2/5/2023: hello everyone! its been a while but im glad to see you here again ^_^ i dont have much to announce other the imminent update of the gallery with a few new pieces of mine... but i really hope you are all well! a comfortable holiday season into a fresh new year is what ive been treated with, and things are really looking up! i havent really had any big plans for the site for a while, but i appreciate that youve stuck around! on new years we watched the first pokemon movie, bagi, and paprika. the pokemon movie seems to have set off a streak of watching every pokemon movie which has really been a good time ^_^ i also got around to revisiting pokemon sword and i actually had a lot of fun and maybe teared up a little when the super cool dogs showed up. i cant cry when i want but when i do cry its usually something like that... anyways ive been very much back into pokemon in general lately and it feels great... to be honest i think the main reason for not saying much around here lately aside from being so busy and tired is ive been really into alot of interests ive put off for a while! endeavors in music are fruitful as well and ive gotten back into reading. my fresh catch from the bookstore includes The Secret Life of Lobsters, Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou: Deluxe Edition Vol. 1 and Bram Stoker's Dracula... so far i have been reading about lobsters, and im intruiged! the book really is a charismatic story woven about lobsters and the people that study and rely on them. YKK HUGELY reccomended also. as for bagi... bagi is ICONIC. raised on them, ive always loved a good toei film, and bagi is... a beautiful mess of a made for TV movie. we ♥ bagi. bagi if youre reading this youre welcome on my page any time. and paprika!! great movie.. if you look back a little youll see a mention of a dinner/movie sort of place and we are set to see paprika there as well! brilliant and fun movie, and an instant favorite ^_^ i really love all of the work ive seen from both Satoshi Kon and Susumu Hirasawa. most of my plans these days are for boring life stuff.. but i hope the next time you hear from me i will come bearing gifts! in the meantime..? tell someone you love them, make lots of art, and donate to what you believe in i suppose... goodnight :3
8/15/2023: hey! its been a while but im here to share some thoughts !
THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER was really good! Saw it today with my girlfriend at one of those theaters you can get a burger at. Between this and Renfield we've been enjoying the approach, for dracula movies and the like, of focusing on specific side characters or premises rather than trying to do something over again. Despite the immediate knowledge of no survivors and the knowledge of what is told in the books, the movie is beautifully tragic and leaves you hopeful. Plenty of time is spent letting you get to know the characters and just as much time is spent on their unfortunate (or merciful) deaths. With a doomed crew helplessly isolated in a rich but small setting with some unstoppable evil, you could see why it left such an impression on me. With the tense and snappy dialogue of The Thing but the more socially conscious messages of Alien, the last voyage tells a story of madness and tragedy more brushed over by the book and other adaptations. While hard to judge the film's beastly and unfortunately rubbery Dracula against other Dracula movies that focus on a more humanlike and dynamic form, the conflicts and dynamics between the crewmates of the Demeter is where this movie really shines. You really get to know each character for better or for worse. While id love to go through and give a bio of each character and dynamic, ive chosen to give little highlights. Possibly my favorite character, Anna serves as an unexpected protagonist and steals the show. A survivor of dracula, her experience guides a confused crew and her scars exist as a stigmata of the generations of terror he's put over her village. I believe her character really shines through her speech describing how 'the devil/dracula takes little pieces of you and those you love and fills the wounds with dirt' telling of an evil that can only take and feed but gives nothing in return, even if it promises the world. Between this and her description of dreaming of the life she knew before he used her and took from her, I believe her own wounds filled with filth can also be read as a metaphor about sexual assault. A dialogue shared with alien much like the hesitation to stop in any port over the risk of losing a monetary bonus for making the trip without stopping, ultimately at the expense of the crew. While its hard to speak to the merits of a movie by describing how similar it is to another movie, its important to note that the last voyage takes more than a surface level inspiration and doesnt overlook the messages that make alien such a powerful movie (also bonus points for not forcing a kiss between her and the doctor! ultimately they feel like siblings and possibly the closest weve seen to an albus/shanoa duo onscreen)
and thats everything! well not really everything.. i still have alot of thoughts about certain details i enjoyed alot, but i instead think you should take a look over here ♥ as her review treads alot of ground ive missed. theres a chance ill tell more about this movie after a potential rewatch, but until then! good night and safe travels :)
7/3/2023: hello again!! hope you are well... big post of just sharing some things!
