Finally back to The Addams Family after a rather frenetic couple of days with zero concentration.

Yep. This movie DEFINITELY helped solidify my kink, lol.
124. I started final destination 4 today. (after I went through 1-3 quick enough to give myself panic attacks and a hyper aware sense of things that might fall and start a sequence of events leading to my death - and had to take a break for a couple days 😂)
I don't think I've seen 4-5 yet so it will be interesting to see how they compare.

I will say that 15 mins into this movie there's a really nasty episode of blatant racism. It's called out, but I don't want to see it at all.
Frankly I'd suggest skipping FD4. It's far poorer in many ways - much less creative - but worse, it relies on things like building up bad, extremely racist characters, so you don't care if they die / on cheap shock value.
Without spoiling, there were undertones of racism too imo.
Ah fuck it now there's some deeply uncomfortable scenes which feel very disturbing to watch as a disabled person too.

Using disability/injuries to make a character hugely vulnerable just so you can amp up the tension? This doesn't feel OK to me in this already problematic movie.
Honestly it's all cheesier than the original 3, too. Like the deaths, even when really gross, just don't carry any emotional weight at all. They're just bland & boring & silly.

I can barely tell the characters apart because they didn't make them real. They didn't make me care.
It's a no from me. 🤷
125. I needed something chill and fun after a shitty mcshit day today - so this evening is Goosebumps. 👍
Gremlins but with garden gnomes lol. 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣
Hey remember when I told you all that Death & Loki from Supernatural got high as fuckin shit for a few years and the Final Destination franchise happened?

Tolllllld ya!

I'm not smug or anything.
126. Final Destination 5.

Definitely a cut above 4, but doesn't work quite as well as 1-3. Glad I watched it though, so I didn't end on the really awful 4!

I'm definitely gonna be freaking out about scary chain reactions for a while after marathoning all 5 so quickly! 😂
127. A Bugs life.

Ants slowly learn they are way more powerful than anything else so long as they work together.

Having been subject to an ant infestation last year... Yep yep yep. Tis true. Lil assholes!
128. Last night was Underworld 3: Rise of the Lycans.

I really enjoyed finding out Lucians backstory here! They kept the quality up pretty well, even without Kate Beckinsale - and brought the feels fairly well. And by fuck, you abhor Viktor even more by the end of the movie!
I quite enjoyed learning more about the politics of this world too & the relations between the different species & how they work together.
There were some legit awful moments revolving around the slavery of the Lycans, in case that factors in to your decision whether to watch. 🧡
129. This morning is Dark City, recommended by @SocialJusticeGM. 25 mins in and all I can really say so far is that this is a fuckin weird movie. 😂 I want to know what the fuck is going on though, so that's a good sign, right? RIGHT? 👀
See you've really gotta wonder if this movie is reflective of life.

IS IT ALL A CRUEL TRICK? Who knows!

Gosh it's really a slow start though. With my concentration today it's not the easiest movie to get into. Especially when I'm so fuckin tired! 😩😴
130. The Addams Family 2 (2021)

Yeah this one made me kinda faintly sad lol. It wasn't an absolutely terrible movie, but compared to the first one, it just didn't live up to it at all!

And Wednesday would never have been tricked like that!
131. The Monster Squad.
Coincidentally another @SocialJusticeGM recommendation!

This is cheesy 80's fare, fairly entertaining for the most part.

But I'm disliking the intolerance shown. Eg - having to wade through a lot of gay/fatphobic slurs isn't my idea of an awesome movie.
132. The House With the Clock in its Walls, with @The1stRedBeard. That was really fun & just what I needed for my hugely distractable brain today.

133. Now it's Hocus Pocus which I believe Ry really loves! I don't remember at all whether I like it or not so I suppose we'll see!
I underestimated just how much Ry loves this movie. 👀 🤣🤣🤣

Also it's very tenuously a monster movie. You find out at the end that they're probably just humans who sold their souls.

But whatever, lol. There's a zombie and a talking cat and shit so 🤷😂
134....?
I am LIVID that I rented the version on Amazon of Let the Right One In, which stated ENGLISH audio, which I presumed meant it was dubbed. I didn't want to watch dubbed but needed to for accessibility...but what I got was the Swedish original which I can't follow. 😭
So it remains to be seen whether I can actually watch this or not.

Not cool Amazon. Not cool at ALL. 😤
The same thing, by the way, has happened for Ry in the US. So this is a major issue for Amazon generally I guess. Labelled very very wrongly! 🤬

I give up. 😭

134. The Cabin in the Woods.

Also fuckin rented grr. Google this time cos fuck Amazon.
This movie is seriously fuckin weird and not at all what I expected. And I kinda love it!!!
135. V Wars.

I found out this 1 season vampire show is based on a comic by Jonathan Maberry (whose rot and ruin YA zombie series I really enjoyed) so I had to check it out!

Surprised I haven't seen this before since it's an outbreak story, but nope! 🤷

It pulls you in quick!🙌
Ah yes. The US federal government covering up a spreading illness that's desperately dangerous, instead of having people take precautions to try and stop the spread.

Relatable.

😤
Oh good, they've run straight to genocide. Also relatable.

TV is sure on the fuckin nose sometimes. 😭
They sure developed their bigotries quickly in this shows timelines. Even the victims are looked down upon.

Interesting.

Also relatable.
Apparently in 1.5 days, I've watched almost 8 eps of V Wars... If that tells you anything about how much I've enjoyed it/how exhausted I've been today! I wasn't even aware I'd watched so many, omg! I only have 2.5 to go, lol! 🤣
I'm pissed this show got cancelled. Potential lost.
It could have had an extra spark and kick to bump up its rating some, but the world they've built is interesting.

I'd have liked to see it get the chance to pull me in more emotionally. It came close at times but never QUITE got there. That I've enjoyed it anyway says a lot.
136. The Mist (TV show).

I didn't expect this to start with a sexual assault & it's fallout, but it did. I sense it is going to be a complex running storyline of misogyny, patriarchy & protecting their own.
So CW this show for themes of SA (not shown, as of yet) / 'disblelief'.
Who are really the monsters in this show? The ones in the mist... Or the men closing ranks? I think we all know the answer. 💔

It's not looking promising as a great monster show though. But we'll see. (I've seen this before but don't remember it at all lol.)
So The Mist (TV) is suffused with ableism & misogyny amongst other bigotries. It makes it harsh/exhausting to watch.

I feel like they tried to do something to show that bigotry & hatred aren't OK, but it hasn't worked because all of the wrong people were involved in making it.
Also I'm sick of adaptations just to make ppl watch, that don't reflect the original material at all. Just write new content ffs. 🙄

I just wanted to watch a monster show. Instead I got a badly thought through commentary on society's ills. Do it well or don't do it at all. 🙃
Also, and yes it's probably realistic but... So many obvious mistakes are being made by characters. Even after they already identified that those things would BE mistakes. I want more.

🥱
Omg the religious bullshit is exhausting and a little traumatic to plough through rn.

How did I watch this show before?!?

Why am I still watching now!? 😭😂
I am still watching The Mist. (TV show)

The ableist bullshit is getting harder to handle. As is everything else about this show. It's like watching a train wreck. Somehow I just can't look away.

Stephen King is so very problematic.

Sigh.
Tonight is Colossal with @The1stRedBeard. Never seen this before! Strangely entrancing so far!
This movie is really fun!

But also it took a really unexpected turn. Yikes. Major incel energy.
Yeesh even darker.
Major trigger warning for domestic violence survivors. Jesus christ. 😬
137. I just wanted to summarise my experience with Colossal last night as I was actually quite triggered by it and couldn't say much.

It started as a really fun movie and unexpectedly turned into something else entirely. I didn't appreciate the sudden shift in tone at ALL.
Cw DA.
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Colossal had some serious male on female violence that turned my stomach, and a lot of themes around toxic masculinity and depicted many non physical violences against women, like seeing us as property. It has some major incel energy too.
Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a bad movie... I just think sometimes you need to know what you're getting in to. If I'd known, I wouldn't have watched it last night. But it's billed as a fun movie from everything I saw, and that wasn't my experience past maybe 1/3 in.
138. On a happier note, I've been watching Fate: The Winx Saga & have actually been surprised by how much I've enjoyed it!

It's about fairies at a magical boarding school, but it's pretty damn dark & I've already sped through 3 eps!

Also - an empath!👇
139. Corpse Bride was a delightfully odd way to spend the evening!
140. Tom Cruise getting the shit kicked out of himself repeatedly in the alien invasion version of groundhog day: Edge of Tomorrow.

I'm not a cruise fan at *all*, but this movie hasn't been a horrific way to start my day, honestly.

You get me. 👇
141. Believe it or not, I have never seen: The Blair Witch Project.

As Ry said, the Blair Witch may well just be hanging back thinking this lot might just take care of themselves, lol. 🤣
Note to self:

NEVER GO INTO THE WOODS ALONE WITH 2 MEN.

They're worse than the Blair Witch. 😩
142. After a break for Ry to read The Wheel of Time to me for a while, we're now on Underworld Awakening!

Ooh, the intrigue!

The kid is badass.
143. Completing the series is Underworld: Blood Wars.

More hotness.

More complex vampire politics.

More betrayal.

More killing.

More anguished mothering.

Appearances from The Woman and King Arthur! 🙌
144. Back to Tim Burton with the weird-as-fuck-ness of Beetlejuice!

It's has been a very very long time since I watched this.

Still weird. 🤣
CW DA

145. So this morning I apparently decided that it was a good day to torture myself w/ gaslighting triggers & watch a movie I've wanted to watch for ages but was quite honestly too scared to do so. I'm feeling OK today so I took the plunge.

It's the Invisible Man, all! 😬
Technically you could argue this isn't a monster movie but I'm fucking allowing it OK because humans are the fucking worst of monsters. Especially rich white men who have nothing better to do than torture their partners.

I'm 40 mins in and I've been creeped out since moment one.
This feels like a purpose built horror movie, just for me. All my worst experiences, but hyped up to 110%.

Eek.

May she kill him bad in the end! 🙏

(ps it's really fucking good. 😭)
Spoilers +
CW DA & gaslighting.
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Oh shit he's trashing all her relationships with people. 😭
Relatable. 💔

I would take all the physical harm in the world over this mind & reality twisting hell. Even all these yrs later, I struggle not to see myself through their eyes.
Wow this movie is hitting a LOT of my triggers. 😬😬😬

But Jesus christ they did it good. That feeling of being absolutely terrorised when the world thinks everything is fine and your abuser is a lovely person who would do anything for you!? It's HARD baked into this movie.
It's a fucking testement to how far I've come, that I can watch this now, actually. Even if it is just good day fare.

Fuck you, my abusers. I fucking healed. 🖕

🎉
Spoilers:
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Holy shit they've gaslit their own audience and at this point I have NO IDEA what's going on.

This is a lot.

