Rudy's TV Screen

[Rudolph Quin]

I love movies and I love television shows, youtube videos, music videos, I love it all. I love to watch.

So, this is my little space to talk about everything I am currently watching where you can come get to know me and my tastes. Feel free to post about things you are watching, share links with me, recommend stuff, anything at all, from big screen movies to youtube cat videos. I would love to chat about it.

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Youtube: Recently, I got hyper focused on Dominic Monaghan and got in a Lost sort of mood, went looking for this song that I heard during the 4th or 5th season airing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3_vZ-v27-Y Actually pretty good and I like the guy who sings it.

While looking for that though, I stumbled upon Onision's video "Fan art FAILS" where he showcased a bunch of art of him that people have done. I was a teensy bit disappointed that my artwork didn't show up, despite being on his deviantArt's favorite page. Oh well.

TV: Still watching Nikita. I have a dark passion for the episodes where the guys get captured and tortured. Just watched the ep in season 2 where Birkoff gets captured and almost has his brain fried by Amanda(seriously, that bitch is scary and hot! She gets so mad when she's interrupted!). Ole Otter Eyes is adorably delicious and vulnerable, his face all marked up with scabbing cuts, eyes red rimmed with pre-bruises. I don't want to be in Amanda's shoes but I definitely would be in Nikita's, taking extra special care of him once he's home safe and sound. <3

Film: I watched Monsters and Monsters: Dark Continent. Currently writing reviews for them on my blog but omg! I absolutely loved both of them! Some people might not know but I adore gigantic monsters. My favorite animes are Neon Genesis Evangelion with all its twisted layers and the hidden origins of the EVAs and Attack on Titan with the creepy, Uncanny Valley Titans. I loved Pacific Rim and Cloverfield and I loved the Scar by China Mieville. I love huge monstrous things.

So, right away as soon as we see the creatures in these films I was already loving it. It just got better and better with the human-centric stories. The first film, Monsters was okay and I really liked both protagonists and the stuff they had to deal with. The story was very complete and paced well. Monsters: Dark Continent had me romanced by the military bromances in the beginning of the film. It's like they took a bit of everything I love and crammed it all in the first 20-30 minutes. I loved the gratuitous sex, I loved the flash of drugs at the party, the bros all bonding with their bros, the brotherly wrestling for no reason over a basketball game, the familiar touching that made my heart flutter, the shaved heads and skinny muscled guys. Seriously, it was like a music video of "stuff that gets Manders hot."

 

[Rudolph Quin]

Youtube: On Youtube lately, my favorite kinds of videos to watch are watchmojo, the richest, and looper "Top ___" videos, mostly revolving around pop culture. Very interesting stuff and you can get kind of addicted to the 10-15 minute long videos with short segments about particular tropes or actors. Sometimes, it bothers me what people consider movie "mistakes". Like, a cameraman in view on set, obviously not supposed to be there. But if a hair or jacket is out of place between a switch in shots, it's not a mistake. A shift in clothing and hair happens in real life. Just because they don't show the character running a hand through their hair doesn't mean they were standing there frozen in the short span of time when the camera was not on them and suddenly *gasp* their hair shifted! It must be magic! in the reality of the film.

Also, my favorite vine of all time is TheJasminator. She gets real silly and some of those in this compilation are hit or miss but as an artist, particularly a cartoonist, I love how animated her face is and her different expressions. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwMAccXuyv8 Also, it helps that she's really pretty so even when she's making weird and ugly faces, she still looks adorable.

TV: 3rd season of Nikita. It kind of bugs me because 1 episode has so much going on, it feels like 2 or 3 episodes of a normal show all crammed into the hour slot. So, I get oversaturated really quick and need to "break" from it with something else in between each episode. That being said, loving season 3. They really play to my feminine desires with nearly every episode ending in one of those "emotive" songs with a lady singing really pretty as the background for some really heartfelt, adorable, stupid, gushy drama.

Did anyone else like the Following? I loved the shit out of that. Kevin Bacon has still got it! I found the whole idea of the cult of Poe and Purefoy extremely compelling and entertaining the entire way through, even in the third season when they kind of drift away from Joe as a main antagonist. That crazy lady they brought in to stir shit up was perfect, extremely weird and believable.

Film: Just got finished watched Event Horizon. What a blast from the past! Filled with very hollow and stilted acting by Laurence Fishburne, of all people! However, the biggest surprise was a young and dashing Shawn Pertwee! Hehe! Alfred Pennyworth from the Gotham tv series never looked so good in strained peas, clingy army shirts! Yowza!

That being said, that was literally the only thing I liked about the movie, getting to watch him play out the aggressive male archetype. Everything else was horrible. Fishburne acted like he didn't even want to be there. Everybody else was a stock character from Alien franchise. The only one with any really good acting was Sam Neill and...he really doesn't fit as the meta human psychopath in the end. The entire thing was like an uneven stacked tower, with no real plot connections that made any sense and the ending was severely underwhelming, especially when they squeeze in one last cheap scare using the worst makeup design of the entire thing. During most of it, with the "ship" reacting to the new crew arrival the way that it did, I kept on expecting an Amityville Horror style "Get ooooout!" deep voice over the intercom. Then when it was clear that their attempts to leave were being thwarted at every turn, I expected the same thing except "No wait...staaaay!" XD

And it gets real Hellraiser at the end, with the visions Neill shares with Fishburne about what they find beyond the universe through the black hole and it's...regular torture porn with barbed wire, dismemberment, and spiked protrusions coming out of people's orifices. I just let out a big yawn that this is the big existential crisis that "Baby Bear" went through earlier - it had him comatose when they pull him from the core, then he wakes up, making a beeline for the airlock, attempting suicide through pressure release or whatever. Really, man? Like, off the top of my head, I can come up with depravity much more sinister and all-consuming than that. Darkness inside you? Very vanilla; I think you can live through exposure to that, honestly. FFS.

1997. They were adorable, yeah?

 

[Rudolph Quin]

You know what I hate? Waiting for actors to do more cool stuff, even if they never do. Like, I love Shane West and Aaron Stanford right now, yeah? But because of their latest work, Nikita, Salem, and Twelve Monkeys. Try and scour imdb for more goodies and...meh. Otter Eyes isn't nearly as compelling as a puppy, especially with dumb bit roles and nothing major. Shane West was a 90's heart throb, boy meets girl, chick flick fodder. Everything pre- Walk to Remember is him playing stereotypical jock, clueless douche bag, and good boy who truly deserves to romance the panties off the sweet gal next door. I'm finding out that I like the grittiness of their more mature roles and yet...it's all their latest stuff. They've got nothing listed above that. So, I have to wait for them to do magic in other stuff. But I'm hungry for it now!

