#this one is. super trippy and pretentious and i love it but it also makes -1 sense

[magnus-sm-writes]

Magnus' Spooky Recommendations! 🎃

To get into the mood for today, here are Magnus’ favorite scary recommendations! I’m organizing them into sections for convenience. These are a combination of short stories, books, movies, and even a couple albums. Feel free to share your spooky recs; I love discovering new scary things to love!

Haunted Houses! 👻

“Stone Animals” by Kelly Link (mind-bending): A haunted house story that is so incredibly claustrophobic it made me dissociate the first two times I read it. Mind-bending is a good way to describe it. “Stone Animals” is a very long short story, but it’s such an atmospheric read that it doesn’t feel like it drags. A haunted house that drives the entire family living inside it nuts in unique ways. I highly recommend it, but don’t read it on an airplane like I did (the second time around).

Coraline (2009), dir. Henry Selick (childhood favorite): Neil Gaiman’s actions aside, the movie is a fantastic piece of media that enchanted baby Magnus and horrified his mother. The soundtrack is one of my favorite albums ever, and gets played in my car on multiple playlists all the time. It’s a classic for a reason, though not my favorite Laika film, because I refuse to let it top ParaNorman. 

Guts! Guts! Guts! 🩸

Alien Virus Love Disaster by Abby Mei Otis (gore, with feelings!): Take a dip into the grotesque with this gnarly short story collection from Small Beer press. The stories range from more emotional with less nasty bits (“Moonkids”, “Not an Alien Story”, “If You Could Be God of Anything”) to body horror (“I’m Sorry Your Daughter Got Eaten by a Cougar”) to a story that actually made me gag when I read it (“Rich People”). Otis has something for every lover of the grotesque in this collection.

Visions of Bodies Being Burned & There Existed an Addiction to Blood by clipping. (love letter to horror): A trippy, hair-raising pair of albums that brings horrorcore to clipping.’s industrial noiserap. (Yes, I am pretentious like that.) Two of the most interesting albums to ever be released. My favorite hits include “Enlacing”, “Blood of the Fang”, “Club Down”, “La Mala Ordina”, and “Looking Like Meat”. Daveed Diggs’ vocals are unmatched.

Hannibal, dir. Bryan Fuller (tasteful cannibalism): One of my favorite seasonal re-watches. Season one is my favorite, especially the mushroom episode. Some of the most beautiful cinematography on television I’ve ever seen. Also, fabulous gender-swapping of characters in Thomas Harris’ works.

Psychological! 🧠

You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine by Alexandra Kleeman (peel your skin off discomfort): This book is uncomfortable. It was part of my inspiration for my senior capstone project, Body, and it definitely shows. The main character’s roommate tries to become her. With targeted ads, weird cults, and a general sense of not belonging in your body, Kleeman really makes you want to peel off your skin to get a little more comfortable. (Or to see who’s really under there.)

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk (mind-bending): Both the movie and the novel have left me stunned. Even if you know the twist through cultural osmosis, I highly recommend both. Another piece of media that has made me dissociate multiple times after consuming. While I’m not a fan of Palahniuk’s other works, he really hit it out of the park with Fight Club.

The Secret History by Donna Tartt (atmosphere to die for): A great piece of psychological literary fiction where bad people do bad things and reap the consequences. Is it a pretentious pick? Probably. But I still adore it. My mom adores it, and that means something, because she’s super picky about psychological horror. I’m making my grandmother read it. It’s a classic for a reason.

Witches, Magic, & Folk Horror! 🐈‍⬛

ParaNorman (2012), dir. Sam Fell & Chris Butler (love letter to horror): My senior yearbook quote was from this movie; I’ve written academic papers about this movie; I have Norman Babcock tattooed on my calf forever. Of course this movie would be on here. It’s a love letter to cheesy 80s horror movies. This movie is my ultimate comfort and my favorite feel-good movie to cry to.

The Witch (2015), dir. Robert Eggers (atmosphere to die for): The most accurate historical portrayal of Calvinist culture I’ve ever seen on screen, while being compelling. We watched this in my witches class. It’s genuinely one of the most perfect films on witches I’ve ever seen. 

The Ritual (2017), dir. David Bruckner (atmosphere to die for): If I could watch this again for the first time, I would choose it in a heartbeat. A top-tier piece of psychological horror that leaves you feeling like you’re right there with the characters. Moder is one of the best creatures I’ve ever seen, designed by Keith Thompson (who also designed Ratma in “Storm Drain” from VHS 94). 

“The Ghost You Left Behind” by Magnus Singer-McLeod (love letter to the genre): I have to promote my own short story here because this is my blog and I make the rules. We've got psychics, ghosts, missing people, demons, and a gay romance; it’s got a little bit of everything I love about the autumn season. I’m biased, but I highly recommend.

Eco-Horror! 🪲

“42”, Doctor Who (BURN WITH ME): A cheesy, time-sensitive eco-horror episode. It has all the best hallmarks of the RTD era, including my beloved Martha Jones. A fun watch!

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (atmosphere to die for): The first time I read this book, I read it in a day. It’s a fast read I pull out when I’m in a slump and just need a weird, atmospheric read to pull me into the world of the Weird. Having a biologist as the main character makes the setting of Area X shine. She’s so deeply fascinated by the weird place she’s in that you’re pulled in just as much as she is. So fucking creepy. (Shoutout to the bear scene in the movie, which makes my skin crawl.)

Polar Trauma! ❄️

Solar Trauma by Philip Sorenson (peel your skin off discomfort): This poetry collection is loosely based on The Thing, and inspired my own hivemind poetry collection. It is so fucking good. Grotesque, psychological, uncomfortable. One of the strangest, most fascinating poetry collections I have ever had the pleasure of reading. 

The Thing (1982), dir. John Carpenter (perfect creature work): One of the greatest body horror films of all time. The practical effects are unmatched. A horror movie where everyone is intelligent, realistic, and untrustworthy. “The Ultimate in Alien Terror” doesn’t even begin to cover it. I will go through periods where I watch this movie every single night for a month without growing tired of it.

The Terror (2018), dir. David Kajganich & Soo Hugh (atmosphere to die for): As someone who’s read both the book and watched the show, just watch Wendigoon’s video on the topic instead of reading the novel for historical context, then watch the show. The creeping sense of dread is nearly unparalleled. Tuunbaq is one of the most terrifying creatures I’ve ever laid eyes on. Colonizers meet their fate, and it is both horrifically tragic and incredibly justified. Fantastic rewatch value.

[agentnico]

Beau Is Afraid (2023) Review

A few days ago I read an article that proclaimed Beau Is Afraid to be a 3 hour long anxiety attack. So naturally I thought - that sounds fun, I want to go see that. So here I am.

Plot: Following the sudden death of his mother, a mild-mannered but anxiety-ridden man confronts his darkest fears as he embarks on an epic, Kafkaesque odyssey back home.

I have had mixed opinions on Ari Aster’s previous films, as Hereditary was a mediocre horror film with one memorable sequence involving a certain decapitation, and Midsommar was basically a modern day take on The Wicker Man. But I also appreciate their existence now more than ever, as were it not for the critical and financial success of those movies, A24 would have never justified giving Ari Aster a $30 million budget to make a film like Beau Is Afraid. For this movie is absolutely bonkers insane! This is sorely Ari Aster’s unique vision, and one that you’re either willing to jump on the ride with, or you won’t get it and find it pretentious and ridiculous. 

This is a movie that demands a lot from its viewers. What starts as a simple premise with Beau planning to go visit his mother after not seeing her for a while becomes this overlong surreal, grotesque and unpredictable odyssey and very much an interpretive challenge as it is shown through the eyes of the titular Beau. However Beau struggles from multiple anxiety disorders, as such everything he sees, hears or feels is always under question of what is reality and what isn’t. Beau is what I’d call an unreliable narrator. You know that feeling when you’re anxious about some worst case scenario happening that you’ve built up in your head, but then reality strikes and it’s never anything as bad as you brain expected it to be? Well for Beau every craziest scenario that his brain assumes becomes reality, as such everything around Beau is very over the top and macabre mad. Especially since all of Beau’s thoughts and insecurities stem from his very dysfunctional relationship with his mother, and as such everything Beau does is an attempt to emancipate himself from this toxic connection. The result? Well the result is one really weird f-ed up movie!

Joaquin Phoenix is perfectly cast as the broken and lost Beau. Phoenix is able to deliver so much with his eyes and expression, showing off Beau’s desperation to get out of this hell that consistently finds himself in, and all he wants is to be left alone. Yet as befit of the Kafkaesque reference in the synopsis, Beau simply cannot ever catch a break. He’s like the cockroach from the famous Kafka short story Metamorphosis, that is stuck in a room, not being able to get out of it. Beau’s life is one big messed up nightmare. And during this nightmare journey that is split into these episodes of sort, Beau meets a whole array of colourful characters, which I won’t spoil, but I will say that the whole cast in this movie do a fantastic job of embracing Aster’s mentality. The likes of Nathan Lane, Amy Ryan, Parker Posey, Richard Kind, Stephen McKinley Henderson are just a few examples, each bringing in their own peculiarities. Zoe Lister-Jones and Patti LuPone both a responsible for bringing to life the younger and older version of Beau’s mum, and both are very great at delivering one super manipulative and deranged creation. 

From a technical standpoint this movie is a pure filmmaking dream. Ari Aster definitely took advantage of A24′s big pay-check by creating some really trippy sequences, ones that are definitely inspired by the absurdist takes of David Lynch. A highlight it a scene where Beau is watching a theatre performance, and mentally puts himself into it, and we are then treated to a most beautifully bizarre semi-animated sequence. Beau is whisked into the on-set scene and then proceeds to traipse through fable-like villages, living out a long imagined life full of pure love and abject terror. It’s delicate movie art rendered as psychological weaponry. It’s a visually stunning piece, and one that only adds to the questions of what the hell we are watching. Another example is closer to the end of the film where Beau is forced to go up into this mysterious attic he’s been avoiding all his life, and what he sees there is something so random and twisted, yet at the same time a great use of practical effects and once again an example of Ari Aster’s willingness to create something truly different.

That’s what Beau Is Afraid is - different. Every viewer will leave having a different interpretation, but there is no doubting that this is Ari Aster’s very own distinct director vision, and one that feels like you’re being thrown face first into someone’s deep subconscious. It’s a truly exhilarating viewing experience. Do I get all of it? No, but I don’t think I need to. Some things are meant to be misunderstood. Is the movie a bit long? I mean yeah, it’s three bloody hours! Though that may tread a bit into the element of self indulgency from Aster, I still can say with certainty that this was a strangely enjoyable watch, and also surprisingly funny too. In a twisted way, Beau Is Afraid is a hilarious comedy of errors. And by gosh go see it on the big screen at the cinema. This movie deserves your undivided attention, don’t wait for it to go to streaming. Cinema is where it’s at, even if at my screening there was this very annoying fly that kept flying from the projector to the screen, making the in-movie anxiety correlate pretty effectively with my anxiety of that stupid damn fly!!

Overall score: 9/10

[infinites-chaser]

dark night fireworks | mlqc | lucien/mc | dreams and memory

spoilers for ch.13 and somewhat inspired by ch.16

warning for drinking and vague + non-explicit sexual content

“Lucien,” you whisper, as if speaking his name aloud will somehow make it real.

It doesn’t matter, you tell yourself. The only thing that matters is this moment. This moment a million times over. And what’s a moment in a dream if you make yourself believe it’s true?

‘oh, love, even if I wake up and it all disappears and becomes a mess

oh, love, I’ll wait for this night again’

xii.

Once, when you were young, you caught a butterfly, trapping its delicate wings between your hands. Most of your childhood memories have faded to sepia and tones of grey, but this you remember in vivid color. It comes to you now in fragments, like a painting ripped to shreds: The butterfly's wings, bright yellow blurs that tickle your palms. Your father's horror. The warm wind, his panicked scolding, and the wide blue sky.

You remember him telling you that trapped things, once let go, are never the same after. He told you catching the butterfly crushed its wings, and it would never fly straight again. You cried, you think, as you often did, and opened your hands.

