#and The VVitch was very good

[cinemacrypt]

All of you need to rediscover Ben Wheatley's 2013 psychological folk horror "A Field in England". A fantastically researched, darkly-comedic period piece with surrealistic design choices, pitch perfect dialogue and character growth, and a thoroughly unnerving plot and visuals. It's also got commentary on masculinity, religion, with a heaping dose of unethical homoerotic subtext. Think of it as a precursor to Robert Egger's "The Lighthouse", with the environmental discomfort coming from the vulnerability of an open, sprawling field instead of a claustrophobic island. Anyways, obligatory photo of a guy being held on a leash like a dog as propaganda.

[horrorvillaintourney]

i'm always really weirded out when a horror movie is set in mass because it's always a very aestheticized experience. i always feel that it is inauthentic and alien to me, despite having lived here my whole life. i feel that horror set in new england is mostly either stephen king or written by authors who've never spent more than a week in the rural parts but like the concept of the witch trials or the puritans, and even when they try to emulate it and do some research, they come up short. it's obviously not a huge issue - rural massachusetts deserves to be mocked sometimes and it's not as if we're talking about cultural appropriation here (not usually. i mean. the old indian burial ground thing still happens in these parts and is very bad.).

HOWEVER, all of this to say that there are a million bad horror movies centered around massachusetts, but i should never have doubted oz perkins. likely thing to happen in mass.

[bmpmp3]

there are ten million billion trillion movies i want to watch and so little time on this earth and this suffering predicament of mine is only exasperated by the fact that i can only watch 1 movie a day at most because i need time after to stare at a wall and think about. themes. and motifs

[hellafluff]

Watched The Witch (2015) finally. Goooood movie, liked it a lot

[arsonistman]

Woagh

[miraculan-draws]

Ketheric Thorm is such a cool villain beCAUSE. He is just dripping with creepy swagger. Absolutely icy with macabre. AND. listen JK Simmons doing the voice is so fascinating because yes he has a lot of age and grit and very resonant tones but what makes you LISTEN so immediately is not necessarily tonal, it's like...

1. The only American accent in the entire game. I doubt this was an actual stylistic choice, but it does a good job of grabbing your attention just by virtue of being unique in the setting. (Something something americana obsession with folk and pulp and horror in combination ie over the garden wall, the vvitch, haunted house trope) (AGAIN I don't think this was intentional I'm just vibing)

2. He does not. Raise his voice. He talks to a room like he talks to the person standing a foot beside him. He is calm. Unshakeably so.

3. The WAY he calls the player "True Soul", with this kind of...sarcasm? I think that he knows you aren't a thrall/controlled. I think he Knows you're working against them. But that's Ketheric's whole thing isn't it? That he doesn't care who lives and who dies, save one. HE wants to die, and yet he walks and talks. He is dead. He cannot die. I think part of Ketheric is hoping that you'll win.

[legallybrunettedotcom]

Can you recommend some good film podcasts to listen to?

for sure. i can't say that i follow any of these like super religiously, but i'd say all of these are pretty neat and now it's just a matter of which hosts/guests don't annoy you lol. also if anyone else has any more recs, do tell! :) the next picture show is roundtable discussions examining how classic films influence and inspire modern films so you’ll have something like all the president’s men and spotlight comparisons or the wicker man and the vvitch. cool for double feature movie nights.

the big picture has reviews, especially of latest movies, but they also talk about some arthouse stuff. they also do these like top 5 lists, oscars analysis etc. roundtables and interesting guests

the rewatchables both the big picture and the rewatchables are from the ringer website/network so hosts and guests overlap. it’s what it says on the tin. they rewatch movies and then do all these categories, personally my favourite and i think they're very funny.

you must remember this host does incredible research, it’s really about like secret and forgotten histories of 20th century hollywood. they did like a 12 part series on eroticism and sex in 80s cinema, now they moved onto the erotic 90s.

sleepover cinema is super fun and definitely the type of podcast i would want to have, just two friends talking about late 90s/early 2000s movies and pop culture in general that sort of shaped the collective unconscious of “girls and gays” as they say.

