It’s definitely a great series. And I love seeing Christina Applegate back at it! My one qualm with this show, so far, is that it’s a liiiiiiittle too predictable. Otherwise fantastic!
Kristen Wiig is such a gift. And, to me, the reigning modern SNL queen. To have her in mostly every sketch is close to perfection. Love love love.
3 Thoughts After Watching ‘The Host’:
Alllllll of that... and she still died?!
My least favorite Bong Joon-ho film. It all felt very disconnected to me. A lot of random plot points (why were they giving him brain surgery? was he not affected by it? why did that homeless man come in to play?). Strange edits. Several frustrating character moments. In the end, I found it to be dissatisfying.
There was a ton of promise in the beginning. And a sprinkling of solid moments throughout. Regardless of my disappointment, I do love Joon-ho’s style and I can’t say I was ever bored.
Better than the last episode. But, boy, I’ve never seen survivors in this franchise get so lucky in a single outing.
WHAT? HUH?? After a strong premiere with Morgan, we get a bunch of nonsense.
I thought we were gettin’ another good one, along with some big reveal after they cleared the walkers. But nope. No reveal. Literally nothing.
I don’t understand Strand’s motives or what the hell his big emotional dilemma was here. Maybe too much time passed since I’ve last seen these characters, and I’m simply missing something. His whole reason for separating himself seems very contrived — and I honestly couldn’t care less. SO dramatic. These people should already know who they are by now.
Like Morgan, the show should’ve welcomed this lot of characters this season with more of a bang and a LOT less unnecessary melodrama. Hopefully the next group gives us some sensible story.
But if Althea is still focused on her damn tapes, I’m gonna scream.
3 Thoughts After Watching ‘Crawl’:
1/4 disaster flick. 3/4 creature feature. I’m totally here for it.
Between the gore, the rats, the spiders, the gator eggs, and swimming/walking barefoot in questionable water... my skin was what seemed to be crawling the most.
This was a fun film that wasn’t trying to be anything more than it intended. From the basement to the roof, solid thrills were had.
Better acting. Better storytelling. No surprise that TWD vet Michael Cudlitz directed this installment.
3 Thoughts After Watching ‘Relic’:
Writing this before reading any comments or online explanations, I have :asterisk_symbol::asterisk_symbol:no:asterisk_symbol::asterisk_symbol: idea what just happened. Should I feel stupid right now? Guess I’m about to find out.
The communication in this family is horrendous. Let’s see a bunch of eerie shit the entire film and not mention it to one another.
There was a solid creep factor for most of the movie and I was waiting for an epic reveal. Only to get something disastrously ambiguous. The last 15 minutes slashed my rating a couple points.
Updated Thought: I’ve come to understand that the entire film is an allegory for Alzheimer’s. I can appreciate the use of a horror vehicle to explore something truly horrific, but — as a viewer — I couldn’t help but feel a little duped with the drastic left turn at the end, revealing the metaphor. It kinda reminds me of when I was super excited to see The Village, and was sorely disappointed to see it basically transition into an entirely different genre. There were elements of this film (i.e. seeing the monster under the bed or behind a character) that seemingly had nothing to do with the allegory and simply led you to believe it was a supernatural story. Duped. And, for me, dissatisfying. But I can see why others respect it.
That Super Mario skit was one of the dumbest I’ve seen on the show.
3 Thoughts After Watching ‘Vivarium’:
Excuse me while I endlessly Google the meaning of what I just watched.
It’s always such a disappointing moment, with these physiological thrillers, when they suddenly go off the rails. That moment — after a strong, promising start — when things suddenly become just too strange and random. And you know there’s no way back to a satisfying conclusion. The moment when the kid starting speaking in their voices was that moment for me.
I enjoyed the film regardless. It was basically one long Twilight Zone episode. And those are always fun.
Wowww. This single episode took the entire series to a whole ‘nother level. The point of it all is finally coming into view and the stakes are high. Solid entry.
3 Thoughts After Watching ‘Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga’:
It’s a silly film, somewhat forgettable, but we run into some decent humor and a solid dose of heart.
That last song was (surprisingly) beautiful.
I literally LOL’d when the elf house door closed.
Bonus Thought: I had no idea this was an actual real-life contest until reading the other comments and checking out IMDb.
Diego. Is. Insufferable.
Every single episode.
DIEGO’S HAIR IS THE WORST PART OF THIS SEASON.
On another note... LOVED the use of Kiss’ “I Was Made For Loving You” here.
3 Thoughts After Watching ‘The Boneyard’:
One of THE worst films I’ve ever seen in my entire life. The acting. The “story.” The slowest pacing possible. Literally painful to get through. Nothing explained. Nothing redeemable. No.
What was Phyllis Diller thinking?!
I thought the Poopinplatz Mutant was pretty creative for its time. The only thing that earned this film my “1” rating.
Bonus Thought: That song during the credits... WHAT?
A better episode than the rest. But the story is kinda moving along at a snail’s pace.
And WHY did Luther seem to just chill as the chandelier came plummeting toward him? He totally had time to move.
3 Thoughts After Watching ‘Incredibles 2’:
It was a fun movie — as I expected it to be — but it doesn’t quite meet the magic of the original. I felt a lot was more of the same, maybe even a teeny bit more predictable, but it was nice to see Elastigirl take the lead on this one.
There was a lot accomplished in the original film that I don’t think needed to be re-explored here. I expected the sequel to take place in a world where superheroes were legal again and where the family, having already accepted their super status, spent the entire film working together. But they kinda retreaded the same challenges again.
