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Prophecy Girl

This is where the series starts to feel real, in my opinion. We get more Jenny Calendar. Cordelia unofficially joins the scoobies. And through it all, we can always rely on Xander to pout!

No matter how old I get, I will always love her dress.

Diving into season 2 next week! When I was in my teens, this one was my least favourite so I'm interested to see how I feel about it 20 years on.

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Nightmares / Out of Mind, Out of Sight

I forgot how much this latter half of season 1 focuses on human villainy. These two make an excellent double feature together. Also, Clea DuVall you fucking ICON.

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The Puppet Show

This is one of the best episodes of the season. Crazy how, of all the one-and-done guest characters, it's Sid the Dummy that gets included in 2003's Chaos Bleeds?

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Angel / I Robot, You Jane

Wow I forgot this is the end of Darla? Feels so early

Thrilled to announce that my partner is already excited for Jenny and Giles to fall in love! I can't wait for him to enjoy their relationship!

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Never Kill A Boy On The First Date / The Pack

Looking back on NKABOTFD now, Andrew Borba is the biggest red herring.

The Pack uh.... has not aged well (not that I'm shocked by this)

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The Witch/Teacher's Pet

Both of these episodes really underscore how much of a turd Xander is, that's my main takeaway here.

Really love Amy's introduction, glad she wasn't just a one-and-done kinda character in the big picture of the show.

These monster of the week episodes are essential for setting up our core group and world-building but holy moly I am excited to get to Prophecy Girl and beyond.

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Welcome to the Hellmouth / The Harvest

I don’t think I’ve watched a show that so accurately and efficiently introduced its core cast as Buffy the Vampire Slayer in the last 20 years. Maybe Yellowjackets. 

We’re literally 55 minutes into the series and Xander is already being the worst little manipulative piece of shit.

The scene where Buffy skips school to investigate the mausoleum… She runs into Angel, and asks if he’s gonna wish her luck. The dvd I got from the library definitely has “Good luck” ADR’d in… I swear on my life Boreanaz only said “Luck.”

I love how Joss Whedon stole the “hey the sun is rising! Oh JK” ruse from Hocus Pocus.

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It's 2023 and I haven't posted here in over a year. Watched 711 movies last year and read 86 books!

This year is the 20th anniversary of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series finale, so I'm starting a whole-series rewatch this weekend- stay tuned.

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Top 15 First Watches 2021

Another year already! I’m thrilled to have been able to spend more time in the theater, more time at virtual film festivals, and more time with my weekly Zoom movie crew. I watched over 666 unique shorts and features this year, and as of writing this, spent over 1000 hours watching movies (and yes, that includes the six rewatches of Jennifer’s Body). Without further ado, here are my top 15 first watches of the year.

15: Son In Law

14: Phantom of the Paradise

13: Multiple Maniacs

12: Videodrome

11: 40 Days & 40 Nights

10: This is Gwar

9: The Death of Dick Long

8: House of 1000 Corpses

7: Josie & The Pussycats

6: The Matrix Resurrections

5: I Know What You Did Last Summer

4: Go

3: Barb & Star Go To Vista Del Mar

2: Psycho Goreman

1: True Romance

In 2022, my goals are to NOT watch nearly 700 movies (and spend more time with books and video games), write regularly with intention about the movies I do see, and to go to Panic Fest in person now that I live in KC- and write about it for a real publication!

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Just watched the truly insane and truly iconic Vampire’s Kiss for the first time. Christian Bale cites this one as an inspiration for his performance in American Psycho!

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Top 15 First Watches of 2020

I’ve never been good at staying current on pop culture, and that became especially pronounced in 2020. A year where most of the anticipated theatrical releases were pushed to VOD (and the price nearly tripled) meant that a lot of flicks I was excited for got added to the end of the “Maybe Someday” watchlist. 

But in this strange year, I did manage to watch 245 movies- and 195 of those were first-time watches. Some were new, only available on the (virtual) festival circuit. Some were Criterion mainstays, films I’m horrified to admit I hadn’t seen before. But this year, when movies cemented themself as my biggest joy, I began to really track what I watched- including a “top 5 first watches of the month” roundup for every month. These top 5s weren’t ranked, and weren’t even based on technical ability, strength of dialogue, or critical acclaim. They were just the 5 I loved the best. 