It's clever and devious as fuck and so well done it's frightening.
I said to a friend there HAD to have been survivor involvement in the writing of this script. & yep. There was. They sent me a link.

I do wish that they'd brought in a female director here... But this approach was a fairly effective & thoughtful 2nd best.
time.com/5792835/the-in…
CW DA
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I'm not sure I've ever before seen a movie which truly depicts what living with a gaslighting, controlling abuser does to you. How it fucks with your mind. How it makes you doubt your own reality. How deeply it traumatises and wounds. So far beyond most physical trauma.
God I hope they're not about the fuck up the ending.
Jesus my skin is crawling! 👀
I AM SO TORN ABOUT HOW I WANT THIS TO END. 😭
Wow.

Wow.

Feels.

Idk.

Argh.

I got to the end and I'm still torn lol. Maybe that's OK.

Wow. This was a lot.

I am proud of me. 🙌

And now I need something silly and fun, omg. 😬😂
146. (I missed a couple movies though, I'll catch up tomorrow!)

Galaxy Quest.

*Super* spurious monster movie, but exactly what we needed after the day we've had. 😂 Silliness. Absolute silliness.
Catch up.

147. Was Battle Los Angeles. Pretty standard military movie but with aliens, honestly. It wasn't terrible, but nothing to write home about. They didn't make you care.

148. Was Event Horizon. OK disaster/alien movie but again nothing special.
Both were only marginally monster movies lol.

149. Monsters at Work, the monsters Inc series. Honestly almost as good at the movies, if not AS good. Surprisingly fun!

150. (do I get a prize here?)

Wallace & Gromit - The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Silly fun. 🤷🏻‍♀️
151. OMG I'VE MISSED POSTING SO MANY! I will catch up soon lol.

But to get me started again...

Rn I'm watching Godzilla: King of Monsters. Another @SocialJusticeGM recc!

I like it. Millie Bobby Brown is great as always!

But omg I was not expecting the flat out genocide. Eek.
Sidenote: Why do humans act so surprised & appalled when we point out genocide to them? Movies and TV shows make it very clear that we KNOW this is something which happens, and happens regularly enough that fiction is full of it - yet we want to pretend it's not happening rn? 🙄
152. Currently watching The Babadook. Holy shit this movie is so tense I had to pause it half way through for a damn break lol. (high anxiety day didn't help)

Honestly I didn't expect this to be so genuinely scary actually!
The mother in this movie telling all the privileged, judgemental asshole mothers at that party (basically, but in words that really explained why they were being privileged dicks) to go FUCK themselves, was GLORIOUS! Just delightful!!!
👏 👏 👏
153. I haven't finished the Babadook yet, but this evening @The1stRedBeard and I are watching Let Me In.

I'm absolutely gutted I can't watch the original (I can't watch with only subtitles rn & can't find a dubbed version, grr!) but I hear this remake is also excellent, so... 🤞
This movie is fucking dark and gritty and I'm so impressed the Americans didn't pretty it up, heh.
SPOILER 🚨
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Seriously this girl is the perfectly honed groomer. Wow.
Oh... And please note that there is a big old CW on this movie for very brutal childhood bullying (and also grooming - albeit not in the way that is usually discussed).
I got back into The Babadook again.

Oof. It's a lot.
🚨
OK so I gotta CW this for issues surrounding mental illness & the treatment of ppl with mental illness, plus child neglect & abuse.

It's interesting, I was more scared in the first 1/2 when you didn't see anything at all!
I still really can't decide what way this movie is gonna turn. 👀

Note on sensory issues: There is a noise the monster makes that's like a cross between tinnitus and circadas that is deeply fucking unpleasant for my ears. Not good for sensory issues nor tinnitus sufferers. Ouch!
CW Animal Abuse 🚨
SPOILERS
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Oh HOLY GOD the dog. Real or not that is... Too much. 😬

*Hides under my duvet in horror*
Jesus there is so much screaming in this movie lol. (yes it has taken me 2 days to watch this so far haha. I am super distractable and also managing my anxiety!)
Vague spoilers.

Welp.
The Babadook was quite a movie. The way it spirals & mind bends it's way through reality & delusion seamlessly, to the point that you have no idea what is real? Yikes.

I have so many theories as to wtf was going on, omg.

I will never know what to believe.
🚨
I can't decide if I feel there is ableism in this movie or not. I think the fact that it is left so open/confusing makes it hard to peg it down. It certainly plays on themes of mental illness & resulting abuse in ways that are deeply uncomfortable to watch/could be triggering.
It was probably the second most anxiety spiking movie I have seen in this entire watch, second only to The Invisible Man.

It was officially A Lot.

(It could definitely be brutal for someone who has experienced CA in the home, esp if that abuse involved a mentally ill parent)
One last thought that really struck me is that the first half of the movie is so entirely different from the second (in a way that absolutely works, to be clear). There's such a sudden jolt into the second half and things suddenly become much more complex & darker. Be prepared!
154. We've been watching Dragon's Dogma the last few days. We're currently on the last episode.

I've got to be honest, I'm slightly rooting for the dragon in the final fight.

This show had potential, genuinely. But it was, as far as I'm concerned, absolutely wasted.
It didn't make me care enough for the characters past ep 1.

It had many entirely too incelesque moments and themes.

There weren't many likeable characters.

WHY DID HE HAVE SUCH WEIRD MUSCLES? 👀

& omg the awkward fucking. 😬

I wanted very much more.
155. (Hopefully) fun palette cleaner!

Frankenweenie. (the animated one)

Been really enjoying Tim Burton's weirdness lately, so...!

The dad in this movie needs to go soak his head in a bucket of Sparky's crap.
Love the little nod to Mary Shelley on the tombstone in the pet cemetery!👍
156. Watching Come Play today with @adamgreeney and I am kind of thinking it might scare my pants off. 😬

Yep. Yep this starts CREEPY omg. Tonally really well done in the first few minutes.

Similar feel to the Babadook with the book.
Jesus they have some decent scare moves in this movie actually. Stuff I haven't quite seen before.

So far the mum of the autistic kid isn't quite being painted as a hero mum. It's skirting a line but hasn't offended me so far. The father can go fuck himself for being shit.
They're actually explaining some autistic tendencies like stimming to other kids in the movie, and that's pretty cool. I wish I'd seen that in movies as a kid. I might have understood myself earlier.

Unfortunately the kids in question are bullies. 😔
I am so heartbroken seeing autistic kids pushed in to being anything but what they are and want to be though.

Why can't people just leave kids alone to be who they are? And it is Very. Mild. in this movie so far.

I dodged a bullet not being dx when I was a kid.
I'm never gonna see a laser distance measurer the same again. 👀 😱
I like how they've discreetly portrayed Oliver as being hyper empathic. He picks up on cues in other people really well. That's a way autism isn't often portrayed in the movies!

Ooh there's some good twists in this movie! Damn.
I really wish they'd chosen an autistic kid to play this part.
There are moments of him acting autistic that are deeply fucking uncomfortable to me. It's by far not the worst I've seen & it's written more sensitively & with more knowledge than I expected but, painful to watch!
This was actually a really damn decent movie. Quite scary. Unique enough to be really interesting & engaging! I bloody enjoyed it! (Aside from them using an allistic actor for Oliver)
In terms of representation I am not as qualified as many to speak to it as I wasn't dx as a kid.
So take everything I've said with a huge pinch of salt on that front honestly!

But I have seen far far worse depictions of autism in kids and there were some good nuggets in there like depicting him as empathic and capable of love and fun, that you sadly don't often see.
And it really brought the scares!!! Eek!

Glad I had a watch partner cos it makes the scares easier haha! 🧡
157. We're watching Kubo & the Two Strings tonight! (thanks for the recc @3nigmatic_01!)

WHY DOES THIS MOVIE START BY TELLING ME IF I LOOK AWAY OR BLINK OR FIDGIT OR FORGET WHAT WAS SAID THE HERO WILL DIE!? 😭

*Notices self stimming, even as he speaks 😩😂*
"Two would've been ideal, but thanks anyway!" 😂
The stop-motion animation is fucking gorgeous honestly!

(Rhetorical) question though... Why is the cast so fucking white, wtf!? 😤🙃
158 was The Night House. Not a bad scary movie for this afternoon, actually. It went in some directions I didn't expect and it kept my attention throughout.
159 outshines it in the damn scares by far though. Ry finally convinced me to try The Haunting of Hill House. Consider it a huge birthday present for him because this shit is creepy as FUCK. 👀

Everything about this so far is beautifully & awfully done. It's almost sadistic. 😬
He's freaking me out by watching me watching it omg.
Jesus. The detail on this show is just fucking impressive. Down to choosing the creepiest doorknobs and the the entire set of Hill House having this bizarre mind bending feel to it.
The playing with time thing also feels like it's done in a way that isn't too difficult to follow, but still creates a ton of intrigue.

The older brother as an adult has been pissing me the fuck off since the moment he came on screen.
Tiny spoiler.

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What the fuck is with the kittens holy shit.
Me trying to catch up with the days I didn't have the spoons to post here...

160. Monsters at Work series on Disney. Adorable and cute monsters making kids laugh, lol.

161. Coraline. I was sure this was Tim Burton. It wasn't lol. But it was excellent watching & quite creepy!
162. (How have I watched so many omg) October Faction.

How did this show get cancelled? I absolutely LOVED it. Did it have potential it didn't quite meet? Sure, yes. It could have been BETTER. But it was far better than a whole lot of stuff on Netflix & could've got even better!
I genuinely wonder whether bigotry is what killed this show honestly. It had openly gay characters, openly dealt with racism and homophobia both.

Pff. I really enjoyed it. It has unique takes on many run of the mill monsters. It had complex politics and emotions and storylines.
It made me care, albeit not quite as much as there was the potential for.

It had so many shades of grey and I love that in my shows. I wanted mooooore goddammit.
163. Castlevania.
Wow. Where do I start? This show was A Lot.

I want to say I only heard about issues w/ someone involved in this after we started it. I saw he'd been removed from the show as a result & decided to keep watching. Others involved deserve their work to be enjoyed.
It starts off so traumatically. That doesn't stop. I would CW this show for extreme violence & depictions of the deep misogyny of the church/the witch trials. It's painful to watch.

The show does not hold back. It is NOT suitable for children on many many levels. It's gory AF.
Continuing my CW. They do not pretend the apocalypse only affects adult humans. There is violence against and the murder of children depicted here. This is important because I was not prepared for it.

That all said... I loved this show. I really did. Maybe more than I should.
With the BRUTAL death of Dracula's innocent wife begins an apocalypse of righteous, and not so righteous, vengeance and grief.

The characters are well written and acted and are really humanised. They make you care about their stories & their pain - not just the heroes but the
villains too, often. It draws you in emotionally & mentally. You need to know what'll happen next. The animation is pretty damn great.

