#movie revies

[grouchydairy]

[1] Honouring overshadowed women

#EnolaHolmes

[scary-movies-on-netflix]

AND NOW THE SCREAMING STARTS! (1973)

The year is 1795, and Charles Fengriffen and Catherine are a young couple.  They are about to be married.  Catherine arrives at Charles’ huge house and is seemingly mesmerized by a portrait of his grandfather, Henry.  She stares at it, and then a bloody hand bursts through the frame at her!  She screams.  On their wedding night, Charles takes Catherine to the bedroom, and a bloody hand is following them!  On the floor!  Catherine is waiting for Charles in the bedroom.  A window opens by itself, and then the door locks by itself.  Catherine is suddenly held down by a disembodied hand and a bloody stump!  She begins to scream, and Henry has to break down the door with an axe to reach the traumatized woman.

Over the following days, Catherine is haunted.  She is kissing Henry, and outside the window she sees the image of a man with no eyes!  Just bloody eyeholes!  She stares at the portrait of old Henry, and the same man seems to step out toward her, dripping blood on the floor.  Catherine is freaked out, and she runs all the way outside to a little cemetery.  She sees (apparently) the same man, staring at her, because he has both eyes.  Also, he has a red birth mark on his face.  She freaks out, again, and runs back home.  She eventually calms down and finds out that the guy is the woodsman, Silas, who has an ancestral right to live there, granted by Charles’ grandfather, Henry, to Silas’ grandfather, also named Silas.

People begin to die:

Catherine asks the family lawyer why Henry gave Silas the land.  The man says he will go talk to Henry that night, but on the way he is killed!

The family doctor tells Catherine that she is pregnant, but she is not pleased.  A maid urges her to eat, but Catherine says that she doesn’t want the baby.  “Why?” the maid asks.  “You know why.” Catherine says.  Catherine starts to cry, and the maid grabs a big book from the library to show Catherine.  However, as the maid heading back up the stairs, pictures and chandelier start to rattle.  A spectral hand chokes her, and she tumbles down the stairs to her death!  Catherine later looks at the book and sees that one of Henry’s children, his first child, has been scratched out.

Turns out, Catherine’s aunt is also living at the house.  The woman decides to take Catherine back to London and tells her pack up.  Aunt then goes to look at old Henry’s portrait, and the disembodied hand attacks her!  She makes her way back to Catherine’s room before falling over dead.

Charles goes to Silas and tries to buy him out, to convince him to leave the manor, but Silas refuses!  Charles is later walking about his house at night.  It is snowing outside.  He reads an ominous passage in a book.  Meanwhile, Catherine takes a knife and slashes the portrait of Henry! 

Catherine goes for a walk, and one of the family dogs attacks her and chews on her arm a bit.  Silas saves her!  The doctor gives her a “tonic.”  Catherine tries to throw it into the river, but the wet bottle reappears on her nightstand.  Her anguished look turns into crazed laughter.  The family doctor suggests that they call in a specialist, Dr. Pope, and he is Peter Cushing.  He observes various things and finally talks to Catherine.  She tells him about the initial ghostly assault, which she interprets as a dream.  He later catches her reading the “Malleus Maleficarum,” in particular about “sexual relations with demons[!]”  Pope finally goes to the family doctor and insists that the man tell him about any local legends about the Fengriffen family.  The doctor initially refuses, but he finally starts, “There is a woodsman on the Fengriffin estate…” but then he dies! 

Pope visits Silas.  Silas tells Pope that if the baby dies, “I’ll kill you.”  Pope goes to Charles, who finally tells him the family secret.  We jump back in time to see his grandfather, Henry, debauching things up with various rough-looking people in the house.  For “fun,” they all decide to visit Silas, the woodsman, who has just married that day.  The crowd rides out to the house and busts in.  Henry indicates his desire to have sex with Silas’ new wife, Sarah.  Silas tries to resist, but Henry has men hold him in place as he sexually assaults the woman.  Afterwards, the couple attack Henry.  Henry has his men drag Silas outside, and he cuts off his hand with an axe.  Silas doesn’t make a noise.  He curses Henry, “What you did this day will be avenged.  I swear a solemn vow.  The next virgin bride to come to the house of Fengriffin will be violated, as was my Sarah, but then shall come the true vengeance on the house of Fengriffin.  And death shall befall anyone who tries to prevent it!”  We jump back to the present and see that Catherine has stood behind the door, listening.  She takes a knife and tries to stab her womb, but the disembodied hand blocks the blade!