intermission from the cinegogue is super chill. they just invite guests and ask them a bunch of movie questions in a way that you would ask a friend, yk like if you could watch movies from only one country which one would you choose, or like favourite nepo baby director. but they also do reviews. blank check cover entire filmographies of directors

black on black cinema for black film reviews and discussions

reel asian podcast for asian and asian american film reviews and discussions

a piece of pie for lgbt films and topics and subtext and such

junkfood cinema for shitty and cult movies. also how did this get made is about bad movies we love.

space brains for science fiction

final girls horrorcast for horror, sci-fi, thrillers both well known and obscure

filmspotting and the film cast for reviews of new and old as well

sardonicast does pretty much everything

[marsoid]

Hii Mars

What shows/movies do you like? :D

SHOWS

DRAMA 🎭

breaking bad (starting BCS soon)

BEEF

minx

freaks and geeks

Fargo (1-4, season 5 was shit imo)

Bojack horseman

Cobra kai

xfiles

watchmen

REALITY 📹

hyperdrive

catfish

car restoration shows

home improvement shows (very picky abt these tho lmao)

true crime/mystery/forensic documentaries

human psychology documentaries

COMEDY 🗿

i think you should leave

trailer Park boys

aqua teen hunger force

30 rock

arrested development

King of the Hill

Futurama

the good place

parks and rec

the office

tuca and bertie

ANIMATED/OTHER 👶🏾

ed edd n eddy

Captain laserhawk

hey Arnold

rise tmnt

Craig of the Creek

Beavis and Butthead

ATLA (not TLOK sorry)

MOVIES

DRAMA 🎭

Short Term 12

Wildhood

The spectacular now

Super dark times

King Jack

stand by me

big fish

the truman show

THRILLER 💥

The Batman (2022)

Mad Max fury road

Drive

Chronicle

blade

everything everywhere all at once

venom

nightcrawler

baby driver

knives out

glass onion

Jurassic Park

prisoners

ANIMATION 👶🏾

spiderverse

monsters inc/u

Oliver & company

goofy movie/extremely goofy movie

emperor's new groove

treasure planet

Hercules

iron giant

entergalactic

HORROR 🩸

John Carpenter's Christine

Nope

Get Out

Us

Donnie Darko

the summer of 84

talk to me

the vvitch

hereditary

parasite

Jennifer's body

the omen

we need to talk about Kevin

Blair witch (1999)

10 Cloverfield Lane

SCIFI 🛸

Arrival

Interstellar

Akira

ex machina

blade runner 2043

annihilation

COMEDY 🃏

the nice guys

i love you man

bullet train

princess Bride

legally blonde

the house bunny

mean girls

there's probably so many I'm forgetting lol but here's a starter list

[natalieironside]

Finally watched The Vvitch the other day & my biggest takeaway is that the movie I couldn't see seemed like it was probably very good

Have we as a society just like given up on film lighting

[theboarsbride]

Faerie Book Recommendations🧚✨📚

So reading Sarah J Maas and her very, very shitty interpretation and (under)utilization of fae lore is inspiring me to create a personal list of books I've read that I feel like have like... ACTUAL faeries and folklore in them (not the normal-looking-hot-folks-with-pointy-ears-and-MAYBE-wings brand of faerie SJM popularized), and are actually worth your time

And if you've any books, stories, comics, etc. that you'd want to add to this list, feel free to add them in the comments, reblogs, tags, or my DMs!!

House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland

Very eerie fairytale vibes that center on the aftermath of the disappearance, and even more mysterious return, of three sisters when one of them goes missing again almost 10 years later. And also the writing is legit just B E A U T I F U L!!!

Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

This is chock-full of classical faeries and folklore, and almost reads like a textbook about them since this is about a woman, the titular Emily Wilde, traveling to a Scandinavian country to complete her own encyclopedia about the fair-folk. It also features some lowkey cottagecore vibes and an academic rivals-to-lovers romance!

Gilded (Gilded #1) by Marissa Meyer

A retelling of Rumpelstiltskin that reads like its own dark Grimm's fairytale, and it's as eerie and grim as a YA fantasy novel can get. It also centers on themes of telling stories and folktales since the main character, Serilda, is infamous for spinning wild tales - which is what leads to her encounter with the famed, and feared, Earlking (who, as a villain, is so sinister and creepy - and utterly FAE!). Personally, this book wasn't really my cup of tea and I'm unsure if I'll read the sequel, Cursed, however it still has some classic fae vibes that SJM's work lacks, so it deserves a place on this list!

