samvara

WTF. The Raja Saab (2025) is NOT EXTRA ENOUGH, I can't believe they blew it, I mean they had Prabhas. They had money (so much money). They had Boman Irani (he was great). This should have been an epic fantasy horror comedy cranked up to 11 and I'm tragically disappointed. Manic pixie dream boy tries to hunt down his long lost grandfather for his beloved grandmother and ends up fighting the psychic wars while trapped in a haunted mansion with his comedy sidekicks and the steadily increasing cohort of beautiful girls who are in love with him (Prabhas little hand flutter every time he sees the nun is delightful). It could have been so good. I can't believe I'm saying this but there were too many dance montages, like, that should not be possible.

Remains one of my comfort movies, I showed it to vampire movie club in lieu of the planned vampire movie because one of the godlings couldn't make it. Jane (Kathleen Turner) and Jeff (Dennis Quaid) are retired espionage agents turned devoted parents who can't quite manage to make the retiring stick. It's an american action comedy with great pacing, music, and choreography. Both Novacek (Fiona Shaw) and Muerte (Stanley Tucci) make excellent comedic villains (the restaurant scene with the oysters makes me cackle every time). The thing that makes this movie special is the relentlessly wholesome, respectful, passionate relationship between Jane and Jeff that shows how unnecessary unlikable protagonists and toxic masculinity are to great entertainment. Their smiles. My heart.

American vampire-werewolf action horror based on a story by Kevin Grevioux, Len Wiseman, and Danny McBride.

Directed by Len Wiseman with Kate Beckinsale, Scott Speedman, Michael Sheen, Shane Brolly, and Bill Nighy. Selene, a vampire warrior unravels the history of an ancient war between the vampires and lycans while falling in love with a human.

I totally rec this for over the top gothic vibes and Kate Beckinsale in tight leather, like, all her clothes are leather, it's great. Michael Sheen does a great job of being really, really messed up and twitchy, and Bill Nighy's gradual evil follicular regrowth is a thing of wonder.

I rec this so hard. Produced by Nicolas Cage, and starring John Malkovich, Willem Dafoe, Udo Kier, Cary Elwes Cary Elwes, Catherine McCormack, and Eddie Izzard.

Mockumentary about the creation of the 1922 Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror which was a silent German Expressionist unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula. This is exquisite, hilarious, and horrifying in turns. The plot hinges on movie Director Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau's (John Malkovich) obsession with authenticity that drives him to hire a real vampire and pass them off to the crew as a method actor. Willem Dafoe absolutely nails Count Orlok / Dracula (name changed due to blatant copyright infringement) with a gleefully unhinged portrayal of a vampire playing an actor playing a vampire.

Watch back to back with Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (1922) for maximum effect.

Was hilarious, Tom Hardy delivered exactly the dumpster-fire chaos-goblin experience I was hoping for.

Is excellent and showing right now so if you have a chance to see it say yes. The genre is comedy-heist and it's about three women with complex lives who are friends working together as cabin crew for Kohinoor Airlines. They get involved in something and struggle together to extricate themselves. The writing is top notch and nothing is wasted, like, this is gorgeously integrated. I am angry not all movies are this good. I am trying not to spoil but it goes from intrigue to even more intrigue and it was SO GOOD.

Kareena Kapoor is delightfully cynical and just a little lightfingered, Kriti Sanon who I last saw in Diwale (2015) has seriously lifted her acting chops (to be fair Diwale did not give her the same opportunities) and between her outfits and her ability to shoulder-lock arse slapping travelers she is thoroughly enjoyable. Tabu was also rock solid and last seen by me in Haider (which was an exquisite, exquisite gem). 9:52 AM Also passes the bechdel test so thoroughly it's past the finish line and in a bar with a giant bottle of champagne and two lobsters.

I'm just sad Rajesh A Krishnan (director) and Nidhi Mehra & Mehul Suri (writing team) don't have any other collaborations but I'm now eyeing off Lootcase (2020) by Rajesh A Krishnan and Veere Di Wedding (2018) by Nidhi Mehra & Mehul Suri.

Is an exquisite, exquisite gem although not for the faint of heart. It's the best Hamlet adaption I've ever seen and I am both a Shakespeare nerd and married to one. Haider is third in director Bhardwaj's trilogy after Maqbool (2003) and Omkara (2006)... Macbeth and Othello respectively. I will definitely try to see Maqbool, not sure I would survive Omkara.

Directed and co-written by Vishal Bhardwaj with Basharat Peer (author of Curfewed Night, a memoir of the ongoing anti-India insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir). Haider is set in Kashmir in the mid-90s where the ongoing anti-India insurgency in Kashmir has resulted in a massive Indian security presence, insurgency by multiple militarised groups, and Kashmiri youths crossing into Pakistan for arms and training. The violence and human rights violations killed tens of thousands.

Some of the fun is in learning who plays what roles as you watch so I'll skip any recap and just say it's brutal, well-paced, beautifully adapted and very, very well written. The women have much richer roles and more agency, and the ghost's truth is cruelly multi-layered, transforming the revenge narrative into something a little more complex. The scarf, the mousetrap, the flashbacks. Wow.

Last year me, Sertraline (Eleva, Zoloft), Agomelatine (Valdoxan, Melitor, Thymanax), Bupropion (Wellbutrin, Zyban), Apo-Atomoxetine (Strattera), Vortioxetine (Trintellix, Brintellix), Lurasidone (Latuda), Lamotrigine (Lamictal) and Ritalin did our best to keep my neuro-chemicals fit for purpose where the purpose was to stay alive and person on the regular. Looks like that might finally be working out. Yay!

I read a book, I'm reading another one!

*glee* The steampunk alternate history of Belgium’s invasion of the Congo if the natives had known a lot more about steam technology. Air canoes! Mechanical bicycles!

Queer women, women being awesome.

Read everything she has written, there's lots.

Rock solid dystopian future writing and worldbuilding, fabulous bio-mechanics.  Interesting body and gender identity stuff. Cruelty to women. Diversity of opinion among women who continue to work together as if women do that.

Run, don't walk, and read this lady's short stories.

Thoroughly interesting and enjoyable. Some body-horror. Yes, she does think she is a planet. No, I don’t want to spoil it.