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

(+) Yeah! (+)

@ViolentAbacus
@Xeybozn

Saint Maud

A film that starts off deceptively simple, a religion-centric drama that slowly and surely pushes the extreme boundaries of horror in zealotry with a star-making performance from Morfydd Clark. Clark embodies all aspects and all stages of the devout, a woman trapped in a nightmarish loop of losing the patients under her care, overly course-correcting through strict adherence to biblical practices, and losing just that little bit of sanity over and over again when the cycle begins anew. It is both a joy and a terror to see Maud fluctuate from the tight-laced nun-esque nurse of Amanda to the directionless, sleazy barfly seen later, as she plunges into a downward spiral of booze and sex before her revelation comes in a mess of sweat and squalor, only for her to clean herself and her home all over again (as cleanliness is next to godliness after all). I think one of my favorite aspects of the film were the delicate touches of the supernatural; seeing visions of God in the clouds or Maud's angel wings puts you squarely into her character's headspace, as you are forced to constantly question the true reality of each situation. You can even come to understand why Maud believes all of this from her perspective even as you know her mental state is in jeopardy. While of course religion is a huge subject for this film, I also like how Saint Maud tackles questions of death and states of extreme loneliness and isolation. Maud and Amanda are the perfect foils for each other; from Amanda's perspective, Maud's youth is wasted on old-fashioned rules while Maud wishes for Amanda to clean up her act so she can secure a place in heaven before it's too late. It's Amanda, even in her state of near-death, who chooses life however, surrounding herself with friends and sexual relationships, squeezing out every drop of joy and pleasure before it all eventually comes to a stop. It's this irony that truly drives the film forward and one of Maud's most flawed aspects. I also enjoy the film's incredible restraint, only briefly lingering on moments of pain and torment while instead focusing on the more anxiety-inducing side of the horror genre. I really have to applaud the film's last few shots in particular, that was just incredible film making. I can't wait to see what Rose Glass does next.

8/10

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Nice review, what Snake said but 10/10 lol

I drove a long way to see this movie in a theater and it was easily worth it. An intimate and powerful look at a perfect storm of loneliness, mental illness and religious fervor. You could imagine it almost like throwing John the Revelator or some other religious visionary into modern urban life. It's really heartbreaking how many times things could have turned around for Katie, had she gotten emotional support from anywhere.

Rose Glass had great subtleties to her script and direction - the joke with the diegetic violin during Maud's descent back into isolation, for example, or the haunting shot of her standing in a shadowy corner as Amanda receives a birthday cake. Then the levy breaks big time at about the halfway point, and the film does not pull any punches the rest of the way. I had physical reactions in the theater for much of the 2nd half. The movie is scored brilliantly to project Maud's mental state, ranging from delicate, melancholy woodwinds, to thudding, malevolent growls that sound as though they could be from hell itself. A tight, contained thrill ride that's under 90 minutes, and one that's very thought provoking as someone who was raised devout Christian and has shared some of Maud's adult struggles.

If I were to sculpt a current 'Mt. Rushmore' of horror, it would be Midsommar, Hereditary, The Ring and Saint Maud.


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I think it's not a 10/10 for me only because I think the beginning act was a little rushed, I really loved the dichotomy between Amanda & Katie/Maud and I think they became antagonistic too quick, I would've preferred a more slow burn. Although generally I did think the film had excellent pacing past that.

The current Mount Rushmore of horror eh? I guess for me it would be Pontypool, American Psycho, Resolution, & The Love Witch. But that's not very thematically-linked :/

I think something more thematically me would actually be American Psycho, Kill List, Resolution, & You're Next, all genre-benders that are different films then what they appear to be on first glance.

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hmmmm...I think I'll check out Resolution next then

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are we talking objective or subjective? I'd say the Mount Rushmore of Modern Horror (as far as impact/significance/etc., and counting "modern" as 2010s on) would be like Get Out, The Babadook, Hereditary, The Cabin in the Woods (hm to The Witch and It Follows)

but if I'm talking my personal favorites, it'd be a good bit different

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Yeah I was doing a subjective one. I do agree with the objective one though, whole-heartedly. Although it feels weird to not have anything from the Conjuring series on there. Mayyyybe Conjuring 1 instead of Babadook. Hell even Insidious, there's gotta be a spot for that Blumhouse jumpscare/blockbuster horror somewhere.

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It Follows is one of the rare few modern horror movies I actually liked. Don't know if I watched too much growing up or what but I feel like I've mostly washed out of the genre. I'm actually struggling to think of another I've watched in the last decade that I enjoyed.

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The Muppets (2011)

The "Me Party" and "Tex Rap" were pretty cringe. My favorite parts were anything with Animal. Not much of a Muppets fan but he's probably my favorite character of the bunch. That scene with the Cook using a flamethrower to cleanse the dirty refrigerator and mumbling "say hello to my little friend" was probably my favorite scene overall, I rewound to see it again. Also, during the chicken song covering "Forget You by Ceelo Green", all I could hear was "F You" but in chicken lmao.