Keifer Sutherland did that to me but the opposite. The only roles I like of his are Flatliners and Lost Boys. Everything I saw after that just didn't capture the same character essence he had in those two, and they were fairly early work.

Youtube: Rewatching some of my fav episodes of My Drunk Kitchen by MyHarto lately. This lady is adorable and I am super crushing. But I don't know if I wanna make out with her...or draw her... Like, I love these early vids(this one: MDK: Tacos and this one: MDK: Ice Cream) because she's so expressive and animated, her face shifting rapidly to emote like a cartoon character. Makes my heart and my drawing hand warm.

TV: Rewatching Gotham from the beginning and it's prompted me to write a creepy sexy fic. Not necessarily a fanfiction but the character I made is heavily inspired by Robin Lord Taylor's Penguin.

I've made him a magic drug dealer who's got this girl in his clutches and whenever she can't pay him the full price for the tonic, she has to give him blood. ...Which he takes from her by sucking her nipples. Kinda dark and twisted but I'm in a nipple sucking mood, creatively, lately.

Film: Just saw Red Sands and...what a let down! I was super excited after watching the trailer and especially after learning that Alex Turner directed. I loved Dead Birds so much, it's tied with Wes Craven's They for my favorite horror movie of all time. Red Sands was made 5 years after Dead Birds and it feels like it should have been the other way around. Seriously, amateur hour. And the worst part, it wasn't even "bad horror movie" so there wasn't the usual overacting or exaggerations or bad CGI that you could make fun of. The entire thing was a snore-fest.

I get the impression that there was the attempt to build up tension and that was maybe why it felt like everything was being viewed through smoked glass. But because of the tepid pulse right from the beginning and throughout, whenever anything happened, like people unexpectedly died or monsters flashed on the screen, it was less "jump scare" and more "oh. Hey. Lookit. Thing happened." I am absolutely baffled because there was the potential to be semi-decent if it just amped up the excitement a little bit. Instead, came off incredibly sleepy and ho-hum.

We won't even talk about the special effects neither. Because Dead Birds scared the crap out of me with their monster creation AND, even when they used computer graphics, sent chills up my spine. Red Sands has 1990's Reboot beating it out for believable computer animation. I swear to God, I've never been more embarrassed for the people involved in making this than when I saw their wilty dog poop monster come shambling out of the darkness like Gumby hit rock bottom.

Recently watched Ladyhawke. One of my absolute favorites. This was one of the first live action films I ever saw as a child and I think the storytelling elements within the film influenced a lot of my story and writing choices I make now. The soundtrack dates it, especially the long title sequence with 80's music playing amidst a shifting night and day time view of the sun and moon, with a hawk occasionally flapping in. I'm smitten by the love story of Navarre and Isabeau, the protags all coming across as likeable with well-developed scenes showing just enough interaction that you get a sense of depth and who they are. Not terribly bothered by Broderick's fading in and out of accent, his acting is stellar otherwise. So many great scenes, full of impact and emotion. Did a full review on my blog.

 

[Rudolph Quin]

Youtube: Addicted to Film Theorists and Game Theorists on Youtube right now. My favorite video of his so far is the one where he talks about how Neo from the Matrix is not really "The One" from the prophecy. I also really liked his analysis of Breaking Bad. The Nintendo game theories are interesting but not necessarily funny. Some of his film theory vids have me cracking up out loud.

TV: Been watching Limitless and Person of Interest like crazy lately!

Limitless only has one season on Netflix because it was canceled. Watching it, I can understand why. I mean it's great and entertaining but...it's basically Psych with drugs. Like instead of a pretend psychic, the funny guy gets his observation skills from a new drug on the market. Pretty tame but I can understand audiences being uncomfortable with a drug addict as the protagonist, even if for the most part, they try to let you forget that is basically what he is doing by taking this "magic fix your life pill." Occasionally, when he suffers symptoms and withdrawal...it is a stark reminder as he mirrors the usual heroin or crack addict imagery, red rimmed eyes, sweaty, bent over at the waist, and struggling against his body's need for this chemical. It can be offputting for a person who is in it for the quirky crime solving dramedy. Me? I fucking love that shit. I know there's nothing glamorous about drug addiction. I know that. ....but I'm kinda enthralled and enamored by it, especially when a guy is the one going through it. I love that shit, making him all helpless and vulnerable and needy for this thing. It's creepy and taboo, you know?

Anyway, Limitless is good but expect it to end abruptly with no resolutions. Also, don't expect it to do anything new. Entertaining, yes, but sorry to keep comparing it to Psych, but that is basically what it is. They replace Shawn Spencer with a more doofy guy who's a bit more teddy bearish but all the archetypes are the same and they word for word fill the same roles. Plus, they make Bradley Cooper, who looks very, strikingly similar to the main guy(which is super weird and creepy; like most people who know Cooper are going to be watching the first episode and think to themselves, "Hey, this guy kinda looks like Bradley cooper" only to have him actually show up as a character in the series later on...the dissonance is a little like a kick to the junk) they make him like the head of the conspiracy with this drug and...you don't know if he's good or not. Cooper's super intense as it is, so, when he says he's good, you feel like "Yeah, I don' believe you for some reason..."

Person of Interest is my absolute favorite thing right now. I hate them so fucking much for...a character death that happens at the end of season 2. Things were going perfectly and it almost made me wanna quit. Thankfully, they kinda step up and fill the vacuum with Root and her bizarre connection to the machine. My favorite episode right now is the one where she's captured and gets tortured and interrogated by that Control Lady. omg, as soon as Root gets the machine back in her ear and starts talking to the Lady...it's like she's been possessed by God. I got chills even as I celebrated Root taking control of the situation again. It's almost to the point where everybody else can kind of just go away and I'd be entertained by her alone but they keep themselves relevant by John and Shaw basically acting like funny siblings, Finch playing daddy. The quips and humor are well written and timed perfect. Fasco.

Film: I rewatched The Craft the other night in preparation for the plot I'm currently working on. There's a lot of little nuances and stuff I didn't notice before. Back when I first watched it in my teens, Nancy always seemed stone cold and sociopathic, right from the start. Sarah seemed so emotional and I used to really feel for her. Rewatching it, all these little complexities come blaring out at me. Like how insecure and jealous and petty Nancy is. This time, even knowing how it all ends, I semi-believed her when Sarah gets the upper hand again and Nancy is all whiny and trying to explain how her insecurities and need for love got the better of her. Almost. Sarah's patheticness was highlighted this time as she stumbles around at the end, crying and rocking on her bedroom floor, it all felt really chaotic and messy. Funny how perceptions change as you grow up and I definitely feel like being 29 this year is a factor in my inability to truly empathize with the teenagey woe is me act that Sarah plays. Even Bonnie, "Please take my scars, please take my scars," was cringeworthy to me now. Rochelle wouldn't need to do anything nowadays. SJWs would eat Laura Lizzie alive just for saying "I just don't like negroids" let alone fucking bullying the girl.