Catherine finally has the baby.  She is unconscious afterwards, and Charles looks at the baby, a boy.  We, the audience, can’t see it yet, but Charles is clearly unhappy and grabs his pistols and leaves.  He goes to Silas’ house.  Silas mocks him.  Charles pulls out both pistols and shoots him!  Pope chases after Charles and reaches Silas’ house, where the discovers that the man has been shot, in both eyes!  It is raining, and Pope finds Charles in the cemetery.  Charles is hacking at Henry’s grave with an axe.  Pope tries to stop him, but Charles is crazed, so he gives up.  Charles busts open the coffin, drags out Henry’s skeletal remains, and bashes them apart.

Pope goes back to Catherine.  He gives her the baby boy, who has a red birthmark on his face, like Silas, and a stump for a hand!  Pope begins to pull the baby away, but he puts him back on Catherine’s lap.  She takes the child and stares into the distance.  We then pan around a bit and land on a Bible, which shows a verse about god delivering vengeance on multiple generations.

This was ok, typical gothic horror.  The “monster/ghost impregnates a woman” trope has a long history (see “Village of the Damned” (1960) and “Rosemary’s Baby” (1968)).  This movie focuses mostly on the horror inflicted by Henry on the poor Silas and his wife and then the deaths of those trying to help Catherine, which is fine, but we’re then left with little breathing space for Catherine, our present victim.  We have a few glimpses of her interior life, of paranoia and horror.  She literally starts the movie by narrating, “I was going to the house in which I would find my days filled with fear, and my nights filled with horror,” but that’s really about as deep as it gets.  The acting is adequate.  Catherine (Stephanie Beacham) mostly gasps in horror, holding a crazed expression for long seconds at a time as the camera zooms in on her face.  As mentioned above, at one point she mixes it up with maniacal laughter, but, even then, ends the movie with another crazed expression.  Peter Cushing, on the other hand, is a soothing, calming presence.  He actually doesn’t have much to do, mostly serving as a surrogate for the audience as we follow along with the finale of the movie.  Fortunately, the plot is relatively tight and focused, with several strong images and little padding.  It’s a nice diversion.

[allthingsheardandseen]

Join me on Letterboxd!

Hello everyone! So, recently I found out about an app called Letterboxd which is centered basicaly around what I do here. Therefor I will be posting my reviews on there as well. If you want to follow me here's the link.

My profile on Letterboxd

More reviews coming soon!!

[t-u-i-t-c]

Giftober 2024 │ Day 9: Numbers

"We're Kamen Rider Revice!"

[litsnobconfessions]

A Year of Animation Day 22: How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

Date: January 22, 2025

Day: 22

Content Watched: How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

Year: 2019

Rating: PG

Run Time: 1 hr. 44 mins.

I feel the great hall scene in this movie is a lot like the opening scene of the first one. It's full of action. It feels like a busy place, with people and dragons everywhere, and there's a lot happening, even past what we're focused on. Like the other films, the battle scenes are full of plenty of action, and we get a second fetch sequence, this time with Toothless in the background as Astrid throws Hiccup's leg for him while she and Hiccup make plans.

The lighting in this movie is fantastic, and (hot take) I think rivals Nimona's. The scenes in moonlit forest are gorgeous, as is the scene where Toothless flies with the light fury in the storm. Some other details I love include the dragon disguises on the sheep, the lone patch of dragonscales on the back of Snotlout's saddle (because he's obviously had to duck to avoid dragonfire enough times after annoying Fishlegs), and the dragon sigils on Hiccup and Astrid's wedding outfits. And, for the third time, they used the slow-motion romantic bit in the middle of an action scene. I guess this is rule of three, considering the first two are someone pining after someone, and this is the two of them already in a relationship. 

There's another rule of three across the movies, with the famous image of Hiccup holding his hand out to Toothless. In the second movie, his body language echoes this when he brings Toothless back from the control of the alpha, and at the end of this one, as Hiccup says goodbye, he puts his hand on Toothless's snout the same way, but then pulls away, almost like the scene from movie 1 in reverse.

