The weird path of "The Sympathizer" in my watch routine; watching "body horror" (not me); David Cronenberg live marathon on Criterion; migraines, great songs, a free Substack thing.
The Substance (free on Mubi this month) is very close to being an all-time great horror movie. Way too much ridiculous blood use at the end but if you put that aside this movie is very ,very good. Beautifully filmed with a lot of clever shots, great editing and the acting is spectacular. The story is quite imaginative. Dennis Quaid plays a weird MAGA type shitheel so not much of a stretch for him.
I'm very much a horror-movie wimp, and there are only a few subgenres I can handle. Body horror is a big nopey doke, so basically no Cronenberg, no The Substance, no to a bunch of movies. I also don't go for slasher films, although The Slumber Party Massacre (which is a semi-parody) was fun and I've enjoyed the 1-2 giallo films I've watched, including the original Suspiria. Haunted house movies are very hit-and-miss for me -- the really good ones stick with me a way I don't like but I don't want to watch bad ones! (I saw Poltergeist at age 10 in the theatrical run and I haven't eaten a fried-chicken drumstick since.) But I really like The Changeling, a low-budget George C. Scott movie from the early 80s. Oh, and The Uninvited (1944) is a great ghost story.
This year I'll probably watch The Addams Family (TV show or one of the movies) because real life is just too anxiety-inducing at the moment.
Good, well constructed horror films, absolutely, slasher films, not so much. A few months ago I went on a bender of the old classic horror films, if you haven't seen it, you really MUST watch James Whale's Bride of Frankenstein. It's fantastic and a fantastic film regardless of genre.
Willem Dafoe in Shadow of the Vampire (2000) as Max Schreck playing Count Orlock in the 1922 film Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror is sublime.
...and c'mon, who doesn't love Werewolf in London?
I also like a genre that I like to call "ZomCom" Shaun of the Dead is, of course the chairman of this particular neighborhood...
As to your migraine/pain issues. You already know my prescription: Vicodin & Scotch (yeah, you've still got the headache but you just don't care). That being said, I've been experimenting with a topical thing that I found on Amazon, Evo Dyne Migraine Relief, it comes in two small (lipstick sized) bottles with screw-caps and sort of sponge/fabric tips that dispense this warming lotion topically to specific areas (say the neck wires). I'm still making up my own mind but it was cheap — and I'm out of Vitamin V...
I'm not a fan of slasher flicks but do like zombie movies and monster movies. Train to Busan is very very good. Some others I've enjoyed include 28 Days, 28 Days Later, the original Salem's Lot (the only time I can remember literally jumping while watching something), and of course The Shining and Doctor Sleep. The original Evil Dead movies I love but especially Army of Darkness.
Good luck with the yet to be categorized pain. I'm sure everyone here won't mind if you miss a couple of posts to feel better.
I don't do horror that often, but I have been watching David Cronenberg in front on the camera on Discovery...
I don't mind scary if done well and original, e.g. "Alien". A really good sign was that my wife of many years suggested seeing "Aliens" on our first date.
I am a big believer in the idea of mood watching. That a piece of art will hit differently depending on your mood. My problem is I have been stuck on one mood this past year: I mostly just want lighter stuff. I am definitely missing out because of that but I don’t think this mood will last forever.
Regarding Halloween, I also don’t enjoy scary horror. But there are other subgenres that work well for Halloween. First there’s anything autumn themed. Secondly there are spooky (nonscary) murder mystery shows. Then there are paranormal shows that don’t fill me with terror. I have already sung the praises for the soapy teen CW show The Vampire Diaries. But I also will partake in rewatching “Hush”, a great Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode that is very standalone. I noticed that Peacock and Hulu give a list of Halloween themed episodes of shows. I wouldn’t mind rewatching a Brooklyn Nine Nine heist episode. Or maybe an old Simpsons episode. There are also comedies that seem made for Halloween anytime: Ghosts and What We Do in the Shadows. Incidentally, two more seasons of Ghosts UK have been added to Paramount Plus! That’s how I enjoy the holiday.
