Saturday, April 06, 2019

Spring playlist

Between the crushing bleakness of winter and the blinding brightness of summer, lies the brief hopefulness of spring. A green time full of wistfulness; looking forward while looking back. In other words, it's a great time to listen to some indie shit past and present!

Music to Frolic Through Meadows To or w/e!

Spotlight movie: I Don't Feel At Home in this World Anymore

So, I kinda loved this? This might be a "me" movie, idk, cause I sure do seem to love quirky revenge capers and ordinary people riding around solving crimes/doing crimes for great justice. (She probably shouldn't have stolen the lawn tiger, but there is a certain satisfaction in stealing some rich asshole's lawn tiger, mainly in that he had a damn lawn tiger.) I've seen several of these quirky sorta-thrillers lately and yeah, I guess this is my thing. (Blue Ruin, Gemini, Cold Weather, A Simple Favor. This was directed by the star of Blue Ruin, but it's much lighter.)

I didn't even recognize Elijah Wood at first, and that's a compliment. He was really fun as this dude who thinks he's more of a badass than he is but actually is sort of a badass? The computer scene cracked me up so hard, if you've seen any of those old "hacker" thrillers it was pretty spot-on. This was funny, and also pretty exciting! I laughed kinda hard when someone got hit by a bus, which might say more about me than it does about the movie, but it was just like - WHAM! It was funny.

I like superheroes, I loved Captain Marvel and Wonder Woman but sometimes there's something so satisfying about an ordinary, pissed off person kicking some ass. Melanie Lynskey was awesome as Ruth. She remained a real, sympathetic person through some pretty absurd shit. I found her super relatable cause seriously, why can't people just stop being assholes?? AND it has the "two lost souls finding each other" thing that gets me every time if it's done even half well. And a great soundtrack!

The carousel horse with the "not a real horse" sign is now one of my favourite movie characters.

moviesss

Now that it's finally spring I won't be watching 50 movies a month, but I still have a little catchup to do.


Frailty - "I sure love peas!" - obvious future serial killer

Damn, "Supernatural" has a weirder origin story than I thought.

Nothing good could possibly come from a place called Meat, Texas.

Bill Paxton was awesome. This would make a good double feature with The Clovehitch Killer.

Mistress America - "In L.A., I qualify as well-read."

lol I really had no idea there were adorable tabbycats in this movie, I just saw Greta Gerwig and Lola Kirke and went "yup." These kind of imperfect characters are so fun to watch. You never quite love them or hate them, but you always kind of like them in spite of themselves.

Dead of Night - This anthology is hard to rate in 2019, when I've seen more haunted mirrors, kid ghosts, and evil ventriloquist dummies than I know what to do with, but that's not this film's fault. This felt like a real landmark of horror, and while only that penultimate nightmare scene (wow, 1945!) actually scared me, this was very well done. I was happy it didn't have the stiff performances of the last couple old horrors I watched; these characters really came to life both in the vignettes and the wraparound story.

I wish I could have seen this in 1945, but I still enjoyed it. And that ventriloquist movie MST3K did was totally based on one of the vignettes, the dummy was even named Hugo! It was done better here, but unfortunately MST has warped me forever and I kept thinking, "You think he likes ham? Wait'll you see me like ham!"

Krisha - Like being a fly on the wall at the most awkward Thanksgiving ever, if that's your thing. (That is my thing.) That turkey scene was more tense than most horror films, damn.

This movie teaches an important life lesson which is if you're trying to stay sober, spending Thanksgiving with your family ain't it.

Child's Play - So I was gonna bite the bullet and finally watch Leprechaun. I've never seen any of the Leprechaun films - for some reason this makes me feel like I have "standards" (I don't). But I decided if I wanna watch a wee homicidal dude, it's gonna be Chucky. So Happy St. Patrick's Day, I guess?

I hadn't seen this since the mid 90s I think! It was on a ratty VHS for sure! First thing 2019 me zoomed in on was the BARBIE AND THE ROCKERS in the opening toy store scene, giving me immediate nostalgia for that brief moment in time when Barbie wanted to be Jem. I also enjoy any character that's like, Detective Skeptical but Checks Out the Crazy Shit Anyway Just in Case! They make me feel like the world is in good hands, and this movie has a great one played by Chris Sarandon.

