#it could be peak cinema i fear

[queenie-official]

I NEED A LIVE ACTION PRINCESS AND THE FROG

[sminiac]

Sohee’s hands are so pretty it’s incredibly devastating.

He would be so sweet to you whilst teaching him how to use his fingers, where to touch, how to, so compliant with your instruction, the length of the process overflowing with constant timid giggles to mitigate the tension in his own inhibitions, fearing that he might not be able to succeed in making you feel good- but even that sounds insignificant compared to what he really wants.

He wants more than to have you moaning from only the effort of his dick or his mouth, he sees how often you’re focused on the way his fingers move, whether they’re resting or he’s merely scratching at an itch on his face, your eyes are always following them, like a cat with string.

“Show me,” he’d simply suggest one day, cutting through the silence of the room so abruptly that you almost jump. Blinking cluelessly at him with a confused smile you ask, “Show you what ‘Hee?”

His tongue pokes out to run against his top lip, readjusting himself to be seated with his legs crossed over at his ankles, knees pressed into yours, “How you want me to use my hands with you. Properly.”

And you do, come to find out he’s quite the learner as he succeeds in making you reach your peak by the lone effort of his fingers, and he couldn’t be more ecstatic to find out that not everyone has the same capabilities as him. Teaching Sohee would be a benefit for his sake, added his egos too, but would come to be… unavoidable on your part, as now every chance he sees even the slightest opening in he goes for it, his hand separating your knees apart with an unexpected force when he comes back home from a rather long tedious schedule and just wants to play with your pussy, make you cum, hear the way you whine and squeak out short praises directly into his ear as he watches the way his fingers work under the thin fabric of your bottoms.

It’s something about not being able to see what he does, but seeing the affect he has on you by the expressions of your face.

Loves when your hand comes up to massage gently at his scalp, already aware of the stress that’s thick in his disposition without so much as a word, just silently allowing him to touch you, your movement on his head stilling once he’s pulled you into a mindless blanket of pleasure as two of his fingers slip into your cunt and start pumping without missing a beat, your fingers tightening, locking around the soft clumps of his hair, pulling him closer into you by your hold to press tender kisses to his cheek :(

“I love you”s shared as he brings you to your peak, and lots of eye contact, the type to make you smile by smiling at you because he just loves you so much.

With this new habit of his he’d certainly enjoy seeing how far he could take it without getting caught. You’re out to eat at a fancy restaurant with him and his members? His fingers are agile enough to slip under your skirt unnoticed, just missing the warm feeling of you wrapped around him, leaving his fingers stuffed inside of you as he talks so casually to the boys seated so closely to the two of you at the table. You wanted to go see that new movie at the cinema? He’s throwing his jacket over your legs and moving himself to your seat as close as possible so he can move your panties to the side underneath it without being suspicious, pretending to just cuddle as his ring finger and index keep you spread for him so his middle finger can play with you clit.

Also has a problem cuddling, because at any moment he’s pushing you onto your back or pulling your leg to rest over his just so he can get his fingers on you. One of his favorite things to do is when the both of you watch as he lazily fingers you, switching from fucking them into you to swiping at the small bunch of nerves, purposely making as much noise with his hands as possible just to see the way you shy away from him.

[joe-spookyy]

thinking about batman today so here’s a brief essay explaining my thoughts on every live action batman actor and their films, along with my ranking of the films i’ve seen.

as the original, i have to give adam west some 
serious credit. and god was his movie enjoyable. the bit when he was literally fist fighting a shark and had to use bat shark repellent spray to get it off of him was probably the best moment in batman history. he was very reminiscent of the batman from scooby doo meets batman (1972). or i guess that batman was reminiscent of him. whatever. i was very entertained by his film and i quite enjoyed the addition of robin, as i feel that he goes underutilized in batman movies. i really loved how every single item in his batcave was labeled, and how all of it began with the word bat. the bat navigational computer. the bat water fountain. the bat ladder. i love it. the villains were just the right amount of camp, although i did not care for the fact that the joker clearly had a mustache that was just painted over. caesar romero could you really not bear to part with it for one film? yeesh. my one complaint is that batman did not seem to be enthused about anything throughout the entire runtime. as my father pointed out, he was quite spock-like. not a sweet ounce of real excitement or fear. i really loved how he ran that cartoon bomb all through gotham though. really entertaining sequence.


christian bale does bruce wayne and batman very well, but his batman voice is so funny that it distracted me from anything important that happened in the movies. it sounded like he was swallowing gravel or perhaps like he had smoked a pack a day since he was 2 years old. also, the cowl on his batsuit had a really pointy nose and i did not like that. he had the idea and everything he did was great but the acting choice to give batman such a stupid voice takes away from everything. it left me pondering. did bruce sit in his little batcave practicing voices? do you think he made alfred give him advice on which fake voice was most menacing? do you think he tried different accents? i can’t deal with the lack of answers. however, the dark knight is really good so i will give him that. 


clooney and kilmer did a fine job in the role HOWEVER. i want to track down whichever costume designer chose to give the batsuit nipples and give them a piece of my mind because why. why would they do that. why. it is important to add though that batman forever was one of the most insane, camp, off the rails films i have ever seen and i think i probably enjoyed it more than any of the other ones because i was laughing throughout the entire runtime. it was a batman movie but he was the least interesting thing about the film. the sets were literally breathtaking and so eye catching. the outfits were insane. the plot lines were baffling in the most positive way. i wish joel schumacher had been put in charge of directing every movie ever because i definitely feel like more movies need to be exactly like this monstrosity. cinema peaked in 1995 when they put jim carrey in that atrocious little riddler costume. i almost forgive the costume designers for the bat nipples because of how insane and fantastic the two face costume is. almost. 


now micheal keaton had the right idea i suppose. however he failed to grab my attention. he wasn’t strange enough, nor was he very smooth and suave. he was right in the middle and that made him too much of a regular guy to be a good bruce wayne. his batman voice was literally just his normal voice so that kind of left me confused. how did no one realize that bruce wayne sounds exactly like batman. come on guys. excellent joker though. he wasn’t too serious but i think he could have been a bit more silly. however i’m inclined to dislike him for the fact that he was in batman returns. when i tell you this movie ruined my life i mean it. when danny devito ate a raw fish and black saliva dripped out of his mouth, the image was scarred into my brain and i can still see it so clearly despite not having watched the movie since i was about eight. i did enjoy the penguins with rocket launchers ont their backs, but i cannot get over the awful aspects of this one. i will never forgive you for this micheal.


robert pattinson’s batman, or battinson as i like to call him, was very good. probably i’m biased because of robert pattinson in eyeliner but that is besides the point. his movie was also quite good but it falls into the trap of making batman all serious and gritty. this is a huge mistake. this man named his car “the batmobile” and is literally fighting some guy called “the penguin” and you decided to make it all dark and serious? this has comedic potential and i physically cannot take it seriously when some billionaire in a rubber batsuit is lurking in the background of a serious police investigation. i don’t care who got murdered, the minute he starts growling about riddles from the corner i am going to start giggling. however robert did kill the role and i have to say he did a great job making bruce wayne an absolute pathetic loser, which is what i think the world needs. unfortunately this version of the riddler was so lame and boring. where is the camp! where are the FUN riddles! where is the brightly colored hair! clearly matt reeves has never seen batman forever.


finally we come to the best batman, lego batman. i literally just rewatched this movie yesterday so i think i’m probably an authority on the movie. will arnett understood this role so deeply and it very much shows. this bruce wayne has none of the issues i had with any of the others. the batman voice does not give me secondhand embarrassment for him. the suit has no bat nipples. and most importantly the movie does not take batman too seriously while still giving him an important character arc, acknowledging his flaws both as a person and as a hero, and allowing him to recognize these flaws and begin to overcome them. plus any batman that canonically listens to elliott smith is a friend of mine. something i find incredibly important is that the lego batman movie also does something no other batman movie has done before: it dares to be a rom-com. when batman told the joker “i hate you forever” while they were less than an inch from each other’s faces, i was wiping a sweet tear from my eye. i want what they have.

to conclude i think the only batman movies that really understand the characters are the ones that are truly just off the rails insane. although it’s important to recognize the darker aspects of the character, too many superhero movies feel the need to be gritty and serious all the way through, and the lack of balance leaves viewers (me) disappointed. they need to return to their roots and make the genre interesting and unique again. slightly unrelated but i also really think they need to stop rebooting the joker. there’s been so many different versions and as much as i love the jokes there are other batman villains. so many other batman villains. please let the joker rest i am begging and pleading.