Oh, I love paranormal stuff. All in. I just can't do the horror. Never could. I watched stuff like that probably way too early as a kid and it just forever freaked me out. It's what happens when your siblings are way older than you. But yeah, Buffy and Fringe and Mulder and Scully etc., etc., all in.
I've watched "The thing" when I was a kid, definitely too early. I still can't re-watch it, probably never will. Some of the frames in that movie (especially that dog ones) still haunt me to this day.
yes I think there's a whole army of us introduced to early and ruined. I definitely needed to be older for some the shit I walked into or was taken to. Yikes.
I avoid horror and also am a Halloween-disliker (people's decorations have gotten much more...intense than when I was a kid). But I did want to recommend the two-part interview with John Landgraf on The Town podcast. I subscribe to The Town but wind up deleting a lot of episodes because it's so inside-baseball, but sometimes there's one that really worth the listen. https://www.theringer.com/the-town-podcast
Ah, love Landgraf, even if he didn't pick up my show. Ha. He had a lot of nice things to say and he has always been the smartest guy in the room when it comes to the industry. I'll definitely listen.
My more obscure horror pick: Vampyr (1932). Directed by the great Carl Theodor Dreyer (The Passion of Joan of Arc), it is his one pure horror film. Coming so soon after the advent of sync sound tech, it mostly acts as a silent film, but uses sound to accent it. It does not go for scares so much as a feeling of uneasiness. One of the more notable scenes involves footage of someone digging a grave played in reverse. It is streaming on Criterion with a number of great extras and at a lean 73 minutes, never overstays its welcome. Its plot (a student of the occult encounters supernatural haunts and local evildoers in a village outside of Paris) is hardly the point, but allows for this atmospheric film to accomplish its goals. A must watch for any lover of horror or films pushing the medium forward nearly 100 years ago.
The Sympathizer is about North and South Vietnam, not North and South Korea.
"At the center of it is a great performance from little known Hoa Xuande as the Captain, the nebulously titled main character who is a North Korean spy who has infiltrated the South Korean police..."
Oy, clearly a late night brain fritz. I've been watching a lot of South Korean TV series and probably had that on the brain. Thanks for the catch -- will fix.
Not a big horror fan ... not anymore, at least. When I was younger, yeah, horror movies were fun, but the appeal of the blood-splattered slasher genre has always eluded me. Nowadays, I've turned into a complete wuss, it seems -- mostly, methinks, due to the ongoing horrors at home and abroad, including the national nightmare of this presidential campaign. In the weeks leading up to the November 5 Judgement Day, I find any seriously tense, life-or-death dramas just a bit too much -- the last thing I need right now is an increase in tension and stress levels -- which means shows like "The Gentlemen" (Netflix) are currently in my wheelhouse: over the top dramas laced with humor. And, of course, the new season of "Hacks."
I still have a taste for vintage horror, though -- films like the original "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" or "Curse of the Demon," a terrific "the Devil is real and he's coming for YOU" movie from England starring Dana Andrews. Yeah, the demon-reveal at the end is a bit too vintage (although state-of-the-art at the time), but the slow build of suspense is excellent. Jacque Tournier really knew what he was doing. The Brit release was under the title "Night of the Demon," while the US version (supposedly a bit shorter, although I haven't compared the two) was "Curse of the Demon." It's a good Halloween watch for anyone who wants a soupcon of the spooky but has no desire to see gallons of blood as axes and chainsaws rip through human flesh ... and who doesn't mind watching a movie in black and white.
As one who also suffers from neck-related headaches (thankfully, not migraines), you have my full sympathy. You're right -- crimps in that wiring well and truly suck -- so I hope you find a remedy. Soon.
Good recs all, though I probably won't do the horror stuff precisely because of the life or death drama thing you mention about Nov. 5. I'm going in the opposite direction to save myself.