You had to say it, didn't you lady? You had to say the killer's dead, thus ensuring his immortality. Oh well. I'm gonna rewatch part 2, but I remember not being into the series past that. Like, I don't mind a goofy horror movie, but when a series starts out genuinely good I hate to see it decline into silliness, y'know? This movie is really fun, and even a little scary at times. Chucky himself is one of the most iconic horror villains, and I'm totally on board for the remake with Aubrey Plaza.

Her - Hike your pants up, the movie! Seriously, that was an odd style choice if it wasn't meant to be distracting.

I'm not sure how I felt about this one. It made me feel a little weird as a woman? Maybe it would have made me feel even weirder as a man, idk! It was well made and Joaquin Phoenix gave a great performance, it's just... I like some cringe, but I think this hit my cringe threshold. I think this is it. And this is probably hopelessly shallow but I kinda feel like he might have had fewer ladytroubles if he lost the high pants and weird 70s 'stache? Like I'm all about seeing the person inside blah blah but you gotta at least try a little, right? I think I missed the point of this movie lol. This was an interesting experience, it just wasn't really for me! Sorry all the people who love this. xx

P.S. - Oh yeah, there's something to be written about how visionary James Nguyen was for coming up with this years before with Julie and Jack. I'll let you know if I think of what it is.

Child's Play 2 - On rewatch, I think I might like this sequel even more than the original! It starts out a little silly, you've got Exposition Business Suit Guys telling us what happened to Andy and his mother since the last movie. Rewatches are funny; 17-year old me would have never been like OMG EXPOSITION, but now I'm a more sophisticated viewer... watching Child's Play 2... whatever. So it's pretty good, there's a weird pink and blue pastel house that looks like a giant dollhouse, Christine Elise from 90210 is in it and I was kinda obsessed with Emily Valentine, like I'd record all her episodes and watch them over and over, so that's a big plus.

Then we get the finale at the toy factory, and I'm not exaggerating when I say this is one of my favourite scenes of all time, not just horror. Non-stop fun from start to finish, one of the most memorable kills ever, Andy and Kyle running up ramps and down chutes and across conveyer belts all while Chucky parts are flying all over the place. It's a visual delight. Whoever came up with that idea deserves an award, sadly they do not give out Oscars for Best Kill or Best Scene Featuring a Homicidal Doll Chasing Kids Through a Spooky Toy Factory. Their loss.

For now I will choose to end the Child's Play series here, because how could you possibly top that??

Tuesday, April 02, 2019

Last one for today

The Sentinel - Another old horror movie that's been on my list forever, and this was an unexpected treat. Law and Order credits font! *chng chng* And Jerry Orbach is in it?? Well now you're just trolling... from the past... somehow. Aww, baby Christopher Walken. And JESSABELLE! In her little party hat! 😻🎉

I'm pretty sure if someone starts masturbating in front of you you're allowed to excuse yourself, you don't have to sit there politely like she's showing you pictures of her grandchildren. I mean, just a tip, in case that's useful.

So I think this somewhat inspired American Horror Story: Hotel, and this was everything I wanted that to be - really creepy! It could have been ruined by bloat, but it's a nice 90 minutes and has that 70s pacing I like, a little slow burn with a BIG payoff. There was some creepy stuff leading up to it, like the neighbours that weren't there and the building itself with the vines growing all over it. Love! And I thought the end was pretty spectacularly disturbing and DON'T YOU DARE KILL THAT CAT! even if it is a demon maybe? They don't. Whew. Run free little Jessabelle, you darling little hell kitty you.

This was a real hidden 70s gem for me, like The Legacy, and I'd definitely recommend (not just because they both have cats, but it helps).

Gemini - If you open with moody shots of palm trees, you have my attention.

Oh my GOD Aaron Katz, I think I love you?? I raved about Cold Weather for being an engaging and beautifully-shot low-budget film, and if you thought that was pretty you'll really wanna hold onto your socks for this one.

