The Resident Bitch's Movie Log

I didn't care for The Skin I Live In the first time. Maybe I should try it again.

The Kid Who Would Be King (Joe Cornish, 2019)
Imdb

Date Watched: 2/10/19
Cinema or Home: Cinema
Reason For Watching: My friend needed to get out of the house
Rewatch: No.

Wow, that was really stupid.

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*shrug* I liked it.

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Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0

The Florida Project (Sean Baker, 2017)
Imdb

Date Watched: 2/15/19
Cinema or Home: Home
Reason For Watching: 18th MoFo Hall of Fame, nominated by rauldc14
Rewatch: No.

I went into this movie having no idea what to expect. I'd read the name and seen images of the film's poster around MoFo but nothing about those things piqued my interest. Things weren't looking too promising either in the first few minutes of the film as Moonee and the other children basically made nuisances of themselves.

As the film progressed though, I slowly began to feel something for the situation these characters were in. I wouldn't say that I liked Halley, and certainly she made a lot of poor choices, but I found it easy to see how much of a struggle her life was. I felt for the kids, too, as they faced hardships they could neither control nor truly understand. The one character that really stood out to me though, was Bobby the manager. I really loved the way he tried to help and how he never turned a judgmental eye on the others, even as they laid blame on him for things that went wrong.

I also really loved how real the characters felt - not in spite of their petty, trashy ways but because of it. I appreciated that nobody was painted as a hero or as a villain. They were just a bunch of people in a situation without much hope, struggling through their day to day existences all within sight of that "Magic Kingdom."

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Brimstone (Martin Koolhoven, 2016)
Imdb

Date Watched: 2/17/19
Cinema or Home: Home
Reason For Watching: 18th MoFo Hall of Fame, nominated by pahaK
Rewatch: No.

I had some very mixed feelings about this one. First, I thought the film looked great. The cinematography, sets, locations, and costuming were impressive. Second, I liked the premise of it and thought there was a lot of potential there for a truly gripping story.

Unfortunately, however, what the film delivered was an overly long, bloated, and rather disjointed tale that could have really used more editing. What even was the point of Kit Harrington's character? I mean, the man can't act so whatever, but there was zero chemistry between him and Joanna and I felt nothing when his character met his demise. That whole subplot with him was just wasted screen time.

Still, I did find myself at least moderately invested in Joanna's story - at least up until that final ridiculous confrontation with the reverend, which left me rolling my eyes - so I'll grant it an almost favorable rating.

Even if Arachnophobia is played partly for laughs, my phobia of spiders is strong enough that I'm sure I'll be squirming quite a bit while watching it. Think I added The Ref to my watchlist after hearing you praise it sometime in the past as a good alternative to the typical Christmas fare. It sounds like my tolerance for Wes Anderson's quirk is a bit higher than yours, but in general we share the same issues with the man's work (the artificiality, in particular). I really enjoyed The Fantastic Mr. Fox, though, thinking that his quirky style better suited animation. Yet to watch Isle of Dogs, but seeing that you liked it quite a bit and called it the least Wes Anderson-y film so far, bodes well for my own enjoyment.

Love Nicholson, but I've yet to pull the trigger on Wolf. Everyone I know who's seen it usually trashes it. I've read reviews from the trans community who find the premise of The Skin I Live In highly offensive. I don't know anything about that, but I thought it was a great flick. It gave me a little bit of a modern-day Eyes Without a Face vibe. I tried reading Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles a few years ago. Enjoyed the first book somewhat, but her flowery writing style was eventually too much of a drag for me. I also prefer my vampires less aristocratic and, um . . . homoerotic. Interview with a Vampire is a pretty good movie, though. I was especially impressed with Dunst's performance.

The extremely negative reactions to Split have really piqued my curiosity. Remember liking Road to Perdition but very little of the movie has stuck with me. You were too kind to Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. I think it's the worst movie to ever receive a Best Picture nomination (of the ones I've seen, at least). That kid was the most annoying character ever, the premise was stupid, and any movie that tries that hard (and that cheaply) to garner sympathy usually only elicits hatred from me. One of my least favorite movies ever.

