originally posted on tumblr, Feb 28th 2026 

Movie-A-Day-Thon #5: Phantom of the Paradise (1974)

So I said that I’d saying “been meaning to watch this for so long” a lot in this series. But this one is really real, I’ve heard about it and video essays that referenced it soooo so many times. And somehow I hadn’t gotten around to it until now, but I’m really glad I did!

Yknow how some movies have these really iconic scenes, like the Clockwork Orange club scene and the gang outfits, or the 2001 Odyssey shots from inside the ship or that light room? Yeah this movie has these too. It just has that 60s/70s incomparable set design and costuming that just makes you EAT IT UP. The symbolism is also dripping out of this movie, I could talk about it all day.

Likewise, I like me a good cheesy theatricality in my– [checks wiki] rock musical comedy horror film?? Damn that’s a lot of labels… It’s all a bit over the top but in a way that the cinematography and aesthetics supports. It’s just all So Much when it needs to be, and has moments of pause so you can breathe. It’s a short film so they had to speed up the pace for some plot beats, but I think overall they all landed pretty well. The ending in particular is such utter chaos and it works!

What a banger plot too. Phantom of the Opera been remixed and redone to hell and back, but this one really stands apart from the rest. I think weaving it and Faust as a critique of the music industry of the time (and kind of current too, at least until the 2010s iirc?? idk some stuff got better and others got worse) is PHENOMENAL.

Anyway fantastic movie but everybody already knows that, if you haven’t watched it yet, find the time to pleaseeee you won’t regret it! Maybe you won’t get it, maybe you won’t even like it, but you’ll definitely be richer for it!

  originally posted on tumblr, Feb 27th 2026

Movie-A-Day-Thon #4: Dog Soldiers (2002)

For someone with an affinity with werewolves and gore, I always heard about this movie but never got around to it?? I will be saying this a lot in this series, I feel. Well, I know I will, but shhhh.

There’s something to be said about Chekov’s Gun principles as per usual. But when you start a movie and in the FIRST MINUTE OF IT, someone is gifted a pure silver dagger in a movie about werewolves, and you get THREE different stock audios by minute TWO, you know this shit is gonna go crazy.

I won’t lie, the card scene transitions threw me off so bad, I’m not good with keeping track of time with those. And some scenes the camera shake was so bad I actually got motion sickness.

I gotta be real, that cow jumpscare was really fucking good, I knew something was coming soon but not THAT soon and the setup was brilliant, hats off! And the gored out guts bit was so realistic it actually tripped me up in the best way. Yeah, sometimes you just gotta shove them back inside and get going. Made me wonder if they just improvised that shit, or if they had a veteran on cast or crew that got that bit of real life in there?

Oh, the bit about the superglue and the Vietnam war is a lie, civilian and military hardwar use came first and the soldiers repurposed it for first aid, not the other way around.

Now. That fucking twist? Utter shit. The damn “it’s that time of the month” crap was so fucking cringe, who wrote that?? Yeah I could tell the twist from a mile away but the reveal is so ass. And the final confrontation was kind of tacked on there, with the ending feeling so “that’s it??” after the credits rolled.

Anyway kind of solid movie. When it lands, it’s pretty good but when it fumbles, it fumbles hard.

 

  originally posted on tumblr, Feb 26th 2026 

Movie-A-Day-Thon #3: The Masque of the Red Death (1964)

God I love Vincent Price. Have I ever said I love Vincent Price? Cus I love Vincent Price.

Right off the bat, what a wonderful photography and art direction this movie has. Every shot is so visually appealing and intriguing, you can taste the visual symbolism peeling off it in waves and it’s delicious! Also you can really see the 60s all over it.

Once again it suffers from the Classic Hollywoodism of “no specific timeframe for these costuming directions, just Vaguely Pseudo Italian Vibes” but for the adapted material, I think it works. Keeps it timeless which goes in it’s favor somewhat. Still it of Party City vibes, which I find amusing personally.

And once again my fondness for technicolor grading gets me. And I don’t know why I’m so enamored by the colored candles in the candelabras, but I AM!! MORE COLORED CANDLES!!!

I said I’d only care about the movies as they are and the visuals, but when Prospero turned out to be a satan worshipper in the movie, I just HAD to check it. So yeah, gratuitous satanic panic in #mymovies. My draft thesis haunts me still… Turning the black room from the story into a satanic chapel of a sort feels kind of cheap ngl. It’s just meant to be scary and upsetting, it was kind of the point. Also the Red Death as some sort of avenging angel was so boring?