The Changeling by Victor LaValle

I'm using the term 'faerie' very loosely here, as the idea of changelings (and trolls), for me, is more of a narrative device to help us look into grief in fatherhood. But there is still a very strange, vaguely Pans Labyrinth-esque urban fantasy vibe playing in the background throughout!

Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery by Brom

Not necessarily FAERIES but more of mischievous and distrustful woodland folk - and also forest gods. Very heavily steeped in early colonial America era folk horror vibes... if you love media like Robert Eggers' The VVitch then you will ADORE this book! Also Brom's accompanying artwork is so, so beautiful! This is honestly such a perfect fall-time read once Halloween season rolls around.

Legendborn Cycle series by Tracy Deonn

Ok no faeries but... mixes classic Arthurian legends with southern Black beliefs while also telling an epic urban fantasy story centering on themes of grief, trauma, and prejudice. So no fae, but LOTS of great urban fantasy vibes (which I mean... if you're looking for more series to put on your shelf instead of Harry Potter......) Just... Please... just... this series... it's so GOOD!! IDK what else to add that hasn't been said about this series!

Direwood by Catherine Yu

Once again, not necessarily faeries in this book but instead vampires that have a very fae-like quality about them! (as well as blood-hungry butterflies and caterpillars hee-hee) The story as a whole feels like a whimsical fever dream that is STEEPED in tasty Gothic vibes! It sort of has the feeling of being in a late '90s/early '00s Goth music video.

Like Falling Stars by Avalon Roselin (@roselin-books-official)

A story about a girl who's forgotten her past and comes to develop a sweet friendship with a brooding ice faerie prince, and is brimming with so many cozy fantasy vibes!! Also all the fae characters in this novel are so colorful and lively, and they're all very heavily tied to elements and the seasons. Also ALSO!! The main relationship focuses primarily on platonic love as opposed to romantic, and is just as endearing! A perfect cozy winter/fall-time read.

Netvor: A Retelling of Beauty and the Beast by @rosesnwater

Both a completed novel and an in-progress webcomic available to read on Tapas and Webtoons. Again, another story where major themes center on storytelling and fairytales, but also recovering from trauma and grief! There are so, so many classic faerie vibes, and even featuring pinnacle figures from classic fae lore like the Goblin Market, and it manages to feel equal parts nostalgic and unique in its use of faerie lore!

Dandies in Danger podcast by @dandiesindanger

A table-top RPG podcast instead of a novel! It features four queer men that are dragged into a world of fae and horror, all while set against the backdrop of Regency era London. It starts as a VERY eerie fae mystery (featuring figures like Titania and Oberon), but it slowly becomes a dark, horror historical-fantasy, and it's great! Also art by the podcast's creators is so good!

So these are the recs I have to offer for now!! As always, feel free to add more recommendations!!!💛

[marisatomay]

been relistening to unobscured season 1 about the salem witch trials (very good & informative, highly recommend) which means i’m rewatching the vvitch and i really appreciate how much homework eggers clearly did for this and that he treats the devil and witchcraft the way the puritans did: not superstitions but very real and provable, corporeal threats

[heathenvvitch]

Betwixt, Middle, & In between

I have just come to e realization that I have been witnessing several synchronicities over the past several weeks but didn't put it all together until only about a half hour ago whilst reading "The Devils Dozen" by Gemma Gary. I'm going to take the time now, to info dump about all I learned and with that being said, I believe, I am finally on the correct road for me and my practice. I'm finding the crooked path to resonate very deeply with me and I'm finding the connection that I was lacking with wicca and other practices. Now, on to the post.

I have noticed that the song "Stuck In The Middle With You" by Stealers Wheel has been playing on random a lot when my vvitch sister and I are together. Furthermore, I've noticed that the word middle and the phrase "in between" has come up multiple times as well in our previous discussions and random statements I've heard from others around us.

In the craft, betwixt, middle, & in between verbiage is used quite a lot. The in between is the space between the "mundane" and the magical. In traditional/folk craft, the middle/in between are very prevalent. The stang is used to represent the witch father/horn god/bucca/etc. There is talk of the light betwixt the horns, which again represents the liminal space between the "mundane" and the "magical" worlds.

