The Women Directors Hall of Fame

If you've lived in a town where you know a specific person very well, it's very unlikely for you to meet with them often. Those people had heard of the incident have never seen Eva until now, it's their first time 'tormenting' her.

Whenever something bad happens, you're always gonna have that minority that think wrongly about the situation.

I dunno I never really thought of this as a flaw until now. Anyway I'm so glad you liked it!

I don't think so, I am from a town where we had a famous murder and I don't think the family of the murderer when through any issues. Also how realistic would it be for her to downgrade her life and still run into victims and people from the school. You would think she'd be living in a different district, and if she was regularly visiting her son chances are she would be in an entirely different part of the state.

Yeah you have a point.

Yeah her living in the same area bothered me. I watched part of a documentary about James Bulger the other night. Bulger was a 3 year old kid who was murdered by two 10 year old kids in 1992. There's still regularly graffiti in the area about the kid and his killers and someone was even beaten up a few years back because he was suspected of being one of the killers (he wasn't), 20+ years later. The killers mothers moved out of the area right away i believe. I don't think the authorities would even allow her to nevermind her choosing to, unless she like publicly disowned him which she didn't. America and Britain are different of course though.

Didn't find it a big deal personally, but i agree with Siddon's objection.

@jal90 @jiraffejustin @HashtagBrownies @Siddon @Yam12 @edarsenal @Thursday Next

The deadline is five weeks tomorrow. Just letting you guys know as i know it's easy to lose track of how long is left.

THANKS Camo!!!

I watched Little Women, and I was pleasantly surprised. It exceeded my expectations, as I expected something much stuffier than I what I got. Instead, I was greeted with a bunch of pleasant characters that I enjoyed my time with quite immensely. I am much more interested in the source material, because I would like to go further in depth in the lives of these characters, but I wonder if I will enjoy it as much. The charisma of Winona Ryder in this role might have made the movie for me. Before this viewing, I was already a fan, but I don't know that I've seen a film that accentuated her as fully as this one did. It is not the type of performance that I would give an award to, but maybe more importantly than that, it was one that was comfortable in its own skin. One of those films that just allowed for something that doesn't have to be as "high brow" as all those art films I enjoy, but one that allowed a good story to be told with good characters and pleasant actors allowing me to join them in their surroundings and period. I am not entirely sure if the fast pace of the film was a necessity that made it better, or if slowing down the pace would have allowed me to spend more time with the March family, thus increasing my enjoyment. I was worried about the runtime before I started the film, but now I think that I could be missing out by not having more of it. I Winona Ryder tho for real.

The Last Supper

I am having a hard time deciding how I feel on this one. It would be unfair if my burnt out feelings towards political discourse is to blame about my ill feelings towards this film. I mean, I get that part of the point of the film is to mock that type of incendiary approach to politics that I'm tired of, but sometimes taking that approach to sending something up can allow you to recreate the very thing you are taking down. I can tell that the film did a great job of tackling these things if it caused me to feel this way, but I also don't think the film is necessarily crafted in a way that is all that great anyway. Parts of it are definitely funny, but not always as funny as perhaps it thinks. It is nice, for once, to see liberals portrayed as being intolerant, because it sometimes gets a little too easy to pretend that the only intolerant ones are the ones that vote for Republicans. Both sides are often equally intolerable, but not because of their politics, but because of their vitriol. It is nice to see the film not care about which side is which, because both are portrayed in a way that is none-too-desirable. I would like to like this film more, but I think it will require more time and at least another viewing. If I can cope with the humor interrupting what could be a somewhat poignant statement on party politics, perhaps in the future I will enjoy this a little more. I feel like I am saying I like more things than I dislike and what I dislike is a little vague. I don't really know how to verbalize how I feel about it and it make sense. Perhaps my (sorta) dislike of this film doesn't really make sense, which is why I really do want to revisit it at some point. I think I might have just been in the wrong mindset at the time.

I watched it long ago, ending December last year, and I don't rightly know why it took so long to bring it here, so my sincere apologies.

I think this is a bit complicated to judge for me and in fact my reasoning probably won't make much sense or resonate to anybody other than myself but basically my main issue with this movie is its attitude towards the main character. There is no doubt that the relationship she builds with her son is carefully developed, there is not anything wrong in at least logical terms on the way the story advances, no plotholes, no moments where the train of thought or action of the characters is missing out. However when I see it I can't help but be rubbed the wrong way at its overblown and unnecessary cruelty.

Then again, being cruel is not a bad thing. Being cruel in a way that feels absolutely mean-spirited and inconsiderate towards the personal drama of its character however is more arguable and it turns the movie into an emotional torture porn experience that I can't fully buy. Eva's journey is one filled with obstacles that seem conveniently put to expose her at her most vulnerable and tortured, all while being unable to fully capture the pathos.

