The Resident Bitch's Movie Log

→ in
Tools    





Master of My Domain
I'm in no rush to see Mean Girls, even though I have the feeling I'd like it.
...I don't think you'll like it.



Master of My Domain
They don't have sex with and shoot each other?
No dammit, I was expecting exactly that, but nothing exciting happens.



Welcome to the human race...
Not every character needs it, no, but I'm not necessarily looking for redemption, just something to make these people seem more human and less caricature.
I was mainly using redemption as an example given the Plastics' antagonistic nature (as I pointed out, only one of them actually fits into such a narrative framework). How much humanity do these characters really need, though?

I'm in no rush to see Mean Girls, even though I have the feeling I'd like it.
If I think it's great, how bad can it really be?
__________________
I really just want you all angry and confused the whole time.
Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0



I was mainly using redemption as an example given the Plastics' antagonistic nature (as I pointed out, only one of them actually fits into such a narrative framework). How much humanity do these characters really need, though?
Given that the filmmakers expect me to buy this as a tale with a moral to the story (and that moral being that we need to accept and support each other), they need more dimension than they had.



Given that the filmmakers expect me to buy this as a tale with a moral to the story (and that moral being that we need to accept and support each other), they need more dimension than they had.
Mean Girls feels a lot more like an extreme parody to me. I've met "plastics" at school before, and I hated them for good reason. Mean Girls is like those people on their worst day at all times which sustains my irritation and delivers catharsis with their downfall. It's a revenge story.

It's not a terribly powerful revenge story, but then again this isn't Hell Girl.


__________________
Movie Reviews | Anime Reviews
Top 100 Action Movie Countdown (2015): List | Thread
"Well, at least your intentions behind the UTTERLY DEVASTATING FAULTS IN YOUR LOGIC are good." - Captain Steel



It's a revenge story.
It hardly counts as a revenge story (especially given that Regina's comeuppance was an accident). It's way too touchy feely at the end but doesn't provide sympathetic characters for me to get touchy feely about. It just falls flat for me. If it had been a real revenge story I might've liked it better.

I think I'll just stick with classic teen flicks like The Breakfast Club and Heathers, tyvm.



I think I'll just stick with classic teen flicks like The Breakfast Club and Heathers, tyvm.
"The Breakfast Club"
is a bit sentimental for me. It feeds into teenager's common idea of self importance.



"The Breakfast Club"
is a bit sentimental for me. It feeds into teenager's common idea of self importance.
And Mean Girls doesn't feed into the idea of self importance? Okay.

The Breakfast Club is sentimental, sure, but that sentimentality is justified by presenting its characters as real people that the audience can relate to. We don't just spend the whole movie watching a bunch of exaggerated, phony bitches be catty to each other and then are expected to embrace the message of acceptance because one of those bitches makes an "inspirational" speech at a school function.

The finale of Mean Girls just felt slapped together and lazy to me. It was like the writers or director decided at the last minute to attempt to give the story some deeper meaning that it neither needed nor earned.



It hardly counts as a revenge story (especially given that Regina's comeuppance was an accident).
Not all comeuppance needs to be intentional to work, otherwise I wouldn't like My Name is Earl as much as I do (it was karma that pushed her!).


Originally Posted by Miss Vicky
It's way too touchy feely at the end but doesn't provide sympathetic characters for me to get touchy feely about. It just falls flat for me.
That's fine, I didn't think the ending as all that great either. For the record, my ratings are pretty broad. BJM just barely hinges on [Just... Bad] territory for me while Mean Girls similarly ventures very slightly into [Pretty Good]. Both are fairly [Meh...] to me in the grand scheme of things.

Originally Posted by Miss Vicky
I think I'll just stick with classic teen flicks like The Breakfast Club
I did NOT like The Breakfast Club for many years, but after watching it again recently I think my attitude towards it has changed.



I genuinely think Charlie's Angels is a good, fun popcorn movie. That's not why I love it, of course, but I do think it is.

That's reason enough for any film to exist. Frankly, I could live in a world where that what every film was.
Its better than most Hitchcock's output.





Gladiator (Ridley Scott, 2000)
Imdb

Date Watched: 02/23/16
Cinema or Home: Home
Reason For Watching: It's Gladiator.
Rewatch: I've seen it more times than I can count.


When I first saw this movie, I didn't know the names Russell Crowe or Joaquin Phoenix. I knew only that I had a fondness for the old swords-and-sandals epics (particularly The Robe and Demetrius and the Gladiators). I was excited to see a modern version that would feature more nuanced acting,effects that were more sophisticated than a guy rolling around in the sand with a stuffed tiger, and a story that would do away with the religious overtones of those old classics.

What I got was all that and more. This movie is the epitome of many of the things that make me love movies. The costumes, sets, and effects are breathtaking. The score hits just the right emotional notes. The battle scenes are thrilling. There's a hero that you can really get behind. He's handsome. He's noble. He's loyal. He's charismatic. He's strong. He refuses to be broken no matter what is taken from him and yet there's just a little vulnerability to him. Just enough to make him seem human.

And as that hero, Russell Crowe is quite impressive. His imposing physique makes for a believable warrior, yet his eyes and face masterfully convey the inner battle of emotions as Maximus struggles to keep himself together, navigate the devastating realities of his existence, and find a way to avenge those he has lost.

