Letterboxd — Your life in film

The homespun sheen of nostalgic innocence is, unsurprisingly, another guise for racist ideals of the 19th century spun to appear innocent and worth preserving in their traditional values of the “good ‘ol days.” But, if anything, Steamboat Round the Bend demonstrates just how valueless those traditions were, for beyond the overt racism, fondness for perpetuating the Confederacy, and backwoods hick caricatures, the only aspect of the era seemingly worth preserving is an ineffectual portrait of feckless riverboat rivalry and the…

Tales from The Grudge is three short Ju-on-like segments. I say Ju-on-like because the shorts do away with the rules of Ju-on. They are also seemingly most interested in Kayako's murderous hair and nothing else. I should not complain too much, as this is just what the series is—disappointment after disappointment. It feels like there is no direction. It is a franchise with established rules that is also reliant on a formula. It prioritizes the formula more than anything else,…

I thought it would be difficult to hit a lower low than Ju-on: The Curse 2, a film that spends over thirty minutes rehashing Ju-on: The Curse, but here we are. The Grudge 2, the sequel to the first US remake (The Grudge), is actively enraging. How Takashi Shimizu's franchise took off is still beyond me, but this film showcases that the writer/director is out of ideas. I read that Shimizu felt it was important to confront Kayako's childhood and…

Through CRT fuzz, through the dirt and crackle of an aging and beaten tape, warbled audio emanates through scanlines and distortion, a faded memory of a time gone by. Hazy images of confused test subjects respond hesitantly to a slew of probing questions, and a slow burn of layered information begins to construct an image of a flickering neon runoff, a chemical experiment that provides the foundational placement of the story we’re about to live within. Underneath it all plays…

"My wife is not well"

Fucking fantastic seeing West back in action.

I like to think part of the conjuring up for X is in regards to all the weirdos advocating against sex, nudity and gore in present day movies (even if it isn't it still rocks). Like West just laughed and went "get fucked" then proceeded to bring forth a sticky erotic sleaze fest of sweat, fucking and blood that also decides to break the weird out barrier over…

"When someone dies in the grip of a powerful rage... a curse is born. The curse gathers in that place of death. Those who encounter it will be consumed by its fury"

I don't know what to do with this version of The Grudge because on one hand it's an absolutely terrible film but on the other hand I have myself checking my closet every five seconds because I'm bracing myself to see Kayakos creepy fucking face staring at me…

The previous Ju-on films presented stories of people coming in contact with vengeful spirits in chapter-like form. This US remake (still directed by Takashi Shimizu) is what you get if you take one of those chapters, expand it into a feature, and add white people to the equation. The story and scares are mostly the same old, same old, but with a Hollywood coat of paint.

Some people will say the bigger budget, so updated effects, are a significant win…

Good evening and welcome fellow Children of Chaos.

I see people on here asking why, if set in Japan there are no Japanese actors? Probably because they have more self-respect than this.

I probably liked this better than the first one. At least it is better paced and not entirely backloaded.

I'm sorry these J-ghost movies just are not my thing. Like even Ju-On I found insufferably boring. Like these ghost don't really do anything.

There are a few "scares"…

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Decade Series (2022): 11
Initial Rating: (-)
Viewing: Nº 1
Watched: 02.06.22
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Directed by Roland Emmerich

Art direction by Vincent Aird and Félix Larivière-Charron; cinematography by Robby Baumgartner; costume design by Mario Davignon; edited by Ryan Stevens Harris and Adam Wolfe; produced by Daniel Auclair, Roland Emmerich, and Harald Kloser; production design by Kirk M. Petruccelli; score by Harald Kloser and Thomas Wanker; set decoration by Suzanne Cloutier, Philippe Lord, and Ann Smart; sound by Ryan Stevens Harris, Tom Marks, Sean McCormack, Paul O’Bryan, Paul Pirola, and Greg P. Russell;…