So without further ado, here are my top 15 of the year- one selected from the top 5 of each month, with some bonus entries thrown in as well. As a general rule, I only included features on this list- I was fortunate enough to catch shorts that streamed at Chattanooga Film Fest, Celebration of Fantastic Fest, and more, but to add them to the running would have made writing this listicle absolutely impossible. 

HONORABLE Honorable Mention: The Holiday. Inspired by the fine folks at Super Yaki, I finally watched this Nancy Meyers classic. Why is it two and a half hours long?! Why is that two and a half hours so significantly lacking in Jack Black?! The scenes that Black is in, though, really shine. This one is going to be a Christmas mainstay in the Disco household (and not just because I spent money on the DVD).

15: The Love Witch (Honorable Mention, April). This one came highly recommended to me by friends of all sorts, and like most of my 2020 first watches, I’m deeply embarrassed that it took me this long to get to it. Upon finally watching it, on a rainy Sunday, I described the movie in general (and the color palette, specifically) as “sumptuous,” which is one of the most complimentary visual descriptors I can bestow upon a movie. The plot felt a little convoluted at times, but I still found The Love Witch incredibly enjoyable and am hoping to explore more of writer-director Anna Biller’s filmography in 2021.

14: The Guest (Honorable Mention, October). The Guest is one of the few movies I watched multiple times this year- and the only one I watched twice in one week. From the sultry industrial soundtrack selections to the numerous visual nods to Halloween III: Season of the Witch, The guest was Extremely My Shit. The casting here is truly tremendous- especially Maika Monroe, who was similarly brilliant in It Follows. Also of note: Lance Reddick, one of my current favourite character actors. 

13: The Fast and The Furious (Honorable Mention, May). 2 Fast 2 Furious (and its bespoke theme song, Act A Fool, by Ludacris) came out when I was in the 6th grade. Do you remember the music and movies that entered the world when you were in 6th grade? Do you have an inexplicable zealous love for them? 2F2F was the only film in the Fast Cinematic Universe I had seen for a long, long time. Then I saw Fate of the Furious. Then I bought the series box set, as a joke?? And then, slowly but then also all at once, I genuinely started to love this franchise. Some of them are truly ridiculous. Some of them are genuinely bad. But the first one? The Fast and The Furious (2001)? Timeless. Point Break updated and adapted for the early-aughts, The Fast and the Furious walked so The Italian Job (2003) could run. Without The Fast and The Furious, Paul Walker would just be “the guy from Tammy and The T-Rex” to millions of casual cinemagoers. The cultural impact of The Fast and The Furious simply cannot be denied!! 

12: Come to Daddy (Top 5, July). Honestly, this is the exact flavor of bonkers bullshit I’ve grown to expect from Elijah Wood, and that is not an indictment. Wood’s genuine love for genre film is evident here, in what can only be described as an uncomfortable film of family, reunion, and redemption. The tense and abrasive first half gives way to a surprisingly relieving wave of violence and exposition in this critically-acclaimed flick. 

11: The Stylist (Top 5, September). The feature-length debut of writer-director Jill Gevargizian, based off her short of the same name, is female-led horror that pays homage to genre mainstays like Maniac and Psycho while still being decidedly singular. Not only shot in Kansas City, but set in Kansas City, The Stylist made my midwestern heart happy. This is one that I really, really would have loved to see in a crowded theater auditorium, were this year a different one. 

10: In The Mouth of Madness (Top 5, March). Despite being the beginning of pandemic awareness, March was a slow month for me, movie-wise (even though it’s not like I had anything else going on??). But I finally made time for this Carpenter classic, and I’m so happy I did. I’ve long been fascinated by stories about stories, and the people who find themselves trapped within those stories, and this one is truly, in the most basic sense of the word, horrifying. Sam Neill proves that he belongs in horror here, making his role in Event Horizon seem like a natural fit. Also a highlight: noted character actor David Warner, best known (to me) as “Billy Zane’s bodyguard guy in Titanic,” who never ever fails to be unsettling. 