Glad to see how much you appreciated The King of Comedy. My opinion of it rose quite a bit after a recent re-watch. I now think it's one of Scorsese's best. Maybe if you ever watch it again you'll be able to enjoy it more and establish a deeper connection with its characters, since that happened to me on a second viewing. Though Robert Pupkin is obviously delusional and dangerous, I couldn't help but feel an enormous pity for him and root for him to achieve his dream. Perfect Blue is my favorite anime film, although I don't watch many. Looking forward to The Florida Project and Brimstone. Hadn't heard much about the latter until it was nominated in the current HOF. I know it's been rather polarizing so far, but I love westerns and dark, disturbing movies, so the combination of the two has me excited.

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Objectively, it's... not a good movie, but I think it's fun.

I must say that I did begin to wonder what the trans community thought of The Skin I Live In as I was watching it. I kind of get why they might find it offensive, but I don't think the film is transphobic. I think having your identity forcibly stripped from you and replaced with something foreign is a pretty horrifying concept. Though I suppose the film's specific premise would be far more horrifying to a heterosexual cis man. It is the ultimate in emasculation.

I read some of the books back in the day - and enjoyed that flowery style and homoeroticism - but I think I only made it to book three. I really liked the first one but wasn't really drawn in by the rock star premise of the second and can't even recall what happened in the third.

Have you seen Kon's other movies? I really enjoy them all.

The Square (Ruben Östlund, 2017)
Imdb

Date Watched: 2/23/19
Cinema or Home: Home
Reason For Watching: 18th MoFo Hall of Fame, nominated by MovieMeditation
Rewatch: No.

I don't have a whole lot to say about this one. I realize that it is satire and that it is attempting to skewer the pretentiousness and hypocrisy of modern art and of people in general. The trouble is that I don't care.

I have no interest in modern art or in the culture that surrounds it. I cared nothing for Christian and was not at all interested in his journey. I also am not one who appreciates awkwardness as comedy - something The Square employs frequently - and I found the film's pace and runtime rather tedious. I was never fully engaged with the film and My rather deficient attention span was stretched well beyond its limits. Were it not for my obligation to watch it for this HOF, I would've turned it off long before the credits rolled.

That said, the film is full of strong ideas and is peppered with scenes that I found impressive at least from a visual standpoint. I can understand why someone else might love The Square, but it simply wasn't for me.

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The Little Stranger (Lenny Abrahamson, 2018)
Imdb

Date Watched: 2/24/19
Cinema or Home: Home
Reason For Watching: 18th MoFo Hall of Fame, nominated by Siddon
Rewatch: No.

The Little Stranger surprised me. Where I was expecting something of a supernatural horror, what I got instead was a mystery drama about envy and the lengths at which someone might go to obtain what they desire.

It is a bit of a slow burn, but I still felt there were some pacing issues with it and would have liked to see things move along a bit faster. Overall though I quite enjoyed it and it did at least keep its story within a reasonable runtime. The cast here all turn in excellent performances and I really liked the dark, foreboding atmosphere of the film.

The Little Stranger is a very engaging movie, though not one that I expect will really stay with me or that I'll want to revisit.

Bubba Ho-Tep (Don Coscarelli, 2002)
Imdb

Date Watched: 2/25/19
Cinema or Home: Home
Reason For Watching: 18th MoFo Hall of Fame, nominated by me
Rewatch: Yes, many times over

Bubba Ho-Tep is about an aging Elvis impersonator - who insists he's the real deal - and an old black man - who claims to be John F. Kennedy ("They dyed me this color!") - who team up to fight an undead mummy in cowboy duds that has been picking off the other residents of an East Texas rest home by sucking their souls out of their asses.

But it's also about the sad and lonely existence lived by many elderly people - abandoned, forgotten, shoved aside, and regarded with apathy and condescension as they wait for death. It's about friendship, self-sacrifice, and valor. And it is this potent combination of absurdity and heart that made me instantly fall in love with this movie when I first watched it over 15 years ago.

Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis are an absolute delight as our decrepit duo and infuse their ridiculous roles with generous helpings of humanity and more ham than a butcher shop. Ella Joyce is a riot too as one of the nurses, whose job it is to attend to a peculiar problem suffered by "Mr. Presley." The film is also liberally peppered with site gags and ridiculous one liners that kept a big dumb grin on my face throughout.

Bubba Ho-Tep is by no means an intellectual piece of high art, but it is for me a masterpiece of pure entertainment.

