greentintsmyworld

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Antonio Banderas & Eusebio Poncela in La ley del deseo (Pedro Almodóvar, 1987)

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Creep 2 (2017)- Directed by Patrick Brice

Okay, so a lot of the things I enjoyed about this film I already touched on in my review of the first one (silliness, pacing, budget), so for this one I am mostly going to be going over plot/characters.

This film is very interesting because it's somehow both a lot more silly and A LOT (and I mean A LOT) less silly than the first film. I feel like this change makes a lot of sense considering the switch to a female protagonist and especially one that seems to be very comfortable putting herself in uncomfortable situations. The work she is passionate about doing is meeting strange and unique people (mainly men) off the internet and having non-judgmental and down to earth conversations with them. Unlike Aaron (the protagonist of the first film), Sara does not scare easily, which makes her dynamic with Josef all the more interesting, since he seems to get off on his ability to scare and unsettle people. We can see throughout the film that Sara does not react to any of Josef's trademark jumpscares, and she even (in a way of connecting with him) turns the act around on him and ends up scaring him a couple times. She also seems to truly want to understand and connect with him, and there are a few times where he seems to want to do the same with her, although it's hard to tell how much of what he tells her is the truth since he is known for lying a lot.

I think a really good example of this connection is the hot tub scene. In this scene, Josef is really stressed because the shooting of his documentary didn't go as planned (so real), so he's avoiding Sara, blasting his favorite song, and sitting alone in his hot tub in the dark (ALSO SO REAL). She refuses to give up on learning about him though, so she goes down and turns off his music and demands that he talk to her, which prompts him to go into a very dark retelling of the biggest trauma of his life (the one that got him into killing). He then ends his story by telling her that tonight is going to be a very bad night, but instead of becoming frightened by his honesty and seriousness and all the darkness he's showing and running away, she climbs into the hot tub with him and begins to comfort him, wrapping her arms around him and massaging him. This moment is so perplexing because it seems so strange that someone would want to get closer to a person after hearing them talking about almost being buried alive and their first murder and how that has affected them, but somehow it feels right for these characters. The moment is so raw and tangible and intimate, it's insane.

The relationship between Josef and Sara is so unique and so interesting and so oddly charming that the movie almost feels like a romance... until the very end. This is where things get to the very not silly part, when Josef tells Sara that he wants them to both kill themselves so they can die together in the grave he dug. This is when the rose colored glasses finally come off and she realizes that he really is a killer and isn't going to change, and there will not be a good ending for them. It really is such a chilling and horrifying moment to see the fear fall onto her face in that moment, and her realization that she is actually not safe with him. Nothing in the first movie was as scary as that moment.

There is a lot more I could talk about here, like the cinematography, Josef's (canon?) bisexuality, and how relatable I found some parts of this movie as a loser film major who is easily overstimulated, but I think I'll end it here.

GO WATCH THESE MOVIES NOW!!!

(Rewatched 9/28/23)

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Creep (2014)- Directed by Patrick Brice

Okay, so I am a little bit (very) obsessed with this movie and it's sequel. I watched it for the first time on September 18th of this year, and by the end of that same month, I had already re-watched both films twice. I also hope to do another watch of the movies before the end of October, just to keep with the Halloween spirit and also to make sure all of my friends have seen it.

This movie really changed something within me. I've never really been fond of horror movies that employ a lot of jump-scares. I'm usually more of a campy slasher/80s body horror fan, something grotesque but still keeping an air of unseriousness. That, I think, is where this movie really wins me over. While there are a bunch of jump-scares throughout the film that actually did make me jump, all of them have this feeling of silliness to them. The gag throughout the film and it's sequel is that Josef (our main man/serial killer) loves to mess around and play pranks on people (no matter the situation or how poor the timing is), so he is often jumping out from behind things to give people a scare. Normally, I think even this kind of jump-scare would frighten me a bit, but Mark Duplass (who plays Josef) just has one of those faces that is so nonthreatening and lovable that it's kind of impossible to actually be afraid of him.

Also, I am not usually a fan of found footage films, although I really like the concept of films that are entirely found footage. I feel like a lot of them tend to be really slowly paced and don't do a lot to hold the attention of the audience. This movie, however, is impossible to look away from. Whether it was the insanity of the situation going on or Mark Duplass's very charming on-screen personality, this film had me hooked from the very beginning and eager to watch the sequel.

Also, my last point (I promise), this film means a lot to me as an aspiring filmmaker/someone who wants to work in the movie business. The fact that they were able to make this fairly successful movie on a practically zero dollar budget is astounding. While I do acknowledge that Mark Duplass was already a successful actor/writer/director before the making of this movie, it still gives me hope about my own potential for decent low-budget film-making in the future.

Also, Peachfuzz !!!