I have already preformed the first of "The Devils Dozen" rights and have been visited four times by the witch father. I first encountered hi during the invoking ritual. He didn't say anything directly but I could feel his presence and he was pleased with the the offerings I gave him. Directly after the ritual, I walked into my mud room and a horned figure was stood out my door that I just caught a glimpse of before turning on the light. I, naturally, was startled and shut the light off again but the figure was gone. However, I knew it was him.

The next encounter I had, was while i was doing chores around my home and suddenly was overcome by a heavy energy that scared me and swore I saw another figure on the corner of my eye while alone. However, I pulled out my tarot card and pendulum as calmly as I could and was given a pretty clear message from the witch father to continue my studies because I had been neglecting them. I believe he may have been irritated with me but he was pleased by reaction to his presence and deducing his message promptly. How do I know this? you may ask, well.... I cant really explain it. Its just a feeling, the energy suddenly lightened and the witch father's presence left shortly after the energy shifted.

There were two more encounters, one that happened right after the first rite and one that happened recently but I prefer to keep those to myself for now. However, I will say, that both these encounters happened while i was BETWIXT a sleeping and awake state. They were full deep energy that felt as though the air was electrified and warm. It was very surreal and the feeling itself was both intense and amazing.

The fact that, the in between keeps showing up in my life and the recent visit from the witch father, leads me to believe that I am not only on the right track, but a big break through is immanent. Even before writing this post, a phrase entered my thoughts. This phrase was "Comme Ci, Comme ca". This phrase is French for so-so or neither good nor bad. This can be seen as, yet another representation of the in between. As above, so bellow. I'll post some photos bellow of that show some representations of what I've spoke about here. Things are truly getting interesting.

[tarabyte3]

what would be your top 5 dream roles/genres for future andy films?

Ooooo, this is a very good question!! Thank you for this!

- Horror

We already have The Cottage, which I love, but horror is my favorite genre so of COURSE I want more Andy in it lol. And he's expressed interest in doing more within the genre so it's a reasonable dream! It would great to see him in something similar in tone to The VVitch or Hereditary with a lot of atmosphere and tension so he can show off the depth of his talent.

- Romance

Look... I'm only human. He's played roles that have had romance, but he's never played a romantic lead. Specifically, I want him in a romantic drama. If I'm being picky, a period romantic drama. 🫠 Like, imagine him in an Austenian esque role. IMAGINE IT.

- Bond (or a similar character in an action film)

That's fucking right, I'm saying we give Andy Serkis the Liam Neeson Taken treatment. Because he might be 60, but Andy is in incredible shape. And he's always been a very physical actor anyway. I mean, did you see him as Ulysses Klaue?!? He could more than handle it. He can be suave and badass when he wants to be, and I think he should get to show off by learning neat fighting choreography with lots of behind the scenes footage of him in sweats while training. 👉👈👀 OR Andy can play the Bond villain with the same caveats. I'm not picky. I fucking adore David Robey, his character the Luther: The Fallen Sun. Of course I would be okay with more of that.

OR perhaps an action film more like Children of Men, where there's some drama and thriller elements tangled in there?

Finally, alternatively: Matt Reeves please give us Alfred being a badass in The Batman 2 please please please please. 🙏 I am begging. Please.

- The Humbug in The Phantom Tollbooth

When I was at PopCon in Indy, Andy said he would love to give The Phantom Tollbooth the same treatment he gave Animal Farm. And if he did, he would want to play The Humbug. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. It would genuinely be an incredible role for him.

- Jazz musician

He doesn't even need to be the lead. If we could get him on screen playing the saxophone multiple times, and maybe even playing on the soundtrack so I could listen to it obsessively, I would throw up and then set myself on fire. (I want to clarify that this is a very positive reaction.)

[captainmera]

I've been reading your Tales of Caleb Wittebane story and honestly your grasp of 1600s America makes the worldbuilding very interesting. I admire your dedication to making it as accurate as you can!

omg THANK YOU!!! :DDDDDD <333333

I've done so much research--!! I know so much about Connecticut Hartford and the witch trials, and Pequots, you don't even know half of it.

As a non-american, I never thought I'd know this much about a state's history lol. For one, Connecticut has a whole museum dedicated to the history and culture of the Pequot tribal nation! Super fascinating check it out!