Same. If sanity prevails next week ... or whenever the verdict comes in ... maybe I'll be more interested in the spooky, but for now I'd prefer puppies, kittens, and ice cream.
I've been having migraines for more than 25 years and it's Sumatriptan that always saves the day. As a prevention method, it's only Emgality that worked for me.
KB I think has way worse migraines than me -- she's just much tougher in general, and she takes some migraines pill (name unknown) that offsets things pretty quickly. I'm not a 100 percent sure mine are migraines but I think telling my doctor it's neck wiring madness probably isn't accurate.
Women tend to have much higher pain thresholds than us wimpy men.
BTW, do you know what a classic migraine actually is? It's a brutal headache (though, occasionally they can present as background noise) that is localized in a single quadrant of your head. It's not a whole head headache.
There's a headache clinic in San Francisco that you should probably check out, they're the big guys in this field and, even if it's not migraines, they'll be able to help you diagnose what's going on and help you find treatment.
I loved horror movies during university, but then, getting older, lost the appetite. 20 years later I seem to start recovering and I liked the trilogy: X (good), Pearl (better) & Maxxxine (worse).
I will be watching Substance saturday night in cinema. Hope it's good.
I had read something about that trilogy and the consensus was right in that same order as yours. Also, now I'm going to be using "in cinema" ALL THE TIME. Fantastic. At the movies my ass. "In cinema." It's such a great improvement. It's like how the Canadians say "washroom" instead of "bathroom." So much better!
A former roommate has Brit roots and would often say, "8 bells" instead of "8 O'Clock" and I try to remember using that whenever possible.
I actually canceled my Peacock subscription because I didn't want to pay 8 dollars a month with ads. This subscriptions on the other hand is worth every penny to me. :)
I enjoyed the Sympathizer when I watched it all those months ago. It was a different type of show. Which is why I like movies from Theodore Melfi. Those who aren't familiar with the name should recognize some of his movies. St. Vincent, American Dreamer, Hidden Figures, and The Starling to name a few. I just watched The Starling last night and what I loved about it and a lot of his movies is it's not about guy falls for girl, or things go boom. His movies in my opinion for the most part is about humanity or the human condition. Sometimes that's a good change of pace from all the cookie cookie things out there. Thoughts from others familiar with his stuff.
Thanks for the kind words! I will have to check out Melfi. If I've seen any of those, memory does not recall, but I'm all in on the human condition, so why not. (And why is it that Melfi just makes me think of the Sopranos. I wonder if David Chase, noted film lover who wanted to be a filmmaker more than a TV writer, was giving a wink there?)
‘What We Do In The Shadows’ and ‘The Munsters’ establish my horror outer boundaries.
Genres that amplify the feeling of being willfully manipulated: horror, speed metal, pro wrestling or Fox News, just to name a few, lack appeal for me. (Although in this company horror would get the nod.)
I initially found ‘The Sympathizer’ a little too full of itself, despite being smart, and it basically got lost in the shuffle. Based on your vouching for it, I’ll revisit it, since Robert Downey, Jr. hamming it up is more enticing than, say, Danny DeVito laying it on a bit too thick.
You know, it does this every now and then and then I'm wiped out, somehow get it back and forget about it (mostly). So we'll see. I've definitely had too many neck problems over the yeas so maybe a neurologist is the better idea than "oh, look, it's weirdly gone, yay."
The Substance (free on Mubi this month) is very close to being an all-time great horror movie. Way too much ridiculous blood use at the end but if you put that aside this movie is very ,very good. Beautifully filmed with a lot of clever shots, great editing and the acting is spectacular. The story is quite imaginative. Dennis Quaid plays a weird MAGA type shitheel so not much of a stretch for him.
Haa!