FINAL RANKING!

fuck you batman returns

[thollandneedy]

The Scary Movie-Tom Holland

A/n: Yes, one more Tom Holland blurb. Don't judge me

Warnings: Explicit language

Summary: Tom making fun of y/n after watching a scary movie with him

Don’t forget to share, like, comment and leave your ideas here

Bellah’s Masterlist 🪻

“I hate you” Y/n makes a crying face, tipping her head back as soon as she sets foot in the exit door of the movie theater.

After a tiring week, Thomas had surprised his girlfriend by taking her to the cinema, better known as Y/n's favorite place. As an actor, Holland was used to premieres and spending more than two hours sitting in a room with reclining seats, watching himself and his colleagues. Even when he wasn't acting, he didn't understand how cozy a movie theater could feel. The girl said it was like the feeling that the world wasn't real, and that for some reason, when she came out of a movie, everything seemed like a dream.

But surely a horror movie after the mall had closed wasn't the best choice. The couple had settled down in a room with only a few people and a reclining seat so they could hold each other for the entire movie. Even with the brunette's strong arms around her, fear consumed her, along with the anxiety of the end of the movie. After a few jumps in the seat and squeals of fear, Holland began to ignore the situation as just a normal movie, and laughed at the times his girlfriend grabbed his jeans tightly.

“That was the best date we've ever had.” Holland says, covering his mouth with a muffled laugh.

“Really! You know I don't deal well with terror. How am I going to get through the night?” Y/n complains, feeling her boyfriend squeeze her hand tightly as he slowly walks with her to the mall exit.

“We live together, Y/n!” The brunette exclaimed, laughing to himself.

“Even so! In the movie, anyone can be evil. What if you want to kill me in the middle of the night? Who am I going to ask for help?” Y/n raises his hands in a questioning manner, and then raises his boyfriend's hand.

“Nobody,” Holland says in a thick, macabre voice, causing the girl to drop her hand and walk faster in front of him. The brunette in the dark green blouse pulls the girl in the jeans around his waist, bringing her closer to him as he laughs at her reaction.

“You're terrible.” The girl laughs in a fake cry as a way of showing her frustration.

“You liked the movie. Don't lie.” Tom says, already knowing the answer.

“Like is a very strong word. I appreciated your invitation, and because of the advantage of being attached to you like a koala to a bamboo, I enjoyed the experience.” The girl says, drawing a giggle from her boyfriend.

“It's nice to hold you tight and have you hide around my neck when you don't want to see a scene.” Holland hugged his girlfriend from behind, letting his arm curve around her back while his body lay next to the girl.

“Still, I'm not going to the restroom alone.” Y/n looks at the empty restroom in the mall, which was closing for the day. “It looks like a backroom.” The girl admits, drawing a hearty laugh from her boyfriend.

“FUCK OFF.” The brunette bursts into laughter, squatting on the floor and putting his hand on his stomach.

“Seriously! I drank a lot of soda, but look at this shit!” Y/n points to an empty bathroom in shades of sand and cream, with few lights on the outside where there was a corridor of mirrors leading to doors with a doll in a dress and a doll in pants. Holland took a deep breath, laughing once again when he saw his girlfriend's reaction.

“Only the scream you gave in the living room was better than that.” Thomas reminds her, making her put her hands over her face in shame. “That was the peak of my evening. For a few seconds, I thought I was going to be recognized because people looked back to see who the crazy woman was shouting loudly at 10pm in an empty shopping mall.”

“Fuck you!” Y/n swears. “I didn't even shout that loud.”

“Oh, my love. I'll protect you from everything and everyone.” Thomas kisses the top of Y/n's head, running his hand down the length of her arm.

The sky was completely dark, and one of Tom's security guards was at the door of the parking lot waiting for him. Holland greets him, heading towards his car and making room for Y/n to get in first, so that he can sit next to her later.

“Promise you won't kill me in my sleep?” The girl asks in a childish voice, causing her boyfriend to laugh.

“I swear.” Holland says, running his two hands over the girl's face.

“I love you.” Y/n says

Their lips connect after a silly smile.

“I love you too”

[bradpittwh0re]

faceclaim: margot robbie

pairings: brad pitt x actress!reader

warning:fluff

y/ndaily

liked by y/nupdates, y/nstan03, pittfan07 and 34,254 others

y/ndaily popcrave posted via twitter

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y/nfan73 omg I cant believe it came out 9 years ago

bradstan31 i wish i could do coke on y/n tits

y/nfan42 stoooop but same

y/nfan67 One of the best movies ever made!

y/nfan92 I love that they fell in love on set

bradpfan43 if you watch bts videos of filming , you can see how madly in love they are

y/nstan87 Brad and Y/N carried

y/nfan27 she made history i fear...

yourinstagram added to their story

celebexposed

liked by teapage, deuxmoi and 52,254 others

celebexposed Y/N L/N and Brad Pitt spotted having a private dinner

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y/nfan73 you guys are so weird , leave them alone

deuxmoi love this content

y/nfan92 of course you do

pittfan59 this is so embarrassing for them

bradstan04 “private dinner”

y/nstan72 like is it so hard not to stalk people

yourinstagram

liked by bradpitt , y/nstan01 and 3,423,134 others

yourinstagram thank you so much @vogue and @vanityfair for choosing me for your cover

view all 1,746,032 comments

y/nstan29 the swiftness that brad liked this

user37 the power she has

y/nfan26 really she on two of the biggest magazines at the same

y/nfan22 her hair is so beautiful especially in the vogue cover

pittfan92 her outfit is everything in vanityfair issue

yourbestfriend you really devoured that

yourinstagram 😘

y/nupdates

liked by y/ndaily, bradpfanpage  and 10,439 others

y/nupdates clips from the barbie trailer played before Babylon in limited cinemas

comments has disabled comments

babylon

liked by y/nfan10, harryfan12 and 2,830,510 others

babylon  Introducing Y/N L/N as Nellie LaRoy and Brad Pitt as Jack Conrad starring in BABYLON - from Academy winner Damien Chazelle.

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pittfan64 i cant wait from this movie

y/nfan64 I already bought tickets from the trailer

y/nstan08 barbie and thisss , they are so powerful

bradfan32  automatic hit from Damien Chazelle

bradpittupdates

liked by harryfan1, ynfan1 and 3,785 others

harryupdates Y/N and Brad at Babylon premiere with friends and family 

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y/nfan11 y/n fits during this era is so peak

y/nfan82 it is so cute that she went with her mom

bradpfan77 HE LOOKS emoji

y/nstan62 brad and george look so good in the last picture

bradpittfan31 i wish i could find pics of them together from the night

y/nstan93 same it so hard to find

---------

author note - k bye for now

[doomspiral]

Doom's Movie Rec List

Some of these are bangers, some of these are the worst thing I have ever seen in my life, but I think they are all worth watching and enjoying one way or another. Sometimes the enjoyment is cringe and sometimes its staring at a wall for three hours. <3

The seventh seal (1957)

Classic chess game with Death film, I presume the entire thing is Bergman staring into the soul of the viewer in dead silence until you can read his mind.

The cabinet of Dr. Caligary (1920)

Strange, lurching, I watched this in German without knowing enough to keep up and I believe my confusion added to the experience.

Atomic blonde (2017)

This is my favorite movie. This is the one that I can't stop rewriting in my fics. I can't get the "lies" soliloquy out of my mind. My soul is tied to this fillum. Hot insane woman does a lot of violence, kisses women, beats up a guy who truly deserves it. Iron Curtain Spy Nonsense.

