore. When he kept going in front of his face and then changing his face and then backing up when it was upside down, it was gnarly. So freaking good. And I think it's unfortunate that it got ruined though. It it is my favorite scene, but somehow it got ruined because later on in the end, it turns out it wasn't a kill. And I'll give them the fact that I guess we didn't get the satisfaction of seeing it. You know, I like I wanted to see it so that the torture would end and it just cuts, but I was assuming that he passed away or whatever, but I forgot about the horoscope. So maybe the James Wan part was helpful in that regard.

SPEAKER_02 50:48

Yeah, that was a moment where a that scene has one of my favorite songs, and I know I talked about this with a spooky by Dusty Springfield recently, but everybody plays the fool. That is the song that when I had my heart broken for the very first time, my mom played a CD of that song, and it just got me through, and now it's on like all my breakup playlists. Fucking love that song. So to see it A appear in a horror movie, but B, have it appear so perfectly with the character for it, the fool, fucking incredible. Absolutely loved that. However, the second it cut away, nah, I knew that boy wasn't dead. Everybody else, you get finality. You get the period at the end of the sentence. This motherfucker had an ellipsis. I mentioned earlier that his return is like the end of a Jordan Peel movie. This felt like the watered-down version of Get Out, where the dreary hero gets down the road, all of a sudden there's a car approaching, there's a hesitation, a moment of danger, only for the comedic relief to appear because the cavalry has now arrived. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 51:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 51:55

But also I love him so much. He's so great.

SPEAKER_04 51:57

He is, for sure. There's a couple of scenes that I really liked out of this film. I think from an amusing comedic standpoint, there's that back and forth between Grant and Haley, they just broke up or whatever. You know, they're like on opposite ends of the spectrum, which I think was hilarious, right? I think there was a point where Haley said he's not ambitious, and then Grant says, I'm too ambitious, right, to his friends, and they're just completely clueless, right? I think we have that kind of vibe in Greece. I think that's always fun. It's kind of fun. But the tarot readings themselves, I think, were really good scenes to watch, both the initial tarot readings where they're going off of like kind of explaining each person's horoscope and how it aligns with what the cards are showing. And you've got, like, for example, like they they go into the Virgo, right? And they start saying like practical thinker control freak goes out of their way for friends. That's all true, that's cool. But the seance with trying to like separate the astrologist witch from the deck or the cards, that was really cool, really good ambiance, creepy things going on, the witch in the background. I think they're those types of things, the way that they were able to show you kind of like that ambiance and that set design and that creepiness was really fun. I like to see a little bit more of that, but I think those scenes were good.

SPEAKER_03 53:16

Gosh, I want to go all the way back to Elisa's kill because leading up to that, I feel like this movie really took its time with the scene ahead of it. I mean, it's the first one, so it's got to be big. But we had the sounds of like something going over the ceiling or in the walls or nearby, we have laughter. And the sound design here was really great, but they really like stretch it out and took their time to make you think something is around or nearby. Later on, we get that same kind of feeling with what we have when we have the car and the different sensors around the edge of the car. But that was so fast-paced. This one stretched it out. We have footsteps above, then we have laughter outside, and then we get the latter scene, of course, which is great. But I I think it was great here that we have a character on the phone talking to one of the other characters to try to distract you a little bit from all the obvious stuff, and then they just like smush it in your face, of course. But I think when we had that great sound design combined with the lighting in this scene, it was fantastic.

SPEAKER_02 54:12

Yeah, it was giving Scream 2, specifically Sarah Michelle Geller, on the phone in her sorority house, only for the killer to be in the house.

SPEAKER_03 54:20

100%.

SPEAKER_02 54:21

I gotta say though, you mentioned Elise. I want to take the note to Elise and Paige, because the very first note I wrote down in my fucking notes was fake lesbians.

SPEAKER_00 54:32

Fake lesbians.

SPEAKER_02 54:33

Fake fake lesbians. There was a lack of chemistry oozing from this movie's pores.

SPEAKER_00 54:40

I gotta tell you, I initially looked at the two of them, and then I looked at my best friend Mary, who's a lesbian, and I was trying to gauge her reaction, and she was like, Oh, yeah. I was like, okay, but then I kept watching and I was like, I don't know, bro. They're giving fringe of like just besties, but are they fucking? And it's a little hard to tell. And I'm surprised though, because hello, why not just commit?

SPEAKER_02 55:05

Yeah, it was non-committal. It was the arm around her because that's how you have to know that they're actually in a relationship because they're not just besties hanging out. It's also the anything for wifey.

SPEAKER_00 55:18

The anything for wifey is so heterocoded because that's stuff that like stray people say, and I don't think I've ever heard either of you say wifey before.

