A pretty diverse collection of speculative short films that thrills, humors, devastates, horrifies, and really challenges the viewer to look more closely and see the unspoken parts of the stories cleverly tucked in the gaps between the lines.
But it's just the first season, after all.
I guess, it's only toeing the line.
I have high hopes for crazier, wilder, bolder picks for next season. ^^
"Did you see him?"
That was a bit... anticlimactic?
I have readied myself for this. From watching similar anthologies like, "Masters of Horror," and the "ABCs of Death," I found that the Japanese episodes tend to be one of the creepiest and cringiest, if not the bizarrest, what-the-efferiest picks of the bunch.
This was heartbreaking, for sure.
But it also felt lukewarm.
Not even the crawling scared me.
And crawling in Japanese horror movies always scare me.
Perhaps I just expected too much of the wrong thing...? o.o
Sticks and stones...
Pretty heartbreaking.
That is all I have left to say.
And it's Christmas, too. T.T
It could definitely be longer...
I do wish it were.
But I also do like how I can just settle into the brokenness of this post-apocalyptic world, and the promise of change that substantial thing Adena has could eventually bring to it.
"There's no real rules in jelly wrestling, but you never take off another woman's pants."
I always love a good redemption story.
Especially bizarre ones with skeletons in the closet to boot.
All hail the real Queen of the Goop! ^^
"No one else has ever had this much."
The shivers this gave me! O.O
Especially in that final scene: of how the beautiful shot of an alien galaxy contrasted so sharply with the heartbreaking realization of Krystal's fate, the helplessness in her face, the voiceless surrender in her steps.
Woah, the shivers~! :hearts:
There's a divine war going on.
I think this episode does soooooo well in driving the adrenaline high with its emotive narration, the blood pumping music, the short but very decently choreographed fight scene, and the promise of more vengeful gore teased in Ava's final words.
It's just one of those shorts that makes you wish it were longer, you know?
"Blow up the universe."
Who knew that choosing to be the safe one could actually lead to so much more trouble than if you had just been true to what you really wanted from the start?
And who could blame Anna for choosing shell art over this universe, seriously? ^^
O~kay... Very interesting friendship between Adam and Quentin, no doubt.
But I am very curious about the events that led to these two guys being in the car with Quentin looking like he's just been in a minor accident and completely unaware of who was in the trunk.
Man, the secrets our friends keep sometimes!
At least the pigs will be fully satisfied.
"Only the bold get the Kreemy Kold."
I don't think I've ever seen an ice cream truck in real life. We only ever had pushcarts and ice cream guys on bikes. And thank god for that.
If an ice cream is like "heaven melting in my tongue," I'd have gone gaga over it, too. :dizzy_face:
I think Alice did that boy a favor.
He's actually looking more adorable in the end. :croak:
"No mercy for mean girls."
Wow. Still so mean-spirited even after being cornered.
That girl Steffani's got some serious issues.
And why would you ask help from someone you've been mean to all this time? :confused:
I kinda liked how that turned out. But I am really more interested in how that mask will continue to affect their lives now that they know what it can actually do.
That girl's getting ideas... :thinking:
"Clowns are weird."
Clowns didn't use to creep me out. I actually really liked them.
But then all these horror shows and movies started popping into my consciousness with all these scary clowns preying on kids and I've grown suspicious of them since.
And then, this comes along and adds a fresh new level of horror to clowns. It was pretty cool, though. In a bizarre kind of way. :clown:
"Can I keep him?"
That was... bizarrely satisfying.
And I liked the dead guy more than the live boy, too.
So glad they both got what they deserved in the end. :smirk:
"I am fear itself."
It's Alastair all over again.
Popeye gone evil.
Christopher Heyerdahl will never not be scary.
He really, truly, most definitely is fear itelf. :scream:
"We are allergic to redheads."
All right, I'm stocking up on salt and staying clear of 'homemade' chicken nuggets. Lesson learned! :laughing:
"Why is there a zombie in my kitchen?!"
This would've been so much better if it had been longer and things weren't happening too fast. There was hardly any tension because BAM! and a player is gone. It all feels so anti-climactic. And it was such an exciting premise, too. :disappointed:
"We love this house. It's got charm."
The house looks like the Amityville house's estranged baby sister.
So, of course, you soon realize the mom was actually talking about a different kind of charm.
Really loved how smart that boy was, though.
And his parents actually thought they could outsmart him. Ha!
They wanted charm, they gotta be the ones losing sleep over it.
I think that was a fair deal. :smirk:
"I'm so cold."
Can't say I didn't see that twist coming, but maaa~n!
That ending was quite 'chilly'.
Gotta love those quirky ghosts, too.
"Everyone must pay."
Meh. The boy wasn't even worth it.
The dress was kinda pretty, though.
Also, if it were Emmanuelle Vaugier, I'd probably end up paying with my soul and not even know it. She's always so mesmerizing~ :heartbeat:
"No one sticks around for long."
That was some twist.
(For some reason, I thought this was going to be about ghosts :sweat_smile:)
I did love that twist.
But wasn't that such a sad, sad reality, too?
I miss my dad. :broken_heart:
"Is that the sound of your skin decomposing?"
The first part was surprisingly heartbreaking.
And this was a pretty satisfying revenge sequel.
Love really does conquer all, doesn't it?