Hackers (1994)

Am I depressing you? Good, watch Hackers to experience child-like wonder and also see a grown man skateboard down a foggy street in the middle of the night to harass the homosexual teenagers (and slim shady) he's beefing with.

The core (2003)

This is not a good movie. But there is a little freak in there named "Rat" who I am obsessed with.

Angel's egg (1985)

This is the kind of movie where you have to not try to figure out what's going on and instead let it take you by the hands, just experience it, just keep your mouth shut and your mind at rest and you can consider the implications afterward when its safe.

Princess mononoke (1997)

I watched this as a child and saw those beasts dissolve into bloody worms and apparently that left a lasting mark on my brain.

Nausicaä of the valley of wind (1984)

I actually read the manga for this one but this is a movie rec list, so please go watch this for the death and rebirth vibes, and some mild foeyay yuri.

Invasion of the body snatchers (1978)

Horror movie that's odd and disturbing and clearly betraying some better dead than red fears, worth it for the horrible despicable freakish noise the guy makes at the end while pointing at the viewer.

Strange days (1995)

Please read up on this before watching it, it revolves around a fictional, then-futuristic critique of the adult film industry, HEAVY focus on the capitalistic dehumanization and devaluing of human life.

Underworld (2003)

Bad asses in leather fighting monsters. Core memory.

Blade (1998)

Bad asses in leather fighting monsters but maybe you need a break from how white this whole movie list is overall. That's okay, I see you, this vampire flick fucks severe.

Fright night (1985, 2011)

The first movie is pretty campy (fun) but the remake dug into my actual stressors and fears and scared the lights from my eyes for a day or two. Welcome... to FrrrighT NighT.

Dracula (1931, 1992)

First movie is a classic, this is thee one with the guy crawling around like a lizard and there's armadillos for no reason. The 90's version has no business being as deranged as it is and for this it is a core personality trait movie.

Fast&furious: Tokyo drift (2006)

Not sure I would say this is peak cinema but it's a racing movie that falls in line with the F&F tradition of being clearly in love with the entire premise, location, and cast. Rent free.

Drive (2011)

I like this movie because it is not about the guy getting the girl, it is about doing the right thing every single time because that's what it takes to be a real human bean. being. whichever. I was so obnoxious about this movie when I watched it with my now-ex gf that I wish I could siphon the memory of it out of her brain, because I kept pointing at actors I knew.

Green room (2015)

This is the best punk parable I can think of. Litany against not reading the room, litany against being the hero when there's no one to save, litany against thinking shared trauma is gonna get you any pussy.

Lords of chaos (2018)

I'm obsessed with the band Mayhem there is no other explanation.

There will be blood (2007)

WILD WEST TOXIC YAOI. I'm not apologizing for this summary and I'm not elaborating.

Butch Cassidy and the sundance kid (1969)

I don't know. I watched this in the wee hours of the morning with my best friend and actually cried about it. Doomed criminals and a famous final stand.

Saw (2004)

I used to watch Saw movies when I lived in the trailer park while hiding from my family in a neighbor's place so I don't know if these movies are good or if I needed to watch tortureporn to relax bcs the roof leaked on my bed when it rained? But I think everyone should at least watch the first movie or how are you going to play any games?

Chernobyl diaries (2012)

I walked out of this movie shaking head to toe and couldn't think about anything else for months. I don't think I'd be as scared now but I can't say if that's because I'm not 16 anymore. Warning against going into a dangerous situation with a guy you met off Craigslist.

Constantine (2005)

Demon hoards, evil angels, catholic bullshit, 9/10.

The neverending story (1984)

Well after all that let's reinstate some whimsy into our souls again bcs this is the Jim Henson Power Hour. This one is just a solid entry point into "puppets are fun and practical effects are my best friend".

The dark crystal (1982)

My babysitters put this on for me as a bed-time story when I was five (5) years old and I do not believe I slept, I think they regretted this and had to tell my parents what they did. But now I will never stop making Skeksis noises at people I love.

Labyrinth (1986)

Y'know the phenomenon of alt teens and preteens dating young adult men who are total and complete losers, including actual band members? It's not that this pre-dates any of that, but I believe it does a good job representing it through the lens of a modern fairy tale. Like when you watch this you have to realize this is wish fulfillment for people who want to be Sarah because their age-gap goth boyfriend in the real world is a manipulative disappointment.

Pacific rim (2013)

Love letter to the mecha and kaiju genre(s). Makes no sense, compels me though.

Eurotrip (2004)

This is the movie "Scotty doesn't know" is from. Some high schoolers fuck off to Europe and have the most misadventure possible. It's somehow exactly the kind of cringe humor you would expect from the 00's without being cruel or overly disgusting. I used to watch a lot of really bad 00's comedies and this is a good one I promise. Scussie.

Hamlet (1996)

Personality point, I think this is the best version on film because the guy actually looks like how I envisioned Hamlet. Ignore your girl! Avenge your dad!

Advantageous (2015)

This movie goes in on the connection between race and class in a sci-fi future where you can change the former through predatory, dangerous cosmetic surgery.

Gravity (2013)

This is my go-to movie when I need to sob like a sick little baby. Space travel as a metaphor for motherhood, spaceships as the womb, scientists are the babies who left their babies back on earth. It's about what you give up in the name of fulfilling your human urge for the unknown.

All clear on the western front (2022)

Thee anti-war fillum. Very well done. I never recovered from one of the final scenes to the point I wrote a final paper on it. Without spoiling it, the Ending gave me the feeling of when you're a kid and you want to go play, but you're grounded and you fall asleep listening to your friends outside in the street. I hope this sentence ruins your life if you watch this movie.

Inglorious basterds (2009)

They lock some nazis in a theatre and set them on fire, good cinema.

Shadow dancer (2012)

Domhnall Gleeson in one of his classically pathetic twink roles but its about British imperial violence and Irish reactionary violence.

Logan (2017)

Good art film, a story about dementia, legacies, and why putting children in cages is fucking evil.

The batman (2022)

Weird art film, next question.

Joker (2019)

I do not care about the opinions of straight men who watch things uncritically, this is a good movie because of the depictions of poverty in the US. I don't believe this needed to be about the DC Joker this should have been a standalone art film about a mime.

Dragonheart (1996)

Medieval era dragon nonsense, I will never be convinced this is a bad movie.

Sleeping beauty (1959)

Personality trait was rooting for the dragon.

Snow dogs (2002)

I'm not defending this one it stands on its own, please watch this movie if you wanna see Cuba Gooding Jr. bite a husky's ear so it'll stop ruining his life.

Luck of the irish (2001)

This movie is genuinely so bad I have considered it some kind of hate crime since the day it came out, because I watched this the day it was a direct-to-TV movie. I think I was too young to feel insulted but I was deeply, deeply bemused.

Black swan (2010)

There is a woman inside her and she is trying to crash the plane. Can I get away with calling this foe-yay yuri also? I'm going to.

I, tonya (2017)

Sufjan Stevens' song "Tonya Harding in Eb major" makes me so unreasonably emotional, so one day I watched this movie and then the film of the 1988 Calgary Olympics in the living room while all of my housemates had to sneak around in the dark. This is just a solid movie about ambition, betrayal, abuse, tragedy, and having to get over it and move on because you're not dead yet.

Phantom of the opera (2004)

Whatever was going on in Labyrinth, this is the adult version. Weird man in a sewer possessing a soprano. I think there's some gender happening here but it gets a little lost under the love(?) triangle.

A knights tale (2001)

Just go watch some more medieval nonsense, it's good for you, its fun.

White chicks (2004)

I'm not defending this choice, it's a good movie. "You were thinking it" "Yeah but you said it" there are some phrases you could use to see if I had been replaced with a body double and this is one of them.

Heathers (1988)

Ouughhgh ough oh. Personality trait. Watched this because I kept listening to the musical soundtrack, love both but agree the themes are much tighter in the movie. This is just a fun schlock to tell teens life is stupid and difficult and bad things will happen, so don't abandon your friends.

Priscilla queen of the desert (1994)

Classic homo fillum, if you wonder why I write Gilbert Like That it's partially because of the mean little fruit from this movie. It's about the Aussie drag scene and who belongs in the queer community.

