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Uncle Boogeyman posted:Ben Wheatley's journeyman turn has been really weird. Yeah I thought In the Earth was pretty mid but at least Wheatley experimented with the visuals to keep it interesting. Da Sweet Blood of Jesus is interesting. Killer soundtrack and I like the leads a whole lot. Ditching the weird vibes of G&H makes the movie a bit flatter, though Lee at least tried to put his spin on the themes. It's definitely not as good as the original.
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Aug 17, 2023 20:07
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Its Friday! How the gently caress is it Friday? loving week. I haven't even watched a single movie this week. But there's time. 46 hours or so now? You know the deal. gently caress this week just blew past me. Next Week! 1. Lewton Bus vs. 5. Alfred Hitchcock 7. All Hail Stephen King vs. 14. Wyrd Woods and Macabre Magick
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Aug 18, 2023 18:42
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I can kind of appreciate what Wheatley's Rebecca is trying to do, emphasize the corrosive nature of wealth and instill a sense of weirdness and wrongness, instead of just trying for a more straightforward adaptation. But it's dreadfully dull and doesn't work on several levels. It fails to give any real sense of Manderley as a place (it does better with the scenes of nature, as might be expected for Wheatley). It spends too much time on the wealth porn even if it's trying to show it in contrast with the rest, and also hedges on making the queer character too villainous to avoid a negative trope. I'd say that even the themes this one focuses on are handled with more efficiency in Hitchcock's film, even if they're more subdued. Da Sweet Blood of Jesus is not a standout remake either, but it is far more intriguing to watch. Bruce Hornsby's score is captivating, there's a good deal more directorial flair, and the characters feel worth watching, although I still don't think Spike Lee does a great job writing women. A relatively easy vote for this one. I'm not sure if I'll catch the other half, but I'd expect Men to win this match-up without much difficulty.
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Aug 18, 2023 21:44
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Men was an easy vote for me, but as I mentioned earlier I don't have nearly as many problems with it as the general population did. Admittedly, I have a kneejerk reaction to like just about anything the anti-woke crowd goes after. Da Sweet Blood of Jesus was overwrought and dumb in one direction and Rebecca was overwrought and dumb in another. They're honestly a tie for me so I voted for Rebecca because I have more interest in the team.
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Aug 20, 2023 06:38
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Interesting matchup with Rebecca vs Da Sweet Blood of Jesus. Rebecca is a pretty movie, but somehow manages to be more safe and boring than the Hayes code original. This was originally a story where everyone sucked to various degrees. Mr. deWinter had a dangerous temper that ultimately made the murder he committed make a lot of sense, whereas Armie Hammer of all people is just a sexy milquetoast tortures soul. Mrs. deWinter in this is too cute and adorable, there’s no awkwardness and ddesperation that made her interesting in the original. Just a completely baffling movie-director pairing. Nothing bad to say about Kristin Scott Thomas though, she’s amazing. Da Sweet Blood of Jesus has a really good soundtrack, I was vibing throughout. I’m assuming Ben Wheatley was told exactly what to do for Rebecca and had zero leeway in anything, whereas this is just Lee doing whatever he wants, including a full on gospel choir performance that goes on way too long. Loved the absolutely weird line reading and dialogue, both Ganja and Hess are doing a great job, and Rami Malek is always appreciated. Voting for Jesus. Men, come the gently caress on Garland. I can’t stand the guy anyways, he’s usually maddeningly middlebrow with a duh message hidden behind a lot of layers of obtuseness. But turns out that removing the obtuseness makes everything so much worse. I can’t believe the husband in the end explains his wounds. How dumb do you think your audience is? Give me Lucky over this any time. What if Ari Aster was really bad and had no sense of humor. Ugh. Although I have to admit that everything up until the pub scene was top notch, it’s a gorgeous movie, the tunnel scene was fantastic, it’s just all really bad in retrospect. Voting Craven out of spite.
