#also i've been getting into using letterboxd lately

[wekillitwithfire]

okay but I genuinely, wholeheartedly LOVE Teen Beach Movie

[goldfinchwrites]

goldfinchwrites - a writeblr intro

Hello - I'm Lottie, and I'm making a tentative return to writeblr. I've been here on and off for years but I've missed it and thus am returning. A little about me:

I'm 26 years old, based in the UK and use she/her pronouns.

I'm been writing since I was 15, got my degree in English Literature and then last year completed a Master's in Creative Writing.

I like to write literary fiction most, but am partial to the gothic and including touches of horror and magical realism. I've also written a little poetry and am looking to return to it as well.

I have two finished manuscripts: one that I'm currently querying and another that's just sitting there and I'm considering getting beta readers for, and then at present I'm not really sure what I want to write now. Both of them are quite different in terms of tones and theme so it's become difficult to categorise what sort of fiction I like to write.

That said, things that tend to come up: the misery of small town England, particularly in the West Country/Cotswolds, country houses, the late 20th Century, queer themes, nature and the environment, and casts of very unlikable people.

I’m also very interested in hauntology and countercultural history.

The authors I'm presently most inspired by are Shirley Jackson, Donna Tartt, Elfriede Jelinek, Bret Easton Ellis, Carmen Maria Machado, Sayaka Murata, William Boyd and Evelyn Waugh, but, in essence, my reading taste is 20th Century Classics.

I’m currently working on what I call for a shorthand “seventies gothic.”

I'm looking to follow some writeblrs - especially litfic writeblrs, and dip my toe back into the community!

I also really don’t like people spam liking/otherwise interacting so please don’t. storygraph / bluesky / letterboxd / litfic writers discord

[fuddlyduddly]

Hey, I saw you talking about reading The Haunting of Hill House via a trans lens and I got curious. Could you elaborate on that, please? Cause I found it really interesting.

yeah I can! I've been meaning to write some sort of article about why I feel Hill House is trans, so this is a good excuse to get these thoughts written out.It's mostly that I find the story and its themes to be very trans to me, specifically with the character of Eleanor; when I was a teen and didn't know I was trans, and I found myself drawn to her for reasons I couldn't understand yet. There are a lot of things about her that spoke to me as a pre egg-crack trans woman; the way she feels like she's been waiting her whole life for something, anything, but she doesn't know what; the way she's felt trapped by the expectations of her; the way she's so shy and withdrawing (she reminds me in a way of this quote from Imogen Binnie's Nevada: "Maria is transsexual and she is so meek she might disappear"); the ways in which Eleanor constantly feels out of touch with the people around her and can't figure out social situations; the ways she's never felt wanted ("I am a sort of stray cat aren't I?"); the way she is prone to misreading casual relationships because she isn't experienced enough to know she's mistaken; and especially how she so desperately wants to belong. Eleanor is so withdrawn and desperate for connection that she lets the House take her over because, at last, “something is at last really, really, really, happening to [her]”, and unfortunately I could relate to that; she's so desperate to belong that she'll let anything happen to her, even if it kills her.

One line in particular really speaks to me every time I reread the book: “—and then each year, one summer morning, the warm wind would come down the city street where she walked and she would be touched with the little cold thought: I have let more time go by.” To me, that's what it felt like pre realization, every year would go by and I'd feel like I'd missed something; I wouldn't know what, but I'd know I'd let more time go by. Eleanor's story is one of a person who's been waiting so long to make a change, that when a change finally happens, it's too late for her; she's waited too long, and she's out of time. It's rather bleak, but so is gender dysphoria.

I think for me ultimately, any story about a woman who feels trapped and out of touch in some way will feel trans to me (I have a Letterboxd list about that with all sorts of movies on it), but Hill House really sticks out to me because of how acute and specific Eleanor's pain is, and how relatable I found her; her pain feels very transfeminine to me in ways I'm not quite sure how to articulate. I've found a lot of other transfems on tumblr who are also very drawn to Hill House, and in a way its very nice to see us all have a special connection to this book.

also part of this realization came from this post!

[annabananaaxox]

I just finished the second week of uni. It went by really quickly, it's been good. I don't have much work yet so I've been getting back into substack lately.

I made an instagram account specifically for my writing, it's @thatswhytheycallmeanitaa, i hope you follow it. I also hope you follow my substack, you won't regret it.

I'm currently reading Antigone, for uni; it always makes me tear up. I'm writing a lot, in fact I will post an essay on substack tomorrow (hopefully).

Substack is a strange place, just as tumblr or letterboxd are, it's hard to find a community there, plus nobody I know in real life ever uses any of these apps. Most of my Substack followers and subscribers are people I know irl who decided to subscribe to do me a favor, but they never read, like or comment on my posts; it's discouraging.

For all my life I've thought the only possible job I could ever have was to be a writer or artist, now, already in university, I fear people might not want to consume my art; I fear being invisible.

Maybe this is weird, but I'm scared. I've only ever wanted to write, and to have people consume my writing.

Anyways, I'm going crazy but I still love all of you,

Xx, lots of love,

Anna

[hannibal-shits-people]

About Me

Had this blog for about a decade, tried doing About Me pages, but haven't tried since pinned posts were a thing. Might as well now

General Introductions

I'm Macaroni, call me Mac or something. 24, British, fat, White, and I guess a leftist. I'm Genderqueer, polyamorous, and pansexual, I go by any pronouns at all with no preference, though it would be cool to be a He or Xe occasionally. Single, though very much simping for my best friend across the pond, I'm not even subtle about it. Not a cat parent, but a cat sibling. As well as a real sibling, I talk about the stinks sometimes.

Minors, Bigots of all types, Anti-palestine MFers and just general dickheads DNI, I see the block button and am happy to use it

I don't know what a Pro-shipper is and at this point I'm afraid to ask.

Hobbies/Likes/Faves

I'm mostly a writer, mainly fanfiction, and I've been meaning to get into making small edits (my tiktok is bare bones). I'm really into Horror and still hung up on TV shows from my teen years, and I'm reading a lot more than I used to. I also adore giving my opinion on things when they aren't wanted.

Currently Reading; Paper Ghosts by Julia Heaberlin, it's a bit of a slog IMO (Check out my Goodreads if you want) Currently Watching: (TV) Nothing yet, but I want to watch IWTV. (Movies) Rite Here Rite Now. I have not yet emotionally recovered (Check out my Letterboxd if you want) Currently playing: Dragon Age Inquisition. I have fallen deeply incurably in love with my Hawke and have her whole life planned out, but my Inquisitor is just fine rn getting railed by The Iron Bull like his life depends on it Currently Listening to: A mix of Ghost and random K-pop Current Food Craving: Mac and Cheese. It is always Mac and Cheese, it will never not be Mac and Cheese.

When I say I want to fuck old people, I don't mean motherfuckers in their late 40s, I mean Charles Dance and Anthony Hopkins right now, I mean I'd fuck Dame Judi Dench in a second. I mean Papa Nihil on his last legs

Other Blogs

Sole mod of the @anewgayeveryday and @theyre-gay-because-i-say-so blogs, as well as running my two writing blogs @macherkissed and @the-ghost-and-the-writer (latter is getting a revamp eventually, would be getting deleted but my ex is still co-mod)

Two of my brothers have blogs too; @ddddd-pixels, if you're into spritework stuff, and @pens-n-pixels if you're into spritework and also pen and paper drawings.

