Watchlog


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Blue Velvet

Watched: August 8th

David Lynch does things and I'm seated once again

    It took me a long time to formulate this entry because I'll be honest I needed to let this movie marinate for a bit. I would actually like to watch it again as well but here's my professional review after one watch so far!

    What a great movie! It's so raw and strange and oddly beautiful I was really invested the whole way through. Really quickly became one of my favorites. As far as Lynch projects go I feel like this one is a bit more digestable. To me, the movie explores the ideal suburban american dream - white picket fence neighborhoods in a quaint town - in contrast with the sort of "nasty" underbelly of violence and crime. It shows how corrupt and rotten from the inside systems can be and how it affects normal people.

    I also find the main character really interesting because of his sort of voyeuristic nature. While generally wanting to help people and do the right thing he can't stay away and so while helping he ultimately can be also really exploitative, using especially the women for his own interests. That's another thing and I feel like this is something common in a lot of Lynch's work where women are shown to be objectified by men, sexual objects but under a critical lense. You could argue the movie itself objectifies them but I'd argue ultimately it shows the cruelty of men and criticizes it.

    There is definitely more that could be said (and better than I've tried to) but like I said I will definitely rewatch this movie at some point and maybe get a more concrete analysis in the future! Overall great watch and definitely worth it.

    "...there is trouble until the robins come."

Bullet Train

Watched: July 26th

Things are blowing up but also it's about the importance of family man

    Finally got around to watching this (also first non-horror entry since maze runner, who cheered) and it was as fun as I hoped it would be. Super funny, entertaining and fast-paced, can't really complain there. The cast is also great, Lemon and Tangerine are definitely my shining stars in terms of characters but the rest is also excellent!

    I do feel like I liked the first half of the movie better than the second. Watching the storylines connect and things unfold is very rewarding especially with all the little bits of information that are put out there with the pay off coming later. The second half is still good but I feel like it starts to lose some of that charm. The ending is a bit too bonkers for me, not gonna lie, but not enough to ruin the rest. The action is really good as well in my opinion. I love fight scenes that use the space and get creative and that's exactly what's happening here as the whole movie takes place on this train.

    Overall, I really loved this movie. It was fun and clever but also suprisingly touching so that was a nice touch. Brad Pitt you will not be forgiven for your crimes but you were pretty alright in this.

Late Night with the Devil

Watched: July 18th

Great movie... except for the AI

    This was yet another movie I was really looking forward to watching and it was really good! I love to see independent films getting this amount of attention and the things they were able to do with a relatively small budget is amazing. I think the premise is great, very fun idea plus it combines the analog horror/found footage subgenres in a way that actually makes sense and ties the story together. I didn't even mind the breaking of the illusion at the end, I think it added an interesting angle into the mind of the main character.

    On that topic I really loved Jack's character. Partially because I already like David Dastmalchian and his acting in this was top tier! He really captures the very charismatic but equally desperate and insecure Jack.

    Now to address the elephant in the room: I, like a lot of other people, really hate the usage of AI to create some of the graphics in the movie. I understand that it was probably to save money but come on! It feels like a back-stab to artists when you are independent artists yourselves. The aesthetics of the movie are incredible, we even get to see some amazing practical effects and I LOVED that... and then you get taken out of it with a poorly generated AI graphic. It really bothers me, even more because I didn't know about this whole situation until AFTER I already watched the movie. A real disappointing conclusion to what would otherwise be a great film.

    Long story short: just pirate it. It's still a really good analog horror/found footage film without a lot of the overused tropes with a great cast and visuals!

Evil Dead Rise

Watched: July 17th

"Come get some!"

    I finally got around to watching this after planning to do it for so long and oh boy it was sooo worth it!! Genuienly such a fun horror movie. I was a bit scared how it was gonna compare to the rest of Evil Dead because re-makes and sequels can be huge disappointments sometimes but this one I feel like really holds up. There's references for people that know the movies but also it works just as well as a standalone.

    Most importantly: it's gory! A staple of Evil Dead in my opinion and this one has some new gross gore as well as the adequate amount of blood and it was you flinching but also unable to look away. And the body horror had my skin crawling (in a good way!)

    I honestly also really liked the characters (even if there was the usual - opening of a book that screams "do not open" but hey we wouldn't have the story without it) and I was rooting for them all through out. Plus the acting was on point, no complaints there. I also like the parallel that instead of being stuck in the house like in Evil Dead we are stuck in an apartment which at first had me thinking "how will they prevent the characters from just leaving?" and in the end I think the movie handles it great. It gets pretty claustrophobic and you can feel the anxiety of being stuck in this space with no real way out.

    Overall very fun watch, gross, bloody and a great time! Would definitely recommend.

Devil's Due

Watched: July 14th 2024

"We have to start looking at reviews before watching things"

    God this was awful. Honestly I think bad movies are often very enjoyable because they are funny - this isn't one of those cases lol. Not only is this movie bad its's also BORING. There is like one scene where I was ready to at least get spooked by a jumpscare--- and then it was completely bland and uninteresting. When I don't even flinch at the loud-noise-something-jumps-on-screen bit what am I even doing here?

    To be fair when me and my boyfriend were looking for a movie to watch I did say I'm feeling like watching a cheesy 2010's supernatural no brainer sort of movie but what I wanted was more the conjuring and less.. whatever this was.

    What also pisses me off is that this is found footage at its absolute WORST. Like this is a prime example of "let's make a found footage film cuz it's popular right now" when in reality it makes no sense for this to be recorded by the characters. I'd say that the movie would work if it was traditionally shot but honestly I don't think this one can be saved (and the budget wouldn't be big enough to allow it in the first place because it was spent on god-awful unnecessary cgi).