I'm very much a horror-movie wimp, and there are only a few subgenres I can handle. Body horror is a big nopey doke, so basically no Cronenberg, no The Substance, no to a bunch of movies. I also don't go for slasher films, although The Slumber Party Massacre (which is a semi-parody) was fun and I've enjoyed the 1-2 giallo films I've watched, including the original Suspiria. Haunted house movies are very hit-and-miss for me -- the really good ones stick with me a way I don't like but I don't want to watch bad ones! (I saw Poltergeist at age 10 in the theatrical run and I haven't eaten a fried-chicken drumstick since.) But I really like The Changeling, a low-budget George C. Scott movie from the early 80s. Oh, and The Uninvited (1944) is a great ghost story.
This year I'll probably watch The Addams Family (TV show or one of the movies) because real life is just too anxiety-inducing at the moment.
Yes I feel all the horrors of the moment. Then again, your comment did make me laugh. Small hopes in a dark world.
Thanks for bringing to my attention the new Bright Eyes. How on earth did it slip by me?
I find it almost impossible to keep up with new releases. I am forever saying “OH! What?”
Good, well constructed horror films, absolutely, slasher films, not so much. A few months ago I went on a bender of the old classic horror films, if you haven't seen it, you really MUST watch James Whale's Bride of Frankenstein. It's fantastic and a fantastic film regardless of genre.
Willem Dafoe in Shadow of the Vampire (2000) as Max Schreck playing Count Orlock in the 1922 film Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror is sublime.
...and c'mon, who doesn't love Werewolf in London?
I also like a genre that I like to call "ZomCom" Shaun of the Dead is, of course the chairman of this particular neighborhood...
As to your migraine/pain issues. You already know my prescription: Vicodin & Scotch (yeah, you've still got the headache but you just don't care). That being said, I've been experimenting with a topical thing that I found on Amazon, Evo Dyne Migraine Relief, it comes in two small (lipstick sized) bottles with screw-caps and sort of sponge/fabric tips that dispense this warming lotion topically to specific areas (say the neck wires). I'm still making up my own mind but it was cheap — and I'm out of Vitamin V...
I'm not a fan of slasher flicks but do like zombie movies and monster movies. Train to Busan is very very good. Some others I've enjoyed include 28 Days, 28 Days Later, the original Salem's Lot (the only time I can remember literally jumping while watching something), and of course The Shining and Doctor Sleep. The original Evil Dead movies I love but especially Army of Darkness.
Good luck with the yet to be categorized pain. I'm sure everyone here won't mind if you miss a couple of posts to feel better.
I definitely have "Train to Busan" on my list.
I don't do horror that often, but I have been watching David Cronenberg in front on the camera on Discovery...
I don't mind scary if done well and original, e.g. "Alien". A really good sign was that my wife of many years suggested seeing "Aliens" on our first date.
I am a big believer in the idea of mood watching. That a piece of art will hit differently depending on your mood. My problem is I have been stuck on one mood this past year: I mostly just want lighter stuff. I am definitely missing out because of that but I don’t think this mood will last forever.
Regarding Halloween, I also don’t enjoy scary horror. But there are other subgenres that work well for Halloween. First there’s anything autumn themed. Secondly there are spooky (nonscary) murder mystery shows. Then there are paranormal shows that don’t fill me with terror. I have already sung the praises for the soapy teen CW show The Vampire Diaries. But I also will partake in rewatching “Hush”, a great Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode that is very standalone. I noticed that Peacock and Hulu give a list of Halloween themed episodes of shows. I wouldn’t mind rewatching a Brooklyn Nine Nine heist episode. Or maybe an old Simpsons episode. There are also comedies that seem made for Halloween anytime: Ghosts and What We Do in the Shadows. Incidentally, two more seasons of Ghosts UK have been added to Paramount Plus! That’s how I enjoy the holiday.
Do yourself a favor and rewatch the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer film. You'll thank me later...
Oh, I love paranormal stuff. All in. I just can't do the horror. Never could. I watched stuff like that probably way too early as a kid and it just forever freaked me out. It's what happens when your siblings are way older than you. But yeah, Buffy and Fringe and Mulder and Scully etc., etc., all in.