You can't remember the rest. Did the butterfly emerge from your finger prison, its cocoon? Did it fly away? Did it fly straight and true?

Memory is reconstructive. If you reach for the pieces enough times, your mind will build its own answer.

But, now, the truth: the butterfly was already dead. It had been dead since you first snatched it from where it danced in the golden spring sky.

When you laid your palms flat, the butterfly's bright wings had stirred once and then fell still. You cried. To this day, you're still not sure why you don't remember this, your Schrodinger's butterfly. In your hands, it had become a lesson from your father, something with the possibility of being not quite dead. In your memory, it becomes immortal, that butterfly you remember entrapping but can never vividly picture flying free.

i.

The bar is not pink, as its name, The Peony Pavilion, might suggest. Its walls are a deep purple that fades upward to dark blue, then a black which stretches across the ceiling, uninterrupted save by tiny pinpricks of light. The floor, by contrast, is a softly glowing grey, carpeted and plush, muffling even the heaviest of footfalls of more intoxicated customers or louder, untrained personnel.

It is crowded normally, seats filled with patrons, troubled dreamers, and drunks. On busy nights, a spiraling chandelier will descend from the endless ceiling, shimmering with the colors of sunset: yellow, pink, and white. The air will still-- the frequent visitors know what’s coming, they tell their newer compatriots to be quiet, to wait.

A woman will unfold herself from a crouched position in the half-light, hair like unbound midnight, her dress a pure sparkling white. On cue, the patrons will clap and cheer, but she will gaze past them all, her eyes worlds away, caught up in a vision only she can see. She'll sweep a bow. They'll all fall silent.

The clock will strike twelve, and the lights of the chandelier will dim to a shade of purple, a twilight hue a few hours softer than the color of the walls.

The woman will open her mouth and begin to sing.

But not tonight.

Tonight, the bar’s doors are closed. Only the bartender stands behind the counter. All seats sit empty, save two.

xi.

He catches your attention from across the bar. (It’s easy. You’re the only two inside.)

One stolen glance and you're lost in his eyes again, like a moth to a dark flame. You're reminded, briefly, of the sleepless nights you once spent following him through the city, a lonely journey down moonlit alleys, into the cinema, into bars. They're nights from a time you know you can't return to, a time you, even after everything, still hold dear.

You read about the primacy effect one time in a psychology textbook, following along for a few pages over his shoulder before you stifled a yawn. He’d marked the page and closed the book, and turned to caress the top of your head with a gentle smile.

The study those pages had described surfaces in your mind now, as he raises his glass and drinks, dark eyes never leaving yours. The scientists had split their participants into two groups, and given them the same list of traits in different orders, one presenting a fictional man with his flaws first and strengths last, the other, the reverse. They'd then asked each group for their impression of the man.

Despite being given the exact same listed traits, they had opposite responses. The first, remembering most clearly his flaws, thought him a terrible person. The second saw him simply as human, and sympathized with those natural flaws.

At the time, you hadn't understood it. You couldn't think of how it related, out of the study and academia, back to everyday life. Of course now, you do. You're in his experiment. (You're in the second group, presented strengths first, flaws last.)

You can't help but continue to stare, your traitorous heart twisting with endlessly conflicting feelings at the sight of slim fingers you still remember holding, and the elegant panes of his face that you’ll never forget.

ii.

He'd explained primacy again, after you'd watched Memento, a movie he'd called one of his favorites. You don't know anymore if that was true. You don't think you know a single true thing about him. But still, you remember it. His words. The movie. The Polaroid. Don’t believe his lies.

The movie starts centered around the main character, and it’s intensely subjective, he’d said. We see him and his world through his eyes. We learn the details of the plot along with him, even as he forgets, and by the time the movie tells us he’s not as good of a person as we’d like to remember and we finally step out of his head and question his character, it’s too late. We're back at the start. A beginning at the end, an ending at the beginning.

The movie’s a bit like those classic math puzzles, he had said, and had chuckled at your groan. We begin with two trains going in opposite directions towards each other: one from the past, in black-and-white, going forward, one, in color, from the present going back, and they meet somewhere in the grey in between, at the start of the movie. Only, we’re introduced to his positive perception of his present self first.

So we call the movie’s arguable villain hero, up until the movie’s end. Just as you would like to think of him not as Ares, as a villain, up until this dream ends.

xi.

You know you’re dreaming when you blink, and he’s gone from the shadowy corner only to reappear right next to you, your name on his lips with a smile.

“Lucien,” you whisper, as if speaking his name aloud will somehow make the moment real. As if a dream could ever become reality.

It doesn’t matter, you tell yourself. The only thing that matters is this moment. This moment a million times over. And what’s a moment in a dream if you make yourself believe it’s true?

He raises his glass to your lips, a silent invitation.

You meet those dark eyes. You drink.

(A different movie, but. You fall. He's your totem, your ever-spinning top. You wait for the kick.)

iii.

The world shifts and swirls around you. Only he stays steady, awash in a sea of sunset colors and midnight starry lights. You take his hand, your anchor, and he lets you.

Your dress is a soft purple now. Now, you say, since you think it used to be pink, and before that, white. (If the bartender would speak, she'd tell you it looks like the chandelier: dripping in crystals, iridescent, reminiscent of the fading day, the coming night.)

x.

There's an invisible glass wall between you and him. (You don't remember Ares. You don't remember why.)

You press up against it, and it shatters.

iv.

He calls your name, and you surface, dizzy, from your daze.

"Why did you come here?" He asks. His hand's hovering, almost reaching, on the verge of taking your glass away or perhaps tucking an escaped strand of hair behind your ear.

"Why do I do things? Why does anyone do anything?"

You're definitely a little drunk.

"What I do isn't meaningless just because there are things I don't remember," you say, and what you mean is things you've made me forget.

"The world doesn't just disappear when you close your eyes, does it?"

"Memento," he notes with that same gentle, enigmatic smile. "Touché."

Then, musing, quieter:

"So, you remember that night."

"I remember everything."

(You both know that's a lie.)

ix.

(a tangent.)

Once, you asked, waking from the middle of a nightmare to a starless night:

"Daddy, why do I forget so many things?"

Your father held you close without a word. (You weren't expecting an answer.)

Now, you think it suits you, being a girl cut loose in time.

v.

Your head hurts.

You'd ask the bartender for a glass of ice water, but the silent, white-clad woman's gone. In her places stands a gleaming door. Behind the door lies silver stairs.

Your temples throb again, and you think, fresh air. He takes your hand, and you let him. You pass through the doorway together.

viii.

(another tangent.)

A question without a proper answer: what does it mean to forget?

You searched it on the internet for Miracle Finder, found Wikipedia pages on the different types of memory and how your brain wires them all. Each article was long, convoluted, and a little pretentious.

(You gave up.)

Spoiler alert: neuroscientists still don't know.

You asked Lucien. He doesn't, either.

(The beginning of the hypothesis of an answer, buried in words about synapse strengthening and weakening: forgetting is just another word for loss.)

A better question, but one you'll never get a proper answer for: when your memory of someone is erased with Evol, which part of the brain is it affecting? What neural connections are lost, overwritten by the unnatural?

After all, Evol goes beyond the explainable, but it'd be wrong to say it doesn't affect those circuits at all.

A quick lesson that Lucien will never teach you: memory loss isn't like what you see in the movies.

There's many types of memory. You already know the first two: short-term and long-term. The temporary. The eroding. (outside these two-- the already lost)

(Memento's different. In it, he's lost the ability to make new long-term memories. Not quite memory loss. More like he can't feel time.)

Within the eroding are two subtypes: explicit, and implicit, or conscious and unconscious.

First, within explicit:

Semantic memory, our memory of general facts. It's how we familiarize ourselves with the world. (The sky is blue. Grass is green. The city the company headquarters are in is Loveland City.) A knock on the head to important bits involved here, and you won't remember the name of the president or how many cents add up to a dollar, but you'll still remember your childhood.

Episodic memory, the memory of our personal experiences. Many people argue this is the memory that makes you you. Say the amnesia-inducing Evol removes this. You forget an important event (a dream, a nightmare where he was Ares and you still called on him for protection, and he came, he saved you).

There, you say. Question answered. Problem solved.

But wait. The lesson's not over yet. There's still implicit. The unconscious part of your memory. (Freud's favorite.)

Implicit memory contains multitudes. (We'll just focus on a few.)

The important bits: implicit memory stores the memories necessary to learn. Procedural memory covers skills.

Then there's association, and key to association are your emotions. (You'll remember things that make you happy, make you angry, make you sad. You just won't remember why.)

Lastly, priming, also known as pattern completion. (If a puzzle was put in front of you, you'd be able to solve it, if you had before.)

Long story short, memory loss by Evol, if scientific, doesn't wipe them all out. Let's say it just wipes episodic. No more memory of the event. No more memory of the event itself. Let's say the emotions remain. Let's say you're still primed. But we digress.

(Lesson over.)

vi.

You race up the stairs, past pipes, through smoke, and burst onto the roof, giddy, flushed, his hand in yours the whole way. In the night air, your dress shimmers and darkens to a midnight blue, just a touch shy of the black of the silk of his suit.

The roof is wide open and empty, save for a delicate floating canopy of fairy lights. Beyond the rosy glow, vivid colors of fireworks shatter bright against the velvet curtain of night.

He pauses at the sight of the fireworks, the city far below, and you stagger back against him, one hand raised to the sky, laughing, drunk. Neither of you notice when the silver stairway disappears.

You loop your arms around his neck and stare up into his eyes. At first, the light doesn’t reflect off of them and you almost freeze, but he clasps a hand to the small of your back and draws you closer. When you blink up at him again, the dark of his gaze is warmed by the shine of the veil of lights.

“Where are the stars?”

“Shall I go and fetch them for you?”

Before you can respond, he leans in and catches the swell of your lips between his, dark eyes closed.

The first kiss is gentle and teasing, like his words. The second kiss is yours when he pulls back for air and you follow him. The third devours you.

His hands move in opposite directions; one floating up to cup your cheek and draw you in further with a caress, the other creeping down your back, leaving a trail of fire, aroused nerves, in its wake. It settles on the back of one of your thighs, and grips rough, possessive, hard and--

you gasp a single word between stolen breaths,

Lucien.

His name burns stronger than any alcohol on your lips, on his, it consumes you both, and you're glad of it, you're content to go up in flames. Your hands move to match his, to mark him as your own. You think this is perhaps what fireworks feel like, the moment before the end.

(You explode. It's not as pretty as a fireworks display.)

You arch your back against him and you suddenly remember the butterfly, those vivid splinters from your childhood so small they could hardly be called memories. You are not certain of much anymore but you are certain of this: You are his Schrodinger's butterfly, dancing futilely, dead in the palms of his hands.

He pulls away, panting, and you want to, but this time you do not follow. You don't move at all. Trapped things, you hear your father say, voice shaking, the butterfly long gone, once let go, are never the same after.

Your mind doesn't remember, but something in your heart does: this has happened before. He's altered your memory so many times, but you still can't remember to forget him.

(Emotional memory, and now. Priming. Some part of you sees the same pattern fall into place.)

His hand, cold against your flushed cheek moves to cover your eyes, and you know: you won't remember the ending of this, either. You don't try to stop him.

"Go back to sleep. Forget this nightmare."

His voice comes, silky smooth and soft. Sad, you want to think, though you know it can't be.

"What if I wake up, and this isn’t a dream? What if that's the nightmare?"

"Then find your way back here. I'll be waiting."

You close your eyes under his cool fingers, and wake to warm sheets.

In your dream, he's still smiling. You're sure of it.

xx.

You're waiting for someone. Someone's waiting for you. (You aren't sure which it is. You aren't sure who.)

The butterfly's wings flutter in your small child hands, light yellow heartbeats tickling your fingers. The sky is grey. A chill wind blows. Your father is silent, frozen and smiling. Gone.

You remember (or at least you tell yourself you do):

When you opened your palms, the butterfly flew straight. It flew true.