We're also keeping up with the character quirks. I think this was the movie where Gobber has a literal wheel of detachable hands? (Maybe that was number 2--I watched them back to back). Hiccup is still kind of going off on his own and drawing things, and Astrid always knows where to find him. Fishlegs is still making his dragon cards, and now he also has a baby. Snotlout is still flirting (though the object of his affection changes film to film) Tuffnut is trying to pretend he had a beard, and Ruffnut is trying just as hard as Snotlout to be beautiful. Some of the kids still don't look aged up, but I guess in the case of Tuffnut, this was purposeful.

My favorite piece of animation is the hidden world itself. The cave is beautiful, and the flying in there is great. Also, I cannot imagine how difficult it would have been to animate all those dragons. I like the little bit between Toothless and the light fury, which looks like a dragon wedding.

My favorite scene overall is probably the ending, which is also probably part of the reason I like this film series as a whole. There are not a lot of movies where the end is my favorite scene, and when they come around, it's great to watch them build up to that finish. Though, I will admit I mostly just like knowing that Hiccup and Toothless are still besties who get to see each other on ocassion. Also, ALL THE BABIES!!

But we're getting ahead of ourselves. Let's talk about the couples first. Hiccup and Astrid, as usual, have a solid relationship between them. We again, see Hiccup running off to be (mostly) by himself, but Astrid knows him well enough to find him. I bring this up because I didn't mention before that Hiccup is depicted as an introvert. I love this because it's not particularly common for protagonists. I also love that even though Astrid is clearly more extroverted, she believes in his ideas and his ability to lead, and supports him without overshadowing him.  I particularly where she throws the axe in the table to get everyone to shut up and then gives Hiccup the floor. As the more extroverted person in my own marriage, there are some obvious lessons I could learn from Astrid.

But I also love Toothless and the light fury, who actually remind me a lot of Hiccup and Astrid (I'm sure they're supposed to--they even have the same color eyes.) But Toohtless is this awkward dork who has no idea how to woo, and the light fury is cool and amazing. But in his wooing of her, we get yet another rule of three with Toothless drawing, and finally being successful (even Hiccup is surprised, saying, "oh, now you can draw!")

As for the villain, the first time I saw this, my husband said made a comment about this being a reverse Witcher story, with Hiccup entering on dragon back, dressed in black, with a flaming and sword, and generally looking villainesque. And the villain looks like a short-haired Geralt. His name, Grimmel, even sounds like Geralt. In fact, I had to look his name up. Because since my most recent watch, I just call him Geralt. Of course, personality wise, he's Evil!Geralt because he wants to kill dragons, as opposed to canon Geralt, who is known to refer to humans as the real monsters and, quite frankly, would probably agree with Hiccup. Guess he keeps his morality in his hair.

I do kind of wish Stoick's story had been mentioned in an earlier film. In the first film, it felt like Stoick's goal was to kill all the dragons, so it feels a little odd that we have flashbacks here of him talking about sealing up the hidden world of dragons so they can stop fighting? I mean, it makes sense in the long run, it just felt weird to get two-thirds of the way into the story before we heard about it. But it's a minor issue.

I also have a question of whether Toothless and his mate are the same species, which has sexual dimorphism, or if they are are different subspecies or perhaps just multiple colorations of the same species. The introduction of the light fury with Geralt (yes, he's Geralt now) saying, "a female" kind of implies that it's sexual dimorphism, but if that's the case, I'm pretty sure their kids wouldn't be mottled. So I'm thinking the coloration is something more akin to cat or dog breeds, wherein two different breeds are sexually compatible, and children of parents from different breeds may exhibit qualities of either or both. (Or maybe furies are like fairies in Peter Pan--the color scheme changes based on the dragon's gender identity and the children are all currently all fluid.) Did I really put this much thought into a children's movie? Yes. Yes, I did.

Finally, can we talk about how Hiccup and Toothless continue to have a ride-or-die friendship and (mostly) don't let a girl come in beteen them? I love Toothless's expression the first time the light fury throws Hiccup off his back. Like, sorry, I like you, but I have to rescue my best friend now. And the fact that Hiccup pretty quickly decides to fashion Toothless a tail he can manage on his own proves that he cares about Toothless and what matters most to him is that he wants him to be happy. This scene also brings us my favorite line in the movie, which is when Astrid mentions that Hiccup has tried to do this before, and Toothless refused.

I love this because it shows that the relationship between the Berkians and their dragons is symbiotic. They are mutal partners in their relationship, with the wants and needs of the dragons being of equal importance to those of the humans. Also, is this not basically Toothless's way of saying he considers Hiccup a part of himself? He didn't want to fly without Hiccup because it would be like losing that part.