300 (2006)

I'm not sure that I would call this a "good" movie, but it's a classic as far as I'm concerned. This is the "THIS IS SPARTA" movie.

The foreigner (2017)

I actually don't remember the plot of this one too solidly but the suspense and action were solid, and I enjoyed the setup. Good for if you wanna be really pissed off for two hours.

Conan the barbarian (1982)

Look at me. Look into my eyes. You're going to watch this movie. You're going to think about the wheel of pain and you're going to go wow, this is so stupid. Don't look away I'm not done. You're going to watch this movie and then you're going to get a couple of paper towel tubes and find someone to beat the shit out of each other with the tubes.

Law abiding citizen (2009)

I don't know I think watching this movie changed my brain chemistry in very special ways. Guy fucking loses it and becomes a problem for his local community by kidnapping and torturing people who killed his family. Cathartic and vile.

Black dog (1998)

:D DO YOU WANNA WATCH AN ACTION MOVIE ABOUT AN 18-WHEELER?

The hunt for red october (1990)

Almost forgot this one. Lithuanian Submariner off the shits, goes rogue, I'm not sure what accent Sean Connery is going for, I get the impression he just showed up to gigs and did whatever he wanted.

[guardian-angle22]

Tagged by @beautifulhigh & @welcometololaland to list my top 5 Tarlos scenes.

This is really going to show my Season 3 bias ngl.

#5. 2.12 "Don't make me twist your arm."/"Please do."

Their chemistry is insane when they're teasing each other downstairs and then they kiss each other so softly once they get upstairs. I'm a sucker for a good soundtrack moment and there's something iconic about having their house literally light up on fire under them while obliviously making out as Fever by Elvis Presley plays in the background. Peak cinema tbh.

#4. 3.04 "Hey, baby. Breathe."/"Welcome home, TK."

We can all agree to have these two can count as one scene, right? they go back to back. The way TK reached for Carlos as soon as he woke up and immediately noticed that Carlos wasn't breathing right even though he just woke up from a coma, is still groggy, and barely has his eyes open? soulmate shit right there. If you haven't watched this without the music. my god. do it now. & then add in how happy they both look as Carlos leads TK into the loft with his hands over his eyes, and then when TK looks around and you can see on his face when he realizes he still gets to have this despite everything? Beautiful.

#3. 3.18 "For the first time in my life, the love that I feel is infinitely more powerful than the fear of losing it."/"A thousand times yes."

I mean can I even say more about the proposal that hasn't already been said? the urgency TK felt that prompted him to wake Carlos up in the middle of the night. His speech to Carlos. All the little touches throughout. The way they both were crying by the end. It was beautiful and it was perfect for them. (the only way it could have been better is if they maybe stopped to turn on a fucking lamp)

#2. 3.08 "Hey, look at me."/"I love you."

This was their first mutual "I love you" shown on screen and while the context was heartbreaking, it was still so so sweet. Carlos being the loving caregiver, kissing TK's forehead, rubbing his knee, wanting to make sure he eats. The way Carlos tells TK to look at him and he does immediately, even though TK has been basically avoiding eye contact with everyone the entire scene will live rent free in mind for all of time, I'm sure.

#1. 3.13 "Do you have any idea how proud of you I am?"/"You're just so sweet."

Can I put the entirety of 3.13 on the list at number one? Because it's my favorite episode for them. It has so many things. It has them being domestic and flirtatious. TK being distracted by Carlos in yoga clothes. It has them fighting a bit, overcoming those obstacles, and communicating. It showed Carlos as a multidimensional character with flaws like jealousy and pettiness, but then growing through it to come to the realization that he can't be everything that TK needs at the end of the day.

But if I absolutely had to pick just one scene from it, I would chose the opening scene. TK sharing with Carlos about his meeting, finding a sponsor, & the realization of not having Gwyn around affecting his mindset. Carlos waiting up with his adorable glasses, reading articles to educate himself, telling TK how proud of him he is. TK calling him sweet and flirting with him. I just-- 🥰🥰

----

Because I'm doing this pretty late in the day, this has made it's rounds through a lot of my mutuals already. so I'm just going to tag a few people that I haven't seen do it yet (no pressure though if you're not feelin' it. but also if you have done it and I missed it let me know so I can read yours!): @morganaspendragonss @ourlegendwillbefitforverse @detective-giggles @noxsoulmate @ladytessa74 @autistic-lesbian-story-lover @tkstrandreyes @pragmatic-optimist @reyescarlos @spencessmile @poledancingghostson @sunshinestrand @mandiiigurllll

[the-queerview]

The Substance

2024

by Coralie Fargeat

My dear readers, it's been a while since I decided to post. It was a long summer, ending with me visiting North Korea, just kidding, i just saw North Korea, which is already pretty amazing and frightening. Unfortunately my experience was disrupted, since a few week before my arrival some American tourist ran into North Korea and got shot, rest in peace idiot. They say never judge a deceased and in retrospective, i can't since those tours are literally disneyland trader joes tourist traps kind of, but lets not roast on peoples buisnisess here, lets roast the films, that take us on rides in our grey existence.

I would like to start by saying, that it's a pretty good year for babes and a pretty good year for horror film. We had Brat summer and soon there will be Nosferatu Autumn, with Lily Rose Depp starring in Nosferatu (102 years after its first release). We have Hunter Schaefers first cinema film, where she is not there for like 5 minutes like in Hunger games or entirely Naked for a few minutes like in Lanthimos kinds of kindness. Not to hate on nudity here, but we have a quite problematic history with women* and nudity. I highly recommend here Linda Nochlins representing women, on womens representation within western art history paintings, which is till todays core a major influence on cinematography. Which brings me to start today with a Portrait by Gericault, titled : Monomaniac of Envy (Monomane de l’envie) from 1822.

The Substance is a film following Elisabeth Sparkle ( Demi Moore), a former Oscar winner now aging TV -Starr with an aerobic ( I assume) show. (We might be remembered here of Jane Fonda, who indeed was an actress and the figure for aerobic in the 80s, when american propaganda preached they can't control the world in post vietnam war america and they only thing they can control is the BODY.) Elisabeths nasty boss is firing here for being to old, sad and isolated as she is, we don't learn so much, about her inner world. They cinematograpghy is resembling a distant, almost, stretched, lets say overdrawn perspective, probably similar to the characters inner world. Everything is clean, but not personal. Theres a giant photograph of Elisabeth in her almost comic looking loft. It reminds me somehow of older sowiet films, where a picture of Lenin would hang on the walls or some shit, so I thought, damn, the main dictator in Elisabeths Life is probably herself. And turns out right. Long story short, I try not to spoiler the grande scenes here, but one word, the billboard scene.. Elisabeth gets in contact to an anonymous note by an anonymous person, after some tragedy, and orders the SUBSTANCE. She will pick it up, inject it, and after some alien shit, which you see in the first picture, a second version of herself, that is herself will crawl literally out of her back. This version is young, hot, and will fuck Elisabeth up. Her name is Sue ( Margaret Qualley) and the rule is, that Sue got 7 days, and Elisabeth got 7. If one breaks the rule, they basically both fucked.

So the movie itself, is literally like, when popstars get the chance, like i dont know, rihanna doing superbowl singing all her bangers. kind of this vibe, So for horror film nerds, and i m sure i didnt guessed all but we have of course, david lynchs twin peaks and pretty sure wild at heart. we have suspiria by dario argento, especially the soundtrakc and BLOOD, we have some cronenberg body horror, and crazy camera like in gaspard noes enter the void, but all in all, i guess, what i was missing in the film, is that the first half was literally fucking amazing. it had it's own signature, it didn't need the references from my part, like yeah those dude directors did important work, i wish Fargeat would trust herself maybe more, that what shes doing is the right thing to go for. Also I literally loved ALL THE DETAILS. Like i could start analyzing so many bits of it.

I loved, that it was dealing with Envy, fear or aging, MISOGYNY, and comparison in such a smart way. The first half of the film, felt like an entire advertisment, which is the core to all evil, as we know. We literally spent actually years of our lifes watching advertisments.