I think I've consumed every documentary available on youtube twice, as well as scraped sites like Wetherfield's historical society & Hartford museum's sources and recommendations, just to get the detail snippets up.

Both Wethersfield and Hartford are very obvious inspirations for Gravesfield! Considering they have so many similar things appearing in them. I mean, just look at Hartford's founder statue lol:

I did look into the work behind the costume designs for movies like VVITCH, Salem and Sleepy Hollow, just to consume the visual knowledge of what experts had to say about it. Y'know? :D Saves me the work to listen/read what experts have to say about it!

Looking into the witch trials too (which took place before Salem) is also very interesting! Though, Gravesfield is inspired by it, so I'm allowing myself some creative freedom. Especially in regard to what "witchcraft" happens. Considering, Evelyn is a real witch and her magic has an actual system behind it.

Matthew Hopkins was a real witch finder, which I believe Jacob is referencing. But in true Disney fashion, I changed his name to Anthony instead, so it isn't a ~real~ historical figure. :P

I like history, but my area of fascination is social culture. So a lot of what I dig into is everyday life, behaviour and objects, fashion and how things are used.

It's been particularly fun to look into Woodsmen and what their actual duties/lives were like! :D And right now I'm looking more into crime and punishment. Which is also a lot of fun!

I don't save all my sources because I just write down in my notebook of what is relevant for me and the story. So I won't say I'm a 100% accurate, but I'm like... a solid 70%??? Which is good enough for me! Heheh!

idk about you fam but history immerses me creatively. Because the more I find - like little objects and what they ate, wore, things like that - it makes me grounded and I can see it so much clearer what is happening and what SHOULD happen.

Like, when Evelyn meets Mr Hopkins and Caleb keeps elbowing her to be quiet. It's not in-text, because I want the reader to be mystified with Evelyn more in that scene; But she is not supposed to talk with Mr Hopkins so frankly. And, she responds to his "how do you do" incorrectly, she answers it! You're supposed to reply the same in return "How do you do." "How do you do." Which is what Caleb did!

So she's a weirdo! :D For me, that really helps me write Evelyn clashing and standing out more. And amplifies Caleb's nervousness of her strangeness by others. He is very self-aware of social status and position. Which she is not. So he is her perfect guide! :D

:DDDDD

Sorry I'm going off on a babble here but THANK YOU FOR NOTICING. I'm very proud of it! :D

[myrskytuuli]

Welp, I finally watched Longlegs...it was a dissapointment.

I was pretty hyped for Longlegs ever since the really intriguing trailer and very good marketing campaign started, and even went out of my way to avoid spoilers before seeing the movie. With expectations so high for another artistic, slow-paced, psychological horror ala Hereditary or the VVitch, I have to say I was left wanting. The more I rotated the movie in my head, the more dissapointed I get.

Warning here be spoilers!

Longlegs is a story about an FBI agent who displays slight psychic abilities on her first case and is then assigned to help with a perplexing serial killer case, the Longlegs case. In longlegs case all forensic evidence suggests a murder-suicide of a family, and cryptogram letters left on the crime scenes and signed by "Longlegs" are the only hint that someone or something else has been involved with the murders. The main character, Lee Harker, eventually finds out that the murders are commited via devil-worshiping man called Longlegs, who makes a life-sized, Satan-infested, doll resembling the family's daughter, gifting it to the family, which then possess the dad to kill the family and himself. In the end, Lee figures out that she was supposed to be one of the victims as s child and that her mom made a deal with the devil to help with the doll-murder-scheme in exchange for Lee's safety.

Let's start with the biggest, most obvious one. The titular character Longlegs is a transmisogynistic caricature who could just as well be a distasteful Daily Wire sketch spliced between the scenes of a serious horror movie. Longlegs, both the movie and the character, relies way too hard on the expectation that you will accept a close up of a middle-aged man in a badly applied lipstick to be a jumpscare in itself. But we will return to Longlegs the character little later. First, I want to talk about Longlegs the movie.

Longlegs is both too much and not enough. It markets itself as an occult detective mystery, but unfortunately instead of getting best of both worlds, it strips both the detective story and the occult story off of its most enjoyable elements. For a detective mystery there isn't much detecting, and for occult movie there isn't much occult.