Your enjoyment of this might depend on how interesting you find L.A. There are lots of gorgeous shots to set the mood. For me, this was a more concise and enjoyable Neon Demon. It isn't horror, it's kind of a noir-mystery, but it has actual interesting characters. I loved following Lola Kirke around the city, I could probably watch a whole day's footage of just that tbh. (God I miss L.A. here on day 755 of winter.) I got involved in the story too, and I found the ending satisfying as it left you with one question that was better not answered. I like when filmmakers give you just enough to chew on but don't overexplain.

This is the second thing I've seen Zoe Kravitz in this past week (also Big Little Lies) and yes, more please. She, Lola Kirke, John Cho, and really everyone was good here. I think this might be a "me" movie, but it's a nice mix of style and substance and I super recommend it if this sounds interesting.

Ouija: Origin of Evil - Okay, this time I watched this when I was awake, good for me. This was a "because it's on Netflix" movie. Like when I'm on my deathbed am I gonna I think "damn, why did I spend an hour and forty minutes of my life watching Ouija: Origin of Evil?" But that's never stopped me before, and, y'know, Netflix! I didn't see the first Ouija because I only watch old bad horror movies. They're interesting. New bad horror movies are just boring with lame CGI.

But this is the good ouija movie? (Actually I'd say that's Witchboard, but whatever.) So part of me is like, "I already saw The Exorcist twice, thanks tho," but I kinda liked this anyway. Was not a fan of the weird faces and the CG in general and the pretty unoriginal horror elements but - I liked these characters. I liked the performances. I liked how it was shot, the beautiful vintage tones that were dark but never drab. Once again, I liked the life Mike Flanagan breathed into standard mainstream horror. He's a talented director and I'm looking forward to watching The Haunting of Hill House. I liked how dark it got at the end, which was at least a good payoff to a film that felt long and slow in parts.

A Simple Favor - "Well, that was extra."

OMG, this was so much fun! This is the same guy who did that clunky Ghostbusters movie? How??

If you've ever wanted to see a movie about the kind of person who owns a helium tank and listens to the Brady Bunch in the car getting mixed up in crimes, you're in luck. Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively burn this barn down and I love it. Usually I say anything over 90 minutes is too long (with a few obvious exceptions), but this sucker was 115 and I was here for all of them. "Mommy needs a drink" is my motto too (I don't have kids).

I would totally buy Anna Kendrick's rap album.

Pumpkin - What an odd movie, and I'm not saying that because of its subversive subject matter, which is handled about as well as can be expected. It seems to be a satirical dark comedy most of the way through, but a low-key one. As weird as it is, it's still grounded in reality. Then a car drives off a cliff in a massive explosion and the driver somehow survives and I'm like okay, we're not in Pasadena anymore, we're in a Toonces the Driving Cat sketch. I cannot tell you how tonally weird this was compared to the rest of the movie, which was weird but in a different way.

Why did I rewatch this, of all things? I Love Christina Ricci and I hadn't seen her in anything for a while. I was gonna put on Buffalo '66 but then I saw this and was hit with a weird wave of nostalgia. The kind you get when you see something you forgot even existed and it takes you right back. I can't say this gave me more clarity on rewatch, but I do have a few positives. The guy who played Pumpkin did a great job. He was really sweet and you rooted for him. Ricci did as well as she could with some uneven writing, and she's just someone I always enjoy watching.

Unlike many college/high school movies of the late 90s/early 2000s, this doesn't rely on crude humour. I'm definitely not gonna call it "tasteful," but I'd still rather watch this than cheap sex jokes (a dude said the word vagina! And he's HIGH! OMG hilarious!! 🙄🙄 you know the type). And finally, the soundtrack to this thing!! Like Garden State, if you were into indie music in the early 2000s this will be a total nostalgia bomb. I might even recommend it just for the "Stars of Track and Field" sequence tbh.

Unrateable, but 5 stars for Belle and Sebastian.

The Imposter - 1. Watch this and Abducted in Plain Sight back to back.
2. Take a drink every time you say "what the fuck?!"
3. Try not to die.

I need more of these batshit documentaries in my life.

