Board 8 > Movie Club Topic 3 - Murder by Marnie: Hunt for the Blue Hand Stalker Lobster

(+) Yeah! (+)

Muppets - 9/10

I have a real soft spot for the Muppets and their style of humor, and a soft spot for musicals in general. Walter and Gary were both kind of jerks, especially Gary to Mary. Mary was great though! And like Tyder said, Amy Adams killed it.

The plot was kinda simple, but it worked well. I loved all the 4th wall breaks, and the humor all worked really well.

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Seginustemple posted...

academic integrity redpill

lmao i was thinking about using that word but the connotation it has on this board made me stop. but i think it really does fit Bank in that he's at a point where he thinks he's got it all figured out. down to the ego and the mental image i have of people who regularly use the word.

i have a couple reasons for asking this so

Survey: How many of the movies in our first rotation (the first 15) have you seen before the topic selection and what is your top 3 out of the ones you saw for the first time?

this was our first 15:

Mother
Sound of Metal
In Bruges
Thoroughbreds
Lost in Translation
45 Years
Fargo
Hunt for the Wilderpeople
When Marnie Was There
Stalker
The Love Witch
Murder by Death
Perfect Blue
Cool Hand Luke
The Lobster

for me

seen before (6/15):
Mother
In Bruges
Lost in Translation
Fargo
Perfect Blue
The Lobster

top 3 for first-time watches:
45 Years
Thoroughbreds
The Love Witch

i gave these all a 7 but they're in the 'possibly/probably 8 on a rewatch' camp. 45 Years was already on my watchlist before but i probably wouldn't have seen the other two if not for the topic.

First watch:
Mother
Sound of Metal
Thoroughbreds
Lost in Translation
45 Years
Fargo
When Marnie Was There
Stalker
The Love Witch
Murder by Death
Perfect Blue
Cool Hand Luke
The Lobster

Seen Before:
In Bruges
Hunt for the Wilderpeople

Top 3:
Lost in Translation
Mother
Perfect Blue

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Oh I did it backwards.

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Seen Before:
In Bruges
Thoroughbreds
Lost in Translation
Fargo
Stalker
The Love Witch
Perfect Blue
Cool Hand Luke
The Lobster

Top 3 (kinda by default !)
Mother
Sound of Metal
Murder by Death

I have to change this I can't have MbD here.


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Seen Before:
Mother
In Bruges
Thoroughbreds
45 Years
Fargo
Hunt for the Wilderpeople
The Lobster

Top 3 New:
1. Sound of Metal
2. The Muppets
3. Perfect Blue

Still a bunch that I want to catch-up on though.

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yep everyone feel free to reanswer if/when you catch up on everything you intend to

tyder21 posted...

2. The Muppets

only asking for our first set here so what else would take that spot?

kateee posted...

i have a couple reasons for asking this so

Survey: How many of the movies in our first rotation (the first 15) have you seen before the topic selection and what is your top 3 out of the ones you saw for the first time?

I'd seen Fargo and Perfect Blue before, and out of the remaining thirteen my top three would be...

45 Years
In Bruges
When Marnie Was There

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Seen (5):
In Bruges
45 Years
Fargo
When Marnie Was There
Cool Hand Luke

Top 3 New:
Mother
Lost in Translation
Thoroughbreds

I think right now 45 Years is my favorite of the whole list, but Mother was a great start to the topic. Startling and thought-provoking, even compared to Parasite.

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kateee posted...

only asking for our first set here so what else would take that spot?

Oops!

Move Perfect Blue up and put Cool Hand Luke at #3.

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Snake5555555555 posted...

I have to change this I can't have MbD here.

Lmao I feel so dumb for recommending that one. But I have to say I was tickled by the Punisher connection you pointed out, that was so random

Seen:
Fargo
Stalker
Murder by Death
Cool Hand Luke
The Lobster

Top 3 firsts:
Perfect Blue
Mother
45 Years
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you nominated it but it still won the vote!

so i mentioned before that before the change to the voting system, i went back through all the past votes and that it wasn't 100% certain because of unranked votes and tiebreakers but only 3 out of the 16 past votes would have had different results.

Kajillionaire instead of Sound of Metal
Killing of a Sacred Deer instead of Thoroughbreds
Black Narcissus (probably) instead of Murder by Death

the third one in particular had a lot of different ways it could have gone. like everything that could have affected a vote happened with that one iirc

on Murder by Death, i'm still honestly glad i watched it because i would have never done so otherwise and i might use it in a future personal project

Seen:
Fargo
Perfect Blue
The Lobster

Top 3 Firsts:
Sound of Metal
Hunt for the Wilderpeople
When Marnie Was There

Which might or might not match my scoring of them.