SPEAKER_02 55:27

Never. You never will hear us say wifey. Damn. Disgusting. Between that fucked up couple, who honestly maybe had they just committed a little bit more in the direction, maybe these actresses would have really turned out and it would have been a fantastic relationship. But also Haley and Grant, I just want none of the romance in here. I want fucking none of it. Madeline and Lucas probably had a shot at something really sweet. And you know what? What a shame that he got hit by a train and she got strung from a bridge. That is fucking terrible because they seem to be the only two that could have really had something decent.

SPEAKER_04 56:04

Problem is that we're talking about like, was this believable? Did we buy into this? Did they do this right? Did they depict this right? Whatever. I just think that's the problem is the characters for one reason or another, you didn't resonate with them or they weren't believable. And so you didn't really have anybody that I that you really felt like, at least in my opinion, I didn't have anyone that I cared about. Like I didn't care who lived and who didn't. I didn't care who was gonna be the final whatever. It just was kind of I don't know, like there was just something about the characters that I couldn't invest in in any way. Like there was some comedy there. We got Paxon, great, we love that, but I also didn't care if he died in the next scene. You know what I mean? So interesting with the characters.

SPEAKER_00 56:45

Paxton was probably the one I actually cared about.

SPEAKER_04 56:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 56:48

But that's probably because he was the one with the comedic relief. And typically, when the character provides comedic relief, you gravitate towards the humor of it all. You can instantly hold on to that. What I find interesting about all these characters is that they're supposed to be depicting all of these zodiac signs, and you would think that you would gravitate or relate or love the ones that are your zodiac signs. But the film goes by so fast, or at least it felt that way to me. You don't spend a lot of time with any of them individually to get to know them. Before you know it, like five seconds later, it's this girl's birthday and she's the first one to go. I haven't even figured out if she's gay or not. I I'm still trying to figure that puzzle out. It's just like I just met her and I don't even Well, I was like Libra. Listen, Libras are very private people. So you know what? Fair enough. And they do like their space and they don't like to be pigeonholed. It's just funny to me that you barely spend time with these characters enough to get to know them enough to be like, yeah, I see myself an XYZ. Granted, I realize that the Virgo one is the one that makes it the furthest ones in the film for sure. So there's that element to it. But Mary, who my best friend who I went to see with, she's an Aquarius. Our main character is an Aquarius. And in all honesty, I don't even know if she really personifies any Aquarian energy at all, barely at best. We have Madeline, who's the Pisces, which is probably the only one that really leans into her zodiac sign because you could never tell a Pisces to do anything, dude. You tell them something and they're gonna be like, fuck you. And unless, like I said, you had an Aries that will grab her by the hair. But Pisces will do the exact opposite of what authority tells them to do, hence why they told her don't run, and she said, I'm gonna be a track star. Also, the other part that I just it made me laugh and roll my eyes deeply, is they make it a point to be clear that she's Latina by saying, you know, whatever in Spanish and all that. I sometimes really hate that because if you're gonna do that, if you're gonna make it apparent that you're Latina and that you know what this is, then know what it is, Queen, because this whole time all of a sudden you're super surprised, like you don't know what's been said, like you don't know what these tarot decks are, like you've never heard of what the McGow before. And don't come at me with that. If you're Latina, you should know what the situation is, but all of a sudden you forgot? You forgot your roots. You know what?

SPEAKER_02 59:26

She should have been the head bitch in charge. She should have been the head bitch in charge. Let's remake this movie with Binx.

SPEAKER_00 59:33

That's what they need. Saint Binx has it under control.

SPEAKER_04 59:36

Tarot 2.

SPEAKER_00 59:37

Tarot 2. I obviously could talk ad nauseum about all these characters and their zodiac signs. I can tell you that Paxton, my boy, was a Taurus through and through. Yes, they're stubborn. Although the switcheroo there where he was buying into everything, and then all of a sudden, when the time came to, he was like, nah, this can't be real. I gotta go my own way. But I go back to it. Seems like, yeah, he's a Taurus, so it fits the plot to a certain degree until you need the character to do something for the movie to move forward. And then I'm gonna abandon the fact that he's a Taurus.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:12

It seemed like there were several of those moments where characters just did things that were against their character and just bad writing there. I mean, sprinkled in, thankfully, it wasn't like constantly, but I mean I feel like that's also really common amongst B-level horror films that are made for teens.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:29

To some degree, though, I feel like the movie was trying to say that you can't change fate. And maybe I'm reaching, but perhaps that's the point where they would be doing things that are outside of what their character would typically do because fate said so.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:44

But am I reaching? I mean I think you're being so generous.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:48

I feel like it would have been cool for them to play more into those, you know, your traits as like whatever your zodiac sign is, and like play into that a little bit more. I don't know how specifically they do it, and uh with that many people that they have to kill off in one way or another or what have you, and it's only an hour and a half, so maybe you'd have to approach it with maybe a few less people. Yeah, you know what I mean, and just kind of go that route. I don't know if that's what you're saying, but that's kind of what I'm feeling.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:16

Can I tell you what I think is actually the worst part of this movie? It's the fact that we don't have everybody's full birth chart.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:22

I agree. Do you want to go through everyone's birth chart in this film?

