The Women Directors Hall of Fame

Glad you got something out of it and that you're interested in seeing it again I've still not seen it a second time. Will probably do that before the countdown deadline to make sure of its place on my list.

Is anyone interested in doing an extra best performances thing? I did one for Best Characters in the 11th HoF. If no one is it's cool, if they are send me your top five only if you've finished of course.

1. Samantha Morton

done.

She's incredible. The only other performance of hers i've seen is as a mute character in Sweet and Lowdown and she is amazing in that too.

sounds like fun, i'll toss in a top five performances with my list

Nothing Bad Can Happen

probably some spoilzies

I like that this film can be viewed in several different ways. The way that I am leaning right now is that the story of Tore is a Christ allegory. Like Christ, he is given a mission and sacrifices his life and faces unimaginable torture. He also faces temptation and refuses it, like Christ in the desert. Christ fasted on purpose, but he was tired and hungry like Tore was. Christ's mission was to save all of mankind, but Tore's mission is just to save Sanny. He faces temptations when Sanny is with him in the pool and when Benno lets him put the pillow over his face. He resisted those temptations, he faced his torture, and he faced his death. He never wavered, and he succeeded at saving Sanny, losing his own life. It's a fine interpretation of the story of Jesus, and it's also a scary horror film. The chicken scene is supah grosss. The buttf*cking scene is supah grosss. The final torture scene is supah depressing.

There are more ways to look at it than that pretty straight forward way, but that's how I am feeling it. You could also look at it as there not being any salvation in serving God, because for a movie called "Nothing Bad Can Happen", a lot of bad sh*t happened. Sure Sanny was saved, but she will never be the same and her life is probably already ruined by Benno. Tore lost his life and faced some really bad stuff. From this perspective, the film takes on a really nihilistic quality. The irony of the title almost mocks those that believe that no evil can come against them if they walk with the Lord.

I appreciate that a side is not recognizably taken, and you are left to decide for yourself what the truth is. Because in reality, life feels like both. Sometimes serendipity can make those of wavering faith and cynical dispositions believe for moments, and those of strong faith lose that faith all the time. So, somewhere in between is where it should be. You wouldn't expect a God that loves his children to allow such atrocities, especially those whose faith is as strong as Tore's. But Tore's Job-like faith saves Sanny, so maybe this sacrifice is worth it.

Regardless of what the truth is, this film is a disturbing horror film that succeeds in making you uncomfortable. I felt badly for Tore throughout the whole thing, because he is what you would like a Christian to be. If you claim you are a follower of Christ, then you should exhibit the qualities that would make someone Christlike. Tore does that with no hypocrisy, and he is met with a similar treatment to that of Jesus. I felt myself begging him to just leave and to really go for the kill when they had the pillow over Benno's face. I wanted him abandon his faith to save his life, and he wouldn't do it. If nothing awaits us after we die, then his faith was wasted. If there is something for us after we die, then Tore punched his ticket to the good place. Who knows what the truth is though.

I'm interested.

Send me a list along with your proper list after you've finished then.

Will probably only do it if at least 7 of us sends one. Up to you guys was just a suggestion.

I will send you one today as well.

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Letterboxd

Anybody have links for Nothing Bad can Happen, Europa Europa and the Ascent?

@jal90 @Yam12

There's 20 days left or something. Finish or don't, both of you have been awful members and i'm not convinced Yam has watched anything but whatever.

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night

I have seen this movie twice now, and I still love it. It's a fantastic movie. Sheila Vand is terrific in this film as the Girl. She owns every bit of silence she delivers, and in a movie where silence is more important than every word that is said, it's a big deal that she can pull off all those dialogue-less moments. She is a very pretty woman, but she has a special look to her that lends itself nicely to the role. She is petite, looks maybe somewhere between innocent and eerie. I don't know how she manages to simultaneously look so scary and yet unassuming. It's the perfect look for the character. She doesn't look like she could do the things she did, but at the same time, it's not too surprising. It could also be the gorgeous black and white cinematography giving a helping hand in this department. The look of the film is superb. And it's not just a style over substance thing either. Black and white is a misnomer because it forgets to mention all the grey that the world is morally made up of, but often times we only talk about the black and white. I know that I am not the only person to ever have mentioned that, but I do think it's a really nice touch that the film doesn't have that black and white morality. It's also fitting that the Girl is a vampire, because this film really has some teeth about it. This is my favorite feminist film-noir western Farsi vampire movie.

