The Resident Bitch Prepares for the MoFo 2010s Countdown

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Shutter Island (Martin Scorsese, 2010)
(Rewatch)

It's been quite a long time since I last watched this movie and I'm really not sure why. It's packed with a great cast and very strong performances and is absolutely dripping with atmosphere and dread. I'll admit that the movie is over long and drags a bit and the major plot twist is neither especially original nor all that subtle, but even having seen this before, I was still gripped throughout.

Not a big favorite nor a lock for my ballot, but also not out of the running.




I really owe Shutter Island another viewing. I don't know what I was expecting going into it, but I know that the gap between expectations and what it actually was really threw me while watching.



I haven’t seen Shutter Island since its release. I liked it a lot but I owe it a rewatch and it’s really not in any danger of making my list. Scorsese has two big hitters from the 10’s in my opinion.
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I haven’t seen Shutter Island since its release. I liked it a lot but I owe it a rewatch and it’s really not in any danger of making my list. Scorsese has two big hitters from the 10’s in my opinion.
What are the two big hitters for you?

I've only seen Shutter Island and Wolf of Wall Street from his 2010 movies. Actually I haven't seen a whole lot of his work in general. Besides those two, I've seen The Departed, The Aviator, Gangs of New York, Bringing Out the Dead, The Age of Innocence, Goodfellas, The King of Comedy, Raging Bull, and Taxi Driver. Wolf of Wall Street is a lock for me.



What are the two big hitters for you?

I've only seen Shutter Island and Wolf of Wall Street from his 2010 movies. Actually I haven't seen a whole lot of his work in general. Besides those two, I've seen The Departed, The Aviator, Gangs of New York, Bringing Out the Dead, The Age of Innocence, Goodfellas, The King of Comedy, Raging Bull, and Taxi Driver. Wolf of Wall Street is a lock for me.
Silence will be on my ballot. Wolf could be. I haven’t decided if I am holding myself to one per director yet.



I really owe Shutter Island another viewing. I don't know what I was expecting going into it, but I know that the gap between expectations and what it actually was really threw me while watching.
Is it alright if I ask why that was the case?



Is it alright if I ask why that was the case?
I think that I was expecting an honest to goodness thriller/mystery, and obviously the film is playing with some of those conventions but isn't just a typical thriller/mystery.

It's honestly been a long time since I watched it, as I saw it right after it came out. I really don't remember specifics, just being aware that what I'd expected/wanted wasn't what I got.





Dark Shadows (Tim Burton, 2012)
(Rewatch)

I was not feeling well this afternoon but with the list of films I intend to watch or rewatch for this countdown still numbering almost 50, I decided to cross another one off the list. But it had to be something kind of stupid and ridiculous, one that required no real thought and little focus. This seemed a perfect fit.

And it was. This is by no means a great movie, but it's silly and it's fun and it's pretty to look at and, as a piece of pure entertainment, I think it does a pretty good job of what it's trying to do.






Weathering With You (Tenki no ko) (Makoto Shinkai, 2019)

Weathering With You is by far the most fantastical of Makoto Shinkai's work that I've seen and requires a whole lot of suspension of disbelief, which kept me from fully engaging with the story. I was, of course, expecting that to be true but it nevertheless hindered my enjoyment a bit. That said, this might just be his most visually stunning work yet and is well worth the watch even if just for that reason alone.






The Great Gatsby (Baz Luhrmann, 2013)
(Rewatch)

When this movie first came out, I was... not excited. As much as I love DiCaprio, I hated Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet (and couldn't even make it past more than a few minutes of Moulin Rouge), and I'd remembered not being fond of the novel or the 1974 film adaptation (which just looked like a toothpaste commercial to me) when we studied them in high school. I'd also been hearing a lot of the controversy about its soundtrack. While I didn't particularly care one way or the other about anachronism, I've never been a fan of that type of music.

But when I finally saw it, and with every watch since then, I really enjoyed it and I actually think that the soundtrack fits the theme and style of the film quite well even if it doesn't fit the setting. Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby is flashy, extravagant, excessive, colorful, dazzling, and most of all fun, but it's also heartbreaking and infuriating. While it's unlikely to get my vote, I think its a worthwhile watch and is undeserving of the hate it gets.






The Man From Nowhere (Ajeossi) (Jeong-beom Lee, 2010)
(Rewatch)

While this is not exactly a masterpiece of cinema, The Man From Nowhere is an excellent action film nevertheless. And it really has everything I want in the genre: a badass hero who is hot, mysterious, and relentless; bad guys that I love to hate; a whole lot of violence; a dash of humor; and just enough emotional impact to elevate it just a tad above mindless entertainment. I believe this was my third time watching it and it is a hell of a ride and a lock for my ballot.






