#cineblr

[pyreofsunflowers]

What I watched this week (3/6-3/12 '23)

Perfect Blue (1997, dir. Satoshi Kon)

I'm not saying anything new when I say I loved what a mindfuck this movie is. Truly a masterpiece in keeping you glued to the narrative and second guessing your own interpretation of the film.

It's really hard to talk about this movie without getting into really big spoiler territory but I'll do my best to describe why this film is such a masterpiece. Beyond the striking visuals and the intense score, Perfect Blue tackles the psyche of fame in a way I've never seen done before. It gets it so perfect, from the jealousy, the self loathing, to the wide variety of opinions of the public it paints a compelling picture of how fame literally, and figuratively traps one in it's web. Much like Mima, I constantly found myself backtracking and second guessing the films narrative, and ultimately the payoff left me with just the right amount of unanswered questions. I can't wait to re-watch and pick up on anything I may have missed.

5/5

Fallen Angels (1995, dir. Wong Kar-wai)

This!!! movie!!! is!!! so!!! sweet!!!! It's a movie about weirdos falling in love made for weirdos. The plot is just a loose thread that holds this bundle of joy and light against the grimey city underbelly together in the bestest of ways. This movie is ultimately about its characters, and for having so many different arcs going on all it once, it manages to give each one the right ammount of time to shine and grab onto my mind enough to leave a mark.

The theme of love and lonlieness permeates and saturates this film through the dark, intimate aesthetics and the bloody over the top gunfights and it makes it something special - and one of my favroites.

5/5

Escape From New York (1981, dir. John Carpenter)

Watching this movie as a metal gear solid fan is a trip, and probably contributed to 90% of my enjoyment of it. I know I know everyone has said it, "Snake plisken! snake plisken!" but there's more to it than that. The pacing, the plot structure, the elements of sci-fi all of it was used as a base in MGS and it's so cool to see it in it's original form!

Metal Gear references aside, Escape from New York is a solid sci fi action flick with good (albeit silly) worldbuilding and a solid, likeable cast of characters. I thought the movie lagged a little bit, but it made up for it in every other aspect - especially in it's action scenes.

4/5

Scream 3 + 4 (2000, 2011, dir. Wes Craven)

Oh scream, why does everyone love you? Honestly, am I just missing something with these movies? Is there some secret piece of knwoeldge I've glossed over? Or are people just stupid. I don't know. These movies are painfully boring and uninteresting people! The twists aren't fun, the gore is boring, the satire is blunt, and oh my god are the characters ever awful!

Look, I understand that looking for good characters in a Slasher is like trying to find a needle in a haystack, I understand that! But I'd forgive this movie if it didn't spend so much fucking time on them! I do not care about Sidney prescott. I do not care about Gale Weathers. I do not care about Dewey Riley. They are all fine as plot devices to keep the kills coming, but as these movies go on and on they become more and more about these people who I simply do not care about.

Scream 3: 1.5/5

Scream 4: 2/5

Scream + Scream 6 (2022, 20223 dir. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett)

Sadly, new directors couldn't fix this movie. They continue to perpetuate every flaw of the Craven films, and somehow manage to make them worse. The characters are just as flat, the movie is still way to long, and despite all the talk of "requels" , "elevated horror" and "reboots'' the satire continues to feel dated and overall blunt. I'm sorry, Scream franchise but saying something is a trope then doing it is neither funny or good satire.

I also personally find these two insulting as they try to knock sigh "whiney snowflake nerds with letterboxed" accounts down a peg for not enjoying.... shallow cashgrab franchise shlock? very strange angle for a satire to take but alright I guess. Also this film trys to tackle social media and. Just fails so horribly on it. At least 6 finally had some good kills.

Scream (2022): 0.5/5

Scream 6: 2/5

Better Call Saul S6 (2022, shrn.  Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould.)

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. That is my emotions on the end of this show. OH MY GOD what a ride this series has been, did you know I actually started it to get some inspiration for a long abandonded fanfiction? because I did. And GOD am I ever glad I did because the payoff, the journey was incredible. I haven't been this nethralled by a TV show in perhaps ever. I was on the edge of my seat for the entirtiy of season 6, just waiting to see how it would all come crashing down and MY GOD did it ever.

It is so hard for me to be and speak normally about this show, in fact I don't think I could even if I tried so I'm just going to leave it at that. Until next week folks!

[dooareyastudy]

Movies I watched in September 2022 & my opinion on them !

My favourites!

La Jetée, Chris Marker, 1962

Good

To be or not to be, Ernst Lubitsch, 1942

Chronique d’une liaison passagère, Emmanuel Mouret, 2022 | Rohmer wannabe

Bruno Reidal : Confession d’un meurtrier, Vincent Le Port, 2022

Triangle of Sadness, Ruben Östlund, 2022 | the irony of it being the Palme d’Or

Mid

Love at Sea, Guy Gilles, 1966 | forgetable

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, Luis Buñuel, 1972

Three Thousand Years of Longing, George Miller, 2022 | not bad, but I expected more. The second part of the movie was bland, especially the dialogues.