 

[Rudolph Quin]

Youtube: One of my favorite Youtube movie reviewers is Chris Stuckmann. Ever since I stumbled upon these videos(The Problem with Horror Movies Today and The Problem with Action Movies Today) I thought his analysis was pretty spot on and I continue to think he's got a pretty good grasp of what makes a good movie, particularly because he's not jaded and he seems to genuinely love films. Some of them I don't agree with but even then I feel like he's very fair and gives things a chance. Plus, if he's going to tear a film a new one, he does so in a very entertaining and comedic fashion.

TV: Watching Netflix's new series out Stranger Things. It's good so far! Very interesting but I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. It reminds me a lot of movies like Knowing, The Signal, and Maze Runner. Super fascinating and exciting for the first half of the movie. stuff starts ramping up and when the answers start coming...it's a huge let down. Like, the fantasy of possibilities was way more enthralling than what it all actually ended up meaning and I think it's because a lot of times they chicken out.

Like all the films I mentioned were [spoiler alert] revealed to be simplified mastermind behind the curtain orchestrating everything. What is so disappointing is that is pretty much obvious from the get-go. I don't think anyone watching Maze Runner was thinking there wasn't somebody behind a curtain somewhere at the end of that road. But like the Signal, almost like they try to out-Truman the Truman Show, making the fabric of the sky tear away to reveal a studio and lights and cameras behind it; the magic is completely lost. In a way, this disillusionment with reality is very true to life, a lot of our preconceived ideas of the world seemingly so horrific and fantastical, only to realize there's a mechanized system to it all and it's literally somebody's day job, no big deal. You feel stupid for being fascinated, for caring. Nobody wants to go from a "suddenly the world actually IS a magical place!" to "and then we set them free in the REAL world...where they got to do ordinary stuff."

I guess I just like it backwards, like the Matrix, where the normal is stripped away like peeling wallpaper to reveal the magic and fantastical behind it. I'm worried that Stranger Things will go someplace similar at the end, like they'll get so weird, so out there and then cop out with a psych explanation at the end. "It all ends up...so normaaaal...they were all lied to...by everyone...just like...real life..." I can hear the director saying in a high on himself amazo voice.

ETA: Stranger Things turned out to be much more fulfilling than originally predicted! That's all I'm gonna say about it! Absolutely love it to death and really can't wait for the next season to come out!

Film: Watched Monster and was underwhelmed. I mean, sure, the acting by Charlize Theron was great. Barely recognized her and definitely got a good character vibe from her. The whole thing was...just a straightforward drama, really. You'd think a film about a female serial killer they could juice it up a little. Instead, it was full of this "woe is me" crap. The killing wasn't interesting because you got the strong sense that she wasn't very smart. It was basically doing what she normally does as a hooker, except ending it with a gunshot instead of orgasm. Her motivations for doing it were not very compelling. Even though her life sucked, I would have liked to see her get more angry about it rather than this desperate ham fisted attempt to make her a victim of circumstance.

Her relationship with Selbie was really interesting at first but only because I thought she was going to eventually kill her(for some reason, reading an article a few years back about it, I thought the film was about a female serial killer that killed women). It got real dull really fast when they run away together and Lee tries to go "straight." I hated Lee for not being ballsy enough to walk away from Sel's stupid ass, like she fucking needed her but refused to get at all intense about it in any way. I hated Selbie for being a two-faced bitch, putting lesbians in a bad light as she's willing to move on as soon as she feels neglected. Neither of them were likable, I didn't like them being together, I wasn't "moved" by their sacrifices in the end, it all felt kind of codependent and icky and gross.

The killing wasn't interesting because they focused too much on the relationship between the women. The relationship wasn't interesting because the killing was the only thing they really interacted about and it became a bit "omg, please, just someone leave or kill the other person." I don't really like dramas and thought this was going to be something other than a straight biopic about someone really stupid and boring. Even fucking Patrick Batemen and Hannibal Lecter were likable, ffs.

 

[Rudolph Quin]

Youtube: Have you heard of the SuperCarlinBrothers? Omg! This is stellar and mind blowing! I'm probably super late on the Pixar theories but it's not necessarily something that I go looking for to pass the time. Anyway, my favorite of their videos are What Happened to Andy's Dad and Mulan: The Great Stone Dragon. I also like the theory about Andy's monster

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where he does an overlap of Toy Story and Monster's Inc. but even though he says that Andy's monster is Randall, given the evidence he shows(namely, Randall using a roll of Andy's wallpaper from the first Toy Story film to practice his camouflage against) makes just as plausible a case for Randall being Molly's monster instead. By the first Toy Story, Andy is already pretty big, like 10-12 if he's the same age as Sid, so, it feels a little unlikely that Randall would still be sneaking into his room to scare him. But as we see from the opening scene of Toy Story where Andy is playing with his toys, when One-Eyed Bart, played by Mr. Potatohead, is thrown into "jail" he is put into Molly's crib...which is right there in Andy's room. link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgoiKLFBA3Q Since we know Randall already has a penchant for scaring toddler little girls, it seems much more likely to me that he's scaring Andy's little sister instead. But that's just my personal theory.

They've got some interesting ideas on that channel and I like their methods of determining and looking over evidence. These are some pretty dedicated fans.

TV: Still plugging away at Person of Interest and I find the development of the plot...frustrating. I feel like the Machine group has basically been painted into a corner and we're literally counting down the days until Samaritan shuts them all down. There's a fifth season, ffs, they NEED to get out of this somehow! I love the way the different relationships have developed, particularly the push and pull that still happens between Root and Harold. She's much more held back this season and it makes me sad but Reese moves right in to fill that hole. He's hilarious and badass and just everything you could want. He's very robotic to the point of basically being a Batman Android but all throughout the series, he's got these glib moments that are intensified by his deadpan delivery. And I fucking love this assholish smirk that he gets sometimes, contorting his features slightly, like he's unused to the expression and it doesn't fit but it's like a light in a tunnel for its sudden glow.

Film: Watched Coherence recently and omg, this is a new one on my recommend list! The premise is a good one: A comet is passing overhead while some friends get together for an intimate dinner party. Things start to turn south when the power goes out and strange things start to occur. This is one of those movies that catches you off guard. So normal throughout, even when the strange things are happening, there's a down to earth creepiness about it. We're basically stuck in the same set the entire time, the house where the dinner party is at, and the street outside. That's it, the entire film. We don't see anybody else except for the dinner guests who are all there in the beginning and yet you have this feeling not of limitation but emptiness about it, like the drawing board is blank beyond their front porch.