(Rewatched 9/28/23)

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An American Werewolf in London (1981)- Directed by John Landis

Hello all! I am back to posting here after my hiatus, and I hope to be more active, as I watch a ridiculous amount of movies all of the time!

Okay, so, I just watched this movie for the first time this past Friday and WOW!!! It has everything I love in a movie: hot and dorky male leads, settings that I would like to live in, disgusting 80's practical effects, SEXUAL TENSION THAT COULD KILL SOMEBODY, and a scene where the insanely sexy male lead has a nauseating transformation into a grotesque creature (also present in The Fly (1986) and Fright Night (1985)).

This film was funny and insane and unsettling and HOT HOT HOT. I loved every minute of it, even when I had to look away (mostly just during the final Griffin Dunne corpse scene cause that thing looked terrifying). Also, I found out right after watching that this movie won an Oscar for best makeup and hair styling (which was so incredibly deserved), and that led me to looking into more movies Rick Baker has worked on and wow the list is crazy. Videodrome, Men in Black, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas are among some of the movies he's done sfx makeup for (all great).

My only small upset with the movie was that I didn't think my boy Griffin Dunne would die like 5 minutes in. He was the main reason I wanted to watch the movie, especially since I added it to my watch list immediately following my watch of After Hours. And, yes, he did come back and was present for a lot of the film, but he was in gross rotting corpse form and not cutesy regular guy form, which was a bummer. David Naughton was still really hot tho and ran around naked for a bit in the movie, so I think I am willing to forgive the makers of the movie for the Griffin Dunne thing.

Anyways... GO WATCH THIS MOVIE. It's good, it's fun, it's sexy. It's also October right now, so it's the perfect time to be watching movies like this. Okay, thank you for reading, and bye!

(Watched 10/13/2023)

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After Hours (1985)- Directed by Martin Scorsese

Okay, so I just watched this film for my American Cinema class, and I absolutely loved it. I've been trying to put off watching movies from any stereotypical "film bro" directors ( ex. Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, Christopher Nolan) for as long as possible, in order to avoid becoming an annoying, pretentious film major, but I think it might be time for me to start diving in.

This film was so fun, even though what the main character was going through was not fun at all. Paul is also such a babe, and I feel like all his reactions and mannerisms in this film are so relatable. I just really love Paul.

(Watched 04/11/2023)

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Degrassi Takes Manhattan (2010)- Directed by Stefan Brogren

Okay, so I fucking hate this movie, and I do not mean that lightly. I consider myself to be a pretty big fan of all things Degrassi related, but I just cannot get behind the plot choices for this movie.

Why did the writers put Emma and Spinner together when they have no chemistry together and have barely had a single conversation throughout the entire series? Is no one concerned that Spinner and Emma (mostly Spinner) are not mentally well at the moment? Spinner's place of work (and Emma's too technically) just got destroyed, and he just discovered that his long-term girlfriend (who literally helped him through chemo) was having an affair with Declan that his friend (Holly J.) covered up and didn't tell him about. And, Emma was having a crazy time in college, just got out of a relationship too, and then transferred schools. Also, what about Sean? I just have this mental image of Sean coming home (to Emma's family) after being off at war or whatever and seeing her and Spinner together and being heartbroken. I also feel like if Sean did come back to Emma at any point in the future, she would definitely end up cheating on Spinner with him or leaving him to be with Sean. There really is no future I can picture where Sean and Emma don't end up together.

Then, there's the Jane story line. But like, am I really supposed to care about that? She was kind of a bad girlfriend to Spinner and then cheated on him (many times) with Declan and then acted like it wasn't a big deal when people found out about it. Now, after wrecking Janie and the Studs, she's suddenly approached to be the lead singer for a new band, where all the other members look about 30, and the one guy is flirting with her, even though she's fresh out of high school. It's terrible. It sucks. Also, how on Earth was she the valedictorian and not Danny???

Finally, there's the Fiona, Holly J, and Declan love triangle??? When I first watched this movie, I was in 7th grade, and I think I definitely lacked some serious critical thinking skills. So, now, looking back from a more matured perspective (freshman in college), I have a very different feeling about this. I don't really see Fiona as a villain in this situation, even though it definitely feels like that's what the writers want me to think. She's a young teenager who doesn't have any really stable friendships from being moved around a lot, and her parents are often gone a lot on business, so her relationship with her brother is clearly the most important one to her. So, when she's being ditched and ignored by her brother because of Holly J, it's very understandable that she would feel threatened and lash out. Clearly she doesn't have great coping mechanisms, as evidenced by her drinking and behavior towards Holly J and even the kiss between her and Declan., but I think she just wanted connection and attention, and no one was giving that to her. I really think she deserved more sympathy than she was given and definitely did not deserve to be shipped off to the Hamptons by herself??? What Fiona really needed was a therapist and maybe parents who aren't gone all the time. Justice for Fiona.