SPEAKER_02 1:01:25

I do. Yeah, I need to know.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:28

Oh Lord. What time what time were you born?

SPEAKER_02 1:01:31

Who there was a Libra rising? That's what I need to know. I don't think any of them.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:34

I don't think any of them. I wow, yeah. Same worst part. It's the zodiac sign part that I disagree with vehemently because I need to know the whole birth chart to really fully understand why some of them did certain things. And I case in point, Grant and Lucas, the two of them, truthfully, something was awry. Something did not make sense.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:56

It's because they need to be swapped. But also, shout out runner up second worst part, a the Capricorn of it all, but B, the levitation towards the end of the movie. It was giving stranger things, but not in a respect to stranger things kind of way, more like a yeah, I'm just jocking your style. And I could I swear I could hear running up that hill when Haley was levitating. I can hear it.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:19

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Is that not the theme of this movie? Is jocking your style? I mean, that is pretty much what this movie is doing from start to finish. But I will tell you, the best part I feel like for me in this movie was when we talked about it earlier. It was just the tarot cards themselves. I think it was a cool looking deck. The design was cool. I think it's a deck that I would love to have at home. You know what I mean? I think that's really cool. I I would love to have that. It's creepy. I like to collect little things like that just for fun, you know, to have some weird witchcrafty kind of shit. I think it's just interesting.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:57

I think we've already said what the best part of this movie is, and it's the way it looks. I think it looks so good that you're tempted to give it like a slash simply because it couldn't have been bad. It looked too good.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:10

You know, Mac, I dare say it looks good and also has a good personality because this shit was so fun, I think I'll actually revisit it. Despite its imperfections, it was fun enough to watch again.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:20

For sure. For all the shit that I talk, I would definitely re-watch this again, maybe during spooky time or when I'm feeling extra, you know, girly pop and I want to do a couple little tarot readings, or after I read my horoscope for the morning, pop on co-star and then throw this on in the background. I I think so. For the simple fact that it's so visually appealing, and I often don't get to see something that I personally love in terms of astrology. I was raised reading horoscopes and all that. I don't get to see it in media in this way, so I'll take what I can get, despite it being what did you call it, Sean?

SPEAKER_04 1:03:57

Cookie cutter bullshit.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:59

Yeah, but let's go with that.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:01

Yeah. I know I've talked a lot of shit on this movie. I don't think it's like the worst horror film out there, but I do feel like it was super bland and generic and it struggled to stand on its own. I I don't know that I would necessarily hate my life if I had to get through this movie again at some point, but at the same time, I'm not going out of my way to choose this movie to watch again. I can't really imagine a time where I'm like, ooh, I really just want to this one feels like the right movie to put on. If they do a sequel or a prequel or what have you, I'll gladly entertain it. But I just don't know that I would ever really be in a situation where I really want to watch this movie again. If it was on, I might hang around.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:41

I bet this is gonna be the same kind of shit where Ouija wasn't that great of a movie, but Ouija Origin of Evil, the sequel that was a prequel, fucking rad.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:51

Could be.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:51

If we get Tarot 2, I bet it's gonna be great.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:54

Yeah, I I feel like we're gonna rewatch this no matter what because it we're gonna have to binge it as part of a seven, you know, movie franchise festival at some point in the future because it just screams conjuring universe.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:08

You have to get the other signs.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:10

Well, I actually am looking up here. You do, yeah. I'm looking up here, and I'm pretty sure that horoscope, maybe I'm wrong, but it might actually have more than one.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:19

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:19

So there you go.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:20

Perfect. Perfect. Yeah, that way we get every sign, and then after you get every sign in a couple of sequels, you go back, right, and you mix them up a little bit, and you do them all over again to show the flip side of it. But yeah, this this absolutely screams a franchise that's gonna happen. I mean, it even feels like it's part of some of those other movies. It's interesting to imagine that like this is the beginning of just another franchise.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:44

Well, time will tell if it is just the beginning, but for now, there you have it, folks. Tarot from 2024 has earned two hacks and two slashes. And we've certainly had a robust discussion here, but it doesn't end here by any means.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:57

We want to know what you think. What major arcana would you? Be terrified to see in real life? Let us know. You can join in on the conversation by hanging out with us for free in our Discord. Click the link in our show notes to sign up.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:07

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