9: Profondo Rosso (Top 5, April). Before this year, my only Argento exposure was Suspiria (which is phenomenal), but Deep Red goes off the deep end in all the best ways. The score (by frequent Argento collaborators Goblin) is truly groovy. The number of twists and turns the plot takes is kind of mind-boggling, but also delightful. Daria Nicolodi (RIP)  is at the top of her acting game here. This quickly became one of my beloved background movies- if I opened Shudder and Profondo Rosso was playing on one of their live-streaming channels, it stayed on while I was cleaning or cooking or paying bills. Profondo Rosso is a must-watch for those hoping to get into giallo.

8: Crimson Peak (Top 5, November). This one was definitely not what I was expecting, but it was GORGEOUS. I loved the world immediately (a Del Toro trademark, to be honest). As a longtime Pacific Rim stan, it made my heart happy to see Charlie Hunnam and Burn Gorman reunited under Guillermo Del Toro’s vision. 

7: Palm Springs (Top 5, August). I am not typically a time-travel movie enthusiast- but I am a sucker for witty repartee and Andy Samberg. This one made me ugly-cry, which I should probably be a bit more ashamed to admit. August had a lot of really great first watches, but the Hulu exclusive takes the cake due to its novel premise, some truly heart-wrenching reveals, and the amazing casting (is there anything JK Simmons cant do?). 

6: Scare Package (Top 5, May). Is there any format I love more than the horror anthology? While there have been so many over the years (Creepshow, All the Creatures Were Stirring), Scare Package might be my favourite of them all. A variety of fun and inventive stories combined with a genre-lovers dream of an overarching narrative make this one a must-see- in fact, it was the whole reason I bought a pass to this year’s online version of Chattanooga Film Fest. There’s a cameo here that absolutely knocked my socks off (and continued to do so even on repeat viewings). While the scares here are honestly minimal, Scare Package is a great love letter to the genre at large.

5: Do The Right Thing (Top 5, June). Yes, it took me until 2020 to watch Do The Right Thing for the first time. The palpable tension, the interwoven stories of Bed-Stuy’s residents, all seem timeless. Giancarlo Esposito is, as always, a joy to watch. 

4: Knives Out (Top 5, February). “It’s a Rian Johnson whodunnit, duh,” states the SuperYaki! T-shirt famously worn by Jamie Lee Curtis, star of Knives Out (2019). This one has received worlds of critical acclaim, I truly do not know what I could even hope to add to the conversation. I want more old-school murder mystery cinema.

3: The VelociPastor (Top 5, January). It should be testimonial enough that The VelociPastor beat out Miss Americana, Netflix’s Taylor Swift documentary, as the top pick for January- but in case it isn’t, let me end 2020 the way I began it; by evangelizing the HECK out of this movie. Written and directed by up-and-coming triple-threat (Director/songwriter/prolific cat-photo-poster) Brendan Steere, The VelociPastor is a true love letter to genre cinema, complete with a big wink to the criminally underloved Miami Connection. Alyssa Kempinski shines as Carol, a doctor/lawyer/hooker with a heart of gold. The VelociPastor premiered in 2019 but gained tons of attention in 2020 (thanks in part to YouTube sensation Cody Ko)- attention that it truly deserves. A sequel is rumored to be in the works, but mark my words, anything to come from the imagination of Brendan Steere will be worth a watch. 

2: Dinner in America (Top 5, October). I genuinely feel sorry for the other movies I watched in October (there were a lot) (they were all SO GOOD). Dinner in America, which I caught during the Nightstream hybrid festival, was not at all what I was expecting. While the other features were all very solidly genre flicks, this was…. A comedy? A modern love story?? I’mn honestly still not exactly sure, but I do know I loved every second of it. I laughed. I cried. I threw my hands up in the air exuberantly (in front of my laptop, looking like a true fool). I did not shut up about this movie online for weeks. I told anyone and everyone that Kyle Gallner is the most underrated actor of my generation and I still believe it! Dinner in America, the story of a punk band frontman who unwittingly takes refuge from the police in the home of his biggest fan, was an unexpectedly heartwarming tale of family, young love, and arson. Watch it as soon as you can. 