Only Paprika, which I liked considerably less than Perfect Blue. I'll watch his others at some point. I'm most interested in Tokyo Godfathers, which I've seen you praise a few times before.

A Bug's Life (John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton, 1998)
Imdb

Date Watched: 3/2/19
Cinema or Home: Home
Reason For Watching: Pixar Hall of Fame, nominated by edarsenal
Rewatch: Yes

As much as I love Pixar, A Bug's Life is not a film that I've ever held in particularly high esteem - though I think part of that may be that I sometimes have trouble differentiating my memory of it from that of other (inferior) ant themed animated films. Tonight's rewatch hasn't changed the film's standing in my list of favorite films from the studio, but I do feel like I've come away with a better appreciation for it. Although it doesn't quite hit the emotional highs that some of Pixar's later offerings achieve, it is quite the charmer and offers plenty of laughs.

It also features a really great voice cast, with Kevin Spacey really shining as villain Hopper, and Denis Leary and the late Joe Ranft bringing the laughs as Francis and Heimlich respectively. It's been quite some time since I last watched this and I have to say I was actually quite surprised by the quality of the animation. Of course, by the standards of Pixar's later work, it is a bit rough but even now - more than 20 years later - it outshines the recent offerings of many other animation studios with its brilliant colors, varying textures, and attention to detail.

Overall not what I'd class among Pixar's best, but still a quality film and one that very much hinted at the greatness that was to come.

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Coco (Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina, 2017)
Imdb

Date Watched: 3/2/19
Cinema or Home: Home
Reason For Watching: Pixar Hall of Fame, nominated by Nathaniel
Rewatch: Yes


Every time I've watched this film, I've done so with mixed emotions. It's a masterfully crafted piece full of rich detail, vibrant colors, memorable characters, an imaginative story, and an ending that always leaves me in tears. And yet somehow I don't quite love it. Part of it is the heavy fantasy elements and part of it is that it is the closest Pixar has come to releasing a musical, but I feel like there's something else too that I can't put my finger on.

Still it's a very solid movie and, along with Inside Out, was a welcome quality original flick in a string of sequels, prequels, and the lackluster originals Brave and The Good Dinosaur.

Finding Nemo (Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich, 2003)
Imdb

Date Watched: 3/3/19
Cinema or Home: Home
Reason For Watching: Pixar Hall of Fame, nominated by rauldc14
Rewatch: Yes

Finding Nemo was the first Pixar film I ever saw in the theater, having been released a relatively short time after I had come out of the anti-animation phase of my adolescence. I remember being absolutely blown away by the color and the detail. It was truly spectacular. But I also remember laughing at Coral's death (because animation studios just seem to feel the need to kill off their protagonists' parents) and rolling my eyes at the often juvenile humor ("He touched the butt!").

As time has gone on and I've rewatched the film, I've found myself having much greater respect for what the film does well and being less annoyed at its weaknesses. It boasts truly amazing visuals, a great voice cast, and an engaging story. It's quite the technical achievement. Unfortunately, however beautiful and entertaining it may be, for me it lacks the emotional wallop of the studio's better films.

The Incredibles (Brad Bird, 2004)
Imdb

Date Watched: 3/4/19
Cinema or Home: Home
Reason For Watching: Pixar Hall of Fame, nominated by Yam12
Rewatch: Yes

I don't like superhero movies. I don't like science fiction/fantasy in general. I don't like how black and white the characters tend to be. I roll my eyes when the heroes engage their superpowers and the over-the-top villains begin their monologuing and their sinister laughter. And yet, somehow, I love The Incredibles.

Don't get me wrong - my eyes still roll at those elements and they are absolutely my least favorite things about the movie - but the laughter and the tears greatly overshadow any annoyance. It's the scenes of the personal relationships between the characters that draw me in. It's Bob Parr standing in silent fury under bright florescent lighting as he is berated and belittled by his minuscule boss. It's little Edna Mode and her fierce refusal to accept BS and self pity. It's Honey telling Frozone that she's the greatest good he is ever going to get. It's Helen and Bob arguing about directions. And it's seeing the strong and stoic Mr. Incredible sobbing and broken when he thinks his family has been killed - and I sob right along with him. These are what make the film great. These are why I've watched it over and over again. These are why I count it among my all time favorites. Even so, of the 20 feature films Pixar has released to date, I'd rank it maybe #6.