Bad

The night, Tsai Ming-Liang, 2022 | 19 minutes of CCTV footage honestly

Tokyo Godfathers, Satoshi Kon and Shôgo Furuya, 2004 | maybe it’s controversial (it seems like ppl around me like this anime a lot) but it’s just lazy storytelling to me.

[ganj-is-trying]

1st January 2021 - New year, new hopes!

Happy New Year everyone! It’s been a rough year and even though things won’t change immediately, it does feel good to celebrate being healthy and happy by the end of 2020 and look forward to a healthier and happier 2021.

Started the year off drunk and wearing the most amount of make up I’ve worn in 10 months (it was still only mascara, highlight and some tinted lip balm lol)  Thankfully, I woke up hangover-less and picked up my new bullet journal for 2021 (yellow book) and a new book to read (The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon)

Spent the first day of the year painting, recovering from the most low-key NYE ever, reading and listening to my favorite live Khruangbin performance (which is also great study music). I even managed to squeeze in some qualitative skill and logical reasoning prep for the TISS-NET. 

overall, not a bad start to the year!

My resolutions for 2021:

Continue making my monthly Spotify playlists (since 2018)

Maintain my Bullet Journal all year (since 2015)

Stop taking myself and every decision I make so seriously

Watch at least one new movie a week

Read at least one book a month (flexible based on size of book)

Take more pictures and videos of your friends

Make sure the people you love know that they are loved and appreciated

What are some resolutions you’re making? 

(although, if you feel like 2020 has been too uncertain for you to make any resolutions for this year, I 1000% empathize with you)

[pyreofsunflowers]

Movie of the Week - Tremors (1990)

This Review may contain Spoilers

I. Love. Sandworms.

That's really all I have to say about this movie, it's a pulpy, fun creature feature with great practical effects and a fun cast. It's not particularly deep, nor is it very scary - but my god is it fun! It succeeds in every way a creature feature should: believable and quirky action, solid worldbuilding, and great looking monsters!!! I cannot underestimate how good the grabboid puppets are!!! There awesome!!!!

One thing I will say this movie does well, beyond perfecting the creature feature form, is how much it packs into 90 minutes. For such a short movie, so much happens and never once does it drag on or become bloated. Each kill and each micro-evolution of the graboids is perfectly spaced to keep the movie going but also to get as much out of the run time as possible.

This review is short, very short, but I'm not going to sit here and pretend that this movie is anything more than it is - the perfect B Movie. An amazing monster movie that's perfect for parties, or taking camping, or watching on a plane. It's not deep, and all the art comes from the amazing work done by the effects team, but that doens't mean it's not one of my favorite "horror" flicks! 8/10.

[ifewashere]

in the mood for love (2000), dir. wong kar-wai

[pyreofsunflowers]

What I watched this week (3/20-3/26)

Oops, It's late! Anyways hope y'all enjoy.

The Wicker Man (1973, dir. Robin Hardy)

So apart from my obvious bias of being a Neofolk fan watching the Neofolk movie, the Wicker Man fucking rocks. Everything about it is masterfully crafted, from the story to the subtext to the imagery and ESPECIALLY the soundtrack.

I greatly enjoyed the commentary on religion and conservatism, which despite this movies age still manages to hold up some. Christopher Lee is amazing and really carries this movie with his convincing performance.

I don't have a lot to say about the Wicker Man that isn't insane raving about how pretty it is, but I will say that it is not like Midsommar at all outside of aesthetics :-)

5/5

Eyes Wide Shut (1999, dir. Stanley Kubrick)

I loved this one, kinda unsurprisingly. Tom Cruise knocks it out of the park, which is surpring - as I normally hate Tom Cruise. But that aside, this movie is fascinating. It does a really good job at putting you in the shoes of someone truly in over there head - wandering around lost, looking for answers, afraid but yearning for more. It captures all of these emotions well.

I liked what it had to say about the intersection of sex and class, and even more what it had to say about desire - and how desire can both bring people together and apart.

Go watch it, it's so much more than just the haha funny cult movie. In fact, the cult is a relatively small part of the plot for how much people talk about it!

4.5/5

Moonrise Kingdom (2012, dir. Wes Anderson)

As dark, foreboding, and weird my usual aesthetic (and taste) in movies is. I am not immune to a feel-good Wes Anderson movie. Maybe it's the style, maybe it's the melancholy, maybe it's the soundtrack. I'm not really sure, but I love Anderson. Especially when I'm stuck in bed with the flu and can't think, which is when i watched this one!