It's a tough watch. But damn it's a good one. & it's not without humour, or bright moments, which adds some nice contrast to the horror!
One last note is that I did notice quite a lot of incidents of ableism throughout. The show really could and should have done without that.
The Haunting of Hill House seriously is just stupendous at building tension & at putting up the bricks of backstory & character arcs piece by piece in the most beautifully mosaic of ways.
Seriously, it's kind of masterful.

Theo is a fascinating character for me in particular.
I really feel like this show is very much a show about trauma, and the various ways in which people deal with it. Watched from that pov - Which is honestly impossible, I think, not to do when you're someone who has experienced trauma - It's really so very fascinating.
164. I've been watching Deep Water just because Disney+ recommended it and I couldn't be arsed choosing what to watch from my list.

It's actually turned out to not be a bad little watch! Lots of twists and turns. The story keeps you watching. It's got some fairly creepy moments.
I'll CW it for gaslighting because... trying not to spoil the actual story... there's questions in this movie about whether gaslighting/trying to drive someone insane is happening - or whether there is something truly supernatural going on. So if it's a trigger for you, be aware.
Jesus - this turned very very dark towards the end, as I was writing all this. 👀
SPOILERS 👇

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I fucking KNEW that shower door scene with the manager talking it up, was going to come back around. 😬

And wow the ending gave me SERIOUS flashbacks to the ending of The Babadook! This movie came first, just saying. 😉

A surprisingly decent random find!
165. What Lies Beneath.

Another totally random pick on Disney, cos I needed something quick and couldn't decide from my list. I should've read more about it to be prepared for some huge DA triggers.

CW for gaslighting, domestic abuse, and major misogynistic bullshit.
The two main husband characters in this can both go to hell quite frankly.

That said, I'm half way through and still just about watching. But I'm also doing self care tasks that are keeping me distracted.

Why do I keep getting movies about gaslighting recently, argh! 😩
Wow this movie has enraged me in so many ways that if I spoke about it would just be epic spoilers.

Fucking men.

It's not the best done movie on this subject I've ever seen. Not even fucking close. But it's sure got me pissed off anyway.
Back to Hill House. The depictions in episode 5, of sleep paralysis, are disturbing as hell to me as someone who has been through that.

It was surprisingly accurate. To the point that I'm actually a little bit traumatised by it. The emotion in those scenes is just HUGE.
Extremely well acted. Extremely well written. It's quite validating, tbh, to see it handled that way, so genuinely.

And on a random note... The way they play with lighting in this show is just beautifully creepy, omg.
166. The Sixth Sense.

I've enjoyed this one. I remember liking it many yrs ago, but didn't remember anything about it. (so grateful to my memory loss on occasion lol)

They really bring the emotion through great acting, making you care for the characters.
🚨 Eluding to plotlines that would spoil:
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I don't know whether to be impressed with this movie or disappointed in myself (lol) but I didn't see the twist coming until like 10 mins before it became more obvious, even thou it all felt a bit off. They did a really good job!
🚨 Spoilers continued:

(or I am just extremely out of it!)

I can't be arsed to actually do it but part of me wants to re-watch it, with this new perspective. In retrospect there's SO MANY times they elude to it. Everything bugging the back of my brain has fallen into place now.
Now, all that said, I had some Big Issues with yet more examples of M. Night Shyamalan's ableism.

Seriously. Is he capable of producing a piece of work that doesn't equate disability, and esp mental illness, with evil?! It seems not.

I am so very tired. Too tired to say more.
Back to a spoiler one last time...

One last thought. I really wondered a few times during the movie if the wife also sees ghosts. So I wonder now if she actually did see him & it just hurt too much.

That scene in the store about the jewellery, is a nod to that theory, surely?
We're on the last episode of The Haunting of Hill House tonight.

Holy shit, I cannot tell at all where the line between reality and this ghostscape lies. This is so well done.

When in the story did reality stop? Was there ever any? Who knows.
Spoilers....

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The ending was beautifully wrought in many ways...Though for a story that was very much about trauma, it did feel too...Easy, for the characters. They now technically have MORE trauma than before... Yet are doing better than ever before? That feels off to me.
Spoilers

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I did love seeing Theo seemingly accept her empathic ability. She was a character I deeply related to in that ability, and the trauma it brings with it.
I have some complex feelings about the handling of mental illness & addiction in this show & what it says about the norms in our society around how we treat people w/ mental illness.

Difficult to sum those feelings up with my foggy ass brain, sigh. 🤷🏻‍♀️
167. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.

Other than the desperate lack of diversity in this movie, I've really enjoyed it.

Eva Green is hot as fuck as Miss Peregrine. That did not hurt.

I could say more but its bedtime & I'm damned tired & my head hurts. Night all! 🧡
I'm still behind on listing a few things I've watched recently so let me try to catch up!

168. Coco. This was very adorable. Really happy someone recommended it as I hadn't realised there were ghosts in it. It was a movie about family and about being yourself/accepting others.
I legitimately loved the portrayal of a family taking care of all generations, with all abilities, and seeing the value in each one. It's something my society has lost, to it's deep detriment.
169. Final fantasy: spirits within. Thanks for the recc @Falconer084! The animation on this was just absolutely beautiful! Like seriously, I could have watched it just for that! I can't even imagine the work that must have gone into this!
170. The Nightmare Before Christmas. My memory is a black hole as to my reaction to this actually. Argh. The most I can give you is that it was a good destress for an evening after a shitty day.
171. Mimic - I had *Issues*. They gratuitously used a (very stereotypically written, and quite offensively in many ways) autistic child to drive the storyline. A child played by an NT kid, which certainly lives up to the movies name, Mimic. Uncomfortable indeed.
This movie has a very "life finds a way" feel to it. Scientists fucking around and finding out, basically. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Needless to say I'm uninterested in the sequels, though.
172. The Empty Man. This movie was totally not what I expected & actually managed to surprise me, too. Damn - I did not see that ending coming!

It was one of those random, oh I guess I'll try this, watches, without knowing anything about it, and I was glad I gave it a whirl!
173. I've been watching Hellsing Ultimate with our resident super fan @eroauthorPMQ and @The1stRedBeard. I haven't so far Loved It like I did castlevania, as it hasn't dragged me in emotionally - but I hear that's coming!

It's interesting to watch other versions of this story!
I'm especially (and I suppose predictably) enjoying the interplay between Alucard, Seras and Integra. Unwinding that relationship should be fun! Lots of D/s, kink, Polyam overtones going on here! 🙌

Integra's styling is just gorgeous! Sir Integra sits on a thron...
174. Tonight we're watching Paranorman. It's brilliant. Really laugh out loud funny at times.

They really don't like cops. It's satisfying (& sobering) as fuck, the little digs carefully seeded throughout.

It's a story based in a sad history, but beautifully written & animated.
Urgh, aphasia moment in the alt text for the above image, sorry.

It's meant to say stop motion not stop caption. 🙄😅
Woah! The little video they did of doing the stop motion at the end, is just absolutely amazing! God, I need to find a proper video somewhere about the making of that movie lol.
175. Is Paranormal Activity. I actually started this yesterday but I'm struggling a lot with concentration right now. Hard to make myself get all the way through a movie alone, lol.

I've never actually seen this despite how big it was!
I read a little about it yesterday and I'm fucking impressed they made it for $15k given what a box office hit it was. (Do. This. More. Hollywood)

So far I'm really happy with how it just portrays this normal couple in a dire situation. They're naturalistic actors and it shows.
It really built this deep tension all through the first half... And I think shit is about to go DOWN. (I am at THIS point in the movie) 👇

Eek. Why am I watching this one alone, actually?!
Why is static on a TV so inherently fucking scary OH MY GOD. 📺😂
Seriously the guy in this movie is a bastard. He's willing to risk her for interesting footage. He flat out lies to her. He overrides her choice at every turn.

He, like frankly too many men, does not deserve her, or any partner.
176. OMG this movie needs to stop with the super loud jump scares! 😬

It's Paranormal Activity 2.

Genuinely scary sometimes omg, but for me that's rather overridden by the massive sensory overload. So CW for sudden very loud noises and shocks.
177. This evening is Missing Link. More fascinating stop motion animation.

Obnoxious "but loveable" rich guy aside i think I remember liking this last time I watched. We shall see!
Yep Adelina is definitely why I liked this movie lol.

And the animation really is great!
Lol the city is called "Keep Out, We Hate You!" 😂😂😂
The stop motion animation was absolutely amazing, just magic!

Watching a you tube video about the making of it now! So very interesting!

I just wish the story and characters hadn't fallen a bit flat comparatively!

Like, this is just amazing. The artistry here is just staggering!

Found one for kubo and the two strings too! Been meaning to look one up ever since I watched it!
OK this one for Paranorman is AMAZING! Really goes into details about how the characters animation works, and such!

178. Casper. Just silly ghost stories for a bad day, really. Kind of a sweet movie and better than I remembered.

Random note, amazon doesn't list Christina Ricci in the "starring roles" section, and, Excuse Me?!
179. I finally got to the Addams Family Values a few days ago! Gods, I really do love Wednesday! This one wasn't quite up to the standards of the original but wasn't bad.

Consider this gif representative of me when the Christians start singing, too.
180. The other day I watched The Land Before Time. Wow, I forgot just how damned dark that movie was! Poor poor little baby dinos! 😭 Bad sharptooth!

(then I watched the second and they made them musical and cute wtf lol?)
This thread and the watch itself is so wrapped up in the relationships I've lost that it's just killing me.

It's another one of those rock/volcano moments though. I can't stop because it's my coping mechanism... But it's also hurting me. 😭
181. The Boxtrolls. Wherein yet again, and very relateably, the humans are the actual monsters.

This is so much sadder than I expected. A genocide of the Boxtrolls. But it's absolutely beautifully stop motion animated once again. And the troll world they've built is delightful!
"You make you".

I love this movie. 😍
And because now I'm slightly obsessed with how the make the stop motion, here's another you tube video for how they made The Boxtrolls! 😁

Just amazing!

WOAH.
182. Paranormal Activity 3. Jesus, kids are just so truly, deeply, capable of being creepy. (Kids toys are also on my shit list lol.)

This movie has both aplenty. 😬

And a shit ton of (sometimes noisy) jump scares, in case that's not your thing.

It's not bad so far though!!
This babysitter is having DEEP regrets about her life choices right now.
Blood Mary really is a fucking terrible legend. I do not like. 👀
*Bloody. Urgh.
Ok so they took this one "bigger" and "scarier" but all they really did was make it worse. There were some genuinely scary and very creepy moments... But mistakes were definitely made. And the storyline feels incongruent with the original 2 movies! 🤷🏻‍♀️
183. Paranormal Activity 4.

