I guess I was on a “room” kick (or maybe a bottle episode kick?) because on Sunday I watched Room (2015) and Green Room (2015) back to back. 2015 was really a year for the word “Room”, huh? While writing this, I also realized they’re both A24 films. Maybe I just watched the same movie twice and hallucinated the differences? They’re both about people trapped in one room by a malevolent force, after all (though the former is a kidnapper and the latter Punk Nazis).
Then, I basically watched nothing new. I binged YouTube (LadyLike and Try Guys, anyone??) and fell asleep to Bojack Horseman (I’m not gonna theorize what that says about my character).
Yesterday, feeling like I was already letting this site slack a week in, I watched Gerald’s Game (2017), and 7 episodes of Explained (2018), a Netflix/Vox docuseries. It was actually really soothing and overall positive, which was a surprising and welcome change.
Gerald’s Game, however, was a bottle episode of a movie with a lot of tell-not-show at the end and a gore scene that’s burned into my eyelids. While watching it, I kept being reminded of the fact that a guy I met on a dating app recommended this to me, and I was consistently happy that I ghosted him.
What a premise though. God, do I love Stephen King. His full books drag a little, but his novellas/the screen adaptations of his work? Inspired. I want to adapt one of his short stories one day- or maybe a never finished work (not gonna lie, I’ve had my eye on The Cannibals for years).
I almost forgot! I also saw Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019) in theaters. The child in me is finally happy.
Unofficial Ratings
Room
Sad but also hopeful. Do you define your trauma or does your trauma define you? AKA Captain Marvel tries to escape a kidnapper with the help of her son.
Green Room
I was more concerned for the dogs than the band members. I was surprised to see Maeby from Arrested Development in this though. Also the Nazis own a Punk venue? And kill people who try to leave their cult? They were so particular about how people could be killed, I was expecting some wild sacrificial/cannibalizing type thing, but it didn’t really deliver.
Gerald’s Game
REALLY well acted, by all two of them (three, if you count the dog). Really made me afraid of being handcuffed, because who knows? Maybe my estranged husband will have a heart attack and die on top of me with the front door wide open and I’ll be forced to figure a way to save myself from dying of thirst/being eaten by a wild dog while I hallucinate my dead husband and another me constantly telling me what to do while I fear sleep because then the boogeyman might get me. It could happen.
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
Drinking a cocktail while watching the film adaption of my favorite children’s book is an incredibly experience, and I highly recommend it. It almost made the CGI look passable (though the creatures were still terrifying).
Explained (ep. 1-7)
They’re extended versions of those educational snippets you scroll past on FaceBook, but narrated by different celebrities. The nerd in me is satisfied.
Film Student Watchlist 