[mx-piggy]

i'm trying to get used to the idea that i can have my own opinion of a movie even if people think it's kinda shit, so here's my little review of Grave Encounters, which i watched just now late at night/in the wee hours of the morning.

i loved this movie so much, way more than i anticipated. i've seen my fair share of found-footage horror movies, and i was expecting to like it well enough alongside films like Cloverfield and As Above, So Below, or think it was not very good but enjoy it nonetheless like most of the Paranormal Activity movies or the Taking of Deborah Logan, but i unironically enjoyed it and thought it was unironically good, too. it's definitely not as good as found-footage movies like the Blair Witch Project, Creep or Rec, at least in my opinion, but i'd say it's one of the better ones for sure.

it had plenty of slightly cheap jumpscares- like i expected it to- but was really good at building a sense of tension and dread throughout. it's like if you take the last 20 minutes of a Paranormal Activity movie and extend it out to feature-length.

unlike with most found-footage movies, i really actively liked the characters, or found them entertaining at the very least. i found it way funnier than i should have when the characters would tell Houston to shut the fuck up whenever he said anything at all.

i also really liked how the film crew had to experience the sense of entrapment and mental decline that the patients must have felt, and how you only really get to sympathise with Lance when he's gradually isolated and psychologically tortured by the hospital. the first thing that comes to mind when looking for a comparison to this movie is the Taking of Deborah Logan, which i feel could have been way better if they went down the route of her possession better reflected the gradual decline experienced by Alzheimer patients, rather than 'ooo she's possessed by the ghost of a child predator' or whatever it was. like, with Grave Encounters, you get to see a group of people who are cut off from the world and tortured by a mental hospital like the people who were once thrown in there.

so yeah. good movie. i've been watching quite a few horror movies recently, so follow me on letterboxd so i can feel like my opinions on movies matter.

[btscontentenjoyer]

welcome to my january wrap up!! aka what media i used in order to procrastinate this month!

i know nobody really cares lol but i'm mostly using this as a way to keep track for myself

this month was my exam month 🥰🥰 so i didn't have the mental capacity to do much reading outside of uni, i mostly watched films in the evening to try and ignore all the stress i was feeling 😌 also i'm sure you'll notice if i do these every month but if i consume one type of media more i always end up neglecting the other ones a little bit, there is no balance with me 😭😭

books

at the very beginning of the year i finally finished east of eden and i really enjoyed it! and i'm around a hundred pages into the remains of the day but it feels like i'm just getting into it lol. i also bought house of leaves this month which i'm very excited to read!! (and just ordered a couple more but they'll be here in february, so i'll leave them for then)

movies

i'm predicting a big movie kick next month because i've been feeling really inspired to watch movies lately. i quite enjoyed most of these, had to start off my year with my favourite director and then the exorcist and fire walk with me were a wild ride that i really liked too.

tv shows

i basically watch tv shows exclusively with my sister, one episode almost every evening and it's a ritual i really enjoy 🥺🥺 i can't lie, the third season of twin peaks wasn't really my favourite, but i'm very happy with how they're doing percy jackson after what the movie adaptation was like! we just finished the queen's gambit today and i quite liked that one too!

music

i was a little too into dpr ian's mood swings in this order this month, it was pretty much on constant loop. i just find him really interesting and cool!! so i was just watching a bunch of his interviews and stuff this month, can't wait to listen to the rest of his music as well. and then unreal unearth is just so so so so gorgeous that i'm constantly thinking about it.

other

when i wasn't avoiding my problems by watching movies, i was doing it by playing the sims 4! i spent way too much time on this game.

i also read very few fics this month (still managed to read about 50k tho) and i will a hundred percent read more next month when i have the brain capacity! but i'm perhaps going to make a separate list for that every couple of months.

so i think that's everything. if you feel compelled to tell me what you watched/read/listened to or your thoughts on any of these feel free to message me or tag me in a similar wrap up, because i love talking about and knowing what media people are loving. also if perhaps any moots want us to follow each other on goodreads or letterboxd, slide in my dms because i love knowing what my friends are up to on there as well!

[mariska]

hello again beloved tumblr friends in my phone i am still absolutely physically and mentally exhausted this week and do not have much to offer or share of substance for my lil blog here but i needed to hop on and say that lately i've been using this site called Watchlist Picker to help me decide on watching a movie before i go to bed at night (the watchlist it picks from is whatever Letterboxd profile u have it search thru so i've been having it pick stuff from my profile's watchlist obvs since i have like 1000+ stuff on there and i am so so so very indecisive)

anyways i usually re-roll it one or two times 'cause lately i have been so low on energy that i cant get myself to pick up my laptop and do a brief google search to see if the movie the site picks is on any streaming things or just find it on my......Definitely Legit Alternate Streaming Sites I Use To Watch Things.........so i let the site do its thing and then go on letterboxd for a min and see if the movie listing on there mentions it being on one of the few streaming places i have apps for on my phone since thats much faster and more accessible, and last night it picked a movie called Psycho Goreman thats on Shudder (i lov Shudder btw out of every stupid streaming platform there is it is the only one i would actively recommended to other ppl cus its all horror or horror/thriller/suspense/horror adjacent etc etc and its the cheapest one too with the best selection imo ✌️)

and i just. i have to tell everyone i know anout this movie ok. again it is called Psycho Goreman and i am not even slightly joking its one of the best movies i have ever seen in my life so far, its so fucking funny genuinely and very much lives up to its title name and its not too short or too long either, it was an absolute blast to watch and made me tear up laughing multiple times and the main kid actors (aside from the title character who is also incredible) are actually great actors with hilarious comedic timing abilities, especially the main girl character Mimi shes so good. this is just me rambling abt a movie theres no point to this post i just need everyone who likes stupid weird funny gorey comedy/horror stuff like i do to watch this if u havent already it is so worth the hour and a half. its also very visibly an independent production (its a Shudder exclusive i believe) which it is very self aware of and it uses that to its advantage for the comedic factor but is also just a joy to watch because you can really visually see the passion that went into every practical cosplay-esque character design and costume and the style is very much an homage to corny cult classic horror and sci-fi stuff of the 80s-90s while still successfully blending a lot of modern digital fx/cgi (and some traditional stop-motion claymation too!!! i thought that was awesome) and it is just. its awesome and i felt like a lot of you who follow me on here more for my horror related stuff i reblog/post would probably enjoy it too so! def watch it if u get a chance its wonderful. ok that is all goodbye for now love u all stay safe xoxo

[excusethequality]

My 2024 in Film: August

I was already in the weeds with my self-imposed listing duties, but now that my annual binge of spooky movies is complete, I am utterly and demoralizingly behind.

Which is never a great place for me to be as the more daunting the task in front of me the more likely I am to want to procrastinate on it.

But, hey, it seems August was overall a very good month for movies, so at least I have that going for me.

* = rewatched

159.*

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure

(1989)

— Sci-Fi Comedy Adventure Directed by: Stephen Herek

A couple of Californian high schoolers are about to flunk their history class when they're given an opportunity to travel through time in order to create a most excellent final presentation and save their future.

I can't explain it, but I love this movie.

It's so silly and ridiculous, but it's so charming.

I've lost count of how many times I've seen it over the years, but every time I watch it I find some little detail hiding somewhere that I hadn't noticed before.

My only real gripe is that they did Genghis Khan dirty, because he wasn't some caveman savage. The depictions of him as a ruthless barbarian generally came from the people he defeated who wanted to present him as less than themselves. But less biased records show he had lots of charisma and was fiercely intelligent. And he'd have to be smart because look at what he was able to do! I'm not saying he was a saint, but in those days you couldn't be a menace on that big of a scale without being able to back it up.

Also Joan of Arc barely gets any screen time....so two big gripes. I wish they hadn't pushed the one female and the one POC historical figures to the back.