[chocolatemilksmoothie]

Labyrinth Runners

Omg I loved this one!! buckle up, there's a lot of little details and a lot to point out

I suspected we might not get an update on Luz and the rest of the owl house members and the suspense there is killing me ngl...

I can already see it, both groups meet and both are like "we have SO much to tell you you're not gonna believe this-"

anyways, baby Willow and baby Gus my beloveds

I love their relationship. they were there for each other before anyone else was, and you can see how deeply they care for one another

Gus is a scary good illusionist, it must be frightening to have that happen

ahh good ol' breathing exercises, always worth a shot

I ADORE that Bump allows more kids to try multi track magic, and Matt got into illusion magic! aww

Among Luz's messages was "don't scare him(them?) away" I think she was referring to Hunter. it's sweet she took the time to write that, but god I hope she's safe

the hearts they are adorable <3

I enjoyed Willow and Amity's plot as well! Amity trying to protect her because he values having her back vs Willow wanting her to see that she is strong and can fight alongside her!

he's been reading about Grimwalkers... oh buddy what have you learned?

it's both sweet and heartbreaking that 1) he thought of hexside as a safe place to hide and 2) he's wearing the Flyer Derby outfit. he really had a good time being a normal kid for a day :')

Adrian. I like his style but I did NOT buy his act. How horrifying that he was tricking students into getting sigils by pretending he was helping them not get sigils. messed up

they really made him a pretentious director. I love it. both he and Terra are scary and full of personality, very fun antagonists to see

Love his design also. Everything about it

Severine... is voiced by Dana right? she was hilarious, go back to the tiny cat coven girl they don't deserve u here

Loved the concept of a trippy labyrinth of familiar places too

throw yourself down the steps to see if they're real, flawless technique

once again Hunter parallels another character. Gus is trusting by nature, which has led to him getting hurt, while Hunter grew up in a competitive, hostile environment where the only person he trusted blindly ended up being a monster. He is being extra cautious. But Gus won't hurt him

God, Belos sent a search party and is pretending like he's all worried. he hasn't told anyone he ran away. but we know what'll happen if he goes back to the castle *shudders*

the acting and animation for the panic attack, the breathing and the hesitation were done with a lot of care. I also like that it's in "Gus' room"

I love Gus I love him lots ok

the banned posters I love my children lmao

HIGH FIVE

I'm so happy Hunter still calls Willow "captain" he respects her a ton

and again, it makes sense he noticed she wasn't the real one. Gus is trusting, and Willow has never taken advantage of his trust, while Hunter is super on edge atm

"put him-" "out of his misery? got it" jesus dude he just kicked you

HIS TEAMMATES SAVED HIM

"dude looks sickly" yeah he's been sleep deprived and mentally abused and probably not eating much it'll do that to ya

oh I love this little ragtag team of rebel witches (+ Gus of course)

Adrien wants to find the Galderstones for Belos. Funny, pretty sure that's an ingredient for a certain thing hmmm ever heard of Grimwalkers?

"in the name of the moon we will kick your ass!"

Gus' ability to make you see traumatic memories is messed up. Dana stop traumatizing the children challenge

Hunter and Gus bonding about how they've been deceived and used. and awww the breathing with whistling ahaha is this because of the tooth gap because same

GUS KEPT THE MIRROR THINGY YES

"what... is... this??" "just go with it" my heart

friends will hug you even if you haven't showered

the Illusion coven head got MESSED UP oh my god

Barcus cracks me up he's so well spoken

and we end with Hunter having a LOT to talk about, but also having a large group of people to support and watch out for him

I suspect they're all gonna start preparing to find Luz and the others and to stop Belos in the Day of Unity ohhhohoho I feel DREAD BABEYYY

this was a dense one, and the first episode without Luz in it. I expect next week we'll catch up with them, especially King, and hopefully by the end of next ep both teams meet up to prepare together...

[weekendwarriorblog]

The Weekend Warrior 10/16/20: SYNCHRONIC, FRENCH EXIT, TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7, LOVE AND MONSTERS, HONEST THIEF, THE KID DETECTIVE and More!

After the last couple weeks, I really need a break, which is why I’m writing most of this in transit to Columbus, Ohio to see my mother, sister and all (or some) of the friends that I made during my sabbatical to the city seven years ago for cancer treatment.

On, and look... Variety wrote about the movie theater chains and NATO lobbying Governor Cuomo to reopen movie theaters, showing that there’s been no proof of any cases leading back to movie theaters. (And more from The Hollywood Reporter…) New York leads and the world follows? More like ED leads and the world follows. Been saying this shit for months now and putting up with all sorts of needless abuse for it.

This week’s “Featured Flick” is actually a movie coming to theaters on October 23, but since I’m not sure I’m writing a column next week, I’m gonna review it this week! Cool?  The movie is SYNCHRONIC (Well Go USA), and it’s the follow-up to Aaron Moorehead and Justin Benson’s amazing sci-fi film The Endless from a few years back. This ome stars Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan as parademics in New Orleans who have been coming across a series of bodies that have died in gruesome ways, all connected by a designer drug they were all taking.

I’ll just say right from the start that I loved almost everything about this movie from the amazing performances by Mackie and Dornan to the entire look and tone of the movie, which shows the duo taking huge steps forward as filmmakers, particularly Benson as a screenwriter. Unfortunately, I’m not sure what I can say about the movie and its plot without spoiling other’s enjoyment. I will say that it involves a designer drug and time travel and Mackie’s character has something odd about his brain that makes him better suited to figure out what is happening to the victims than others might be. Also, Dornan’s character Dennis has family issues, particularly with his daughter Brianna (Ally Ioannides), who disappears mysteriously, but it’s so nice seeing Katie Aselton as Dennis’ wife, as well as in another movie out this week.

I’ll also say that people who watch this movie will inevitably make comparisons to the work of Alex Garland and maybe even the more-versed ones might see a little of David Cronenberg’s Videodrome in the film’s trippy nature. The thing is that the movie is super-smart, and it’s obvious that Moorehead and Benson must have done a lot of research to make every aspect of it feel authentic. It’s just amazing what this duo can do with a small fraction of the money that Christopher Nolan had to make Tenet, and yet, they can create a complex and unique premise that’s actually easy to understand. Things like the camerawork, the music and sound design all add to the amazing tone and the mood that the duo have created.

I also think it’s Mackie’s best role and performance in many years, maybe even going back to The Hurt Locker, so as a long-time fan, I’m glad he connected with Moorehead/Benson to show that he’s more than capable of leading a movie like this.

Again, Synchronic will be in movie theaters and drive-ins NEXT Friday, October 23, but I want to give you an advance heads up, because Synchronic is likely to be the most original sci-fi or genre film you see this year. If you can’t get to the drive-in and don’t feel comfortable going to a movie theater, then I’m sure it will be on digital soon enough, but you definitely shouldn’t miss it!

Next up is Aaron Sorkin’s THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO SEVEN, streaming on Netflix starting Friday and the movie I was most looking forward to seeing this week. I was such a huge fan of Brett Morgen’s Chicago 10 documentary, which opened Sundance in 2007, especially with how he recreated the court trials using animation and a talented roster of voice actors including Hank Azaria, Mark Ruffalo and Geoffrey Wright. Sorkin has just as an impressive list of actors for his version, including Mark Rylance, Eddie Redmayne, Sacha Baron Cohen, Frank Langella, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and many more.

If you don’t know about the protests outside the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago – you see, back in those days, the Democrats were the bad guys… how times have changed!! Those protests led to a number of arrests but a few years later, the federal government charged a number of individuals with inciting the riot. The accused include Black Panther leader Bobby Seale, played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II from Aquaman and Watchmen, Abbie Hoffman (Cohen), FBI agent Tom Hayden (Eddie Redmayne), Jerry Rubin (Jeremy Strong), David Dellinger (John Carroll Lynch) and two more. The six white guys are defended by Mark Rylance’s William Kunstler, who faces the tough Judge Hoffman (Langella) who is not putting up with any guff from these young revolutionaries.

All of the characters are quickly introduced with a quick-cut opening montage with actual newsreel footage, but then we’re quickly moved to a meeting to the Attorney General (Keaton) with the trial’s prosecutor (Gordon-Levitt). From there, we’re right into the trial about 16 minutes into the movie, although Sorkin frequently cuts back to the actual day of the Chicago protest to recreate what happened as testimony is given. Probably the part that will have the most impact and resonance is the way Seale was mistreated compared to the others, getting so riled up at the judge that the judge orders him chained and gagged. The trial would end up taking place for almost 7 months even though the results were eventually overturned.

This really is perfect material for Sorkin, and maybe if I hadn’t seen Chicago 10 first, I would have been a lot more fascinated by the trial sequences, though Morgen did an equally great job working from the transcripts. Basically, what happened happened. Where Sorkin’s screenplay and film excels is showing what’s going on outside the courtroom, whether it’s the recreations or just conversations taking place between the plaintiffs.  As might be expected from Sorkin, the screenplay is great with lots of fast talking, making for a movie that moves at a kinetic pace for its two hours.

If I had to pick a few of the best performances, I’d probably focus on Cohen’s Abbie Hoffman, which is more than just an accent, he and Strong’s Rubin bantering back and forth like a seasoned Vaudeville act; Rylance’s Kunstler is spot-on, and Langella is just great as the crusty judge, the film’s only true antagonist. I also appreciated John Carroll Lynch and in fact, all the performances, although I felt that with so many characters, Sorkin wasn’t able to give Bobby Seale the time his story truly needed. Still, I would be shocked if this isn’t considered a SAG Ensemble frontrunner.

Ultimately, The Trial of the Chicago 7 is a fine recreation of a certain moment in history that still feels relevant and timely fifty years later, even if it’s so heavy at times you either need to focus or, like me, watch it on Netflix in two sittings. I still liked Steve McQueen’s movie Mangrove that takes place in a similar era and also culminates in a trial just a little bit better.

Before we get to the rest of this week’s new movies, I have one last review from the New York Film Festival, and it’s the closing night film, FRENCH EXIT, from director Azazel Jacobs and writer Patrick Dewitt, who has adapted his own book. The film stars Michelle Pfeiffer as Frances Price, a Manhattan widow from wealth who discovers she has no more money, just as her son Malcolm (Lucas Hedges with longer hair than usual) has decided to marry his girlfriend Susan (Imogen Poots) though he hasn’t told his mother that yet. With no other options, Francis takes her son on a ship to live in Paris for a while at the home of one Mme. Renard (Valarie Mahaffey), an elderly woman who is a genuine fan of Francis and welcomes them as her guests.

This is one of those ensemble character dramedies that I wouldn’t even be able to begin to tell you why you should see it unless you miss seeing Pfeiffer in a semi-decent performance, but one that doesn’t do much as the film itself is so boring and insufferably pretentious most of the time I’m not sure I can even recommend it for that.

Jacobs and Dewitt previous made the movie Teri maybe ten years ago, and I was never really a fan, so I’m not sure why I thought that Dewitt adapting his own book would bear better results.  Once Frances and Malcolm get to Paris, there’s just an influx of odd characters who show up, some who have more impact than others. I liked seeing Danielle Macdonald as a psychic medium the duo meet on the ship across the Atlantic who Malcolm bonks. She’s brought back when Frances wants her to conduct a séance to communicate with her late husband who she thinks is now inhabiting an omni-present cat. Like everything else, the relationship between Malcolm and Susan and how that’s affected by her meeting a new guy just never goes anywhere.

For the most part, the whole thing is just dull and uninteresting, and so pretentious it never really leads to anything even remotely memorable. I have no idea why the New York Film Festival would decide to close with this one. (Although the 58th NYFF is over, some of the movies will hit its Virtual Cinema soon, so keep an eye out! For instance, this Friday, FilmLinc begins a Pietro Marcello retrospective as well as showing his latest film Martin Eden in FilmLInc’s Virtual Cinema.)

