CV Movie Club - The Good the Bad and the Ugly

Hello. Pretty sure nothing like this has been done before, and it might be a failure, in which I can either lock this or delete it out of shame, shame!

Okay, so my idea for this thread is that there are a lot of great movies out there, that I want to talk about and I am sure a lot of you might feel the same way about certain movies. Often in PM I give and get recommendations, and just talking about interpretations or parts of movies that seem under appreciated, or finding a new original movie that becomes a favorite. These days its actually pretty easy to access movies as well, so was thinking that as a small group, for those that want to participate, we could nominate a movie for the week, have a week to find or track down said movie, and then have conversations about that movie. Someone new offers a new movie for discussion, we have a week to watch that suggestion, we post about it and so on. I myself am curious to see what cool movies get nominated and recommending as well, as well as just talking about movies.

I can even edit in the weeks nomination, into the title. If people want to make any other suggestions, feel free to. I was thinking of limiting talk to movies that are available on DVD or on legal online websites/services as opposed to brand new cinema movies, and preferably movies that are a bit less popular. So say The Babadook and What We Do in the Shadows as opposed to The Avengers and Tranformers. Not to be hipster, more so a lot of us can watch new stuff and the relative few who have seen the movie can have more people to talk to them about. Oh and you don't have to be positive about any of the movies, just try not get into fights with people. Older movies are okay too, just try and aim for movies that most people should be able to view somehow.

Was thinking about making the very first movie The Babadook, because I recommended it to three people this week alone and one of those people has already seen it. Its also a good movie for general discussion, talking about horror, fan theories, junk like that. Oh plus Halloween. So if you want to participate in this idea, you have a week to watch the movie, or if you have already seen it, can start talking about it, maybe use spoiler functions if you want to get deep into things. Also if you want to nominate a movie for next week, feel free to. If one movie gets mentioned a lot we can do that one, or we can have a system where the last person to pick a movie, picks a new person's choice, that person picks a new person, so on. In a few days I'll probably write some long junk about why I liked and picked this movie as well.

Thanks.

K

I heard a lot of good reviews of Babadook, so I decided to check it out even though I'm not much of a horror fan. I was disappointed, but again, I'm not a horror fan, so bear that in mind.

I liked some things about it. I though the mother and child were both engaging characters. I loved the scenes where the book was being read, and that's about it.

I find the unexplained scary, so the setup for this movie was pretty engaging, but the problem with being scared by the unknown is that in a movie format, the movie either has to explain things by the end of the movie thereby removing a lot of the horror or leave it unexplained which makes it an unsatisfying narrative experience. Babadook erred on the side of leaving things unexplained, and it was unsatisfying. I know there are many fan theories one of which is the generally accepted explanation, but I think having to go to forums to understand a movie is a sign of poor storytelling.

I have some other complaints as well. The scene where she dreamed she saw the Babadook was both lame because of the bad animation and a waste of time since it was a dream. I could list more, but I'm tired of talking about it.

Didn't work for me.

Honestly, I wasn't feeling Babadook all that much. Perhaps my initial expectations of the film were too high considering that I had read numerous reviews in which the film was lauded for the theme that it conveyed, but I didn't believe that all of the praise surrounding the film equated to actual film itself after viewing it. It's by no means a horrible movie, but I didn't find it outstanding.

I'd give it around a 3/5 stars.

@sc Not a bad idea at all. I have the movie on my que, though if i can get to it in time for this thread is questionable. I'm looking forward to this concept on a whole at any rate.

This is a great idea! I think this would give Viner's an opportunity to interact in a more "personalized" manner. It giives it a "couch conversation" feel among friends. And for that, I would definitely watch Babadook.

@batwatch:

I have to disagree, the The Babadook execution and storytelling never put the "supernatural" element above the psychology of Amelia and her buried emotions, from my perspective the viewer had enough elements to understand that Amelia wrote the Babadook and it a was a manifestations of her pain and suffer accumulation that disturbed her "balance", i saw in the worms a sign of her weaknesses that will never disappear (like in the traditional horror movies that are constructed only with "supernatural" elements and don't give any importance to the characters), always will be a part of her, that apparently she can control better now!

Since i m not a fan of Horror, i thought the movie was actually good and fresh for the genre!

Much better then It follows.

^-^

@sc

Hello. Pretty sure nothing like this has been done before, and it might be a failure, in which I can either lock this or DELETE IT OUT OF SHAME, SHAME!

Why do you get to delete threads and not us!?!?!?!?

@luna_joestar: I wouldn't really say it was much better than It Follows. It Follows was still a pretty well made movie but The Babadook is still clearly the superior flick.

I'm not sure if I'd participate because 1) I'm busy-ish, 2) I procrastinate, and 3) I'm actually still working through my own movie list. Someone like me would probably monitor the thread and only participate when I spotted a movie I already watched. That being said, I actually love the idea. It seems like the only times people get to discuss things like this is when they're unintentionally derailing another thread.