1: Promising Young Woman (Top 5, December). This last-minute debut from Emerald Fennell, originally scheduled to hit theaters in April of this year, finally made its way to the big screen on Christmas Day, and became the 2020 entry on my annual “Christmas Day Trip to the Theater” list.* Carey Mulligan is an icon and deserves all of the awards for this. The soundtrack is sublime. The casting choices are truly incredible. While I have no doubt that the general themes of the movie will be polarizing, I absolutely loved this one- I sat in my car in the theater parking lot for a WHILE, considering just buying a ticket for the next showtime- that’s how badly I felt like I needed to see it again immediately. I look forward to writing its inevitable Criterion essay.

*Nobody else in rural iowa was interested in seeing this movie at noon on Christmas Day. I’m shocked.

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Camp Calypso is the summer camp creature feature I didn’t know I needed.

(This review originally appeared on Ghastly Grinning in August 2020)

There are three rules at Camp Calypso:

No phone calls home.

No seconds at dinner.

And NO swimming after dark.

While the “camp counselors are plagued by an unknown killer” trope isn’t new, the team at Monstrous Femme films has taken the theme and breathed fresh life into it; instead of our killer being a vengeful parent or an unhinged local, the camp is (according to legend) plagued by mer-witches. This charming creature feature, written by Hannah May Cumming and co-directed by Cumming and Karlee Boon, was set to hit the festival circuit this year, but instead made its premiere online as the Portland Horror Film Festival pivoted to a streaming event.

Set at the titular Camp Calypso in 1978, the film manages to pack some great, believable characters (Billy Titko steals the spotlight as Jo) into its twenty-minute runtime. This setting also sets up some absolutely gorgeous establishing shots and funky, period-appropriate costume designs.

While I did feel like the film’s pacing was a bit weird (lots of wonderful setup for what felt like a rushed ending), I overall enjoyed it and would love to see a follow-up short revisiting the camp in the mid-80s. If you liked the “Girls Night Out” segment of Scare Package, the horror-comedy anthology from Aaron B. Koontz, or Fatale Collective’s Bleed collection of shorts, Camp Calypso is for you!

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Deep Red (Profondo Rosso is original title), 1975, dir. Dario Argento.

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Some short thoughts on the shorts (and features) of Chattanooga Film Fest 2020

With the world still in a health crisis, the fine folks behind the Chattanooga Film Festival moved to an entirely online platform this year. Not only was this a great technological achievement, but it also meant that the festival was more accessible than ever. Folks who had never heard of the Chattanooga Film Fest (like me) or find the high cost of attending film festivals a deterrent (like me) were able to experience all of the shorts, features, and special programming.

While I wasn’t able to watch as much as I’d like, here are some thoughts on the shorts and features I did catch!

Beauty Juice: A bit predictable, but very pretty!

His & Herzog: Beautifully absurd, a must-watch.

Best Friends Forever: Genuinely creeped me out, as all slumber-party urban legends do.

Death Walks on Nitrate: Groovy sound design. Extremely My Shit.

What Daphne Saw: Basically if Detroit: Become Human had nuance.

Conspiracy Cruise: A riot. I found it incredibly fun.

Inferno: Very tense, very beautiful.

Little Willy: Hilarious, and Adrienne Barbeau steals it.

For Your Consideration: Samantha Robinson (The Love Witch) wows, as always.

Scare Package (feature): This one is actually the reason I bought access to CFF! I can easily see it becoming a beloved part of the horror homage canon alongside Cabin in the Woods, Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil, and Final Girls. I want a Rad Chad’s Horror Emporium shirt. Scare Package hits Shudder in June so definitely give it a watch!

Hollywood Horror House (feature): Aka Savage Intruder, this 1970 film was absolutely kooky.

Catatonic: I loved the set dressing!

Eat Brains Love (feature): A zombie flick with more heart than brains, but definitely a fun ride. My second set of mangle male genitals in a horror-comedy this year!

Gabby!: Misery meets Cathy meets Fargo. I liked it.

She Forgives: Infidelity is one thing, but not liking avocado is a dealbreaker.

Climate of the Hunter (feature): Tremendously atmospheric! Some wonderful dry dialogue in this one.