Liam Neeson stars in Mark Williams’ HONEST THIEF (Open Road), a crime-thriller in which he plays Tom Carter, the uncaught robber behind 12 bank robberies who decides to settle down with Kate (Grey’s Anatomy) Walsh’s Annie Wilkins, who he meets while renting a storage space to hide all the money he’s stolen. After a year of things getting serious with Annie, Tom decides to retire so he calls the FBI and says he’s ready to give back the 9 million, but two crooked FBI agents (one played by Jai Courtenay, the other by Anthony Ramos) decide they’re going to take the money instead. Their plan to steal the money Tom’s trying to return leads to a number of deaths, including putting Annie in the hospital. When that happens, Tom has had enough, and honestly, there’s no one better at getting revenge than Neeson. (Did we mention that Carter is ex-Marine? I mean, of course he is!)

Many will go into Honest Thief expecting the typical Neeson action revenge flick ala Taken or maybe one of his high-concept thrillers, but Honest Thief isn’t nearly that exciting. It starts out fairly slow and dry with no real crime or action elements, although Williams does throw them in from time to time. The whole thing is pretty dry, and it’s a good 54 minutes before we get to the revenge aspect of the story and that’s after a lot of bad decisions being made across the board. Anyone who is still wondering how Jai Courtney has a career won’t be changing that decision by his turn as the villain, and it’s a lot odd when the movie tries to make a sympathetic character out of his partner, played by Ramos.

Regardless, any elements that make Honest Thief unique from other Neeson action movies are quickly tossed aside for the same usual cliches, and the action scenes aren’t even that great. While Honest Thief may not be an awful or unwatchable movie, it’s probably not the action movie you might be expecting from Neeson – more like a bargain basement The Fugitive with one plot decision that almost kills the whole movie.

Delayed a number of times and now dumped to PVOD (with minimal theatrical) is Paramount’s LOVE AND MONSTERS, which is written by the prolific Bryan Duffield (The Babysitter, Spontaneous), directed by Michael Matthews and produced by Shawn Levy’s 21 Laps Entertainment. In the movie, Dylan O’Brien plays Joel Dawson, a young man surviving the apocalypse with a small community after the government’s plot to blast a couple asteroids heading to earth backfires. Instead, it creates giant, carnivorous monsters out of the earth’s animals who eliminate 95% of the earth’s human population. (We learn all of this through a Zombieland-like animated prequel getting us up to speed.)  Before the earth fell into disarray, Joel was in love with Jessica Henwick’s Aimee, but they were separated by the fateful events. Seven years later, they’re reconnected via radio and Joel has sworn to travel the 85 miles across the creature-covered wasteland to reunite with her. Hence, the title “Love and Monsters.” Get it?

I actually didn’t hate this movie, although it’s not really a family film or one meant for young kids, because it’s PG-13 for a reason, including mild violence i.e. people being chomped by monsters, and some sexuality. Dylan O’Brien does a decent job carrying it, but it relies just as much on the other people he meets, particularly Michael Rooker’s Clyde and his young ward Minnow, played by Ariana Greenblatt, the latter who is such a scene-stealer that it’s disappointing they’re only in the movie for a small chunk. They’re probably the funniest part of the movie.

I like giant monsters and these ones are certainly … interesting. They seem to have been toned down a bit maybe to be more kid-friendly, more like the kid-friend Godzilla than the terror we’ve seen in recent incarnations. There are also a number of great action set-pieces, and some good post-Apocalyptic ideas we haven’t seen, especially when Duffield’s dark sense of humor is able to come out and keep things fun.

Still, Love and Monsters is not a kids’ movie, and there’s something about it that might make people wish the filmmaker just went full-on R, because going further towards PG would have made even the best parts quite painful to get through. As it is, Love and Monsters is a suitably fine boy and his dog adventure – oh, did I mention the dog? – that would make a perfectly fine streaming movie.

We’ll get back to some of the other theatrical releases in a bit, but I wanted to get to two movies that were pleasant surprises, maybe because I went into them with absolutely zero expectations.

I wasn’t really sure what to think about Cooper Raiff’s SH#!%HOUSE (IFC Films) at first, maybe because it’s title is a little off-putting and not really particularly representative of what the movie is. Raiff himself plays Alex Malmquist, a fairly new arrival at his college but already missing home and his mother (Amy Landecker) and not really adjusting to the crazy college lifestyle as exemplified by his roommate Sam (Logan Miller). After a party at a frat called “Shithouse” (hence the title), Alex meets and connects with his dorm’s R.A. Maggie (Dylan Gelula) and the two spend the night bonding and hanging out.

Obviously, someone at IFC Films loves these platonic indie two-handers about people meeting and hanging out over the course of a night, because Shithouse is the second such movie after Olympic Dreams earlier in the year. They also must know that I’m a sucker for these kinds of semi-rom-coms, because just like with that other movie, I totally ate up everything Raiff was trying to do and say with his movie. The chemistry between the two leads is undeniable, and maybe it won’t be a surprise that Gelula also appeared in Raiff’s previous movie.

As with any relationship, things do come to an end, and this one crashes and burns in a very sad way for Alex the very next day. Maggie starts to pretend she doesn’t even know him, and she ignores his incessant texts saying how much he enjoyed their night together. Boy, I have been there back in my reckless and romantic days of youth.

At first, I wasn’t that into Raiff as an actor – remember what I’ve said about filmmakers casting themselves? – but Alex definitely grew on me. Gelula is absolutely amazing, and frankly, I can see someone “discovering” her in ten years and becoming a new Parker Posey, Kate Lynn Sheil or other similar indie ingenue.

The combination of the two is what makes Shithouse such a special experience, since their situations are quite relatable and Raiff does a great job with the characterization in his writing to make this quite enjoyable to see how things will resolve themselves.

I also wasn’t quite prepared for how much I’d enjoy Steve Byrne’s THE OPENING ACT (RLJEfilms), maybe because I was unfamiliar with Byrne, and as usual, I didn’t read the description of the movie before sitting down to watch it. If I did, I would have known that Byrne is a stand-up comic and presumably this movie is somewhat based on situations that have happened to him. It stars Jimmy O. Yang from Crazy Rich Asians (a great comic in his own right) as Willy Chu, a young comic who has always dreamed of making it in stand-up but instead, has been stuck trying to get slots at an open mic night, while holding down a day job working at an insurance company. One day, his friend (Ken Jeong) sets him up for an MC gig in Pennsylvania at the Improv where his idol Billy G (Cedric the Entertainer) will be performing, so Willy quits his job to pursue his dream.

Much of Byrne’s movie deals with Billy’s “adventure” in Pennsylvania with the club’s womanizing featured act (played by SNL’s Alex Moffatt) and trying to face the struggles of stand-up in hopes of getting to the next level. There have been better movies about the subject, like Mike Birbiglia’s Sleepwalk with You, but Byrne’s film is a nice addition, particularly because Yang plays such a likeable, benevolent character you want to see him do well even after he crashes and bombs on a Saturday night and is at risk of losing the Improv gig.

It’s obvious that Byrne pulled in a lot of favors from friends to get such a great cast of comics – even getting Whitney Cumming to make a cameo – but the likes of Bill Burr actually take on key roles, like Willy’s boss in that case. Moffatt is particularly hilarious expanding on some of his outrageous SNL characters to play a stand-up who actually does help Willy, even as he puts him in pretty awful situations. Cedric also gives another fantastic performance as Willy’s idol who gives him the cold shoulder at first but eventually comes around and offers him the mentoring that Willy needs.

The Opening Act isn’t anything particularly revelatory, but it is thoroughly entertaining, and a nice little indie that I hope people will discover for themselves, especially those who like (or perform) stand-up.

Edward James Olmos directs THE DEVIL HAS A NAME (Momentum Releasing) starring the great Oscar-nominated David Strathairn as almond farmer Fred Stern, who has been running his orchard for three decades with trusty second Santiago, played by Olmos himself. Things are going well until they notice that some of the trees are rotting. It turns out they’re being poisoned by the water that’s been sullied by crude oil run-off from the nearby Shore Oil rigs. Around the same time, an opportunist named Alex Gardner, played by Haley Joel Osment, offers Fred a very low-ball offer to buy the farm, though Fred suspects something is up, and sure enough, Shore Oil is responsible.

Another movie I didn’t know what to expect other than a few cursory elements is this movie “based on a true story” movie about the little farmer taking on “The Man.” In this case, Shore Oil is represented by Kate Bosworth’s Gigi Cutler, a tough exec. at the corporation who thinks their lawyers (one of them played by Katie Aselton!) can crush this local troublemaker. When Stern’s lawyer (Martin Sheen) sues the oil company for 2 billion, they need to start taking things seriously, bringing in a tough “fixer” played by Pablo Schreiber.

I’m not sure where to begin with this movie that certainly has noble intentions in telling this story but suffers from quite a few issues, mostly coming from the script. I was a little concerned once I knew the premise, because I was not a huge fan of Todd Haynes’ Dark Water from last year, although I did enjoy the Krasinski-Damon-Van Sant ecological venture, Promised Land. This one falls somewhere in between, and probably its biggest issue is that it tries to create some humor out of the erratic behavior of the characters played by Bosworth and Schreiber; both performances are so off-the-rails at times it regularly takes you out of Fred’s story. (Osment is also pretty crazy but at least he fits better into his role.) Strathairn is great and well-cast, and Olmos is equally good, and I imagine that it’s partially because many of their scenes are together, allowing Olmos to direct with his acting. Aselton and Sheen are also decent, especially in the courtroom scenes.

Oh, and did I mention that Alfred Molina plays the Big Boss, who is interrogating Cutler as a needless framing device? Yeah, there’s a lot of characters, and when you hold this up against something like The Trial of Chicago 7, it’s just obvious that the film has too many elements for any filmmaker to be able to juggle at once.

Because of this, The Devil Has A Name is an erratic real-life dramedy that’s too all over the place in terms of tone, it ends up shooting itself in the foot by trying (and failing) to be funny despite the serious subject matter.

Next up is 2 HEARTS (Silver Lion Films/ Freestyle Releasing), another movie based on a true story from the Hool Brothers, who I really wasn’t very familiar with. I assumed this was going to be a faith-based movie, and maybe in some ways it is, but not really. It essentially tells two stories set in different time periods that you assume will somehow be connected. Ooh, boy.

First, there’s Jacob Elordi of Euphoria and The Kissing Booth – neither of which I’ve seen, mind you – who plays Chris Gregory, a college kid who connects in a meet-cute way with Tiera Skovbye’s Sam. Before we get too far into their story, we cut back to what looks like Cuba in the ‘50s and 60s, and meet Jorge Bolivar (Adan Canto), the son of an alcohol magnate, a soccer player who suffers a serious lung issue that puts him in the hospital. Years later, Jorge is travelling to Miami when he meets Radha Mitchell’s Leslie working as a flight attendant.

Both guys are pretty suave smooth-talking pick-up artists, and the movie spends almost an hour cutting between two very corny and cheesy romance stories that really don’t offer much in terms of story. Instead, it keeps following Chris and Sam’s life as they have kids, taking forever to get to the connection between the stories. I was getting pretty bored of the movie, but I felt like I had to stick it out to see what happens.

When you call a movie “2 Hearts,” you kind of expect it to be about a heart transplant of some kind, right? But no, it’s actually about a dual lung transplant that Jorge receives. Want to take a wild guess who the donor is?  I certainly don’t want to spoil what happens, but for a movie that spends a good hour setting up the relationships between the two men and their pretty blondes with ups and downs that makes it seem like a Nicholas Sparks movie, it really throws a spanner into the fairy tale with all the melodrama that’s to come. It’s such a whiplash in terms of tone it pretty much destroys any chance of one enjoying the movie for what it is. It also loses a lot without Elordi, since the actors who play his family aren’t very good at all.

I had to actually look up the story to see how much if it was true, only to learn that Jorge was based on Jorge Bacardi who actually received a double lung transplant from one Christopher Gregory, inspiring him to create the Gabriel House of Care. The problem is that the time periods get so messed up by setting one story decades in the past. Using the same actors to play the people over that time with pretty shabby make-up just makes things that much more confusing. The big problem is that it spends so much time avoiding the actual plot and point of making the movie that by the time it gets to it, you just don’t care about the characters anymore.

