Playlist Round-Up

Please note the lack of a colon in the title. I did not recently watch a film about a cattle drive. However, I have mentioned colons a lot recently. Then again, I am getting older. I do eat a lot of cereal, so I hope that counts for something.

But, no, this post is about two films I did not completely watch recently*. Generally, I try to slog my way through these things, but maybe this is a new trend that's another side effect of aging. Life's too short for some of this shit.

The Headless Woman

Film Comment magazine ranked this as the second best film released in the U.S. in 2009 and one of the best of the decade. It's about a non-decapitated woman who may or may not have killed a boy with her car (if you're wondering, she doesn't get out to check). Director Lucrecia Martel has said this is an examination of class differences in her native Argentina and a lot of critics have parroted those thoughts. Maybe it was the language barrier, but I found it difficult to gain any traction with the story. It is a series of slow, meandering scenes with no dramatic payoff, no tension at all, the type of movie where no one talks about anything and everything is implied, but implied under a blanket in a dark room. It got to the point where I had to fast forward to the end. And I don't think I missed anything. (It helps that this art house favorite only scored a 6.4 on IMDB.)

Aaah! Zombies! (or, for some reason, Wasting Away)

I tried to watch this 2007 movie three separate times and combined only made it about halfway. There's a clever hook here: the main characters are all brain-chomping creatures (not really zombies!) but don't really know it. The film alternates between their normal POV and everyone else's perspective of the monsters they have become. And it's a comedy! But it's really dumb. Amateurish acting and an ambition for camp that is undermined by a script that just isn't smart enough to pull it off. This may very well be a fun movie to watch with a group, but since I watch movies alone in my hole, I couldn't get into it.

*And by recently, I mean several weeks ago since that's when I thought I posted this. Oh, me.