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brigdh: (bite me)
The Guardian came out with a list today of The 25 Best Horror Movies. So I'm inventing a meme! Instructions: Bold the ones you've seen, italicize those you've seen part of.

1) Psycho
2) Rosemary's Baby

3) Don't Look Now
4) The Wicker Man*
5) The Shining
6) The Exorcist

7) Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror
8) Let the Right One In
9) Vampyr
10) Peeping Tom
11) The Innocents
12) Ringu**
13) The Haunting (1963)
14) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)+
15) Dead of Night
16) The Cabinet of Dr Caligari
17) Halloween (1978)
18) Bride of Frankenstein
19) Les Diaboliques
20) Dracula (1958)++
21) Audition
22) The Blair Witch Project
23) The Evil Dead/Evil Dead II
24) Carrie
25) Les Vampires

I didn't do very well, considering how much I love horror movies. I will pretend this is because The Guardian has no taste. I think a top 25 list definitely needs some of these: A Tale of Two Sisters (SO SCARY), Jaws, Night of the Living Dead (I mean, come on, not one zombie movie?), Silence of the Lambs (LOVE IT), 28 Days Later, Scream (since it basically recreated the slasher-if not all horror- genre), Young Frankenstein (if you're going to do horror-comedy, I much prefer this to the Evil Dead series), and [Rec].

So tell me, O LJ: which of the movies I haven't seen should I watch first?

* the 1973 version, not the remake, in case that isn't obvious. I have seen the remake! It is hilariously awful.
** I actually think the US remake is the scarier movie. But it's true that the Japanese original makes more sense (usually not an attribute of Japanese horror movies!).
+ Another one that, eh, didn't work so much for me. I think I was too jaded by the time I got around to watching it.
++ I have seen several other film versions of Dracula, but not this one. Still, I can't believe they didn't go with the original Bela Lugosi one! That moment when they find Renfield on the ship and he just laughs... *shudders*
brigdh: (heart of light)
Because if I wasn't writing this post, I would be doing schoolwork that's due tomorrow, and that would be silly. Note: all of these movies are available on Netflix.

1. Jodhaa Akbar (2008) Lavish historical epic about Akbar the Great, one of the first Mughal Emperors (who were Muslim), and his Hindu wife, Jodhaa. The plot is not too complex (mainly 'people can learn to work together across religions, yay!') (although the evil mother-in-law is AWESOME), but come on, the point is the incredible costumes and sets. You should totally watch this video to see what I mean; the subtitles are in Chinese, but they're just singing about how Akbar is an awesome king and now everyone is happy. This movie is so pretty.

2. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) This movie is kind of cheesy. It is soooo 90s. But it is funny and happy and whole-heartedly sweet. Simran and Raj are Indians living in England; Simran is engaged to a boy she's never met, but when she and Raj meet during a Eurorail vacation, they fall in love. Complications ensure! There is a subplot involving people lost in Switzerland and cow-bell souvenirs. Simran's dad has the best crazy eyes I have ever seen. Simran's mom is super sweet and has several amazing scenes.

3. Omkara (2006) EVERYONE: WATCH THIS MOVIE IMMEDIATELY. A retelling of Othello in modern, rural India. The Iago-parallel is the most terrifying version of Iago I have ever seen. He is so calm and yet intense, so subtly evil that I wanted to hide my eyes whenever he was on screen. Every review of this movie mentions how fantastic this actor is, but seriously, there is a very, very good reason for all the love. Also, the cinematography in this movie in amazing. Particularly the last shot- not to spoil it (though who doesn't know how Othello ends), but the framing of Dolly (Desdemona) and Omkara (Othello) is fantastic.
brigdh: (not a pretty pretty princess)
I got to see a special showing of The Golden Compass last night! Yay! I was so excited to see this movie; I first read the books back when I actually was the age they're targeted at, when I was 12 or 13. Well, the first two; by the time the third one came out I was a bit older, and have vivid memories of not sleeping a whole night to tear through it.

Not really spoilers, since it has the same plot as the book, but if you want to see without having heard anyone else's reactions )
brigdh: (bitch please)
I adore horror movies. However, I loathe the gory aren't-snuff-films-illegal? Saw/Hostel/The Hitcher (also? 'The Hitcher' is the most idiotic title of a movie I've ever heard. Who the fuck says 'hitcher'? The word is 'hitchhiker', seriously, it's not that long) genre that seems to be the only type of horror movie coming out lately. I've been watching previews of the upcoming Primeval with interest, in the hope that maybe here would finally be a movie I could stand. I didn't have a lot of hope, but hey, there's always a chance.

The commercials keep claiming that it's "based on the true story of the deadliest serial killer ever". I'd been idly wondering who they were talking about, but wasn't terribly concerned about it. And then last night I saw a commercial where they named him: Gustave. Was that the crazy French medieval werewolf guy?, I wondered, not being able to think of any other serial killers named Gustave. So I googled it.

It is a crocodile. People, what the hell. That is not an appropriate villain for a horror movie. I think I almost prefer the snuff films to yet another movie in the grand tradition of Lake Placid and Anaconda. I share this news with you in case anyone else was under the mistaken impression that Primeval might be worth seeing.

By the way, the crazy French medieval werewolf guy was probably one of these, though none of those stories seem to quite match the one I was thinking of. They'd still make a better movie than freaking crocodiles, though.

Dreamgirls

Jan. 6th, 2007 12:25 am
brigdh: (best thing evar)
I saw Dreamgirls tonight, and it's an excellent, amazing movie. I hadn't been terribly impressed by the commercials, but there wasn't anything else out that I wanted to see more. However, I am here to tell you all: go see this movie.

It reminded me of Chicago (though possibly that's only because I don't watch very many musicals) in terms of its flashy costumes and obviously big-budget production values, but it's much, much darker. Which is ironic, considering that Chicago's about murder and being in prison, and Dreamgirls is about pop stars. But here the themes are racism, the price of fame, and selling out, and it doesn't back down from any of them. Several of the characters are ruthless and self-destructive and proud, and you know how I love that.

Plus: damn, these people can sing. Even if the sound in the theater went out right during the biggest number of the movie ("And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going"), but hey, I got a free movie ticket out of it.

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