Winter's Bone

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🎙️ EPISODE 300: 01.24.2021 *Review starts @ ~ 3:35:53 A large part of this movie's appeal is the "Do these people really exist?" undercurrent. Based on a novel by "country noir" 'specialist' Daniel Woodrell, it tells the story of an Ozark hill people family, led by seventeen-year old Ree Dolly, portrayed here by America’s Sweetheart, Oscar-nominated Jennifer Lawrence. The methed-out hillbilly is a cliche, but this movie uses very real, stark imagery to inspire a fear, or at least an anxious bubbling, that–perhaps not so far away from our safe suburban homes and chic urban settings–live these lawless cretins. It's Deliverance, only instead of Burt Reynolds and co. we have Jennifer Lawrence. Stripped of this specific setting, the film isn't more than your standard mystery / quest flick. The payoff is clever and the acting is solid, but what makes Winter's Bone great is the very subtle thing it says about America. Which is the real spoiler alert (UGH).

✏️ POSTED: DATE UNKNOWN

*** part of THE BIG EPISODE 300 EXTRAVAGANZA wherein I reviewed 36 movies, mostly live reads of critiques I wrote between 2009-2012. The finished ✏️ product above is a highly edited version of the truly embarrassing one that was read during the five-hour podcast recording. I guess this is growing up. ***

THE 36 MOVIES REVIEWED DURING EPISODE 300

30 MINUTES OR LESS • ALEX BAG: UNTITLED FALL '95 • AWAY WE GO • BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD • BEING ELMO • BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM • THE BROTHERS SOLOMON • A BUCKET OF BLOOD •
THE CAMPAIGN • THE CENTER OF THE WORLD • CHRISTMAS ON MARS • THE CHRISTMAS TREE • CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE. • (500) DAYS OF SUMMER • A FIELD IN ENGLAND • FUNNY PEOPLE • GET HIM TO THE GREEK • GIGANTIC (A TALE OF TWO JOHNS) • INCEPTION • JEFF, WHO LIVES AT HOME • LEAVE NO TRACE • MAN ON WIRE • MIDNIGHT IN PARIS • MONEYBALL • MOON • MUTUAL APPRECIATION • POM WONDERFUL PRESENTS: THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER SOLD • RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES • SLEEPWALK WITH ME • SOME DRINKING IMPLIED • TIM AND ERIC'S BILLION DOLLAR MOVIE • TRANSIT • TO ROME WITH LOVE • THE WICKER MAN • WINTER'S BONE • YOUTH IN REVOLT

CHRONOLOGICALLY
⫷ EPISODE 300i - (YOU ARE HERE) - EPISODE 300iii ⫸

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