And surprise surprise. I loved it, as it has all the trappings of every other Anderson film. Solid, unique characters, a fun aesthetic and a story with just the right amount of stakes that despite it's simplicity wraps you up and keeps you enthralled. Is it his best work? no, I don't think so. But it's a ~* Good Fun Movie *~ nonetheless :-)

4/5

Halloween II (1981, dir. Rick Rosenthal)

Meh. Is what i have to say about Halloween II. It was FINE. I feel the same way about it that I do Scream 1. It's decent, it's well made, It has it's fun moments, but it's just nothing more than that. It doesn't have an amazing aesthetic, or extremely well done kills, or out of this world pacing and suspense. It does have the same high quality cinematography and lighting of the original, but that's about it. For movies that take place on the same night, they could not feel more different.

3/5 - put it on in the background while you get high or bang your gf or at a party or whatever.

Gone Girl (2014, dir. David Fincher)

YOU ALL LIED TO ME ABOUT GONE GIRL. ALL OF YOU. AND IM SO HAPPY YOU DID.

Because I hate the essence of Amy's character, and I hate the people who idolize it. This movie. THIS MOVIE IS SO GOOD AT MAKING ME HATE AMY and I love it. Sure, Nick is not a good guy either. I don't like him at all, but dear GOD was I rooting for him more than I've rooted for any other movie main in a while.

If this ever escapes, I will get crucified for this and I do. Not. Care I hated that bitch and watching her downfall over the runtime was amazing and enthralling.

What's even more commendable is that the ending twist manages to still be satisfying despite not ending the way I (or Nick, most likely) would have wanted it to end!

Also shoutout to the score I love you Trent Reznor.

Go watch it it if you haven't, and go watch it again if your a weirdo who thinks its some feminist masterpiece

4.5/5

[pyreofsunflowers]

What I watched this week 3/13-3/19

this week was a little skimpy because I had to work so much, but fret not I still have plenty of stuff for y'all

The Shining (1980, Dir. Stanley Kubrick)

Did y'all know I go to the "overlook" (The Timberline lodge up in Mt Hood national forest) every year in the summer? It's a beautiful place. Anyways you'd think with that I'd have seen the shining by now, but nope! This was my first time ever watching it! And man - what a film! Nothing beats a well made horror movie, in my humble opinion, with that sweet spot blend of the meta-physical and the physical threats, threatening, stylistic cinematography, and a small-yet-solid cast of characters portrayed by talented actors really giving it there all makes for such a satisfying watch!

I've never read the original novel, where most of the subtext and themes of those movie -obviously - are drawn from, and I likely never will as I generally dislike fiction. However. I still found the themes permeant and the subtext moving despite not having it in full context. That, in my own opinion, is what makes the Shining such an effective adaptation - although I am rather uninformed as I've only ever heard people talk about the book.

Definitely one of my favorite horror movies -5/5

Enemy (2013, dir. Denis Villeneuve)

Okay so I'm just gonna be frank - I am bad with metaphors and symbolism. I can understand character growth, plot structure, timelines, cinematography, lighting, peroid accuracy, and all sorts of more technical and object elements of a movie. I mostly critique based off of these things, I stay in my lane. It's not that I can't ever understand a metaphor or pick up on any forms of symbolism, it's just not really how my brain works.

That being said, I still really really enjoyed this movie. It was a well made slow paced pysch. thriller that tackles adultery and cheating in a way I've never seen a movie do before. Villeneuve's style, as always, adds such a rich, amazing, and lonely air to the film - one which I think helps enhance it's message.

To condense, this is a film about double lives, about two drastically different halves inside one body. It's about secrets and hiding and ultimately letting the facade all down and the chaos all of that will cause in one's life (illustred quite well by the ending scenes of the film.)

I can't really describe this film, just go watch it for yourself. Unless you can't stand spiders. 4.5/5

Halloween (1978, Dir. John Carpenter)

After marathoning all 6 Scream movies over the course of 2 weeks, my hopes were really low for Halloween. Specifically because Scream, at least the first one, is a pretty self admitted satire of tropes Halloween brought to the table. But I was really surprised with how good this one was!

I don't really know why? Maybe it's because I don't tend to super love what is super popular? But I'm happy to say Halloween holds up and is a genuinely creepy slasher. John Carpenter's slow, meandering style really lends itself well to the genre - making the final kills feel well deserved and establishing a true sense of fear in the audience. Especially with how hidden Michael Meyer's is from the camera for the first 2 acts.

This films lighting and cinematography are also on another level, the way the film gets both literally and tonally darker as the day drags on, the way Michael is always kept in the shadows, the intimate, stalker-esque camera... It's amazing!

