Movie Forums Top 100 of the 2010s - Group Watch

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I watched Lady Macbeth (2016), but it's just not my type of movie. Katherine is a cruel person who has no problems murdering anyone who gets in her way. I thought the movie was boring, and I don't really enjoy movies about lust. (I prefer movies about love and romance, not lust.)
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Just finished watching Lady Macbeth. It felt like a realistic take on a tale of those times.


We don't get Pugh's reasons and her impulsive decisions do a good job in further establishing her character who seems tired and angry, and desperate to break free, and get what she wants. So much so that in the end she even finds Sebastian expendable to save herself.


I felt bad only for Anna. There are timid people like those, who suffer for no fault of their own.


It's a beautifully shot movie. And Florence stands out, though Naomi Ackie also did a splendid job portraying the timid Anna, as well.


Thanks for the recommendation @Miss Vicky



I felt bad only for Anna. There are timid people like those, who suffer for no fault of their own.
I think that the extent to which Anna is included in the film (and the multiple times the camera lingers on her like when she's crying in the stairway or forced to crawl out of the dining room) is really critical to making it clear where Katherine has crossed a line and the different levels of power at play.

I do think that you can have some sympathy for Katherine at the beginning, because she is under her husband's power, she's been "sold" to him, etc. But Anna has maybe much more literally been sold, and she's the main way that we see just how much Katherine only cares about herself.

The two standout scenes to me are the part where Anna is crying in the stairwell and Katherine is basically like "So who was that hot guy who was sexually assaulting you?". And then later a much more subdued moment when Katherine asks Anna to tell her about home, and Anna's like, "I don't even remember a home."



Current candidates to host the next round:

Frightened Inmate No. 2

You guys have about 24 more hours left to watch the film.
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@Takoma11
Agree. And I too had sympathy for Katherine, up until the moment with the kid.


And apart from the two scenes you mentioned, the other scene I felt was powerful and well acted was when the group confront Anna about the murder and she just gives up. It sort of conveyed that she knew that she had no power in that social circle, and accepts her fate. That was brilliant acting, just using her face.



@Takoma11
Agree. And I too had sympathy for Katherine, up until the moment with the kid.


And apart from the two scenes you mentioned, the other scene I felt was powerful and well acted was when the group confront Anna about the murder and she just gives up. It sort of conveyed that she knew that she had no power in that social circle, and accepts her fate. That was brilliant acting, just using her face.
Exactly. Anna literally loses her voice and I think it's implied from what the other woman servant says to her that Anna has gone mute before as a result of trauma. It's such a cruel moment because of the way Katherine frames it: "Anna will deny it if it's not true", knowing full well that Anna won't be denying anything.



The next host is...

Frightened Inmate No. 2

You guys have about 24 more hours left to watch the film.
EDIT: I meant to write "Current candidates to host the next round" since there's still 24 hours left for this round. Sorry for the confusion.



Nomination #24



Good Manners (2017, Juliana Rojas and Marco Dutra)

Deadline to Watch It: November 27

Nominated By: Frightened Inmate No. 2



randomly watched this movie like four years ago with no expectations and found it to be one of the most moving films i’ve ever seen. hope a few of you check it out (and don’t read anything about it if you can avoid it)
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randomly watched this movie like four years ago with no expectations and found it to be one of the most moving films i’ve ever seen. hope a few of you check it out (and don’t read anything about it if you can avoid it)
I'll get to it tomorrow.



Cool nomination! I watched this one last year and quite enjoyed it! Here's what I wrote:



Good Manners, 2017

Clara (Isabel Zuaa) is hired as a housekeeper/live-in companion for Ana (Marjorie Estiano), a woman who is single and very pregnant. But it soon becomes clear that not all is right with Ana and/or her unborn child. As romantic tension grows between the two women, Ana's anxiety about her impending birth builds. The second half of the film deals with the repercussions following the birth of Ana's child, Joel (Miguel Lobo).

It's hard to know how much to say about the plot progression of this film, especially as the film's poster seems to bluntly put it out there. Without going into too much detail, lest someone really want to avoid knowing anything about the plot, the film eventually comes around to the familiar question of what a person does when someone they love turns out to be dangerous, possibly irredeemably so.

The strength of this film is the way that love, loyalty, and fierceness pinball between Clara, Ana, and Joel. What is love? To what degree is it out of our control? And what would we do for someone we love?

At times, the film walks a really brilliant line between tragedy and comedy. One sequence that sticks out is a part in which Clara follows a sleepwalking Ana out into the streets in the middle of the night. What Clara eventually sees is gruesome, and the film uses a stark cut to go from the gore to Ana bouncing around in the living room, living her best life while doing a dance Zumba workout. The second half of the film veers away from the comedy and embraces a more straight-ahead drama/thriller/horror approach.

My only real issue with the film--aside from some questionable CGI at times--was my sense that Joel was not developed well enough to give the film the emotional heft it needs at the very end of the film. Now, just to be clear, I actually really, REALLY loved the ending of the film and thought that it went to an unexpected place. But because of the way that the film jumps forward in time, we meet Joel at a moment when he is beginning to question and rebel. The problem is that this means we mostly see him in whiny child mode. Clara is pretty well developed as a character, as is Ana, and Joel's relatively skimpy character development makes for a lopsided dynamic as the film heads into its final act.

I thought that this was an interesting little fantasy/horror, and I appreciated several ways in which it deviated from what seemed to be foregone directions in the narrative.




Just finished Good Manners, and I thought it was good. While watching it, I thought of Titane, which has some similar themes and is, in my opinion, the better film since the character motivations were more believable and interesting in it. I still thought this was pretty good though. I enjoyed the first hour quite a lot and, though some of the character motivations and narrative choices briefly took me out of the film after that, the final hour was (mostly) able to keep me on board.



Good Manners



I wasn't planning on participating in Group Watch going forward as much as I have been but this movie piqued my interest. There's still quite a few I want to see before I submit my ballot and being incapacitated for a few days set me back. I'm glad I went ahead and watched Good Manners.

Knew nothing going in and that was cool. Was immediately gripped even though the film takes its time. I think I liked the two main characters. They were likable and each had an air of mystery about them. I didn't have any idea where everything was going. I've seen enough of a certain type of film to eventually get some ideas, which made me even more interested given where I was currently at. Like SpelingError, I also thought of recent new favorite Titane, I think because each is like two movies in one. This is a bold move that can be jarring, but it really pays off when it works. I'll refrain from talking about the plot but I liked everything about this. I wasn't as moved as some people, but I wasn't unaffected either. It's a unique film that I thought was gorgeously made and it kept me invested the whole time. Great pick!




Just finished watching Good Manners.

My only two issues were that it could have been tighter in the first half, and then used that time to tell us more about Joel or develop him more. His storyline seemed rushed.

Otherwise I liked everything they did with the story and their take. It touches upon a lot of issues, without making a fuss about them, and I like that about it. I liked how they chose to present it like a fairytale.

Some of sequences were really well done, especially the sleepwalk one and larger one in the mall.

Both the female leads were brilliant, and little boy did well with his part.

On a side note
WARNING: spoilers below

As someone who is queasy around pregnant women, it was bad enough watching Ana doing aerobics, but the scene of birth was horrifying.


Thanks for the recommendation @Frightened Inmate No. 2

On another side note, Marjorie Estiano is so pretty. She looked like Linda Cardellini and Cristin Milioti's lovechild.