He's matched by a villain who is ruthless, brutal, and unsettling to watch. Joaquin Phoenix brings a frightening level of intensity to Commodus, the sniveling, incestuous and dangerous creep who will stop at nothing to realize his grand visions for himself. Phoenix embodies this character so completely and so convincingly that my initial impression was that he'd never make it as a leading man because he was too damn creepy (which was a shame because he was so damn good).

Ultimately, the two are pitted in a one on one battle that is at once thrilling, heartbreaking and satisfying.



Since this film's release, I've read and heard many complaints. The film plays pretty loosely with history. The dialogue is exaggerated and theatrical. Some of the CGI is obvious. There are some discrepancies between things that are said and things that happen in the film. Rubber prop swords can be seen to bend during battle. A compressed air canister used to flip a chariot is visible. I'll allow that Gladiator is not a flawless movie. However none of these flaws matter to me and it remains a flawless movie watching experience. After sixteen years and countless viewings, I remain just as enthralled by the movie today as I was the first time.




Welcome to the human race...
Given that the filmmakers expect me to buy this as a tale with a moral to the story (and that moral being that we need to accept and support each other), they need more dimension than they had.
Heathers arguably had the same moral (though J.D.'s methods of achieving it were naturally too extreme), yet the Heathers are hardly the most multi-dimensional characters. Heather Chandler is an arrogant bitch, Heather McNamara is a sycophant, and Heather Duke is a resentful social-climber (she's like Cady from Mean Girls but without the redeeming qualities). They have their odd little moments of characterisation, but I wouldn't say that they have that much more depth than their Mean Girls counterparts. Heathers is just a bit more honest as to how the story uses characters as pawns rather than as human beings (why else do you think the writer wanted Kubrick to direct it?)

It hardly counts as a revenge story (especially given that Regina's comeuppance was an accident). It's way too touchy feely at the end but doesn't provide sympathetic characters for me to get touchy feely about. It just falls flat for me. If it had been a real revenge story I might've liked it better.

I think I'll just stick with classic teen flicks like The Breakfast Club and Heathers, tyvm.
Well, Mean Girls 2 tried going with a straightforward revenge story and it is way worse than the original, so I can't imagine you'd like it any better. The touchy-feely stuff happens by necessity since the third act is about Cady redeeming herself for becoming a genuine Plastic and isolating everyone in the process, so she actually works to make things right. She's supposed to be the sympathetic character and her big prom speech is supposed to be the end of her personal journey.

And Mean Girls doesn't feed into the idea of self importance? Okay.

The Breakfast Club is sentimental, sure, but that sentimentality is justified by presenting its characters as real people that the audience can relate to. We don't just spend the whole movie watching a bunch of exaggerated, phony bitches be catty to each other and then are expected to embrace the message of acceptance because one of those bitches makes an "inspirational" speech at a school function.

The finale of Mean Girls just felt slapped together and lazy to me. It was like the writers or director decided at the last minute to attempt to give the story some deeper meaning that it neither needed nor earned.
If Mean Girls is about a bunch of phony bitches being catty to each other, then The Breakfast Club is about a rude jackass who wants to piss off his equally stereotypical classmates. As far as unjustified sentimentality goes, I think that Alison being made up to look like a princess and winning over Andy in the process outdoes anything that Mean Girls has to offer, and Brian's essay at the end is no better than Cady's prom speech.

Also, I'd say that the deeper meaning was at least somewhat needed/earned. The film is about Cady's journey. She starts off as a kind person who is treated like an outsider at high school, so she goes along with her fellow outsiders' plan to sabotage the popular clique from within. However, she gets so caught up in the plan that she starts to become just as bad as they do (if not worse), and so when things come to a head she realises just how wrong she was to do so. To this end, she makes up with both sets of friends and embraces her true self by joining the Mathletes and winning the competition. Considering how the school was almost torn apart by the students being mean to one another, it makes sense that the climatic moments involved a public demonstration of altruism on Cady's part. It's not a sudden last-minute thing so much as a cohesive conclusion that builds upon what has come before.



I'll say this about Gladiator - it's two-thirds of a great film.
Really? Which one?

I genuinely think Charlie's Angels is a good, fun popcorn movie. That's not why I love it, of course, but I do think it is.
Its better than most Hitchcock's output.
Quoted for truth.
__________________
5-time MoFo Award winner.



Originally Posted by Iroquois
If Mean Girls is about a bunch of phony bitches being catty to each other, then The Breakfast Club is about a rude jackass who wants to piss off his equally stereotypical classmates. As far as unjustified sentimentality goes, I think that Alison being made up to look like a princess and winning over Andy in the process outdoes anything that Mean Girls has to offer,
THANK YOU!



Alison was way more likable being unique and quirky than friggen' Barbie doll. It shouldn't have been the SOLE REASON Andy changes his attitude about her.

Plus, I don't get how that movie is supposed to "break stereotypes" when resident plastic Claire nonsensically falls for a bad boy and Brian just ends up doing everyone else's work and remaining the figurative virgin.

Originally Posted by Iroquois
I'll say this about Gladiator - it's two-thirds of a great film.
What third lost you?