And this brings us to one of my all-time favorite tropes in fiction: when the unreqited lover in a love triangle stops pursuit because what they want is for the person they love to be happy. And this happens multiple times in this movie. Okay, Hiccup-Toothless-light fury isn't exactly a love triangle, or at least not a traditional one, since Hiccup and Toothless are not in a romantic relationship, and Hiccup doesn't seem to view the light fury as a competitor. But the light fury views him as a competitor. Nevertheless, when she realizes Hiccup means that much to Toothless, she follows them back because she's willing to compromise to be with him. At the same time, in this moment, Hiccup tells Toothless that if he has to be out of the picture for Toothless to be with the light fury, he's ready to accept that.

In the climax of the movie, Hiccup basically tells the same to the light fury. He wants her happiness, and is willing to fall to his death if it means she can rescue Toothless. Of course, when she then comes back to rescue him, he says, "I knew you'd come around!" And I would argue that as Hiccup lets the light fury go, he knows he's taking a risk that won't come back, but she's trusting that she will. Because he knows they have Toothless in common, and he trusts in the power of love and friendship.

And that's point of the whole trilogy, is it not? In the first film, Hiccup chooses to befriend a dragon rather than to fight it. In the second, he tries solve problems with Erit and Drago by talking them out, only resorting to fighting as a last resort. And the trilogy ends with a call to action: a goal to make a better world, in which dragons and humans can finally live peacefully. The whole dang thing is about diplomacy. Or maybe it's about tikkun olam--repairing the world. Either way, it's not just the Berkians Hiccup is talking about, is it? It's all of us. We are all tasked with reaching for love and friendship over violence, with making this world a better place for everyone to live.

And I think that is the perfect note on which to return to the end of ATLA.

[xarliclub]

#ADifferentMan Sebastian Stan ha tenido mucho trabajo últimamente, y se está convirtiendo en un actor con un gran rango.

#xarliclub #movie #movies #cine #cinema #film #films #peli #pelis #pelicula #peliculas #trailer #release #estreno #estrenos #a24

[rickchung]

Black Box Diaries (dir. Shiori Itō) x DOXA 2024.

Itō, an experienced journalist, documents her own harrowing legal battle inside the unfriendly Japanese court system after accusing an older male colleague with powerful political ties of rape. This major and rare occurrence is due to a judicial environment designed to protect Japan's patriarchal establishment and shame women from speaking out against sexual violence. As both a piece of journalism and a diary of legal proceedings, the scrappy documentary sparks a reckoning within the protective Eastern society. It proves to be an inspiring template for how other victims and survivors can hope to find a small measure of justice when their voices are otherwise muzzled.

Screened at the 2024 DOXA Documentary Film Festival as part of the Justice Forum program.

[faeriesthrall]

the greatest debacle in my life is tryna figure out where letterboxd put my friend reviews

[ladyimaginarium]

i'm beautiful and bad and i'll destroy everything

beautiful and bad — nicole dollanganger.

[mat2modblog]

The return of Driver-less Kamen Rider Vice

[multi-muse-transect]

The One Piece live action show gives me hope for a Black Lagoon live action show with Rei Hiro as the executive producer and showrunner being James Wan or Chad Sathelski.

Give me Chloe Bennet or Jamie Chung as Revy please!

[hannahwatcheshorror]

MALEVOLENT (2018)

A dark but overall boring film about scary ghosts in a ladies house (oh my!). But really there was very little new in this story that would make it worth viewing or adding to your lists.

⭐⭐⭐

Angela and her brother Jackson play medium for people to fake rid their homes of spirits so they can move on. It is a pretty messed up gig to be honest but Jackson owes some bad people a lot of money and they might kill his girlfriend so he has to be careful! They take a job that Angela thinks is too big for them but again, Jackson needs the money. When they arrive at the simply massive house they pretend that it isn’t too much for the team of the four (4) of them. 

As soon as they start to survey the house Angela is seeing the spirits of the little girls that died there, she tries to pass it off as something else, but is deeply rocked by having actual psychic visions. The girls have their mouths sewn shut which is another deeply disturbing detail. The woman who called them to the home admits her son killed the girls and was a troubled boy but there appears to be something darker, more Malevolent underneath. Quite literally in fact as our cameraman, Elliot, falls through the floor and into a dark and spooky room with all these words (like HELP) scratched into the walls. Jackson leaves his girlfriend at base with the mother who is now admitting that it was the girls who were so out of line with the constant talking and her boy was a “good egg” and we are realizing she is the baddie here. By the time the three (3) make it back to the base the girlfriend is gone, they have to find her and she has had her mouth sewn shut. They get into the car but don’t make it out as they get into an accident and since the girlfriend wasn’t belted in (she was unconscious) she was thrown from the car and died. Awfully tragic. 