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Aug 20, 2023 14:26
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Had a really weird week that flew by, completely forgot what day it was and never touched write-ups, stayed up until 4 AM doing them. So if they’re messed up my bad.  Wes seeks out a few mercy or spite votes for one of his objectively worst films that even he hates but its all show as Garland’s Men cruises to a victory. Garland’s second of the tournament and it propel’s Tarnop’s Brutal Brits into the Elite Eight. Wes falls back under .500 at 3-4 but hey, sooner or later he’s gotta go on a run burning off all these bad films, right? Meanwhile its an even bigger win for Spike Lee’s Da Sweet Blood of Jesus. Ganja and Hess won and so does its remake in a result that surprised me. Although a lot of that probably has to do with Rebecca which loses in Bracketology for the second time first with Hitchcock’s Oscar winning version and now with Ben Wheatley’s lesser one. That drops Wheatley to 2-3 and misses out on the reunion with Brutal Brits next round. Sam’s Foreign Horror for American Teenagers goes home and my weird high concept Bracketology Redux team surprisingly advances into the Elite Eight. Go figure. Ok lets finish off the Sweet Sixteen. God, so exciting to realize how close to the end we are.  1. (Serv’s Lewton Bus) Mark Robson’s The Ghost Ship vs. 5. Alfred Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much Its a heavyweight matchup to round out the Sweet Sixteen. In fact Lewton Bus is the last remaining bye standing in this tournament and Hitchcock is the second highest vote getter from the nomination pool. Its also pretty funny that a week after our Redux vs Redux matchup Hitchcock Redux’s himself. Not only is The Man Who Knew Too Much one of many of Hitchcock’s remakes of his own films but its the second time around in Bracketology as the 1932 original knocked him out of the tournament last season. The original is generally considered superior to the remake so that may speak poorly for Hitchcock’s chances but he’s bringing Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day to the ball so this is no soft draw. Nor is Mark Robson’s, although The Ghost Ship is probably one of the lesser known Lewton films perhaps remembered more for its questionable remake from the 2000s. But part of that is probably that the film was “lost” until the 90s due to rights issues. In fact the film was pulled from theaters just weeks after its release and never shown again for 50 years until public domain kicked in. Wild, huh? Its a tough one. Two huge names, two well received but not slam dunk films. One of these legends is gonna fall and one will advance to the Elite Eight. You’ll decide who. The Ghost Ship is available for streaming on The Internet Archive. The Man Who Knew Too Much is available for streaming on The Internet Archive.  7. (Goat’s All Hail Stephen King) Andy Muschietti’s It vs. 14. (twernt’s Wyrd Woods and Macabre Magick) Emir Ezwan’s Roh Uh, its It. But its the good It! The first part with the kids! Muschietti’s It two parter is one that gets a lot of criticism but most of that tends to fall on the second part and the choices that come from that. The first part was actually very well received with its young star cast and Bill Skarsgard’s turn as Pennywise the Clown. In fact it was kind of a big deal. So does that initial response hold up or has time and a less than equal second part take a toll that brings It down with it? On the flip side is a film that definitely isn’t as well known but is incredibly well received. Released on netflix in the middle of the Covid lockdowns the movie still racked up a ton of big name praise and award buzz. Its also I believe our first Malaysian film. Bracketology knocking that country off your list before the Halloween challenges. Sorry about that. But a very well received slow burn folk horror in the woods vs a very well known jump scare and effects mainstream horror in the sewers. I even found the perfect quote. Can Stephen King’s team keep going or will twernt’s mashup of folkish stuff from around the globe prevail? It is out there and available upon request. Roh is available for streaming on AMC+ and Shudder. That’s our week. And our Sweet Sixteen. Not only does that mean its Elite Eight time next week but it means we’re just 3 weeks away from our Championships. Our long journey is almost over but its been a fun ride and we have a bit more. So here’s hoping we’re all still enjoying ourselves for another week. As always the goal is to just have fun and watch what you want. We try and make sure every film is reasonably available, some are a little harder to find than others and not everyone has the right streaming services so if you need help finding any of the films ask and help might be right around the corner. It will. I have the movies. Just ask. You can vote in this round until 12 noon EST Aug 27th (or when I get to it) Next Week! 5. John Carpenter vs. 7. Tales From the Necronomicon 6. Ladies Night vs. 9. Indonesian Insanity Spreadsheet Letterboxd List
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Aug 20, 2023 17:06
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IT vs Soul is quite the clash of horror styles. I doubt IT will lose, but who knows with our crowd? I'd like to know more about Garland not liking Men.