The Uninvited - This isn't scary, but it wouldn't be a bad ghost story if not for the overwhelming old-timey corniness. The dialogue is stilted and everyone talks like they're in a play which doesn't help. And that weird accent, the one that distracts me in so many old movies. Like an American trying to sound British or a Brit trying to sound American? Where are we?? I'm so confused! This is also the kind of old film where a man tells a woman to "calm down!" when she is perfectly calm. Tell it to yourself, chuckles. (Though that might have been intentional since the lead male is pretty corny? Hard to tell in the 40s.)

The seaside and house are lovely and well shot, so it's here if you want that aesthetic. If I had discovered this late at night on cable growing up, I probably would have been delighted. It's that kind of movie, so if you wanna recreate that vibe, go for it. There's not much other reason to stream this when like, every other movie is available. The poster is the spookiest thing about it.

Oh! - there is an adorable floofy CAT! I swear I don't always seek them out, they just come to me. :) 2.5 stars, but an extra half star meow meow meow.

Lady in White - "I wish I was as weird as you." - Anyone who said that to me would probably be my bff!

Is this movie tonally weird? Sure. Does a story about child murder really need a Comic Relief Smoking Grandpa? No, probably not! But you know what else is tonally weird? Childhood. Kids face things they don't understand on a daily basis and their minds fill in with whatever makes sense at the time. Our own memories are disjointed; it's hard to know what's real and what we created out of half-remembered truths and lies. This movie feels like that to me. It isn't really "good" but I kinda respect it for being as weird as childhood itself.

My mom took me to see this in the theatre in 1988, and I hadn't seen it since. This was right when I was starting to get into horror, mostly through Stephen King books. One thing kid me and now me have in common - all it really takes is a creepy cemetery, an abandoned farmhouse, some Halloween decorations and a fog machine to make me happy. (In fact, the cemetery is really all I remembered about this. Good to see my priorities haven't changed.) I still enjoyed those elements, as well as the nostalgic small-town setting, even if the movie overall didn't hold up.

This is way too long, the effects are wonky, many things are telegraphed, the narrative is inconsistent and I'll never watch it again, but I am glad I experienced it as an adult. There are elements for a good, dark story about childhood here, it just didn't quite hit the mark.

more more movies keep em coming

Don't Look Now - Oh, I hate when this happens. Everyone else likes this, so why don't I?

I see the artsiness. The shot at the beginning of the little girl in her raincoat reflected in the water was so innocent yet so ominous, and I was like yes, this is gonna be great!! Then... nothing happened. Then some more nothing happened. Then I fell asleep, woke up, and thought a cat had stepped on something that took me to porn. 70s porn, no less. But no, this 110 minute movie has a random, uncomfortably long sex scene and I'm not a prude but 1) nobody wants to see 70s people having sex and 2) if they do, porn exists. And most importantly, 3) this movie was too darn long already!!

I like a slower-paced 70s horror/thriller if it steadily builds tension, but this had very little tension for me til the last... 30? 20? minutes. I got interested when his wife was seemingly in two places at once, finally some intrigue! And then the final scene was... interesting, but not satisfying enough to justify all the 70s-hued fucking around (sometimes literally) I just sat through. I liked the artistic shots, the use of colour and juxtaposition and all that, but this just meandered too much to grip me, and I'm SAD about it.

EDIT: oh oh! There was one awesome thing about this movie which is that I learned Venice has HEARSE BOATS!

Captain Marvel - KITTYYYYYYYY 😻🐈😻🐈😻

So I love how half the internet is all "my GOD, a LADY superhero??" *monocle pops out* and the other half is like "yeah deal with it" and I'm just over here like "you know there's a CAT in this, right?" I can't really judge this movie objectively, but I did like the parts without the cat in them so that's something, right??

I thought they did a good job with Sam Jackson honestly, slap a moustache on him and he's Jules again! On that note, Tarantino totally stopped by and wrote the glowing cube in the Fonzie lunchbox thing, right? It's ok, you can tell me.

I will never complain about one of my cats' epic hairballs again, I had no idea.

Goose is totally gonna save the world and I CAN'T WAITTTT

The Spiral Staircase - Yeah, this wasn't really it for me. Loved the big spooky house, but I've seen more interesting things happen in big spooky houses. On spiral staircases, even (watch The Haunting instead).