The whole thing is very by the books and predictable, but ultimately, it’s hard to believe any of it, despite it being based on a true story. If you go into this movie expecting love and romance and all that kind of mushy stuff from the title, you’re likely to be disappointed when the movie finally gets to its point. (In other words, it could have used some giant monsters.)

Here’s another movie that I didn’t really know what to expect going in and that probably should have helped me enjoy it more… if it was anything resembling a good movie. Picked up at the Toronto Film Festival where it premiered last month, Evan Morgan’s THE KID DETECTIVE (Sony) stars Adam Brody as Abe Appelbaum, the “kid detective” of the titles, who as a child was one of those super-smart kids who have the deductive powers to help the people in his community, but as a 32-year-old, he just isn’t taken as seriously any more. When a high school girl named Caroline (Sophie Nélisse) comes to Abe to find out who murdered her boyfriend, Abe finally realizes that he has his first grown-up case, though he’s still obsessed with the disappearance of the mayor’s daughter (and his kid receptionist) Gracie many years earlier.

I’m sure there’s gonna be people out there who watch and appreciate The Kid Detective for what it is, a wry and slightly clever noir pastiche pseudo-comedy, but anyone who has seen Rian Johnson’s first film Brick or the underrated Mystery Team (starring Donald Glover very early in his career) might feel that this doesn’t live up to either. Besides the fact that Brody really hasn’t developed much personality as an actor, the film rolls along with a fairly flat, deadpan tone that just never gets remotely exciting. The humor is subdued and yet it feels like everyone is constantly trying too hard, particularly Morgan, while at the same time not really taking any chances. This is a movie that could have been edgier but instead, it milks its flimsy high-concept premise as long as possible before giving up.

Like Love and Monsters, Sony is releasing The Kid Detective into theaters on Friday, and hopefully parents will check that rating before assuming it’s a kid flick. Although there isn’t so much bad language or anything that wouldn’t warrant a PG… other than the fact that it’s not particularly funny or even entertaining and kids will be super-bored.

I can’t believe there’s still more! Amazon’s “Welcome to the Blumhouse” anthology series continues this week with two more movies in the series of eight, which you can now watch on Prime Video:

Easily my favorite of the four movies I’ve seen is Zu Quirke’s NOCTURNE (Amazon), which follows a pair of twins, Julie (Sidney Sweeney) and Vivian (Madison Iseman), who are both competitive concert pianists at the Lindberg Academy, although Vivian is clearly the better, as she’s heading off to Julliard while Julian is taking a gap year.

Before we meet them, we see a young violist jumping off the balcony to her death for some reason, and we learn that she was the finalist to play a concerto, so now that slot is open and both Julie and her sister desperately want it.

Nocturne is certainly more like the horror movies we expect from Blumhouse, which is both good and bad. The good is that it is indeed quite scary as Quirke’s team uses really eerie lighting effects and other things to create suspense. But there’s also an artiness to what Quirke does that elevates Nocturne above the normal high-concept horror-thriller.

Quirke, who also wrote the film, delivers all the characterization you expect from a good horror film so that you really care about the characters, and she’s put together such a fine cast, particularly Sweeney who has to run a gamut of emotions as Julie. I also like Rodney To as Julie’s tough instructor Wilkins

Again, I won’t say too much more about the actual plot, although if you can imagine a Faustian bargain and how that plays out for those around Julie, you can probably understand why a super-fan of The Omen might dig what Quirke did in this environment.

The fourth movie in the “Welcome to the Blumouse” series is EVIL EYE (Amazon), from Indo-American filmmakers Elan and Rajeev Dassani, a relatively innocuous thriller based around the relationship between Pallavi (Sunita Mani from last week’s Save Yourselves! and GLOW) and her mother Usha, played by Sarita Choudhury.  Pallavi is in her late 20s and single and her mother keeps wanting to get her set-up with a nice man, as a good Indian mother is wont to do.  When Pallavi meets Sandeep (Omar Maskati), things are going well since he has money and her mother thinks her daughter has hit the jackpot, until she realizes that Sandeep has a dark secret.

Here’s another thriller where it’s really tough to talk about the plot, because obviously the filmmakers want the story to unfold in the specific way it was written. Apparently, this one was once an Audible story, and the first thing I noticed was how amazing Sunita Mani looks from her fairly glammed down roles in other things. I think she’s just wearing make-up and has her styled different but I’m not sure I would have known it was the same actor in Save Yourselves! Because I had to do a double take.

The problem with Evil Eye, and it’s been a problem with some of the other “Welcome to the Blumhouse” movies, is that it isn’t necessarily what I’d consider horror. It really plays a lot more like a romantic drama, other than the fact that Pallavi’s mother has visions and believes in astrology enough to send her daughter trinkets to protect her from the “evil eye.” In fact, the movie just gets weirder and weirder, as it starts introducing supernatural elements, and without giving the big plot twist away, it does expect one to believe in reincarnation.

I wish I could have liked this more, but it really seems like it would be better suited for a show like “The Outer Limits” or “The Twilight Zone,” since the premise is stretched so think for about 30 minutes longer than necessary.  I think the filmmakers did perfectly fine with what they had to work with – the two main actresses are just fab – but I think I’d need to see some of their other work to see if the issues I had were just cause the story isn’t that interesting or by their limitations in making it.

(And I promise that I do have a feature on all the filmmakers from the first four “Welcome to the Blumhouse” series coming over at Below the Line, but it’s been a pretty tough piece to write.)

I reviewed Alex Gibney’s new doc Totally Under Control (Neon/Participant), co-directed with Ophelia Harutyunyan and Suzanne Hillinger, in last week’s column but it’s now available to watch On Demand and then it will be on Hulu starting next Tuesday, October 20. Obviously, everyone wanted to get this out there and make sure people see it before they get too in-deep with the election.

I also reviewed David Byrne’s American Utopia (HBO), directed by Spike Lee, a few weeks back, but it will be on HBO and presumably HBO Max on Sunday night. Not as big an event as Disney+’s Hamilton but still worth watching, especially if you’re a fan of Byrne or his band the Talking Heads, because it actually acts as a nice counterpoint bookend to the late Jonathan Demme’s fantastic Stop Making Sense, one of the best concert documentaries ever made, or at least top 5. I’m bummed I missed Byrne’s show on Broadway, and it doesn’t sound like Broadway will be coming back anytime soon so I guess this HBO documentation is the best any of us can wish for.

Of the movies I didn’t have time to watch this week, the two that I’m hoping to still get to are two docs: Inna Blockhina’s SHE IS THE OCEAN (Blue Fox Entertainment) and Rick Korn’s HARRY CHAPIN: WHEN IN DOUBT, DO SOMETHING (Greenwich). She Is the Ocean explores the lives of nine women who all have a passion for the ocean. The Harry Chapin doc may be more self-explanatory, and I wish I was a bigger fan of Chapin, the famed singer/songwriter/activist, because maybe I would have watched this movie earlier. (But seriously, look at how many movies came out this week, when I was hoping it would be “slower”!) Also, I’m a little bit interested in the K-Pop doc #BlackPinkLightUpTheSky that will air on Netflix, just because, I dunno, I like adorable, young Asian women, so sue me?

Premiering on Disney+ this Friday is Justin Baldoni’s CLOUDS, starring Fin Argus as musician Zach Sobiech, who has only months to live when his cancer starts spreading, but he follows his dream to make an album and becomes a viral music phenomenon. I’m not sure if this is a true story but it certainly sounds a lot like a faith-based film called I Still Believe that hit theaters just before they all shut down due to the pandemic. Coincidence? I think not.

Also this week, the 32nd ANNUAL NEWFEST LGBTQ FILM FESTIVAL begins on Friday, running through October 27 with opening night being the well-regarded Ammonite, starring Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan, but it will be done as a drive-in, so I’m out. Over in Los Angeles, the AFI FEST starts on Thursday and runs through October 22, and that’s also showing a lot of cool festival/awards films that I haven’t had a chance to watch yet like The Father, I’m Your Woman and more. I missed my chance to get press accreditation, so yeah, I guess I’ll be waiting on that.

And then we get to all the movies that I didn’t have time to see or didn’t receive a screener, so here we go. This week’s unfortunate dumping ground:

Lupin III: The First (GKIDS) (This anime film is being released as a Fathom event on Oct. 18 – dubbed, and Oct. 21 – subtitled)

Belly of the Beast (I’ve actually heard good things about Erika Cohn’s doc about illegal sterilizations being conducted in a woman’s prison.)

Don’t Look Back (Gravitas Ventures)

Rom Boys: 40 Years of Rad (101 Films)

The Antidote (Cinetic/Brand New Story)

Monochrome: The Chromism (Tempest)

J.R “Bob” Dobbs and the Church of the Subgenius (Uncork’d)

Monster Force Zero (WildEye Releasing)

Ghabe (GVN Releasing)

The Accidental President (Intervention)

In Case of Emergency (Kino Lorber)

I’m not sure how much of a column I’m gonna write next week since I won’t have nearly as much time to watch movies or write about them in the coming week, while I’m in Colmbus. There are a couple high profile movies I hope to get to, so we’ll see what happens.

By the way, if you read this week’s column and have bothered to read this far down, feel free to drop me some thoughts at Edward dot Douglas at Gmail dot Com or drop me a note or tweet on Twitter. I love hearing from readers … honest!

[secretagentspydetectiveninja]

Rewatching Gorizilla

RADIANT. CAREFREE. DREAMY. ADRIEN. THE FRAGRANCE.

Me using MS Paint to draw stuff

AHAHAH ! 😹

Adrien sneaks out while “playing the piano” so often I’m surprised they don’t just watch him directly

This is the only perfume that matters and if you have ever worn any other perfume in your life you will be blocked and reported immediately

(Also the fact that there are feathers everywhere?? Poor boy must have been sneezing like crazy when filming this)

Her arm is so long

Wayhem’s outfit is so knockoff if you look at it carefully lol

First of all either Wayhem spells his own name like that for ~the aesthetic~ or the writers just don’t care, second of all I’m glad he’s fluent in Latin apparently

Oh and the Gorilla’s fuel tank is half empty in case you wanted to know

He’s trying to hide himself with his collar akjdfhskjdfhksd poor thing

WHERE WAS HE CARRYING THIS???

Huh I never noticed the Ron Weasley kid has red eyes

This little kid is just a recolour of Manon, right down to the clothes, and quite honestly is a little terrifying

The police and fire engine are chasing him too

PRAYDRIEN. THE FRAGRANCE

This guy has a Chat Noir shirt, I need one of those omg

This makes a pretty good reaction image

Good thing there was no water in the fountain, huh?

ADRIEN HIDING BEHIND MARINETTE IS SUPER ADORABLE

This guy’s fluent in Latin too

I love how Gabriel doesn’t even care that Adrien has a “girlfriend”

This screencap is exactly what the world looked like back when Pokemon Go was still popular and everyone was happy... I miss it

GIRL SQUAD!!! well except Alix

Oh so that’s that random background character’s name. Jean Tretiens

yOU DRIVE LIKE A MANIAC

He winks at Marinette so often in this show I swear

“Mystery mousekatool! It’s a secret tool that will help us later!”

This Gamer flashback from another angle is adorable but I can’t get over the robots casually beating each other up in the background

You can’t call yourself a TRUE fan of Adrien unless you speak Latin

August and one of his mums are chasing Adrien too adkfjhskdhfksjdhfkj

I feel so bad for this poor man, look at the Fear in his eyes

Found Jean Duparc, he’s an Adri-stalker too

I am highly disappointed that he didn’t even do a transformation dance, he just stood there smh

In the phone call (in both French and English dub) Gabe calls Adrien a “14 year old” BUT it’s stated multiple times in the show that these kids are in troisième which means that in Bubbler (Adrien’s bday episode) he really should have been turning 15, like Alix in Timebreaker?? I know this show has no chronology and time doesn’t mean anything anyway but I’m just gonna believe that Gabe doesn’t even know how old his son is

This is so sad alexa play despacito

I love their disguises and I love their conversation here and I love how adorable they are and ahhhbfskdbfsk I just love them???