Took me a while to finish this. There was always something distracting me, whether it be my phone or getting a snack. It didn't capture my undivided attention. But I liked it enough.

Btw, was "Rainbow Connection" played in another movie? For some reason, I remember hearing that song recently... but I don't remember watching a Muppets show or movie recently...? Weird.

7/10

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How did you guys watch Saint Maud? Surprisingly, its not on iTunes to rent.

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The web. You can get a free trial of Epix if you have Amazon Prime and Saint Maud is included in it I believe.

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Snake5555555555 posted...

The web. You can get a free trial of Epix if you have Amazon Prime and Saint Maud is included in it I believe.

Started the free trial. Thanks.

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Saint Maud (2019)

Wow, Morfydd Clark did a phenomenal job. I hope she got nominated for this. *looks it up*

...unbelievable. She should've been nominated at least.

This movie looked great. It sounded great. The plot was a bit basic for a horror film, but it was so perfectly crafted. Those shots of her having "a moment" were creepy as hell, with her face getting distorted and the sound editing was on point with her snapping out of it. The sound was great! I watched this late at night and felt the heavy bass. That last jump scare got me good. They really flipped the religious script on its head with this one.

My only gripe is Maud's backstory before her last incident when she tried to perform CPR on the lady, is kind of a mystery. The dude she bangs makes a comment about being sloppy seconds to a friend so it makes me believe she's been damaged goods for a while. That one scene where she tries to get in on a group of strangers jokes by just sitting there was super awkward. In multiple scenes, she's sitting at a table alone in the middle of a room. I couldn't do that, my anxiety would ramp up. Her being alone in her own head drove her to insanity. Back to the religious stuff, that voice that she hears didn't sound like God to me, and Maud's delusional visions towards the end, and that last scene - classic dance with the devil. Or maybe there is nothing after all, like Amanda believes - and in that last scene where she realizes it horrifically as the movie fades to black, back to nothing.

I really enjoyed this.

9/10

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The Muppets

I'm glad we did this in between Enter the Void and Saint Maud, this was a good palate cleanser. I liked The Muppet Show as a kid, Muppet Treasure Island was my jam so this works on a base nostalgic level even if I don't have kids of my own. It's charming and mildly funny with some hit-or-miss musical numbers. Although one thing I don't get is casting Jack Black as the celebrity guest and not having him participate in any musical numbers. Let the man do his thing!

My favorite bit was Kermit's sad song looking at the paintings, classic Kermit shit. The reflection on being outdated really got to me ("would anyone watch or even care/or did something break we can't repair"). I was surprised the Kermit hand-at-rainy-window meme didn't show up here, they even did one with Amy Adams earlier in the movie. She was great, made the most of her role. Segel was decent, I thought he could have been more grounded but apparently this was his brainchild so maybe his saccharine earnestness is...kinda legit? Funny that this is clearly seeded in Forgetting Sarah Marshall where his character writes a Dracula musical with puppets.

Making the villain rap was pretty cringy, on top of the Muppet doppelgangers being uncomfortably black. Maybe they didn't mean anything by that but it combines to send a pretty awkward message. Also, why the hell is James Carville working the phonebanks? Does he have some real-world financial stake in the property? What a strange cameo choice.

One thing I never realized was that Kermit is the only crossover character between Sesame Street and the Muppets. He really likes to keep his friend groups separate, doesn't he? Can't have Grover at a Gonzo party. But I have a theory about this: Statler and Waldorf are just old Bert and Ernie. Their full names are Bert Statler and Ernie Waldorf and the reason the Muppets and Sesame Street never hang out is because they're in different eras of the Muppetverse. Meaning Kermit is actually an ancient Muppet. 6/10
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Seginustemple posted...

One thing I never realized was that Kermit is the only crossover character between Sesame Street and the Muppets. He really likes to keep his friend groups separate, doesn't he? Can't have Grover at a Gonzo party. But I have a theory about this: Statler and Waldorf are just old Bert and Ernie. Their full names are Bert Statler and Ernie Waldorf and the reason the Muppets and Sesame Street never hang out is because they're in different eras of the Muppetverse. Meaning Kermit is actually an ancient Muppet.

Mind-blowned.

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Muppets - 8/10

Punch Teacher 100% sounds like it already exists, most likely as anime.

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Horror isn't really for me, I get spooked too easily. So instead, I watched

Murder By Death 2/10

And golly that was Bad. Like, not at all funny. I imagine it's just a product of the times, but all the jokes felt just bland and fell flat. I think the only time I even slightly smiled was when the French guy said that Twain would go all the way there to hunt poodles because it was so absurd.

The ending was pretty unsatisfying as well.