Yelling "TRY TO TALK!" at a mute person = SCIENCE! I'm sure she hadn't thought of that one, Dr. Smugman. And what did you think giving a mute woman a phone number was going to accomplish? Pretty much wanted to give that doctor one long smack through the whole movie.

2.5, but the extra half star is for the world's most adorable bulldog what a good boy THAT'S A GOOD BOY

Edge of Seventeen - Aw man, all I ever wanted in high school was an Erwin. I never yearned for popularity, for the jock or the cool guy in a band, I just wanted someone to like, talk to. I like how this movie recognizes that you can actually be yourself and be happy, that there's a better chance of finding happiness that way than trying to be something you're not.

I mean, that never happened for me in high school, but I'm really glad it did in this movie cause I think it's inspiring. I also got major Cute Asian Guy flashbacks to one of my first crushes, the kid in Earth Angel, and it occurs to me how much the 1990 tv movie Earth Angel might have influenced my life. Scary. Anyway. If you think someone is nice or cool or whatever, even if they aren't "popular," they probably are cool and you should hang with them because high school doesn't last forever. (This also applies to adults because in some ways, high school does last forever.)

That has been my advice for today, you're welcome, and also watch this movie because it's really good. I didn't necessarily relate to Nadine, well I did because she's awkward but she's the "talk too much when she's nervous" kind and I'm the super quiet kind, so I related to her except the exact opposite. Yeah. Also, everyone in this movie acts like a jerk sometimes (except sweet Erwin) but you don't hate anyone, it's just how people are.

A Monster Calls - A sweet fairytale with heart and some gorgeous visuals. I loved the design of the tree monster and the animation in the story segments. I'm so glad to see they're still making imaginative films like this! It reminds me of one of those trippy kids' films I might have watched in the 80s, but with better effects. I really enjoyed this as an adult, both for the fantasy elements and the deeper elements that kids might miss (but possibly intuit?), like when the tree monster first shows up and what that means to Conor. That's the whole turning point of the movie, and it really comes together at the end. I don't want to spoil the emotional impact so I'll leave it at that. This is a sad movie, but also hopeful.

I thought this was really well done on every level - visuals, storytelling, and great performances.

Paddleton - "Oh God, small talk" pretty much sums up my entire world view, thank you.

I'm not usually into tearjerker dramas but it's Mark Duplass so, here we go. Bless you for making a cancer diagnosis scene wonderfully awkward. Bless you for knowing that abandoned drive-in theatres are some of my favourite places in the world. Bless you for understanding that small talk is awful and makes us stupid. And bless you for the most sincere portrait of male friendship I've seen since They Look Like People.

Ray Romano is great here, has he always been great? I don't know, I don't watch sitcoms! But this was like, an award-calibre performance. I'll say the same thing I said about Blue Jay, which was also written by Duplass and directed by Alexandre Lehmann. I love films about lost souls finding each other, whether it's romantic or friendship. Even if they end up losing each other, they're with each other forever because that changes a person. That's the only kind of dramatic story that really interests me, and this was a good one. 3.75 stars.

(The last two films I've watched have been about terminal illness, so idk what I'm watching next but it won't be that.)

Oculus -
I'm watching some of Mike Flanagan's films before I start my long overdue plunge into The Haunting of Hill House. Hush was really good, Before I Wake was decent, and I think this might be my favourite so far. This isn't super original; it's pretty standard mainstream modern horror. But I like modern horror when it's stylish and feels somewhat fresh, and this is upper mid-tier. (Not up with classics like Hereditary or the Conjuring films, but way above like, The Bye Bye Man. I mean, I've never seen The Bye Bye man, but y'know.) And it's about an eeeevil antique so it kinda feels like watching a movie-length episode of Friday the 13th: The Series, which I am totally down for.

