Frezno's Criterion Challenge: September 2023 Trip Report

Alright, here we are again. It's a bit late this time, and you have my apologies. Between the end of month vacation shenanigans, and getting through things for the Halloween marathon, I've struggled to find the time to get this out there. I've carved a nice window here, and we will use that window to talk about a handful more artsy films from the Criterion Channel. After the first, we go on a bit of a theme this month! Isn't that exciting? You'll find out just what the theme is, but first we must discuss...

Another Sixteen Screams For Halloween: Day 4 (We're All Going To The World's Fair)

This is... quite the film to talk about. It's one of the ones that got recommended to me, picked in this case by my pal Sean. As such, I went into it knowing not a thing about what it had to offer. That sense permeated the rest of the film, as it's a mercurial thing that refused to exactly define itself for me. Not only did it have some sense of ambiguity in its horror, but it was subversive enough that it managed to pivot to being about something else entirely. Or maybe I was just slow on the uptake and the movie was actually about this all along. Either way, I went along with the movie instead of being bitter and resistant that it wasn't giving me what I wanted (What? No, this has nothing to do with Halloween Ends trending on social media and the same closed-minded whinging about that film coming back like a vengeful ghost), I let my perceptions change and really sit with what I felt the film was trying to say.

Another Sixteen Screams For Halloween: Day 3 (Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead)

This is an interesting well to come back to, of sorts. I have a little bit of a history with anime involving zombies, which a cursory glance back at the archives will inform you about. This isn't subversive in the same ways as that, as it's telling a story about your traditional zombie apocalypse. It's the way the tale is told that made this a standout for me, though. I have not seen all of the show (it's still airing weekly as I write this) but I watched the first four episodes in a row and treated it as a mini animated movie about the end of the world via zombies. Even that's doing the show a disservice, as this thing is doing some wonderful work with not only its visuals but its storytelling.

Another Sixteen Screams For Halloween: Day 2 (Suspiria)

Oh thank God. That's more fucking like it. I knew practically nothing about Suspiria or Dario Argento's filmography going into this. I expected something fucked up and sufficiently spooky, but what form would it take? Would it be a straight slasher-esque thing or something far more psychological and dreamlike? The film certainly has elements of both, but it's not exactly either of them. It's far more evocative and stranger than that, in ways that I can only try to talk about. This is a film that's better experienced than discussed, if that makes any sense. That may sound like me trying to cop out of talking about it, but I do have things I can praise. They're just things that will have a far stronger experience on you if you turn off the lights and let the film wash over you instead of hearing my descriptors. So, if you can handle the movie, please do that... but I will try to explain.

Another Sixteen Screams For Halloween: Day 1 (V/H/S)

(TW: sexual assault)

ooooOOOOoooo!!!! Welcome, one and all, to Another Sixteen Screams For Halloween! It is October now, except it's not. I have to write this a few days before because I'm not going to be at home on October 1st. For you, then, uncovering this post is rather like finding a cursed VHS tape that displays a spooky short story filmed with someone's handheld camera. But I may be getting ahead of myself. Yes, kicking off the marathon is this film, V/H/S. The concept of this excited me, and it seemed to do well enough that there are five more of them. You get the horror subgenre of found footage, and you mix it with the lo-fi aesthetic of the VHS tape? As someone who watched all of Symphogear on tape, I was extremely interested in marinating in this mix of aesthetics.

Coming Soon: Another Sixteen Screams For Halloween

ooooOOOOoooo THAT'S RIGHT WE HAVE ARRIVED AT THE FALL! It is a time of year that usually has me running around like a headless chicken, between trips and this and NaNoWriMo and all sorts of other things. I just took a trip to the capital city and went to some amazing places. Like the one you're seeing on the right here, a very interesting Newfoundland town. I refuse to elaborate further. If you know, you know. Instead I'll elaborate on what sort of time of year we've come to again. Yes, in October it will once again be time for a spooky media marathon, as Sixteen Screams For Halloween comes back for the third time. If you're new here, that means that every other day for the month of October, I'll have a quick writeup on some piece of spooky media. There are a few things I want to do, but honestly I haven't sat down and hashed out a big list yet. That's where you come in! 

Frezno's Criterion Challenge: August 2023 Trip Report

Holy hell, with this installment of the Criterion Challenge, I've crossed the 2/3rds mark. 8 months of this. Absolutely wild. I have enjoyed myself so far, and hope I will continue to enjoy myself. Certainly, I have some enjoyable films to talk about here, and so I will do that right about now. Honestly, it's hard to bullshit enough to get an opening paragraph before talking about these, but... actually, I lied, it's really easy to bullshit enough words to get a paragraph filled. I'm literally doing it right now, and now I pretty much have enough. It's the oldest trick in the rambling raving rants book, and now that the trick is done... Kino.