But I do have to remember that it is a late 80s comedy that's just trying to be silly, and cut it some slack.

160.*

Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey

(1991)

—Fantasy Comedy Adventure Directed by: Peter Hewitt

A nefarious plan from the future results in the deaths of Bill and Ted. But how are they gonna win the battle of the bands if they're dead?

I've got to give this one credit for refusing to reuse the same formula. It would have been pretty easy for them to just give us more of the same, but they didn't!

That being said, I can't say I'm a huge fan of this one. It's just way too bizarre at times.

But I still wind up rewatching it every once in a blue moon because it is so, so weird.

That and William Sadler's portrayal of Death is just a joy to watch. Easily my favorite part of the movie.

161.*

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

(2006)

— Sports Comedy Directed by: Adam McKay

A NASCAR driver's life gets turned upside down when a French driver hits the scene and threatens to steal his #1 spot.

I love this ridiculous movie and quotes from it live rent free inside my head.

I fully understand that its style of humor isn't everyone's favorite. But I've lost count of how many times I've seen this movie and yet it still makes me laugh.

162.*

The Muppets

(2011)

— Musical Comedy Directed by: James Bobin

A man and his puppet brother try and help the Muppets save their theater from demolition.

After watching The Muppets Take Manhattan I was looking at reviews on Letterboxd and it seemed like most people liked it a lot more than me. From there I looked up some Muppet movie tier lists to see how other people would rank them and I was aghast at how low people rank The Great Muppet Caper.

We'll get into it more when I wind up watching it later this year, but for the time being know that tGMC is absurdly clever and one of the most interesting meta narratives put to film. I will die on this hill.

Anyways, it made me want to make my own tier list. The problem was that I haven't actually seen all the Muppet movies and for some of them it's been quite a while. So I started on a quest to watch them all this year and create my definitive ranking.

As for this specific one, I've seen it before and yet all I remembered about it is that I friggin' hated the new character of Walter.

On the rewatch I've got to give it credit; there's some great stuff in here. There's fun songs from Bret McKenzie, some really great jokes, seeing what all the Muppets are doing these days was quite fun, and the '80s Robot cracks me up and is hands down my favorite modern character added to the cast.

The problem is that this is not really a movie about the Muppets. This is a movie about a random puppet named Walter. The Muppets are basically the supporting cast for Walter's story.

And since the movie hinges itself on you liking Walter, it becomes really hard to enjoy it when you're like me and you're hoping he gets run over.

163.

The Muppets' Wizard of Oz

(2005)

— Family Comedy Adventure Directed by: Kirk R. Thatcher

[I mean the title says it all, doesn't it?]

I was not prepared for this movie.

The Muppets inherently bring me joy so I can't say it's bad, but uh...this is not good.

This is a made-for-tv movie and it shows.

It's also...so...fucking...weird.

Here are just a few of the weird things you will see in this movie:

It starts with a straight up Ashanti music video.

At one point Quentin Tarantino tries to convince Kermit to add a sexy vampire bat lady into the movie,

Dorothy gets drugged at an opium den.

Gonzo gets heavily aroused as he watches a CGI elf lady "sexily" turning into a chicken.

You don't believe me? Here, I'll prove it...

It would seem that I've only ever seen Muppet movies from the eras when people cared and made them with love and passion and completely missed the eras where they were just phoning in tv content.

164.*

The Muppet Movie

(1979)

— Roadtrip Comedy Directed by:James Frawley

Kermit the frog tries to travel to Hollywood to see if he can make people happy with his music, but the owner of a chain of frog legs restaurants has other plans for him.

After the bizarre train wreck that was The Muppets' Wizard of Oz I felt a deep need to wash the taste of it out of my brain so I figured I'd go back to the original Muppet movie.

Growing up The Great Muppet Caper was my sister and I's go-to Muppet movie and there was a trailer for this one on the VHS. So I've seen that trailer a lot. And I have seen this one before, but as a kid it really unnerved me that these guys at best wanted to get Kermit to sell his brethren as food and at worst maybe wanted to kill and eat him?

The whole premise really creeped me out so it's definitely one I've seen less than others.

Seeing it now I do think child me was valid for this take. It's a really weird gimmick. It kinda feels like they felt they needed some stakes and an antagonist to propel the plot forward? But I would argue that it's not really necessary.

It's a road trip movie after all, so interesting events and problems are pretty easy to put in the plot.

But looking past the whole frog legs franchise thing, I've gotta say that you can really tell Jim Henson was involved in this one because it's so clear that this movie was loved. I can only think of one other Muppet movie that can go toe-to-toe with this one in the feels department (and I'll wait until I get to it before I tell you which one).

I love the way it takes the time to give characters these really tender moments.

I dunno, in spite of the elements I don't like, it's hard not to love a movie that was made with so much love.

165.*

Bill & Ted Face the Music

(2020)

— Sci-Fi Comedy Adventure Directed by: Dean Parisot

Now middle aged, Bill and Ted still are having a mid-life crisis over having yet to create the song that will unite the universe. Now running short on time they're going to have to take drastic measures in order to make the deadline.

The worst thing about this movie is that the ending successfully hit me in the feels and so I can't just write it off completely.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this. I think overall it's a bit of a mess, but within the mess I can see how it could have been really great.

Maybe, I'm alone in this, but in the 3 decades since the first one I feel like Keanu Reeves completely forgot how to do Ted. Because Ted was my favorite character in the other movies, but in this one he's second from the bottom of my list.

(in case you were wondering: Kid Cudi is the bottom)

So watching Keanu do an emotionless aged Ted on sedatives brought me no joy.

The whole Bill and Ted storyline in general just felt like a repetitive bit that didn't really go anywhere.

But I loved Samara Weaving and Brigette Lundy-Paine! They brought more of the spirit of the original than anyone else. And I really loved the family angle of the story. It would have been fantastic if they hadn't split the story into so many competing storylines and just focused on that core family dynamic.

If you liked the first movies, I'd say this is worth a watch. But I certainly wouldn't recommend anyone use this as their introduction into the series.

166.*

Muppet Treasure Island

(1996)

— Family Comedy Adventure Directed by: Brian Henson

The Muppets' take on Robert Louis Stevenson's tale of Treasure Island.

I'm telling you, people's tier lists often will rank Treasure Island way too high, and Muppet Caper way too low.

And I say that as a fan of this movie.

My only real complaint about it is that they do a whole "tribal natives" stereotype thing at one point that I find to be rather cringe.

But overall, it's quite fun. There's some enjoyable songs, memorable characters, fantastic Gonzo-being-Gonzo moments. The thing that really takes this movie above others though, the shining jewel of the movie, is Tim Curry as Long John Silver. He is a delight. He gleefully threw this movie on his back and ran it up the hill laughing maniacally the whole way.

In terms of Muppets' movies I would say Treasure Island is a solid entry. It's never the best at any one element, but it's also not bad at anything. And so it's one that I am always happy to see again.

167.

Человек с киноаппаратом

[English title: "Man With a Movie Camera"]

(1929)

—Documentary Directed by: Dziga Vertov

A man, his brother, and his wife work together to create an experimental documentary that explores the lives of everyday people in Soviet Ukraine as well as the very medium of film.

Not gonna lie, I was thoroughly expecting to not like this one. It sounded like the kind of arty thing that I traditionally dislike.

There's just this style of arty film that seems to me to just be utterly random nonsense. And then you have to get into this gods-awful conversations about how confused and bored is exactly the emotion the artist WANTED to instill in you as it provokes you to interpret your own meanings instead of force feeding you prepackaged ones.

