Search

Search only in certain items:

Ginger Snaps (2001)
Ginger Snaps (2001)
2001 | Horror, Mystery
8
8.8 (8 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Ginger Snaps is certainly a product of it's time. A couple of decades later and it's so painfully 2000s, however, it still offers something fresh to the werewolf sub genre.

The allegory of burgeoning womanhood and simultaneously turning into a force of nature is an effective one, and is realised well, thanks to its well written characters and solid cast. Katharine Isabelle and Emily Perkins do a fantastic job in carving a realistic portrayal of sisterhood and a challenging time in life. Mimi Rogers is great on her supporting role as well.
For a film that has some potential to be silly, Ginger Snaps plays the whole ordeal pretty straight and sticks the landing for the most part. Nothing comes across as goofy.
There's plenty of impressive practical gore on display and some decent creature effects to top it all off.

This movie has a huge following for a reason, and although it's a little dated these days, it's still an enjoyable horror with a surprisingly emotional centre.
  
SS
Summer Secrets
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Cat is a journalist in London, divorced, and raising her daughter. Earlier, her mother had revealed a secret about Cat's past -- the identity of her true father. When Cat journeyed to Nantucket to meet him - and her two half sisters - something bad happened, and it traumatized her. Now she's a recovering alcoholic and wondering if she can right the wrongs from her long ago meeting with her estranged family.

This was an enjoyable read - the story goes back and forth with flashbacks, which helps build up the suspense. Some of the plot is a little outlandish, but it's a fast read and fun. It's a little painful to read sometimes; Cat can certainly be a frustrating character at times, and you just want to shake her. (Also, I don't recommend reading this if you're triggered by reading alcoholism scenes.) However, present day Cat is a relatable character, for the most part, and fun to root for. Her two half sisters, Julia and Ellie, are pieces of work in themselves, and the book presents a fairly realistic look at modern day family and sisterhood. Overall, probably 3.5 stars.
  
40x40

Ari Aster recommended Persona (1966) in Movies (curated)

 
Persona (1966)
Persona (1966)
1966 | Drama
8.5 (2 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"I love all of Bergman’s films, but his later period has had the biggest impact on me, starting with Persona. The film marked the advent of a new period for him; I know that he wrote it when he was in the hospital and thought he was going to die. It adopts a dream logic in a really forward-thinking way, and like Altman’s Three Women, is an example of a proto-Lynchian dream movie. I was thinking about that when we were making Hereditary, how it gradually adopts a nightmare logic. Cries and Whispers strikes me as the most painful and beautiful film about death . . . and sisterhood. I screened it for the crew when we were making Hereditary, which is also a movie about suffering. Bergman was always wrestling with the big things—family dynamics, one’s relationship to God—but he did it in such an accessible way. His films are entertainments—they’re fun, and they’re beautiful. I feel like he has a reputation for being a forbidding director, but I find him to be as inviting as a filmmaker like that could possibly be."

Source
  
40x40

Ari Aster recommended Cries and Whispers (1972) in Movies (curated)

 
Cries and Whispers (1972)
Cries and Whispers (1972)
1972 | Drama, Romance
(0 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"I love all of Bergman’s films, but his later period has had the biggest impact on me, starting with Persona. The film marked the advent of a new period for him; I know that he wrote it when he was in the hospital and thought he was going to die. It adopts a dream logic in a really forward-thinking way, and like Altman’s Three Women, is an example of a proto-Lynchian dream movie. I was thinking about that when we were making Hereditary, how it gradually adopts a nightmare logic. Cries and Whispers strikes me as the most painful and beautiful film about death . . . and sisterhood. I screened it for the crew when we were making Hereditary, which is also a movie about suffering. Bergman was always wrestling with the big things—family dynamics, one’s relationship to God—but he did it in such an accessible way. His films are entertainments—they’re fun, and they’re beautiful. I feel like he has a reputation for being a forbidding director, but I find him to be as inviting as a filmmaker like that could possibly be."

Source