Now the bad son appears and he takes Jackson. Angela has to walk all the way back to the house to save her brother (poor Elliot will have to crawl). By the time Angela gets there she is put in a chair and begins to have her mouth sewn shut, it isn’t until Elliot shows up and kills the son that there is a shift in power but the mom is still very dangerous. That is when the ghost children scream and scream giving Angela a moment to end things. As she leaves the house to go get help she sees her brother, sans injury. She knows pretty much immediately that he is a ghost. She is wrecked by this, she couldn’t save him, but by the end, in the hospital, she is glad for the company of her brother's spirit. This is based on a book called Hush which makes a lot more sense what with the sewing of the mouths shut. Also there is already a scary movie called Hush and it is appropriately named and it is incredibly well done.

[james-master]

31 Days of Horror Day 27: The Silence (2017)

If you’ve seen some of the films I’ve watched, they’ve been zombie films. George A. Romero is my favorite horror director because of the work he did with the zombie genre. Heck, he created the zombie genre. Without him, films like Cargo (2017) wouldn’t exist. And just like Romero’s zombie films, Cargo (2017) goes beyond the blood and gore to tell a more emotional tale. This particular undead…

[allthingsheardandseen]

The Spectacular Now (2013)

Directed by: James Ponsoldt

Written by: Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber

Rated R for cursing, underage drinking and some drug use, and teens having sex.

Movie Synopsis: Sutter loves to party, drink, and has no plans for the future. Aimee is a nice girl who isn't part of the big crowds. The two find themselves attracted to each other despite being polar opposites after Sutter wakes up in Aimee's garden.

Review 3.4 stars

The Spectacular Now is a film that shows us the lives of teenagers in a raw way. It doesn't care for overcomplicated drama or flashy lifestyles; it simply flows through the motions from the perspective of "God's favorite drunk" Sutter Keely. However, production-wise the scenes feel short and distressed. Time flies by and relationships develop but as a viewer we aren't given enough time to process them before moving on to the next thing in order to fit into the hour-and-a-half time frame. This causes the characters -that feel like real-life teenagers- to lose their depths as well as time to explore their insecurities and complexities as humans. All in all good film and concept, but the editing and composition of the film leaves a lot to be desired.

Trailer 

Sources

Pictures: Pinterest

Synopsis: Google

[oblivionfilmclub]

Straight Edge Kegger" dives into the underbelly of the punk subculture with a raw and unapologetic intensity. Directed by Jason Zink, this indie film offers a frenetic ride through the world of hardcore punk and the often misunderstood straight edge movement.

The story follows a young punk named Brad, played convincingly by Corey Kays, who finds himself entangled in a chaotic series of events after attending a straight edge house party. What starts as a seemingly innocent gathering quickly spirals into a night of violence and mayhem, as tensions rise and allegiances are tested.

Zink's direction is unrelenting, capturing the energy and aggression of the punk scene with gritty authenticity. The film's DIY aesthetic adds to its punk ethos, creating an immersive experience that feels both urgent and visceral.

While "Straight Edge Kegger" explores themes of identity, rebellion, and the consequences of extremism, it also doesn't shy away from the darker aspects of the punk lifestyle. The violence portrayed is graphic and unapologetic, serving as a stark reminder of the destructive potential that lies within any subculture. Though it may not be everyone's cup of tea, for fans of punk and gritty independent cinema, it's an exhilarating ride that demands to be seen.

Rating: ★★★

[wild-at-mind]

Just watched a film called My Son on Netflix- big mistake, do not watch this film. I thought it was going to be a mildly boring drama, my favourite thing to put on in the background. Turns out it's a pandemic-shot thriller with an improvised plot, the concept is based on a French film apparently. I had to look up what the hell I just watched afterwards because I literally didn't know what the ending was meant to mean. Now looking back, it being improvised makes sense because it feels like someone made a film of the plot of a tabletop gameplay session about solving a mystery, with no edits. The plot has to be cliche because it's being improvised. It would probably be fun to play along with as a character with agency but its not fun at all to watch as a viewer.