The Resident Bitch Prepares for the MoFo 2010s Countdown

→ in
Tools    





Victim of The Night
I really have no sense of what commonalities drive your taste or what to recommend, so all I can say is that I think Arrival is a masterpiece.
I should rewatch that. I liked it a lot and thought it punched way above its weight but I didn't necessarily get "masterpiece" from it. Though that doesn't mean I'm not wrong and will discover that on second viewing.



I should rewatch that. I liked it a lot and thought it punched way above its weight but I didn't necessarily get "masterpiece" from it. Though that doesn't mean I'm not wrong and will discover that on second viewing.
I think it's the kind of film where certain scenes hit much harder once you understand how the film's plot structure works.
__________________
IMDb
Letterboxd



I'm assuming you didn't read the guidelines I posted for recommendations.

I typically don't like horror movies (and I don't like Scream), movies with female leads/mainly female casts, or superhero movies, and I despise Mark Wahlberg. He's probably my least favorite actor ever. If he's in a movie and the movie doesn't also star either Joaquin Phoenix or Leonardo DiCaprio, I'm not watching it.

I've actually seen both Guardians of the Galaxy movies and I've seen Easy A. They were okay, but not something I have any desire to see again. If I were to pick one of these to try it would maybe be Happy Death Day? No promises, though, unless you want to do a trade.
To be honest I read the guidelines but it was worth a shot just incase you were interested.

If you liked the premise of what groundhog day was, I think you might like Happy Death Day and if you don't like horror movies because of blood and gore or any other silly shenanigans that go on in those movies, it's not top notch like you see in Scream, Halloween, Friday the 13th.

What I love about the movie that It doesn't drag on and on instead it has fun and it gets to the point. Also it has good ending, not that dumb bs where you waste like an hour in a half or almost two hours watching a horror movie and suddenly you get a bad or disappointing ending, I hate when horror movies do that.

What do you mean by a trade, like I watch a movie from the movies that you recommended and you do the same for the movies that I listed?

Sorry for the long right up, since you might give Happy Death Day a shot, just thought to explain to you about the movie.
__________________
Moviefan1988's Favorite Movies
https://www.movieforums.com/communit...?t=67103<br />

Welcome to the Dance: My Favorite 20 High School Movies
https://www.movieforums.com/communit...02#post2413502



What do you mean by a trade, like I watch a movie from the movies that you recommended and you do the same for the movies that I listed?
.
Basically, yes. You choose one movie that you really want me to watch and in exchange you watch something I pick. Cricket and I have done trades for several previous lists and I thought I would offer the arrangement to other MoFos as well.

I put together a list of 10 choices for trades last night, in order of preference. If there is a movie listed here that you haven’t seen and would be willing to watch, you can pick one for me to watch and I promise I will watch it. Just don’t pick Ted for me. I am not watching Marky Mark.



Basically, yes. You choose one movie that you really want me to watch and in exchange you watch something I pick. Cricket and I have done trades for several previous lists and I thought I would offer the arrangement to other MoFos as well.

I put together a list of 10 choices for trades last night, in order of preference. If there is a movie listed here that you haven’t seen and would be willing to watch, you can pick one for me to watch and I promise I will watch it. Just don’t pick Ted for me. I am not watching Marky Mark.
ok sounds good, you watch Happy Death Day from my list, I'll watch that movie You Were Never Really Here from your list.



ok sounds good, you watch Happy Death Day from my list, I'll watch that movie You Were Never Really Here from your list.
Okay. I will watch it. I can’t promise how soon that will be, but it will be watched and reviewed.





The Way He Looks (Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho) (Daniel Ribeiro, 2014)
(Recommended by @Thursday Next)

This is a really sweet coming of age story that gives the unique perspective of the struggles of a blind young man named Leo trying to discover himself and get out from the stifling but well-meaning restrictions of his over-protective parents. I decided to give it a shot because I’ve got a soft spot for gay movies but what I appreciated most about it is just how real everyone felt.

This is a quiet and gentle movie about a kid who is equally quiet and gentle. There’s nothing flashy or showy. It never feels cliché or like it’s trying too hard and none of its characters ever feel like caricatures or stereotypes. And while its protagonist may have a fairly niche set of characteristics, a lot of his experiences are universal. I also appreciated its hopeful conclusion. I often favor unhappy or sort of neutral endings in most movies, but it was kind of refreshing to watch a gay movie that is so optimistic.

I will say though that I didn’t quite love it and I debated on giving it a slightly lower rating. Ultimately I settled on a 4 out of 5 because I am also optimistic that a rewatch down the road could nudge it past the line into “I love it” territory, though it probably won't make my ballot.






The Raven (James McTeigue, 2012)
(Rewatch)

1800's Baltimore. Edgar Allen Poe is washed up, broke, and madly in love with a gorgeous young woman whose father hates him. A series of murders resembling his writings finds him wrapped up in an investigation that becomes much more personal when his fiancée falls into the hands of the killer.