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Aug 20, 2023 18:11
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And with that, all my teams are out of the tournament. I'll be back next year! You'll see! I really liked Roh. That's all.
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Aug 21, 2023 11:44
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Everybody's talking about this Roh movie. It must be pretty great!
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Aug 21, 2023 18:08
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It turns out I'd seen the 56 version of The Man Who Knew Too Much before (when I was a teenager) and had completely forgotten everything except for Doris Day singing Que Sera Sera. Not a great sign, got worse when the small boy's one character trait was revealed to be casual, rapscallious racism and a different character did brownface. The Ghost Ship was pretty drat boring as those types of movies go, but I think I'm gonna give it the edge. IT was a fun movie to see in the cinema but I've never felt the need to revisit it and I never bothered to watch the second part. Roh, on the other hand, is the kind of flawed movie I'd show to people. Gonna vote Roh.
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Aug 23, 2023 15:22
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Gunna give Roh a lot of love for the jungle setting and minimalist approach. Really dug the spooky isolation vibes. I'll probably vote IT but I'm not sure yet, the first part of IT is so fantastic but I also have a hard time divorcing it from IT2 which sucked so much lol
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Aug 23, 2023 19:09
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Jesus, the scene with James Stewart pressing Doris Day into taking pills is rough to watch
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Aug 24, 2023 16:35
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Roh was pretty good, in the end I felt it was a bit slow for how much payoff there was though. There was one particular scene that will probably stick with me, where the girl is ramming her head against the metal spike. That one got a gasp out of me. Voting for IT, which I'm not totally unbiased about because this is an adaptation of a book I loved that actually turned out really good for once. Yes Part 2 didn't live up to it but I still think Part 1 mostly stands on it's own as an excellent film with a ton of creepy moments(and a few that are downright terrifying).
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Aug 25, 2023 13:42
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Its Friday. I'm not sleeping so my brain is mush but you know the deal. We got about 46 hours left to watch, review, vote, or change your vote in this round and the Sweet Sixteen. And then the Elite Eight arrives assuming I can ever get my rear end to put it together. You can vote in this round until 12 noon EST Aug 27th (or when I get to it) Next Week! 5. John Carpenter vs. 7. Tales From the Necronomicon 6. Ladies Night vs. 9. Indonesian Insanity
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Aug 25, 2023 18:51
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I ended up voting for the Hitchcock flick. It's just better made than ghost ship even though I wasn't fond of Jimmy drugging his wife "for her own good" among some other stuff. Also giving the nod to Roh.
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Aug 25, 2023 19:01
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I liked Roh until about an hour in, when it starts to unravel the mystery in favor of the explicitly supernatural. What it ended up being was still pretty good, but I would've preferred if it had played more with the idea of it being uncertain, with human nature playing an even bigger role than it did. Up to that point, it had me choosing it over It, but now I'm not so sure. For me, the 1956 version of The Man Who Knew Too Much is the one I prefer, even if I can see its flaws. The ending is overlong, and it never quite lets the characters shine, but I think I prefer this somewhat more lavish production. It's also making me realize that it's really hard for me to distinguish which Hitchcock films I like from the ones I don't, because I have my definite splits, but can't really describe what they have in common or what distinguishes them from the ones I dislike. As for this match-up, though, this one wins over The Ghost Ship. Which is kind of a shame, because I loved the way that movie was going. But just when it was getting exciting, it ended all too swiftly.
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Aug 26, 2023 04:10
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Only got to watch one movie this week so have to abstain from the other matchup. I'm afraid that's gonna be like that for the rest of the semester. Roh is okay I guess? Slow buildup to not much of a payoff. I dug the jungle setting and that it didn't shy away from killing the kids. IT was far too much fun for me to see in the theatre to not vote for. A bunch of kids screaming their lungs out with their mom whispering "youll float too" and laughing her rear end off? Parent of the year. I'm usually not a fan of jumpscares but this movie just got them right - they're not infuriating, but rather fun! The garage projector scene was so good, and perfect for the big screen. It it is.