A lot of occult horrors have gone out of their way to base their stories around real occult histories and as a consequence are full of easter eggs for those who recognise the historical nods. Hereditary references the Lesser Key of Solomon, The VVitch based its horror on real 1600 century archival texts, and even As Above So Below followed real alchemical traditions. This allowed those movies to avoid infodumbing lore, while still having internally consistant mythology that you can dig deeper into, if you want to. Longlegs does not do this. It handwaves towards the idea of satanic occult without ever creating its own internal mythology nor relying on one consistant real-life source. Which for me, personally, felt like a very frustrating experience, because you can't connect the dots of why whatever occult means are used.

Why was Lee getting visions of snakes? Because snakes are spooky and associated with the devil. Why were there bible quotes left at the crime scenes? Because they come from the Revelation and the revelation is the spooky chapter of the bible. Why were these murders being commited? Because Lucifer was bored. Why did the haunted dolls need vibrating metal spheres inserted inside their heads in order to be haunted? So that the doctor can put a stetoschope on one and hear evil vibrations. Why dolls? Because the director read a book about voodoo and found the idea of symphatetic magic spooky. (Not what symphatetic magic means btw. It has nothing to do with christian magic tradition or possession)

lacklustre magical theory could be excused, and I have excused in many other movies, with otherwise solid or entertaining plots, but this movie about catching a serial killer does not actually offer the viewer any clues to put together or follow the detective along the trail of mystery. rememeber that slightly psychic part? A huge mistake in my opinion, which cripples the movie for no reason. (Also, I really felt like the scene of the FBI having a psychic testing program was a leftover from an entirely different movie. Why was it there, what did it contribute??)

Lee is a passive vessel being led around by her psychic visions to every clue and revelation. She doesn't figure things out for herself, instead she receives answers from her visions or by her sixth sense, or by other people telling her the answers. She solves the Longlegs cryptogram because the Cipher is literally handed to her by Longlegs. She finds the picture of Longlegs by being guided to it by her sixth sense, and finally sees the final plotwist of the movie in a dream narrated to her by her mom. There is an actual literal flashback scene that explains the twist, without any lead up of the puzzle pieces slotting into place. As a mystery, it's bad.

okay but why is Longlegs even here? No, but for real. This is one of those movie tries to do too much moments. The movie's focus is supposed to be on Lee, solving a murder mystery, and her strained relationship with her mom, who is secretely killing people. But instead of letting that plot develop and breathe, too much time is spent following Longlegs, who is what? Middle-manager of this scheme? The scheme which goes like this:

Lucifer wants to kill people -> Lucifer contracts a socially maladjusted crossdresser named Longlegs to build dolls which Lucifer can then possess -> Longlegs contracts Ruth Harker to knock on people's doors dressed as a nun and smuggle the dolls inside people's houses -> Lucifer, once inside the house, influences the dad to murder his family and himself -> ???????profit

It's halfway through the movie, why, instead of getting any development for the main character, am I watching Lucifer's doll guy fail at making small talk at the convenience store???!!!!!

Okay, joking aside, lets talk about the transmisogyny and ableism.

Longlegs is an older man(?) who dresses in women's clothes and wears grotesque amounts of makeup, while exhibiting behaviours best described as autistic stims, and lives in Lee's mom's basement.

His mannerisms osciliate between childish deference to aggressive cussing in a way that brings to mind stereotypes of low-fucntioning autistic behaviour. It's very uncomfortable to watch and not in the way the movie wants. I think there is something almost darkly ironic in the way that thorought the whole movie, we never actually see Longlegs, the titular movie monster, do anything evil, and the entire loadbearing part of holding the movie's uncanny athmosphere rests on us finding Longlegs' behaviour creepy without seeing him commit any attrocities. Sure, the uncanniness is supposed to come from the fact that we know that he is the killer, but the movie doesn't want to show us that part. Imagine watching Friday the 13th but you only see Jason doing grocery shopping with his hockey mask on and hear about other characters talking about the murders that happened off-screen. no seriously, why is Longlegs here?

We never find out anything about Longlegs, why he worships Lucifer, why he started the murder doll-scheme with Lucifer in the first place, or what his history is. In the movie Longlegs, Longlegs doesn't matter. Lee finds a picture of him in her home and In the next scene he has been arrested. Longlegs kills himself during the police interview, and Lee goes off to find the actual important part of the mystery, her mom. So....why did we spend all that time with Lucifer's doll guy? Wouldn't all that time have been better spent slowly finding clues that reveal Lee's mom's as the perpetrator???

