[Weekly Update] Just some rant about recent horror movies.

Crazy insomnia means I'm writing this in a weird time, because I don't now if I can function well enough to go to the theater today.

I'm yawning but I can't sleep. What a torture.

CHANNEL UPDATE

Maggie Cheung:
Hope you enjoyed our video on Maggie Cheung. As said before, this video took my multiple rewrites over the past year for it to be feasible. Originally the opening section was intended to be live action. And I also wanted to include a whole bunch of other movies such as All's Well Ends Well, Heroic Trio, and New Dragon Gate Inn. Trying to focus only on the most interesting bits is difficult. I guess when it comes to Maggie Cheung, I just have a lot to say. I hope the final edited down video is concise and entertaining. Now, I need to think about who to cover next.

Mommy Economics:
Our next video is on the reason why recent Chinese films are doing so well in the domestic market. I want to put a wrench into many of the on going conspiracies regarding Chinese cinema by creating my own. And my theory is that Chinese film producers realize family movies attract family sized audiences, thus multiplying their box office revenue. We'll see how convincing it is. But I swear I'm not crazy.

New Jackie Chan Video:
So, Jackie Chan starred in a movie called The Protector in 1985. It was one of his earliest American film. And like most of his American productions, it was made by people who don't quite understand his craft. This lead to a clash between Jackie and director James Glickenhaus, resulting in them each editing their own versions. And what do you know, Jackie's edit is far superior.
This, however, provides a rather unique opportunity to study Hong Kong action editing vs. Hollywood continuity editing, as the action scenes were plotted the same but edited entirely differently. The compare and contrast should allows us to learn some very interesting things.
Now, I just need to think of an interesting title for the video.

MEDIA TALK

Summer is finally here, and I'm seeing way more movies. As I'm writing a horror script myself, I decided to spend more time watching horror films. And here are my reviews of them:

Final Destination: Bloodline
The movie is getting good reviews, and I just don't agree with that. For me, this is a movie that's good at all the parts unimportant to me, and miss everything I think Final Destination should have.
What's good about it? It expanded the FD mythos, and it's done in a way much more elegant and interesting than FD2. It's a surprisingly funny movie, morbidly so. The characters are clever (though not necessarily smart), which makes the movie engaging.
But it's not a scary movie at all. Remember how the first movie makes you scare of dying at home? Or how the second movie makes you scared of driving behind a lumber truck? For FD6, with exception to the opening scene, none of the deaths happen in a day to day scenario. They are too absurd and too unlikely to create any dread of fear. It's entertaining in the moment, but will quickly fade from your memory.

Smile 2:
God, I hate this movie.
Smile 2 is a complete rehash of the first film. A woman is infected with a curse and will soon die. She begins seeing haunting visions, and no one believes her. Everything even down to the rug pull ending is the same but bigger.
The problem is, we have seen everything. We already know how the curse work, and we even know how to lift it. And yet, we have to follow the clueless protagonist rediscover everything. Even then, the protagonist didn't even discover anything until over an hour into the film. It was a frustrating watch.
It's a well made movie. It can be good... if you haven't seen the first one.

Clown in a Cornfield:
My expectation for this movie was in the negatives and... I had a good time.
If the title didn't clue you in, this is not a serious movie. A bunch of teenagers in a small town being hunted by clowns. It is as unserious as it sounds. And yet, when the slasher action begins, I find myself thrilled nonetheless. The movie knows exactly when to be funny and absurd, and when to build suspense. The final result is a film that feels right. It's a movie you can grab a beer and enjoy with a couple of friends.

Death of a Unicorn:
I have to say, I was bored by this movie throughout most of the run time. But I honestly don't blame it.
Death of a Unicorn is a creature flick in which a group of rich pricks are being killed for trying to make money off a dead unicorn. It's oddly not the first class commentary horror film I've seen this year (though I'll not spoil which one is the first), but this is by far the weakest.
While sitting right next to Mickey 17 certainly doesn't help the movie, but it also came out way too late for this type of satire.
Back when Don't Look Up came out, we still share the frustration of seeing rich assholes doing stupid things, and we can bond through that frustration. But now in 2025, Our attitude towards the wealthy is closer to depression than anything. Indeed, the action of the rich in this movie is super predictable. But it's not because the movie isn't well written. We are just too familiar with this tragedy.

Sinners:
Best movie of the year, go watch it.

Until Dawn:
This is what happen when your movie has no rules.
In this film, a group of young people are trapped in a time loop, where everything is trying to kill them. They have to survive until dawn to be freed. Every time all of them die, the loop resets. So you survive alone, or do you go back and save your friend for one more loop?
It sounds like an engaging premise. But the problem is "everything is trying to kill them". Viewers simply have no way of knowing what will happen next, nor have any solid clue to go on. Instead of a game of constant surprises, Until Dawn ends up feeling like a party that you aren't invited to. Not even 20 minutes in, and I already lost interest.

Anyway, that's the insomniac update for the week. I still have a few more horror movies I can go through, like The Monkey, Heart Eyes, Wolf Man, The Gorge, Drop... Yeah I have a lot more. But I think I'll save those for another time.

Have you been watching horror films lately? What horror movies struck your fancy? I'll see you in the next update!