Again, the movie is worth and if there is something I particularly like about it is the way the dynamics of Eva and Kevin are portrayed, which luckily enough as the plot advances gets more and more focus, and having some very spot on acting throughout. I also think that it has some truly significant moments and can be emotionally intense and effective at times, so yes, in that sense it is a remarkable effort. However thinking of scenes like the company dinner, and in general the tone of the movie, I can't help but not get into its mood at all, and question Ramsay's approach with this story.

American Psycho

My complete favorite moment of the film, that little crazy dance he does before going psychotic is right up with there with Mr. Blonde in Reservoir Dogs dance.


Moments like that, the spouting of album sleeve critiques and those spurts of unhinged instances about mundane things is where this film is at it's best. And, of course, Bale is exemplary at pulling it all off. We see the false calmness of the waters with unfelt concern for fellow human beings and then we witness the waters begin to churn at what is causing it just below the surface as it inevitably rises up in a frenzy.
A great role and one that he truly shined in.

Sadly, the ending and how it really takes you out of everything previously is pretty offsetting.
It's like finishing a meal and you come to realize something and ask: "Wait - what did I just eat?!"
From my limited research even the director thinks she got it wrong, attempting for the vagueness but she didn't want people to think it was entirely in Bateman's head, which, now on my second viewing, it can very easily be construed that way.

And I will leave it at that, since the rest of the film is pretty d@mn brilliant and keeps your attention throughout. Been wanting to revisit this since i finally got to watch it a year or two back and very happy to have done so.

Europa Europa, I do enjoy these based on a true story type WWII films. I don't know how much of the original story is fact or fiction but it plays well for me. Solomon Perel is a jew who is run out of Germany, Poland, Russia and somehow ends up in the Hitler Youth program.

For the most part I enjoyed the film, I can understand why the film received a screen play nomination as it seemed to be expertly written. The movie just sort of flew by, and while it lacked the visuals of some of the other noms I enjoyed this one a bit more.

Siddon sent the 5th List.

It's now four weeks to the deadline so i'd suggest those below 7/11 start thinking about catching up as the last month flies in.

Nice Job @Siddon!!

I just picked up a copy of We Need to Talk About Kevin from the library since I couldn't find a version online with decent sound for my system and then my climax will by Cricket's Nothing Bad Could Happen.

@Yam12 @jal90 @HashtagBrownies

It's four weeks to the deadline today just to let you know.

Hashtag is the ninth member to make it over half way Only two remaining. 93/121 reviews in with four weeks left!

glad to hear you enjoyed it, @HashtagBrownies and thank you!!

I liked this video on Lynne Ramsay:



It's all obvious stuff that some of us have discussed earlier in the thread but it's just cool watching the images, at least it was for me. Also it made me realize i need to watch Gasman.

rather like that, it's a kind of tutorial on how to enjoy the poetry of her, much like learning a few things about how a painter thinks through an image.
I like it even more since I'll be watching We Need To Talk About Kevin tonight and I'll be keeping an eye out for those spots it spoke of.

Morvern Callar

some spoilers probably

Everybody has probably already mentioned poetry, so I'll avoid it...even if it is apropos. Samantha Morton gives a hella good performance as the titular character that seems to be a magnet for the selfish. She has a boyfriend that kills himself and expects Morvern to finish his work for him and a friend who seems to only care about pills, alcohol, boys, and herself (she was so caught up in herself that she doesn't even react when Morvern tells her that James is dead). I get the metaphors of her keeping the body on the floor and then chopping it up being her dealing with the death in time and then finally being able to move on. I am seeing a lot of critics reading this as Morvern herself being hedonistic, but I really don't see it that way. Morvern seems perhaps to be confused or longing for something, but not quite being sure what it is. Maybe she wants to just drown life out like she does when she is listening to music so often. But, to Morton's credit, you can look in Morvern's face and tell she is not the same hedonistic person that Lanna is. I haven't read any reviews in this thread, outside of semi-skimming them earlier, but I can imagine much has been made of Morton's facial acting. Without moving her lips at all, she says so much with her countenance. Ramsay seems to value this greatly in her performers, because in the two films I've seen, she has let her performers' faces do a lot of work. The soundtrack was very interesting and at odds with the seemingly absent-minded Morvern. You can see in her face that there is a lot going on in her head, but I think a lot of people would probably confuse that with someone being simple or unaware in real life. I really don't quite know what to make of her character or the film as a whole, but I am very intrigued by it. I feel like there is something under the surface that I haven't quite gotten to. I'm making plans to take another look at this film in the future, because I want to know more about it. It's visually interesting, from the shots of Morvern's face, to the shots of the bugs, to the shot of Morvern flashing the dude on the boat Ramsay has crafted something that is well worthwhile.