The second half of it, reminded me to much of 80s body horror, it had its campy moment. And here I m being unfair probably. I did my research and Coralie Fargeat is born 1976. She was a a child in the 80s, and this was a time, that formed her culturally and therefor aesthetaically to a certain degree... or did you never noticed that fashion designers usually end up designing clothes, that they loved to wear as kids/teens? I feel like, if Coralie Fargeat felt like working in this 80s rubber stuff was important for, fuck , let her do it. Also in the 80s there weren't many female filmmakers around, especially not in the dudy dude horror scene. So whatever.

Also I was tbh in shock about the violence. Like many times, my partner had to close my eyes in the cinema, cuz i was hella scared of the intense violence. Maybe Kira Muratova ( an amazing ukranian filmmaker, that I truly adore for insane films) was right, when she said, women make harder films. I wonder if it has something to do with being in pain every month, of the injustice of the binary patriarchal world, or the violence transwomen experience?

There was for sure a very insanity level of violence, but at the same time, the most stunning portrayal of envy against a version of yourself, that you might never see. I loved that it also reflected so much the world in a sense, the decadence of the west, hollywood, glamour, age, ozempic, comparison, starving for youth vs the isolation of those from the current wars in the middle east, the starvation in Sudan. The proatogists were isolated in every scene almost. The Bathroom was the scenery of the crime, similar to the way we use this room to get ready for the outer world. The only real personal details in the film I experienced in the notes, those handwritten notes, that would always appear. I kept thinking about them for days. They became almost a metaphor for me, that different then then all the advertisments, the substance delivery typography, all those for Elisabeth Sparcle seemingly important objects, where not personal, thou its about her,about her body. while those handwritten notes by the strangers, seemed more personal, then the things that surround her, since trough the handwriting they are proof of a human life. Turns out, they were a signifer of what is missing in her world, the way she experience having the body, its no intimate, not adressed.

Also Demi and Margaret were so fucking amazing, i 'm literally blown away. Like i WISH i could like scream and hug them and be like. WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT. I bet all their friends and family are proud like crazy. This shit was insane, playing that? Insane. They did so good, like not many ppl can read a script like that and be like...mhhh yup. So GRANDEUR APPLAUSE !!!!!!!

All in all I highly recommend checking out the Substance, I m sorry if I spoilered to much. Big trigger warning for violence, also some scenes are literally gross, depending on you, bring a friend or a lover, and watch it in the cinema, if your socio cultural situation allows you to, i can imagine this film being censored, otherwise just be illegal literally. Like we live in hell.

but dont watch it alone, only if you are freaky deaky i guess.

love to my readers.

the queerview

ps: Also I did watch blink twice by Zoë Kravitz. a queerview will follow, but its so hardcore to watch blink twice and p.diddies freak party assault stuff. mentally i cant go down that road, but Kravitz did literally on time...

[finsterhund]

For whatever reason I've been hyperfocusing on Skinamarink (2022) even though I think it is an immensely flawed movie. (I guess it's like a Seventh Brother scenario. Where I don't think it's peak cinema but I still find something very specific that I can relate to and thus become obsessed and incorporate it into my existence) Maybe it will continue to grow on me. Who knows.

I summarized it in the friend group as “Childhood neglect simulator” and I do stand by that. Analogue horror childhood neglect liminal space simulator is perhaps more apt.

But this film really embodies just what it’s like to be a terrified toddler left to fend for himself in the dark all alone.

Spoilers under this

Unfortunately I have to be honest and confess that the movie lacks substance and the style it oozes doesn't make up for that. It's slow, drags, and is boring at times. So much of the movie is "stare into a dark void and nothing happens." There's build up, and then there's “ASMR spooky liminal house tour” and this sadly felt like more of the latter. So much of what makes the movie standing out to me is because I am nyctophobic and never actually grew out of the primal toddler-aged fear the film invokes. Especially as there are periods of worse mental health where I regress all the way down to that age. The joke my friends made about it putting me to sleep if I ate an edible and watched it is not accurate. Because it simulates nyctophobia remarkable well. So I couldn't be bored out of focusing lol.

I was immediately offput by how much excessive cheesy after effects film grain filter was dumped onto the footage in post. I joke a lot about how it wants to be 70s vibe film but then it is a 16x9 resolution which took me out of the vibe pretty hard. And due to much of the movie "holding on this shot of practically nothing" I was especially distracted by modern aspects of the house such as the extremely modern 2010s wall outlet cover and the dollar tree night light (which REALLY distracted me the first viewing. I could not stop thinking about that motherfucker was not from 1995.)

The movie also did not have a folley artist and presumably the creator Kyle Ball did all the mixing himself and used free sound effects from a public domain stock archive himself. Which unfortunately really shows. Folley is an art and strange sound effect choices took me out of it on several occasions. It also feels like the background noise wasn't layered over top of specific sounds properly at certain points.

Another issue was inconsistent subtitling. There are times when there are then and times that you think really should be like those and have them but they don't.

I understand this film unlike his YouTube videos were crowdfunded and he had other people on the team so it's somewhat disappointing there isn't a noticable increase of production value(?) Just mostly an increase in length. Other than additional actors there really isn’t much that sets it above his short film “Heck” which due to its shorter length I felt was more engaging. (Although the cancer thing was very :/ you are on thin ice mr ball)

What substance is there though is very good. You can tell the creator started out with short form liminal space nostalgia "analogue horror" YouTube shorts and ASMR aesthetic soundscapes. This would work so much better if it was like his shorter videos and trimmed the fat. Otherwise it needs to have a cast that the audience can actually see and observe the interactions of more. There's gotta be a balance, again, style and substance.

The fact that it’s like watching a childhood nightmare is incredible, and if that’s what Kyle set out to achieve then he for sure succeeded. But a story this is unfortunately not.

I feel if there was media like this that had more emphasis on how the characters experienced their predicament it would do wonders. It could easily be peak experimental HoDcore.

The entity itself was so criminally underutilized. I think there's maybe a minute of combined dialogue when you add up its dialogue with that of the human cast.

Which is a shame because I feel once again, if we had more of character interaction it would be more engaging.

The entity toys with the little boy Kevin and I didn't realize until I watched it a second time and read someone else talk about the movie that one of the later scenes shows it killing him and immediately bringing him back to do it again presumably for its own amusement. (Extremely relatable character right here. I am Kevin 🤣)

This was shown by blood splattering and then being reversed like a tape being rewound. The importance of the tape metaphor became more apparent on the second watch. The first watch I felt the film relied too heavily on showing the public domain cartoons. It wasn't until much later the entity is shown YouTube pooping them and it actually becomes relevant and the comparison is more obvious.

There were instances where I feel things were a bit too vague in a "what does it mean" way. I'm torn because I don't think every little thing should be explicitly explained, but I think there should be some context, you know? (Why the entity moved things, what it did to the mom, etc.)

A big reason why I can overlook how empty and slow it is is because this experience is so quintessential as a toddler in Canada during the end of the analogue age. I feel that the toys and the public domain cartoons featured were things that never were distinctly important childhood items of significance but they were things I recognized for sure. So it was this uncanniness of it being the stuff you had and remembered but never formed lasting long love/influence from. It isn’t your favourite film on VHS, it’s that compilation you’d watch sometimes ,etc.

The phone call the dad makes is so viscerally similar to the way my mom would talk to family members in phone calls about me. The uncanny warped by darkness face of the parent/entity at the end is SO MUCH like how that shit felt to me. And that got me thinking about additional aspects of that experience that if part of the movie would have amplified it further.

The biggest thing I think would really expand the concept is shadow play. Would require more special effects or very intentional practical effects but having the shadows tangibly move/behave abnormally would have been spectacular. That is one of the most defining horrors of my childhood. How shadows seemed to shift and move. A serious source of terror growing up was how the baseboard heater made the curtains above it move, and the shadows projected by the nightlight of those curtains would twist and roll and coil. During sleep paralysis I fucking grew to hate those curtains so much.

I personally care very little for edgy "child was in a coma the whole time" theories or "child's paranormal experiences were just a metaphor" theories so I'm not even going to bother getting into those. You know we're team "Not A Dream" on the Finsterhund channel. As far as I'm concerned the entity was literal.