I've watched "The thing" when I was a kid, definitely too early. I still can't re-watch it, probably never will. Some of the frames in that movie (especially that dog ones) still haunt me to this day.
yes I think there's a whole army of us introduced to early and ruined. I definitely needed to be older for some the shit I walked into or was taken to. Yikes.
I avoid horror and also am a Halloween-disliker (people's decorations have gotten much more...intense than when I was a kid). But I did want to recommend the two-part interview with John Landgraf on The Town podcast. I subscribe to The Town but wind up deleting a lot of episodes because it's so inside-baseball, but sometimes there's one that really worth the listen. https://www.theringer.com/the-town-podcast
Ah, love Landgraf, even if he didn't pick up my show. Ha. He had a lot of nice things to say and he has always been the smartest guy in the room when it comes to the industry. I'll definitely listen.
Thanks for the reminder. I need to download as he’s always interesting to listen to.
My more obscure horror pick: Vampyr (1932). Directed by the great Carl Theodor Dreyer (The Passion of Joan of Arc), it is his one pure horror film. Coming so soon after the advent of sync sound tech, it mostly acts as a silent film, but uses sound to accent it. It does not go for scares so much as a feeling of uneasiness. One of the more notable scenes involves footage of someone digging a grave played in reverse. It is streaming on Criterion with a number of great extras and at a lean 73 minutes, never overstays its welcome. Its plot (a student of the occult encounters supernatural haunts and local evildoers in a village outside of Paris) is hardly the point, but allows for this atmospheric film to accomplish its goals. A must watch for any lover of horror or films pushing the medium forward nearly 100 years ago.
(Thus ends the pitch)
I know at least one person who is gonna be all over this.
The Sympathizer is about North and South Vietnam, not North and South Korea.
"At the center of it is a great performance from little known Hoa Xuande as the Captain, the nebulously titled main character who is a North Korean spy who has infiltrated the South Korean police..."
Oy, clearly a late night brain fritz. I've been watching a lot of South Korean TV series and probably had that on the brain. Thanks for the catch -- will fix.
Next please share about the Korean tv you're watching.
Not a big horror fan ... not anymore, at least. When I was younger, yeah, horror movies were fun, but the appeal of the blood-splattered slasher genre has always eluded me. Nowadays, I've turned into a complete wuss, it seems -- mostly, methinks, due to the ongoing horrors at home and abroad, including the national nightmare of this presidential campaign. In the weeks leading up to the November 5 Judgement Day, I find any seriously tense, life-or-death dramas just a bit too much -- the last thing I need right now is an increase in tension and stress levels -- which means shows like "The Gentlemen" (Netflix) are currently in my wheelhouse: over the top dramas laced with humor. And, of course, the new season of "Hacks."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gentlemen_(2024_TV_series)
I still have a taste for vintage horror, though -- films like the original "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" or "Curse of the Demon," a terrific "the Devil is real and he's coming for YOU" movie from England starring Dana Andrews. Yeah, the demon-reveal at the end is a bit too vintage (although state-of-the-art at the time), but the slow build of suspense is excellent. Jacque Tournier really knew what he was doing. The Brit release was under the title "Night of the Demon," while the US version (supposedly a bit shorter, although I haven't compared the two) was "Curse of the Demon." It's a good Halloween watch for anyone who wants a soupcon of the spooky but has no desire to see gallons of blood as axes and chainsaws rip through human flesh ... and who doesn't mind watching a movie in black and white.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_the_Demon
As one who also suffers from neck-related headaches (thankfully, not migraines), you have my full sympathy. You're right -- crimps in that wiring well and truly suck -- so I hope you find a remedy. Soon.
Onward, into the mist...
Gentlemen and Hacks are both top notch.
Good recs all, though I probably won't do the horror stuff precisely because of the life or death drama thing you mention about Nov. 5. I'm going in the opposite direction to save myself.