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Aug 26, 2023 15:39
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  The Sweet Sixteen is over and our last two to advance are heavyweights Alfred Hitchcock and Stephen King! All Hail Stephen King just barely squeaks past Roh and twenty’s Wyrd Woods by a 1 vote margin but its good enough to get them moved forward and disappointing that freaky rural international team late in the tournament. It also balances Andy Muschietti’s Bracketology record at 1-1. Hitchcock on the other hand cruises to victory and picks up his 6th overall Bracketology win drawing him even with Mario Bava, Stuart Gordon, George Romero, and Tobe Hoope for 5th overall. He can pull himself away from that impressive pack as he now advances to the Elite Eight for the first time in Bracketology history. And he’ll have to take down the big name in King to go further or Stevie might have another big one in his book. Ok, our Elite Eight is set and that means its time to start whittling it down to our Final Four.  5. John Carpenter’s Someone’s Watching Me! vs. 7. (basebf’s Tales From the Necronomicon) Sam Raimi’s The Gift Big time matchup against two horror legends to kick off our Elite Eight. This is Carpenter’s last run but if he’s gonna make it all the way he’s gonna have to do it with a tv movie that he made right before making Halloween and which aired a mere month after the seminal film made Carpenter a legend. Legends have been drawing TV movies all tournament and they’ve been winning with them be in Speilberg’s Duel or Gordon’s 1-2 punch of Masters of Horror episodes. And Carpenter brings a pretty good outing himself that stars Laura Hutton and Adrienne Barbeau and deals with a lot of the progressive female themes of sexism and stalker that we’ve become familiar with lately with some of the same Rear Window vibes we’ve also seen a fair bit of lately. But its Carpenter and he creates a creepy atmosphere and along with his great leading ladies makes something that may be held back by its TV budget but feels very much of his incredible run to come if even as just a prelude. On the flip side we have Sam Raimi teaming up with a pre-Sling Blade Billy Bob Thornton and Tom Epperson during Raimi’s ‘finding himself” period after the Evil Dead trilogy and before the Spider-Man trilogy. Its not the most well known or celebrated of his films but it boasts an absolute all star cast including Cate Blanchett, Keanu Reeves, Giovani Ribisi, Katie Holmes, Greg Kinnear, Hillary Swank, JK Simmons, Gary Cole, Kim Dickens, Michael Jeter, and Rosemary Harris… and yet oddly enough NOT Billy Bob Thornton. Go figure. Two massive names, two deeper cuts. Which legend will advance into the Final Four and which goes home disappointed? Someone's Watching Me! is out there and available upon request. The Gift is available for streaming on Amazon Prime, Paramount+. MGM+, and Fubo.  6. (Goat’s Ladies Night) Ana Lily Amiprour’s The Outside vs. 9. (mbd’s Indonesian Insanity) Joko Anwar’s Satan’s Slave Amipour’s 2-0 in Bracketology including one way back in the first round of this tournament back in the days when it was cold. Now she draws her own “TV movie” of sorts, her “episode” of GdT’s Netflix anthology Cabinet of Curiosities released last October. I actually would have put Amiprour on GdT’s restructured team if not for the fact that she had already done a tour with Ladies Night and The Outside dealt so heavily with female themes. Not the Rear Window or stalker or MeToo kind of themes we’ve been getting but something else showing a diversity to these subjects. And something incredibly weird. Like, super, super weird. And gross. This is a really weird one kind of outside my usual team picks. On the flip side Satan’s Slaves sounds almost like the kind of movie I do tend to pull against the weirder tastes. Sounding like a fairly standard family in danger horror story some seem to find it a bit too generic or mainstream while others feel it pulls things out for its own. Joko Anwar picked up a win last year with Impetigore that moved this team out of the Play In and into the Field of 64. Now he has a chance to send Indonesian Insanity all the way into the Final Four. And that’s farther than Ladies Night has ever advanced either so its two veteran teams at odds here with one about to make a huge jump towards the championship and one set to end things with some disappointment. The Outside is available for streaming on Netflix as Episode 4 of Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities. Satan's Slave is available for streaming on Shudder, AMC+, and Directtv. That’s our week. The Elite Eight is now underway and that means we’re just 2 weeks away from the Final Four and 3 from the Championships. Its like our own countdown into the Halloween season when you think about it and a hell of a way to round out the summer weeks and these hopefully last days of painstaking heat. And we got big names, weird poo poo, and goop on tap for this week so should be a good one. As always the goal is to just have fun and watch what you want. We try and make sure every film is reasonably available, some are a little harder to find than others and not everyone has the right streaming services so if you need help finding any of the films ask and help might be right around the corner. It will. I have the movies. Just ask. You can vote in this round until 12 noon EST Sept 3rd (or when I get to it) Next Week! 7. Bracketology Redux vs. 8. The Brutal Brits 5. Alfred Hitchcock vs. 7. All Hail Stephen King Spreadsheet Letterboxd List
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Aug 27, 2023 17:04
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It's interesting how this time around solo directors seem to be doing much better than usual.