And then I have to say that that could be said of anything. I could go sit in the park and the nature I see would provoke my brain into thoughts and interpretations. So what's the point of coming to a museum to see something that is indistinguishable from what a film student might cobble together in an afternoon for a last minute project?

But this one? This one is actually really interesting. There's a charm here that really binds everything together. You can really feel the filmmaker's love for the medium. You can really feel the excitement of someone taking his camera around and trying things out, having fun with it.

And since it's a time from long before the omnipresent nature of cameras of today, there's also a naturalness to the people he films.

168.*

Free Guy

(2021)

— Sci-Fi Comedy Directed by:Shawn Levy

A one-in-million chance gives a video game NPC a new perspective and a chance to change his fate and be a hero.

When this came out I had no interest in it. But then a friend of mine had such a high opinion of it that she convinced me to give it a watch. And I am now firmly on her side.

I've been wanting to watch this one again for a while and after seeing Shawn Levy's most recent movie [Deadpool & Wolverine] I felt compelled to remind myself that he could make nice movies too.

It's hard to explain what's so amazing about this movie. I get why so many people walk out of it thinking that it's one of those cheap cash-grab blockbusters that's coasting by on star power and references. And it probably got its foot in the door by doing that, but if you look a little closer and give it a chance you can see that it's doing everything in a completely different way.

Unlike so many other movies of this ilk Free Guy is utterly genuine. It's a movie that knows exactly what it is and delivers.

It's so interesting to me to see a movie where the main character never tries to be someone he's not. It's not some heavy drama where the character goes on a journey of self discovery only to realize at the end that the best person they can be is the one they were all along.

Guy starts the movie as a simple-minded hopeful romantic who dresses like a bank teller, sees the best in everyone, and wants nothing more from life than to share in simple pleasures with the people he loves.

And he NEVER turns from that course.

Even when the world gives him the power and incentive to comprise himself he never falters. He is never anything but himself.

That's why his character succeeds in the movie and that's why the movie itself succeeds.

Other movies out there are so afraid of you thinking its lame that they get scared and have to put up this front that they know they're too good for their own movie. Everything is sarcastic. Every real feeling needs to be hidden lest they be judged for it.

They're the insecure teenagers of the film world.

But that's not the case here. Jokes that would be made with an eye roll in another movie are told with an honest smile here. And it's so fucking refreshing!

It never feels like they're phoning anything in (streamer cameos excluded). The actual actors all bring such genuine heart to their characters. Heck! The movie itself cares so much for its own characters.

So hey, to all the haters and the lovers out there,

Don't have a good day, have a great day!

169.

The Beach Bum

(2019)

— Comedy(?) Directed by:Harmony Korine

A degenerate beach bum / wealthy poet must finish his new book ASAP in order to retain access to his wife's wealth.

So I've been making a list wherein I record people's answers when I ask them what the worst movie they've ever seen is.

I find it interesting because I thought I'd see a lot of people saying the same movies, but it seems that the worst movie you've seen is usually something personally offensive, more so than something that's just terribly made.

The problem with this question though is that I inevitably get the question asked back to me. And I try to avoid telling people what the worst movie I've seen is because it isn't very well known and I hate it so much that I'd like it to die in obscurity. And there's something about telling people what the worst movie you've ever seen is that makes them really want to watch it.

But I typically offer people a deal: I'll tell them what it is on the condition that they watch the entire thing.

So far only one woman has dared take me up on this offer: a coworker of mine.

To my surprise she actually watched it right when she got home from work that night and reported back to me the next day that it was indeed a pile of garbage and some of her life that she could never get back.

I felt a little bad for unleashing that evil upon her life, so I figured I'd make things even by watching her pick for worst movie ever: The Beach Bum.

And I respect her pick, because it was a real slog. Definitely had to force myself to get through it.

There's really no plot to speak of, just Matthew McConaughey doing this weird character and fucking around for the entire movie.

It felt like they were trying to emulate The Big Lebowski, but at no point understood the finer points of the Cohen brothers' technique. If that truly was what they were going for then the only thing they took from that movie was, "Stoner dude stumbles into strange circumstances."

Ugh. It's just not good. Do yourself a favor and avoid it.

170.

Muppets From Space

(1999)

— Family Comedy Directed by: Tim Hill

Gonzo seeks to find his origins when he gets a mysterious message from outer space.

This Muppet mission of mine has really made me stretch out my ratings bar for these movies. To me this is is far below the likes of things like The Muppet Movie, but just way above something like The Muppet Wizard of Oz.

It also somehow felt like it was firmly aimed at kids in a way that the other movies haven't been?

I'm also pretty sure that if you ask me about this movie next year I won't be able to remember much of anything about it. There's nothing here that wasn't done before and done better in a previous Muppet movie. All it really does is take away some of Gonzo's weird charm by trying to explain him.

And I never needed an explanation. He was perfect just as he was.

171.

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen

(1988)

— Fantasy Adventure Directed by: Terry Gilliam

A play about the adventures of a fantastical man named Baron Munchausen is interrupted when the real Baron Munchausen shows up to set the records straight.

This might sound weird, but while watching the Bill and Ted movies I was thinking about the character of Death. And so I started looking up movies where Death plays a character in the movie and this was on the list.

I've learned long ago that I'm not a big Terry Gilliam fan. His films tend to be a little much for me and this was no exception.

I will say this about him though, I have yet to see a Terry Gilliam movie made for anyone but himself. He passionately makes stories of the sort that he loves. And while they aren't my kind of stories, I can't help have a lot of respect for a creative who follows their passions so devotedly.

172.

Det sjunde inseglet

[English title: "The Seventh Seal"]

(1957)

— Fantasy Drama Directed by: Ingmar Bergman

A knight returning home from the crusades seeks to find meaning in his life and to make a difference in the world before he dies.

Guess what was also on the list of movies with a personified Death?

I took it as a sign that it was finally time to watch this classic.

Going into it all I knew was its famous image of a knight playing a game of chess against Death.

I'm not gonna lie, I honestly thought that was the entire movie. I genuinely believed that the entire thing was a real arty film of a knight playing chess against Death on a cliff and them having a deep conversation as they played.

And that's why I never bothered!

So imagine my surprise when I learn that, in fact, that is not what the movie is about at all.

A fantastic example of why I try and watch things from outside my comfort zone, because I really liked this movie. There's all sorts of interesting themes and interpretations you can take away from it and it's just incredibly well made.

173.

Alien: Romulus

(2024)

— Sci-Fi Horror Directed by: Fede Álvarez

A young woman and her android ward, desperate to start a new life for themselves, decide to undertake a risky heist on a derelict research station. But their mission to make a better life for themselves soon becomes a fight for survival when they learn why the station was abandoned.

Perhaps you didn't know this about me, but I love the Alien franchise.

One of the things I love most about it is that nearly all the films in it are completely different genres from one another. They tend to give really talented directors a lot of free reign when making them.

Alien is claustrophobic Sci-Fi Thriller.

Aliens is all about Action.

Alien3 is...I don't even know how to describe it...It's very bleak and very David Finchery.

Alien Resurrection is the jokiest one, the one that takes the biggest & weirdest swings, and that almost feels like space fantasy?

Prometheus is like a Fairy Tale set in space. (people look at me weird when I say that, but I swear it tracks)

Covenant is the one I'm least familiar with, but it kind of feels like more of a space adventure?

And Romulus is all about Horror.

I've seen some reviews from big fans of the franchise that hated this one, but here's what I think their real problem was: it wasn't made for them.

I feel like a lot of Gen Z and the Alphas are not really familiar with the Alien films. However, many of them ARE familiar with the survival horror video game Alien: Isolation.