The parts of this film I would mostly call "serviceable," but the sum of those parts makes for a compelling watch. I'm gonna credit Flanagan with that, as the mix of flashbacks and present day is done well and never feels overlong. You know what's gonna happen in the flashback sequences but they're still engaging (and horrific in a couple moments!), and I had NO IDEA what was gonna happen in the present day. Would they defeat the evil mirror? Would they run away like the smart (and adorable) dog? Would it kill one or both of them? Most importantly, was it the same evil mirror from Mirror Mirror?? The payoff here is pretty good, though I missed goth Rainbow Harvest.

more more movie catchup

Black Sabbath - Ahh, time for another classic horror I've never seen. This takes us back to the days when a horror legend (here, Boris Karloff) put on their best spooky black suit just to introduce a movie. Things were classy then, unlike now, scoffs the woman wearing Hello Kitty pjs and drinking wine from a Spiderman cup while watching horror movies. Anyway, Black Sabbath. It's good. The stars of this movie are the lighting and set design, and that's not to disparage the performances or anything, it's just that beautiful. This thing is all colour and texture and ornate gold bedposts. I don't know why the abandoned crypt is bathed in a purple and green glow, but I'm not gonna complain about it! This movie is pretty much what my pinterest page would look like.

Blue and pink-drenched gothic mansion filled with cats = retirement goals! Oh, dead lady in a bed. Never mind I guess. *sadly unpacks* The first segment managed to make dripping water really damn creepy because it's that kind of old movie where every second just oozes dread and I love that. The star of the second segment was this super mod looking red and black rotary phone, and I'm far from a rotary phone expert but I've never seen a snazzy two-tone one like that and I kind of want one, even if it is haunted.

The third segment features the ghoulish spectre of Boris Karloff riding a horse through a fog-shrouded forest of gnarled trees, and if you need more out of life than that I'm not sure I can help you. This one also featured the abandoned crypt, and the whole setting looked similar to Black Sunday. Between this and that film, I definitely need to check out more Mario Bava.

I started watching this last night and fell asleep, not because it was boring but because it lulled me into that cosy sleepiness only old horror movies can do. (Also, I watched this on tubitv so my gothic vibes were periodically interrupted by overly cheerful air travel ads. Not sure I'd recommend this method, but it was free.)

The Neon Demon - "Nicolas Winding Refn," what a name. Sounds like a riddle you must solve to complete a great quest, or possibly a small town in Pennsylvania.

Okay. This is a beautiful-looking movie about beautiful people I never wanna meet and beautiful places I never wanna go. I grew up in a small town in the L.A. area, and this felt about as alien to me as watching the life cycle of a rock on Mars. You can choose a vapid and shallow lifestyle, or nah, and I don't have a whole lot of empathy for people who do. And it's hard to connect to a two-hour film without empathy. A fun 90-minute slasher or found footage, maybe, but this was looong and maybe trying to Say Something, and it didn't say anything that hasn't been said before.

You can do a fresh take on "vapid L.A. culture;" Ingrid Goes West proved that. But that worked because not every character was shallow and one-dimensional. The shallow characters need substance to play off of, or it all just feels shallow. Once our protagonist here (who was literally just "small-town girl comes to L.A.") dumped the one sympathetic character and got lost up her own butt like everyone else, there was no one left to care about. (If you ever cared at all.) So when the horror elements finally kick in (and it takes a while), while they are horrific and visually effective, they don't resonate deeply because any feeling you had was already gone.

Like Velvet Buzzsaw, maybe that's the point, and this is a better film than that one. More stylish, more effective horror, some sharper writing. But it left me feeling the same - empty, sad, maybe a little hungry for an In-N-Out Burger. I guess I'm just not interested in the fashion or art worlds. Superficial people are boring, who knew?? As you would expect from something called The Neon Demon, the use of colour is AMAZING and there are some spectacular shots, so it is worth watching for that if you can stand 115 minutes of ugly-acting people lit prettily.

Big Little Lies (tv series) - I'm so glad all my children are cats

Life After Beth - If you see someone enjoying smooth jazz shoot them right in the head, that's just good common sense and it might save the world!
~The More You Know~

This didn't knock my socks off or anything but I had a consistently good time with it, and I can safely say I love Aubrey Plaza after only seeing her in two things.

The Spectacular Now - This little indie drama has a big cast, including Captain Marvel, no big deal. (I am so excited for this weekend and I don't even care how good it is because CAT and I am totally buying a t-shirt! 😻) Anywayy, this was a sweet but flawed movie that's really carried by its performances. Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley are great, playing teens that could have been tropes but weren't. Sutter seems like kind of a modern Ferris Bueller at first, and Aimee is more reserved but open to experience.