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Monsters University (Dan Scanlon, 2013)
Imdb

Date Watched: 3/5/19
Cinema or Home: Home
Reason For Watching: Pixar Hall of Fame, nominated by Siddon
Rewatch: Yes

Despite the disappointments that were Cars 2 and Brother Bear 2: Mother Bear... er... I mean Brave (Have I mentioned yet that I don't like that movie?), I went into my first viewing of Monsters University with high expectations. It was, after all, a Pixar movie and I really like Monsters, Inc. so it couldn't be bad, right? It couldn't possibly be another Brave, right?!

The trouble with watching Pixar's lesser films is that they've set the bar for excellence so damn high that what I'd consider a decently good movie from another studio is a major disappointment from them - and that's what Monsters University was for me that first time. I might've smirked a time or two but there was no genuine laughter and that emotional punch - that Pixar magic - just wasn't there.

Watching the movie again tonight I can't say that any of that has actually changed. It still didn't make me laugh. It still didn't make me cry. It still didn't trigger any sort of intense emotion. But this time I went in with low expectations and found myself being at least moderately entertained by it.

I love the concept of the first movie and it balanced great comedy with genuine heartfelt emotions.

The sequel had a lot to live up to and they went with the Animal House inspired prequel. Immediately the emotional core I think is gone. The laughs weren't as well choreographed and I honestly think (with the exception of Toy Story) that Pixar can't do sequel very well.

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"A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Why, sometimes in life, it's the only weapon we have."

Suspect's Reviews

Bubba Ho-Tep I remember being disappointed with this film initially. I didn't know what I wanted from it? More comedy? More horror? More absurd action? It didn't deliver on those fronts very well, but the overall cult like feel the film projects I think won me over in a repeat viewing. I love Bruce Campbell and think he does a great job in the role as well.

Florida Project is on my to be watched list and has been for awhile.

Brimstone Caught some of this on tv the other night. Looked interesting from what I saw and had to leave just when they were getting into the depths of how far one would go to leave a bad situation.

The Skin I Live In I was bored by this at the beginning and didn't get the acclaim. As it went on it got more twisted and my interest sky rocketed. I watched it as part of my October Horror movie viewing back in 2015.

Ratatouille (Brad Bird and Jan Pinkava, 2007)
Imdb

Date Watched: 3/6/19
Cinema or Home: Home
Reason For Watching: Pixar Hall of Fame, nominated by Citizen Rules
Rewatch: Yes

An animated film with a rat protagonist? Pixar would've had to really screw this one up for me to not like it.

That said, what Pixar delivered is one of their finest films and it was responsible for taking me from casual appreciator to all out fan girl. With every viewing I've been blown away by its meticulous attention to detail, vibrant colors, wonderful character design, and an engaging underdog - er, underrat - story about the importance of following your dreams and not taking your friends and family for granted.

What I really love about the film is how well it blends its realistic and fantastic elements to create something that is silly but also heartfelt. The animators really did their research and it shows. The food looks nearly good enough to eat and the rats move in a mostly rat-like way. I also love the little touches like Ego's coffin shaped office and his typewriter that resembles a skull, the rat band with their improvised instruments, and Skinner with his hilarious combover and little man syndrome. It's the perfect mix of whimsical and touching, and those rats are just too damn cute!

Toy Story (John Lasseter, 1995)
Imdb

Date Watched: 3/7/19
Cinema or Home: Home
Reason For Watching: Pixar Hall of Fame, nominated by ahwell
Rewatch: Yes

As a Pixar fan, I'm something of an anomaly in that I've never been particularly enamored with Toy Story. Don't get me wrong, I think the movie is quite amusing and it's an easy, entertaining watch. I also think it boasts some really strong voice performances and obviously it was groundbreaking for its time, but my experience with it - and I've seen many times over - has never gone beyond just good.

I recognize that the film is 24 years old at this point and that many advances have been made in the art of computer animation but I can't help but find the unnatural movements of the living beings of the film - especially those of Sid's dog, Scud - to be very jarring. And this is something that has bothered me from my very first viewing of the film (back in my high school Spanish class, with the Spanish dub ). I've also never been able to establish any strong emotional connection to the story or to its characters - at least not in this first film, though the third one did bring me to tears. Ultimately this is a movie that I like and that I respect, but not one that I will ever love.