Omg its Claire from Supernatural! 🙌
Wow the teenage boy in this needs to seriously work on himself. That is some intensely stalkery stalker shit right there.
I think this set of movies is like, what happens to you if you watch too many horror movies. 😬😅

They have some neat new (to the series) filming tricks on this one! Creepy touches for real.
Some of the close up scenes, focusing on the teenage girls face are just brilliant, because she's so good at emoting!

Many yikes.

And that cat is smart. Knows when the fuck to get out of dodge. 🐈👍
They just keep making it bigger and it really is a mistake. Claire rescued the movie though.

On a personal note, I now have this song going through my head and it actually makes me feel a bit creeped out now lol!

184. Paranormal Activity 5. The Marked Ones.

More boys being fuck ups and finding out. Huge theme of this series.

This one is really not working for me at all. Didn't make me care at all. A few decent scare tricks though.
Oop they added some totally unexpected body horror.

It was a NOPE from me. 🤮
That movie was all over the fucking place. Jesus.
185. Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension.

Oof Well so far is at least as bad as the last. They just keep getting more and more ridiculous and truing to build their mythology bigger and it just isn't working lol.

Even the jump scares aren't quite getting me anymore.
Jesus. Christ.

I just had the creepiest of supernatural terror dreams. Scarier by far than the Paranormal activity movies I've been watching, that's for sure!

Woke up with a massive jump, heart pounding, terrified to move, or lift my eye mask. 😬

I watch too much scare lol. 😱
This was very much worse than the time those mini shark things attacked me in my sleep! 😬

186. I clearly needed a break from fear lol... So decided to go for The Rise of the Guardians tonight! Which turned out to be super bloody appropriate after my nightmare, given it has the sandman going up against pitch black, the nightmare king! I had no clue lol! 🙌

Good movie!
187. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.

I can't decide if its an act of creepy genius that they gave the terminatrix the ability to express emotion when not actually needed for the mission... Or an annoying, incongruent mistake.
There were moments where she was alone, but showing a grim pleasure in her task. She comes off as "evil" not "programed machine", in other words. Did they evolve? Does the programming just not know when to shut off? Was the actress just not capable of turning it fully off?🤷🏻‍♀️ Idk!
Yet again, the lack of diversity in this movie was depressing as fuck. The bar is pretty fucking low when I have to think "Well, at least there wasn't an embarrassing as fuck white women's tears moment after an innocent black man got thrown under the fucking bus" - like, yikes.
188. Terminator Salvation.

This movie was entirely ruined by the worst fucking ending ever.

I enjoyed learning more about Kyle Reece and him, and Star were epic together!

But that ending is unforgiveable. What in the actual fuck?

SPOILERS BELOW.
🚨 Big ass spoilers! 🚨

Oh. My. Fucking. God.

They finally got a terminator turning to their side. It's literally INVALUABLE. And frankly an evolution that would be to be expected since there is meant to be real sentience here.

It could have been the biggest gamechanger ever!
🚨 More Big Ass Spoilers 🚨

But NO. Apparently the movie makers would prefer to let him sacrifice himself for John fuckin Connor & give away his heart.

Apparently even though this one of a kind machine chose their side, at cost to himself, they were all willing to let him die.
🚨 Spoilers 🚨

What in the actual fucked up fuck kind of ending is that?!

One of them choosing their side could conceivably have even ended up helping them find PEACE in the end, never mind the whole "winning the war" thing. Honestly, a lot about this world just doesn't jibe!
Also this happened lol. 👇

I was so very fucking confused. 🤣🤣🤣

Honestly in different hands, the Terminator franchise could have been AMAZING. I mean the basic premise is interesting & there's so much potential. I hate that it's so much less than that potential.
Does it stick in your mind forever once you've seen it? Yea. But I wanted more.🤷🏻‍♀️
I don't think I'd want a reboot though? Give me new interesting apocalyptic stories and make them diverse and great! Fill them with a brilliant cast and create them with great writers of all diversities. Take risks but do it in a way that counts! 🎉
189. Dragon Rider.
Needed a chill out movie tonight after a Day of Sad. This isn't too awful, though hardly super noteable! The monster is a steampunk metal dragon thing made to hunt real dragons. Or the humans themselves for encroaching on other species territories. You choose.
Props to Patrick Stewart's evil dragon for having NONE of another character starting to break into song! Slapped that shit across the room and saved us all some almost inevitably shit song!

👏👏👏👏👏
190. Pacific Rim: The Black.
I've been watching through this over the last wk & I've liked it far more than I expected. Far, far more than the movies! They've really built a cast of characters who you care about! The story is interesting, gritty, grim & dark, with sparks of hope!
The main characters are well rounded and all have their own arcs. They really handle the emotion of the story well, pulling you in.

I didn't expect to love it so much but oh, yes I kind of did!
🚨Slight Spoiler🚨

Their handling of the Kaiju themselves is honestly far more interesting that I've seen in any of the movies. They add nuance and depth to them. They have, in some ways, their own character and arcs. Fuck, even the Jaeger gets her own (sardonic AF) personality!
191. The Haunting of Bly Manor.

Holy fuck, this has been getting under my skin!

First up, this show is legit creepy. Much more so than scary. Skip if that isn't your thing.

I'm also gonna CW it for Affairs & Christian Content because both slapped me in the face unexpectedly😭
Omg the accents in this are A Lot. It's set in the UK but USA made & ... EEK. It runs from the hilarious to the horrifying! 😂 Even some of the British actors are forced to change accents & it really doesn't work! It was so bad I googled it & yup, looks like we weren't impressed!
Saying that, other than accents, the acting is really high quality throughout. These are actors who truly know how to emote - both in the huge emotional scenes, and in small movements and face expressions that convey so very much! It's brought me to tears several times already!
There's a scene where one of them just walks outside alone & screams in absolute soul agony & horror & I felt it in my fucking BONES it was so real & so heartfelt & so ME. RIGHT. NOW!

I don't think it's easy to pull off to this extent, honestly. She clearly tapped into the real!
There's creepy dolls, kids, adults & rooms and omg just so much fucking creep, lol.

It has some genuinely clever storylines that keep you all twisted around & unsure what's going on. The time flipping is done with a real jarring effect that just adds to the discomfort of it all.
I haven't quite finished it. I kinda tapped out yesterday after dealing with a storyline that just really kinda destroyed me. I'll have to finish it on a night when I am doing better, I think.

Some peaceful, chilled out things will probably be good in the meantime!! 😬
Oh shit I almost forgot... Lovely as fuck lesbian flirting and relationship development! 😍 👏
192. Men in Black.

This is the movie it took me 4 hours to choose, then all day to watch. However it was actually worth it because it repeatedly made me laugh out loud. And really, what more could I want rn?!

It's ridiculous fun! 👏
193. In a similar make me laugh vein, tonight is Shrek! Sure, yeah, I'm yet against stretching the boundaries of what fits in my watch. But fuck it, its my watch. There's ogres and fairytale creatures OK. I never said all the monsters would be bad or scary or want to eat you! 😁
Me, everytime more than one person (or animal) is in my room. 👇

(most days, very much when anyone whatsoever is in my room, tbh...)
You know, the soundtrack in this movie is fuckin epic! 👌 🎉

And just to share the love...one of my favorite songs of all time - Bad Reputation! 🎉🎉🎉
CW Kink.
.
.
.
Also I have always wanted a Dom/me to tell me "that'll do, kitten, that'll do" and pat me on the head.

It's A Thing, OK?! 😊😸
I really fuckin love Shrek.

It's fun, sweet, uplifting and emotional. It deals with some deep issues like isolation, feeling different, and coping mechanisms. It pulls us up on judging people based on appearance. It has silly adult jokes sprinkled throughout.

It's awesome! 🙌
194. Men In Black II.

The glaring issue with this series is how the basic premise is absolutely inconceivable.

The US (& most of the world) can't even handle HUMAN immigrants with compassion, acceptance & dignity - there is not a chance they wouldn't just murder every alien. 😭
195. Shrek 2.

Annnnd Prince Charming just disqualified himself for the role of Anyone Anywhere Around Me, by spraying perfume in his fucking mouth. 🤮
Lol, Puss in Boots really is the most adorable assassin who ever lived! 😂
And like.... Most ridiculously weird cute babies ever. 😂

And that all about sums up Shrek 2. 👍

Not on par with the first movie, but pretty damn decent! 🤷🏻‍♀️
196. Men in Black 3.

Honestly this one was nothing very much to write home about. It's fun enough, just nothing stand out great or stand out bad, ya know? I have nothing much to report lol.
(👇 including the water monster movies.)

I now ofc absolutely MUST reach 300 combined before I switch to survival movies! 🤷🏻‍♀️

(to be fair, I have at least that many still on my list lol. It just keeps fucking growing!)

197. Shrek the Third.

The one in which Shrek should've worn a goddamn condom if he wasn't ready to be a father and he & Fiona should've had conversations around the subject before ever having sex. 🤷🏻‍♀️

(and donkey already fucked around and found out with exploding snot babies) 😆
(although of course we all have questions about actually, how the fuck did that happen?! 😄)

Also ffs, stopping with the patriarchy nonsense would solve all your problems! 🤷🏻‍♀️
Wow I am super behind here. It's been a crap few days. I'll at least start to get going again, then backtrack to what I missed, soon, lol.

So this evenings watch was:
198. Men in Black 4 - I am super annoyed that this movie is rated so low! Like honestly it was pretty great!
I was really able to connect with Molly as a character & it retained the charm of the first 3 - if not *quite* the laugh out loud humour.

I really do think it should be judged on its own merit & to me this was a very solid movie. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Definitely recommend!

Also, Pawny is awesome!
199. Blood Red Sky. I first watched this British-German Netflix movie last year & really enjoyed it! Let's see how watch 2 goes!! 🤞

Terrorists and a Vampire stuck on a plane together! What could go wrong?!

Holy shit this is 199...
What am I gonna watch for 200?! Gotta be good!
(OK so technically I already passed 200 because I'm a bit behind but shuuuuuush hehe)
White dudes on the plane trying to claim the terrorists aren't terrorists (they're white so god forbid white terrorists exist right? 🙄🙄🙄🙃) are so damn realistic it makes me want to weep.
These men are fucking monsters. 🤬

The vampires in this movie are slightly different to the average in that one bite seems enough to turn someone. And they are honestly really quite terrifying at times. Very very animalistic, brutal and extremely fucking powerful!
🚨 Spoilers 🚨

You know, the men in this movie are mostly absolute tossers actually. Seriously - dude who just stole a woman's oxygen mask when the cabin was depressurised, can go get sucked out the fuckin broken window! 🤬🤬🤬

Oh nice. He got his, as I was writing!
👏👏👏
🚨 Spoilers 🚨

You do not want to be trapped under a food cart in this particular movie. (well honestly, or any - claustrophobic as fuck here, lol)

Dude got his again. 😂 It's literally Eat the Rich around here. Lol. 🤣 🤣 🤣 Love it.
Blood Red Sky is a great movie! And honestly it's underrated on all the review sites.