Me and the friend I watched Scream with are doing the same thing but for the Halloween franchise now, but less frequently cause there's no upcoming film. So stay tuned as I work my way through 9 more fucking Halloween movies.

This movie was really well made, though not something I would consider a personal favorite. 4/5.

Breaking Bad Season 4 (2011 shrn. Vince Gilligan)

So I'm just about finished with season 4 and hollllyyyyyyy shit Vince Gilligian is a mastermind. I've really been enjoying the plotline with Hank catching up to Walt + Gus, and am really excited for the payoff in S5. Jesse's arc continues to carry the show and I want nothing but the best for this man. Please oh god Mike just help this man he NEEDS it.

The scene where he went back and cussed out his old rehab therapist was *amazing* and really hit home with just how far gone he thinks he is and gives you a really good look into his pysche. Speaking of Pysches Walt's undoing is finally starting to rear it's head and boy howdy am I ever ready for that clown to kick the bucket. Fuck that guy.

I also really enjoyed the Gus backstory, and Max's death is probably one of my favorite scenes in the entire series (is that a spoiler? i don't think so...) Anyways brba continues to be a masterpiece and you'll be seeing more of dis.

[pyreofsunflowers]

What I watched this week

Starting a new way for me to sperg about movies as your favorite 2 note filmsis. Ill try to make these as spoiler free as possible, these are just fun little thoughts I had and are not meant to be full plotline breakdowns!

(although i mean if you guys asked nicely i certainly would)

Drive (2011, dir Nicolas Refn)

Oh boy oh man do I ever love Drive. It's such a cliche thing to say, I know. But sometimes things are loved for a good reason! Aside from praising the score and cinematography like most people will (although Cliff Martinez and Newton Sigel knocked it out of the damn park in both respects!) I wanna talk about just how.... Heartwarming? This movie is? Drive to me is a comfy movie I can sit back and wrap myself in like a warm blanket. I want nothing but the best for Driver and Irene and I found myself almost crying at times. This was definitely due in part to Ryan Goslings awesome performance! I don't have too much to say about this one, it's a cozy watch and is my type of romance movie (is one with a gritty aesthetic and bloody car cashes.)

4/5.

Stalingrad (1993, dir. Joseph Vilsmaier)

I really really really wanted to like this movie. So much so in fact I stuck with it for all 134 minutes waiting for it to get good. Let's start with the plot and the characters - the characters here are. Meh. For a character driven, dramatic war story the characters fall flat, I could barely match the names to the faces. They all acted the same and there was no real way to tell them all apart. The chemistry between them was fine I suppose? I've certainly seen worse, but fine chemistry doesn't work when the characters are just so very boring.

Then you have the pacing, oh my god the pacing. For a two hour long movie, it really does a piss poor job at showing just how long, drawn out, and arduous the battle of Stalingrad was. It lingers too much on the characters, and jumps over key parts of the battle to focus on them instead. Now this wouldn't necessarily be a problem if the characters were engaging and well written. It also completely misses the tone of the battle, but this isn't a history lecture. I'm not here to tell you every single flaw this movie has in terms of it's history.

What I will talk about is how this movie handles Nazism. Because it does not do it well. I'm not trying to say you cannot make a war movie where the main characters are Nazis (Downfall by Oliver Hirschbiegel is a terrific example of this), but if you are. Do not do it like this movie does. This movie is a prime example of Clean Werchmat propaganda, where not just one but every single one of the main characters are horrified by the actions of the Nazi party. But every. Single. one. Except for of course, the officer played by Dieter Okras, but even then his cruelty is more that of a Saturday morning cartoon character than a high ranking Nazi. This film tries so very hard to make you feel like the main characters are not Nazis, and when they are forced to adknowladge that they are - it downplays it to a degree I found very hard to sit through.

2/5 (for the wonderful score, sound design and visuals.)

Scream 1 + 2 (1996, 1997, dir. Wes Craven.)

Big. Fat. Meh. I had absolutely no thoughts about either of these movies in all honesty and I really don't understand all of the praise they get. Boring kills. Boring characters. Far too long. Dated satire that doesn't hold up. Boring predictable twists. I know what I'm looking for in this movie, cool gory kills and Skeet Ulrich being a hunk. I wasn't expecting some wonderfully thoughtful satire of the horror genre, or a deeply unsettling movie that keeps me up at night. Yet still I found myself bored and disappointed.

Scream 2 did nothing to improve on the original, and if anything it was much worse. This time instead of being fine enough schlock you could show at a Halloween party which no one would pay attention to it was just kind of bland, boring and unengaging. The acting was much worse, The kills were far more boring, and the soundtrack was worse! Which was the only thing I liked about the first movie! I'm watching through all of these so I can go see scream 6 for my friend's birthday next week, and I can't wait to torture myself with even more of these boring ass movies.

Scream 1: 3/5

Scream 2: 2/5