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In case you haven’t seen the intro from my entry dated
1/26/19 (it’s in my archives whenever you want to read it), I’m no longer going
to review every single movie I see. I’m
going to review one, with the occasional bonus, and just give ratings for the
rest from now on (unless I decide to pick it up again in the future). You can always ask me why I gave the ratings
for the films without reviews though (via comments or the e-mail addresses
under the ‘About Me’ section).
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High School (Season
One)
Tegan and Sara, if you didn’t know, are a Canadian pop duo
that are twin sisters, and also both lesbians.
I am a fan of some of their music; they gots some catchy tunes. This Freevee series is based on a memoir of
the same name by them, created by Clea DuVall, a lesbian actress from films
such as The Faculty, Identity, and But I’m a Cheerleader (she wrote and directed some of the episodes
here). It’s a coming-of-age series
following the twin sisters as they begin high school and navigate the typical
teen waters as they learn who they are.
Each episode focuses on more than one character, not just them (friends,
parents, etc. are also featured). I
generally enjoyed these 8 episodes that go by quickly (all under 30-minutes;
more shows need to be that way), and I’m not sure if it’s partly because I’m
aware of the people it’s based on, or the nostalgia it evoked since I too was a
teenager in the Nineties (even though it took place in Canada, much of it felt
familiar---a time before cell phones and excessive Internet usage). The story obviously isn’t over and I actually
hope it’s not over! 10/28/2022
Wendell & Wild OK/G
New stop-motion film available on Netflix directed by Henry
Selick, the man behind other great stop-motion flicks like The Nightmare Before Christmas, James
and the Giant Peach, and Coraline. Key and Peele voice the titular demons from
the underworld (Jordan Peele also produced and co-wrote the screenplay) that
are brought to the land of the living after promising to do something for a
girl names Kat. Naturally things go awry
for everyone at first. Although it may
be dark thematically, its tone is largely whimsical. While I didn’t like it as much as the other
Selick films mentioned, although it may be too soon to tell (I do feel this may
age better), I enjoyed it enough. Like
the aforementioned films, it is very imaginative at times and stunning to look
at. [For those that care about
representation, it seems like mostly everyone was featured, even an American
Indian]. Perhaps I expected more from it
the first time (I do feel it could’ve gone more places given the subject
matter) and didn’t truly get to appreciate it yet. I’ll definitely watch it again,
eventually. 10/30/2022
Bonus review:
Guillermo del Toro’s
Cabinet of Curiosities
Anthology series available on Netflix wherein 2 episodes
were released over 4 days (the first instance I’m aware of a show not all
available the first day on the channel; you can binge them all now), all but
two roughly an hour. Guillermo del Toro
just created it and introduces each of the 8 episodes (he only wrote 2 of them)
directed by different filmmakers (they being Guillermo Navarro, Vincenzo
Natali---Cube, Splice, In the Tall Grass,
David Prior---The Empty Man, Ana Lily
Amirpour---A Girl Walks Home Alone at
Night, Keith Thomas---The Vigil, Firestarter remake, Catherine
Hardwicke---Thirteen, Twilight, Panos Cosmatos---Mandy, and Jennifer Kent---The Babadook). It generally wasn’t a bad series, definitely
not grand, each episode giving a feel for the characters and the environment
they live in before ending up in horrifically bizarre, often Lovecraftian,
territory (ironically only 2 segments are based on Lovecraft’s work). The foreboding “Lot 36” involves a man
winning the titular storage unit after a bid, said storage unit containing more
than meets the eye. “Graveyard Rats” is
about a graverobber that comes across bigger problems (literally) than rats in
the graves he robs; contains a Tales from
the Crypt-like comeuppance. “The
Autopsy” ends up being very strange about a parasitic alien, but it is tied up
rather cleverly. “The Outside” is very
strange, occurring around Christmas, and depicts a woman deemed unattractive
developing a rather unorthodox relationship with this lotion promising to make
her “attractive.” Although truly outlandish,
it was definitely compelling (I was reminded of The Tommyknockers at one time although it’s not like that film at
all). “Pickman’s Model” was a slow burn before
culminating quite brutally. “Dreams in
the Witch House” was also part of the Masters
of Horror series, directed by Stuart Gordon; I think I liked that version
better, but this one, which was quite different with some similarities, was
fine too. “The Viewing” was probably my
least favorite, being very slow about a group of people summoned to a gathering
wherein the eventual introduction of an obelisk leads to deadly consequences (I
wasn’t a fan of the creature effects either).
Lastly, “The Murmuring” is a gothic-lite ghost story with tons of
atmosphere that finishes a bit too upbeat (and bland) as many ghost stories
often tend to (“Rick” from The Walking
Dead stars). Most of these tales
probably looked better on paper which is likely what made most of them
intriguing on a script level. The
majority of creature designs, obviously CGI (boo!), weren’t terrible, but I was
never the biggest fan of most otherworldly beings influenced by
Lovecraft/Giger/etc. I will tune in if
another season is created, yes, since I love horror anthologies. Well, at least I look forward to them…10/28/2022
Other movies I've seen and their ratings (see above):
The Good Nurse >>>EH
(Netflix)
Pumpkins >>>B/EH
Run Sweetheart Run >>>EH/OK
(Amazon
Prime)
---Sean O.
10/30/2022
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