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Aug 29, 2023 02:55
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Well there’s only two solos in this eight but I feel like the teams were generally more 2-4 groupings if directors on themes as opposed to one and done super teams. So we’re seeing more directors get 2-3 films from their teams. It also probably helps that more of the solos like Raimi have worn down their catalogues to be included in teams. I should do the numbers and put the stats together. I’ve been lazy.
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Aug 29, 2023 03:43
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When we put on The Outside, I don't think either of us expected Dan Stevens dressed as Colonel Sanders doing a ludicrous Matt Berry impersonation.
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Aug 29, 2023 14:27
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I loved The Outside when I watched it last year. Satan's Slave will have to do quite a bit to have a chance in this one.
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Aug 29, 2023 14:33
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I'm voting against my own team, The Outside is so fun.
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Aug 30, 2023 02:57
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Anyone considering voting for Someone's Watching Me or do I have an easy win here? I feel like The Gift is like one of those 7/10 movies that is solid but not necessarily blowing anyone away.
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Sep 1, 2023 13:51
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I'm split. It's impressive for a TV movie but Sam Raimi turns in an interesting spooky yarn with a good cast. The gift runs a lil long and I thought the buddy subplot was a waste until the end happens whereas SWM! doesn't feel overly long. They both have useless dickhead cops. Only one has Adrienne Barbeau though
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Sep 1, 2023 14:13
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I'm pretty sure I'm voting for Carpenter. The Gift is fine enough. A stacked cast, a gothic southern murder mystery vibe. But it feels less than the sum of its parts. I never felt any real tension and I was mostly a little bored. Its paced a little too much like a novel and feels like it never has any real narrative peaks or flow. I was more amazed by the cast or intrigued by Sam Raimi's "finding himself" period where he tried different things than actually enjoyed the movie. Carpenter's meanwhile is a very good TV movie with a very strong cast that might have some soft edges but not only foreshadows the incredible run hes about to go on but is really very progressive for the time. I owe it a rewatch and that's why I said "probably" but the Gift just didn't impress me. And its Friday so I have a little time left to rewatch it! 47 hours or so. And then its onto the second half of the Elite Eight and just two weeks from the Championships. You can vote in this round until 12 noon EST Sept 3rd (or when I get to it) Next Week! 7. Bracketology Redux vs. 8. The Brutal Brits 5. Alfred Hitchcock vs. 7. All Hail Stephen King STAC Goat fucked around with this message at 18:22 on Sep 1, 2023 |
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Sep 1, 2023 18:20
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Oh well. I don't mind losing to Carpenter that much, he's never really had the championship run we deserves.