Real Steel (Shawn Levy, 2011)

To say that I went into this with low expectations is a bit of an understatement. When I first saw the trailer in 2011, I thought it looked terrible and kept expecting the robots’ heads to pop up a la Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots and immediately dismissed this movie as something not worth watching.

So I very nearly skipped it when it I saw it had been nominated for Group Watch, but I decided to keep an open mind and give it a shot. Unfortunately, it met my expectations - well, not the head-popping expectation, but you know what I mean. I am sitting here racking my brain trying to come up with something that I liked about it but I am at a loss.

I hated or was completely indifferent to every single character in the movie. And I especially hated Charlie. He’s a crappy father (which he doesn’t really ever redeem himself for, if anything he makes it worse through literal child endangerment and making his kid an accomplice to crime) and kind of a crappy person in general. As for Max? He gets pissed at Charlie for taking stupid risks and basically throwing Noisy Boy away, then he insists on keeping Atom because Atom saved him (which, that whole scene is some bullshit. No way in hell did some little kid dig this 1,000 pound hunk of crap out of the mud in the pouring rain, load it on to the cart, and then drag it to the truck by himself. Give me a break), only to take stupid risks with him in the ring.

As to the robots themselves, I never once forgot that I was watching CGI. For a movie called Real Steel, they sure looked and felt fake to me. The story itself never felt original or interesting and it relied heavily on cheap shortcuts to try to win sympathy points for its characters. Ultimately the whole thing just reeked of cliché and artifice.






The Man From Nowhere (Ajeossi) (Jeong-beom Lee, 2010)
(Rewatch)

While this is not exactly a masterpiece of cinema, The Man From Nowhere is an excellent action film nevertheless. And it really has everything I want in the genre: a badass hero who is hot, mysterious, and relentless; bad guys that I love to hate; a whole lot of violence; a dash of humor; and just enough emotional impact to elevate it just a tad above mindless entertainment. I believe this was my third time watching it and it is a hell of a ride and a lock for my ballot.

It'll probably make my ballot as well. It's maybe top 5 in terms of films from the decade that I rewatch (in part or in whole) all the time.



It'll probably make my ballot as well. It's maybe top 5 in terms of films from the decade that I rewatch (in part or in whole) all the time.
I've seen it three times now. Borrowed it from the library the first time. Rented it from Amazon the second time. This time I decided I probably ought to just own it so I bought the bluray. No doubt I'll be watching it many more times in the future.





Frankenweenie (Tim Burton, 2012)
(Rewatch)

Although it's never been a particular favorite of mine, Frankenweenie is an undeniably original, charming, and funny boy and his reanimated dog story. I love the character designs and the story, plus it boasts an excellent voice cast and makes for a very easy and enjoyable watch.

But damn, Tim Burton, did you really have to do Mr. Whiskers so dirty like that? You hate cats or something?






Isle of Dogs (Wes Anderson, 2018)
(Rewatch)

I decided to follow a rewatch of a stop-motion animated movie about a boy and his dog with a rewatch of a stop-motion animated movie about a boy and his dog. The difference, though, is that I really shouldn't like this one. Whereas I've always had a bit of a soft spot for Tim Burton, the same very much cannot be said for Wes Anderson. While I admire the colorful look of Anderson's films, I hate his brand of quirk, I hate the way he writes characters, and, until this movie, I've hated every film of his I've seen.

So what is it about Isle of Dogs that is different? If I'm being completely honest, I'm not sure. I mean it certainly helps that it's animated, but Fantastic Mr. Fox is animated and I hated that movie so animation can't be the only reason. It's got a great cast, but Anderson has always worked with great talent, so it's not that either. The movie is absolutely gorgeous, but the look of Wes Anderson's movies has always been the one thing I've liked about them. Whatever it is, I like it. And actually I liked it more tonight than I have in previous viewings - and I'm going to go ahead and bump its rating from the previous 3.5 to a 4. Even with that upgrade in rating it probably won't end up on my ballot, but it's a pretty damn good movie.

Wes Anderson still sucks, though.






Spring Breakers (Harmony Korine, 2012)
(Rewatch)

Look, I'm not going to sit here and try to claim that this is any kind of quality movie making. It's not. It's a messy trainwreck of a Girls-Gone-Wild-meets-Gangsta-rap-music-video 94 minute fever dream in which James Franco in cornrows and a grill says "spring break" and "look at my shit" over and over amidst a sea of neon bikinis and boobs.

It's kind of fun, though.




Spring Breakers was my favorite of his but I have felt no urge to revisit at all. I don’t think me and Korine are on the same wavelength.