I love the way it keeps things realistic, the characters reacting in believable ways. You kind of empathize with everybody, even when some people start to panic or get angry; those bad ideas they suggest ring true for that sense of "reality is slipping" and the desperation to cling to it. And they really play around with the whole "is it real or is it insanity?" trope for a while, giving it a good handling before finally setting it down. The only thing I didn't like was the one guy, who's apparently an alcoholic, starts drinking for no reason in the middle of the film. Like, it's literally an afterthought, wedged in there as if he's falling back on an unhealthy coping habit and yet he doesn't get "drunk". I feel almost like the wine bottles he goes through at that point in the film were just an excuse to keep his character busy during those events and conversations; a kind of sloppy, "he's checked out" placement of his character on the chess board, so to speak.

I also watched Room and I loved it, adored the performances by Brie Larson and the little boy who plays her son but...it's not one I'd recommend and it's probably not one that I'll ever watch again. It was a great concept and a really good story but as far as anything I'd like to revisit or feel like I'd want to share with someone, it falls into the "typical drama" bin.

 

[Rudolph Quin]

Youtube: FINALLY! I found it! For a while now, I've been trying to find the outro song on some of Onision's UhOhBro videos. It took so long because 1. the lyrics of the short spurt of sound are really distorted and hard to hear, 2. I haven't found any of his UhOhBro videos with this particular outro in a while, so, now, when I finally do want to check his credits and see what song he used, all the videos I click on have different outros. Found it and it is an obnoxious song but in typical pop fashion, I don't really care what the lyrics are and his voice is basically another instrument. ON THE FLOOR It helps that I also find the dancing in the vid extremely entertaining as well.

TV: Started watching a bit of Dollhouse. Not sure if I'm going to stick with it. I'm going to read up on it and see if the main girl gets out of being a "Doll." Because otherwise...this is really dumb. No seriously. So, each episode, she gets turned into a different person and at the end of the episode, returns to a blank slate. How is this a show? On episode 3 and I feel no connection to this girl and I don't think I will unless she gets some solid sense of self. There's no potential for growth since she's wiped clean every time. Each episode it kinda feels like, "Okay, well, there goes the development down the drain. Why did I waste time watching that?" So, I'm seriously hoping that she gets to hang onto memories or escapes or something but then again kinda not because it feels like it'll be Nikita then. And I already watched that.

Film: Watched Dark Was the Night based on a recommendation from one of my blog readers. It definitely felt like a movie I'd enjoy but then again, it feels like one I've already seen before. I'm not sure which started which, me scrolling through Tumblr while watching making me miss key moments of suspense or if I started doing that because it had none to start with. It starts out with a fairly cool concept: some backwoods country sheriff who's suffering from unresolved grief, wakes up in the morning to find mysterious, animalistic footprints burned into a 3 mile path through the town, where they stop dead in the middle of the woods. I seriously feel like I've seen something like this already and it doesn't help that the movie offers nothing new and just throws tropes at you. You get the steadfast denial of anything supernatural happening, despite a murder in the recent past that suggests something strange has happened here before. Also despite his own brushes and face to face encounters with this thing, it starts to make him look retarded with this insane desire to be a pillar of apparent sanity in the town.

Then there's the subplot that's supposed to make us care about him, where one of his sons recently died and he's estranged from his wife. Yet, she's super sweet and reaches out to him constantly, so, it kinda makes him look like he blames her, yet it turns out he just blames himself? And the thing that solves it is him explaining this in short yet heavy handed self-analysis, near the climax, which kinda makes it look like "all he needed to do was talk about his feelings." I mean, ffs, it's not like he's "running/hiding from facing his feelings of blame" since it's sort of hammered in anytime other people mention it and anytime he's alone and having visions of his son, that he feels overwhelmingly responsible for the boy's death. And it's not that he feels like his wife blames him for it because she makes it clear way long before that point that she wants to go through therapy and get better together. And it never comes up except in the awkward scenes where he tries not to talk to his wife, so, it feels like an afterthought.

The creatures are a little interesting with the whole backstory they come up with and what they finally figure out happened and yet they break the rule and show us sloppy, glistening, tree-bark/reptilian weremonster in full CGI. I hate movies feeling like they gotta "show it to you in the end" but end up copping out with Who Framed Roger Rabbit? treatment. The characters weren't anybody I cared about or rooted for, everything seeming bare bones and vaguely full of conflict. Definitely would not recommend or see again.

 

[Rudolph Quin]

Youtube: Watching a lot of JennaMarbles lately. I super crush on this lady, want to hump her good. Especially when she covers her face in shit. Absolute fav is the 100 Coats of Things and Drunk Makeup Tutorial. Omg, just look at her!

TV: Definitely done with Dollhouse. Kinda mad about it because halfway through episode 4 and not only does the main girl, Echo, get reset in the middle of a mission but the tech guy that is supposed to be in charge of this stuff is either a terrible actor or wasn't given any lines for the scene where he confronts the head honchos in their office. Seriously, he storms in, shaking some papers at them and fumbles for something other than "Look at this! Just...well, just look! *waves hand at parchment*" to say. I can't limp through this dumbo crap anymore. Not to mention that the intro is super anime and cringy. lol

Film: Zathura! This has got to be one of the cutest movies I've seen. I remember Jumanji(which this movie is compared to as being the "space" version of) having a much bigger impact on me and the story for that is a lot stronger. Zathura is still super fun and just as well done as far as production values - arguably moreso with the depictions of the Zorgons being much more "solid" and realistic looking than the cartoonish CGI animals from the jungle themed film. The kid actors were believable in all of their annoying little boyishness and I didn't feel like at any time it came off as pandering or "adults just don't know how kids act." Love Dax Shepherd as the heroic astronaut, he comes off as just sarcastic enough to be fun yet still tones it down with this empathy and lovable nature. Kristen Stewart was THE most emotive as I've ever seen her! This movie should be watched for that alone! She does the sulky teenager well in the first act and then gets believably freaked out when she wakes up for the third act. Seriously! Like, "Twilight?" This is a phenomenon that I think everyone should see at least once, Stewart flipping her shit on screen, forced to actually produce a believable emotion on camera.

Also watched The Mummy and loved it! Brendan Fraser holds his own as a semi-zany rogue hero and I absolutely love the tone of it. It's an action flick where it feels like you're supposed to be having fun and it delivers. I love all the characters, even the weaselly dude with the fez. They're strong, well rounded and even lovable in little ways. Like, the little snippets of convo the weaselly dude has are really funny and then at one point, when he's threatening the blind guy, he just nails it as a menacing henchman in that moment. And he was the "least favorite" out of how much I basically loved everybody else, so, everyone else I could rave about for days. Plus, the story is one that you can really get behind as far as adventure and dramatics. Plus, Fraser in tight, khaki pants? Yes, please.