And guess what? Alvarez has said that his biggest inspiration for the film was not the previous films, but...

You guessed it! It was the video game.

In the haters' defense the film does this odd thing where it almost feels like it's making references to scenes from every Alien movie at one point or another. And at first I thought they were just pandering by playing the greatest hits.

But I am not convinced that this is the wrong way of looking at it. I don't think he was doing it for the fans at all. I am convinced that it's the other way around: it's meant to give people who don't know anything about these movies a taste of what the franchise is about. It's about trying to entice young people who were fans of the video games to give the other movies a try.

It took me like half the movie before it dawned on me that this movie wasn't made for me at all. And as such I'm dying to see it again properly.

Since it wasn't made for me, take my opinions with a grain of salt, but I really liked it. It's definitely not without its issues. Most notably they deep fake a character from an earlier movie even though the actor that played him is dead. (I should mention that they did get permission from his family before they did it.) But there's no reason for it. It doesn't even make sense how they are still around in the first place. It would have been so easy to write a new character to fill the role in the movie. And that way you wouldn't have to get an uncanny feeling from the sometimes slightly janky effects there.

There's also a lot in it that I think could have been tighter. Especially when it comes to developing the side characters.

But the core? The core of this movie is so solid.

Cailee Spaeny and David Jonsson play our leads and they are fucking phenomenal.

And I'm willing to put up with a flyaways on the sides when the core is that tight. And I also really liked how they kept the threat from corporations that the other movies have, but updated it for today. Instead of the threat from an employer, or from a corporation creating a dangerous environmental hazard, here we see a world where people's lives are entirely under the thumb of the corporation. They are stuck having to put up with the mistreatment and being seen as tools instead of people, because there's literally no other way for them to survive.

And if that wasn't enough, they then learn that the corporations are meddling in a whole 'nother level of dark deeds.

174.

Kajillionaire

(2020)

— Comedic Drama Directed by: Miranda July

A woman raised by scammers has her life turned upside down when a chance encounter with an eyeglass saleswoman shows her a better way to live.

I truly cannot remember where I heard about this one.

But I do know that at some point I put it on my Letterboxd watchlist and while doing a check to see if the library had gotten any of them I learned they did indeed have this one.

I was thoroughly unprepared for how much I loved this movie. It's currently in my top 5 for the year.

It's such an odd film that I would truly understand if someone told me they didn't like it. But I just adore it.

It's tender and queer and silly and serious and everything in between.

I have no idea how it does it: that balance of odd but relatable.

I just saw it and I already feel the need to watch it again.

175.

The Wrong Guy

(1997)

— Crime Comedy Directed by:David Steinberg

A businessman goes on the run when he discovers his boss has been murdered and that all signs point to him as the culprit. However, his boss had a secret security camera in his office, the cops know he didn't do it, and they have no interest in him whatsoever.

I was looking at Dave Foley's filmography and was sold on the premise.

Dave Foley remains hilarious to me. I was a big News Radio fan growing up so it's always fun to see him again.

I really wish I liked this one more. There's a really fun cast, some fantastic jokes, and a really solid premise. But it fails to really develop as it goes along.

176.

Bullet Train

(2022)

— Action Directed by: David Leitch

Things get out of hand on a Japanese bullet train when a host of assassins all show up trying to grab the same prize.

David Leitch comes from a stunts and fighting choreography background and as such his movies tend to have some really well-shot fight scenes.

I hadn't ever seen this because there's just something about white people making movies set in Japan...they so rarely turn out right.

99% of the time they just want to use this foreign imagery as a set piece and don't actually want to deal with the actual culture and people that live there.

But I heard a coworker say they really liked it so I figured I'd give it a go.

The best way I can describe this movie is that it wanted to be a Guy Ritchie movie so badly. I would go all in on these writers being big fans of Snatch and Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels.

However, love it or hate it, Guy Ritchie has a style that's incredibly hard to replicate. They tend to have lots of characters, be both quirky and gritty, have lots of moving pieces, and lots of attention paid to transitions.

So yeah, it tries, but comes up short of capturing the Ritchie charm.

The fight scenes were really well shot. I can't take that away from them. But the rest...

Japan is definitely being used as a set piece in order to look cool. All the threads come together, but it's not really all the satisfying when they do. And one character won't shut up about Thomas the Tank Engine? And not even in a fun way. By the end it had me hoping that no one would mention Thomas ever again...and I like Thomas. So it's just extra rude that they did him like that.

177.

Amour

(2012)

— Drama Directed by: Michael Haneke

A husband's desire to keep his wife alive gets out of hand after her health continues to decline.

Okay, so I don't know how I got so confused about this, but I got this mixed up with a movie called The Eternal Memory. Which is documentary about a woman caring for her husband with Alzheimer's and the story of their love.

So yeah, I was not prepared for what I actually got.

Like, damn...this shit gets dark.

Movies about people slowly destroying their lives and the lives of those around them is one of my most hated esoteric subgenres. I know there's a lot of great work in that field, but they are so depressing and stressful, and thus I try to avoid them.

Definitely lots of stuff here you could dive into if you felt the desire.

So not a bad movie, but a friggin' depressing one for sure.

178.

Dance, Girl, Dance

(1940)

— Drama Directed by: Dorothy Arzner

Two rival dancers have to take a job at a burlesque show to pay the bills when their efforts to break into the mainstream scene haven't been working.

I was reading a book about the best films from female directors and this was on there and I was intrigued.

Not only a movie from 1940 that was directed by a woman, but also a movie where Lucille Ball plays the gold digging sexpot?

And there's a lot here to like. Its depiction of female relationships is really interesting. And the speech Maureen O'Hara gives at the end? That was worth the price of admission all by itself.

From a modern perspective I definitely wished it had dove even deeper into its topics, but when you're looking at it through the lens of a movie from 1940 it really is an interesting piece of history.

179.

You Hurt My Feelings

(2023)

— Comedic Drama Directed by: Nicole Holofcener

A married couple's relationship gets rocky when the wife learns that her husband has been lying to her and doesn't actually like the book she wrote.

I remember this was at the theater during my tenure there and I also remember that I saw one of the scenes from it because the server fucked up early on and I had to go fix it and watch it for a little bit to make sure it was working again.

Was a little curious about it because I haven't seen Julia Louis-Dreyfus in some time.

I wish I had more to say about it. There's not a lot going on here. It's a very simple movie about the idea of what does or does not count as a lie in a relationship.

I loved Louis-Dreyfus, but Tobias Menzies' character held the movie back for me. He is supposed to be a psychiatrist, but he's constantly being shown as terrible at his job? And as a psychiatrist he should have been able to navigate this very understandable situation with his wife better.

Also their kid was written as if he'd never met his parents before, because he's constantly surprised by stuff they had presumably been doing his whole life.

180.*

Det sjunde inseglet

[English title: "The Seventh Seal"]

(1957)

[see #172]

Did I watch it again with commentary?

Yes. Yes I did.

There's a lot going on in The Seventh Seal and I wanted some more context. Luckily for me the version I got from the library had a commentary track with a film historian.

And I was right! There is a lot happening in this one that I didn't realize. For instance Bergman was making some really interesting religious commentary throughout the movie. Even the idea of playing chess with Death is a reference as it comes from the painting "Death Plays Chess" from a mural in a Swedish church.

181.

Rebel Without a Cause

(1955)

— Drama Directed by:Nicholas Ray

A trio of teenagers meet in prison after they were all arrested for their attempts at coping with the problems in their lives. But when a deadly accident happens it will complicate their lives even more.