On topic, I really enjoyed The Babadook. It's been a while since I watched it so I'm fuzzy on the details, but overall it was one of the better horror movies I've seen. Serial killers, aliens, and cryptids don't really do it for me. I always need something with a more psychological or paranormal feel (not a nod to Paranormal Activity, even though it's probably my favorite horror franchise). The small cast, good use of sound effects, and of course the book, were tied together really well. I think it did a great job of tapping into that fear of the unknown/unseen that nearly everyone has. The only real downside was it's somewhat weak ending, something that I've been noticing more in relatively recent horror films (e.g. Lazarus Effect, The Houses October Built, Mama, etc.).

@asgaard: As many times as I've thought about the movie, I've never considered that Amelia could be the author all along. Thanks for that. I also considered whether or not the Babadook was possibly Sam's Dad (I can't remember how I came up with that one).

@impervious: *nods* Better

@luna_joestar: Fair enough.

I think the concept of the movie is good, and I think maybe a few alterations could have made it work really well, but it was too abstract at the end for my taste.

Loved it, it was like a Poe story with a Lovecraft monster in it.

Sounds like an interesting film, reception for it was great too. I'll check it out.

This is a nice thread too, hope it takes off.

@batwatch:

@indomitableregal:

Sam's Dad (and his fate), obviously were a key factor for the "birth" of the Babadook in Amelia's subconscious, but i think the Babadook is a mix of several factors/events of Amelia's life! Probably if she express externally her pain and had sex with her coworker the Babadook wouldn't be written, but instead she didn't even talk about her husband!

@asgaard:

@sc: I heard good things about the film. Its on my to do watch list.

@batwatch:

People have recommended this movie to me. I might give it a look.

It's really good, it's scary (i mean actually scary, not like that Paranormal Activity crap).

Easily the best horror film in modern times.

This is a great idea, I'll have to get to watching The Babadook, but in the daytime cus I'm a scaredy pants

It follows was very weird, it creeped me out when I was watching it hahah.

Lol. I have to watch scary movies at night or I feel like it defeats the purpose. The only thing is half the time I end up watching it on "non-official sources" (...allegedly) so I'm at my computer in my room, which because of its position, makes me sit with my back to my room door. So it's night, I'm home alone, my lights are off, I'm sitting about 2 ft. from my computer, and I'm facing away from my bedroom door and the door to my apartment. Yeah, I'm normally a bit freaked out before I even start lol.

@darkdefender It's on Netflix if you have it.

Finally saw it and:

Edit: Also, the audio and sound effects from the movie were spot on. The best from any other modern horror flicks I can recall. 5/5 for audio.

I liked the Babadook a lot, one of the best horror films I've seen in a very long time. Mostly because these days you get the generic gore fest minus plot or the paranormal activity approach.

The creature I especially found terrifying, mostly because of the way it moved more than the way it looked (the face looked a little silly, Mighty Boosh esque) as it somehow reminded me of the first Alien film...interesting original idea I guess.

It also had a good twist which I didn't see coming tbh, well not for a while anyway. The mix of supernatural fear and disturbing reality was brilliantly done, and the use of the book was actually kind of scary too.

It did have its problems, as I said I didn't like the face of the babadook and there were a few silly moments I feel could have been done better but overall I thought it was a very good film and refreshing to the genre. I'd probably give it 8/10.

To this day I shiver whenever I hear "Ba-babadook dook dook"

@lagoonboy2: I agree and it was definitely more disturbing to start with, but it did make for a more interesting horror film and left you with something to think about. Not something you can say for the typical monster movie.

The Babadook looks scary, I'm gonna try to give it a watch.

@mrhamwallet: The movie definitely killed two birds with one stone. In fact, it's as if the movie's genre shifted as it came to an end. Like you said, it really does leave you something to talk about. Also, the way the book introduced the Babadook and the dark but yet simple rhymes undoubtedly got to me.

It's movements were also unique and just plain scary. Claymation esque nastiness.

I loved The Babadook.

As soon as I saw it, it became my new favourite Australian film.

It was decent, not spectacular. I mean it was decently acted, but nothing special. Decent story, but nothing special. Decent characters, but, again, nothing special. I DID think that the directing and the special effects were FANTASTIC, and the mother was a GREAT actress. But god DAMN was that little kid annoying. Look, I DON'T hate child actors, (Daeg Faerch is not only my favorite child actors legit one of my favorite actors in general) but this kid was just...URGHHHH. >:(.

I'd give the movie a B. Good, but there have been FAR better horror movies released in the 2010s.