 

[Rudolph Quin]

Youtube: Been watching a lot of videos about that silly Marina business and LeafyisHere freaking about the change to the Youtube TOS which basically allows them to silence people for mentioning other Youtubers in their videos, even for tame criticisms. But other than that, haven't been Youtubing lately.

TV: I canceled my Netflix sub at the end of June, so, I probably won't have a lot of shows to mention or talk about other than episodes I already bought on Amazon or that are free on there.

Film: Watched We're Back! Ah, childhood memories. Although some of the artwork is just a little rusty, as far as storytelling and direction goes, this is a masterpiece. The voice acting is superb, the character tropes and archetypes are solid, and the musical numbers are fun and catchy. Although a simplified plot made for little kids to enjoy(the dichotomy of the brain gain cereal and brain drain pills, and the wish and fright radios, brothers on opposing side of the fence "New Eyes" and "Screw Eyes") it is apt for the messages they're trying to convey. I could spend an afternoon slicing through and picking apart the symbolism but suffice it to say that it hits that core of truth and that's why it still stands up. Even with Louie's ridiculous New Yorkisms and 80's hairdo.

Movies To See: So, I recently started a thread on the GD about Upcoming Movies and Trailers but trailers come out so quickly, a lot of times, I miss the deadline and they don't fit in the thread anymore. So, adding a section to this called "Movies to See" which is for already released films that I intend to watch, my own personal list. These will not necessarily be new films but just movies I've got the urge to see. Sometimes, when searching for a movie to watch, my mind draws a blank of what I've recently been craving. This is a spot for those films to be listed as well.

The Darkness Starring Kevin Bacon, Radha Mitchell, and David Mazouz(Bruce Wayne in Gotham). Although there are certain things that make me hesitant about this, like the ending of the trailer where the hand prints cover the wall and cover the girl being sorta cringey, and the reviews for this being very poor, it feels right up my alley. Not only am I a huge fan of the three main actors I just listed but the dark prints, the corrupting influence, the black drool/vomit, and the creepy kid are all tropes that I am attracted to in stories. So, it looks worth the venture even going into it knowing some of it might end up being weak.

Equals Starring Kristen Stewart and, come a long way from his About a Boy dorkiness, Nicholas Hoult! This looks good and I think it surprisingly apt that they found a role for Stewart where acting emotionless and subtly emotional might work in her favor, lol. All that aside, it looks like a really compelling romance, like the civilian side of Equilibrium. Also it looks to be the film version of Nero's "Promises" music video, released all the way back in 2011. Watching that vid way back when, I remember thinking, "I'd so watch this if they made it a movie" and pretty soon I will!

 

[Rudolph Quin]

Youtube: Tons of movie reviews and analysis channels lately, since I'm trying to be okay about the film Suicide Squad coming out. Usually, my go-to for movie reviews is Chris Stuckmann because he's very even keel and I love his personality and the reviews he's done. Even when he doesn't like something, he gives it a fair shake, analyzing all the possibilities and giving credit where it is due. But lately, I've found a few other channels to enjoy.

Jeremy Jahns - Kinda snarky and brash, I like the humor he brings to a lot of his reviews and I like the perspective he adds.

New Rockstars - I love love love these guys's indepth analysis of movie trailers. Like, they did one for one of the very first Suicide Squad trailers and there was so much information packed into it that we missed because they flash on the screen for 2 seconds. I also loved how they analyzed why Bohemian Rhapsody was not only perfect as a representation for the Suicide Squad themselves but also for how instrumental it was in illuminating themes and key points of the trailer. Excellent work. Love them.

CinemaSins - Another awesome channel that I just started getting into. sometimes, I find their nagging on certain things to be incorrect or trigger fingered(like, that's not a "sin", you're just stating something that happened in the movie) but it's intended to be funny and light and not taken too seriously.

Wisecrack - I love to watch their philosophy videos. I have searched high and low forever for books and blogs analyzing movies and talking about their messages and symbolism, the motivation of the characters and such and I've actually been finding all of this stuff on Youtube just this year.

I've also been watching a lot of America's Got Talent clips from this year, I think. My favorites are Tape Face and Jon Dorenbos. Now, as a magician, of course it's an illusion what Dorenbos does and once you watch the videos that pick apart the mystery, it takes the magic out of the performance, but I still love it anyway.

TV: N/A

Film: Just finished Deep Dark and I cannot gush enough about this film. It's not "scary" but it's definitely creepy and unsettling. I feel like similar ground has been covered before with films like with Comforting Skin(which was horrible) and May(2002) but I also feel like the themes and artful metaphors are handled so much more aptly. An artist looking for Muse in a talking hole in the wall. So much of it is symbolically perfect, from the innocuous nature of the origin of inspiration itself, often finding us in a ball of lint or striking us down with the taste of a fruit we haven't had before, right down to the intimate relationship Hermann eventually develops with the hole, mimicking the trope of a Muse being a lover to the artist. The clingy, passive aggressive relationship is also a lot more fitting than the other movies I mentioned because creativity and inspiration can so often be isolating, especially once you tap into the vein you struggle so hard to connect to, it keeps bugging you, nagging at the back of your head for attention, even as you want to glorify and find validation in an audience. You feel pulled in two conflicting directions.

At first, I found the little baubles that Hermann pulls from the hole to be weird but then again, it strikes me as perfect. Encapsulating the organic nature of truly moving art, he incorporates these organ-like pieces of flesh into his mobiles, putting parts of himself(his Muse in the hole) into the works he's creating. Despite the trailer, there wasn't very much gore in this, not what I expected, although the hole does hurt people. I also really liked the theme of dismemberment as a catalyst for freedom, to give up responsibility to the mode of creation by relinquishing access to the creating limbs.

Movies to See: Swiss Army Man with Daniel Radcliffe. I watched the review by my favorite movie reviewer, Chris Stuckman(GET STUCKMANIZED!! Swiss Army Man Review) and it really makes me want to see it. I'm not sure if you guys know this about me yet, but I'm pretty alright with spoilers. I like to watch trailers and reviews and analysises and theories and go through the tv tropes pages for shows and movies I'm sometimes thinking about seeing. Like, usually I do it with books because I am super picky about putting time and money into a book and I often go through phases where I obsess about certain themes. But sometimes, I do it for movies too. Usually, if it's free/cheap and it's right there, I watch the trailer and then just dive right into it, if it gives me a good vibe. But a lot of times I research a bit more, like with the upcoming Suicide Squad, where the first trailers made me feel conflicted, I read negative and positive reviews, I watched fact videos about the film, analyses about the new backstory revealed in recent years about the Joker actually being 3 people over the years; all things to sort of acclimatize myself to preparing for enjoying this experience a little more. I used to shun films that looked dumb or overhyped to me and after many years and the hype died down, secretly watched them and became a huge fan(can't think of any off the top of my head but there have been a few where I was like, "I wish I'd been a fan sooner rather than a stubborn dummy"). I've also been doing this acclimatizing to myself with the new Ghostbusters movie.

