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May 2002 ★★★★★
Talk about an underrated gem.
I don't know what's more disturbing about this one.
The way the characters speak in the first act. Is this real or is May living out a Arthur Fleck-like delusion?
The opening shot has you set up for a gorefest while, in fact, it turns into a very sad story about a lonely soul desperately trying to connect with someone who loves her for who she is. It's not until the end of the second or the start of the third act that May really goes off the rails. More specifically when the punk guy with the Everlong-hairdo is killed.
The fact that you see May descend into madness, until and beyond the point of “okay, yeah, she's a psycho”... but part of you still feels sorry for her. That part still wants to give her a hug. Which, I think, is best shown is best shown in the final scene. She wants a friend so badly that she's willing to even mutilate herself in order to get one.
Angela Bettis delivers a career making performance here, making May look both like a super sweet, well meaning girl while at the same time harboring a vulcano under the surface, ready to explode. I'm sure part of the credit also goes to Lucky Mckee for directing his actors so well. Even Anna Faris adds an extra layer to the type of ditsy character she so often played.
Last but not least, the fact that there are (more than) a few of us who can relate to May and her desperation in ways we cannot explain or put under words.
Five star classic. The saddest horror since Carrie.
House of 1000 Corpses 2003 ★★
Rob Zombie has neat visual ideas and I respect his vision.
His style will just not be mine.
Dumplings 2004 ★★˝
This is a slow burn. We take a long time setting up why Mrs. Li looked out the shady lady who provided her with the titular dumplings. And how they provide her with eternal youth.
As an idea, it's pretty captivating. It just did not do all that much for me. It's not that it was bad, or that the the actors were bad. It just did not captivate me as much as I thought it would.
Maybe it's a case of the book being better than the movie. Maybe I will look at it differently on a future rewatch.
We'll see.
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