Baby Jack-Jack’s multitude of powers were a fun highlight. Just when we thought we saw all he could do, we were delightfully proved wrong.
Bonus Thought: Will the Underminer ever be captured? We’ll probably never know.
3 Thoughts After Watching ‘The Wretched’:
My biggest gripe was that the entire film treaded all-too-familiar territory. We’ve seen all of this before, in similar ways. The only anticipation here was wondering when and where the witch would pop up on the screen again. Nothing particularly unique.
I’ll give well-earned props for the twist at the end. When Ben was talking to his mom on the phone and she said “I miss my boys,” I was wondering why she would miss the father. Then the twist happened and I had a major “aha!” moment. Solid stuff.
While you could come to conclusions on your own, I wish there was a liiittle more backstory on the witch. Not much was revealed at all.
Bonus Thought: If Fright Night and IT had a baby.
Loving these characters! But why can’t they just stay together for once?!
I love love love Amy Sedaris’ character and hope to see more of her.
3 Thoughts After Watching ‘The Platform’:
I would’ve given this a higher score if the point of the message was made a little clearer, and the ending a little more satisfying. Whether the message was the perfect panna cotta or the girl, what’s the purpose of the message at all? To show solidarity? Would it change the system once discovered at the top? Would prisoners be released? What would Goreng gain from it exactly? With only a month left AND living comfy at Level 6, the reward must’ve been worth the trip down. But how would he even assume it’d accomplish anything? So many questions... too many questions revolving this “message” they were trying to send. I wish it were a smidge clearer. ALSO... how was that girl surviving way down there? And why did they not burn up/freeze when they held on to the panna cotta? SO MANY QUESTIONS!
Regardless of the endless questions, I thoroughly enjoyed the film. I thought it was quite an original story and well acted. And I thought the simplistic score was super eerie and effective.
I don’t know what I was thinking when I decided to eat my chicken panini at the start of the film.
3 Thoughts After Watching ‘Greenland’:
I’m in awe of how fantastic this film was. This is what every disaster film should aspire to be. One of the best I’ve seen in a very, very long time. Nearly perfect pacing. Great acting. Nothing cheesy. Kudos.
It’s a tragedy that I couldn’t see this in a theater with a crowd. It would’ve been a thrilling cinematic experience.
Not one moment of this film was wasted or filler. Every moment contributed to the next. And every moment contributed to my anxiety. As it should have.
Bonus Thought: The mirror of humanity here was truly terrifying.
HOW DOES JESSICA PAY HER BILLS AND AFFORD A RECEPTIONIST?
That’s all.
3 Thoughts After Watching ‘Beyond the Door’:
This might have been the worst film I have ever seen. Why it’s on “Fangoria's 101 Best Horror Movies You've Never Seen” list is BEYOND me.
The score was pure torture. Anger-inducing.
There may have been some fairly creepy visuals to respect here IF THEY WEREN’T BLATANT RIPOFFS OF THE EXORCIST. And they even tried adding a little Rosemary’s Baby into the mix. A major horror fail if I’ve ever seen one.
Bonus Thought: That scene where the husband was walking down the street while being surrounded by musicians who played flutes through their nose. WHY?
3 Thoughts After Watching ‘Alone in the Dark’:
“The Bleeder” twist was a neat one that shouldn’t have been so obvious.
The action/attack scenes here were incredibly weak. And, yeah, it was the early 80s, but so many films that came before accomplished this way more effectively.
All in all, I wasn’t bored. The premise was an interesting one that I don’t believe was executed very well. And the ending left me scratching my head.
Bonus Thought: Martin Landau has one helluva creepy grin.
I CANNOT EVEN begin to delve into how many FATHOMS apart this series is from the rest of the Marvel/Netflix gang.
Stellar episode that barely included the main guy. INCREDIBLE setup for a new villain. Building stakes higher and higher and higher.
THIS is how it’s done.
3 Thoughts After Watching ‘Alice Sweet Alice’:
That reveal was a major disappointment — and also the precise moment I knew I wouldn’t be reviewing this film with much praise. I don’t even understand what her actual motive was.
The only creepy things from this film were the landlord and his music.
It felt a lot longer than it ever should have felt.
3 Thoughts After Watching ‘Dead of Night’:
Decided to watch this because of the same director’s other horror film, ‘Black Christmas’, which was creepily impressive for its time. This film is a notch down from that, but it still provides a bit of proof that Clark has a special flair for horror.
That poor daughter — and dog. =(
Makeup was top-notch for the 70s, thanks to horror legend Tom Savini. Props deserved for making a man look like he’s regressing back into the corpse he once was.
3 Thoughts After Watching ‘Black Christmas’:
Strong beginning. Super strong ending. Everything in between kinda dragged, which was detrimental to the story’s suspense and momentum. I was gonna rate it lower, until the ending legit creeped me out and had me paying wayyy too much attention to every single creak in the house.
The crude phone calls, and the fact that just some random crazy dude was the killer, were effectively chilling.
The fact that this film came before the classic slasher films we all know and love is very impressive. Wes Craven was clearly a fan. John Saxon would later appear in ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ and there were some solid ‘Scream’ vibes here.
3 Thoughts After Watching ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’:
That “pod birth” scene in the garden was especially grotesque. A reminder that we need more practical effects in our cinematic lives.
WTF was that human/dog hybrid thing about?! That sure came outta nowhere.
All in all, it was a classic worth seeing. The story and the whole “snatching” process felt a little disjointed at times, something more recent renditions of the “pod people” story accomplished better. But a great cast made up for it.
