Mondo Bungle

official thoughts on what I've been watching

Dancer in the Dark - I didn't know at all what to expect from this movie beforehand aside from some claims of guaranteed tears, and I definitely got those. It's quite simple but so brutally real and personal that the slow burn aspect of it is downright scorching. I could tell after just like twenty minutes that I was gonna lose it, but didn't know how yet. Misfortune falls constantly upon sweet little Bjork's head (who gives the performance of a lifetime) and empathy just swells and swells until the ending where the bubble finally explodes. A strong connection grows (at least for me) during those subtle moments where she starts talking about the beauty and music she sees in everything, and the simple yet poignant facial cues where the tiniest hint of a smile is formed while she stares blindly ahead. An ultimate portrayal of a severely mistreated mother's love for her son and drive to only make sure his life goes on normally and happily. This one ran my tear ducts dry. 5/5

Irreversible - Seems to me like this movie barely had anything going for it aside from the two scenes everyone talks about. Take those away and we're left with a lotta nothing, and all your fancy camera and reverse storytelling gimmicks don't do enough to distract me from the fact that this movie is more shallow than a kiddie pool and nowhere near as enjoyable. Sure, we come to realize that it's all even more ****ed than you may have imagined at the beginning, but that's about it. Horrible things happen, try to do something about it, get your face smashed in. I don't want to call it a cinematic failure, but it was just entirely uninteresting and I don't care about any of it. 2/5

Grave of the Fireflies - As someone who's dealt with the central themes this movie revolves around, like poverty and homelessness, I found it all the more sorrowful and relatable. Another example of love like no other, this time between an orphaned brother and sister. Much like Dancer in the Dark, our main character will stop at nothing to ensure and maintain the well being of his little sister through the hardest of times. Very little empathy is exhibited towards the two from everyone else in the movie, so it's up to you to feel even more strongly for them. Love and devotion never dies, even if you do. 4/5

The Broken Circle Breakdown - Tears were jerked again. Following a struggling relationship through the loss of a child, this movie has a lot to truly decimate your heart. There's ups, and in heavier abundance, there's downs. The downs tend to be mended for a while just like any lover's spat, until the time comes where it's beyond repair. Over time the downs get stronger and stronger building up a greatly voluminous reserve of emotion until the end, which was perfect on so many levels. 4.5/5

Funny Games - This movie is more memorable on the whole as opposed to having that notorious scene(s) that bring on the discussion. There's a lot of anti-humor (perhaps?) stirred in with the satirically unsettling concept and portrayal of fear. There's not much to it but a tongue in cheek depiction of home invasion. The disturbing elements come from the fact that this family is forced into these things with each other, and the juxtaposition of these two parties. Two smiley and deranged youngsters just having "fun", and a family of three bound together in extreme fear for their lives. 3.5/5

Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom - I feel like this movie might be too dated to be all that disturbing, especially for young bucks like myself who know nothing of the times (I do imagine it was quite a shocker) and that are spoiled by cutting edge depravity in the media. I found myself laughing more than any other sort of reaction, suppose I could just be a sick freak though. I was expecting more graphic violence but that hardly comes around until the very end, where there's a lot of admittedly brutal things going on. Nothing about this movie really floored me but I didn't dislike it at all. It does carry itself with some absurd sort of high class atmosphere, and these guys are definitely freaks through and through. I'd guess the disturbing aspects of it come from the general idea that these are just people who can in fact do all this for their own disgusting satisfaction based on differences of class, and that great joy and glee comes from their activities, with innumerable bouts of spontaneous sodomy and other such wretched things intertwined with the stereotypical view of high society and prejudice. 3/5

