I’m love true crime, like most people it seems. When Netflix releases something that seems akin to that, I usually jump right on it, especially now that’s Spoopy month. Now, while I now that it wasn’t advertised as a documentary, I was expecting something more. Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story was a horrific mess that seemed to want to be released into the world. Instead of investigating the just possible emotional and psychological damage leading to horrific crimes, this murderer, as the show claims, is turned into a sapphic, feminist icon. While humanizing someone is par for the course to try to understand a person that commits crimes, trying to celebrate them is a completely different thing entirely. Even in the show, there are flashforwards of another criminal who glorifies Borden because she was able to get away with her crimes as if that was a good thing instead of horrible. It could have just been a look at how sexism lead to an acquittal back then but won’t now. Instead, we see an unstable woman be put to death instead of getting the psychological help she needed. The show could have been a lot of things instead of the hot mess that it ended up being. It could be enjoyable if you completely turn off your brain but gets more and more awful the more you think about it. Turning a horrific woman into a icon and hero to women everywhere was disgusting use of everyone’s time.
Category: Entertainment
Let’s Solve a Puzzle Pt 5
I think I’m going to make this a new tradition for Spoopy Month, at least until I finish the series. Will I only be watching the Saw now? Nope, because it is always Spoopy Month. Either way, I will continue this new tradition that I am just now making. Once I’m done with Saw, I’ll move on to another series and come back whenever a new Saw comes out. (I’ve been hearing rumors as of actually writing this, so I’ll wait and see.)
Now, back to the movie you are excited to see. As I’m sure you definitely remember from last year, I was not impressed with the previous film. It was all over the place, and I believe that characterizations were changed. Either way, we have a continuation of that shenanigans, and I think I enjoyed this one a lot more. It actually continued where I think it should have gone, and been more of a procedural drama, which is one of my favorite genres anyway. There was less focus on making the most gory scenes possible and more on the story. I am actually genuinely interested in the story again, rather than a suspicious interest, wondering if they could really pull this off with all the plot twists they are trying. I would love to say that there will continue to be a focus on the story and figuring out all of the new clues, but again, I’ve heard rumors. I have enjoyed the back-and-forth dynamic between the police department and Jigsaw, and would love to see them continue it. I unfortunately do not have my hopes up…
How Does It Hold Up: The Mentalist
Growing up, I would watch this show whenever it was on. I never watched it in order, since I would catch it whenever I could. So, when I found the entire series in order, I hopped in to watch The Mentalist. Now, I have had the honor of watching this former “psychic” work with the California Bureau of Investigation to solve the murders, hoping to find the serial killer that killed his wife and daughter.
I will admit, the first five seasons had me completely captured. I could not stop watching the show, hoping to catch clues before they were fully explained on screen. If I caught onto something before everyone else, I would be ecstatic; if not, I would spend time trying to figure out what I missed. By season 6, I stopped caring as much, and it took me a while to get to the next episode. Season 7, while good, wasn’t necessarily why I got really into the show. I didn’t have the same intrigue, or the same characters I spent six seasons falling in love with. Overall, it was good and really holds up, but it might be a while before I get back to it.
So Bad, It’s Good: Miami Connection
I love terrible movies: The Room, Birdemic, Velocipastor. If there is a movie with a nonsensical plot, I want to know about it and watch it. It will join my collection of lovable movies that are objectively bad but are fun to watch anyway. The next movie to join that collection is Miami Connection. And my nonsensical plot, I truly mean that as I can barely describe what happens.
We start our journey watching a cocaine deal when ninjas attack. (Yes, ninjas. Stop asking questions.) Then we end up at a club where a new band is singing, but we don’t like them for reasons. (I’m pretty sure they stole jobs, maybe…) A gang associated with the ninjas tries to drive this band off, but they all have black belts in Taekwondo and the power of friendship on their side. On top of this “plot,” the actors tried their best, and that is honestly all that I could ask of them. It’s pure 80s cheese in the best ways and a must-watch in my opinion. It is already on the list of movies I’m forcing my friends to watch so I can watch the horror and joy on their faces.
Let’s Solve a Puzzle Pt 4
Let me start by saying, “I am confusion.” I went into watching the fourth Saw movie, not expecting much. The third movie was a good enough ending in my opinion, and the story could have been done. But no, I am more confused about the story than I was before and putting more pieces together than the creators probably would have wanted. There is really no real way of describing the story without too many spoilers (if you know, you know). While this is the weakest movie in the franchise so far, my need for answers is overcoming my distaste for it.
The movie honestly starts immediately, and there is no time to gently get yourself ready. As soon as the opening title cards are over, you are in it. While I did like that the movie immediately started and got going, they did a bad job of interesting me in the different characters. The only thing that was really keeping me engaged was knowing that the story would have to get to a certain point and the reappearance of characters they did well to introduce before. While there were new puzzles, the main “puzzle” of the movie was the same as a previous one, with someone who should have known better. I was honestly rolling my eyes most of the time. While I’ll be watching the rest of this franchise, it is definitely to only answer questions and not because I can’t stop thinking about the story and trying to work out different clues or situations. Definitely not that.
Let’s Solve a Puzzle Pt 3
I’ve just finished watching the third Saw movie and am slightly confused. I am somewhat happy with the story, but there’s more… First, this movie is definitely not for the squeamish, as the body horror is very hard to stomach, and it should come with an epilepsy warning. Also, my theory from the last movie was both correct and wrong. I just knew there was something weird about the second movie, and I was smart enough to pick up on it even though I didn’t know what. It was somewhat explained toward the end. Also, this movie kind of pissed me off.