Once again I am expanding my horizons by watching some of the classic movies I've long heard about, but never seen.

This was far different from what I assumed. I really thought this movie was about a biker gang. However, it is actually about teenagers struggling to find their way in life and whose parents aren't providing them with the support they desire.

I get why it's still mentioned today. James Dean gives a very memorable performance. It's hard not to read some of this movie's vibes as being queer.

It was an interesting film, but I can't say I loved it. Plato's character really held it back for me. His actions are just too often far too bizarre.

Also while all three kids don't have great home lives, they also aren't terrible. Plato's parents are just never there. Jim's mom is rather overbearing, but his dad is really sweet and it's his dad he seems really upset with. Judy definitely drew the worst lot, because her dad is actually abusive and withholding of affection and attention in a really creepy way.

182.

The Naked Kiss

(1964)

— Crime Drama Directed by: Samuel Fuller

A sex worker decides she's had enough of the life and decides to try and make a new start. But her past threatens to destroy what she's built.

Some of my old friends from the movie theater were talking about this one on Letterboxd and I figured I'd give it a try. I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed it!

Constance Towers is just fantastic as Kelly and really does a great job carrying the movie.

It's definitely pulpy, but I'd say it's pulpy in the best possible way.

183.

かぐや姫の物語

[English title: "The Tale of The Princess Kaguya"]

(2013)

— Animated Fantasy Directed by: Isao Takahata

The legend of the Bamboo Princess.

I had avoided this Studio Ghibli movie because I just don't have much love for the character design. I do get what they were going for and would say they achieved their goals, but it's just not a style that resonates with me.

I'm probably in the minority here, but I've just heard this legend too many times. Heck, I even remember watching a version with Big Bird in it that my grandma recorded off of PBS way back when I was a kid [Big Bird in Japan (1988)].

If you've never heard the story before or if you want to see something with a slightly offbeat art/animation style, I'd say give it a try.

184.*

Muppets Most Wanted

(2014)

— Family Crime Adventure Comedy Directed by:James Bobin

An evil manager convinces the Muppets to go on a world tour in order to let a notorious criminal swap places with Kermit and use the shows as covers for his heists.

On one hand I have a little bit of beef with this one because I feel like it stole quite a few beats from The Great Muppet Caper.

But on the other hand I truly appreciate that they fixed my main problems with The Muppets (2011): Walter sucks and there's too much focus on randos instead of the main muppets.

This even happened:

"Wait a second. Walter quit the Muppets? We just did a whole movie where he joined the Muppets." "Yeah, we sure spent a lot of time on it." "Ha! I'll say. Maybe even at the expense of the other long-standing, beloved Muppets."

!__!

Amazing.

Bret McKenzie was back with the songs for this one and they are once again lots of fun. Walter is used only sparingly, and there's some pretty fun cameos.

Sure, there's some stuff I could nitpick, but I'd be lying if I didn't say I had fun watching it.

185.

封神第一部： 朝歌风云

[English title: Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms]

(2023)

— Fantasy Action Adventure Directed by: Wuershan

A legendary warrior takes the up rule when the king is murdered. But when a curse falls over the land, men and Gods must take up sides in the fight for fate of mankind.

I tell you what, the public library is absolutely killing it this year. They've got such a great selection. I had seen this one mentioned in a video last year about the best Chinese films of 2023. I put a bunch of them on my watchlist, but sadly most of them didn't seem to be available anywhere. But lo and behold, the library picked up a copy of this one.

The best way I can describe this one is that it's like a Chinese Lord of the Rings. It's not similar at all in terms of plot, but think big budget epic adventure, lots of characters, big fantasy pieces with lots of battles and sword fights and monsters and an epic tale at the center.

I really had a blast with this. If you're not a fan of Chinese mythology then it might not be for you, but I think people should just give it a try. It's really refreshing to see fantasy movies not steeped in the Western tradition of elves and orcs and so on.

Plus Naran's role as the fox spirit? Absolutely haunting. She kills that role. Months later and I'm still thinking about some of her scenes.

186.

Tomboy

(2011)

— Coming-of-Age Drama Directed by: Céline Sciamma

A young adolescent's attempts to play with gender threaten to destroy their relationships with the new group of friends they've made.

Céline Sciamma does not miss!

This is what I've come to believe. I still haven't gone through her entire catalog, so we'll have to see if this statement olds up, but so far all her films are bangers.

Also, I'm coming to think that Sciamma might have mother issues, because that is something that has come up in all the movies of hers I've seen.

187.

Vivarium

(2019)

— Sci-Fi Mystery Thriller Directed by: Lorcan Finnegan

A couple is lured into and trapped inside a bizarre suburban development pocket dimension and told they will only be released if they agree to raise an alien baby as their own.

This is a textbook example of a feature that should have been a short.

The clearest sign of this problem is a premise that is quite intriguing, but doesn't have anywhere to develop to. So you see it in a lot of sci-fi because that's the go-to genre for when someone wants to posit a really interesting "what-if" scenario.

Here the movie asks: What if the suburban dream is actually a nightmare?

And it's an intriguing premise.

The difference between a short and a feature is that a short is free is present the scenario, show you the parallels, and then leave you to think about it. Meanwhile a feature generally needs to lead somewhere.

And there's lots of different ways you could do that. It could deepen the premise by using this setting to try and explore ways in which real people try to escape this trap. You could further your world-building by exploring the nature of these strange beings. You could go deeper on the character arcs.

But Vivarium doesn't do any of those things. It just goes all in on the premise and starts digging. So for the first 30 minutes or so I was intrigued at where it was going and appreciating the creepy angle they chose to use to present this idea. But then...nothing happens.

It just hits you again and again with the analogy as if maybe you haven't figured it out yet. But it's not a subtle analogy!

So by the end I'm really quite bored and the only reason I'm sticking around is the hope that at some point they'll either explore the sci-fi nature of these creatures more, or that the ending arc will present an intriguing answer to their setup.

And it never does!

The spoiler-free spoiler for the ending is that things get briefly get weirder and more interesting and then it just ends. So maybe like 30 minutes of interesting set up, 10 minutes of last-minute insanity, and over 50 minutes of slog.

——————

——————

August Stats

——————

Movies watched this month: 28

Rewatch percentage: 35.7% (10/28)

Favorite new movie of the month: Kajillionaire

Least favorite: The Beach Bum

——————

Previous months’ posts:

JAN | FEB | MAR p.1 | MAR p.2 | APR | MAY | JUN | JUL

[writingmochi]

hi lissie, it's me again! sorry for responding so late, but i basically agree re: your thoughts on ggum and i wish the song didn't hold back and went harder and grittier! i loved the mixtape intro film and was hoping for something with its tone and vibe, i.e. melancholy and unfiltered, so i hope that the rest of the mixtape will deliver on that.

also i'm really glad that you freely share your thoughts and criticism on the artists you follow here, more and more i'm finding that your approach to music is so rare in kpop fan spaces. so many days it feels like people only want to praise and the only negative opinions come from haters, while genuine well-intentioned criticisms are buried by fan calls to stream and vote (plus they're often treated the same way as actual hate). i do get frustrated with artists that i love and want to state more critical opinions of their music, not because i've become a "hater" but because i do appreciate the artistry and musicianship of kpop!! and that means respecting the work enough as an art form to give it genuine critique, even if it's not always positive!

anyway i found your RYM by accident while looking for reviews of txt albums and i'm so glad to read your unfiltered voice. i hope you keep doing these reviews because these discussions of the artistry of kpop albums make me hopeful. <3 -🌻

lissie: hello🌻anon! no worries about the late response cause we all have things happening outside of tumblr (me included).