It bodes ill when a story makes adaptation choices that lessen the story, not improve it. Disappointing narrative, 3/10. Visuals still slap hard as fuck though, the line of Deaths walking away at the end was neat!

 originally posted on tumblr, Feb 25th 2026 

Movie-A-Day-Thon #2: The Seventh Seal (1957)

The amount of YEARS that this movie has been sitting on my folders, WAITING for me to sit my damn ass down and watch it, it’s actually embarassing. BUT WE DID IT HURRAY YIPEE!!

The value grading is way more stark in this movie, I think cus they had some scenes in actual locations and not a set. It’s kind of fun to be able to tell just how sunny the day was when they shot the scenes, and it also outlines just how grim the movie is. It fits the northern european vibes, to be honest.

Speaking of, what a dark fucking movie. Not in a gloom-and-doom way, but in a genuine discussion of faith and the afterlife and the nature of human life. And holy shit is it FULL of amazing fucking lines. “We shall make an idol of our fear, and that idol we shall call God”???? Are you kidding me??? Baby atheist me would have LOVED this movie!

The chemistry between actors is also fantastic, it’s theatrical sure but in a cheesy and eandering way, I’m drawn in by all of them. The costuming was more of a Vibe And Prayers ✨ than any solid timeframe for the medieval setting but I can forgive it. If anything, it’s better off like that, I think groundedness would lessen it somehow.

Speaking of, the way the narrative nestles itself in in-betweens is so delicious. A beach, a stretch of road, a camp, a village not yet struck by the plague but abuzz and afeared by the rumors from afar. Ambrosius’ not-alive-but-not-dead. It’s SO JUICY. And of course, the ever ongoing game of chess sprinkled throughout.

And I don’t know how else to phrase this, but the comedy is so medieval? Ass and fart jokes, but also grim turns of phrases and rhymes. Slapstick too. I vibed with it. Watching Death saw down a tree just to kill a guy was so hysterical for no reason. Oh, you thought Death was this serious figure all the time? Oh no buddy, he’s got jokes.

Regardless, it was a fun but somber romp with some fond archetypes of mine. Worth a watch it you got an hour and some change to spare <3

originally posted on tumblr, Feb 24th 2026 

Movie-A-Day-Thon #1: The Man Who Laughs (1928) feb 24th

For the occasional Joker enjoyer that I am, I should have watched this long ago! I do have a fondness for older movies, the black and white era stuff, but silent movies tend to bounce me off half of the time. Guess the old ADHD struggles with keeping attention without proper dialogue? Well it happened on this one too, took me a bit to get through it.

Regardless, one of the reasons I so appreciate black and white movies, is the photography of them. The powerful contrasts and composition of shots are really something, and The Man Who Laughs has those shots aplenty! Once I got a taste of them, the rest of the movie followed pretty easy.

Imagine my shock to find out Victor Hugo wrote the original story?! Somehow that completely slipped by me! But in hindsight it does fit, given the whole Comprachicos thing which, wow what a whack to the back of the head that was. I know it comes with the territory watching older stuff, with how debonair they can be with such xenophobia, but it somehow always stuns me. I haven’t checked what the original story looks like though, this series is about movies and the visual storytelling after all.

Conrad Veidt does a phenomenal work with his expressions, and I can see what some critics said that this movie felt like a horror movie even though it is a melodrama at heart. The angst, the theatrical poses, the unnerving music choices at times, they all lend a really unsettling nature to some of the scenes. I don’t think it’s as German Expressionist as like, Dr Caligari or Nosferatu, the sets are more grounded overall, but the energy of it still comes through pretty well.

I also really did appreciate the costuming and set designs? Maybe I’m too fried from CGI sets and other modern paraphernalia, but seeing all those intricate sets and clothes that were absolutely made by hand and with care, healed a little bit of me. It’s the kind of stuff you don’t fully realize how much you miss until you get it back, yknow?

Anyway really dramatic and sweet story, steeped in the trappings of its time, but still overall enjoyable.

Also! The dog named Homo reminded me of Baleia from Vidas Secas, and the doggie actor was really cute! Especially when he killed that guy!