Audrey is that you?

In Mr Bean’s Holiday there was this guy called Carson Clay who made a really pretentious movie about himself and for some reason this reminds me of it and I don’t even know why

Oh, so he immediately recognizes a giant blue King Kong monster as his bodyguard, but doesn’t recognize Ladybug as Marinette even though they look literally the same??

Me too when Adrien is in danger

Wayhem’s already wearing Adrien’s real shirt before they swap shirts in the disguise part later... don’t you just love those animation errors

This is so funny for some reason, like does Hawk Moth ever think his plans through, ever, even once

THIS IS SO HARDCORE, Ladybug never ceases to amaze me??? (also this is literally the ML mobile game)

someone: “If Ladybug told you to jump off a building would y--”

Adrien, immediately: ^

Dude you can’t just AKUMATIZE PEOPLE CLOSE TO YOUR SON and then be surprised when he ends up in mortal danger

Wayhem running around to catch Adrien is sweet, but look at that guy in the middle with his arms crossed, he just doesn’t even care

YESSSSS THIS IS WHAT I’M HERE FOR

I AM ALSO HERE FOR WAYHEM PROTECTING ADRIEN

“Uh excuse me I’M Adrien’s official protector actually”

“YOOOOUUU SHALL NOT PAAASSSS!!!” - Gandalf Wayhem, 2018

“RADIANT. CAREFREE. DREAMY. ADRIEN. THE FRAGRANCE!!” he says, while spraying a perfume bottle that actually says “Gabriel” on it (well okay to be fair it probably says Adrien near the top of the bottle... but it doesn’t say Gabriel on the bottles in the ad?? in other words I pay too much attention to things that don’t matter)

I love it when she carries him like that, it’s so sweeeeeet

Awwww look how he blushes when she says she trusts Chat Noir! Honestly that makes the rift in the Syren episode even funnier tho

He was sweating omg

Fakedrien!!! They proper swapped clothes and everything

He’s just sitting there, contemplating life... I love this guy, I really do

Wayhem beheaded his Adrien cutout and is carrying its severed decapitated head under his arm just casually

Can I just talk about Gayhem Wayhem’s character development for a second? He started off a creepy insensitive stalker but then he not only protected Adrien and helped save the day, he also realized Adrien was uncomfortable and apologized for his earlier behaviour?? I LOVE HIM

They’re still right there waiting for her omg, the levels of solidarity the Girl Squad show is just overwhelming

HEY HEY STOP BEING ALL MANIPULATIVE AND GUILT-TRIPPY, YOU ARE A TERRIBLE FATHER AND I’M ADOPTING ADRIEN MYSELF SO THERE

Well Gabe has a ring too, how do you know that YOU YOURSELF aren’t Chat Noir huh???

Also he’s sitting on the remote

OOOHOOOHOHOOO I can’t wait to find out what all THIS is

[rhywhitefang]

It’s the end of the year (Well, not quite, but I’m not gonna get any reading done tomorrow)  - and we all know what that means... Looking back at what you read and evaluating your favorites. And no, I did not contain myself to just 10 - but that’s also because I did read a lot this year. Why are they eleven books for the first two categories? Any excuse to include one more book It looks better on the graphic. Although, before someone asks why the Broken Earth Trilogy isn’t on here - Rereads don’t count and I read those in 2017. For a more detailed look at each of my lists, links to the books, and more of my thoughts, look under the cut. For a list of all of my favorite books look here. 

Now, on to these...

The best new releases of the year

Now, obviously, I did not read every single book that was released this year - duh. This is just a list of the best 2018 releases that I read this year. Ranked, they look like this:

Girl Made of Stars by Ashley Herring Blake. Why I loved this one: It’s a really honest, well-written, gentle, well-done, nuanced, and detailed examination of what rape does not only to a person but also to a community from a perspective I’ve never seen considered before. 

Darius The Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram Why I loved this one: Because I love well-done coming of age narratives and this one was excellent. It’s a very quiet, introspective, slow moving book with a softer main male character. I also really appreciated the setting of Teheran. 

The Book of Essie by Meghan Maclean Weir Why I loved this one: Look, it’s one of my very specific favorite tropes of all time (I’m not going to spoil it) that I almost never see, the main character is interesting and strong in a mental way I really enjoy, and it’s a deconstruction of conservative family culture. Yay. 

The Adventure Zone - Here there be Gerblins by Griffin McElroy Why I loved this one: I jumped on the hype train and listened to the podcast - and like, this is a comic adaptation of the first arc? Which is so much fun?

The Air You Breathe by Frances de Pontes Peebles Why I loved this one: I loved the main character who was bitter, and passionate, and jealous and lovin, and complicated and determined and stern and regretful. It was great. If you loved Evelyn Hugo, this one should be your next read. 

The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay Why I loved this one: This thriller was very unique in the way that it put its focus on just one family, and the whole rest of the world was not really present. Instead we get a very closed, and isolated narrative where everything but the characters we follow and the relationships they have with each other is called into question.

How Long Til’ Black Future Month? by N. K. Jemisin Why I loved this one: I refuse to comment on claims that I light a candle of my very own N. K. Jemisin shrine every night before I fall asleep. If you haven’t read The Fifth Season - go read them right now. My favorites from this collection include: Valedictorian, The Storyteller’s Replacement, Walking Awake, and Henosis.

Circe by Madeline Miller Why I loved this one: I’m a huge slut for greek myth retellings, if you’re a semi-competent author retelling any greek myth, I’ll eat it up. And Miller is more than just semi-competent.

The Poppy War by R.F Kuang Why I loved this one: Listen, listen, listen - you know how to get me as a reader? Training sequences and school settings. This has 250 pages of training sequences in a school setting. It made me very happy. 

Hurricane Child by Kheryn Callender Why I loved this one: Everyone’s excited for this author’s other book, which is like, a YA romance and to be fair, I haven’t read that one yet, but still - why is this one so underrated? It’s a magical realism coming of age story of a young girl and it’s stellar. 

Inkmistress by Audrey Coulhourst Why I loved this one: I wasn’t the biggest fan of the author’s debut, but this has a lot of things I love - “be careful what you wish for” style blood magic, dark self-fulfilling prophecies, and a female characters journey from hero to villain. Also dragons. 

The best backlist books of the year

Meaning, the best books I read this year that were released in 2017 or before that. Pretty simple, really.

In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan Why I loved this one: It has been a long time since I was this attached to a group of book characters that quickly. They’re instantly relatable, even if they’re not instantly likeable. And beyond that, the whole book is a wonderfully satirical take on the portal fantasy genre. But seriously, guys, there’s not enough of fanfiction for this book - I’d know it, I read them all.. C’mon, where’s my soulmate AU?

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman Why I loved this one: One of the best YA novels out there and not only one of my favorite’s of this year, but also one of my favorite books of all time. Alice Oseman understands the teen coming of age story on a spiritual level, and manages to be so wonderfully affirming in this one.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid Why I loved this one: Listen to the hype, everyone, listen to the hype. Evelyn Hugo is an amazing character and I’d 100% believe you if you told me she was a real person. PLUS, this one also has the trope. The one I talked about with the Book of Essie. 

Strong Female Protagonist by Molly Ostertag Why I loved this one: Well-done, deconstructionalist superhero narrative are my jam. This webcomic is not that action driven, instead it focuses on the main character identity crisis, and her reconsidering what it means to be a hero and what her responsibility as a human is.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M Danforth Why I loved this one: Do you think the owner of this blog might like coming of age narratives? I’m not super sure, like, maybe if she had “I love coming of age narratives” tattooed on her forehead, it would be a little clearer... but like this? It’s a mystery. 

Whichwood by Tahereh Mafi Why I loved this one: No, I did not read the first book in this series, and I don’t think you need to in order to enjoy this. Here, I just really appreciated the friendship aspect of the book and the healing power of reaching out to others and letting them into your heart. Also death magic. That too.

Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds Why I loved this one: I think the slam poetry style this was written in, often novels written in verse don’t work for me because it feels like more distance being put between you and the narrative, but in this case it really elevated the story. And of course, this was a very introspective read with a focus on character development.

One Hundred Nights of Hero by Isabelle Greenberg Why I loved this one: The artwork here is just gorgeous, just like in the first one The Encyclopedia of Early Earth. Its beautiful and has a lovely fairytale vibe.

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon Why I loved this one: This has a very sharp, very unique voice to it and a protagonist unlike anyone I ever read. And the spaceship setting was really cool as well.

Under the Pendulum Sun by Jeannette Ng Why I loved this one: This is a fae book that gets fucking dark, and truly fucked up as any proper fae book should do. Some parts of it read almost like a trippy nightmare which is just delightful. And the premise itself? Just wild, man

Girl Mans Up by M-E Girard Why I loved this one: Say it with me everyone 📣: Coming 👏 of 👏 Age 👏 Narrative

Honorable Mentions

Yes, I have a whole entire seperate list of honorable mentions. What’s it to you?

A  Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi Why I loved this one: The writing is beautiful and engaging. The protagonist is refreshing, lively, realistic, and I loved her perspective. Her internal journey was wonderfully rendered. The issues she dealt with were important, timely, and needed to be put into the forefront. It had a lyrical, atmospheric quality to it and I thoroughly enjoyed my experienced reading it. Why it didn’t quite make the list: It almost, almost made the list because it was really good. There was just one thing that bothered me. I get that the point of this book was that the protagonist was really isolated in the beginning, but even so... she had a romance with a guy, she had her brother and his friends whom she hung out with. But she didn’t seem to know any other girls... at all. The only other real female character I remember is her mother. And then there’s one interaction with another girl and that girl is a racist bitch. So I didn’t like that portrayal.

Geography Club by Brent Hartinger Why I loved this one: Teenagers finding themselves.... friendship..... clubs.... gay people.... I mean, come on.  Why it didn’t quite make the list: The writing style isn’t the best.

And I Darken by Kiersten White Why I loved this one: This was a great first book in a trilogy with a historical setting I haven’t read about before. It has court intrigue, sultans, assassins and political imprisonments. The main character’s brother, Radu, is one of my favorite characters I read about this year and I liked the way this tackled religion. Why it didn’t quite make the list: Being the first one in a series, this feels more like...a prologue, than anything that could stand on its own.

When I Hit You - A Portrait of the Author as a Young Wife by Meena Kandasamy Why I loved this one: It’s an unflinching look at an abusive marriage, power dynamic, and coping with the more patriarchal aspects of your own culture. It’s also really well written and extremely believable.  Why it didn’t quite make the list: It had an odd framing device, and because the protagonist was a writer, this caused it to be kind of pretentious at times.

Here to Stay by Sara Farizan Why I loved this one: This is a very realistic depiction of high school, and the social dynamics most teenagers for. Teenagers aren’t wise or mature, most of them have a lot of growing to do. And I liked how flawed everyone there was. They just wanted to keep their head down, or they overcompensated for their insecurities, and they dealt with their own issues. I liked how the topics in here were handled. Why it didn’t quite make the list: The plot was a bit too simplistic for me. 

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant Why I loved this one: Killer mermaids! Need I say more? I’ll say it again - killer mermaids! Why it didn’t quite make the list: Despite the title, this isn’t really that deep. Just a fun monster horror.

The Emperor’s Soul by Brandon Sanderson Why I loved this one: The one thing that Sanderson does consistently well is develop magic systems, and I really liked this one. And because this one was so short, there wasn’t some epic (or even cosmic) overarching plot, but a rather clear and relatively small narrative of a specific task that needed to be completed, which I found absolutely fascinating. I think I like this story even more than the Mistborn trilogy. It’s my favorite from him. Why it didn’t quite make the list: Everytime Sanderson writes a female character, you can tell he feels so proud of himself for being such a feminist. 