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Sep 1, 2023 18:49
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Yeah I’m voting for Carpenter. What really sells it is Lauren Hutton’s performance. She’s great and the way she goes from the goofy, joking tough woman who can fend off the creep at work and approach a guy in a bar to the scared, quiet, sickly victim is really something. The whole idea that as Barbeau’s character says “rape” doesn’t have to be physical, it’s about a man making a woman afraid and he’s able to do this from afar so effectively. Carpenter does a great job with it. It’s “Hitchcockian” without being the thing so many other directors try and do and directly ape the legend. You can tell Carpenter is influenced by him but he’s doing his own thing and you can see the hints of what he’d do just weeks later with Halloween or over the next decade. Yeah the score isn’t up to his usual standard but it’s a TV movie he was hired to do before he had any success, name, or power. And he made one hell of a TV movie. Ultimately I just think Someone’s Watching Me! exceeds itself while The Gift is less than the sum of its parts. Not bad. Arguable even better in some ways. But overall a less fun effective film IMO. Basebf555 posted:Oh well. I don't mind losing to Carpenter that much, he's never really had the championship run we deserves. We have a chance to do Carpenter vs Hitchcock! And it’s mostly just a bunch of my teams in the way. This could happen! STAC Goat fucked around with this message at 23:24 on Sep 1, 2023 |
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Sep 1, 2023 23:22
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I'm too much of a sucker for looks rather than content, so I'm voting Raimi. The southern gothic setting is just so much more interesting than made for TV LA. Sadly I'll also have to vote against my team in the other matchup - The Outside was definitely the highlight of Cabinet of Curiosities for me, just had the right amount of goop and style and great use of a popular song. Satan's Slaves is totally solid and I'd say above average, a great "mainstream" horror made outside of Hollywood, but I just enjoyed the other movie more.
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Sep 2, 2023 16:24
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I voted Satan's slaves.
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Sep 2, 2023 16:54
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I voted for The Gift and The Outside. This was a great week! All four movies were new to me and I liked all of them.
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Sep 2, 2023 18:09
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Satan's Slaves is about as mainstream as you'll find from Indonesia, and it is still a roulette wheel of cults, ghosts, possession, and vehicle violence. I love that, that's the energy I want from my Conjurings and what have you.
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Sep 3, 2023 03:51
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  Carpenter beats Raimi! Amirpour beats Anwar! for Amirpour that brings her to 3-0 in Bracketology and propels my Ladies Night team into the Final Four. And trust me no one is more surprised than I am. Carpenter picks up his 8th Bracketology win tying him for #1 all time with Ken Russell and he now has a chance not only to over take him for the top spot overall but to win this whole thing if he can draw the right films. For the others its a tough break but a great run. Sam Raimi falls to 2-2 in Bracketology and Basebf’s Tales From the Necronomicom falls just short. And mbd’s Indonesian Insanity ends its Cinderella run just short of the finish line and Joko Anwar falls to 1-1. But it was four well received movies in a very good week and everyone should be happy. And hopefully we can repeat that magic again this week. Time to finish the Elite Eight.  7. (Goat’s Bracketology Redux) Werner Herzog’s Nosferatu the Vampyre vs. 8. (Tarnop’s The Brutal Brits) Remi Weekes’ His House Now this is a matchup. A real test of preferences a styles. Herzog’s cult classic take on Nosferatu/Dracula that harkens back to German Experionism and really hits hard with some while missing for some others. And a much less known but well regarded recent entry in the “evolved horror” era that marries the spooky with the poignant issues. Probably overlooked by many because of the generally negative opinion of Netflix films, although not actually one of this but rather one of those international indies that Netflix distributed. Of course its hard to say Herzog’s film is mainstream or anything. Its one of those films you may have heard of but not gotten around to. I don’t know. Nor do I know how this one is gonna play out. Feels like it could be a close one as we see how people react to these films. Or maybe a blowout if people really love Nosferatu or bounce hard off it. Guess we’ll have to find out. Nosferatu the Vampyre is available for streaming on AMC+, Crackle, Fandor, Freevee, Fubo, Kanopy, Peacock, Plex, Pluto, Popcornflix, Redbox, Shout TV, Shudder, The Film Detective, and Tubi. Probably loving anywhere else too. Sounds like someone forgot to copyright. His House is available for streaming on Netflix.  5. Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps vs. 7. (Goat’s All Hail Stephen King) Andy Muschietti’s It Chapter Two Whoops. king and Muschietti skated by last round with the first part of It and without the baggage of Chapter Two. So the RNG came back with some humor as it tends to do. Lets be real, round two probably isn’t going my way. Especially not against one of Hitchcock’s most legendary films. Maybe there’s a small genre conflict here? Can 39 Steps somehow be “not horror” enough to let the other side of It through. I honestly can’t even think of much to say here. I mean… this one is gonna be a bloodbath, right? It was a nice run for All Hail Stephen King. Way better than some of the team deserves. Won’t be as good next year with Carrie and Shining burnt but hey… no regrets about not building that super team. Nothing represents the duality of King’s output more than the two chapters of It. Excelsior! The 39 Steps is available for streaming on Criterion, Filmbox, Max, Pluto, ShoutTV, The Film Detective, and Tubi. It Chapter Two is out there and available upon request. That’s our Elite Eight! Hurry up and vote my teams out so we can get to the Final Four! i’m joking, I’m joking. I figure I gotta retire this self deprecating thing after this year considering how inexplicably well my teams did. Still a chance to get two into the Final Four and face off in a championships. Wild. Maybe even a chance to get 3… nah. It 2 ain’t winning. Lets be real. As always the goal is to just have fun and watch what you want. We try and make sure every film is reasonably available, some are a little harder to find than others and not everyone has the right streaming services so if you need help finding any of the films ask and help might be right around the corner. It will. I have the movies. Just ask. You can vote in this round until 12 noon EST Sept 10th (or when I get to it) Next Week! The Final Four! Spreadsheet Letterboxd List
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Sep 3, 2023 17:00
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Sad that my my teams are finally done for, but definitely surprised that Indonesian Insanity had such a good run. No shame in losing against Amirpour. As for this weeks matchup, there's no way IT2 is going to win against any halfway competent movie. Nosferatu against His House will be divisive. To me Nosferatu is easily better, but His House is pretty good, plays to a lot of sensibilities and also does not star a rapist or feature iirc questionable animal practices.
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Sep 6, 2023 11:01
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I love love love Nosferatu. Kinski was a monster but he's been dead for a long time now so I feel ok about appreciating his legendary performances and this is one of the best. The aspect of his performance I love the most is his physical movement. He's capable of a stillness that I think really drives home the inhumanity of a vampire more than any other vampire I've seen in film. He really just doesn't seem human, it's an incredible transformation. One other problematic issue with the movie though is apparently a bunch of rats were treated cruelly and drowned in the making of the scene where the ship comes into port. So it's definitely one of those films where some people just aren't going to want to engage with it and I totally understand that.
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Sep 6, 2023 15:40
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the rats thing is really sad but that said it's one of the best movies ever made
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Sep 6, 2023 15:54
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The 39 steps was pretty quaint/cute but it's easily better than it2 even if it's a spy comedy way more than a horror movie lol
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Sep 6, 2023 16:00
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Does kinski blink at all in this movie???? My god
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Sep 7, 2023 16:58
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It's really a wild performance, there's nothing else like it. I can only assume Bill Skarsgard is going to attempt to channel that performance somewhat in the remake that's coming out, I feel like there was a bit of it already in his IT.
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Sep 7, 2023 17:31
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| # ? May 2, 2024 07:23 |
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It’s Friday, it’s Friday. Gotta get ready for the weekend. Sorry. I’m sick and that song is stuck in my head. Anyway it’s Friday. The Final Four is right around the corner but you still have time to make sure my teams don’t get it and correct the universe. There’s about 45 hours left to vote? Something like that. So the right thing. Vote out Goat. You can vote in this round until 12 noon EST Sept 10th (or when I get to it) Next Week! The Final Four! For my part I’ll be voting against both my teams. I haven’t rewatched 39 Steps yet and I don’t hate It 2 but it’s a too long, messy, failed experiment even if I still enjoy it and am used to such things as a King fan and fan of King adaptions. It works for me as many King miniseries do but ultimately Hitchcock made the better film. And I loved His House. It’s absolutely my thing. Spooky haunted house stuff with some real heart and aomething to say. Made me cry a little even. Nosferatu was better than I remembered. Actually it wasn’t the film I remembered at all. My review for it a couple of years ago said I was feverish and like I remember a totally different movie. Not it made a lot more sense to me this time and is reasonably well made on all parts. But it found the story painfully slow and a curious amount of attention paid to Harker. It makes sense with the way the film ends I guess but he’s like the most boring guy in the story and the result is Van Helsing, Remsfield, Lucy, and even Dracula feel barely there at times. Just didn’t click for me. But His House really really did.
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Sep 8, 2023 20:17
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