The biggest standout for me was Kyle Chandler as Sutter's alcoholic deadbeat dad. He plays what could have been a cliche character in such a naturalistic way you get angry at him all over again, like damn you really are a shithead! It's great, and you feel for Sutter here. He's not sympathetic all the way through, but these moments help flesh him out beyond "slacker teen who drinks too much."

Woodley really shines here but damn, her character was way too nice and forgiving! I wanted to hug her but maybe also shake some sense into her! What keeps me from rating this a little higher is how Teller's character treated her at times, and how she never stood up for herself. I expected this would culminate in a confrontation (or possibly a fiery car crash with all the drinking) but she's just like "oh, ok." I get what they were going for, but for me it dehumanized her character to humanize his, and there needed to be more balance. I still enjoyed this though, and it's absolutely worth watching for the performances if you like these slice of life indie dramas.

more movie catchup

Oh boy, look who's fallen behind again. SHOCKER.

Sinister - This was well overdue for a rewatch. I remember it freaking me right out the first time I saw it and yup, it's still freaky!

I forgot about Sheriff Crusty T. Exposition at the beginning and his "we don't like your kind round these parts" speech. That was kind of funny. Luckily, what comes next isn't quite so cliche because what comes next is supernatural super 8 snuff films. They're really disturbing and I love that this happened in a mainstream horror film with Ethan Hawke. Speaking of Ethan Hawke, he looked cosy and adorbs in his Writer Sweater. Love that for him.

This would easily be 4 stars for me, but I wanted more payoff with Bughuul at the end than just the cliche BLARGH! jumpscare then credits. I found him more menacing than the standard issue Creepy Kids that looked like they came from the Creepy Kid Factory. I kept waiting for them to break into one of those "la la la" spooooooky lullabies. I liked that Bughuul was a shadowy presence, and too much screen time could have ruined his impact, but it felt a little lacking.

I think my favourite part was imagining Bughuul labeling the film canisters with punny titles like "just hanging around!" and "pool party" with his eeeevil sharpie and giggling a lil.

Blue Ruin - Everything I said a couple days ago about Cold Weather being low-budget filmmaking at its best also applies to Blue Ruin. Feeling pretty lucky to have encountered two of these gems in as many days.

This kind of broke my heart. Our protagonist, who is weirdly named Dwight Evans (well it's weird if you're a Red Sox fan), is on a quest for revenge against the man he thinks killed his parents. Dwight is Very Much an Average Person and Not John Wick. Therefore, this is more of a slow burn but I was engaged the whole time. It's such a simple, compelling story. It reminded me in tone of Sun Don't Shine, but with more action and a lot more blood.

He arrives at the family home of the killer, who had just been released from prison. There's this heartbreakingly crude "Welcome Home" sign hung up and you have a weird moment of "aww, redneck killers' families love them too." I don't know if you were supposed to feel that but I think you were, because then Dwight goes through one of their photo albums and there's a photo of an ADORABLE TABBY CAT and the camera lingers on it too, so you just know they wanted all the cat ladies to be like "these people can't be all bad!!" And it worked. That zinged me through the heart. Cause they're probably not all bad, but they're a threat and it's complicated and I don't wanna spoil anything but yeah, this movie kinda broke my heart. Just idk, don't kill anyone? That's my life advice for today. Oh, adopt a cat and also don't kill anyone.

Blue Jay - Omygosh this was lovely, Sarah Paulson is wonderful, and I'm sort of in love with Mark Duplass, so. I don't usually like romantic comedies or dramas. They're trite, nobody acts like a person, and I 'm just waiting for someone to start stabbing people already, I'm boooored.

What I DO LIKE are movies about lost souls making a connection, whether it's romance or friendship. Normal moviegoers are like "kiss!" and I'm like "talk more about your shared existential crises!" This movie has plenty of deep conversation, it's shot in beautiful black and white, but there is nothing pretentious or "art house" here, this is pure human relatability and compassion. The characters love animals, which is how you can tell the true heart of a movie imo. (I know most romantic comedies have dogs, but this was like, heartfelt conversation about rescuing, not just a cute dog used as a prop.)