Watch it! 😁
🎉 200. The Amityville Horror 🎉
(The 2005 version)
Do I get a prize for getting to 200 land monster movies and shows?! I feel like I should!

A rather horrifying beginning quite frankly! 😬

CW for strobe type effects at the beginning. Not the worst ever but not good!
Welp they knowingly bought the house. The creepy, creepy house. Like seriously - even without the murders, that is the creepiest facade of a house ever. 😬

Melissa George's boobs were just fine until the first jump scare of the movie nearly made me fucking throw up. 😭
Jesus, creepy kids are The Worst. 😭

Creepy men aren't much better. Really not loving Ryan Reynolds character in this! 😬
Fucking hell, this movie is not ok.

Why am I watching this movie?! 😭
Yes I DEFINITELY deserve an award. 😭😂

🚨 Definite domestic abuse triggers in this movie, even though the context is different than a clear abuse story.

Should have gone for the original. Or watched it in the day. 😂
Holy fucking christ I would retreat but now I need to know how this fucking thing ends or I am never sleeping tonight. 😭😭😭

The log chopping scene omfg.

I know where I'd like to put that axe. 😡
🚨 Annnnnnnd CW for harm to animals. 😭

Yeeeeeep this is definitely a when the sun is up movie. 👀
Nooooot OK with where this storyline is heading about the "Indians being murdered there". When will white people learn? 😤
Oooooooooook not even a calming ending to make me feel better. 😭

I am now resorting to one of my favourite cartoons (Kipo) to try and calm the fuck down before I have to sleep because HOLY FUCKING CHRIST that movie was not for me. 😂

Quite the movie to pick for the 200th. 😬🤦🏻‍♀️
Ps my heart rate is still high. 😂😂😂
Backtracking a bit for some things I didn't get around to mentioning...

201. Rise of the Guardians. I LOVED this movie. Jack Frost was one of the saddest and sweetest characters and I adored watching his arc from forgotten to loved. 😍 The animation was lovely. The story also!
202. The Little Vampire (animation, 2017) OK, so this was less stupendous to say the least. Just kind of a cute fluff movie with nothing truly terrible and nothing truly wonderful. The kids will probably enjoy it but there just wasn't enough depth to really reach me. 🤷🏻‍♀️
203. Pixels. You know I really just watched this because it was such a ludicrous concept, I just felt I needed to experience it! I mean - aliens who see a video game championship & presume we are declaring war - so attack us a few decades later using old video game characters?
I did not expect to find such humour and charm in such a silly movie, with a middling rating. But something about it just appealed. I laughed far too hard, far too often.

As my watch partner said, "It's all just a gamers wet dream".
204. Dinotopia mini series. I actually enjoyed this more than I thought I would! It was nice and relaxing at a very stressful time, but with enough intrigue to keep me hooked. There was so very many people in it that I regularly wanted to slap, though!
My favourite sequence was watching Wentworth Miller as David (I couldn't think of him as anyone but a "young" Michael from Prison Break though!), learning to overcome his fear and awkwardness and become a skybax (pterosaur) rider! 😍
205. One last catch up.
Roald Dahl's The Witches, 2020.

Wow the witches were the fucking freakiest in this movie. Their mouths... Argh! Creepy creepy creepy! This was a fun enough movie but not too much to write home about.

Grandma was lovely & I want a grandma like her pls ty.
206. Wow, Hellbound is not a show to watch when your anxiety is flaring, and you have religious triggers, lol.

Let me say straight off I had to watch this dubbed due to access issues cognitively. And ugh. For a show set in Korea, the accents shouldn't be American ones. 😩😤
It makes it extremely difficult to settle in to the story, so I dislike that anyway. It's so incongruent... but I also feel it's always done due to a troubling expectation that your English speaking audience is racist & that that should be catered to. And to that I say - fuck no!
I've only watched episode one but the creatures themselves, unearthly beings - presumably from hell, who come to collect "evil" humans and viciously deliver them to hell - they're fairly unique to me and at least a bit terrifying actually.
This show is packed full of cultish preaching. Huge emphasis on the religious understandings of sin & evil.
I'm not keen on the religious *reason* for the following, but they did state that mental illness doesn't make you commit crimes, your choices do. I found that refreshing!
🚨 Mild spoiler.

Oh good. Now cult guy is slut shaming a desperately traumatised single mum, because she of course deserves to go to hell for having kids outside of wedlock. 🙌

Religious thinking is merciless. 🤢
The sick, religious, human delight being shown in this show, as terrible, traumatic things happen to people? Well. It's too on point and is painful to watch as a result.

Why are humans so goddamn cruel?! 😢

I literally cannot understand.
Vigilante justice is no more justice than our unfit for purpose justice system.

I really hate my own species sometimes, and the awful truths on display in this show turn my stomach.

Enough for one night me thinks. I need cartoons and joy. 😭
207. Sleepy Hollow. This is a weird ass movie. I have no idea what's happening and I'm half way through. It's really fucking weird. So far it seems vastly overrated.

However I fucking want this optical illusion fidget toy so damn much! It's so pretty and fun and cool!! 👇 NEED.
I didn't become more impressed with this movie. Felt all over the place which made it hard for me to follow. Nothing quite made sense. I didn't come to care for the characters. It wasn't a TERRIBLE movie, just, kind of forgettable? The corsets were a bit of an improver I guess?
208. Troll Hunter (2010)
I've wanted to watch this for ages after it was recommended by several ppl - I can't remember who, argh - but with my issues with needing both eng audio & needing subtitles rn, I'd been putting it off in the hope I could watched the undubbed version.
No such luck lol. So I've finally given in and I'm watching the dubbed version. (sadly with no subs because apparently my only choice was one or the other. 🤦🏻‍♀️)

I like what feels like a little nod to the Blair witch project, with the knitted pom pom hat the woman is wearing, heh.
The dubbing, thankfully, is not even the worst I've heard this WEEK, lol.

I want to state that I'm super fussy with found footage movies but this one comes so highly rated that I'm hoping for good things! 🤞

My first question is. Why is troll piss like mucous, not liquid? 👀 😬
So @ValerianEmp thinks maybe trolls have cloacas and that's probably the best explanation I'm going to get! 😂

Ooh! The troll has 2 heads! And we're running into the woods...! Off we go into the real action!

May some of you maybe live! 🤞
HOLY SHIT THIS THING IS SO TALL WTF!? 😂
And there's another movie that took me all day to watch because my concentration is so awful rn lol.

It's a great example of found footage actually done well. The trolls are pretty damn cool, especially the one at the end. And the ending is nothing if not realistic! 3.5/5
209. Shrek Forever After. In which Shrek makes a very silly decision and trusts a very devious, odious man, instead of just putting down some healthy boundaries with people.
Rebel Fiona is fucking hot, ok?
210. #KittenWatches Death Note. (Manga series, 2006)

Episode one. Holy yikes! The self righteous ego of the male of our species is on full display here. 😬

I'd like to have me some words with this little asshole. I have a feeling this show could be a love/hate thing. On to 2!
Up to ep 5. This kids name is the name which most needs writing in the death note, by his own hypocritical ass fucking rules.

I hate him.

Again, I really, *really* hate vigilante justice. It's no justice at all, anymore than our rubbish justice system is. People are terrible.
Omg the depiction of a really talented female former FBI agent in this show is so deeply misogynistic I just can't even.

Yes ofc the silly little woman would act like that. 🙄🙄🙄 Riiiiiiiight. 😐
211. #KittenWatches Puss in Boots.

KITTIES! 😍 Miaow. 🥰

HAPPY MOVIE. 😻

Question - Kitty Softpaws, or Dulcinea? 🤔
212. #KittenWatches Antlers.

Oof! I've struggled to watch this. I started it over a wk ago & I was not prepared for some of the content. Had to stop & come back to it 3x now.
The story *could* have been good. But for me anyway, it was spoilt by a lot of gratuitous & bad choices.
Firstly I found it downright offensive that this particular cast was so intensely white. The story is about a Mythological Creature from native folklore, yet it revolves around white people, with only one indigenous actor to be briefly seen! There's no respect in this movie imo.
🚨 I have to strongly CW this movie for themes of child neglect & abuse, in particular for CSA - there are some entirely gratuitous, disturbing flashbacks showing what kind of abuse the teacher went through as a child (CSA) & it HORRIFIED me, the casual handling of this subject.
🚨 Additional CW for some pretty horrific scenes of childhood bullying. I found that pretty hard to slog through after my own experience growing up.

I feel like this movie wanted to be something, or say something, but it just didn't. It should've stuck to basic creature feature.
I wanted to care for the characters, here & there was some rather good acting on display by the 2 main actors, but it just couldn't catch me. The plot itself + the insensitive, what felt like exploitative handling of all the abuses just turned me right off.
And the ending? I just can't. 💔

I can see so many ways this story could have been written better, and handled more sensitively to make something really great.

All in all I'd have to say that I was very, very much not a fan. It pissed me off from beginning to end. 🤷🏻‍♀️
213. #KittenWatches Race to Witch Mountain (2009 remake w/ Dwayne Johnson)
An enjoyable in the moment, but ultimately fairly forgettable "let's try & stop an alien invasion" movie. Not bad, not great.
Girl alien & Jack Bruno are fun together. Dog is adorable. Boy is sarcastic AF.
214. #KittenWatches The Haunting of Bly Manor.

I started this a while back but haven't been up to finishing it. I was right to wait.

Holy shit this show has depths of trauma and creep I can't even begin to fathom right now lol.

To add a new CW to the show, it gets pretty harsh for a (particularly female) patient of chronic illness to watch. Medical and care trauma, and accompanying isolation, is an age old story, as is misogyny in healthcare. This show plumbs those depths rather a lot.
🚨 Spoilers 🚨
.
.
.
About Violets death?

Thank fuck they called "Mercy" out as the lie it was.

Why won't the world fucking learn the difference between mercy and murder, when it comes to disabled people, ffs? 💔

No wonder she ghosted out. That level of trauma? Yea. I feel it.
You know if I hadn't watched Hill House first I'd have thought this show the best ghost thing I've ever seen. Hill House tops it for me thou.

But yea, this show is kind of masterful imo. Twists & turns & time complexities. It's beautiful in it's handling of emotion, especially.
215. #KittenWatches The Changeling, 1980.

The positives... This has a feel of classic cinema to me even though its younger than me. It sets a slow pace, building atmosphere and tension, and breaking it's main character as it goes.
The negatives... FML, this was not what I needed to see today.

🚨 CW for murder of a disabled child, because he was disabled, shown on screen. 💔 I couldn't think of a way to sufficiently warn that without a spoiler, actually. Sorry.

Do I need to fucking say more honestly?!
216. Brave.

Because after today, I needed to see Merida, being Merida, dealing with the damn men.