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@ViolentAbacus it is time to recommend

Saint Maud - 7/10

Went into this expecting straight horror but was a bit surprised, much more suspense/drama than I was expecting. Really feel like this is the opposite of Enter The Void, where I would've rather had another 15 minutes added on to it to flesh it out more, horror seems to do better with shorter runtimes but this one seemed like it was over before it really had time to shine.

The last second of the movie was also something. Went to take a drink of water right as it was ending and whoopsie daisy down the wrong pipe, have fun coughing for the next two to three minutes.

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Muppets: Most Wanted (2014) - Netflix, Disney+
Lupin the Third: Count of Cagliostro (1979) - Netflix
The Goonies (1985) - HBO Max, I think?
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003) - Amazon Prime, Hulu
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018) - Hulu, Crackle (I had no idea that was still a thing)

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Seginustemple posted...

One thing I never realized was that Kermit is the only crossover character between Sesame Street and the Muppets. He really likes to keep his friend groups separate, doesn't he? Can't have Grover at a Gonzo party. But I have a theory about this: Statler and Waldorf are just old Bert and Ernie. Their full names are Bert Statler and Ernie Waldorf and the reason the Muppets and Sesame Street never hang out is because they're in different eras of the Muppetverse. Meaning Kermit is actually an ancient Muppet. 6/10

Dammit, why did I choose today to remember this topic exists?!

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The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

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The Goonies
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
Lupin the Third: Count of Cagliostro

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The Love Witch - 7/10 - This movie was a total trip, but I ended up really liking the aesthetic. It started losing me after 90 minutes though. Didn't help that a cockroach (now dead) crawled across my floor around then, which unfairly distracted me.

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The Goonies

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Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (I assume you meant this and not some other "Count of Cagliostro" movie I've never heard of?)
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
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It is definitely Caste. I have no idea where the Count came from.

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The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
Castle of Cagliostro

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No Vote

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The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003) - Amazon Prime, Hulu
Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979) - Netflix
The Goonies (1985) - HBO Max, I think?
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018) - Hulu, Crackle (I had no idea that was still a thing)
Muppets: Most Wanted (2014) - Netflix, Disney+

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In Oregon, I believe it's a felony to have not seen The Goonies, as well as rewatch it at least once every ten years.

Lupin the Third: Count of Cagliostro (1979) - Netflix
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003) - Amazon Prime, Hulu
Muppets: Most Wanted (2014) - Netflix, Disney+
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018) - Hulu, Crackle (I had no idea that was still a thing)

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The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
Goonies
Muppets: Most Wanted
League of Extraordinary Gentleman
Castle of Cagliostro
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Camden posted...

In Oregon, I believe it's a felony to have not seen The Goonies, as well as rewatch it at least once every ten years.

Funnily enough, I threw it on there because it's been like 10 years since I last saw it! I only really had three movies so threw it and the muppets up for more options


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Saint Maud

I'm giving this a good score because everything about this was a great movie and horror fans should watch it. That said, I don't really want to do a big write-up because I'm not very good with horror and this movie just creeped me out too much for me to want to dwell on it.

8/10
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Vote for all movies you would be interested in seeing for the next week (~May 14th, 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 14th, 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

Muppets Most Wanted (2014)
Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979)
The Goonies (1985)
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018)

@lucifiere

I have not seen the Goonies

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The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
The Goonies (1985)
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018)

LoEG is something i remember seeing the trailer for multiple times on Saturday mornings. i was kind of drawn to the idea but never bothered actually seeing it

Xeybozn posted...

Saint Maud

I'm giving this a good score because everything about this was a great movie and horror fans should watch it. That said, I don't really want to do a big write-up because I'm not very good with horror and this movie just creeped me out too much for me to want to dwell on it.

8/10

Looll another great Saint Maud review

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The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018)

next movie is The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018) directed by Terry Gilliam.

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

@ViolentAbacus
@Xeybozn

first time i've been able to call a vote early wow

This will be the 6th Terry Gilliam film I've seen

Monty Python isn't one of them

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I've seen Brazil, 12 Monkeys and Zero Theorem.

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For me:

Brazil
Brothers Grimm
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Holy Grail
Time Bandits
Zero Theorem

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Holy Grail's the only one I've seen.

And it's my least favorite Monty Python movie (at least of the ones that are "new" material).
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I remember seeing documentary footage from when Johnny Depp was going to star in this, so interested to see the finished product

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I have not seen any of his movies all the way thru. Got half way thru Fear and Loathing while working a midshift, but something came up and never finished it.

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Only Life of Brian and 12 Monkeys.

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This'll be my 8th Gilliam...Holy Grail, Time Bandits, Brazil, Baron Munchausen, Fear and Loathing, Brothers Grimm, Doctor Parnassus.

Life of Brian was directed by Terry Jones, same with Meaning of Life. Easy to confuse the two!
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