I Was Born for This by Alice Oseman Why I loved this one: This surprised me. Even though I loved Radio Silence by Oseman and had read that one before, the subject matter of this book didn’t really seem appealing to me, but it was still really fun. I loved the friendship dynamics and the discussions of fame. Why it didn’t quite make the list: I just very much wanted this one to go more in depth and really dive into that character development, and these relationship dynamics. I just wanted a little more of that. 

A History of Glitter and Blood by Hannah Moskowitz Why I loved this one: I loved most things to do with the fae - the dark fae of folklore, mind you, not whatever SJM is doing. Now, these fairies aren’t really traditional, but the setting is definitely dark. Also, there’s an unreliable narrator which I love.  Why it didn’t quite make the list: I was kind of iffy about some of the racial implications with the goblins. 

The Monster Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson Why I loved this one: We stan a ruthless, traitorous accountant. Love that dark character development, bitch.  Why it didn’t quite make the list: While I loved the first one, this one really lacked a clear sense of structure or direction. The pacing was kind of off. 

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan Why I loved this one: I loved the worldbuilding here, and the setting of concubines in a castle, quiety rebelling in themselves. Yay.  Why it didn’t quite make the list: It felt a bit juvenile at some points, some things were rushed, and I would have liked a bit more depth to the characters, especially the love interest.

[ryoalfar]

07/24/2022 - Sunday, 3:06PM

I’m in the middle of reading a book: Future Feeling by Joss Lake. This book appeared suddenly and mysteriously at our house-- at my parent’s house; the distinction is still unclear-- addressed to my dad, ordered straight from the publisher.

We don’t know who sent it over. Hopefully a friend, hopefully not a fan (because that would mean they know where we live). We don’t know why they sent it. It’s not like Dad’s a big queer lit guy. I’m not a big queer lit guy, though I think I would like to be.

This book was on my Christmas wishlist, alongside a number of other titles, but I struck it from the running because it was a bit too pricey for something I’d only put on there because “the trans experience but make it sci-fi and trippy” seemed like something I ought to like, even if the synopsis didn’t appeal to me at all.

My first impression, a chapter or two in, was that it was definitely too queer for Dad, and bordering on too queer for me. I wondered when I’d stop having my parents’ potential opinions as my first thought, when consuming media. Maybe one day it’ll be what James and/or Lani will think. Maybe one day I’ll just think about what I think. Imagine that.

I’m reading this book today because it’s the weekend, so I blessedly have a break from work (which, of course, always makes me feel like I’d rather be working, up until I’m actually doing that, at which point I decide that I hate working-- rinse and repeat). I try to take some time every now and then to do a no-screen day. I’m obviously not staying very true to the concept, seeing as I’m typing on a screen right now, but I type faster than I write, and with journal entries, I’m always worried that I’ll forget what I was thinking while I’m still writing the last few thoughts down.

At least I haven’t opened any social media or messaging apps. That’s the main point for me: unplugging from everything that triggers my social anxiety or desperate need for social validation. I mean, I did still take a peek at my notifications screen, but I didn’t actually open the apps, which I’m pretending means that I haven’t broken any self-imposed rules. 

No-screen days make me lonely. And they usually result in reading paper books, which both make me feel really happy and at-peace, and also desperately lonely and lacking. I hate that Fragile Magics isn’t a paper book yet. I hate that reading books always makes me feel that I ought to be writing. I hate that writing is so hard, and so easy. I hate that I don’t know if I like it.

I think I love it. I think it hurts me. I think it annoys me that things really are like that, in that angsty, pretentious way that they’re portrayed online. I think I don’t really think it’s angsty or pretentious; I just hate knowing that some people do, and I hate that I worry they’ll think lowly of me if they find out I think that, and I hate that I care, and I hate that I know that no one really gives that much of a shit, and I hate that no one knows I’m thinking all that anyway and thusly have no way to judge me for it. 

I’m really caught up in “What will people say?”, which I think my Dad always said, while I was growing up, as a joke, but me being me, I took too seriously. I didn’t even realize at the time I was taking it seriously. Which is also a perfect case of me being me. 

I went to the gig last night with John and the other guys (who I’ve elected not to name because I’m unclear on the spelling). It was fun. A little nerve-wracking at first, but nothing truly Anxiety-inducing (with a capital A). They were super nice, and I had fun. 

I really liked performing, even though I messed up. Or maybe even in tandem with my messing up; it sort of felt like part of it, and that was neat. I like things that are a little flawed-- just flawed enough to feel truly real. When life ends up colored just a touch outside of the lines. Ha. That’s dramatic. Ha. I shouldn’t give a shit that it is. I shouldn’t worry about who would think that. What do I think? What do I think? What do I think?

I worried that I’d do that thing I do, where I get a taste or even just an idea of another way my life could have gone, and then fall into a terrible spiral of unrealistic longing and yearning, and importantly, resentment for what I have or what I’m doing instead. I didn’t need to worry about it, it turns out. I’d love to perform again, and in fact I think I’ll be sad if I never get to, but I’m pretty sure I’ll get to, somewhere and somewhen and somehow. I’m learning, slowly, something that I always knew intellectually: that not everything needs to be your whole goddamn life to matter. 

I’ll perform again some time. Maybe even with the same guys. Maybe in Cali. Maybe with other people. Maybe by myself. Whatever. It’ll happen, and I’ll have a hand in making it happen, and it’ll be nice. 

Sometimes things are simple like that.

I had a crisis the other night about whether I want to stick with the Meri job for as long as I can, or drop it for Reality Check the second we get funding, as was originally planned. I talked to James and Lani about it, because against all odds, I think I’m getting the hang of this openness-and-vulnerability thing. Maybe even the depending-on-the-people-who-love-you thing. Crazy. I’ve always been able to simulate it, but that felt like the first time I’ve done it with them where I wasn’t... playing a role. Trying to fit into an imagined script. Making sure the camera got all my best angles. 

They were supportive and understanding, of course, even though it hurt James to think I wasn’t as all-in about our collective dream as I once was. Main benefit to having an older boyfriend: he’s mature enough to recognize when he’s upset at something instead of upset at you. He talked to me about it directly. It was nice. I always feel, with him, like we’re trying to build something good together, and doing our best to get it just steady enough to stand up straight, even if our pieces don’t always fit together right or our building styles don’t always complement each other. But we always keep building, and we’re willing to stick some shit in-between the gaps to keep things solid, and at the end of the day, the thing we’re building looks better for all the weird little compromises.

Lani was as steadfastly behind me as she is in all things, and I don’t think I’ve ever been with someone who feels so much like a Partner. Like she’s always 100% on my side, on my team. Sometimes I wonder whether it’s healthy for her to be so completely committed to standing with me. Most of the time I’m selfish enough not to care. All of the time, I know I’m stupidly lucky to have her at all.

I remember how when we were studying Jose Rizal’s diary entries in school, we all laughed at how he introduced himself on the first page, like he knew he was going to be big shit someday, and expected people to read it. I wonder if I’m doing that here; if I’m writing things already filtered such that it’ll be interesting for someone else to read. I say “I wonder” instead of “I know”, because obviously I’m writing things in a way that I think will be worth reading, but I’m not sure if it’s because I expect other people to read all this one day or because it’s the only way I know how to write. I don’t know that I know how to do anything, for only me to see.

There’s another Dad-ism: It didn’t happen if nobody saw it. Another thing I wasn’t supposed to take so seriously.

I wonder when I’ll finally conceptually kill my father. I wonder when I’ll really want to, and not just because I’m told I should. 

Last night, I had a weird dream involving K-pop stars and hover vehicles. I was glad, because I was getting worried that my dreams were becoming too mundane, and that that reflected my own getting too boring. I’m image-and-superlative-obsessed like that. 

I hope I get over it. I hope I never get over myself. 

[grrrenadine]

Monthly Media: February 2017

Yeah yeah, I already did a monthly media thing for Oscar movies, but I consumed a bunch of other stuff this month so. (Warning: super-long! Maybe I should do this thing every 2 weeks instead of every month).

……….JEFF NICHOLS MOVIES……….

My film discovery of the month is Jeff Nichols — I watched 4 of his movies (out of 5), and I liked their quietness and reserve (very refreshing in the modern media landscape). There’s a sense of realness and intimacy to the stories and the characters populating them, even when they’re not quite fleshed out. Bonus: Michael Shannon appears in all of those films, and I now know why he’s hot stuff — there’s something magnetic about his screen presence.

Loving (2016)

A historical drama about a landmark Supreme Court case, with a script that allots 5 minutes to the courtroom proceedings and spends the rest of the time chronicling the minutiae of the protagonists’ life. This isn’t gripping cinema, but it is weirdly immersive. 

Shotgun Stories (2007)

A violent revenge tale framed as something melancholy and undramatic: by keeping all the death offscreen & dissecting the everyday foibles of the three redneck-y protagonists (and the awkwardness of their attempts at machismo), this film makes a better case for non-violence than it would have otherwise. I watched it in one sitting, said “huh?”, went to bed, woke up & watched it again.

Midnight Special (2016)

A semi-successful exercise in setting a mood and withholding information from the viewer. Drenched in an 80’s sci-fi vibe, by turns pretentious & understated, with a plot centered around a superpowered child and a thrilling chase leading to a letdown of a destination, it feels like a Stranger Things doppelgänger. I’d love to explore the world and the backstory more: I’m all for “show don’t tell”, but this was way too scarce.

Take Shelter (2011)

A movie whose plot can be interpreted in several different ways — all of them tragic & poetic and working in a tandem of thematic ambiguity. Is this a disaster film, a commentary on the state of world affairs, a critique of masculine pride, a meditation on mental illness? It doesn’t really matter because it is most potent on the basic level of emotion — as a haunting depiction of anxiety and compulsion, one I found relatable and uncomfortable to watch. 10/10.

……….OTHER MOVIES……….

Gangs of New York (2002)

This movie is patently ridiculous, albeit in an enjoyable way: there’s an over-the-top fantasy feel to the onscreen proceedings, which can inspire either eye rolls or fist pumps at any given moment. The world-building and the class politics are engrossing and the side characters colorful, but Leonardo DiCaprio’s bland protagonist and his revenge storyline were hard to care for.

Swiss Army Man (2016)

This was nowhere near as trashy as people made it out to be; rather, it’s an odd (but oddly coherent) mix of toilet humor, painful naivete and pretentious indie-flick philosophizing interspersed with occasional flashes of brilliance — and I would characterize it as intermittently cute. Bonus: the soundtrack is sublime, and — spoiler! — there’s a Big Damn Kiss between the two leads.

A Monster Calls (2016)

A rare case of the movie being better than the book: by streamlining the narrative and letting us spend more time with the protagonist, the film succeeds in fleshing him out and achieves a bigger emotional impact than the novel did. This movie is a bit like a less violent “Pan’s Labyrinth” (I mean that as a giant compliment). Also, the animated fairytale sequences are gorgeous.

Nocturnal Animals (2016)

A super-pulpy, style-over-substance sort of affair: the interwoven stories — one “real” (a melodrama), one fictional (a thriller) don’t hold a lot of weight on their own and don’t really amount to more than the sum of their parts when together. On the plus side, the visuals are stunning, the thriller narrative is genuinely disturbing & the film overall is a sly commentary on Nice Guys.

Монах и бес / The Monk and the Demon (2016)

A surrealist tragicomedy in the vein of Gogol, focusing on supernatural happenings at a remote Russian monastery.  Once the film switched from mystery to parable, it lost part of its appeal for me — but the ever-present absurdity let it stay interesting even when the message turned overtly religious.

Bug (2006)

Disorienting (in part due to lame editing), low-budget yet ultimately able to elicit (varying) strong emotions in the viewer, from horror to compassion to unintentional laughter. I hesitate to recommend it, but it’s certainly an unusual and memorable film (and very character-driven for the genre).

……….TV……….

Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events (season 1)

The series amps up the Wes Anderson sensibilities of the books: precocious children! elaborate sets! quirkiness! odd humor! The end result is something that doesn’t take itself too seriously and is thoroughly enjoyable. (My single favorite part, by the way, is Patrick Warburton’s mournful / deadpan narration).

