is it funny if i leave this shit completely barren for now? i think it might be tbh
back to homei'm using this site as a way to document the new media i consume, as a way to help myself remember and also formulate my thoughts better. i don't want every new thing to just float by me, so this is my way of combating that. i am not here to give plot synopses-- this is just my journal for my thoughts.
(KEY: NM = New Media, things i saw for the first time very recently at time of writing. RM = Revisited Media, things i saw in the past or perhaps recently rewatched/played and felt like writing about. AD = Addendum, articles which have been revisited or added onto after initial writing.)
Understand the Torment Nexus-Jumanji-Willy Wonka scale [here]. Does not apply to every media but I think it's funny to add where applicable
I convinced my partner to watch utena with me so we've been working our way through it for several weeks and just finished. It's been a bit since I saw it and didn't remember every little detail/order of events so
I've seen OTGW once when I was like 15 but remembered very little of it. I have now decided the ideal way to watch this show is cozied in a room with like 15 gay people who know the words to all the songs and all just ate stew and pot pie and yummy treats and a little cider together. I dont think any other viewing experience could possibly top the evening I had at my friend's watch party.
The first time I watched this in 2023 I was really shaken by how much of my younger self I saw in Anita. On this rewatch I got to take in a lot of the more layered details wrt assault and objectification and teen girlhood and man it's just a good movie. Also I remembered it being a little gay but god DAMN it's actually super gay all the way down. Something about the really intense friendships you sometimes develop as a teen wlw/teen girl in general is so fucking real
I've been wanting to see this movie for years because I love a werewolf but the movie itself actually kinda suuuuckksss? Its age really shows, in that it's super weird about women and it's clearly trying to go for a black comedy tone but it really does not land in the funny or scary camp for me. They're trying to go for an existential thing with the ghost(s) haunting the mainc character but it ultimately comes off confused more than anything. The ending felt appropriate I guess, cuz as we got closer and closer to it I kept thinking man how the fuck do you end this when there's barely a plot. So I guess killing him is as good as anything. I am kind of obsessed with the love interest repeatedly saying shit like "I'm so attracted to you but I pity you" hell yes girl she invented the pathetic little meow meow
Ultimately not worth it, just watch the transformation sequence on youtube and move on
My neighbor is hosting scary movie nights every sunday for the month and I'd like to make it to as many as I can. 1408 is not my favorite movie ever but it is unquestionably good. I was really fascinated by the sets-- they did an insane job of making the hotel room feel completely different in each scene. Sometimes from unique lighting and sometimes by completely destroying the set in a bunch of unique ways. It's rather harrowing and it's the kind of story where you near the end and aren't actually sure how they're gonna get out of there.
I felt a little insane because I somehow clocked that the spooky radio kept playing The Carpenters despite my ONLY Carpenters experience being Todd in the Shadows' Trainwreckords episode. I guess Karen Carpenter just has one of those voices???
firmly a Jumanji
This show makes me feel a little insane. It just ended but I need to come back and fully write down my thoughts after a rewatch soon cuz there's just so much
Friend had a scooby doo themed bday party where we watched these movies back to back. I haven't seen either since I was really young. The difference between the two is kinda fascinating-- the way i described it in the moment was that the first movie (Spooky Island) feels like a plot for one of the animated movies that they just made live action, whereas the second movie (Monsters Unleashed) feels WAY more like We Are Going To make A Live Action Scooby Doo and goes out of its way to pay homage to the cartoons. It feels much more like a love letter and is just a better movie in the traditional sense. Spooky Island held a very surreal place in my childhood memory and there were some parts that I could have sworn went on way longer than the movie we just watched. Either I'm crazy or the streaming service cut some scenes out because I SUPER remember Fred and Velma being brainwashed on screen for longer
I'm not really sure what I expected from this movie, I thought it was fine? Except it really really did not need to be 140 mins. It felt like it just kept going for ever and ever, doing more and more body horror. And listen! I'm here for more body horror! I just think you could have achieved this amount of body horror a half hour ago perhaps. I got the point.
The one thing that did stand out was how good a job the movie does at getting across the objectification of it all. It's an exagerration of the way women are treated, but like....... not as much of an exagerration as you would hope. Also, between this and Honey Don't, I'm pretty uncomfortable with the sheer amount of time I've had to look at Margaret Qualley's ass this week. I did not know she was in this movie so it was a huge jumpscare for me
This manga hurt my feelings >:,( One of the most personally upsetting things I've read in a while. I sure ignored the trigger warning I was given. More than anything this work captures exactly how it feels to reach an age where you become conscious of the ways in which your parents are wrong about things, or hurt you, or perhaps aren't mentally sound. Oshimi Shūzō is a master of human faces and the way he twists expressions is really haunting throughout the whole series. You feel the protag's dread and uncertainty at every word his mother says. There's just so many small touches that immerse you in the story. There is a timeskip 2/3 through the series, and THAT is the part that really hurt my feelings. Having to revisit an estranged family member and reconcile what they put you through. The childhood photos at the beginning of chapters take on an unsettling quality as the plot unfolds, and eventually come back around when we find out the mom has been keeping her photo album all these years. It doesn't hit you with the whole "but they're your family so you have to forgive them" spiel. It very much feels like the protagonist's feelings about it all are examined from every possible angle. He loves her, he hates her, he wants approval, he never wants to see her again, she's hurting, she's a bad person. It's extremely nuanced. One of my favorite things was the recurring memory of the protag finding a dead cat as a toddler. I enjoyed the way it was recontextualized every time-- as he learned more, or as his feelings changed.
The partners and I agreed to go see a movie as a birthday activity and nothing else sounded good. I read a bunch of reviews of Honey Don't aloud before going to the theater, so we knew it was gonna be mid but probably entertaining. I want you to imagine a typical small town mystery movie with a generic stoic detective guy, except turn the guy into a pretty lady (she still likes women though. there is gay sex in this movie.) And also don't let the protagonist actually solve the mystery. Reviews mentioned the plot being confusing, and I made it through the whole movie wondering what on earth they were talking about until the climax brings out a completely un-foreshadowed twist. So many of the plot threads ended up not going anywhere in the end. There's also a really absurd number of sex scenes that half the time just function as gags/scene transitions. The occasional violence is also far more graphic than you'd expect or was really necessary.
Ultimately the movie is like, fine??? It just needs some restructuring in the third act to feel satisfying at all. The biggest pro was the humor-- that is the one thing that felt very sharp and focused in its execution. It knew exactly what it wanted in that regard. The costume designer ALSO knew exactly what she wanted; the outfits in here are fire. I also can't stop thinking about the bar scene, jesus christ. I don't even know if i mean that in a good way it was just a lot