So, Swiss Army Man looks good from Stuckmann's review and even though I brought up this huge explanation for my spoiling myself on films, I actually hadn't even heard of this film until I watched the review.

 

[Rudolph Quin]

Youtube: Watching a lot of Jimmy Fallon and Conan O'Brien celebrity interviews lately. Just random. Funny actors and comedians usually have funny stories to tell. The rest are a 50/50 for entertainment value and you can't tell who's boring or not by the people who normally keep you entertained in movies and shows. Also, for some reason, keeping up on the Youtube news, which is probably the most pointless news to keep up on because it's all pretty much flash in the pan. Does anybody really remember the Tobuscus rape allegations? Does anybody really care anymore?

TV: N/A

Film: Just finished watching Little Monsters. One of my absolute favorite childhood films of all time. I love the concept, I love the story, and I love the makeup and effects. It's one of those that is rock solid 80's, Fred Savage and Howie Mandel at their prime delivering so much chemistry and bro love on screen that you really feel it at the end. I remember watching this at a young age and having a super crush on Maurice, the monster and I remember feeling sort of disappointed by Howie's revelation in later years that he hated making the movie because the extensive makeup aggravated his OCD and germaphobia. A great adventure movie would 10/10 recommend if you're looking for a fun time.

Movies to See: Midnight Special - this looks super good! I've adored Michael Shannon ever since I was completely spellbound by him in Bugs(which, btw, that is one of those movies that over the years I've felt a craving to rewatch but keep on chickening out because I remember the parts of self mutilation him and Judd engaged in was so cringeworthy, like, nailing that body response of flinching so perfectly that now, all these years later, I still feel incapable of putting myself through that again). This looks like a good supernatural drama and very interesting concept with the boy's powers and the religious aspect as well.

 

[Rudolph Quin]

Youtube: Been watching a lot of Sephora and makeup company rants lately, lol. Not going to link to any of them because they seem kind of personal, small channels and for some reason that I can't really figure out, they get a lot of down votes. I'm not sure if this is people getting confused, down voting because "omg, I hate that that happened to you" or if they actually understand what down voting means as a judgement of disliking the video and they're like super loyal to these makeup companies or whatever, but I'm not gonna link them anyway. I dunno, I'm not a makeup person, not into that, and I don't even watch regular makeup tutorials. I just like the vague bitchy drama of these stories people have, whether working for these companies or as customers, getting treated like shit when trying to get help at the makeup counter in the mall.

TV: N/A

Film: Watched Pathology and Stir of Echoes. Two very smart thriller type horror films and some of my favorites for their male casting. When I first watched Pathology, I thought both Milo Ventimiglia and Michael Weston were unattractive but after the first 20 minutes of the film, they grow on you. Especially with Jake's first scenes of camaraderie where he actually reveals a bit of fun personality. The best way to describe this film for me is: porn. Basically porn. Story is engaging, entertaining, absurd but takes the hit and faces it head on without a flinch. Drugs, murder, psychopathy, and a "game" spiraling wildly out of control. My favorite thing about it is the dark male characters though. I love the shit out of Jake, especially as his personality starts to evolve and he shows this more twisted side of himself.

Seriously...this is story porn, lol. Total boner right here.

After I finished that porn...I watched some more with Kevin Bacon leading the story in Stir of Echoes. XD I cannot gush enough about this movie. As far as ghost stories go, it follows its own rules and there isn't a wasted line or a wasted scene. Even having watched it several times before, this time around, looking for anything that kind of felt out of place or didn't need to be there, I can't say there is. And it's super simple too. No gimicks, no overused tropes flailing about the scenery; it all feels very genuine, integral to the over all story, and new. That "awakening inner sight" thing they used again for the Insidious franchise(another great series of horror films that bring something new and inventive to the storytelling table!) but I hadn't really seen it before this movie. And don't get me started on 90's Kevin Bacon. Sweet Keksjar, I kid you not, 90's Bacon is my ideal man: slender, angular, wiry muscles, little bit of scruff, cynical grin, smokey voice, and heavy, American accent(what is that? His bio says he grew up in Philly but it feels almost Boston to me). It's the fun and beautiful kind of character to write too, the one he plays in this movie. I could go on for days about all the little manly things he does that just flick that switch for me but to save time and space, I'll leave you with this pic instead.

...Porn. X3 I love that scene by the way.

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Where he's digging in the yard and his wife confronts him about him acting so freaky. He tells her that he's digging for the body of the ghost girl who's haunting him, "feeling" that it's somewhere on their property. The wife glances over at their son who was previously designated as "helping" and Bacon shrugs off her mortification about the 4-5 year old boy helping with this task by giving her a shrug and shake of his head saying, "Don't worry. It's not over there(where the boy is digging in a different part of the yard)." It's just like, "perfect" delivery, great joke to indicate without too many words the state of mind that Bacon's character is in, his fixation with this haunting, and I love the shrug and look he has on at that moment, like "Tch, silly kid 'thinks' he's helping."

Movies to See: Not new but I'm craving The Island of Dr. Moreau(1996). Another one of those low rated films that was integral to my childhood and growing up, developing ideas and techniques for storytelling. Haven't seen it in years and seeing all these shirtless guys, I'm craving some 90's Val Kilmer in a skirt.

 

[Rudolph Quin]

Youtube: I am addicted to watching TheDefrancoFam lately. I've been an sxephil fan since 2009 but it's off and on. Like, I go through phases where every day I'll watch his news show and then after a few weeks/months, suddenly I'm not watching anything at all. Right now, I'm in the former stage and I'm greedy so I stumbled upon his other channel that he and his wife vlog about their life with their little boy and I can't get enough. They are lovely, adorable people, their son is the cutest little shit, looks exactly like a tiny Phil, and they're just so cozy and fun to watch. It's a channel they obviously set up to feel inclusive with his fans as a community and it definitely, definitely feels that way. You feel like spending the day or weekend with them, you've been a part of their lives, even though it is just one sided.

Marble Hornets Explained: Night Mind Goddamned Nihil gave me this! Anyone who knows me knows that I love to analyze stuff, to pick it apart and find meanings and symbolism and themes and tropes in things. However, I've never been too hip with the creepy pasta. I would occasionally see that smiling Jeff and Slender man fanart on deviantart and it just struck me as so fake and edgy. Like, how I felt about Moriarty and Sebastian was how someone else felt about these supposedly "real" stories of supernatural killers and monsters. And on Tumblr, they always appear as a wall of text, like an intentionally scary story that tried way too hard right from the first word. So, I've ignored this kind of thing.

