Diary
April 2026
The Prestige
still so gripping from start to finish, even if you remember all the twists and turns. what a movie! insane performances and writing. my mom was mindblown as well!
Tuesday
very much a spiritual predecessor to aftersun. not a lot is being said, but it also doesn't need to. charlotte wells has this way of holding back that just feels so natural. nothing is overstated or forced, it's all in what's left unsaid, how she lets moments sit without trying to explain them. checking out her filmography has been such a joy. i love her work so much! the moment a new film of hers is announced, i'll be over the moon.
Michael
man, this was so cool. going into this i was worried cause i heard so many horrible things about it but honestly i don't know what people's problems with it are. i had so much fun! it brought me back to my childhood playing the michael jackson experience game with my brother. the performances were pretty great as well and i didn't have any issues there. i absolutely loved the musical numbers and they are stuck in my head now lol. i think the childhood section before we see jaafar jackson is probably my favorite part. there is something about the behind the scenes stuff with jaafar jackson that didn't quite hit as much, idk. still, i enjoyed this! seated for the sequel. - just found out this was juliano valdi's film debut?! this kid is gonna make it far!
Aftersun
i can't really watch sentimental, melancholic, and emotionally challenging films with my mom because most of the time they are just too slow for her liking, or she simply doesn't get them, and i don't like to cry in front of her. still, i decided to show her my favorite film, and yeah, it didn't do much for her, but i'm still happy that she at least gave it a try. there doesn't go a day by when i don't think of this film. it means so incredibly much to me. my all-time favorite film. - just thought i should mention it, because i'm pretty sure i never did: the fact that they kept calum's solo scenes hidden from frankie corio is such a brilliant choice. it blew my mind when i first heard about it. i think it amplifies the movie even more and is part of what makes it so good. it makes it feel quite meta in a way, like frankie corio's performance is limited to only what sophie would actually see and know.
Blue Christmas
having only seen aftersun by charlotte wells multiple times, i finally decided to check out the rest of her very short filmography, and my words do not suffice to what i want to convey. i already loved what i saw in laps but blue christmas is even better. she captures mental health and melancholy so well. i love the cinematography so much. it looks straight out of the 60 and 70s. the acting is perfect as well. wow!
Requiem for a Dream
why is jared leto kind of hot in this..? ok, sorry. rewatched this the second i got home, because i missed most of it at the cinema. see my other review (https://boxd.it/e3wfOX). 🙁 it's a really hard watch, and my heart was aching throughout the entire second half. it just kept getting heavier and more uncomfortable the further it went. the editing is genuinely top tier. like, actually insane. the repetition, the rapid cuts, the way everything escalates,.. i really loved it. that main theme is so iconic. it makes everything feel even more intense. and the acting is incredible from everyone. i'm really so glad that i gave it an actual rewatch.
Laps
a reality so many women go through. my heart hurts. charlotte wells, i cannot wait any longer for a new film, pls.
Requiem for a Dream
having only slept 3 to 4 hours in the last 48 hours and then falling in and out of sleep every few minutes while watching this one is definitely quite the experience lol. felt like an endless watch, despite being a little less than 2 hours long. not sure if it enhanced the viewing or just made it straight up disorienting. will rewatch this once i get home now that i'm actually awake and can properly pay attention.
Clown in a Cornfield
clowns* in a cornfield. i liked some of the kills, but this was kind of shit from the butt. the reveal made no sense, and the mayor somehow being alive at the end?? lol eh..
Send Help
HEPL
The Thing
4th watch and it still wows me everytime. my mom tends to not like older films (idk why), but she loved this one! i'm converting her.. slowly but surely! lovely disgusting practical effects.
Skunk
i was NOT prepared for the last 10 minutes. what the fuck? calling it tough to watch is an understatement, dude. thibaud dooms played his role phenomenal. i can already tell this one is gonna be stuck in my mind for a while.
The Handmaiden
2 hours and 48 minutes of gayness and liberation. *like*
MadS
i just love the french & their horror movies.
Oldboy
sooah reading the exact same copy of 'the unabridged journals of sylvia plath' that i have?? that was so cool to see. putting my mom onto korean films has been so fun. her asking "how do they think of this stuff??" (positively!) lol an all-time classic. pcw my goat.
The Drama
i finally managed to catch a screening of this!! this was one of the films i was looking forward to the most this year, so i expected great things, but admittedly, this didn't quite hit the way i hoped. i had already been spoiled beforehand, so i knew that a school shooting was one of the subject matters. from the trailers and whatnot, i still expected there to be some other crazy twist or something, and it kind of reminded me of melancholia with the whole wedding setup and then it erupting into full-on chaos, but it was actually very tame. i thought there would simply be more. it was surprisingly funny at times too, which i actually liked. i loved the performances. robert pattinson never fails to absolutely amaze me (i love this man to bits and pieces), and zendaya was just as great. i feel like the film was building up to something completely insane, and while the third act did have me stunned at times, it never fully escalated the way i thought it would.. sad. for a story dealing with such heavy subject matter, it played things surprisingly safe. overall, it’s a solid film, but it left me a bit underwhelmed.
Ready or Not 2: Here I Come
radio silence makes such fun horror films! the first one is so iconic that it's hard to top, but this one really holds its own. i had a great time with it. the 'total eclipse of the heart' needle drop was sooo good. that whole scene had me laughing, just smiling the whole way through. samara weaving is phenomenal as always, she brings so much energy to it, and that black dress?? i just love watching her on screen. i do kinda wish they pushed the gore even further though. felt like a missed opportunity not actually showing the bodies explode at the end :(( i wouldn't mind a part 3. 🔪
I Saw the Devil
putting my mom onto peak. god, i love lee byunghun.
Project Hail Mary
amaze, amaze, amaze! decided to rewatch it at the cinema because it didnt leave my mind, and it's even better on a rewatch! i actually managed to follow all the science and stuff this time around, but tbh it's all secondary. the human element is what really makes this film as good as it is. i cried so much more this time too... :') such a hopeful film. i love life.
Sicario
first ever watch. (crazy, i know) i didn't know daniel kaluuya was in it??? a little hard to digest. difficult to make out the motivations behind every character upon first watch. i still struggle to understand why they even needed kate on the job in the first place and why she needed to sign the paper, but holy shit was this intense. the highway scene, as well as the dinner scene are some of my favorites. i was skeptical about del toro going into this, cause i kind of don't like him? idk.. he always seemed off to me, but he was so good in this. oh, and i loved emily blunt. (that's a given!) definitely wouldn't mind a rewatch!
