Yesterday I updated my LetterBoxD going back all the way to June, if that’s of any interest.
I know last time I said I would talk about Muppets Haunted Mansion and Cry_Wolf, one of which is actually worth your time (have fun guessing!), but because I missed that week and I’ve been having a tough time of it anyway I’ve put some notes up on LBD and decided to leave it at that.
Truly it’s difficult for me to remember what I watched last Friday for Spooktober because my brain decided that the best remedy for nights of insomnia was to play unconscionable amounts of Hollow Knight and Disco Elysium. Did you know I’m a sad cop? Doesn’t surprise me really. I keep trying to go the way of the rough sentimentalist but that doesn’t seem to be an option in this universe. Also everyone is REALLY racist.
So less movies and TV overall this week, but there were a couple of things I did watch:
The Craft (1996): What a perfectly good movie ruined by the last act. Full of ‘90s cliches and focusing on female friendships, the plot really deftly built up each specific girl’s circumstance that made them want to use magic to escape. (Unfortunate that the only thing they could come up with for the black girl was racism but again, 90s laziness.) It seemed like the characters would realize the cost of using their magic and even though they’ve improved their lives that revenge wasn’t as fulfilling as they’d hoped. Nope! Instead they just became voiceless evil vessels to terrorize the main “good” character. It deserves its cult status, and there are some truly iconic moments, use of songs, and costume design, but I’m always a bit disappointed by the end.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992): This movie is all kinds of underrated. I know I watched it a few years ago in a room full of people and everyone laughed and enjoyed it and was clearly there because they knew what was up but it’s still incredible how many people refuse to acknowledge how good and fun it is. Everyone deserves an Oscar. Now that I’ve watched a season and a half of Beverly Hills 90210, the casting of Luke Perry is a masterstroke. Kristy Swanson NAILS this role. SMG is a great actress and definitive in the role but Swanson is a worthy adversary. The movie dropped right at the height of cinema’s obsession with valley girls and the fact that it’s three years before Clueless makes it feel like Clueless was inspired by Buffy. Please enjoy your life and watch this.
In other news, I’m about to wrap up the last two episodes of The Sentinel. There was a point mid-season 2 where this dumb show actually found a really great smoothbrain groove where it was enjoyable and great for knitting. Its reputation as Shipping 101 is fairly earned and the leads genuinely have good chemistry. But season 3 got anxious about all the other shows that were doing better and made script decisions that were well beyond their reach and budget. It almost makes me miss the monks with guns. I’m in this for Blair’s curls and anthropology geekiness and that’s about it. There are details I like about the show but episode to episode it’s kind of a drag. That said, the most recent episode featured Robert Vaughn and was a love letter to 70s buddy cop shows and completely pandered to me and I enjoyed it a lot. It also made me think maybe I should watch Starsky & Hutch next, although Spenser: For Hire takes place in 80s Boston and that could be fun.