Mary and Max - First off the imagery was so cool, with the surprisingly expansive and evocative dreamlike landscapes and settings. These claymators really sculpted something special. I've been talking about empathy a bit already, but this movie really delivers it in heaps. Through the letters of two loners a world apart, we're treated with an immensely deep and personal insight of their lives, emotions, pleasures, and struggles. While a girl becomes a woman and a man becomes an, uh, older man, the bond between the two remains unbreakable. There comes moments where you think it might have snapped, but even just a thin strand always maintains its connection. Sadness does intermingle with the plethora of other emotions that surface throughout the movie, but ultimately the tears that it provoked (which were quite high in quantity) were of joy rather than despair. It doesn't set out to depress you, rather it's an extremely rejuvenating and beautiful tale of an unexpected friendship. Damn it I'm crying right now. 5/5

Mysterious Skin - Sure there's some sick movies on this list, but this was by far the most uncomfortable experience of them all. Even just the sheer subject matter will make your mysterious skin crawl. Coupled with a dream pop soundtrack and slow motion scene progression, depictions of child molestation manage to become something of a hazy mirage, almost evoking a sort of nostalgia, disturbingly enough. I suppose it is nostalgia, it shaped these kids' lives into the people they eventually become, and what started off as apprehension morphs into a perplexing sense of yearning. Frequently dysphoric yet always entrancing, this movie kept my eyes glued to the screen while it gripped my heart and stomach like a vice. What little remnants of a soul the characters have left is continuously crushed as they consider it all, and they grow numb and destroyed and back again as they succumb to this ghetto of a life, the only thing they know. 4.5/5

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innerspaceboy

I’ve found myself with a tremendous amount of free time of late and I plan to take in art gallery and concert events in my city but my weekday evenings are generally open so I thought I’d start watching a new-to-me film every night. The effort is twofold - first, it occupies my time, but more importantly, I’d spent the past 20 years culturally isolating myself by stubbornly abstaining from partaking in every cultural and generational milestone of cinema that came along. I generally see one or two films a year and had actively avoided seeing all contemporary films from Star Wars to anything Spielberg produced onward. In the last year, I’ve shed my “me-vs-society” outlook and this new project is an effort to close that cultural gap.

Over the past year, I’ve compiled several lists of popular cinema. First, there was a list of existentialist plays and films, then anti-capitalist documentaries, then I assembled a stockpile of films inspired by the writings of Philip K Dick. That was followed by a Jim Henson complete filmography, the top 25 INTJ films, classics from the golden age of Hollywood, Cary Grant’s top 10 screwball comedies, and 75 of the all-time greatest science fiction films.

This week I’m adding to the roster all the generational milestones from E.T. and Jaws to the brat pack and everything that followed.

I began the project bringing myself up to date on the Muppet movies, and as I’d never seen a Pixar film I watched WALL-E and Up. Last night’s flick was Arrival. Tonight’s was Gremlins.

I’ve got a lot of work to do.

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The Batlord

Tell me when you get to Independence Day.

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Frownland

inb4 a glowing review of Armageddon because it's on the Criterion Collection.

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Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth.

Oriphiel

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MicShazam

Watched Romancing the Stone this evening.
Pretty fun movie. It's been over a decade since I watched it last, but it still holds up.
I would assume most have seen it, but then again, many of you are under 30.

YorkeDaddy

Under 30...haven’t seen it...don’t see much reason to.

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MicShazam

It's just a brainless bit of action adventure, but I think it's got charm. This isn't a movie I'd waste energy trying to convince anyone to watch. Even though I like it.

Justthefacts

Battle Of The Sexes

Steve Carrell and Emma Stone star as world champion tennis players who fight for their own respective causes. Billie Jean King wants better woman representation in the sport I.e equal pay, equal sponsorship etc etc. Bobby Riggs (Carrell) is out to prove that men are better than women not only in Tennis, but in everything. Really well made, well acted film that maybe could've had a little more chutzpah, but nonetheless thoroughly entertaining throughout. I tended to side with Bobby Riggs because of my inner misogyny, but only because they make Riggs a pretty lovable guy surprisingly.

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MicShazam

I almost forgot that I actually really wanted to watch this one. I'm putting it on a list so I don't forget.