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Watched before:
Cool Hand Luke

Top 3:
Thoroughbreds
Fargo
In Bruges

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seen before:
Sound of Metal
In Bruges
Thoroughbreds
Fargo
When Marnie Was There
The Lobster

top 3 new:
Mother
Perfect Blue
Cool Hand Luke


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Seen before:
Lost in Translation
Fargo
When Marnie Was There
Perfect Blue
Cool Hand Luke

Top 3 New:
1. In Bruges
2. Mother
3. Hunt for the Wilderpeople
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The Muppets (2011) - 9/10

This movie kinda surprised me by how funny it was at times.
"Is this Universal Studios?"
"Yes."
I don't watch any of the previous Muppets or Sesame Street franchise, but I still enjoyed it a lot! It nails the mood it wants to convey on its head. Lighthearted, funny, and with some dramatic moments that don't really feel overwrought. The pacing is also just right for me, it never really drags out or feels too rushed. It feels like the director really knows what he's doing.
The songs are mostly forgettable but that Rainbow Connection parody was funny, the real Rainbow Connection sung as a group song is great, and the finale is also quite good.
I imagine longtime Sesame Street fans would truly appreciate the nostalgia with so many cameo appearances.
I think if there's any criticism from me, it's that the main (human) guy's acting could be slightly better, and the main muppet's resolution scene could've been somewhat stronger instead of just his brother telling him to believe in himself. Though I suppose it still works for a kid movie.


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The Muppets (2011)

ok i guess i'll be the negative nancy here but this was kind of meh for me

first time seeing anything Muppets-related and I don't know how much of this style is representative of what it's usually like but it felt pretty dated in a way. I do appreciate that it lets you know right off the bat how goofy it's going to be with the 'brothers' gag. But a lot of the humor felt familiar in a "standard quirky and self-referential" kind of way and you could see a lot of the jokes coming before they happened. Sometimes they were still funny though and sometimes they weren't. I did laugh out loud when I saw the fucking car coming out of the ocean. Maybe The Muppets were really influential and informed a lot of the content I saw before that made this movie feel so familiar, but I was checking out by the end tbh. i don't like any of the actual Muppets either and most of them were just annoying. Amy Adams was the best part about the movie and Man or Muppet song stood out to me but I probably won't be thinking about this one again.

5/10

Raka_Putra posted...

I imagine longtime Sesame Street fans would truly appreciate the nostalgia with so many cameo appearances.

I was planning on skipping Muppets since I don't have a streaming service for it, but are there good Sesame Street Muppet cameos? I like those guys a lot more than "Muppets" Muppets, if that makes sense.
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@jcgamer107 it is your turn to nominate but you do not currently meet the watchrate requirements. did you want to push your turn back?

@ViolentAbacus did you ever finish Hunt for the Wilderpeople?

Xeybozn posted...

I was planning on skipping Muppets since I don't have a streaming service for it, but are there good Sesame Street Muppet cameos? I like those guys a lot more than "Muppets" Muppets, if that makes sense.

Whoops I wouldn't know since I don't watch either. Sorry.

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@SwiftyDC there is a chance it goes down to you for recommendations so you can PM me your noms in advance in case that happens

Oh shoot, I actually did like last week and then forgot all about it.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople - 10/10

Waititi is quickly becoming one of my favorite directors. I've only watched 3 of his movies, but loved all three.

I loved Hec and Ricky's chemistry. They played so we'll off of each other and, outside of the ending the movie did a fantastic job of not introducing conflict for the sake of conflict.

Psycho Sam was fantastic. I loved the humor throughout. And the actor whole played Ricky has been great in every role I've seen him in.

Hopefully they find their bird!

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ok then @ViolentAbacus there is a chance it goes to you for recommendations then

you can PM me your noms in advance in the case that happens

god i've been slacking

Bad Genius: 8/10
Enter the Void: 9/10

Enter the Void was lower for a hot second but its really stuck with me.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople - 7/10

Pretty fun movie. I thought the number of story tangents was almost absurd and the tone was all over the place, but the cast is great and enough of the gags and set-ups work. As far as Taika Waititi films go, I'd say not as good as What We Do in the Shadows, but about on-par with Jojo Rabbit.


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Who am I kidding? I'm probably not rewatching The Lobster any time soon. 7/10 from Letterboxd - watched FIVE years ago.

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@jcgamer107 you now meet the watchrate requirements. you have until 8:00 ET/5:00 PT to post your nominations.

Oh yeah at the buzzer. That means it's (mostly) British horror week.

Saint Maud (2019)
Calibre (2018)
The Ritual (2017)
The Wicker Man (1973)
Midsommar: Director's Cut (2019)

... couldn't think of another worthy British one, so, Midsommar

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Vote for all movies you would be interested in seeing for the next week (~May 7th, NA). Rank your choices. If you do not intend to vote for whatever reason, please reply with "No Vote" so there is as little of a waiting period as possible. Please vote by Friday, May 7th, 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

Saint Maud (2019)
Calibre (2018)
The Ritual (2017)
The Wicker Man (1973)
Midsommar: Director's Cut (2019)

@Camden
@Johnbobb
@lucifiere
@Raka_Putra
@Seginustemple
@Snake5555555555
@SwiftyDC
@tyder21
@ViolentAbacus
@Xeybozn

jcgamer107 posted...