The metaphor of Longlegs is confused at best, if it even is supposed to have one, which I personally doubt. Sure, the director says is is about the darkness in us all and about families, but...is it?

Longlegs makes gestures towards wanting to be a movie about family violence, but it never arrives at it. The outside influence satanic panic is played comletely straight. There could be something about Ruth, the church lady, being allowed inside family homes because she looks trusthworthy, and bringing with her forces which lead to family violence, but the fact that the force causing the violence is literally the devil in league with a vaguelly inhuman (does he have magic powers? Maybe?) crossdresser kind of kneecaps that interpretation. Allowing strangers inside your suburban home is the root of all evil in this movie. Even Ruth joined in leagues with Longlegs under duress, after home invasion.

The deepest the movie gets is that sometimes parents lie to their children and that makes those children distant from their parents. But that's the literal thing that happens in the movie, this movie isn't really a metaphor for anything in the way that Hereditary or Nope or any other horror movie that seamlessly functions as both good in-universe storie and out-universe fable.

Okay, so there is one very redeeming part this movie has and it's Bill Clinton's giant portrait looming over way more scenes than you would expect, with the energy that I would best describe as Laura Palmer's photograph in the end credits of Twin Peaks. Somehow, Bill Clinton is haunting this narrative.

[docholligay]

Foreign Films to Expand Into

I saw a post regarding the writer’s strike that suggested Americans maybe make the effort of watching a foreign film, and while I agree, I didn’t think its tone was super helpful. Don’t get me wrong, I’m the queen of “Pull yourself out of a rut!!” but I don’t think “Americans are so fucking stupid they don’t realize other countries make movies” is actually trying to help anyone, so much as add to the idea that I guess the rest of the world is being forced to watch Captain America at gunpoint. 

But I DO want Americans to watch foreign films, in the same way that I want them to watch indie films, and I want people of all nations and stripes to expand their understanding of what they’re used to, to push themselves into something else they might like. I think my family would say that it’s fair to call me a person who is open to experience. I love to try things! That’s why I have the book draw, that’s why I go see movies I’m not sure about, that’s why I actively seek out foods I’ve never tried. You deserve to make your life interesting, to be challenged, to provide enrichment in your enclosure. You are worth the effort of a richly textured life! And movies are often a pretty cheap way to go about stepping outside of your comfort zone. I can’t wait to hear what you thought of any of these! 

Obviously, if you are not American, one  of these may not be foreign to you. Yes, I know that. 

I don’t hold out that all of these are hidden gems--some of them are, or were, extremely popular movies. Many of them won awards. But I do hold out that these are some of my favorites, and I would love to share them with you. I did, however, try to avoid anything that I thought already got a lot of play on tumblr: I don’t need to tell anyone here to watch Parasite, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, or any given Ghibili movie (Though you should watch Grave of the Fireflies--it’s my favorite). 

Pan’s Labyrinth (Mexico and Spain): This is my favorite foreign film of all time and I am breaking my, “I’m not putting any movie on here I don’t need to tell you to watch” rule right away because it is in fact one of my favorite movies of all time, American or foreign. It is a lush story about fantasy, facism, courage, and the horror of childhood. Warning: This movie is very very intense. Do not be fooled by the fact that Del Toro also does like fucking…Hellboy. He also can make very serious, very good movies, and he does not shy away from the brutality of the Spanish Civil War. If you liked Labyrinth but you’re fully grown now and I want a story about fantasy bargains for the adult crowd, this is for you. 

The Orphanage (Spain): I love Spanish horror, and so it was really, really difficult to only pick one. But this has been one of my favorites for years, a classic Spanish slow burn that deals with the long shadow of childhood and the line between the supernatural and the natural. If you like pensive horror movies like The VVitch, I really think you should give this one a try. 

Hero (China): I know a lot of y’all are into wuxia now, but back when this came out it wasn’t a thing I had ever heard of*. Hero is, as the title might imply, a sweeping historical epic with fantastic fight scenes and gorgeous cinematography. If you enjoy stories told in multiple interpretations, high-flying wire work, and with some ideas about war, peace, and truth that tempt without asking too much of you, you’ll love this. 

