The Resident Bitch Prepares for... the Most Recent MoFo Countdown

Bjork is fantastic in this movie.

HERE is what I wrote up when I watched it.

I can't say I ever got any humor out of Dancer, but yours is an interesting take. Her daydreams just came across as a sad coping mechanism: A bright spot in an otherwise dark existence.

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I agree that her daydreams are a coping mechanism, but I think that she believes in them enough and that she's so far gone into denial that she's basically living in another universe. To me, it is kind of darkly funny to have someone running around like they're Cinderella while the world around them is clearly garbage.

And I'm sad that von Trier being such a creep means that we won't get more Bjork on the big screen.

I can't say that I know anything about him. This is the first of his movies I've made it through, with Nymphomaniac Vol. 1 being the only other of his films I've even attempted. I'm also not a fan of Björk. I haven't cared for what little I've heard of her music, but I thought she was perfect for this particular role.

I never liked any of his movies, even before we knew he was a creep.

From von Trier I've seen this film, The Five Obstructions (which I quite liked), Antichrist (which I really liked), The House That Jack Built (meh), and the TV series The Kingdom (also kind of meh).

I really enjoyed Bjork in the film The Juniper Tree. I just think she has great presence. I'm also a little obsessed with her song "Emotional Landscapes".

Bjork has alleged that there was a lot of inappropriate behavior from von Trier during the filming of the movie, including inappropriate touching and sexual harassment.

Whitney whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat??????????????????????

I have it playing right now and I kind of hate it.

Great. Another one. Oh well, I've kind of decided not to care about that sort of thing. If I avoided the work of everyone in entertainment who has been accused of being a piece of shit human in one way or another I would pretty much have to stop watching movies and give up a lot of the music I listen to as well.

Have you seen the movie?

I concede that it is a very . . . distinct sound and that it is definitely not for everyone. It's one of those songs that I heard under special circumstances, and so some of my affection for it is specific to me and that memory.

Yeah, I mean I mainly feel bad for Bjork having to put up with it and the story at the time being that she was acting like a diva for no reason when it was really that she was stressed out from being harassed.

Yeah, of course.
I don't think the character's a bitch, and I don't think it's a surprise that her bodyguard fell in love with her.
I do think it's a terrible film though, but I'd say it's probably the best terrible film ever made.

She's beautiful and talented, but also moody as hell and treats him like shit. We'll have to agree to disagree.

Moana
(Ron Clements, Don Hall, John Musker and Chris Williams, 2016)

I almost didn't bother with another rewatch of this movie, because I didn't like it the last time I watched it. The movie has really gorgeous animation and some very strong voice performances, but it's just too damn heavy on the fantasy elements for my tastes. I just don't like the story and I've never really been a fan of the songs, either.

But having seen it again today, I'm back to liking it - but not a lot. I still think the plot is kind of stupid and I'm still not a fan of the songs, but none of that actually annoyed me this time, so I'll go ahead and bump its rating up to a 3, which puts it in the "maybe but not likely" category of possibilities for my ballot.

Miss Vicky, have you seen Thelma the Unicorn (2024)? I watched it today and enjoyed it. I thought the songs were pretty good and I liked the animation.

I haven't. It looks kind of fun, but I don't have Netflix.

Crazy Heart
(Scott Cooper, 2009)

I vaguely remember watching this movie when it was still pretty new and liking it well enough to buy the DVD, but I'd pretty much forgotten about it until Holden mentioned it in the countdown preliminary thread.

On the surface, this shouldn't be a movie that I like. I don't particularly like country music, I definitely don't like Colin Farrell or Maggie Gyllenhaal, and although I loved Jeff Bridges in The Big Lebowski I would never call myself a fan. But Crazy Heart is an undeniably solid film, all three actors turned in strong performances, and I actually liked the music. Bridges in particular is very convincing as Bad Blake, a grizzled old has-been country singer drinking and screwing his way through a tour of crappy little bars (and even a bowling alley) in Bessie, his beat up rusty old Chevy Suburban while his protege, Tommy Sweet, is playing the big time. In one of these towns Blake finds inspiration and possible salvation in the arms of a much younger single mother.

There's nothing particularly original about the story it tells, but in this case I'd say that's part of its strength - the story and its characters are pretty ordinary and very flawed and they feel real because of it. It was really easy to invest in Bad Blake's journey not in spite of but because of his many faults.

I do hope this movie doesn't slip from my memory again because I think it's really worthwhile, but even if it does there's no doubt I'll at least remember it long enough to include it in my ballot.

I also really liked Crazy Heart.

I like it as well. But it probably won't make my list because I don't really consider it a musical in my eyes.

Also, Moana is a lock for my list.

Yeah, well, I'm not exactly a purist. Besides, my all-time favorite musical is Hedwig and the Angry Inch and that movie is really not all that different from Crazy Heart.

Also being purist when it comes to selecting my votes would mean I'd have to either turn in a partial (and not be able to give my favorites the full amount of points) or vote for stuff I don't actually like.