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency (season 1)

Plot-wise, it’s nowhere near the genius of the (older) BBC adaptation — but the characters are more engaging and the jokes funnier (weirder?) The Douglas Adams spirit has definitely survived intact.

Adventure Time (season 8, episodes 1-14)

After all these years, this series still feels new and surprising; the two standout episodes of the batch — the trippy “High Strangeness” (featuring aliens, polyamory and PB’s colonial ambitions) and the devastating “Min & Marty” (elaborating on the backstory of Finn’s parents) — were a delight, and the rest vary from okay to good to excellent.

The Legend of Korra (season 4)

This season was basically Princess Mononoke meets mecha movies meets PTSD metaphors meets political thriller (woah). It started off slow, but got better and tenser as it progressed, culminating in a series of epic battles and ending with a groundbreaking romance (...not a spoiler). Also, out of all the seasons, this one had the most charismatic antagonist with the most understandable motives; unusually for a military dictator, she was also a woman — one who managed to be simultaneously ruthless, methodical, attractive & not sexualized. In short, as a representation of a variety of female experiences, TLoK is a game-changer. Bravo!

……….BOOKS……….

The Dumb Waiter (Harold Pinter, 1957)

A must-read for any In Bruges fan, but honestly better experienced as a play and not in written form: the language is deliberately simple and the performances are what give the dialogue the real weight.

Daytripper (Fábio Moon & Gabriel Bá, 2010)

A punch to the gut, a delight for the eyes and good nourishment for the soul: a story of a life told in deaths, with a touch of patented Latin American magic realism. Highly recommended.

[shugarecords]

2018 has already been a whirlwind for the Seattle trio Naked Giants; Between releasing their debut album, touring Europe with Car Seat Headrest, and playing new cities for the first time, it’s certainly been a year of career landmarks, and things aren’t slowing down for the band any time soon.

Back in May, the group played Chicago for the first time, packing Schubas Tavern on a Saturday night. Just as the audience warmly welcomed Naked Giants to their city, the band made sure everyone in the crowd had a great time by periodically checking in to make sure everyone felt comfortable, promoting a completely safe space at their show.

Before the show began that night, I had a chat with the band, talking everything from movie soundtracks, their bucket lists, starting a New West Records super group, and their proactive songwriting habits. For all that and more, get to know Naked Giants now.

Naked Giants is Gianni Aiello, Grant Mullen, and Henry LaVallee

THEIR FIRST MUSICAL MEMORIES HEAVILY INVOLVE MOVIE SOUNDTRACKS

The three members of Naked Giants all remember getting into music at different ages, but there’s a common thread in all of their introductions to music. Gianni Aiello says he remembers laying in his dad’s bed with a green iPod listening to “Human” by The Killers, but adds “Before that I really liked the��SpongeBob Movie soundtrack. That had some tunes on it. When I look back on it, it’s like Flaming Lips, Ween, Avril Lavigne, Wilco… It’s a pretty cool soundtrack.”

Drummer Henry LaVallee also had early memories of movie scores. “I remember this movie called Bedknobs and Broomsticks, with Angela Lansbury,” LaVallee says, animatedly describing the film. “It’s like an old Disney movie from the 70’s, it took place in Britain during World War II. It was like a musical, but it was one of those trippy ones where the first act is all humans, and then at the start of the second act, they go into a cartoon world. So these humans are interacting with—it’s like Roger Rabbit. Then they get out of this cartoon world, but it follows this Medieval story book and it’s a really good movie honestly. These kids are orphaned from the war and then Angela Lansbury is like a witch and she takes them in.” Aiello interjects at one point to ask if it’s like Nanny McPhee, and LaVallee continues, “Little bit, little bit. Then the kids don’t believe in magic and they think Angela sucks, but then she’s actually badass. They also all sing together. And Angela doesn’t like the kids either, she’s forced to have them, but then they’re all really chummy by the end of it and they fight off the Nazis with magic at the very end and it’s really cool. But the music in that [inspired me]. So we used to watch that, it was a great summertime movie. Or Meatballs with Bill Murray and the songs in that!”

As for guitarist Grant Mullen’s first musical memories, he recalls having a tiny Casio keyboard. “They’re really small and they sound really weird. I just remember playing really scary music, cause you know it’s really easy to play music like that when you have no idea what you’re doing. I was probably 4 or 5 when my parents got me that.”

THEY’VE PLAYED SXSW THE LAST THREE YEARS

SXSW usually does quite the number on bands with schedules involving multiple shows a day all around town, but Naked Giants hasn’t let that madness deter them from returning to Austin for the last three years in March. However, they all agree that this year had been the best by far, confirming that the third time really is a charm. “It was better in every way. We played better shows on average, there were people at the shows. We got to stay with our friends Ron Gallo. We had some good connections. We made some friends…The Do512 people who are all super nice. We’re actually gonna see one of them in New York cause their other coworkers [DoNYC] are there. Just in general it was a good vibe. Just like the flow and all of that,” Aiello said.

Mullen mentions that the group got to see their label-mate Caroline Rose for the first time at this past SXSW. “Meeting her was kind of like meeting a cousin. It was like oh, we’re probably gonna get along. You know? It weirdly reminded me of that. And we totally did, I thought,” LaVallee added.

THEY WANT TO START A NEW WEST RECORDS SUPER GROUP

Speaking of New West Records label-mates, if you’ve ever seen some of the label’s artists like Naked Giants, Caroline Rose, and Ron Gallo perform live, you might have realized that they all have an unforgettable stage presence. Well, Naked Giants has also recognized that trait about themselves and their extended record label family too. “I realized after seeing Caroline, and after touring with Ron, that New West Records–what they really love is gimmicks. We have the whole smorgasbord of everything we do on stage. Ron’s got the whole trumpet thing and playing a guitar with a skateboard or whatever. Caroline and her band have the outfits and the end of her show where she pulls out the recorder. So New West wants something that people will remember,” Aiello says. Mullen interjects to say, “People that don’t take themselves too seriously.” Aiello continues, “Exactly, that. So I had this dream of forming a super group of all 3 of our bands. I don’t know what the music would sound like…”

While they may have no idea what it will sound like, they do have some idea of the band name, and how it could work. “What if the name was Mick and the Gimme Gimmes?” LaVallee suggests. “That’s good, gimme more! There’s this band called Superorganism and they’re like a collective thing, but they would send music across different countries. Like one of them lived in England and one of them lived in Greenland, I don’t know if anyone lives in Greenland… But I would imagine it would be something like that [where we send music to each other],” Aiello ponders about the structure of the group.

THEIR FAVORITE PERFORMERS RANGE FROM THE LEMON TWIGS TO FREDDIE MERCURY

Speaking of memorable stage presence, the members of Naked Giants always seem to give 200 percent of their energy whenever they perform. So whose stage presence do they admire the most? “Freddie Mercury,” LaVallee says, adding that he tries his best to be the “Freddie Mercury of the drum kit.”

“I was just talking to somebody yesterday about The Lemon Twigs,” Aiello says. “I haven’t seen them live yet, but I’ve seen videos and that one kid’s got some really good kicks. So I started doing kicks after I saw that.”

Mullen adds, “I don’t think I’ve ever admitted this, but now that I think about it, early White Stripes, Jack White stage presence. Cause he just you know, looked so almost like, he had mixed emotions while he was playing. He didn’t want the crowd to even look at him. Cause he didn’t like being there, but he really wanted to tell them something really important. Which was I’m a white guy singing the blues. Something about that, like he has this weird vibe that I remember thinking was really cool when I would watch them play. Now when I watch modern Jack White, I still like him, but it comes off as a little pretentious doing it twenty years.”

Aiello also mentions that the group caught [Thee] Oh Sees’ set at Sasquatch festival and realized that’s where Grant gets all his stuff.  “[John Dwyer] looks like a lizard man too, but he surprisingly doesn’t move that much. He just does weird little gimmicks, like spits in the air and catches it in his mouth. Something I also steal from him is the mouth around the microphone. He really throats that thing,” Mullen says. If you still have yet to see Naked Giants live, you can get a glimpse of their energetic stage presence from the photos below of their Schubas show.

 THEY’RE NOT PROCRASTINATORS WHEN IT COMES TO ALBUM WRITING

Naked Giants’ debut album just came out in March this year, but despite their busy touring schedule, the band has already started working on new material. Rewinding back to the release of the first album, Mullen says, “It’s just good to get it out. So people can listen to twelve of our songs in a row now…. If they want to. They all sound pretty similar production wise…They’re all one package that you can experience our songs. Before everyone was like who is this band? Like I’ve heard of them, but they just have six songs on an EP, what’s the deal? And now we have an album.”

“The best response was a review on some online magazine, and it was a really nice review. They were like we really like this album, love all the tracks, and then they called the album Slush instead of Sluff,” Aiello chimes in. While the group were happy to finally get out a cohesive catalog of their music that’s been well received, rather than relishing in the debut, they’re eager to get out even more material. “We actually just recorded nine demos in the week and a half we had off between tours. One actual song that’s gonna hopefully be a single in the fall or something like that,” Aiello continues, highlighting the group’s work ethic.

Despite their eagerness to release new material, don’t get too excited for their sophomore album just yet; Mullen disclaimed they potentially have sixteen months of promoting and touring backing their first record. “It’s never a bad idea to just have the next one done,” Aiello says about their sophomore effort, mentioning that they’re only that proactive when it comes to making music.  “In all other areas of life we are [procrastinators]. We like to make albums.”

THEIR MUSIC CONTAINS EASTER EGGS 

The trio has even gone as far as constructing a loose common theme throughout the new material. “It’s secret though,” Mullen says, but Aiello hints that their might be some clues in the last song of the first album. Going back to their love of film, the band admits they’re fans of putting easter eggs in their work, which is a common factor in movie and tv series. “Once all the albums are out, if you really like our band, you’ll be able to find all these things and nerd out about [the Easter eggs],” Mullen reveals. At this point, LaVallee pointed to an Alfred Hitchcock book under the green room coffee table, saying the book was a good hint to their future work without using any words. Elaborating on the connection of film and their music, Mullen adds, “I feel like a lot of times I get inspired by the feeling I get from watching a movie. If it’s very dark, I might be in that place for a while. I don’t do it consciously.”

The group also says they’ve tossed around the idea of a TV show for the band. “Like a Naked Giants TV show, we’re always thinking how to make that work. We might have to start it as a web series. Then for one of the future albums we have planned, we’re hoping to do a visual album.”

THEY PERFORM DOUBLE DUTY WITH CAR SEAT HEADREST

This year, Naked Giants got the opportunity to not only open for Car Seat Headrest, but to join Will Toledo’s live lineup during Car Seat’s set on the tour. The gig has certainly added to the band’s workload on tour, but it’s also given them the opportunity to cross a lot of places and goals off their bucket list. This year, Naked Giants has already toured Europe and performed on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,  and they’ll be continuing on another double duty tour this fall in The States.

While the band is grateful for all the career-highlight opportunities they’ve had with Car Seat Headrest, they remain ambitious to achieve the same feats as Naked Giants too. This fall, they’ll be playing their first major conventional festival when they return to Austin for Austin City Limits. “We’re doing this whole thing with Car Seat Headrest, going to Europe….but ACL is the kind of first big step that’s just Naked Giants. I mean of course we’ve done SX and that kind of stuff, but there’s a huge difference when you start doing the festival circuits. Then that gives me hope for next year, maybe in the summer, we’ll start doing Coachella, Lollapalooza, etc…” Aiello says. They’re also keen to cross off all of the Seattle staples from their list, naming The Neptune and The Paramount Theatre as the ultimate goals.

Check out Naked Giants’ upcoming tour dates here (Chicago, they’ll be at The Riviera on September 7th), and order your own copy of Sluff here. 

  This article was originally posted on ANCHR Magazine

Get To Know: Naked Giants 2018 has already been a whirlwind for the Seattle trio Naked Giants; Between releasing their debut album, touring Europe with Car Seat Headrest, and playing new cities for the first time, it's certainly been a year of career landmarks, and things aren't slowing down for the band any time soon.