(Rewatched 04/10/2023)

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13 Going on 30 (2004)- Directed by Gary Winick

Okay, so this is one of my favorite movies ever of all time. It's genuinely impossible to dislike this movie, and I don't trust anyone who does. It's such a fun film and definitely hits harder the older you get. I'm still closer in age to 13 than I am to 30, but the idea of wanting so badly to grow up and then realizing that you didn't let yourself enjoy being a kid enough is one I can definitely relate to.

I love the soundtrack for this movie and Jenna's outfits and the fact that young Matt is a Talking Heads fan. I just love this movie so much.

(Rewatched 04/09/2023)

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Just Like Heaven (2005)- Directed by Mark Waters

Okay, so I definitely remember this movie being a lot better than it actually is. I think elementary school me just thought the concept was very cool and that Mark Ruffalo was very cute (college aged me agrees), but the film is a little strangely paced and visually not as nice as I remember. However, I still think the humor holds up, and I'll always have a soft spot for Mark Ruffalo. Major nostalgia points for this one for sure!

There is one part of the movie that I absolutely do not remember from my childhood though, and that is the scene where the really overly flirtatious woman is in David's apartment, and she's saying the most insane and hilarious things, like:

"Every time I meet a good looking guy... lesbian."

and

"I'd get on the phone, and I'd be like, hello, Osama, communism is so over, like give your people toilet paper."

....

I also really appreciated that this movie started and ended with the actual song, Just Like Heaven by the Cure, even though it was a cover the first time.

(Rewatched 04/08/2023)

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Damage (1992)- Directed by Louis Malle

Okay, so this is the second time I've watched this film this year, and it's just as perplexing the second time around.

Visually, the film is gorgeous. Whether it's a shot of the interior of a building or close-up of Jeremy Iron's beautiful face or a weird and slightly unsettling sex scene, it feels almost as if you're looking at a painting. The framing of every single shot in this film is absolutely stunning in a very quiet and natural way, which I absolutely loved. It was like a well-cooked meal for my hungry, film-loving eyes.

Story-wise, this film is kind of horrifying. To put it simply: these characters (especially Anna) need therapy real real bad. Anna grew up with a (presumably) very mentally ill brother who was in love with her and killed himself because she wouldn't be with him. Then, in the film, she gets with Martin, who her mother said looked exactly like her brother. And then, she has a very strange sexual affair with his father, which it seemed she had the intention of getting into as soon as she met him. And, the affair is weird. Anna says almost nothing to Stephen (Martin's father) before or during her first sexual encounters with him. She sort of just stares at him like a robot and motions for him to basically do whatever he wants to her, which includes wrestling with her (and I mean literally wrestling), ripping her shirt open, banging her head on the floor, and fucking her on top of some stove burners (which I really really thought were gonna turn on and roast them both). The two of them also never share a normal kiss for the entirety of the film; they sort of just opened their mouths and rubbed their faces together and gasped like they were trying to steal each other's souls. It was pretty insane and way less hot than you'd expect a film like this to be. It might have even been a little gross, and that's coming from someone who is incredibly attracted to Jeremy Irons.

Miranda Richardson definitely deserved the best supporting actress BAFTA and Oscar nomination for this, especially for the scene at the end after she's beaten herself to cope with the death of her son, which has my favorite line from the entire film:

"Why didn't you kill yourself? You should've killed yourself when it began."

She really slayed that line.

(Rewatched 04/08/2023)

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Loving Annabelle (2006)- Directed by Katherine Brooks

Okay, so... this movie is obviously problematic due to the student teacher relationship, with Simone (the teacher) being in her early 30's and Annabelle (the student) being around 16-17 years old. However, nothing explicit happens between the two until the last 10 minutes of the movie, and Simone is promptly arrested (even though we do not get to see what happens after that). That being said, I actually did enjoy the movie quite a bit. It was pretty difficult to actually conceptualize the age gap between the two main characters, since the actress who played Annabelle was around 25 years old, and the rest of the actresses for the teenage characters were clearly not teenagers themselves.

Most of my enjoyment while watching the film didn't even come from the plot of the movie itself but instead a bunch of interesting little things I noticed/discovered while watching:

This was the second lesbian film I've seen that has directly quoted Song of Myself from Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass. The first was The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love (1995), which is one of my favorite queer films.

Kevin McCarthy, from Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), played Father Harris.

Donald Trump's second wife, Marla Maples, was in this.

There is a scene where the characters are playing badminton. I really like badminton.

One of the girls has a pet porcupine for some reason.

Annabelle was smoking for like 90% of the movie.

Cat's brother (the guy playing guitar at the dance) has a haircut that I really like. I want that haircut.

(Watched 04/08/2023)