Cold War (Poland): Listen, I love Cuarón, Mexican and Spanish movies absolutely dominate my list of foreign films I’ve watched, but I genuinely thought Cold War deserved the edge over Roma for the Oscar that year. It’s a fairly short movie for the times, coming in at less than 90 minutes, and it wastes not even one second of that film time. Cold War is a bittersweet love story not only with two people toward each other, but feels deeply critical of Poland while recognizing the impossibility of unbraiding yourself from it. If you love impossible, bittersweet, happily never after love stories with stark and striking cinematography, you’ll adore Cold War. 

Tigers Are Not Afraid (Mexico): I adore an unflinching take on childhood, and this movie is absolutely that. It essentially asks, “How do children survive in a world full of trauma?” and the answer is that sometimes, they don’t. This movie is a little frenetic, admittedly, but the ways fantasy and imagination is woven into a group of street children orphaned by the cartels is something I haven’t been able to stop thinking about since I first saw it, and I think the final shot is pitch perfect. If you liked Pan’s Labyrinth this is required viewing, as I think it shares a lot of themes. 

The African Doctor (France): “Holligay, if you put another fucking downer movie in this list I am going to BEAT YOUR ASS” Okay, okay, we’re going to ignore my general predilections and everything from here on down is fairly life-affirming or comedic or easy. This is about a little village in France in the 1970s that gets an African doctor. It’s sweet, and funny, and you come away from it feeling good. Also I still laugh every time Seyolo responds to the fact that most of the villagers had never seen a black person with: “So what? Now they will.” If you like sweet fish out of water stories with nice endings, this is for you. 

Om Shanti Om (India): I maintain that this is the best movie to watch if you’re brand new to Bollywood. It mostly avoid the worst of its excesses while delighting in all of its strengths. It is a genuinely fun film with fantastic songs, and a shockingly together storyline for a Bollywood movie (affectionate). I’ve actually done a full review of this one, but in the short version: If you loved Moulin Rouge and wanted more of that mix of tragedy and silliness on a operatic level, I think you’ll be in for a treat. 

The Warrior’s Way (South Korea and New Zealand): Okay, this movie is not good, and also it manages to be bad. But it’s in English, so if you’ve been sitting there like my dad going, ‘I am not gonna read a movie” well, here you go. If you’ve ever said to yourself, “I want to watch a Western, but I wish it were actually a HK style cheesy action movie” BOY HOWDY AM I HERE FOR YOU. I watched this one insanely drunk and still managed to be like, “wow! This is so bad! Maximum valid!” If you thought RRR** was good, but too deep, you will have the BEST time with The Warrior’s Way. 

Anyway, this is, of course, an incomplete list, and I’m sure I’ve forgotten something I love, since this was just made off the cuff. I would love to hear if you watch or like any of these, and also, if, looking at this list, you have a recommendation for me, let me know! There are so so many fucking movies out there, and so many fall through the cracks. 

I’m thinking about doing another one of these on “Indie movies you might have missed” and also “Movies that were made before you enfants were born” (30+ years) so let me know if anything like that is interesting! Or, if there’s a category you think I might know about you’re into, let me know also.

*I actually have a lot of emotional attachment to Hero, as I have a very distinct memory of standing in the Hastings, in front of the small foreign-film section, and it being the first foreign film I picked up. I was, I think, sixteen, and I had decided that I was going to be worldly, and interesting, and cultured, and so I took a deep dive into cooking from other cultures, and watching foreign films, and buying old art history textbooks, reading classics, and listening to opera, and formal manners. Basically becoming the person I wished I were, that poised Grace Kelly type, even if I was born to the drone of the grasshoppers on the wind. To quote Reba Macintire, “You know I mighta been born just plain white trash, but Fancy was my name” and all that. And this movie was a distinct part of that, in that it was the first, in a long line of me trying to be a more well-rounded and interesting person. 

**RRR (India): Actually on that note, watch RRR. It’s a fantastically fun Indian action film that I keep meaning to watch again because I got a little too drunk for drinking on an emopty stomach the first time I saw it, so it might actually also be good, but I do remember enjoying the shit out of it and there is a scene that has such Fareeha vibes to me.