Nihil told me in chat what he was watching one evening and gave me the links to that series of explanations by Night Mind. I was like, "Well, I like reviews and explanations, so, I'm game." And omg! I love this guy's channel! The Marble Hornets thing was stellar and although the story sounds like it needed some work, it was a very compelling ride. I wasn't there during the experience but even if I had been, there's no way I'd be bouncing back and forth between the channels and to twitter in order to catch the "whole" story, let alone figuring out the codes and puzzles. I'm more of a "hold my hand at least a little fucking bit" type of story...enjoyment...person. So, Night Mind's analysis of it all was superb, knitting all the different parts together so they appear in his recap of the events in chronological order.

Been watching a lot of his videos lately. They're give or take. Some, that have a preoccupation with forum stories feels like how things felt for me when I first arrived on Blue Moon, going through the PVP or the years I've spent on Literotica and the Karen Kraft and KRCummings debacles. Just kind of like, effervescent. Some of my favorites of his though, have been about the Adult Swim segments Unedited Footage of a Bear and This House Has People In It. Not just because I actually saw Unedited air while getting my siblings ready for school one morning and it was so much more disturbing than our favorite infomercials "You're Whole". But also, Night Mind does the footwork, going to the complimentary sites and looking through the information and showing you the relevant pieces.

TV: N/A

Film: N/A

Movies to See: Blood Father It just came out recently and I'm linking the review by Chris Stuckmann because my main motivation for putting it here IS his review of it. I'm an old school Mel Gibson fan and I loved his work in The Beaver in recent years, so, I'm kind of excited to see him doing movie roles again. Or at least starring in something that might remotely interest me.

 

[Rudolph Quin]

Youtube: Watching more of Night Mind's channel, making my way through the EverymanHYBRID explanations. I'm on video 5 and although I've kind of always liked Evan's character the best from the clips, actually watching one of the videos was an experience: EverymanHYBRID video omg! I am so freaking hot for Evan's character Habit(I think that's who he's playing here)! It comes off as cringey to me a little bit but the unpracticed, erratic nature of it adds to this reality aspect as well, where he's babbling pointlessly, taunting and playing, manic and weirdly transparent for his lack of a "plan" or bravado confidence...but I like it too.

TV: Rewatching American Horror Story: Coven and Hotel. They're free on Amazon Prime, so, I've been indulging a little bit. Not sure yet if when my resub for that comes around in October if I'm going to go ahead and take it or just sign back up with Netflix. Because they're just as sucky as far as availability. They don't offer very much good films for free streaming and I find that kind of tricky the way they charge for movies. But then Netflix doesn't offer them period, like anything new, you have to wait on this ridiculous schedule of 3-5 years later for good movies to show up to stream and sometimes, they never do, or only for a month.

Film: N/A

Movies to see: Southland Tales lol, this actually came up during a WatchMojo video for "movies that ruined director's reputations". But the sequence I linked actually has me so excited about it. Not just because I love the Killers but also because it's so strange and full of that cartoonish, hyper-masculinity that I love. The bloody shirt, the scarred face, the guy's eyes, his hair, his facial hair, the way he sticks out his tongue, that little smirk, grabbing ladies, etc. etc. ffs gimme gimme! Justin Timberlake does not look like himself, more meaty in this, and even though it appears he features with a minimal amount of screen time, I don't care. the trailer looks zany and off its rocker too.

 

[Rudolph Quin]

Youtube: Rewatching Skyrim for Pimps and I love the absolute shit out of this series. These guys make me laugh so hard. First season is all I've ever really seen before and I get hysterical about the whole Astrid love plot they go through. XD

TV: Been watching Under the Dome lately and absolutely love it! Got a stellar cast and such an intriguing storyline! It feels like it's leading up to something aliens or alien related and I hope they keep going at this upward pace. As mentioned before, I find stories that reveal a "overlords behind the curtain all along" plot point to be really underwhelming and disappointing. So, I really hope that it's aliens or the Matrix or some god-like thing going on and not something government or human.

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I just finished episode 9 and Angie, Joe, and Norrie have all got their hands on the egg dome and it seemed to unlock it in some way. But then the tiny dome makes a fourth hand appear on the dome and they figure out that they need a fourth person. Just thinking back to Junior and that freaky painting his mom did and I'm sitting here pleading, "Please don't be Junior! Please don't be Junior!" I hate him so freaking much and I find the subplot with him and Angie so fucking frustrating. He's such a needy, whiny douchebag and this is completely separate from him being a stalkerish, abusive, psycho. Don't get me wrong, I love abusive plotlines with that juicy drama and emotion but Junior is such a pussy, and he's so insecure and uncertain all the freaking time, it is cringey as fuck when he whines about loving Angie and acts out with his daddy issues. It's like a progressive's vision of what an abusive man is supposed to be like: demasculated and off his rocker desperate for unwilling pussy. So, if they turn around and make him a hero, I don't know how I'd feel about that. I'm still holding out for someone accidentally drowning him or his face getting run over by a really big truck. Character development!

Film: N/A

Movies to See: Clown For the longest time, I've had an affinity for clowns, jesters, and the circus, and have never really been afraid of them. Like, something like It I find more charismatic than actually terrifying. This film looks like it'll handle it straight, giving us a horror that goes beyond the "CLOWN! SCARY!" weaksauce that a lot of clown featured horror films do. There seems to be some deeper plot here and development of intrigue and descent into madness/possession.

I Am Not a Serial Killer Another compelling one with a very dark plotline, reminds me heavily of We Need to Talk About Kevin meets Apt Pupil.

Antibirth Starring Natasha Lyonne, one of my favorite actresses this year, it seems to go the Ava's Possessions route in taking a humorous look at the normal demonic tropes, this one being demonic conceptions and evil child birth. I love unique horror plots that try to think outside the box and that can poke fun at the genre a little bit, without going all zany and crazy like the Scary Movie films. Like, half-playing it straight with tongue in cheek and it looks like this might be the direction they're taking this one.

 

[Rudolph Quin]

Youtube: N/A

TV: Finished Under the Dome finally. That was some entertaining trash. Seriously, no depth, nothing other than surface exploration of topics and rule of cool. It felt like "stuff" just happened. People are in trouble, then they're out of it; people get captured, now they're free; people's love lives are in jeopardy, now they love each other again. Up down up down. Like jumping jacks, basically. Except anytime something happened, I felt like each episode was competing with the ones before it to one up the excitement factor and after a while, it got so ridiculous that it sort of left the characters and development behind. One of the most bizarre and ridiculous things I've ever seen was the scene where possessed Eva refuses to give birth so, Julia holds her down, pressing down over her stomach towards her pelvis, while Barbie sits down there by her open legs and the blanket draped over them...like that's how giving birth works... You just press on the top of the stomach towards the pelvis and the baby pops out like toothpaste from the tube, right? And that scene was so chaotic, happening so fast, it was like everybody was barely there, the words they were saying and things they were doing having no emotion or feeling behind them. Because they were trying to shove so much "ACTION" into the episode, they had to gloss over certain aspects. So, sometimes, it meant something to Barbie to have a kid with Eva and sometimes it didn't.