There's a reason this is my favourite Disney movie.

There's a reason this soundtrack is in my library too.

It's fantastic. Watch it.
I realised I doubled up on numbers for Bly Manor so I'm back at 216 again, lol.

216. #KittenWatches The Adventures of Puss in Boots (Netflix show).

I'm on season 4 of this, so time for a mention here. It's full of all kinds of different monsters, in a totally fun, chill way.
CW Kink, Petplay/Furries

OK so this show has become one of my favourite cartoons because omfg this thing is DEFINITELY written by a furry petplayer. 😂
Kitten LOVES IT. 😹
(I am so sorry I can't alt text this clip cos, brain. But it's Dulcinea going pet domme on Puss. Here boy!)
CW Kink

I love a show that has levels for kids & adults. The Shrek franchise has always managed that rather superbly.

& again I'll say, cartoons definitely informed my kink all those decades ago. 😹 I was lost to rope kink before I hit 12.

Annnnnyway. I 🧡 Puss in Boots lol. Meme. Image of princess jas...Meme. Image of Daphne from ...
217. #KittenWatches Spirited Away

This is honestly as close to a perfect movie as I've found. There's a charm & beauty to this movie, with real emotion driving it. There's a slow building connection & love between characters & that love is a driving force to freedom. Gorgeous.
The hand drawn animation (😍) and the soundtrack are also both absolutely beautiful, really imbuing both the characters and the scenes with emotion.

There's nuance in the characters, not a focus on good vs evil. Our main character Chihiro is bravely, respectfully, kind to all.
I love it. I just absolutely love it.

No holds barred, love it.

Watch this beautiful piece of cinema. Please. 🥺😍
218. #KittenWatches Little Shop of Horrors (The superior directors cut 🙌) . This 1986 musical horror comedy is about as downright weird as it gets. It hasn't got any less weird with time!

Firstly 🚨 CW for domestic abuse & scenes that would trigger phobia of dentists.
Little Shop of Horrors will treat you to the story of alien carnivorous plants taking over the world whilst singing their way to victory.

It is a karmic warning not to feed an alien your blood for gain, and/or not ever to trust NiceGuys™, watchers choice.
CW kink

Bill Murray as a bratty masochist with a dentist kink is as hilarious as he is slightly disturbing to this dentophobic.

(The domestic abuser noted above being a dentist was a bit of a personal trigger though, given my abusive ex was in fact a dentist. 😬)
There are definitely some really off racial stereotypes & what felt to me like using of black characters.

& no. It wasn't OK then either.

There was missed opportunity here, given the story's location of Skid Row, to really deal with issues of class & race in enlightening ways.
The handling of Audrey's domestic abuse also felt off to me, as a survivor. They oft took a comedic tone, or a minimising one. I'd have liked to see her represented better.

All in all though, it's a slightly guilty pleasure of a movie!
219. #KittenWatches Xico's Journey.

My biggest twist of my own category, maybe, but also the most real monster so far - Corporations.

I was hoping for something really insightful but honestly? What I got was just deeply simplistic in its portrayal of something truly terrible.
Ultimately, I wanted to be able to love this - but sadly it wasn't to be. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I did find the 2d animation quite charming, so that was nice!
220. #KittenWatches 10 Cloverfield Lane.

Wow. This movie is *fantastic*!

So freaking tense, all. the. way. through, omg.

I want to point out that any monster story here is the secondary one. It's more a tale of personal survival than anything else. However. I LOVED it!
Seriously a 7.5/10 there at LEAST. Just a totally unexpected love of a movie!

It did not let up! And so many twists and turns! 👏 👏 👏

The creep factor & tension in this movie started high & just kept growing. The acting was stupendous! John Goodman was impressive in his role.
It had me guessing about what was going on & where it was going, all the way through. I could barely take my eyes off the screen (except at 2 points that went past my limit of physical horror/my own fears, lol).

I loved Cloverfield, but this movie was far better even than that!
221. A Monster in Paris.
OK so this Phantom of the Opera take off was pretty run of the mill.

What struck me though is that it was really a commentary about police power & brutality. The abuse of power is the really monstrous thing shown here, not the so called Monster of Paris!
Wow the writing in death note feels like it desperately needed an influx of female writers. 😬

I'm at the point where the second Kira shows up. I'm NOT impressed with this storyline.

Also not greatly impressed they haven't made me care for a single character in 12 episodes! 🙃
222. #KittenWatches Sweet Home.

I've binged this over the last few days and omg, it's absolutely epic!! I don't really have many complaints and I have a lot of love for it!

It's a great example of Korean horror! It has the feel of a zombie show but the creatures aren't zombies!
I switched between dubbed & Korean as my brain was able to handle. It's a far better watch in Korean but the dubbing isn't the WORST I've heard. Too americanised but nowhere near as bad as some.

The creatures themselves are fascinating and very varied in look and ability.
To be honest the *only* thing that really jarred me was the constant use of Warriors by Imagine Dragons. Every time the characters do something heroic, this song would start playing AGAIN. It pulled me out of the moment and it just lost something there.
🚨 I should note a content warning here that there is a theme throughout of domestic violence. A female survivor is in a horrifically abusive relationship. Other characters are shown being silent in the face of this at times which can be quite painful to watch as a survivor. 🚨
(would really help if I didn't click tweet by mistake before I was done lol. Please stand by. 😂 )
The acting in this is fantastic. There are scenes where everything is conveyed, just with eyes, between characters - like whole conversions are happening, as it often is in real life. The emotions they feel, you really feel. Nothing felt inauthentic! The kids are incredible!
I love the slow build to better understanding between and compassion for characters. These are survivors not just surviving, but truly building community. I don't want to spoil this aspect too much so I won't say more lol.

There's a lot of really unique stuff in the show too!
One thing I LOVED about this show was the disability rep!
There was not one but SEVERAL examples of disability shown & handled pretty damn well in this show! Mental & physical disabilities were all covered and in ways that made me happy! The disabled characters were well rounded!
There were moments it *could* have fallen into inspiration porn but for me it didn't. I only wish they'd been actually disabled actors!

There were several people with mental illnesses shown, including ptsd & grief related.

That reminds me. 🚨 CW for severe childhood bullying.
There's the bad ass guy, Han Du-Sik, who's a wheelchair user, who has awesome weapons & ability to make useful tools. The moment he was shown out of his chair just sitting on the floor for dinner with the others made me fucking applaud. I never see that, I realised.
Even better for me personally was the character, Ahn Gil Sub who had a terminal illness and was living in his apartment with a carer helping him. Now that's something I really really never see, omg! And again - his illness was not his defining characteristic at all!
All the disabled characters had as big an arc as everyone else. Connections to other characters. Real emotion. No shortchanging. They were heroic, brave, sacrificing, real & hurting, just like the others.

I kept expecting them to fuck it up, but if they did, I didn't notice it.
I have a lot of questions about that ending and I can't fucking wait for more to be released, to get the answers!!!

I'm so excited they've already got two more seasons scheduled in and will be filming this year!!! 🙌

Easy 8/10 for me.

Wow I had a LOT to say about this one! 😂
223. Pan's Labyrinth. I've been wanting to watch this for MONTHS & haven't had the cognitive ability to cope with the lack of dubbing. I felt fairly ok today, so decided it was worth a try.

And well, it's certainly a movie worth the cognitive effort, though it took me all day.
There's these dual, winding stories happening, interconnected but world's apart - literally. A story of war, of cruelty, of hatred & evil. Of abusive men and those risking their lives to oppose them. A fantasy of a lost princess trying to find her way home, and back to herself.
The tension & horror build slowly. And though the story revolves around a child, Ofelia, this is no children's story. This is dark fantasy horror. This is grimy, nasty, vicious war.

There is this beautiful pacing to it. You're wound into the story & it's horror, bit by bit.
🚨 CW 🚨

There are body horror moments, if that is/isn't your thing. There was a moment I hid my eyes away so I couldn't see what was happening on screen.

There are themes of domestic abuse.

Children are endangered.

Themes of war & revolution - inc. scenes of brutal torture.
I didn't really know where to start reviewing this one. I haven't even close to done it to justice. It's going to sit with me for a while, I think.

It is a beautifully, hauntingly sad piece of cinema. It will break you. It may put you back together again, or it may not.

8.5/10
224. #KittenWatches Arietty.

This is one of my favourite Studio Ghibli movies, based off a book series I loved as a kid. I decided to include it because to the Borrowers, human beings are genuinely terrifying giants who may wipe them out at any time. (relatable feels honestly!)
Out of many adaptations of the books, Arietty is my absolute favourite. It's beautifully done, extremely emotive, with a slow winding attention to detail - and it has a gentleness to the relationship between the 2 central characters, Arietty & Sho, that I love! It's just magic!
It has the bittersweet feel of a Studio Ghibli movie, but it's relatively chill compared to some. Definitely made me weepy at times though!

The animation is really absolutely gorgeous & so very detailed. So much thought has gone into showing this tiny world beneath our feet! 😍
It has a sick boy as the main human character, Sho. He's awaiting heart surgery and is clearly scared. It was handled with, imo, a really loving touch & I felt really happy with how his character was written. 0 ableism detected.

Arietty is a solid 8/10 for me. I really love it!
225. #KittenWatches Dead End Paranormal Park

I reviewed this show over on my other account, because my review was just so epically long that it needed it's own thread! 25 posts! 😬
The summary? I LOVED IT. WATCH IT!!

A queer, neurodivergent delight! 😍👇
226. #KittenWatches The Borrowers/The Return of the Borrowers (1992-3 BBC adaptation).

This is the adaptation I saw in my teens & to this day only Arietty (reviewed 2 above) has topped it for me. Listen - the effects are very, very of their time. I mean, laughably cute you know? Ian Holm as Pod and Penelop...
But if you can get past that? (I found it easy!) It's really an absolutely beautiful show. It draws you into this world of little tiny people, living in a hidden world beneath our feet in an old English cottage. It makes you care for them. The acting & storyline are both great!
Somehow the effects didn't spoil it for me even all these years later.

Their flagrant stealing (which they adorably term borrowing, giving their species their name) is the cutest explanation for where all those small missing objects go, that I'll ever hear. 🤷🏻‍♀️
It really does bring the adult humans into focus as the monsters of the piece, whilst also showing our complex nature and many humans help out the borrowers along the way. Ian Holm makes a wonderful Pod, and Rebecca Callard is splendid as Arietty. Arietty writes in a noteboo...
Like the movie Arietty, this show focuses beautifully on the details of their life below the floorboards & also highlights it's precariousness rather well.

The 2nd season has more drama & danger, but overall I think I just preferred the slower pace & detailing of the 1st. Image showing the borrower ...
This is old, sure, but it has so much charm and has aged so well! It was really hard to track down but YouTube came through!!! 🎉 I am so glad it did, because this show is an absolute gem.