... couldn't think of another worthy British one, so, Midsommar

Eden Lake has your name written all over it next time

Let's see, I've seen all of these besides Saint Maud, but I also want people to watch all of these so I'll vote for them all.

Saint Maud (2019)
The Wicker Man (1973)
Midsommar: Director's Cut (2019)
Calibre (2018)
The Ritual (2017)

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Snake5555555555 posted...

jcgamer107 posted...

... couldn't think of another worthy British one, so, Midsommar

Eden Lake has your name written all over it next time

oh I didn't even know that was British....interesting. It's been on my watchlist for a long time.

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Calibre
Saint Maud
The Ritual
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Calibre (2018)
The Wicker Man (1973)
The Ritual (2017)

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Ill try to watch Muppets tonight, 4-day weekend after working 12 days straight.

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Also, no vote, again.

Haven't heard of any of them except Midsommar, which Ive seen, so Im cool with any of them.

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I've never seen The Wicker Man, new or old, but I'm aware of how the original ends.

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Saint Maud
Calibre

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The Wicker Man (1973)
Saint Maud (2019)
Calibre (2018)
The Ritual (2017)

I enjoyed Midsommar okay but I'm not in a hurry to rewatch it.

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Saint Maud (2019)
The Ritual (2017)
The Wicker Man (1973)
Calibre (2018)

Midsommar is excellent but I've already seen it twice


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Midsommar: Director's Cut (2019)
Saint Maud (2019)
Calibre (2018)
The Ritual (2017)

Eden Lake is free on YouTube, and would have been a better last option. WHOA.

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Midsommar
The Wicker Man
Calibre

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The Wicker Man
Saint Maud
The Ritual
Calibre
Midsommar

I too liked Midsommar but saw it recently enough
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Enter The Void

Damn, this was brutal. I knew about Gaspar Noe's reputation so I kind of expected that but it still surprised me. What starts as a relatively harmless Joe Rogan podcast (Hey bro have you ever tried DMT? You gotta check out the Tibetan Book of the Dead man, it's craaaaaazy stuff) turns into a grim cautionary tale on abusive coping mechanisms. And yet the movie is taking us through the afterlife and reincarnation, which represents a more optimistic worldview than my own. So there's a great beauty to it even while it dwells on a dark life of trauma, suffering, bad decisions.

The use of the car crash as a repeated jump scare could be seen as cheap shock value but I think it perfectly illustrates the nature of such a heavy trauma trigger. After the second time the viewer doesn't feel safe any time the characters are in a car, where it could resurface at any moment. It's more effective than the pop-culture version of this scene that I'm familiar with, where Bruce Wayne's parents are killed in glamorized slow-motion and the pearls go flying and sometimes he chooses to reminisce about it when it's convenient. Not to slam Batman movies, it just struck me as a point of contrast to what I'm used to.

Actually, several movies came to mind as points of reference. 2001 and The Tree of Life. It's a Wonderful Life meets Reefer Madness. The nightmare to Lost in Translation's daydream.

Stylistically there was a lot to love. The title sequence is obviously a winner. The dark vision of Tokyo, the astral plane camerawork, and the long unbroken shots are entrancing. I'm pretty sure there isn't a single cut from when the dude puts down his pipe in his apartment to when he gets shot at the bar. The film really started pushing into greatness territory for me when we started spinning above the warped neon city before the Love Hotel sequence.

Though I did have an immature laugh when we got to the inner vagina cam. I wasn't expecting it! I was taking it fully seriously until then but by the time it started doing the sex ed impregnation video my brain was in full Beavis and Butt-head mode. Whoa, he's like, becoming his own nephew! That's cool. Seriously though, I don't know how to feel about that ending. It's played like it might be positive (flash-forwards seem promising) but it feels fundamentally wrong. It's a romantic gesture to follow through on the promise to never leave his sister but the movie shows us not all romantic gestures end up well, like when he brushes the go-go dancer mom's hair and it ends up unraveling that family. Maybe I'm overthinking it.

Yes I watched this high, I'm high when I watch all of the movies. Yes I've done DMT, no it's not that crazy. Maybe I'm being a little overcautious about dropping 10/10 ratings, Enter the Void is the closest for me so far but I'd have to sit on it a while before bumping it to a perfect score. The one major flaw is that none of the characters are likable, but that's kind of buffered by the first-person approach allowing the viewer to insert themselves into the cinematic out-of-body experience 9/10

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next movie is Saint Maud (2019) directed by Rose Glass.

@Camden
@jcgamer107
@Johnbobb
@lucifiere
@Raka_Putra
@Seginustemple
@Snake5555555555
@Suprak_the_Stud
@SwiftyDC
@tyder21