One thing I am grateful for is that Junior finally died in the last episode. Definitely would not recommend if you're looking for something to watch. Seriously, just watch Supernatural. At least that had a somewhat coherent and fun escalation and you got a sense of character growth. Under the Dome juggles so many main characters, nobody gets attention. You watch the first season and that is where everybody is at, last episode. I kid you not! Literally last scenes with Barbie and Julia in the final episode and you get this feeling that they haven't ever had a real conversation, the entire year they were on the road alone together. He proposes to her and it's like, he doesn't say ANYTHING. Thankful for the military interruption because he literally had nothing to say. No new revelations, no depth of emotion like they've been through a lot. They even talk about another couple having a fight like, "what was that? What happened there? ...are we supposed to actually be talking to each other like that? I can disagree with you about things? Huh? Whaaaat?"

Film: Watched Clown like I wanted. ...eh. The storyline is actually a really good idea, about the ancient evil clown costume that doesn't come off when it's put on, and eventually possesses the wearer, transforming them into an old, demonic Boogeyman clown-creature that eats kids. Great idea! Love it! And I cannot rave enough about the design, from start to finish, of the transformation and final monster. Absolutely horrifying, taking that age old distortion of the clown but turning it more organic and gritty without losing any of that surrealist feel.

Those were the things I liked about this. The actual movie is not recommended, nor is it something I'll ever watch again. Watch the trailer. Did you do it? Good. You literally just watched the highlight reel of the first 30 minutes of the film. I kid you not, it was shot by shot a mirror of the trailer, with minor expansion here and there on scenes you already saw snippets of if you watched the trailer first. I was surprised by how fast they jump right into it, slapping that costume on the dad in the first 2 minutes, I kid you not! You understand the set up, right? Kid's birthday party, clown cancels and for some reason, this kid likes clowns, so, mom is frantic for a replacement, calls the dad and he finds an old trunk with a clown costume in it and puts it on to go save the day for his son, and cannot take it off the first day. Now, think about all of those shots, that progression of plot and hear me when I tell you, that is the exact first 5 minutes of the film. You'd think there'd be some sort of build up, some sort of narrative where we get a little depth from characters, getting to know the players and all. No. None of that happened, just jumping from shot to shot to fast forward through this quick plot setup.

And the rest of the film was a mess. I thought this was gonna be a deep, dark story about a man's descent into this creature's control. They flirted with that for the first 45 minutes, sure, before jumping to the wife and turning it into her story...which is basically the Amityville Horror(2005). No jokes. Every freaking "father is possessed with murderous intent" story you've ever seen or read. And all with limited dialogue!

This felt like, for all the depth they put into the art design for this movie and costume creation, they ran out of funds for the scriptwriting, the editing, the actors, and music, rushing through music video type cut shots of a story. The narrative was lost and the characters were not meaningful in any way. In fact, I don't remember much about the wife actress, now getting confused on how much she looks like the wife from Amityville Horror(2005). I JUST watched it. That's how unmemorable she was. I kept on pleading with the actors to "please don't! omg! Stop!" when they'd do body horror cringey stuff but that was the limit of the impact they had on me and my emotional state.

Also watched Midnight Special and it's basically as if E.T. and The Signal(2014) had a baby and it kinda looks like uncles Knowing and The Day the Earth Stood Still(2008). It was entertaining but brought nothing new to the table. I don't know why these "E.T. goes home" type plots do nothing to wow me. Because E.T. was actually really different and had great emotional impact. These others where the end does end up being supernatural in nature and has a sort of "release" effect on the characters in the plot fall completely flat for me. I checked out for the last 5-10 minutes of this film, finally just shouting, "omg! Just fucking go, already!" at the kid as him and his mom say goodbye. There was no feeling of wonder, there was no feeling of fulfillment, there was no heart wrench where I worried that he was gonna be okay. It was boring and annoying. As soon as you know what he is and that he's gotta go, I kind of wished he would either die or just go there already, checking my watch as they all race frantically to get him home. And I can't really put my finger on why.

I rewatched What Dreams May Come, one of my absolute favorites. Definitely on my top 10 list. There are some tiny parts that I notice now that are a little over-acty but they are easy to overlook because the actors are clearly having a great time with the material. But overall, it is a wonderful story about love. It reminds me of those dramas, like the Ya Ya Sisterhood or Where the Heart Is, where it's really emotive and mushy, and depressing in some areas; you go into it knowing you're gonna cry and feel "impacted." But I love the beauty of Dreams and the surrealist supernatural element and epic fantasy nature of the story. It kind of brings this whole other wonderment to it for me. And Robin Williams and Annabella Sciorra are simply brilliant. Love their gooey, charming romance so much.

Movies to See: N/A

 

[Rudolph Quin]

I haven't had enough money for months now to pay for things like Netflix or to reinstate my Prime membership, so, this thread might collect dust for a while, unless someone chooses to post and talk to me about these things.

But the past two weeks, I've been watching all of the Harry Potter movies with my cousin and now I'm gaga for it. Not only that but she's convinced me to finally read the books. I haven't touched them at all but I've been a fan of the movies and now seeing how much of a fan she is, I think I'll give it a go.

So many fun things happened in the movies that I loved this time around but what really won me over and makes me really WANT Potter in my life now is the scene in movie 5, I think it is. After the fight with Dumbledore in the Ministry of Magic, Voldemort goes invisible and attacks Harry, trying to take over his mind. During several of the flashing memories that V invades, there are a couple flashed images of him voguing and acting all happy, looking like some douchey college bro, and I was freaking smitten.

It is literally just for a split second but just the way he looks and the gesture and posture of douchey triumph and cocky confidence gets me. Then a moment later when Harry fights back, Voldemort leaves his body and stands over him, looking slick, smooth, and dark, whispering so gently how Harry is a fool and will lose against him.

Ugh. My body is ready for the Dark Lord!

Not to mention I was already swayed by his reappearance in the 4th movie, Goblet of Fire, near the end, like an arrogant child, moving up close and mocking how he can now touch Harry Potter. So perfect and bad!

Voldemort aside, my favorites have always been Black, Lupin, and Snape as far as characters go and it was so much fun getting to see them all through the different movies, rewatching them with new eyes. So, I'm full of Potter head right now, totally consumed by fandom right now. I'm sure a couple months on Tumblr, finding the awful parts of the fandom that make it not fun anymore will surely cure me. But until then, I'm starting the books and going to read them with my cousin. <3