The Resident Bitch Prepares for the MoFo 2010s Countdown

A lot of these are rewatches of movies that I own on DVD or bluray so they're easily accessible. Also I almost never get to sleep before midnight so I usually have a few hours of time available for movie watching on workdays and I only work Monday through Thursday so I have three days off each week (and no social life to speak of, lol). Whatever I watch tonight will be movie #100 since I started preparing for the countdown.

I actually don't like those chips or kettle chips in general. My username has a totally unrelated meaning:

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Despicable Me (Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud, 2010)
(Rewatch)

This is an incredibly silly and ridiculous movie with some bizarre ideas and bizarre characters (wtf was the inspiration for the design of the minions anyway? They look like giant capsules). But it's also incredibly charming, funny, and genuinely touching at times. It's too bad that its various sequels and spin-offs fall well short of it, but after twelve years and countless viewings this first film of the series remains a big favorite and I have no doubt that it'll get my vote.

I get these, that flavor or jalapeņo.

I loved the first film. My mom and I went to see the sequel on a whim, and we ended up walking out after about 15 minutes. Just terrible and shrill and deeply unfunny. It was also around the time that a young man had died after being tasered by a police officer, so the running joke of one of the main characters repeatedly and joyfully tasing someone (putting it to his chest at times!) came off in terrible taste (even if that wasn't the intention of the film).

I vaguely remember liking the sequel okay, but it's been quite awhile and I don't even remember the taser thing. I saw it in the theater and might have watched it on bluray once after that but I don't remember a whole lot from it.

I love Despicable Me. It's probably a lock for my list.

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If I answer a game thread correctly, just skip my turn and continue with the game.
OPEN FLOOR.

The Hunt (Jagten) (Thomas Vinterberg, 2012)
(Rewatch)

Tonight was my third watch of this movie - I'd seen twice before when it was nominated for the 13th MoFo Hall of Fame in 2017 and again when it was nominated in the 21st MoFo Hall of Fame in 2020. On my first viewing, I was blown away by Mads Mikkelsen's performance, felt very intense sympathy for his character, and loved the movie overall. On second watch, my sympathy for Lucas was somewhat buffered by feeling more of an understanding with the reactions of the parents and the kindergarten staff - save of course for what happened to Fanny, which is absolutely inexcusable on any level - but I still loved the movie overall.

Unfortunately, my experience tonight was a bit different. There is one particular scene early in the film where a buck is shown being shot and killed. I don't know if in my previous viewings I just blissfully assumed that the scene was faked or if the overall quality of the film distracted me enough that I'd forgotten it by the time I went to write about the movie, but this time it was very much apparent to me that it was not fake. Not only was it not fake, but its inclusion was entirely unnecessary and it left me feeling sick. As a result, I was unable to feel what I had previously felt for this movie. I still think that the rest of the film is excellent and anyone who is not bothered by such things should probably watch it, but I will not be watching this movie a fourth time nor will it be on my ballot.

I've never been able to finish The Hunt, even though I watched about 2/3 of it years ago.

It was just too stressful, as a false accusation of abuse is like a teacher's worst nightmare. My first year of working, a child looked at me and "I'm going to tell my dad you hit me." It was, obviously, chilling and very upsetting. Watching the film brought back too many of those feelings and I bailed. Agreed that the performances are very good and that the film does a good job of balancing the experience of the main character against the feelings of the family (who, you know, have really good reason to believe something terrible happened to their child).

Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller, 2015)
(Rewatch)

This movie is f***ing nuts and I love every crazy-ass, high-octane, adrenaline-soaked minute of it. This to me is the perfect action movie. I've seen complaints from people around the web saying that this movie is ridiculous, that it's just one long chase with no real story, that it's not Max's movie, that there's not much depth to the characters, that the dialogue is too sparse, but to me these things are the film's strengths. And I say that as someone who normally needs a good story and characters I can invest in, but those things are not and never have been why I watch Mad Max movies. I grew up watching The Road Warrior and Beyond Thunderdome and the ridiculousness of them is why I loved them and Fury Road takes all the best aspects of the franchise and cranks them up to the max. Charlize Theron makes a great bad ass bitch, Tom Hardy is one sexy motherf***er, those crazy-ass cars, crazy-ass characters, and crazy-ass costumes are a hell of a lot of fun, the dialogue that it does have cracks me up, and there's just enough development to its protagonists that I want them to succeed and feel a little pang of grief when one is lost. There is absolutely nothing about this movie that I would change. Not one damn thing.

Watching this in the theater was one of my best theater experiences of all time.

I worried later when I went to watch it on DVD that it would lose something significant without the majesty of the big screen, and yet I loved it just as much if not more.

It's a great mix of spectacle and character work, and the kind of movie you can watch beginning to end or jump into at some random point.

