The Roxie
I've been in the habit of catching movies at Roxie Theater to stave off unemployment woes. Here are some unwarranted thoughts.
Only a true cinephile will watch a black-and-white rendition of the Avengers for four hours. While I am proud to join the ranks, Seven Samurai doesn't completely do it for me. The samurai's journey is great, but the characters lack development, and the straightforward story with middling stakes was a tad disappointing.
My high-ass brain spent the better part of the movie thinking how futuristic this looked for something shot in 2001. The film was actually released in 1960. Loved the little cameo of my friends in the first arc.
The dreamiest of the lot. A real whimsical look at love and luck. Peak cinematography is on display here, with tons of album cover-worthy camera angles, the intense neon lighting of old Hong Kong, and cute metaphors all around. I love me a wistful, melodramatic romance film ❤️
New kink unlocked ☺️? The first entrant in Roxie Theater's 'You Are So Cursed' J-Horror spree of films, Audition is a great introduction to horror films that rely more on atmosphere than the jump scares common in the genre. Coupled with some pretty compelling writing, the plot broods menacingly for most of the movie before plunging the viewer into a nightmarish ending with the protagonist's demise. A little chaotic, but I likey.
With the advent of the 21st century, Pulse warns us about a harrowing future where individuals plugged into their dial-up (yikes) machines, experience social isolation tantamount to death. While that didn't exactly come true (we have TikTok to thank for that~), the film still delivered on major spooky vibes despite its long runtime and stilted acting.
A very wet affair, Dark Water's heavily plot-driven story works well enough but stumbles at the ending. The film had the promise of a (IMO) more interesting parallel story with the mother's psychosis, but instead we were just treated to a regular haunting situation. Lots of water motifs which should scare anyone who has ever had to deal with leaky plumbing. The scariest part of this movie? I lost my 3-film pass on the way home 😭
Great news! The kind folks at the Roxie have kindly reinstated my 3-film pass status in the form of scribbles behind my Dark Water ticket stub 😭
Perfect timing for arguably the most captivating flick of this horror run, Cure. I was mesmerized in spite of its long run time, infatuated with exploring deeper into the unsettling world Kurosawa has created, akin to the detective protagonist. Tons of harrowing flashback sequences, something I do not say lightly, seeing how horror films rarely really faze me anymore. A superb recommendation that makes you really consider the human condition in the face of personal malaise.
The final piece of the quintet, Onibaba once again returns us to the monochromatic world of the '60s. I wouldn’t necessarily classify this as straightforward horror, more so folk horror. I think Onibaba suffers from the same syndrome as Pulse, where changing societal norms and values dilute the message it's trying to convey. The underlying narrative of a post-war, famine-stricken environment with overt sexual themes doesn’t resonate as strongly in modern times. Still, some impressive set pieces and imagery to be had here!
