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For this Friday Movie Night, first up is Swallowtail Butterfly (1996), a dystopian drama about a group of youths trying to survive in the slums of an alternate-future Japan that is flooded by immigrants around the world. An orphaned girl is forced to go live in a junkyard with a bunch of other outcasts and try to make ends meet, as she comes under the wing of a sex worker. This is considered one of the best Japanese films of the 1990s, and one of the best works of director Shunji Iwai’s career; he is best-known for the anti-bullying drama All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001), which we have not yet watched.

After that is Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999), a comedy centering on a small-town beauty pageant and the rivalries between the contestants. An up-and-comer (Kirsten Dunst) aims to upseat a rich family’s stranglehold over the event, and is willing to do anything to achieve her goal, up to and including murder. Hilarity ensues as events escalate, largely in mockumentary style. Pretty much Heathers (1988), but about a beauty pageant. Letterboxd loves it, though, so let’s check it out. It is the only notable work of director Miachel Patrick Jann; he is a one-hit wonder.

We’ll start at 8PM EST on Blorptube, right here:

https://blorp.bot.nu/o/visual_cuisine

Be there, comrades!

Letterboxd:

• Swallowtail Butterfly: https://letterboxd.com/film/swallowtail-butterfly/
• Drop Dead Gorgeous: https://letterboxd.com/film/drop-dead-gorgeous/

Doesthedogdie.com links:

• Swallowtail Butterfly: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117797/parentalguide/
• Drop Dead Gorgeous: https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/21497

CWs for Swallowtail Butterfly:

• Nudity.
• Sex
• Sexual assault: “A sleazy club owner molests a young woman, but he's stopped before he can go any further.”
• Prostitution.
• Objectification of female characters.
• Blood and gore.
• Gun violence.
• Police brutality.
• Corpses.
• Disembowelment.
• Death by falling.
• Someone is hit by a car.
• Profanity.
• Smoking.
• Alcohol.
• Drug use.
• Needles.

CWs for Drop Dead Gorgeous:

• Child abandonment.
• Child abuse.
• Stalking.
• Domestic violence.
• Child abuse.
• Drug addiction.
• Alcohol.
• Slapping of woman.
• Implied pedophilia.
• Someone is physically restrained.
• Hand damage.
• Someone struggles to breathe.
• Someone is burned alive.
• Amputation.
• Squashed head.
• Genital trauma.
• Unconsciousness.
• Finger mutilation.
• Death of child.
• Sexualization of minor.
• Objectification of female characters.
• Able-bodied actor plays disabled character.
• Ableist slurs.
• Death of family member.
• Mannequins.
• Vomiting.
• Spitting.
• Incarceration.
• Needles.
• Hospital scene.
• Mental illness.
• Meltdown.
• Body dysmorphia.
• Eating disorder.
• Jump scares.
• Shaky cam.
• Screaming.
• Profanity.
• Broken fourth wall.
• Ableism.
• Antisemitism.
• Death of LGBT person.
• Fat jokes.
• Hate speech.
• Discussion of religion.
• Chronic illness.
• Car crash.
• Blood and gore.
• Gun violence.

Links to movies:

• Swallowtail Butterfly: https://tankie.tube/w/aGxYLivVFamjokN7rF6tXw
• Drop Dead Gorgeous: https://tankie.tube/w/h6avP4BDmcoPy4CiKV4NWS