Thirst Street (Nathan Silver, 2017)

They should've called this thing Cringe Street. Don't get me wrong, the acting is good and the story is fine but this just views as a cautionary tale about not putting your dick in crazy and I'm not so much into that. I thought the characters themselves were believable enough, but Gina was incredibly off-putting from the start, well before she let her crazy flag fly. Not that I have any sympathy at all for Mr. "I Like It Natural" Strip Club Bartender Jerome whose red flags were just as apparent as his pink eye. But sure, let's obsess over this unattractive douchebag because he showed a little interest. Ugh. I couldn't stand either of them and between my aversion to both characters and my hatred for all but a select few movies that feature narration, I was not having a good time with this at all.

Gone Girl (David Fincher, 2014)
(Rewatch)

I decided to follow a cautionary tale about not putting your dick in crazy with a cautionary tale about not putting your dick in crazy. I know I said that I'm not so much into that and I've also said that I don't like movies about shitty people doing shitty things to each other, but this is an exception to both statements.

So what, then, is the difference? Whereas Thirst Street's Gina was an awkward, anxiety ridden idiot, Gone Girl's Amy is smart, sophisticated, calculating, and - most importantly - interesting. And while she and Nick are both most definitely shitty people, hers is a satisfying kind of shittiness that her douchebag husband kind of deserves. Even if only kind of. Add to that David Fincher's gift at telling twisted tales and you've got one hell of an entertaining watch.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Martin McDonagh, 2017)
(Rewatch)

Despite having seen this movie in the theater and owning it on bluray for a number a years, I'd all but forgotten about the existence of this movie. But I vaguely recalled thinking it was pretty damn good so I stuck it on my list of rewatches for this countdown.

Having just watched it again, I have to say it is pretty damn good. Not perfect by any means, but pretty damn good. Sure, it has some scenes and situations that are implausible, to put it kindly, and its characters are not always the most likeable people, but it kept me fully engaged from start to finish. Implausible though it might be sometimes, this tale of tragedy, grief, rage, retribution, and redemption is also in turns heartbreaking, infuriating, and laugh-out-loud funny. It boasts an incredible cast that includes Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Peter Dinklage, and Sam Rockwell, whose character is the most detestable and perhaps the most begrudgingly likeable of them all.

I don't know if all of this is enough to make me vote for it, but it's not out of the running yet.

The Breadwinner (Nora Twomey, 2017)
(Rewatch)

The Breadwinner tells the story of eleven year old Afghani girl Parvana and the struggles of her and her family after her father is imprisoned by the Taliban. With the only male left in the household being Parvana's baby brother, the family is unable to buy much needed food or collect water from the well. After meeting up with an old classmate of hers who is now bacha posh, Parvana cuts her hair, disguises herself as a boy, and becomes the family's sole provider.

I first watched this film in 2018 and was very much impressed by its gorgeous animation, strong vocal performances, and the important story it tells. However I also found it to be a relentless series of infuriating and heartbreaking situations and thought that it was too emotionally wearing to be something I'd want to watch again. Tonight, however, I had a different experience and unfortunately it was not an improved one. I don't know if I just wasn't in the right mood for it, but - while I was still very much impressed by the look of the film and its performances - I never fully emotionally engaged with it. Far too much time is spent on the story that Parvana tells about the boy and the elephant. I understand what the filmmakers were trying to achieve with this, but I found its whimsey and fantastical elements to be too distracting to be effective and it took me right out of the more darkly emotional scenes that were set in Parvana's reality. I still have a great deal of respect for the artistry of the film and for trying to bring more attention to the horrors of life for women and girls under Taliban rule, but at this moment I can't really say that I like it as a whole. Perhaps if I watch it again down the line that will change, but for now I'm going to downgrade its rating just a little and it will not be getting my vote.

Fury Road is a pretty great time, but I can't quite give it five popcorns because there's at least one significant thing about it that I would change, that being...

I would disagree. Everything you're saying we need is implied, and the film's economy in trusting us to understand these things is partly what I love about it.

Plus, characters encountering each other as brand new and then navigating their relationships is one of the best things about it.

Yeah it's implied, but that's partly implied through dialogue, when it would've been more effective if more of it had been shown to us, rather than just told; like, the moment where...

I prefer that it's left to our imagination as the audience. I think it works better that what she's done isn't quantified. Just like I think we don't need to see what happens to the wives to understand that these women who get to wear nice clothing and live in a palace must have a really good reason to make a run for it into the unknown.

I agree with this. The women are referred to as "wives," but it's glaringly apparent that they're really sex slaves. We see where they were confined. We know they're carrying Immortan Joe's children. We don't need to be explicitly told or shown what went on there. And just knowing that Furiosa was working for such a horrible man and had risen among his ranks is enough to infer that she's done things she feels she needs to atone for.

Plus such unnecessary exposition would only end up hindering the movie's momentum and that momentum is one of its greatest strengths.

Inherent Vice (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2014)
(Rewatch)

This movie is an over-long, convoluted mess full of intertwining cases, bizarre side stories, and a parade of even more bizarre characters. At 2.5 hours it takes a bit too long to get where it's going and it definitely could've done with some trimming and streamlining. However, I do love Phoenix's oddball performance here and over-long and convoluted though it may be, this mess is still rather amusing. I'd be lying if I said it isn't a pretty fun ride. However, with this rewatch I'd also be lying if I still said this had any real chance of making my ballot.