The movie didn't really do anything for me, I also don't really buy the whole babadook being the embodiment of Amelia's grief

@quinnofthestoneage:

@luna_joestar: nuh uh

@quinnofthestoneage:

So my experience with this movie seems a bit different than a lot of others, I was fortunate in that I was aware of this movie quite early and saw it after a friend told me about it and how its a modern horror with no jump scares. So when I saw it, it had no hype, and I had no knowledge of what it was about. I think it works better that way. That being said, even with hype overlapped, I think I would still personally, like it as much.

See I am a fan of horror as a genre, its ability to help us as people, tap into deep, taboo, frightening, horrific ideas, situations, in a more digestible and second hand way. I don't mind jump scares, I don't mind gore, I don't mind body horror or body deformities, I don't mind violence, but I feel like the horror movie genre has relied on these things too much in recent years. Not against those things, but for me, they don't really make for good horror. I prefer stories that use atmosphere, and tone, and setting, and have us tap into and care for characters and their situations. Horror that taps into psychological fears, superstition, supernatural too as well. A lot of popular horror movies, even ones I have appreciated have always felt a bit too much like either action movies, or comedies, or shock movies.

The Babadook for me, therefore felt really refreshing. Eery, slow, deliberate, I mean one of the parts I thought was the scariest, happened during the day! To me thats a good sign, also, what sort of taboo idea does The Babadook tap into? Well for me, the way I interpreted it on my first viewing, was that it was a movie about grief and the burden of raising a child. The guilt, anxiety and just mental burden and toll that is involved, and not with all children, just some children. Some children as Scrooge like as it feels to say, are really annoying. Not even really their fault, body chemistry, emotional, mental and emotional immaturity thats completely natural for people that age. I mean movies often portray kids, as innocent, friendly, angels, but they are angry, hostile, shouting, little people, with no patience, tolerance, etc etc but you know, as a parent in spite of that, you still love, adore, want to protect and look after your kid. So I interpreted this movie as the struggle of being a solo parent, which is something I have a familiarity with. Though with the movie, they made it really hard for the mother, losing the love of her life and having an especially emotional/hostile child.

So much so she basically had a nervous/mental break down, and that manifested itself as the Babadook. I don't mean it physically manifested itself, I think the creature was all in her mind, and that she was the one that made the Babadook book, eventually her sons love broke through, she acknowledged her pain, her dark side, her anxiety, her (minor) desire to kill her annoying son, her anger that she lost her husband, and all that. Hence the somewhat odd ending, which to me was her realizing and acknowledging the stress she was under, her fallings, her anger, and guilt, resentment and so getting a better grasp of the situation. You can't ignore or reject mental health issues, you have to address them and get treatment. She has an imaginative son her will also help her as well. Hence why he seems involved in that part as well (looking after her dark monster side which is kept in the attic/basement wherever) just like the line where the Babadook says something about if you try to ignore him, he just gets stronger. Also why she doesn't actually show the Babadook book to the police, and or only waits to go to after she burned it, I mean… if the book kept reappearing, why not just take it to them then… except I believe on some level she always knew what the Babadook was and that would have just implicated her.

So yeah, I enjoyed the movie, it felt refreshing to me, I don't watch a lot of horror movies, but I liked this one. It made me think, it had me unsettled and disturbed at parts, cared for the mother and her son, despite their flaws. That being said if the Babadook was some sort of supernatural type bizarre threat, haunting them, eh, I would have enjoyed that as well, it definitely had a freaky and cool design/idea/voice.

My apologies to those who might not have enjoyed the movie per my recommendation, hopefully a nomination by someone else might be more your liking and remember you can nominate movies too!

@lagoonboy2 said:

Thank you, thats exactly the kind of tone I hope we go with this, couch conversations heh heh. Hope you enjoy it!

My bad, hope you stick around though and another movie might be more interesting!

Wow, thats a really awesome description of it, nice!

@laflux said:

Hope you enjoy it as much as me!

Second for me, nothing could ever beat Kath & Kim for me! Heh heh.

Only moderators can know the true shame necessary and required for the shameful act of thread deletion. Our potential for shame is maximum, our shame is our greatest curse, our heaviest burden and our strongest… strength, uh.

@sc: As for the movie, I did! Can't wait for the next choices!

@sc: Oh I will ^-^

Looking forward to next weeks film

Whilst I would be happy to share more personal recommendations of lesser known movies, I think it would be more interesting for everyone, to let others have a chance for nominations, so if anyone has an interesting movie they think would make good for conversation, or just watching, well feel free to throw nominations out there, or quote nominations you agree with.

If no one does after a few days… I can always pick a new movie too, alternatively. That works too, hope y'all having a great week, but if you're not having a good week, we could always try and unlock the secrets of time travel and reverse time to avoid the week, or speed it up to bypass the week, or… go back in time and invent things before they were actually invented, get patents and get rich. Things like the sandwich and Liger.

How about Submarine, my favourite film