What the heck, Camo.

We have been awful members for what exactly? I'm doing this at MY own pace. It's you the one who decided that it was better to watch everything in whatever order or pace. As far as I'm concerned, I've watched three, I have the rest left to watch IN TIME AND UNDER THE PACE THAT FITS MY NEEDS AND CONVENIENCES and the least I'm going to admit here are these insinuations. Got it?

We Need to Talk About Kevin

It was well shot but I didn't really like it. It’s just really uncomfortable all the way through, which is perhaps the point, but I didn’t enjoy the experience of watching it. In fact, I found it very stressful. I don’t enjoy films about evil children, or parental anxiety.

The way it flicks about from one time period to the next, the juxtaposition of the tomato festival and the aftermath of the incident, misery and happiness and grim carrying on seems to suggest that these are all alike, which made the whole thing sort of tense and miserable and inevitable. Even the soundtrack added to the tension. The overuse of red was irksome.

Towards the end when Kevin starts to menace his sister it becomes particularly difficult to watch.

The vitriol directed at Eva seemed way out of proportion, especially such a long time after. I can understand that parents of children involved in the incident would be angry, but it makes less sense the way her co-workers just stare at her. At first I assumed that she had done something, but it makes less sense in hindsight. If she was having such trouble, avoiding people in the supermarket why would she stay? I did like the way the kid in the wheelchair is nice to her and she’s so blindsided by someone actually taking the time to ask how she is. It all makes even less sense when you realise that

In fact, everybody in this film is pretty horrible, with the exception of the boy in the wheelchair and the little sister. Kevin is evil and manipulative. Eva is not a good mother, which makes you wonder why she persists in trying to teach him at home instead of sending him to nursery since she seems so singularly unsuited to dealing with children, and Kevin in particular. Her husband doesn’t seem to notice there is anything wrong with Kevin or believe her when she tells him. Why don’t they ever talk about Kevin? Why do they seem to have no other friends or family?

If Kevin had been less outright evil, there might have been more to explore emotionally after the incident - the conflict of love and confusion and searching for answers. As it is, there’s just guilt. There’s also no progress, no question of where it went wrong for either of them. He’s always bad, she’s always a rabbit in the headlights.

I didn’t like the soundtrack, it was a bit too overbearing.

But it was well shot, so there's that. I think there are things to admire, but not much to love.

Anyway, this was the last film for me so I'm going to order my list now. I've got a definite top 5 and bottom 5 but within those ordering might be tricky.

@jal90

Are you going to kick Camo's ass? He watches a lot of boxing, so you will probably have to take him down if you want to win. I assume he has a nasty jab, so make sure you stay low when you shoot in for the single leg. He doesn't watch MMA, so you can probably choke him out if you can take his back. Good luck.

Uhm I retract from everything I said before then . I watch a lot of anime fights tho

Nah seriously I'm super chill with Camo. But I'm in a kind of bad mood lately and way too sensitive about what I read on the internet. Some guy getting on my nerves in another forum sort of prepared me to jump at the minimal occasion here.

Sent my list!

It was hard to order the bottom half, as there ones which I thought were interesting to discuss but not so well made, and others that I thought were good but didn't personally enjoy, and it's always hard to put something last!

Were there any special awards for this HoF? I thought there might have been but I might be getting confused with another HoF. I don't think joining three at once was a good idea...

Camo said something about PM'ing him your top 5 favourite performances from the nom's.

Camo had said this a few days ago...

I sent him my top five performances. I think a few others were going to, and probably others would too but didn't see his post.

Thanks, I knew there was something somewhere!