I am so glad that my warm childhood feelings didn't do me wrong this time! 🥰

7/10
227. #KittenWatches The BFG (2016)

Continuing along the theme of childhood favourites is the BFG. I loved the book of this & this adaptation was pretty decent!

It's a story of a little orphaned girl who doesn't fit, and isn't happy. A giant who also doesn't fit and isn't happy. Poster for the bfg where we...
She sees him. He kidnaps her out of fear. The obvious outcome happens, & they fit!

It's like the opposite of the borrowers....the human child is transported to the massive world of the giants & suddenly her belongings are tiny & her surroundings humongous!

& oh there is charm.
It's an idealistic adventure in many ways. The portrayal of the Royal family and how they act is lacking nuance at best and downright ridiculous in reality - but Penelope Wilton (there she is again!) is really amusing as the Queen.

The animation & it's detailing was delightful.
The movie is sweet and funny and brings the emotion at times.

The way the BFG talks is a stand out for me. It's always struck me as just so endearing.

I could have wished for a kinder ending for some characters, but from memory I think it was an improvement over the book lol?
I also take issue with where Sophie ended up in this adaptation. But I won't spoil you by saying why or what I wanted!

All in all though, it's a lovely adaptation full of adventure, danger, excitement, bravery, laughs & kindness & I really enjoyed it very, very much!

☺️ 6.5/10
I want to make note here that I recently passed the mark of 300 monster movies or shows this year, when including the water monster watch I did before this one.

I believe this deserves some kind of awards and recognition! 😂 🎉
228. My Neighbour Totoro. Because it's been a week for adorable things I guess? This is absolutely nominally monstrous because the forest spirits in this movie are so entirely delightful! Everything, in fact, about this movie, is delightful. Studio Ghibli cheers up my day again!!
This movie is charming & sweet... With a smallish tinge of the bittersweet of most Ghibli productions.

Satsuki & Mei, 2 young girls, move to a new home in the country, to be near their sick mother in hospital. The house, it turns out, is haunted by soot sprites.
On an adventure alone in the forest, Mei, the youngest, happens upon 3 forest spirits. Thus begins a great adventure for both girls, & lots of cuteness for us!
Ofc the hand drawn animation is endearing af, thou its not one of my MOST favourite Ghibli movies for art. (bar is HIGH)
This is a sweet movie for people of any age. It is absolutely a classic & should definitely be seen. It had me laughing. It brought tears to my eyes. I ADORED that their parents believed, instead of putting it down to imagination!

It's just lovely, OK? 8/10
229. #KittenWatches Beauty & the Beast Live Action

I've always had mixed reactions to this story. This remake was no exception.

Firstly, it's not a bad remake if you liked the original. They don't stuff up the music & the effects are pretty cool. Emma Watson is great as Belle!
But like, I just always want more from this story. The fact of the matter is that the beast shouldn't have had to become human again to be happy. For this reason, I love Shrek's take on the story far better! Accepting someone for who they are now is a beautiful thing.
Expect a lot of toxic masculinity, patriarchal feels, and tons of ego from Gaston. He is chock full of it. 🤢

Do not like.

He's a typical over-played bad guy, really, but I guess that's the story.
This movie gets a 5/10 from me. I knocked a star off for having to deal with Gaston & for their well announced "first exclusively gay moment" - which was a paltry nod at best, offensive at worst. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Enjoyable enough watch. Pretty classically Disney in feel really.
230. #KittenWatches The Sea Beast.

I really loved this new movie from Netflix! It's a rollicking good sea-faring adventure w/ a nuanced view of good & evil, fantastic characterisation & detailed animation.

It has good racial/gender diversity & a lovely focus on chosen family.
It felt like a crossover story where the obsessed with beast killing Captain Ahab meets Androcles, the man of folklore who pulled a thorn out of a lions paw - where Androcles is a young orphaned lass with Moxy! (With an added feel of the How to Train Your Dragon franchise added!)
Whilst super fun, this movie is honestly also really a timely commentary on the power and danger of propaganda and history being "edited" to suit the powerful and rich and to aid their oppression of more vulnerable groups.
It's rather long for an animation, at 2 hours, so be aware of that before you go in!

It doesn't speak down to kids nor pretend they live in a perfect world. It doesn't pull punches.

My favourite line was by Maisie: "Maybe you can be a hero & still be wrong". Because, yeah! 👏 A still image shows a close...
One last note. I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment of the following quote:

Old Nick: "We're going after the Red Bluster! So if this be our last visit to Three Bridges, I expect some right, proper debauchery!"

Should I die, get thee debauched!!! 🎉

Really.
Wow. Lots of longer reviews today. I just had a lot to say about these ones lol! 🤣

Sadly there wasn't as many gif or image options as I'd hoped for for the sea beast, the animation being so well done. I wanted to show you more! But it did just come out!! 🤷🏻‍♀️
231. #KittenWatches Housebound recommended by @DisMoviePod.

This is a slow build New Zealand dark comedy about a woman sentenced to house arrest in her mother's home, which appears to be haunted by a very restless spirit. Whilst it contains a lot of humour, it really brings some
true scares and is not lacking in emotion or tension! Kylie's character is a delight - Morgana O'Reilly clearly well capable of this kind of deadpan humor and a sardonic attitude to boot - albeit some might find her a bit hard to warm up to initially as a character!
(I actually found mum more difficult to like)

I've not watched anything *quite* like this before, so I definitely give it points for that, too! It had it's really surprising moments with lots of twists and turns - with a lot of laugh out loud moments!
🚨 Content warning for gaslighting and medical abuse triggers.

Mild content warning for abuse - An entirely unnecessary to the plot male on female slap across the face, albeit not in the context of an abusive relationship. 🚨
As someone longterm housebound (illness), it was easy for me to relate to what it would be like, trapped within a house like that. It's crawlingly claustrophobic even without the house seemingly wanting you dead.
Living w/ family without a choice is a trauma in & of itself too!
The gaslighting storyline was really hard for me to watch due to my own medical gaslighting triggers... But oof, the payoff was delicious! The scene that wrapped up that storyline had me exclaiming out loud and staring at the screen in absolute shock! Absolutely worth a watch!!
🚨 I will mention, which I forgot in my CW, that there is definitely an ableist element to this story. It's hard to explain without actually spoiling the movie, but it's there!
232 #KittenWatches Lights Out.

This movie was recc'd by Eric, who has schizophrenia - & in his recc noted that the shadow creatures in this movie are the best rep of his own hallucinations.

That was fully in my head going into this creepy ass movie.😭🧡
🚨 Content Warnings 🚨

- Medical/Psychiatric abuse of children in a psychiatric facility

- Some short scenes highlighting horrific child abuse

- Complex ableisms, which I will delve into a little below.
Lights out ran straight into the horror from the first moment, then slowed into a careful, creeping story which I enjoyed, but really, really wanted to love and just couldn't quite, for reasons.

The shadow monster, not to give too much away, is creepy as hell, and gets under
your skin. (though I found her way, way more creepy in the shadows than out of them!!! Less often truly is more!!!) Humanity is inherently afraid of what might hide away in the dark, and this movie plays on that fear.

There's some really good lighting tricks in Lights Out,
to play on and with that fear. (There's a scene with the daughter, Rebecca, lit by a red light. And eek! It really cleverly highlighted her fear for me!)

Speaking of whom, Teresa Palmer's acting as Rebecca is stellar! The fear on her face is fucking palpable. The emotion in
everything she does is just pitch perfect. In fact, this whole small but thoughtfully cast group of actors is really wonderful.

There's some really complex dealing with themes of mental illness in this movie. The mother is presented as mentally ill, and they allude to but do
not confirm, a Bipolar dx, & there's a confirmed childhood dx of depression. The way that this is handled by other characters is certainly on point for reality, but it would've been nice to see good rep for better ways to talk about mental illness with those struggling with it.
There is past history set in a (highly abusive) psychiatric facility as I mentioned. I'm torn as to how to review this, while my brain is still recovering from a heatwave. (I can't wait to see what @DisMoviePod might make of it all!) I would also have to deeply spoil the ending
of the movie to truly do this conversation justice. So I will just say that this movie feels like what would happen if your mental illness manifested itself into reality, and you had to fight your own monsters physically, as did your family. There is an inherent ableism in that
alone, which perhaps needs some serious unpicking from someone doing cognitively better than me.

It very much plays on the fears and stigmas of mental illness, whilst not being quite about it at all in reality. (At the same time, it's also fascinating & heart-rending to see it
brought to life like that, and there's something to be said for that as a kind of representation. I just wish that had been done better, and that the character had, had justice done to her. It could have been. It really could, dammit.) Where it REALLY fell down in any kind of
disability rep was the ending, imo. Which I am quite frankly slowly growing furious about. I realised what would happen at some point preceding it & my heart sank. It was obvious, as a disabled person, where this was going.
(happy to open this conversation more in the comments if anyone wants to be spoiled.)

In the end I did enjoy this movie… but I really had to detach myself from the ableism to do so. And I'm tired of doing that.
There *is* something insidiously frightening about this movie's monster on the face of it. Not the "I am absolutely terrified watching this" kind of fear… but the kind of fear that slowly roots itself in your head and doesn't fade along with the credits.

*Click* 😬
233. #KittenWatches Ponyo.

Another only very, very technically monster movie! 😄

This anime is one of Studio Ghibli's more chilled out movies, with less of the bittersweet tones they tend to have. Lovely for a bad day or just chilling out.
Sosuke rescues a "goldfish" (it has a human face... How did he see "goldfish"??) trapped in a piece of trash, washing up on shore. Ponyo is the daughter of a powerful wizard & a sea goddess, and as she connects with Sosuke, she longs to become more human, and begins to turn so -
to the danger of those around her!

Honestly my only issue with this movie is one of age... They're just little kids and they're meant to be in love, and the girl has to leave her entire family to be with him? Idk... Feel like that's sending some wrong messages there!
But I really enjoyed it, and it helped turn a very stressful evening into something a little more relaxed! Not my favourite Ghibli movie, but still better than most of it's competitors!!
Honestly my rating is only as low as 3.5/5 because I am rating it against other Ghibli movies, rather than something like Disney!!

boxd.it/31kVzl
234. #KittenWatches Dog Soldiers with @adamgreeney.

This is an absolutely class British werewolf story with lots of fun local slang and Britisms. (Cup of tea mid werewolf attack, anyone?) It has smatterings of humor in amongst the rampant and frequent mayhem and death.
🚨 CW for a disturbing scene with animal cruelty & death 🚨

It has slightly naff, low budget effects, but it's honestly just more brilliant because of it. I love that it has this feel of Furrys attacking soldiers. 😂 Couldn't stop laughing about it once it got stuck in my head!
It's gory and bloody with lots of body horror (but the effects are just poor enough that it takes the edge off the horror a bit!). There's lots of creatively gross kills! The sound effects are also really super disturbing. It's not really intended, I think, to be genuinely
terrifying, nor truly horrifying - but it's pretty damn gross!