While this movie does include an escape room for someone to escape, I feel that this person is the worst. He stands there. Where people in the other movies were trying to figure out the puzzles or freaking out, this guy just stands there. In fact, there are no puzzles; he just has to do something and fast. In horror movies, I sometimes get mad when people do stupid things, but at least they are doing something. I have never been so mad at a horror movie “protagonist.” Can I even call him a protagonist? No one really is in these movies, except Kerry; she’s awesome.
The last thing that confuses me is that this movie feels like it is the perfect ending for the series, yet there are more movies. At this point, we have reached a suitable stopping point, especially as it appears to be shifting from a psychological thriller to a more gory horror. I’m going to watch the fourth movie to see if it’s even worth commenting on the rest series. I know it’s a classic, but at a certain point, too many sequels spoil the franchise.
Let’s Solve a Puzzle Pt 2
I’m back after watching the second movie in the Saw franchise, where instead of two people stuck in an escape room, there are seven. The puzzles were back and still blew my mind. I did get some of them, then there were others that were head scratchers, and I was still piecing everything together at the end. (Is it weird that I was slightly proud if I solved a puzzle before the characters? They technically have more time to figure things out than I do.) The other interesting thing was that there is a converging outside plot line that really kept the intensity high.
This movie was interesting in that it introduced a group dynamic to everything. Not only did they have to worry about solving the puzzles, but they also had to worry about others. While the puzzles were still surrounding human desperation, I’m not too sure that that’s entirely true. Probably just part of it. Connecting back to everything in the first movie, and all that we learned in this one, I’m suspicious of some of the motives. It will be interesting to see if my theories turn up with anything, or if it’s just the writers messing with our heads. I could have done with more of the type of body horror from the last movie, where you didn’t really see anything, you just knew it was happening because of the context and other character interactions. So, if you are squeamish, this probably isn’t the film for you.
Let’s Solve a Puzzle Pt 1
Happy Spoopy Month, everyone. In honor of the best month of the year, I have started my annual rewatch of the English dub of Ghost Stories, and more importantly for you, I’ve decided that I would begin to watch that famous series Saw, starting with the first one and then slowly working my way through the movies available to me. Spoopy Month is the perfect time to willingly terrify myself for the fun of it, so let me begin making my way through this classic series.
Even though this movie was made upwards of two decades ago, it is still beautiful, in a horrifying, hiding part of the screen with my hands, and needing to pause sometimes type of way. Watching it, I know why it is considered a classic. While it doesn’t evoke the stereotypical monster or supernatural horror vibes, I would definitely classify this as a psychological, ‘is this even real?’ horror. For those who don’t know, and without spoilers, Saw follows two guys in an escape room, and they’re not having fun. Everything is, unfortunately, at times, very grounded in reality as you delve into the depths of human desperation. At all times, I was wondering if there was another choice for characters to make. Some, yes. Others, no. I’m very interested in how the rest of the series unfolds, as it seems that the horror is not necessarily in the puzzles, but in the extent and desperation of the will to live. Also, as a Criminal Minds fan, I’m very interested in how the victims are decided. It feels like there should be more exploration of that and I can’t wait to see.
Patterns on Our Skin
This will probably be the only time that I admit that it took me too long to watch something. Usually, I stick to my gigantic list to “Want to Watch” and the time comes when the time comes. I will admit that I was completely and utterly wrong about K-Pop Demon Hunters. I thought it was being overhyped, but it wasn’t. If you search around my blog you know that I love Japanese media. When my dad said I should watch it, I blew it off because obviously he confused the two countries. He may have had a point.
K-Pop Demon Hunters may quite possibly be my favorite movie of the year, and not just because I don’t really watch new movies. It has everything. Amazing animation, lovable characters, action, drama, and a dash of romance. Going further than the understanding of three Korean pop-stars who fight and save the world from a demon takeover through song who be too many spoilers for this amazing story. I am also sometimes skeptical of in-universe soundtracks, but the songs are beautiful and heartwarming. I’ve either had them on repeat or stuck in my head for days now. Check it out, if you haven’t, because at this point it is a complete sin. Seriously, drop everything and run, don’t walk, to your nearest Netflix account.
Another thing that I’ve done since watching this movie is find the Korean translations and a couple of people who are speaking on some of the aspects of Korean culture that I, as an American, would not get. It’s been really interesting how much deeper the story gets with some of the extra background people are supplying. I would explain it, but again, spoilers… Just know that I am expecting some amazing cosplays for these characters. I make no promises, however, since my cosplay game is sorely lacking.
Grey’s of the Sea
I usually don’t watch shows as they come out. I don’t have a TV nor cable. The only things I have are Hulu, Netflix, and Crunchyroll accounts; I usually am binge-watching shows. Imagine my surprise when my friend, Panda, told me that I needed to watch this show that was coming out every single week: a medical drama that takes place on a boat. Well, call me intrigued. That show is “Doctor Odyssey.” Some may have heard of this show from the aside John Oliver made on “Last Week Tonight,” but I was there from week three or four.
Anyway, “Doctor Odyssey” is about a Doctor who seems to be running from his everyday life because of a wake-up call from being a “patient zero” for COVID in his hospital. Enter the two other medical staff on the boat, sorry, ship. Anyway, we know how most medical dramas typically unfold and eventually lead to romance. I really thought this show would be interesting, since from the very beginning it was hinting at an OT3, or one true threesome for those not in the know. There was chemistry between everyone. Unfortunately, at least Panda and I think, the networks got involved, and nonsense started happening. While the medicine and medical aspects were still good, I would not stand the relationship as the show kept going. I eventually started skipping anytime our favorite characters were not doing their jobs. While I enjoyed the show and where I thought it was going, I don’t think the show will continue. There were lots of plot points that would keep that from happening unless there is a time jump, and everything was resolved in the season finale. Maybe start with another group. Either way, it was a good weekend binge if you’re looking for something quick to watch.