There were a few jumpscares but they were just that really. The first one, where the older kid is looking at something freaky on the ceiling and the younger accidentally sneaks up behind felt natural, but the reveal that the entity took their face was unintentionally humorous. I literally said "Slenderman sister jumpscare" out loud and had to pause it because I was laughing so hard I got the mood ruined.

The fisher price jumpscare though I really liked. The actual face changing wasn't too spoopy but oh my god when the camera shows what it looks like with the flashlight off, with the very faint glint of the outer circles of the whites of its eyes. That freaked me out so bad. That is the embodiment of nyctophobia making you see demons out of regular items. I don't even know if that was an edit or if those phones just normally look like that under very low light but man.

Every time someone gives me shit about leaving the lights on I will pin them down and force them to look at this until they understand.

I have a personal anecdote in that when I was a toddler I was dumped off at somebody’s house. Not someone I know of and not a family member. And they had a fucking mask on the wall and they made me sleep in that room in the dark with that stupid fucking mask. And I  fucking hated that goddamn mask. Fuck it. Fuck those people andtheir creepy fucking mask.

Some of the more tangible things the entity does that made the story more engaging were sadly also detrimental towards the mood. The toilet disappearing with a silly noise being one such instance. Removing the doors and windows and removing/incapacitating the parents I can understand. But why did the entity remove the toilet? There's even a scene where the children slide buckets into the bathroom to show the aftermath of this porcelain pilfering. Was it just for the entity to dehumanize and further torment them? I feel there were better ways to demonstrate that without silly disappearing toilet.

Because of my prominent nyctophobia I have no clue how much I can credit the movie for in it's "camera pointed at a dark void" shots and how much was just my brain filling in holes. For certain scenes I did take screenshots and blast up the contrast to see if there were literal things in the darkness pixels but every time there wasn't except for the face at the end. It was just my brain, not intentional edits in the film. I feel if there were intentional nyctophobia hallucinations they outright edited into the voids that effect would be brought to people who aren't me lol.

Honestly the biggest thing this movie instilled in me was wanting to make my own with more meat and potatoes hahaha. I'm thinking actually using a camcorder instead of editing gimmicky filters in post, including practical effect tangible interactions between the cast and the entity, etc.

I know I'm acting really harsh but I do feel like it had an exuberant amount of potential to cater directly to me but then it just sorta fizzled out if that makes sense. And I do think that so much of it was excellent that it makes what didn’t work hurt more. Unfortunately I don't think setting the mood is the only thing you need to do to create engaging horror you need a reason to care about the ones experiencing it.

Like I said, it had so much style. But style alone doesn't do it for me. Mainly because my brain already does that on its own. So I wish Skinamarink had more to it in regards towards the stuff that I can't just go and do to myself when the power goes out.

In regards to watching it with edible vs without, the edible made my nyctophobic perception of the dark void shots worse. Which is something important I should be aware of in the future for sure as this likely would have real world implications as well.

Again, I want to stress that I am glad to have seen this movie and I feel my disappointment is because I'm aware of just how far beyond this movie could have been. Or something.

Lastly, a nitpick. The song that the movie derives it's name is in the public domain. Most people know it from The Elephant Show, but the song itself was made in 1910. I really feel like it could have been incorporated somehow. And on the subject of music I feel there could have been if not outright musical scoring, some more prominent ambiance(?) What's that called where you basically write ambiance as if it's music. There's a HoD fan album that does this.

IDK call me a normie for wishing we saw more of Kevin as a character but yeah. I do wish that.

Also a running joke I had in both watchings was calling the entity “asthmatic master of darkness” because of its voice. I want to specify this.

Anyways, disassociating Cayden simulator looking pretty good.

[beevean]

https://youtu.be/fDKZJbOiEQ4?si=k_KZ2dI4EPU3FHyR

https://youtu.be/LSnbb8e7UY0?si=FbAPhkoSgToMQvIb

Behold! The Queen of all time!

(And somehow Lady Pussy Sun manages to be even more one dimensional)

What kills me about this whole monologue is the setup:

Lenore: Please, would Dracula have kept [Hector] around in his own castle if he were that dangerous? Carmilla: *sighs* I would have liked that castle.

They were just talking about Hector, about him stalling and Carmilla suspecting him of being devious (and I would love to know how Carmilla grew to see Hector as suspicious and capable of killing, when she hasn't interacted with him on screen since the beginning of S3 when he was a pathetic sack of flesh) and Lenore "protecting" him by calling him "too simple" (déjà vu), a pretty important conversation for Carmilla because it has been six weeks and this asshole is making a fool out of the entire Council by roaming around her home without doing what he was raped hired to do (and Striga had mentioned in S3 that they couldn't afford to waste time as they had to take advantage of the chaos in the region before the humans reconquered it)... then Lenore just happens to mention the castle when it wasn't even the main subject of her sentence, and Carmilla immediately forgets all about the Hector issue because she just has to rant about her desire to conquer all?

absolutely peak dialogue. flows just as smoothly as chunks of concrete through a tube. i can see why this show is so praised for its writing.

I remember a post I read ages ago, about how Carmilla's insanity speedrun arc devalues the other sisters. In S2, she was pretty much the only ruler of Styria: the others weren't created yet, and she was written as someone who had to burden her trauma all alone. Then S3 introduces this tight-knit group of besties, which genuinely respect and admire Carmilla for being the "spark". Then in S4 Carmilla somehow loses her mind in one fell swoop because the others were too busy to check on her, reverts back to the lonely traumatized woman who fell prey to her own hatred and thirst for power, and the other three decide to turn their back on her with barely any hesitation. You could honestly cut all three sisters and fuse Carmilla with Lenore, and the story would be organically better. I honestly don't know if it looks worse when you watch everything in one go or having to wait one year for this mess.

On top of this, it's yet another instance of show don't tell. Carmilla just tells us about her trauma. "The first part of my life was men taking things from me," this is a chilling line with all sorts of terrible implications, and it's just thrown there without any care or pathos. Because the focus is not on her motivations that are supposed to give her depth: it's to show how insane she is, to suddenly kick her back into main villain position after she twiddled her thumbs for a whole season, and to justify poor widdle Lenore being scared of her, because hey, she's the "good" vampire, and aww she was lied to just like Hector, aren't they true soulmates, isn't this poetic cinema?

When you boil the Styria subplot down, it really is all about that damn woman, and screw everyone else, isn't it.

I said in one post that if I were to rewrite Carmilla, I'd put more emphasis on the fear that pervades her and drives her to react to the world with rage, mistrust and desire to protect herself. I cannot take Carmilla seriously the way she was written. She has the blueprints to be a compelling antagonist and representation of a woman who reacts to her trauma in an "unappealing" way without being woobiefied (and I do seriously appreciate it), but with scenes like this, she really only comes off as the scornful parody of a radfem written by a man that is absolutely not feminist in the slightest.

Oh, and I'll just mention this here:

"Bloody women," they said. "Let them die," they said.

For a setting so inspired by Berserk, and that has long dialogues of low-class men talking about fucking animals, there is a distinct lack of misogyny on screen. Not only the only flashback we get of Carmilla's past shows the day she killed her master and we don't get to see her "nightmares", which means we are not privy to the details of what drove her to be so hateful, we never see any men actually look down on Carmilla for being a woman in power: even Godbrand may be a bit of a lecherous pig, but seems to respect her enough as a person. Again, this cheapens her misandry. I can't take her seriously. She's just ranting that MEN BAD and I'm supposed to think she's cool for it.

