April Updates & Reading List
 |
| Small Portrait (1950) Kay Sage * |
Probably gonna start calling these posts something else since I'm definitely reading a lot less this year than I did last year. I'm also not updating nearly as often.
April was significantly better than March, but no less eye-opening in some respects.
*
I read one book for all of April and it was a novella by Netflix and movie screen horror wunderkind Mike Flanagan.
"Rare, Fine & Limited" was an immediate purchase for me when I saw that it would be a Mike Flanagan novella attached to a bottle of tequila. That bottle then became a spectacularly delicious sotal spirit, which was a delicious smokiness that I'd never had before, but which was enjoyed alongside this reading.
Flanagan's movies and shows have been exceptionally done, so I expected nothing less in a novella. And the first 72 pages were magnificent. SO GOOD. The pacing was stunning, the story evolved into something I really, really became enamored by once it hit stride...
And while the last 5 pages are, in some ways...logical? The tone seemed to shift significantly, which was a little jarring for me.
Having said that, this was a great read and I enjoyed the conceit of it immensely.
*
Because of this little novella, and because it's been very difficult to continue returning to the work of "An Atlas of Bone & Sorrow" on a regular basis, I began a new writing project that's been marinating on the backburner of my skull. I'm forcing myself to write a new batch of stories with a significant amount of structure or limitations put in place to give the book its flavor. It will, of course, be a darker than average output.
Every story title is a bizarre compound word, not unlike the title of the book. I decided this time that I'd start with the titles and force myself to write towards them rather than have the writing influence the titles, which is usually how things tend to begin for me.
I began a few stories this weekend and they're certainly shaping up to be an interesting read. The cover may change; the title will not.
* * *
I've been painting again. The start of warmer weather always prompts me to clean the whole house, and the garage has been needing some reorganizing for a while. I got rid of a bunch of boxes and old wire storage and inadvertent trash that had built up, moved my art shelving around a smidge, and then cleaned up the art area. Below are several of the new pieces.
Please pardon the shitty photos; the lighting in my house remains garbage (and there's probably a fair amount of idiocy on my part about taking them in better ways).
(24in. x 48in.)
(10in. x 20in.)
(20in. x 20in.)
(20in. x 20in.)
"Violator"
(20in. x 20in.)
* * *
Christmas of 2023, I recieved an AMC gift card and have just never put it to use despite there being a theater nearby. I've done a lot of nights at a different, local theater that shows older, weirder movies, classic horror flicks, art house stuff, etc, with my friend Shannon since moving to this part of town and that's kind of become my defacto place. But this week, since there's so much great stuff out, I decided to buy tickets for several releases.
The Holy Mountain (1973)
Written & Directed by Alejandro Jodorowski
Certainly up there as one of the wildest movies I've ever seen. It's been on my "to watch" list for years, and it finally had a showing at the local spot.
Made in 1973, the nature of the movie is pure spectacle. From the opening sequence to the credits, everything. I won't pretend to have understood every visual metaphor or nuance by any means, but the movie is heavily religion-focused, beginning with nods to Christianity, Greek and Roman mythology, while seeming to be more Buddhist in a lot of its messaging throughout.
Visually, the movie is stunning. And there are some parts that may make some viewers squeamish (a fair amount of nudity, and sexuality in general, is prevalent throughout), but overall a fairly thought-provoking movie. Certainly a conversation-provoking one if you're seeing it with others. Definitely feels like one of a few sources of inspiration for Matthew Barney "Cremaster Cycle" film series, for those of you familiar.
Sinners (2025)
Written & Directed by Ryan Coogler
Stacked cast. A really enjoyable horror flick that pays great homage to black culture and to music and to how both are inexorably threaded together. You may already know what the protagonist of the film is, but if you don't...I won't ruin that for you here. I think not knowing this information beforehand would've made the experience a better one for me.
The acting was great, I enjoyed the story immensely, but there were several aspects of the narrative that made interesting appearances and then were never returned to (and these were pretty interesting side-narratives worth pursuing). I also think that revealing certain bits of information about the nature of the protagonist earlier on in the film removed what could've been some great tension-building moments from later scenes when things begin to ramp up.
Having said all that, this was a great flick. The pacing was well done and the commentary was on point; a lot of big themes that will almost certainly spur up some great conversations. I won't even pretend that I picked up on everything Coogler was trying to say, but it was all presented pretty fantastically.
*
Written & Directed by David Cronenberg
I first saw Vincent Cassel in this fantastic French film called "La Haine (Hate)" back when I was in high school. He was great in his role then and he's been great in everything I've seen him in since. Most people might have first seen him in the Oceans 11 and Oceans 12 movies, Eastern Promises, or for his work in Black Swan.
I've also seen (and enjoyed) plenty of Cronenberg's stuff over the years: Videodrome, The Fly, eXistenZ, A History of Violence, Eastern Promises, and his great adaptation of Don Delillo's book Cosmopolis.
And I'll tell ya, I'm legitimately angry at how bad this movie was. Phenomenal concept wasted and surrounded by several distracted, nonsensical narratives (none of which really pay off) smothered in some truly terrible dialog and then capped off with an abrupt ending that ends up answering not a goddamn thing right as you feel like you're about to get some closure.
I've since gone and looked at a ton of reviews that call it "funny," but the only funny aspects were the moments too bad to take seriously. There were commenters on Reddit that tried to explain how grief was messy, which I can doubly attest to personally, but this was not a good display of that representation. It was just not executed well on anything other than some of the visuals.
Don't waste your time.
*
Until Dawn (2025)
Written by Gary Dauberman & Blair Butler / Directed by David F. Sandberg
Apparently this one was inspired by either a video game (by the same name) or another video game (by the same basic premise). I can't speak to either of those as I went into this one having only seen the trailers and having appreciated the concept.
And I'll say that, having seen it, just avoid the trailer. It doesn't ruin anything, but it certainly removes some of the fun from the reveals. I don't know how close this gets to the games it's supposedly inspired by, but I really enjoyed the hell outta this. Too often, a good horror flick tries to beef up the emotional backstory, whether through flashbacks or whatever, and the basis of the movie stems from that and brings it up, but it's not overt and the movie really just gets moving immediately without too much poorly written nonsense to lead up to it.
Until Dawn hits on a number of horror tropes, but does so in a fun way. I'm not sure if this concept has been done before or not, but I was both happy with the execution and the fact that not all my questions got answered at the end. Would I have loved a little more exposition on some things? Sure. Am I glad that the movie didn't slip into an ending so horribly cliche that it would've soured my experience? Also yes.
Honestly, this was just fun. Several of the death scenes were...surprising and really satisfying. Same too with some of the cast interactions (there's a particular scene in an office where Meg becomes a kind of conduit and it's just really well done). There were a few plotholes I would've loved to have seen more from, but ultimately I can handwave those away more easily than some of the Redditors I've seen posting, who appear to be more intimately familiar with the games as well.
Go see it with a group of friends. Solid watch, and better than some of the other horror films I've seen over the last six months.
(17,200)
Nice works! Kind of seems to relate to your movement towards reorganization.
ReplyDelete