Same. If sanity prevails next week ... or whenever the verdict comes in ... maybe I'll be more interested in the spooky, but for now I'd prefer puppies, kittens, and ice cream.
I've been having migraines for more than 25 years and it's Sumatriptan that always saves the day. As a prevention method, it's only Emgality that worked for me.
KB I think has way worse migraines than me -- she's just much tougher in general, and she takes some migraines pill (name unknown) that offsets things pretty quickly. I'm not a 100 percent sure mine are migraines but I think telling my doctor it's neck wiring madness probably isn't accurate.
Women tend to have much higher pain thresholds than us wimpy men.
BTW, do you know what a classic migraine actually is? It's a brutal headache (though, occasionally they can present as background noise) that is localized in a single quadrant of your head. It's not a whole head headache.
There's a headache clinic in San Francisco that you should probably check out, they're the big guys in this field and, even if it's not migraines, they'll be able to help you diagnose what's going on and help you find treatment.
I loved horror movies during university, but then, getting older, lost the appetite. 20 years later I seem to start recovering and I liked the trilogy: X (good), Pearl (better) & Maxxxine (worse).
I will be watching Substance saturday night in cinema. Hope it's good.
I had read something about that trilogy and the consensus was right in that same order as yours. Also, now I'm going to be using "in cinema" ALL THE TIME. Fantastic. At the movies my ass. "In cinema." It's such a great improvement. It's like how the Canadians say "washroom" instead of "bathroom." So much better!
A former roommate has Brit roots and would often say, "8 bells" instead of "8 O'Clock" and I try to remember using that whenever possible.
I actually canceled my Peacock subscription because I didn't want to pay 8 dollars a month with ads. This subscriptions on the other hand is worth every penny to me. :)
I enjoyed the Sympathizer when I watched it all those months ago. It was a different type of show. Which is why I like movies from Theodore Melfi. Those who aren't familiar with the name should recognize some of his movies. St. Vincent, American Dreamer, Hidden Figures, and The Starling to name a few. I just watched The Starling last night and what I loved about it and a lot of his movies is it's not about guy falls for girl, or things go boom. His movies in my opinion for the most part is about humanity or the human condition. Sometimes that's a good change of pace from all the cookie cookie things out there. Thoughts from others familiar with his stuff.
Thanks for the kind words! I will have to check out Melfi. If I've seen any of those, memory does not recall, but I'm all in on the human condition, so why not. (And why is it that Melfi just makes me think of the Sopranos. I wonder if David Chase, noted film lover who wanted to be a filmmaker more than a TV writer, was giving a wink there?)
Maybe start with the St Vincent, American Dreamers I think is his newest and has Peter Dinklage and Shirley MacLaine.
I'd love to know what you thought of any of them good or bad. Sometimes I wonder if I have horrible taste in things lol.
‘What We Do In The Shadows’ and ‘The Munsters’ establish my horror outer boundaries.
Genres that amplify the feeling of being willfully manipulated: horror, speed metal, pro wrestling or Fox News, just to name a few, lack appeal for me. (Although in this company horror would get the nod.)
I initially found ‘The Sympathizer’ a little too full of itself, despite being smart, and it basically got lost in the shuffle. Based on your vouching for it, I’ll revisit it, since Robert Downey, Jr. hamming it up is more enticing than, say, Danny DeVito laying it on a bit too thick.
Speedy relief wishes for the neck brain thing.
Laughed hard at that first line. I feel that.
Yeah, try "The Sympathizer" again because it definitely gets better and proved remarkably resilient obviously.
Very concerned about your neck!!
Best neurologist I know is Dr. Patrick Lyndon, teaches a USC with practice in Beverly Hills. 🫶
You know, it does this every now and then and then I'm wiped out, somehow get it back and forget about it (mostly). So we'll see. I've definitely had too many neck problems over the yeas so maybe a neurologist is the better idea than "oh, look, it's weirdly gone, yay."