ahh thank you for saying that. i know that people said that ggum is overhated but i do believe that the comments i and a few others have made are mostly made in a positive way to improve what has been created with the song. seeing the tiktok's of the ot5 txt members dancing to it and a few dance covers of my explore page really makes the chorus linger in my head (just like what they intended) but i still don't really enjoy the song as a whole. october's the month of the mixtape so hopefully what you and i believe will do come true *fingers crossed*

i truly am glad you say that. i think, imo, because i've been a fan of kpop for so long that i have gone into almost every phase of a kpop fan ever known (excluding being a sasaeng of course cause fuck that) that makes me able to be level-headed. i've been in a few toxic fandoms before and being open to opinions outside of it makes me able to build a foundation of how i wanna interact with kpop more now casually. i know that i came to like kpop because of the music and with me branching out also, it makes me braver to voice out my opinion on idols that i like in an evolving/improving way.

it still is sad to know that even with the most constructive criticism that has a disclaimer that it is supposed to be able to improve is hidden behind fanatic commentary. it's actually one of the reasons why i am more active in a forum-style platform like RYM, AOTY, reddit, or even youtube for a more in-depth opinion sharing of kpop as a genre and as a industry. i definitely relate to what you are saying cause i've been in that space before and i left it because it makes something that i enjoy as a pastime consume my life (especially with voting and streaming). and i also believe that by criticising art, the artist can be better. they can innovate and create something they aren't confident in making, make it daring instead of playing safe because of its profit stability (looking at you @ hybe)

no worries about that actually! i'm using RYM and AOTY as platforms to track what i've been listening to so that i have an archival area to know what i have listened to and how i rate it. the reviews i posted on RYM is actually the polished version of the reviews i made here :D and i do hope that it can enrich people's opinions on txt, ateez, and enhypen's releases. i actually might also cross-posted my reviews onto AOTY cause, imo, the community is a bit more tolerable in a way like RYM is pretty harsh honestly.

i also do movie and game reviews on letterboxd and backloggd respectively if you wanna check that out too!

thank you so much for sending an ask *wave*

[hannahbunny]

it's an absurd conspiracy. i use douban (like chinese letterboxd) to follow film reviews and there's absolutely no lack of gayness in what's released in china. like, moonlight was released in chinese theatres? and you can go on douban and find chinese gay people talking about all sorts of lgbt films? they're not being censored. it's all right there online.

people also like to point out some disney films doing poorly in china as a mark against them. but most westerners probably haven't even heard of ne zha at all despite it being china's most successful animated film, and they definitely haven't heard about 30,000 miles from chang'an despite it being one of the best animated films i've ever seen.

it's actually not that strange that disney isn't always a huge hit in china. like, chinese films rarely get western attention, so why are you expecting western films to get so much chinese attention? especially when we all know disney's been spamming out a crazy amount of pointless remakes lately?

but yeah anyway my top chinese film recommendation is angels wear white by vivian qu and everyone should watch it.

whenever a liberal blames disney homophobia on china I blow up another AO3 datacentre

[elch-im-ausland]

Sunday Feb. 18 2024

I woke up a bit late but that's okay cuz it's Sunday! And nothing happens on Sundays in Germany... except for the Flohmarkt at the Mauerpark in Berlin. I took the tram just a couple stops away from where I'm staying and arrived at the market. Then I got a dirty chai latte and a currywurst for breakfast (very tasty with hot sauce and different kinds of mayo it was D-Lux!) and I walked around for a few hours.

There were lots of vendors selling coats and I wish I didn't live so far away because I have been dying to have a long fur-lined coat (of which there were many) but I really don't have any space so I ended up buying a leather bomber-style jacket to replace my really ratty denim coat I wear all the time.

As much as I love love love my denim coat and I've had it for a few years it's not very warm and the cuffs are so stringy and it's just not the best coat so I'm going to remove my patches and pins and leave it in Germany where it can have a new life hopefully and I will try not to think about how inanimate objects have feelings and how sad my coat will be that I am leaving it behind.

But I'm excited about the leather jacket. I think it will mark a new chapter in my life and although I am a bit saddened by the fact that leather is not really a pin-friendly material I have so many (some (my mother) might say too many) other jackets to redistribute my pins and patches onto, and I will continue the hunt for the long fur-trimmed coat of my dreams.

Back at the flea market I also bought a silver ring with a face on it for 6 euro, a record of Nena's Irgendwie, Irgendwo, Irgendwann 12" dance mix for 10 euro, and a button down t shirt for 2 euro. Then I got a cup of Sahlab and another currywurst and went home because I had to pee and there were no public restrooms.

I met one of my host's roommates, he was really friendly and somehow spoke the exact German that I understand like he didn't use big words idk it felt like talking to a german teacher who understands your level of german. So that was nice.

That night I went to the Berlin Independent Film Festival (not to be confused with the Berlin International Film Festival aka the Berlinale, however I recently bought tickets to 2 films that are being shown at the Berlinale so yay! but it's really annoying that they both take place at the same time and have similar names cuz I keep getting them mixed up).

The movie I saw was Lichtenberg by Carl Bessai. It was at the Babylon Theater and it was very good! It is about 5 different time periods during the last century in an apartment building in the Berlin neighborhood Lichtenberg. The eras where 1920s, 1940s, 1980s, 1990s and 2010s. The cast was small and they played different characters in each time period. And then at the end of the movie there was a short Q&A panel at the front of the theater with the cast and director which was a bit awkward since I had a front-row seat so everyone was standing like 4 feet away from me eep! Apparently the director (who is from Canada) wrote the script and then the cast (all German) decided that it was a bit dry so they improvised every scene so it felt more organic and personal so it was a bit like a stage play in that respect. It's not on Letterboxd yet so I haven't been able to add it to my list rip

Then I came home and went to bed because I was sleepy.

[bae-bo0]

13 things i'm really into:

oh, i love being a woman!

beauty industry! i love everything about beauty products, be it skincare, makeup, and other self-care products. i am also working close to the industry, thus if you want to discuss it or are curious about some brands, you can bang my dm anytime! <3

good films make your life better, they said. well, in my case, that's true! i love going to the cinema and i enjoy binge-watching at home as well. as for the genre, i watch everything tbh, but i can't handle gore and sadism. i watch various kinds of films, both commercial and festival. sometimes i write reviews too on my letterboxd but i've been busy lately so it's a little bit dusty there. feel free to invite me to your hyperbeam session!

we are nothing without music, agree? there is no day off for my spotify, really. one thing that keeps me sane on monday(s) is my discover weekly playlist, istg they are so good. i mostly listen to arRRRr n Bih & jazzZzZ, also a tmi; i listen to lagu jadul too!

films, music, and of course, books! yes, i am a girl with a lot of interests. i read any kind of books but lately, i've been into japanese literature, and to talk about it, they're actually pretty similar--the vibes. well, maybe i am just seeking for peace.

everything in PINK <3

LIP GLOSS GOD, i'm obsessed.

i am a memory keeper. i capture everything around me and this makes me enjoy both photography and videography. still related to the mentioned things, i love the editing process as well and my favorite part of it is the color grading 🎨

FRUITS >>>> veggies.

i am not a werewolf but i get excited when it's full moon 🌕 the reason behind it is because i always look at it with my parents.

just like how i write this post, i find blogging as an amazing stress reliever, or to put it simple, i love journaling!

one more thing i do to keep my sanity is exercising. i love the gym, i run every morning, i do yoga, and currently thinking about taking tennis seriously.

café hopping! i have this unwritten rules with my bff that we will visit a new cafe at least once a month and both of us have to bring our 'life update' ppt.

and this is another episode of me trying to stay waras y'all better be worried. on days where i feel the world is too much, i'd go to one spot people barely notice and sit there for a while. yes, people watching it is. it helps me to notice my surroundings better, calms my mind and eventually makes me feel warm.

well, i believe that's more than 13, but who cares! i hope it will help you to 'see' me better and make our bonds stronger for we are not really strangers ;)

[fedorahead]

I posted 1,033 times in 2022

That's 1,009 more posts than 2021!