There are only three people in this movie, Mark and Sarah and a kindly shopkeep played by, randomly and wonderfully, MST3K's own "we're on Clu Gulager alert!" This is the kind of town that still has a kindly shopkeep, and I love when movies take place in small towns. I am so tired of New York City (which I always say in that Pace picante sauce accent.) Anywayyy, Mark and Sarah were high school sweethearts who haven't seen each other in 20 years and they start talking about the Gin Blossoms and I'm sold. I'm like, why did these guys ever break up, they're so great together? Then shit gets real, and it's sad, and I want nothing more in my whole life than these two people to be happy again.

Then they kinda are, and it's expressed in a weird way that I totally relate to (I'm being vague because I don't wanna spoil this, it's on Netflix and literally every human should watch it). We don't know where their lives will go after "the winds of change are fucking blowing tonight," and it's perfect. I don't need the big happily ever after kiss, a little part of me likes wistful yearning, and this thing pulsates with wistful yearning. But the bigger part of me hopes these two are running a greyhound rescue somewhere, right now. ❤️

Before I Wake - The regular butterflies looked kinda wonky but man, those glowing Christmas tree butterflies were a delight. I liked that more than any of the horror elements. They really nailed the dreamlike imagery there. This was a mixed bag and I was 2.5ing it pretty hard most of the way, but then the ending happened and I was like, "huh. Well, that's different" and I had to bump it up for creativity!

Watching this after Blue Jay was a mistaaaake. If the leads here had been Mark Duplass and Sarah Paulson, mmm, now that would have been a movie. But this is a dodgy CGI and jumpscare fest, so nah. I just didn't find the characters or performances here especially compelling. The most interesting thing about them is they were watching House on Haunted Hill one night, but they didn't seem like the sort of people who would watch old horror movies, it was so random. I found Kate Bosworth kind of flat and emotionless, try as she might. But once she got her investigation on she reminded me a little of Naomi Watts in The Ring so that was cool, and she was good in the end scene. That made me tear up a little.

I think I would have loved this as a kid, and it's appropriate for older kids to watch so that's something. If you're me and watching this late at night with your cats, it's a serviceable modern horror with a great idea let down by some flat writing and CGI. If you have a kid that's getting interested in horror, make up a big bowl of popcorn and put this on. It's a decent movie with heart.

Also, an actor named Dash Mihok I have never seen in anything else shows up briefly and gives kind of a banger performance? Idk if it's because everyone else seemed to be sleepwalking through this and he had all kinds of facial expressions, but boy I enjoyed him!

Let Me In - This is a hard film for me to rate, so I'm not going to. I watched Let the Right One In the first time a couple months ago, and of course loved it. If you really wanna see the story take place in America, or don't watch foreign language films at all, check this one out. If you love the original, you might not get a lot out of this. Not because it's bad, it just doesn't really add much?

I grew up in the 80s, and the cultural references (Rubik's cube, Pac-Man, Now & Later, the great soundtrack!) were On Point, as were the clothes, hairstyles, cars, etc. I enjoyed that. The child actors, including young Chloe Grace Moretz as Abby (Eli) and Dylan Minette as a bully (!), do a great job. The setting is perfect and the cinematography is lovely. It doesn't feel slick and Americanized, it actually keeps the bleakness of the Swedish film, which was a nice surprise. I have nothing bad to say about this, it just didn't wow me because I felt like I'd already seen it. But that might be a compliment?? This is too confusing to review, I'm going out for a smoke. (I don't smoke.)

Lady Bird - "Do I look like I'm from Sacramento?" is possibly my favourite opening line in a movie ever.

So, I loved this? I just need to devote my life to watching all the A24 films, I guess. (NOTE - yes, I've been working on just this! Not ALL of them of course.)

Garden State - Legit can't figure out if I really like this movie or just love that song. I do know this makes me really nostalgic, and there's no arguing with nostalgia so I guess I like it.

On a related note, I probably have to rewatch Ghost World and Napoleon Dynamite now too.