I Who Have No One: The last short of the fest for me might have been my favourite. My second failed suicide by hanging of the festival. I would absolutely watch a feature-length take on this.

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Black Christmas (2019) delivers a fresh take on a classic story.

(This review originally appeared on Ghastly Grinning in December 2019)

Fans of the 1974 cult classic Black Christmas will be surprised by the tone and plot of Blunhouse’s 2019 reboot. Initial reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB are grim and critical: gone are “Billy and Agnes”, gone are the calls coming from inside the house, and gone are many of the standard slasher tropes that made the original a seasonal favourite for many.

What moviegoers will find instead, is a fresh take on a classic story. The sisters of Mu Kappa Epsilon, winding down before Christmas break, are stalked and murdered by mysterious figures. Unlike the original, though, 2019’s Black Christmas has a new sense of scope- while most of the original’s action takes place solely in the sorority house, viewers of the reboot will watch the sisters as they walk home from parties, work their campus jobs, and attend classes. The killer (or killers) are also featured much more prominently and, in many cases, identified- a point of contention for some viewers but appropriate for the message of the film.

Instead of the traditional slasher villain characteristics (supernatural strength, speed, silence), we get a fair amount of backstory for why the sorority girl murders are occurring from the film’s designated exposition agent, Cary Elwes (in a role that’s just as slimy and creepy as the trailers make him out to be, but somehow still underutilized). “Fraternities dabbling in the occult in order to retain their power” might be a cheesy plot device, but secret societies have an undeniable appeal that makes them ripe for inclusion, especially in a movie like Black Christmas. Members of a patriarchal organization trying to take back the power that they feel entitled to (that they feel women specifically have taken from them) is a theme that’s timely without being hamfisted.

With its PG-13 rating, this is a slasher film for the Me Too generation, a purposeful choice that can be felt across all aspects of the film, most notably the script. While certain lines are clunky, an attempt at woke social commentary that falls a bit flat, the dialogue between the sisters (Imogen Poots shines, as always, and relative newcomers Aleyse Shannon and Madeleine Adams bring dimension to what could have been shallow roles) rings true. In lieu of a traditional final girl, the movie rejoices in strong, smart women banding together to protect their own- a choice that ultimately made Black Christmas more engaging and tonally on-par with Blumhouse’s 2018 Halloween reboot/sequel. Underlying messages about shared trauma, the importance of speaking up, internalized misogyny, and allyship reinforce who this movie was written for.

There are many small details in this movie that will go unnoticed by male viewers, but will resonate with women, especially college students, especially survivors: being hyperaware of men walking behind you at night. How to hold your keys when you’re walking home alone so you have a chance, even a small one, of surviving an assault. Checking in on your friends at parties. The feeling of not being safe at your job because someone who hurt you could just stroll in at any time to taunt you. Not wearing certain articles of clothing because they’re “too revealing.” Writer April Wolfe and writer-director Sophia Takal have tangibly captured the worst, most dreaded aspects of being a young woman in the world.

They’ve also reminded us of the joy that comes with being a young woman in the world: bonding with your friends. Getting petty revenge on those who have wronged you (and having that revenge go viral on social media). Knowing that your power is something that can’t be taken away from you by anyone.

Some audiences will leave Black Christmas shaking their heads, bemoaning the state of horror today. Some think that social commentary or new perspectives aren’t needed. But others- maybe longtime female horror fans, maybe teens eager for a seasonal scare- will leave the theatre feeling seen. Feeling energized. Feeling excited about horror (especially slashers) in a way people don’t seem to be anymore. I think 2019’s Black Christmas will be part of their holiday tradition for years to come. It will certainly be a part of mine.

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Flexing my writing muscles...

About two months ago, my pal Christal announced that she was starting a new movie-watching challenge for herself: Basically, she was looking for curated mini-film festivals, four movies long, from friends. Easy enough to do in a weekend! I’ve been struggling to get back into writing about movies and picking new ones to watch, so I proposed the same challenge for myself, to friends on Twitter and Facebook.

I was pleasantly surprised- I’ve now got about 20 weekends worth of movies! I plan to start this weekend, and I’ll be making a post every Monday sharing my thoughts on the movies I got to watch.