[heesulovebot]

8 shows to get to know me

my bae sufa @heart-ming didn’t tag me but let’s just say they did teehee. i literally mostly watched kdramas before i started bls so this list will admittedly be kdrama centric 🫣 in chronological order (i think):

that 70s show: has this show aged well? no. but there are still so many iconic moments that it holds a special place in my heart. twelve year old me would race home after school to watch re-runs. twelve year old me also thought peak romance was eric and donna dancing to abba’s fernando in the drive way in front of the vista cruiser 😭😭 

reply 1988: i never thought reply ‘97 could be topped (esp after the disappointment of ‘94) but reply ‘88 knocked it out of the ball park completely. i loved every single character sm, it rlly felt like home :’) and rip to those who had sls but i’m different 💅🏼 (jk i usually have a chronic case of sls dsjkfnksjd but everything in this drama made sense, esp deok seon and taek). who else was there for soompi forum user @ packmule using colour-theory, dialogue, and frame analysis to guess who the husband was before the show finished airing???? packmule on soompi forums u will always be famous xoxo

my mister: the grip this show had on me should be studied like. i made my first fandom sideblog for this show?????? i wrote my first fanfic for this show??????? dskjfnkdjnsk the scene in which park dong hoon sits in his living room after everything is finished and then bursts out in tears and then the background music cuts off and we just hear him sOBBING in silence...... i will never recover, i fear

2gether: speaking of shows that had a grip on me ksdjfnkdsjnf i gotta be real and add this to the list since y’all who have been following me since this era bore witness to my absolute obsession. i def can objectively say that 2gether is not a good show but tine and watine remain a special place in my heart forever ♡

ofcc & cherry magic: LOL I’M CHEATING AND PUTTING THESE TWO TOGETHER but they’re both about gay salarymen so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ idk there’s just an underlying sadness to both these fluffy jbls that i fuck with heavy      

i told sunset about you: no matter how much beef i have with p’meen, p’boss has done nothing wrong in his life ever and itsay tehohaew remain my babies. y’all alrdy know itsay had me in tears weekly (i still remember watching ep 4 during class time ((covid college core)) and then my prof started saying something after i finished the ep and i BURST into tears and haven’t recovered since tbh)   

to my star 1&2: god daseul invented cinema and romance, actually. this show (s2 particularly) had me on twitter spaces talking about jiwoo and seojun’s depth and complexity for 8+ hours 💀 i literally could write an entire thesis on it—have probably, if u combine my tumblr tags and tweets 😭😭😭 tms surpassed my 2gether rewatches (which @phukaoapologist & @pranpat can attest that is A LOT), and will always remain that bitch

the glory: every girliepop has a lil’ bit of blood lust in them. sometimes u need a cute lil’ revenge drama on ur list and a man that would tell you that he’d kill for you xo

tagging!: @nonkul @itoldsunset @phukaoapologist @pranpat @earthpirapat @dirhwangdaseul @ohmybitna @jaehwany @junghaesin @fordallan @deshimango @kinnkittisawasd @freensrcha @jiustian i’ll only tag a few since i bet a lot of ppl have alrdy done this but if u want to and i didn’t tag you consider urself tagged ♡

[jdeanmorgan]

not an anon, but i have a question! i know how much you love films sonny, so if you could pick a movie that you would have to watch every year, what would it be? and is there a movie that you love from before you were born and/or before you knew about, where you'd like to experience its first premiere? and what is your ultimate recommendation for a horror movie fan?

ohhh this is such an interesting question!

It gets pretty long so I'll put it under a read more:

There are a few films that I already watch every year, and I will name a few of them in my next answer. But one big answer is: velvet goldmine. I watch it at least three times a year.

Most of my fave films are older, and my favorite film is from the year i was born (velvet goldmine). But one film I've always thought about and if I could go back in time, I would've loved to experience the premiere of rocky horror, I just think that would've been so amazing. But also but i'm a cheerleader or the lost boys. Those three are all good solid films that I would've loved to see at a premiere. (obviously velvet goldmine is high on that list as well)

hmm for horror fans... That's hard because I am a huge horror fan and yet i often draw blanks when it comes to actually recommending horror films, and it also depends on what kind of horror films people want to get recommended.

So I'll name a few of my faves (barring the most popular ones): bride of chucky (you don't have to have seen all chucky movies, but i just say this one cause it's a solid fun horror film AND it has jennifer tilly i mean come on), idle hands (also really funny), the cleasing hour (obviously I had to plug this one, i watch it all the time), sin city & sin city: a dame to kill for (the second one is a solid fave of mine, i saw it 3 times in the cinema), lights out, dead silence, the devil's advocate, 1408, orphan, green room, strangeland, twin peaks: fire walk with me, the butterfly effect, freaky (really funny slasher), fear street trilogy, insidious: the last key, tom at the farm, 10 cloverfield lane, the limehouse golem, the people under the stairs, mayhem.

the popular choices: conjuring franchise, scream franchise, chucky franchise, saw 1, final destination franchise, paranormal activity, etc.

There are most definitely more that I can't remember off the top of my head, but I think I just need to make a letterboxd list of all the horror movies I've liked.

[ancientphantom]

Horror is genuinely one of my favorite genres, and it isn't because I love blood and gore and people screaming in the woods. (Actually, I hate those things. Horror is very hard for me to consume because I am a scaredy-cat! I have to watch things through laced fingers with support staff standing by!) It's because horror tells really, really compelling stories, and it does so in a way that other genres often can't access without becoming something else.

Horror asks:

What are we afraid of, and why? A lot of the horror genre is simply about examining human fears and what lies underneath them. Why are we afraid of something that looks dead but isn't? What scares us about the idea of someone we don't know in our homes? Why are we unsettled by the Uncanny Valley? Horror gets to play with these ideas in both an anthropological way (we're afraid of someone in our home because we could be endangered in a space that should be safe) and an entertaining one (we're also afraid of it because if one rule - "strangers should not be in your house" - got broken, ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN NOW).

How do we respond to fear and what does that say about us? This is one of the most compelling questions horror asks. When we watch laughing humans torture zombies in Night of the Living Dead, we are forced to ask whether the humans are not just as monstrous as the undead; when we see characters desperately disregard their own safety and life in Saw to try to save others, we see humanity at its best under harrowing circumstances; when we see Mia Wasikowski finally beat someone to death and stagger bloody into the snow at the end of Crimson Peak, we see the ability of humans to adapt from delicate and helpless to savagely self-reliant.

Is our fear justified? This is another one of my favorites: yes, we know we're afraid of, let's say, demons, but what does that mean? Horror, like other kinds of speculative fiction, often uses its story and elements to talk about fears subtly, forcing viewers to draw conclusions from the real world. Something like Black Mirror is a good example: a lot of us are afraid of technological advancements that could be harmful to us or society, but are we justified? What could actually go wrong, and what are we catastrophizing? (And, if we realize we're afraid of something that doesn't make sense, what is it we're actually scared of? Often, the answer is a social one: very frequently horror points out that the root of a fear is bigotry.)

Is this REALLY about fear? A huge chunk of horror is about examining when "fear" is really a different emotion that we repress or avoid. A good recent example is Flanagan's The Haunting of Hill House miniseries, which uses ghosts and hauntings, often hideously violent or disturbing ones, to expose the fact that most of the characters' emotional breakdowns are about grief rather than fear, and that a ghost is partially frightening to their loved ones because it represents the ongoing pain of that grief and loss. Horror as a genre is uniquely good at digging underneath the surface level of "this stuff scares us" to find "because it makes us feel sad/angry/alone/guilty." An example in another direction is Get Out: audiences are forced to grapple with racial guilt and discrimination alongside the characters, which is the entire point.

There's also a real elitism in the history of disdain for horror that I think most folks probably aren't aware of. Horror is genre fiction/film - like romance or science fiction, it's wildly popular and chock full of great stuff, but The Academic Establishment tends to treat it like it's all cotton candy garbage for idiots who can't read Real Literature or watch True Cinema. (This is bullshit, obviously, but it's pervasive bullshit.) This means that horror doesn't get five-star treatment at most film studios or distributors, since it's considered a lesser tier of entertainment, which in turn means that it's much more difficult to get quality projects funded and all the way through the process to hit your screens. There is a lot of very compelling horror out there that has absolutely dogshit production values, because the filmmakers had to choose between that and not having a movie at all and they were scrappy and went for it. (The biggie in recent cultural history is of course The Blair Witch Project, which was incredibly low production values and budget but in being that way managed to help create/popularize its own subgenre.)

