Scary movie marathon

I love Halloween.  I wouldn't go so far as to say its my favorite holiday, but there is a lot I love about it.  I love dressing up, I love the candy, carving jack-o-lanterns, dressing up, and the general spirit of scaring each other for fun. I love the tradition of trick-o-treating, that for one night a week, neighborhoods open to their doors to complete strangers and give to one another.  I love the community spirit of it all.

This year, Kyle and I were lazy.  We didn't organize anything. Last year we had a Halloween party, but I couldn't bring myself to plan it this year.  Our laziness spread so deep Halloween weekend, that I'm almost embarrassed to tell you what I'd planed on writing about; our Halloween movie marathon. Yes, it was a marathon.  Its not the scary movies that I'm embarrassed about, maybe some of them I should be, but rather the AMOUNT of movies we watched in 48 hours. 

We watched 6 movies.  Four on Saturday, two on Sunday.  Our butt imprints are permanently ingrained on our couch. We hardly moved all weekend.  We were sloths. We got up long enough to make a meal, go to the bathroom, but I'm not sure I left the apartment. And whats worse- is that I LOVED IT! Whats wrong with me.  Where did this lazy gene come from?

 Hocus Pocus- Its a classic. It's funny, entertaining, and just plain FUN to watch! It came out 18 years ago, and its still fantastic.

 From Dusk till Dawn- I'm not going to give anything away.  But I will say that half way through the movie all of sudden the genre changes.  Its animatronics remind me of Indiana Jones, which make it kinda funny in parts it might not meant to be funny, but I liked it overall.

 Severance- A british "comedy." They have a sick sense of what a "comedy" is.  It was good, it had humorous moments, but by no means would I call this a COMEDY. It was a slasher/horror.  Not too much of a slasher, but there was some definite slashing.   I liked it.















Tucker and Dale vs. Evil- HILARIOUS!! SEE IT! Really, SOOO FUNNY!
Three Extremes- Weird. Asian movies are WEIRD and DISTURBING.  Seriously, I'm concerned for their cultures.  Every horror movie from the Asian continent I've ever seen has just been seriously disturbing.  This one is actually three short movies all together.  In fact, the first one takes place in China, the second in Korea, and the third in Japan (I think). The directors are all experts and well respected in their fields. Watch it if you like being disturbed.

The Mist- better than I expected.  It wasn't one where you jumped or screamed a lot. But I thought the story was good, new and interesting.  It definitely has a Stephen King feel to it.

Harry Potter has finished

It's over.   I can't believe it's finally over.  Harry Potter has been looming in my life, in our lives, since I was in high school, and now more than ten year later, its come to an end.  I loved the books, and just about every single movie, including the last one (AMAZING), which we saw last week!  It's hard to believe that its over, after so many books, and so many movies, the series has come to an end. There was so much about the story to love, but what really drew me in, besides the intrigue, mystery, and fantasy elements, was the depth of the story. I thought there was so much to be learned from the story, and such truth in her social commentary. I found a speech by J.K. Rowling a while ago, and I loved it so much, I've posted it twice on this blog.  After reading it, I realized how there was much purpose in her telling of this magical tale, and that's what makes the books and movies great.  Its not just that its an interesting story with mystery, and creative characters, but that she's sending a strong message to stand up for whats right, and that freedom is worth the fight.

What did you think of the series?  Were you a Harry Potter fan?  Why or why not?

Horror flicks

We've really been getting into scary movies recently.  I'm not sure why or how it happened, but the thriller roller coaster has been let out of it's gate, and we've been holding on for dear life since. I've always liked scary movies. Not the slasher kinds, but the ones that get under the skin.  It is tenebrous as to why I even like thrillers since they really frighten me- to the point where I spend a good majority of my time hiding under a blanket. Why would I subject my self to such torture? The answer is nebulous at best.  But I continue to watch them voluntarily without coercion or force from others.  I've listed some of the ones we've been watching below.

This movie is a Swedish psychological thriller.  It has an unusual vampire in it, and isn't really SCARY, it's more strange, intriguing and disturbing. Let the Right One In.  There is also an American version "Let me in." which is VERY similar to the Swedish version.

The Decent and The Decent 2 are British movies to which our British friends have recently introduced us.  Basically the story is that a group of women descend into a cave get lost, and come upon "a surprise." This movie is frightening and very well done.  It's frightening without the surprise. And the sequel is not bad. I rather liked it.

Eden Lake is another British horror flick which has an unusual foe, a gang of children.  It's kinda like "Lord of the Flies" with a British accent and probably a bit crueler.

Paranormal Activity 1 We saw last year with a group of Koreans and foreigners in our apartment. Afterwards, no one wanted to leave. They were too frightened to go back to their own apartments.  Let's just say that it did the job of frightening the bageeseeis out of me.  Paranormal 2 was not as good, but decent. I wasn't quite as scared, but that kind of made it a more enjoyable watching experience.

Misery (1999) is an older movie my Irish friend recommended. A man is trapped in a snowstorm, and is discovered and rescued by a woman who happens also to be a nurse.  He's thankful to her for her treatment, until he realizes that she's his biggest fan (he's a famous writer) and she doesn't want to let him go.

Troll 2 is NOT a scary movie, although that was it's intention. If you look on IMDB, it has a 2.2/10 rating. There's a documentary made about this movie called, "the best worst movie."  Basically, it's so terribly made, its hilarious.  We watched it, not for the scare factor, but for the comedy. The title is Troll 2, but there aren't any Trolls, only goblins. All of the lead actors were applying for extra positions, and the Italian directors didn't speak English so all directions was done with sign language.  The makings for a "FANTASTIC film."

The Orphanage   is a Spanish film.  Once again, this one is less scary, and more of just a psychological thriller.  VERY good. I really enjoyed this film and highly recommend it.  There are ghosts involved, but they aren't so frightening.

So there you have our recent Scary movie season.  What good thrillers and or scary movies have you watched lately. What do you recommend?

Favorite Christmas movies

Kyle and I have been trying to compile a list of favorite Christmas movies to get us in the Christmas spirit.  We were looking up Christmas movies recently and found something quite odd. Three out of four lists, Gremlins was listed.  Yes, that movie with the cuddly cute little teddybears that turn into monsters who then attack the town.  The logic I guess is that it happens to occur around Christmas so despite the alien-like goblins, people count it as a Christmas story.  Our list however does not count Gremlins.

This list is in no particular order.

The Family stone- This one is hilarious with a bittersweet after taste .
 
While you were sleeping- So maybe this one is stretching it, but it takes place over Christmas.. :)  At least no one is being attacked by monsters.

The Family man- Maybe this movie wasn't very popular, but we really like it and it is very Christmasy.

Home Alone 1 & 2- who doesn't like these Christmas classics.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer Stone- so it's not really a Christmas movie, but it is always playing at Christmas time, and there is lots of snow.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas- I love the original version! It's so heartwarming.

Love Actually- We just watched this. So sweet.  It makes you love LOVE.


The Santa Clause- This was one of my fav's when it came out.  The Second one was not great, but the third was a disaster.

A Christmas Story- The absolute CLASSIC!

The Holiday- A new Christmas movie.

A Muppet Christmas Carol - Our favorite version of the Christmas Carol.  Muppets make everything better, but the 1984 non-Muppet version is the second best :)
 

It's a Wonderful Life- Who doesn't love this movie.  If you don't cry, your heart is made of coal.

 So there you have it. I've probably left some out.
 What are you favorite holiday movies?