The scenery is just gorgeous and perfectly gloomy for this story. Everything being bathed in moonlight gives it an eerie but beautiful feel throughout. That area of Scotland is certainly not to be fucked with,
I might add. Gnarly, dangerous territory indeed! The house most of the movie is set in is perfectly creepy.

The cast is excellent!

The only real annoyance in this movie is the utter lack of diversity. It's glaringly white! 🙄
Most relatable line of the movie? "I love it when a posh bird talks dirty." - I mean yeah. Can't disagree. 🙌

My ★★★ review of Dog Soldiers on Letterboxd boxd.it/33beKv
235. #KittenWatches The Cloverfield Paradox.

(To play a little catchup from last week when I was too ill & exhausted to review anything...!)

I went into this movie expecting to be bored, given reviews...but I wanted to watch it given I loved the first 2 in the series!
Honestly? I liked it a lot. Reviews aren't always right but they are always subjective.

This is a reality bending sci-fi horror, which links into the original cloverfield movies essentially as both a prequel and sequel. There's some pretty damn effective body horror elements,
for those who prefer to know going in.

I was pleased to see a piece of great disability rep when a guy who was (albeit brand newly!) disabled angrily exclaimed to the characters talking over and around him: "Can you stop talking to me like I'm a kid and these are my parents?!"
Like yes. Fucking stop infantalising us! 👏👏👏 It's not that hard. I promise. 🙄

My ★★★ review of The Cloverfield Paradox on Letterboxd boxd.it/33cJT1
236. #KittenWatches The Lost Boys.

(I can't believe it took me this long to get to it! 😂)

A gloriously goth, homoerotic piece of classic vampire cinema with an amazing soundtrack!

Bonus? It's also one of the weirder movies you'll ever see!

It just has to be watched, OK?
My ★★★½ review of The Lost Boys on Letterboxd boxd.it/33DbLL
237. #KittenWatches Rumble

I enjoyed this movie more than I expected! It has a fun story, it brings the laughs, it makes you care for the characters, the soundtrack is great and the animation is decently done. Neither ratings nor trailer prepared me for now much I'd enjoy it.
I liked how they built the storyline around finding yourself, & accepting/being that self... And around building real relationships on that basis.

I'm not myself a wrestling fan, but I loved it! So if you love wrestling & animations, this one is definitely for you!
(Note that WWE did have imput into this movie, too!)

My ★★★½ review of Rumble on Letterboxd boxd.it/34ADWF
238. #KittenWatches Dreamworks Dragons The Nine Realms

I didn't realise this existed till recently. My guess is there just wasn't that much hype about it because tbh? It's not the best of offerings by any scale, never mind from the HTTYD franchise, which I rate highly, generally
I admit this is a review from a fans perspective so idk how someone new to the franchise would see this show. I found it OK to watch but, lacking.

To me everything about this show felt rushed, and deeply short-changed as a result. The story, the characters, even the diversity
suffered from this half arsed attitude, and the show really flagged as a result. The movies and the other shows have all slowly and effectively built a story, an arc, a mythology. This one just threw right in. The detailing was
entirely absent. Examples? Nothing is shown of how the kids learnt to fly, where their saddles suddenly magically came from, how they built their relationships with their dragons after their first meetings bonded them. It's all just, presumed.
To me it felt like a paltry lean on the original mythology. A re-write without writing in enough new story to make anything original so it can stand alone. (another example? The toothless rip-off's rider calling him pal, instead of bud 🙄) It irked me no end the potential that Tom, a teenage white blonde...
was lost as a result! It's fun enough & some fans might enjoy it. For sure many kids would like it. But it's honestly nothing to write home about. The only show in the franchise rated almost as low as this is the younger kids show, rescue riders & frankly I rather enjoyed that!
Diversity wise, they made some decent attempts actually, but it was rather marred by some bad choices & by the aforementioned half arsing. It's racially diverse throughout the character cast - but I found it disturbing they used the purple hair streaks/purple eyes trope for their
"rebellious Asian girl" character. 🙃

There's also a maybe autistic coded character but she felt short-changed. (Maybe that's after seeing Dead End Paranormal Park where it was done so excellently!?)
& again - no mention of the A word - it's just coded.
There's diversity amongst the parents too. A lesbian couple and also a mum who's a wheelchair user. She's a nurse and teacher just getting on with her life, and I liked that bit of rep! She's also black, which is even better to show the true nature of crossing marginalisations
so many ppl have.

One more bug bear for me as a fan is that simply too much change was wrought in the dragons genetically, in too little time - given they didn't ever seem to interbreed in the past! But that's probably my issue lol. 🤷🏻‍♀️

5/10
239. #KittenWatches Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

I really did enjoy this series far more than the movies. Lena Headey and Summer Glau make for an incredibly impressive (and very hot! 😉) team pushing this story forwards. There's far more emotion injected as a result!
It does suffer from similar issues to the movies. For instance it's still an extremely white cast and the story is very much white people saving the world for white people. 🙄

But I really enjoyed this take on the franchise!

The very last ep is A Lot, in a lot of ways lol.
Clearly there's so much missed opportunity for another season - though you *could* make the argument that this ending absolutely rounds up John's story and gives him perhaps the ending he needed all along after having such responsibility thrust on him as a child?

6.5/10
P.s. I have many many thoughts about the Allison situation. 🙃 I decided not to include them here, to avoid spoilers & a silly long review lol. 🤣

I also just about saved you from a many tweet long review of the episode with Eric, a paraplegic wheelchair user in. You're welcome?
240. #KittenWatches The Midwich Cuckoos

This 2022 Sky TV series is based on the 1957 John Wyndham novel of the same name. One fateful day, a small village in England is laid mass unconscious by an inexplicable alien presence. On awakening, every woman of childbearing age is Ad image for a TV show. Kee...
found to be pregnant. A deep, dystopian gloom settles over the village as events unfold from there.

Many adaptations of this book have been made, including the famous "Village of the Damned". Quite honestly, I slightly preferred this to all those I've seen.
This series has a fantastic slow building, creepy tension, aided by an incredible, atmospheric music score & an excellent cast led by Keeley Hawes as Susannah (Slightly disconcerting name choice for me!). And oh! So very many creepy kids - who tip over at times into pure menace! A racially diverse group of...
This is the kind of show where a rack of knives in the background feels deeply sinister even before you have a definite reason for it to feel that way. It's the kind of show where the characters' trauma progressively shows on their faces and how they hold themselves. Keeley Hawes as Susannah si...Susannah later in the show....Synnove Karlsen as Cassie s...Cassie later in the show lo...
The kind of show that affects your own mood.

This adaptation thankfully has a racially diverse cast, differing from both the source material and other adaptations of this book. 👍 (much to the disgust of openly racist online reviewers, it seems 🙄) Frankly, this really added A diverse group of kids sta...
something to the story. The cookie cutter blonde kids of Village of the Damned are no more, bringing far more nuance to each individual child, and to the situation as a whole, in my opinion.
🚨 Content Warnings 🚨

- Domestic abuse
- Gaslighting

There are things I'd like to have seen improved upon in a perfect world - but this was a really solid 8/10 for me! 🎉
241. #KittenWatches Stan Against Evil. I'm just 5 eps in to this show & I looooove it. It's a comedy horror show about a group of people fighting the demons infesting their town. It has a brilliant cast. It's so fucking funny! A really great show to have going for bad days!
The show feels like what would happen if Dr Cox from Scrubs had ended up as a sheriff instead, and in his retirement found out that demons were out to kill him. Which frankly works perfectly for me. 😂

May you enjoy as much as I am! 🎉
Just a note that this show (Stan Against Evil) has bigoted language and moments throughout, as the main character spouts misogyny, homophobia & racism on a regular basis.

On this occasion I chose to tune it out and reluctantly enjoy, but forewarned is forearmed!!!
242. #KittenWatches Man Against Bee (wherein the man is definitely the monster, not the poor, innocent, solitary honeybee!🐝)

Buzzzzz!

Review in my survival thread on my new account! 👇 (ps, I really am over there now, despite this continuing thread!🧡)
243. #KittenWatches The Village with @DisMoviePod

An isolated village lives in fear of the unknown monsters that surround them in the woods. A young man is badly injured & a blind young woman heroically sets off into the woods to find help. Ivy, our young hero, a curl...
So this movie is honestly kind of a mess of offensive ableism, which would have entirely spoiled my enjoyment if I hadn't got to tear the movie apart with @DisMoviePod, my watch partner for this one!

Disability is strangely used as both a metaphor for inherent goodness AND
inherent evil here. It shouldn't come as a surprise when you hear that this is an M. Night Shyamalan movie. 🙄 (I am *scowling* writing this.)

A blind girl, Ivy, is our hero. She is inherently kind & good & more innocent than the rest of the village. 😒 Ofc. Oh, & she is magic
in her blindness, seeing auras.

Then there is Noah who is mentally disabled and is really the only violent person in the village, as @DisMoviePod said in her review:
Worse, the acting of Noah itself is an absolutely hammed up
awful mocking of mentally disabled people. Too. Much. There were times both @DisMoviePod and I felt slappy, I think!!!

It's all deeply offensive and so tropey as to just be lazy.

That said, it's an interesting story, but the twist was as lazily applied as the ableism -
in that my biggest take away was just: "Make it make SENSE!". It was maybe a good basic idea for a movie, but the execution just wasn't there.

There's a lot to say about how their society is, but - spoilers!

My ★★½ review of The Village on Letterboxd boxd.it/37IA5V

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More from @SweetInTheGale

Apr 17, 2022
OK. Using the dentists chair in a scene of Final Destination fuckery is NOT OK.

Holy FUCK I have major dental issues from being too ill to take care of my teeth & a big broken filling for mths now that noone gives a shit about so it's still unfixed.

+ huge dental phobia.😭
118. Last night was Underworld 2. More hotness. More fascinating lore. More vampires fucking each other over to maintain power. One lycan getting what we all wanted! 😉🔥

119. This morning is Final Destination 2. The one that confirmed I should never go on a high rollercoaster!
120. Final Destination 3 legitimately scared the ever loving hell out of me & I actually had a bit of a panic attack ok?

There's this scene 1/2 way through that if you have a combo of claustrophobia & a phobia of burning... Just No. No. No. So I wanted to warn anyone like me. 😬
Read 303 tweets
Apr 11, 2022
Oh wow this movie gets GROSS half way through! 😬😆
*Hides behind my hands*

Omg.

The fucking faces I'm making watching this.
If you couldn't tell, there was quite a lot of body horror in The Ruins, so if you prefer not to watch that, do avoid this one.

Now starting 107 - In keeping with a plant theme I guess...

The Happening. (Plants make everyone around the world kill themselves. Fun times.)
Read 235 tweets

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