Entertainingly, the person screenshotted in the comments above is almost certainly wrong about not being able to name five horror movies; it's not like the ones I listed above are obscure or out of the mainstream, after all. It's more likely that they're just thinking "Well, I don't know any titles like Killer Cannibal Brides of Dracula, so I don't know any horror because that's what horror is," which is tragic. Horror is a beautiful, depthful genre that can say wonderful things.

(And yeah, Cannibal Brides of Dracula IV: They Have Chainsaws probably ain't high art or saying much interesting about the things above. But that's true of every genre; we don't run around saying action thrillers are a worthless film type even though I promise there are just as many terribad films called things like Commando Control VII: Just Me and My Gun out there as there are low-budget slashers.)

people who don’t watch horror movies are SO confident that they know everything there is to know about the genre. like it’s okay to not know things. it’s okay if you don’t like friday the 13th or whatever. i promise you don’t need to make an ass out of yourself on the internet about it

[watching-pictures-move]

Movie Review | The Killer (Woo, 2024)

The words "Peacock Original" did not inspire much confidence, and neither did the reception to John Woo's last film Silent Night (which I have yet to see), but this isn't bad. This was obviously not going to live up to the original, but it wisely doesn't try to ape it beyond the basics of the plot. I'm not the first person to point out that this feels less like authentic Woo than a EuropaCorp production, thanks to the jauntier, slinkier tone and French milieu. This doesn't aim for anywhere near the same emotional intensity as the original but instead piles on a bunch of plot convolutions, which others seem to have gelled to more than me, although it does give Woo an excuse to play around with splitscreen.

Nathalie Emmanuel and Omar Sy play their roles in distinctly different registers than Chow Yun-Fat and Danny Lee. To be honest I thought Emmanuel was quite terrible in the Fast and Furious movies, but she holds her own here, particularly in the action scenes, while Sy has a lot of fun playing a streetwise cop. You also get Tcheky Karyo adding some French cinema flavour, and Sam Worthington playing an Irishman, something the mean really leans into for some reason. We could have had an actual Irishman in the role. Maybe Pierce Brosnan can be in Woo's next film... playing an Australian. To even the score. Also, Woo's daughter Angeles plays an assassin and is credited as "Chi Mai", which is a nice tip of the hat.

Action-wise, Woo is operating well below his peak, but he still seems engaged. I don't think any of the action here pops as much as even Manhunt, which I remember having a blast with when I saw it at TIFF after drunkenly trying to navigate down the dangerously steep balcony stairs at the Princess of Wales Theatre and fearing I would trip and fall to my death. And some of the shot sequencing seems a little arbitrary, as the swerves of the camera don't always flow into each other. But there's enough fun stuff here that I more or less had a good time. A lot of this sounds like backhanded compliments, and with good reason, but like I said, given that this was a streaming release (replete with streaming movie sheen), my expectations were low and I was pleasantly surprised by the end result.

[mylightsatnight]

I don't want anything but...

When I die, the same day I do, or the day before and after,

You can take my car keys. My wallet, phone, flashlight, and guitar. Feel free to raid my house for any valuable fine china, expensive computers, and electronic thing-a-ma-jigs. It's all yours.

But the poems underlined, from the books with dog-eared pages, I will keep.

The image of a flower, weeping by the sun, prayers for rain under it's lily-hood. That, I will keep.

The mountain adventures I had, where I conquered, climbed, summited, and surmounted my mental and physical fears. This, I will keep.

The memories, of the family members who were never there, when they had every opportunity to be...Regrettably, these I will keep.

The songs, note for note, and chord transitions like snow fades in spring...I will always remember these, for they are synonymous with my very essence of being and they can't leave me.

I will forget the names, some faces, the days we saw each other, the food I bought, the drinks I sneaked sips of, the books that went unread, the cinema films that peaked no interest in me, the countless wasted nights in front of digital horizons, always forever-expanding, the albums of jeweled, crystalline glory, but never found, lest you open your ears, the electric spark of technological advancement, the deers in the field that noticed me, and I, them, but neither of us had the broken heart to do harm to the other, the quilted blankets, the clocks from a time long passed, the drunken bar nights, bad jokes I made, and pool shots that were easy wins, and my 2 dollars lost, the curry that was made more mild than I would have liked, the burgers made fine, just fine, nothing more to say, the idolizing of past generations, and the way I know that Allen knew me, even though he never could have, the way jesus never came back, the way that my heart somehow did, the way that physical exercise was a burden and a blessing in every stage, the spelling bees I lost, the few chess games I won, the forgotten lore for the indie video-game, the riverside fishing trip where I learned nothing new about him, but at least it's more time spent together, the hospital bed cotton that is not easily forgotten, the corner smiles, the nickel dials on bowling alley candy dispensers, the halloween costumes worn once, then stored into Totes for another 362 days, the coffee cups thrown in dumpsters, the ceramic ones made with care, then forgotten with apathy, the love the love the love the love that I always knew was out there, and the lifetime I spent searching for it.

Some things in this life are obvious, others require a touch more subtly and nuance to make happen...I'm still not entirely sure what my existence is supposed to mean, all that I can say for certain, is even when the universe apparently wants me to perish, that's when I make the case for my survival, all other times...

All other times...

I breathe, I write, I stay alive.

Not for you, not for me, but because my heart needs it.

[mcs172-blog]

Week 6

5/9

Ali: Fear Eats The Soul was another cross-section societal piece made by Rainer Werner Fassbinder that also was a re-adaption of All That Heaven Allows, a Sirk film, to explain love with a age gap and oppression that comes with at (in true Sirk fashion). I can understand why we went through Week 5's content and I love it, as Chris Fujiwara explains the structure of the film correlating to the relationships and themes of the movie.

With a doorway in Emmi's kitchen as a frame to explain unhappiness in their relationship to wide shots to explain the emptiness of the couple, melodrama is at its peak with the cinematography. To learn that Fassbinder was inspired by Sirk's films but made it his own with cultural issues, ageism, and classism, the layers of contemporary themes truly marks the movie as a melodrama (including the stomach ulcer plot twist at the end).

Robert Reimer's Comparison of Douglas Sirk's All That Heaven Allows and R.W Fassbinder's Ali: Fear Eats the Soul compares the recent films we have analyzed in class, one discussion piques my interest. Fassbinder utilizes only one male character, Ali, while Sirk utilized many. Fassbinder uses his male character as a nurturing persona (as Kirby was a tree nurturer) and is an emotional weakness for Emmi. As well as, pointing out that Kirby was the stronger person in Sirk's film, and Emmi was the stronger person in Fassbinder's film, perhaps due to their age roles being switched.

When talking about Sirk's film where the widowed mother makes a sacrifice for her daughter for a happy ending, not necessary for the mother, implies shame not from herself but everyone else around her. Due to the class difference, age difference, and the older, richer woman not being aware that the younger, more attractive man could be gold-digging for her, society looks down on their relationship. This also coincides with the statement that women who are dominant will be the problem, in this case, women who hold the reins in the relationship rather than the man.

5/11

Learning about the history of the entertainment movie industry from the world wars affecting the countries that produced movies was an interesting context for Fear Eats the Soul. Such as Italy, France, and Germany wanted to regenerate the movie industry after the war and started to subsidize film writers. The phrase "Old cinema is dead! We believe in the new cinema" spanning from 1962-1982 produced a new wave of movies that exercised the artist. These countries were inspired by Hollywood films but wanted to avoid industry films because of realism, since realism back then didn't encourage you to look at realism. Meaning, these films didn't push the audience to examine issues with society. With Fear Eats the Soul, was inspired by German traditions, german expressionism, working alienation, and not being a traditional Hollywood story. With Emmi a little unrealistic in a social sense since she was a woman with more money rather than Ali having more money, these changes allowed for more room for discussion and discourse. As well as, the choice to make Ali suffer rather than the woman since women usually suffer in Hollywood, is another point of discourse that makes the film unique and memorable.

German expressionism: partly from German Romanticism, it examines the country's anxieties through distorted and nightmarish imagery.

working alienation: being ignored/marginalized in a workplace, discrimination and harassment