Even Jake and his beloved comb can attest to that. :smirk:
"Why would Santa let us die on Christmas?"
...asked little Timmy.
Because Santa's secretly evil, honey.
That, or the bored old man's developed quite a dark sense of humor.
Immortality can really do that to the best of them.
Either way, the kid did get what he wished for.
They may have lost everything, but they've got that.
And that is really all that matters. :christmas_tree:
"Destroy the doll. Save the girl."
I can't quite decide which is creepier: a single doll with clearly evil intentions or an entire shelf of them in various levels of undress and mutilation singing "Sleep, baby, sleep..." in chorus.
All three episodes of Lilly D.'s mayhem and that final scene was the one that gave me the most geniune goosebumps. I really do wonder, though, how doll soup would taste like. xD
Lilly's big brother, Brandon, became a fast favorite from both parts of "Really You." But that family's really messed up from the start. Natalie and her grandpa from "The Return of Lilly D." were more well-adjusted. Lilly D. didn't stand a chance.
On the other hand, I loved how this trilogy makes quite a testament to how love can both be a healing and a destructive force. Her ways may have been evil, but at her core, all Lilly D. really wanted was to be loved.
Then again, when dolls start moving and plotting to steal little girls' bodies, humans don't stay and fall in love. We get terrified and we run. Or strike. That's just how it is.
And poor Lilly D. - so pure, so evil, and so lost in translation.
"Don't let it get to you."
The science-y stuffs did a fine job of making my brain bleed. But the emotional bits were quite engaging.
I loved the family dramas unfolding in the midst of wide scale catastrophe. Bonds rekindled, ties strengthened, sacrifices made, lives lost and new hopes found as the world collapses right under their feet.
I also really loved how it ended. How it didn't hold back and pull a miracle out of thin air. Mother Nature may be up for a couple of compromises. But we can't really have them all.
I like shows that are clear on their intentions and focused on the kind of narratives they wish to tell. Vikings is one such show. In as little as nine episodes it has managed to introduce both its core characters and the people who support and oppose their ideals, what drives such ideals, what they want, what they're willing to give up, and what they will fight with their lives to keep. What really matters to them and how their own pride could more often than not make them buck on their own words.
Also, in as little as nine episodes you learn about the Vikings culture, the stories they tell about their gods, about how they view the world. These people are not blinded by their faith, because they view their faith with honor, which then in turn gives them fearlessness that always serves them well in battle.
I like Ragnar's adventurous spirit, his curiosities, his openness to discover, learn and understand new things that far surpasses his known beliefs. We can all learn a thing or two from the "friendship" he has with Athelstan. How despite the differences in their beliefs, they can still manage to carry sensible discussions. Not to try and change each other's views, but to understand that different views exist and that we can all learn something new from them if we just sit back and listen.
I like Lagertha and the calm strength with which she handles herself, her family, her title and the responsibilities it entails. I like Floki and the queerness with which he handles everything~! I like Gyda and how her presence draws out the tenderness in both Ragnar and Lagertha. I like Bjorn and the loyalty he has to sworn ties. I like Rollo and how his loyalty to his brother is tested at each turn (that poor chap!).
I also really like how Vikings pulls back from the unnecessary gore and nudity that so plague most TV shows right now, relying instead on its actors' skills combined with music and camera work that efficiently fill in the gaps for its audience (I teared up over that sacrifice scene in Uppsala - that was simply heart-wrenchingly beautiful T.T<3). I like gore. But I also really like subtleties that can better replace them when done right.
I have already watched the latter seasons and watching the first one has really made me appreciate this series even more~! I can't wait to get started on season 2~!
This show is about dealing with the demons inside of you and how the battle is never ever won alone. I love Sasha and I love the people who love and never gave up on her. I love Eliot and his mom and maybe even Ben and Becky, too. They would've been a perfect family, if only they hadn't fell in with the wrong crowd.
Becky was right all along. But she was also wrong on one important thing: Sasha IS strong, as she has so masterfully shown in the final scene of this season (those eyes gave me genuine goosebumps!).
With grace and gratitude and a second season soon, please? ^^
Requires some suspension of disbelief (after all, anything can and will happen in the Twilight Zone).
But it's not wrong.
We live in dangerous times and need to be extra mindful of the choices we make, not only for our own sake, but also for the part we play in the grand scheme of things.
Raff made his choices out of ambition and a need for redemption.
He went by blind faith and turned his head the other way even after Oliver gave him a peek of his true color.
Raff was driven by a selfish need to regain his lost status, that old prestige as the wunderkind.
And look where that got him.
So that's what the 'A' stands for.
At least, Jeff got his pie.
This is all that matters. ^^
Intense and very concise in what it intends to do.
I don't think I'd be able to close doors either, if I were that scared. :scream:
The fear felt very real in here. And you get to focus on that because there's hardly any melodrama happening. You watch humans being humans, making bad decisions at a moment's notice, and just struggling to survive in the here and now.
And even without any flashback to their backstories, I found the main characters relatable. Their stories are in their personalities, it's in the choices they make, in the way they interacted with each other, and in the pieces of themselves they shared in snippets of dialogue. Like the entire series itself, you appreciate these characters more for the subtleties you see only if you were really paying attention.
ALSO, was that a gun Rose's daughter was holding in the final scene? </3
