I think Antonio (I think it was Antonio) broke me when implied that Horror doesn't have a clear theme and purpose. He probably didn't mean it literally but as an unabashed horror movie fan (and 2024 being one of the better horror movie years in a long time), I had to clutch my pearls.
The pretty young woman and Death Becomes Us comps were great. I never would have thought. You guys definitely mentioned another movie that I thought was a great comp but I forgot. Unfortunately, I listen to y'all while I'm driving and sometimes I regret not writing notes. I loved Antonio comparing it to MTV btw. There is definitely a lot of MTV Spring Break vibes in this movie.
You guys def caught a lot of the references that I caught and caught a couple more that I didn't but there is more than one (and more than two) The Shining references.
I loved the first two acts. This was a legit at least a 4 star movie for me but the ending was so heavy handed and long that I ended up thinking it was fine. I realize what she was going for and I can see why others like it but it just didn't work for me.
This movie is definitely too weird for the academy even with it's recent expansion imo. I would have hoped Demi Moore would get too nominated but best actress is too stacked and Mubi doesn't have enough of a push or influence with the academy i think. I think Hairstyle and makeup for sure and maybe Visual effects?
Hasib, I shouldn't have generalized about horror (it's definitely not my genre, but it wasn't fair to characterize the bulk of these movies as mindless bloodfests). I've definitely loved several in the past (Drag Me to Hell and Let the Right One In come to mind). It was actually Greg that made the MTV comp, which I agree was very astute. I didn't mind the ending because once a storyteller leaves the realm of realism, I'm generally fine if they decide to rocket away. And while I agree it was too long, I didn't think it was any more heavy-handed than the rest of the film.
Oh, dude. It's totally fine. I understood what you meant and i'm just joking mostly. Btw, Let the Right One In is one of the best horror movies since the turn of the century and Drag Me To Hell is one of my favorite movies about curses ever so i'm with you there.
I do agree that the entire movie is heavy handed. But man, that ending just went on entirely too long for me. A couple of my friends are writers in hollywood and whenever we talk movies and tell them something is too long, like clockwork they always ask me "what would you take out?". The parts of the ending that I would take out, I think either Jen or PT mentioned in the podcast actually. Maybe a couple more parts but I also haven't seen the movie in a month or month and a half so that feels like 40 movies ago so I'll probably watch it again. Enough people love this movie where I feel like it warrants another shot.....the same with "Late Night with the Devil". I know a bunch of people who really liked that but I came away disappointed.
To me it's clear that the dragging bits of The Substance are in that final Carrie sequence in the studio. Like, it's great and gross and I love that...but it would have been more effective at like 30 seconds instead of four or five minutes. (It felt at least that long, but maybe I'm wrong.)
As for Late Night With The Devil: I thought that one was great for 2/3 of the time and then the final third it lost its way. It gets to where it was planning on going but doesn't know what to do once it arrives there, IMO. Plus they keep pushing the "found footage" conceit past the breaking point. Fun but flawed.
Hello, friends.
I think Antonio (I think it was Antonio) broke me when implied that Horror doesn't have a clear theme and purpose. He probably didn't mean it literally but as an unabashed horror movie fan (and 2024 being one of the better horror movie years in a long time), I had to clutch my pearls.
The pretty young woman and Death Becomes Us comps were great. I never would have thought. You guys definitely mentioned another movie that I thought was a great comp but I forgot. Unfortunately, I listen to y'all while I'm driving and sometimes I regret not writing notes. I loved Antonio comparing it to MTV btw. There is definitely a lot of MTV Spring Break vibes in this movie.
You guys def caught a lot of the references that I caught and caught a couple more that I didn't but there is more than one (and more than two) The Shining references.
I loved the first two acts. This was a legit at least a 4 star movie for me but the ending was so heavy handed and long that I ended up thinking it was fine. I realize what she was going for and I can see why others like it but it just didn't work for me.
This movie is definitely too weird for the academy even with it's recent expansion imo. I would have hoped Demi Moore would get too nominated but best actress is too stacked and Mubi doesn't have enough of a push or influence with the academy i think. I think Hairstyle and makeup for sure and maybe Visual effects?
Hasib, I shouldn't have generalized about horror (it's definitely not my genre, but it wasn't fair to characterize the bulk of these movies as mindless bloodfests). I've definitely loved several in the past (Drag Me to Hell and Let the Right One In come to mind). It was actually Greg that made the MTV comp, which I agree was very astute. I didn't mind the ending because once a storyteller leaves the realm of realism, I'm generally fine if they decide to rocket away. And while I agree it was too long, I didn't think it was any more heavy-handed than the rest of the film.
Oh, dude. It's totally fine. I understood what you meant and i'm just joking mostly. Btw, Let the Right One In is one of the best horror movies since the turn of the century and Drag Me To Hell is one of my favorite movies about curses ever so i'm with you there.
I do agree that the entire movie is heavy handed. But man, that ending just went on entirely too long for me. A couple of my friends are writers in hollywood and whenever we talk movies and tell them something is too long, like clockwork they always ask me "what would you take out?". The parts of the ending that I would take out, I think either Jen or PT mentioned in the podcast actually. Maybe a couple more parts but I also haven't seen the movie in a month or month and a half so that feels like 40 movies ago so I'll probably watch it again. Enough people love this movie where I feel like it warrants another shot.....the same with "Late Night with the Devil". I know a bunch of people who really liked that but I came away disappointed.
To me it's clear that the dragging bits of The Substance are in that final Carrie sequence in the studio. Like, it's great and gross and I love that...but it would have been more effective at like 30 seconds instead of four or five minutes. (It felt at least that long, but maybe I'm wrong.)
As for Late Night With The Devil: I thought that one was great for 2/3 of the time and then the final third it lost its way. It gets to where it was planning on going but doesn't know what to do once it arrives there, IMO. Plus they keep pushing the "found footage" conceit past the breaking point. Fun but flawed.
Can’t wait to disagree with all of you guys with this because I already know I’m on an island with this.
I saw your Letterboxd! I think I haven't seen enough Cronenberg to have the same take, but can't wait to hear your reaction to the episode!