MOVIES
Dracula's Daughter is a movie that shows Marya Zeleska attempting to cast away her... inheritance? of vampirism by banishing away her fathers spirit or something. Eventually she realizes she is actually cursed to this fate of feeding on others and dies badly from only one arrow. i cant describe this movie as much else other than "briefly sapphic" and "anticlimactic" but it is by no means a bad watch. i guess it just couldve been alot more. think if it stopped right after she does evil powers on the girl and is like. augh! im such a monster ! they should like... let me finish making the rest of the movie i can handle it from there. like, sike!! shes in love with her therapist and wants to take the curse from the girl and transfer it to him? so she can. live together with her therapist that she just fell in love with. eternally. (i should note im aware of the Rules of the time but i still enjoy just approaching the movie as it is)
LA MORTE VIVANTE is a wonderful movie that follows Catherine rising from the dead with a thirst for blood, who immediately returns to her childhood home. through flashbacks we learn about Helene, a childhood friend and presumed lover with whom she shares a blood pact with. upon getting there she immediately gives Helene a call who is shocked to find out she is alive. after arriving at catherine's home, helene discovers catherine has brutalized and drained the blood of a couple that snuck into the seemingly abandoned home for a quick shag, as the era would call it. loving her more than life itself, helene of course immediately decides to start hiding the bodies and caring for catherine. going so far as to bathe her and begin sorting out how she will feed. it is established as soon as they meet that they love eachother more than living and will do anything for that, basically eating eachother alive in the process. this progresses with helene finding more victims for catherine, resulting in plenty of silly bloody and gruesome death scenes typical for the subgenre that last an eternity and make you reach for the volume button. its noted that it has to be human blood and life that catherine feeds on, as revealed in a scene where she shamefully runs away because of her hunger. helene kills a dove and offers it to catherine, who refuses. this all leads to helene occasionally letting catherine feed, which is really part of the core of the film. i see it almost as a balance between them, and as the scale evened out helene came closer to death as catherine came closer to life through feeding. of course as catherine began to regain the ability to speak she mostly expressed "im already dead. im evil im doomed dont you get it like. youre killing us both here" and it really does end up being their doom. catherine is just a living dead girl, but her love has turned helene into a monster. in the final scenes of the movie helene brings another victim to catherine, but this time catherine begs her to stop. after setting the captured woman free catherine meets helene at the doorstep of the house where the swirling around the drain of their love story finally reaches its end: the drain. catherine eats helene alive and they both reach their fate that was spelled out from the beginning, "If you die first, I'll follow you. I swear it with my blood." And catherine had already been dead the entire time.
and thats all for now!! thanks for reading!! have a good night everyone.
MUSIC
The Cure and The Twilight Sad, Live in Concert!
i really thought id end up with more to share here but yeah!!! i had a great time seeing a legendary band live that ive loved for years, and the opener was pretty sweet too!! i always love finding a new favorite with an opening band. i know i heard atleast most of my favorites. considering they featured a great mix of songs, i doubt anyone left the building dissatisfied (except for anyone expecting any songs from pornography? really funny to me they skipped out on that album entirely??) but even still i mean. it was just such a fun show and an awesome memory especially with my girlfriend there for it. if you ever get the chance, see em live! goes for any band really ive been enjoying all of the concerts ive been going to and ABSOLUTION FEST to look forward to in the future! which actually features the opening act i enjoyed at another cool show :3
and thats all for now!! thanks for reading!! have a good night everyone.
