Thank you Sylvia and Andy for hosting the latest session of Club Moofie. We do eat well at these meetings! Delicious pastizzis, pizza, salad and sweets – very tasty indeed!
As for the Moofies, blood dripping from corpses in the forest, suicidal vampires bursting into flames, pulverised cop-brains spilling into Steve Buscemi’s lap, and sock-covered ankle bouncing around the wood-chipper – again, very tasty indeed! Considering many of us have already declared an aversion for violence, horror and the supernatural, we certainly do pick ’em! and yet we also really enjoyed the two moofies on tonight’s menu judging by the very high scores given.
Let the Right one in
The story of the friendship between Oskar, a bullied schoolboy, and his secretive new neighbour, Eli. Both lonely and isolated in their own ways, their friendship quickly turns to understanding and love as they become interdependent.
It was surprisingly touching given the genre. I think we were unanimously impressed by the execution of this film. It went in such a different direction to any other vampire film we’d ever seen before. It was distinctly Scandinavian in cinematography, music and ‘feel’ which must also make it unique amongst all the typical cape-wearing, neck-munching films out (it was certainly no “Twilight”!). A great deal of its impact must also be attributed to the mature performances of the two young lead actors. They’re planning a Hollywood remake of this film but don’t bother waiting for that one, this one is thoroughly worth watching!
I must give a special mention to the final pool scene. Climactic, violent and gory, yet still understated and in-keeping with the rest of the film. Unforgettable.
Scores
- Sylvia 4.5
- Andy 4.5
- Beck 4
- Barbara 3.5
- Paul TBA
- Wendy 3
- Clint 4.5
Memorable Quotes:
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Sylvia: …and the music was so atmospheric.
Clint: Did ‘Let the Right One In‘ have music?
Wendy: What kind of music was it?
Sylvia: .. it was very… um…. it was…. it was very…. Swedish
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Andy: I loved it. I found it mesmerising. That little boy was fantastic
Beck: What’s with the haircut though?
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on vampire mythology:
Barbara: …. yes but in Twilight…
Andy: Yeah Twilight – don’t go there for your vampire info
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Barbara: Twilight – the ‘Mills & Boon‘ version of the vampire genre
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On the gore:
Wendy: I found it very scary, for example, when the girl had all that blood on her face.
Sylvia: I kept thinking, how about a hankie?
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Beck: at least you don’t see her chewing.
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Sylvia: I got to see most of the film with my glasses off, which is good
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Wendy: How did Oskar find out that she was a vampire?
Sylvia: well, when she started licking the blood off the floor!
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Beck: It’s interesting that she never tried to kill Oskar
Clint: there were a few points where I thought, maybe she’ll take a bite now
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Sylvia and Andy are in the kitchen during intermission:
Beck yelling from the living room: we can hear kissing! Are you having a vampire moment?!
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Fargo
We’ve all seen it and we all know the story (if not, WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU!?). The driving forces behind most Coen Brothers films are the extremely well drawn characters, the compelling plot, and the exceptional cast of actors. After that, the end is pretty obvious from early on and the only variable left is the quality of the journey. All the audience has to do is sit back and relish every moment as the train wreck unfolds in high-definition slo-mo!
While Frances McDormand is charming as the hero (Marge Olmstead-Gunderson), the performance of William H. Macy (Jerry Lundegaard) is the standout. The film is hilarious in sections, fully of quirky, bizarre characters & weird Minnesotan accents. Mike Yanagita (a role model for engineers everywhere) must surely go down as the most cringe worthy character in film history!
Scores
- Sylvia 4
- Andy 4.5
- Beck 4.5
- Barbara 4.5
- Paul TBA
- Wendy 4.5
- Clint 5
Memorable Quotes:
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Andy on Jerry Lundegaard: Squirm little weasel-man!
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Clint on Mike Yanagita: I felt a bit of an affinity with him because he was an engineer
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Two very worthy snow bound films for the oncoming winter. Thank you all Club Moofie members for another great night! The next two films for review are:
“The New World” by Terrence Malick and David Lynch’s “Eraserhead”
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Andy on Eraserhead: it’s just so impenetrable, you go like… uhhh??….
Beck: .. Oh fucking Andy! get the drawer open! (see the ‘penis-in-drawer’ quote for ‘Duck Soup‘)
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I look forward to seeing you all once again on June 26th, in the meantime,
Happy viewing and Happy Days!
Clint
Club Moofie 