    To run through it real quick: the story is very bland and unoriginal like just watch rosemary's baby at this point (or any other antichrist-centric story for that matter), the acting great either - like in the more casual scenes it works because it feels natural but then the more emotional bits stumble, it isn't even necessary to mention cinematography because-- look at it and the characters are very white suburban christian blogger™ so nothing crazy there either.

    In short, the next time I feel like watching the conjuring I'll just watch the conjuring and save myself an hour and a half of this boring mess.

Bingo Hell

Watched: July 12th 2024

Was I just drunk or was this the best movie ever

    To clarify: I was a bit under the influence when I watched this but even then... this movie was so much fun. I don't think it works too well as a horror movie, the scares are very few and far between and when they do happen they aren't very effective BUT it's absolutely ridiculous, campy and hilarious so am I gonna complain?

    I have to give the movie this: in a world where "scary" old people are used in a lot of movies as the main horror aspect I adore this cast of senior citizens fighting a demon in their neighborhood - it's everything, it has bingo, it has surprisingly delightful characters that have great chemistry and dynamics... overall not the best movie, the plot is a bit bare-bones but the characters make up for it.

    Like I said though I wouldn't go into this movie expecting high-quality horror. It isn't scary, but if you don't need that and you want to watch a charming cast of bickering old people beating up a demon in their local bingo hall... this might just be THE movie.

Evil Dead (2013)

Rewatched: July 9th 2024

"Is it good? No but it's gory and fun"

    To start this off: I LOVE the original Evil Dead movies. They are easily some of my favorites not only in the genre but also in general. And while this movie isn't in my opinion as good it's just really fun. There are some nice changes I think and it stands honestly pretty nice on its own. Like yeah if you compare it to the originals it will suck but if you take it as its own thing I think it's a very fun time.

    This was actually a re-watch and it was just as good as I remember. The gore is NASTY like there are scenes where I genuinely have to look away because I find them really gross. Like I can't stand stuff that has to do with injuries to the mouth/eyes/hands and all that is here. It's a total blood fest and you know what? That's exactly what I need from it. The characters are dumb, the story isn't really relevant but it's fucked up, it's messy and it's scary. I also think that the visual effects are really good and there's never a time where I think something looks straight up bad.

    So yeah, a nice casual watch full of violence and deranged demons - delightful.

The Visit

Watched: July 9th 2024

The funniest horror movie I have seen in a while

    I watched this movie very randomly hearing some good things about it from people and oh boy this was a good idea. I'll be honest, I'm not the biggest M. Night Shyamalan fan but this was a delight. It was unsettling, it was surprisingly hilarious and I had a lot of fun. I think partially the experience was great because I watched this with my best friend but even then this was a pleasant surprise.

    I have to say the twist was very predictable to me (one of the reasons I probably don't love Shyamalan's work) and do I feel like the whole "the scary thing is mentally ill people" is very cheap. I honestly really don't like the trope. But oh well I feel like as a horror viewer you have to accept that it is a huge thing in the genre even if you see it as an easy cop-out.

    I think the scares were decent and I like the mockumentary from the pov of a kid/found footage-esque approach. I love found footage so this was an easy win for me. My favorite part of the movie was actually the humor though - it's so unserious and had me genuinely laughing. T Diamond Stylus you will always be famous.

The Maze Runner trilogy

Watched: July 4th 2024

Extremely fun to watch when you let go of your pretentious film enjoyer persona

    Now why did I as a so called arty person who loves horror and surreal cinema watch three teen distopia movies? Simple answer: they were fun. I watched the first movie after getting it recommended by my sister and after being pleasantly surprised I finished the other two as well. Are the movies great? No. But that's honestly the charm for me. I think that Maze Runner is at it's best when it doesn't take itself too seriously. That's honestly the reason why I didn't like the last movie that much, it was a bit of a drag and it let go of the over-the-top campy action of the first two movies and instead decided it will be very serious and rigid. Not a huge fan of that but oh well the first two are absolute gems so I'm not mad.

    The first movie is honestly golden. The atmosphere of the maze is really ominous and eldritch and it gets a bit scary at times and actually pretty dark which was a pleasant surprise for me. My biggest issue: not enough maze. I feel like that's the best part of the movie and I would like it if we spent more time actually inside it. Leaving the maze at the end of the first film just had me thinking: "well... now what."

    The second is by far my favorite. We go from this survival story into full-blown zombie apocalypse and I LOVE IT. It's tense, it's scary, it's a bit dumb and the plot is lacking but at no point did that take me out of it. I was glued to the screen and I feel like if you're just in it for the explosions and melodrama it'll do exactly what you want it to.

    And again the last movie is just... boring I'd say. Not a lot to say honestly, there are some fun bits and I like the expansions they do to the overall world/lore but yeah didn't love this one.

    So in conclusion: it's not high art, it's not the peak of cinema but it is exactly what you'd want from it and even though I may not be the target audience for these movies I had a blast!!

Interview with the vampire (2022)

Finished: June 30th 2024

10/10 Absolutely incredible show, nothing else to say

    Except there is actually a LOT to say!! Words can't even begin to explain the emotional rollercoaster this show put me through. It's everything- it's queer, it's bloody, it's raw and honestly I have zero complaints. With a lot of the things I watch there's at least one thing that I'm like "ehh that could've been better but whatever" but here? Genuinely can't think of anything. I started watching when season 2 was airing so in the span of a day I got caught up to season 2 episode 5 and since then I followed along in real time and it was just one of those things where it felt like you had to be there. (not really but you know what I mean lol)

    Television is so back and I for one am OBSESSED. For the rest of my deranged ramblings I have a full review page/shrine here!

    "Don't be afraid, just start the tape..."