5/29/2023: hello everyone!! quick update!! ive uploaded a short project of mine SKELETON CAVE!!! which is a 20 minute music... thing? channeling more of an old school approach to electronic music.. with some spooky filler video. i intend on eventually uploading on some platform once i feel the need to do so but for now.. enjoy a TOTALLY EXCLUSIVE RELEASE!! a little silly but i hope everyone enjoys :D youll notice it has taken over the MUSIC tab, replacing the OLD SCM PLAYER LINK which can now be found under the miscellaneous tab. thats all for now, have a good day!!
5/8/2023: hi again!! ive watched two movies with my girlfriend today and would like to share my thoughts. the movies are The Thing From Another World and The Thing 2011. those that know me know i LOVE john carpenters version and yet i had never seen the others... that changed today and my thoughts are as follows!!
The Thing From Another World is a fun movie that doesnt go many places. i enjoyed the concept of it being a plant based monster or "super carrot" that was really just a big guy in makeup and an outfit. i wouldnt say i was underwhelmed but i think i wouldve gone the same way with the excessive gore if tasked with a remake as john carpenter was. as a silly watch i find movies like this more entertaining with company. that being said, some highlights include: any scene of the thing running away, the doctors insistence on mentioning how the creature isnt held back by sexual desire, "CLOSE THE DOOR" being said almost any time a door is opened in this movie, and the fact they ACCIDENTALLY BLEW UP THE ENTIRE UFO out of excitement of finding it under the ice i suppose. its additionally hard not to mention the scene where nikki and the captain are talking about sharing drinks together, and lightly joking about having the captain tied up before it fades to black. as it stands its memorable enough as a quick silly joke, but as it fades back in we are met with exactly what theyve described: the captain bound at his wrists being fed liquor by nikki. we also found it funny the doctor decides to try growing like 30 OF THAT THING FROM SEED PODS.. USING BLOOD... AND NOBODY THINKS ITS THAT WEIRD... they spend half the movie trying to kill just one of those things and its only AFTER they do that that someone gets rid of them. but i guess in that is this movies main fault.. its really only the last bit of the movie spent on the creature, and when they do kill it it isnt much spectacular or much to think about. but i think thats just fine. being made for a more patient audience, the movie is still a fun watch for what it is :)
The Thing (2011) i wish this movie was better or worse than i expected. unfortunately it was just alright. ill start by saying i enjoy how they tie it in with the other as a prequel and some of the monster designs are good, especially all of the buglike features thrown in. it just feels like they had their heart in the wrong place. a movie so TERRIBLY afraid of having fun, half of it is spent zoomed in on everyones dull horrified faces. never have i begged more for characters to have a little small talk. it feels much like with comedy where it is the characters job to be funny and the audiences job to laugh, it is the characters job to react and the audiences job to look on in horror. i mean seriously give me a little "what the hell is that thing!" or "holy cats!" or some kind of scream. give me something, ANYTHING... i mean we seriously started finding other ways to entertain ourselves just waiting for this movie to go along. what else can i say? they opt for "horror monster chase scenes" making me realize how much i appreciate that the action moments in carpenters were those brief horrific lashing out hell scenes seperated by tension, where it feels like any sort of chase happens slowly and anxiously or within a few quick moments. i really dont understand how you can have A Terrible Creature Out There and yet no real stakes or tension. also the approach of the cgi was weird and kind of already dated. also the gaming computer ass spaceship was weird. also the ending was weird too. i didnt like this movie and wouldnt watch it again, but i enjoyed watching it and im glad i did. blehhh go watch one of the others instead.
agree or disagree? other thoughts? dont be afraid to shoot me a message or an email. if you are reading this i hope you are well and hope you have a good night :)
4/21/2023: hi!! :3 online i go by snail and im very happy youre reading this!! i have been busy so my site has been neglected for some time but i hope youve enjoyed it regardless... i like critters, synthesizers, electronic music, dancing, fun horror movies...videogames? uhhh some other things. im really not good at this but i hope to share more with time :D if youre reading and interested, maybe you could help! send an email to germcell@yahoo.com and ill answer it here! i cant promise i wont bite but i swear ill be nice ;3