255 posts created (25%)

778 posts reblogged (75%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@sandmanalone

@elytrians

@wizardpotions

@toniins

I tagged 178 of my posts in 2022

#ofmd - 11 posts

#our flag means death - 10 posts

#our flag means gay - 7 posts

#ocd - 6 posts

#executive dysfunction - 4 posts

#freedom from religion - 4 posts

#taika waititi - 4 posts

#adhd - 4 posts

#j4j - 3 posts

#judaism - 3 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#i just opened my likes on letterboxd and sorted by lowest average rating and some of the best movies i've ever seen are right at the top lm

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

it makes me so sad how so much fanart has blackbeard looking rugged and handsome and like covered with stars and hearts and then stede looks like he's been summoned from the level of hell that that french party came from

Here are some traits that might help with drawing his face!

STRONG JAW

See the full post

55 notes - Posted April 25, 2022

#4

60 notes - Posted October 31, 2022

#3

Stede Bonnet resonates with me because I also know which fork to use, support workers' rights, and find Blackbeard irresistable.

323 notes - Posted April 1, 2022

#2

watching amber heard recount tales of what she claims to have gone through is disturbing

a lot of the words are almost right. a lot of them are close. but the distance from reality is something she can't capture. she can't bridge that gap between concepts she's been coached on and living through them.

she's had a long time to study stories. she's had a lot of stories told to her. she's sat as the face of a movement for a long time, of course she's been exposed to the horrors that other people have gone through.

but she's never gone through the things she's claiming.

ignoring her face, ignoring her tone, because those are topics that can take hours to delve into, the words are not real.

some of the things she is trying to describe, i have experienced. and the way she's telling them is someone else's story, not her own. she's searching for adjectives to describe the pictures in her mind she's built, with help, but her adjectives don't capture the emotions she's never felt.

she moves when she remembers to, copying johnny's dynamic recounting of his experiences. adding a physicality when it dawns on her that she's been reminded to do so. but the movements aren't to express the emotional impact of the actions being replayed, they're just movements. references to paint a picture. and you paint what you see, not what you know. she adds details because she's been told that adding details makes it seem more real, makes it seem like she's telling the truth. the pink dress. the dog getting a bee sting. they're stops on the ride for her, checks on the list of things to cover. and she pretends to not know why she's focusing on these things, but she calls them up as things she almost forgot to mention, not arbitrary details drilled into her mind in a moment of extreme stress.

listening to her words, she doesn't understand the story she's telling because it is not her story.

i'm sure someone much more eloquent than i can explain the facial disparity, the lack of connection between her words and the emotions she shows on her face, the grimace and consistent shake every time she knows she is lying. i'm sure someone else can explain her tone, her cadence, the pauses for recall of recitation and their shape and form.

but this woman is not speaking of a traumatic moment in her life. she's telling a tale that sanitizes something she did. her every word betrays her unfamiliarity with being in the situation she claims.

she does those of us who have experienced these things a disservice.

711 notes - Posted May 5, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

there is something so ultimately compelling about two men in their mid/late 40s having a deep and occasionally deeply childish romance. like i want my midlife crisis to be so... all boats and marmalade and cashmere and blood. it's just romantic as shit.

1,331 notes - Posted March 30, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[re-decorate]

29 (Last time you went to the cinema? What movie did you see?) and a question I made up: What’s your favorite sandwich? (I love sandwiches so I’m curious ahah)

29. Last time you went to the cinema? What movie did you see?

ok i had to check letterboxd for this bc i didnt remember and apparently it was little women in january 2019...wierd to think about how i haven't been to the movies in over 2 years but i guess cest la vie in the covid era

What's your favorite sandwich?

Idk if there's a specific type of sandwich that's my favorite, it's more that i just like certain things in my sandwich? idk if that distinction makes sense. The sandwich that always came to mind is this reaaaalllly good pesto sandwich w olives and stuff that my mom used to make for me and my brother back when she would pack our lunches :') I always shared some w my friends and we all called i the heaven on earth sandwich haha

I've also been rediscovering my love for pb&j lately

send me a number and get to know me <3

[159potterhead]

Oh! I'm just dumb. I woke up today and I didn't saw any post from you so I went through your blog and their were a few post so I scrolled like crazy to get down and then it started showing posts frm 2 days ago and I thought maybe my ask got lost again. I think I might have scrolled past this one and assumed wrong.

Sorry for late reply bestie :DD To wrap up within few words my day is just me complaining and wanting to go to sleep. I wake up early for classes and stuff and I log in Tumblr ao3 and good docs while sitting in class then if I get time I try to continue that fic but I just lack motivation all I do is stare at the screen. Then we have a little break and the same thing continues till 5 pm. Then rest of my day goes with watching tv while doing file work and assignment and me complaining again. We have this presentation thing in afternoon where students have to prepare different topics so at night I prepare notes and make a ppt and complain more. I know I've said this before but I really want to go to sleep last few days were tiring by the time I go to bed it gets around 2:00-2:30 and then in morning I've to wake up early. I want to watch spn again from the start and I'm putting it off from a long time coz I feel bad for my eyes already. I've to sit in front of the screen a lot and my eyes are like give us a break. And I take a break and read a fic so my eyes are like are you freaking kidding us? Do you wear glasses coz I do and I think I need to go for a check up🤔🤔

I hope your days are better how does your day goes?

oh no you’re not dumb, I just post a lot💀 so it makes sense that you don’t see it. plus tumblr doesn’t let you know that someone answered your anonymous ask so there’s that. follow this tag, maybe they’ll let you know when I answer?

dw bestiee;) I feel you on an emotional level there buddy. yk idk if this is healthy or not lol but I find complaining therapeutic, like if I complain enough then it won’t piss me off as much anymore. woah wifey you need to get some rest, do you find it hard to fall asleep or do you not have time to fall asleep? I TOTALLY UNDERSTAND THAT BREAK TO READ FICS, MY EYES DO THAT TOO😭 hmm maybe you do🤔 and oo my gf wears glasses;) also no I don’t wear glasses but I think I might someday with all this screen time thanks to everything closing. speaking of everything closing, how’s the whole covid situation over there?

aha thanks. well my schedule changes a lot but recently it’s been consistent for a couple months. so i’ve got classes that start at 11, and I always go to sleep with the hopes that I wake up early and have a productive morning. but of course I end up leaving my 10am alarm, and when it rings I snooze and stay in bed until I realize it’s 10:30 now and jump out of bed and get ready. by get ready I mean wash my face and brush my teeth and check tumblr💀 I spend like an hour trying to think of what to have for breakfast, by then it becomes brunch. after I’m done with my classes I either stay and do some work or make lunch, something light usually. then I do some more work and finish off whatever essays I have postponed handing in. after sunset, I’d make some tea and watch a movie or two. I’ve been trying to log as many films as I can on letterboxd lately. and i’d read for an hour or so, sometimes write. then come midnight I realize that I haven’t studied, so the panic of procrastination kicks in and I attempt to do my most in two hours. works like a charm everytime. I sleep and the cycle continues.

🎶if I could be with you tonight, I would sing you to sleep, never let them take the light behind your eyes🎶💕