I find this movie to be a visual treat. The costumes and sets are gorgeous and I love its use of color. And, of course, I'm a sucker for John Cusack. He's quite handsome in black and his portrayal of Poe as a condescending jackass is fun to watch. And all that is really what I love about it. I'm not going to pretend that this is some amazing cinematic accomplishment. It isn't. I don't watch this movie to stimulate my intellect or to be moved and swept away with emotion. It's just something I like to throw on for pure entertainment and my only gripe about it is that the Pit and the Pendulum scene is too short. It's been a favorite of mine for a decade now and that's not likely to change.




Thursday Next's Avatar
I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
Glad you watched The Way He Looks and enjoyed it, MV.

I think I will have to put The Raven on my watchlist, it looks like the sort of thing I might enjoy, even though I'm not too familiar with Poe or his works.



I think I will have to put The Raven on my watchlist, it looks like the sort of thing I might enjoy, even though I'm not too familiar with Poe or his works.
Same.

It came out at a time where I was (even for me) really out of touch with new releases. I'd forgotten it existed until it started getting mentioned in the countdown thread.



Glad you watched The Way He Looks and enjoyed it, MV.

I think I will have to put The Raven on my watchlist, it looks like the sort of thing I might enjoy, even though I'm not too familiar with Poe or his works.
Same.

It came out at a time where I was (even for me) really out of touch with new releases. I'd forgotten it existed until it started getting mentioned in the countdown thread.
I’m not familiar with Poe’s work either, aside from vague recollections of the stuff I was made to read in school. But Poe is just a character in the story. You need to be familiar with his works to understand this movie about as much as you need to be familiar with de Sade’s work to understand Quills. Basically you just need to know he often wrote about dark subjects and murder.

I watched A Ghost Story last night but was too tired to write it up. I will get that done soon.





A Ghost Story (David Lowery, 2017)
(Recommended by @SpelingError and @Thursday Next)

While I wouldn't quite say I hated this, absolutely nothing about it worked for me and I felt absolutely nothing while watching this. The first issue I encountered is that I really don't like Casey Affleck and his whiny, mumbling, grating voice - though I suppose I should've been able to tolerate him in this more considering the majority of his screen time is spent silently covered in a sheet, staring at things through his eye holes (and occasionally silently communicating with the random sheet person next door). But he still managed to irritate the shit out of me with the few lines of dialogue he had.

As for that stupid sheet? Brilliant idea. Let's cover an actor in cloth that so completely obscures his face that he can't even really, you know, act. And then let's spend far too much time watching Rooney Mara stuff her face with pie until she pukes, while Sheet Affleck stands there, and then spend almost no time on her actual grieving process. After that we'll fast forward to Sheet Affleck terrorizing a single mom and her kids that move into the house after Mara has moved out, then to him staring while some bald dude rambles about the pointlessness of art, and then through the rest of the home's existence and eventual destruction and replacement. At one point we even get two Sheet Afflecks.

Fortunately it's a pretty short movie. I will say that I do respect that Lowery was trying something different - and A Ghost Story certainly is different - and I can kind of see why other people do love it, but I definitely won't be watching this again.






Capernaum (Capharnaüm) (Nadine Labaki, 2018)
(Recommended by @cricket)

This movie was incredible, but also incredibly devastating to watch. It's always tough to watch films where children suffer from abuse and neglect, but this one hit me harder than most I've seen. Zain Al Rafeea gives a potent performance as Zain, an impoverished Lebanese boy who flees home after his 11 year old sister is sold into marriage. It's really amazing that Zain had not acted before and was discovered on the streets by the film's director.

It's a lot to ask of an adolescent boy to carry an entire film, but - owing much to his real life of poverty - he does it incredibly well. The movie and his performance feel absolutely authentic. This is a young man who has been failed by his parents and by society, who is forced to become an adult at an age when he should still be very much a child. Even when he leaves home and finds the help of a sympathetic adult, he must take on responsibilities that no 12 year old should ever have.

The movie does end on a hopeful note, but if you haven't seen it before, I'd advise keeping a box of tissues close at hand. I'm always very hesitant to give any first-time watch a rating higher than 4, but I think this one deserves it and it is definitely a contender for my ballot.




Glad you enjoyed Capernaum, and I think it'd be a solid pick for anyone. I'd say it's one of the better movies of the decade that isn't widely known, and maybe those last 4 words aren't unnecessary.



Thursday Next's Avatar
I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
A Ghost Story is a weird one. Either it works for you or it doesn't. I wouldn't say I loved it, but it was definitely interesting and I thought of it for a long time afterwards. I think Casey Affleck was improved by being under a sheet (if it was really him under there...) I liked how it was something a bit different.

I now un-recommend Under the Skin and Only Lovers Left Alive because I think you will find them annoying. If I think of anything more in the realm of realism I'll let you know.

Now I will have to add Caperaum to my to-watch list as well.