happymeowmeow

Wow this post is a whole bunch of sad but I know you'll keep doing what your doing Patrick and I'll keep reading (or watching video, whatever).

Was in a total list zone this week ,made a list of my favorite 10 cartoons and anime for this year, thought this was a good place to mention it. Can't believe I almost forgot Space Dandy!!!.

On a somewhat videogamey/cartoon related note, was cool to see more Probertson this year, both Mercenary Kings and animation work in that crazy episode of Gravity Falls where one the characters explores the scary world of japanese dating simulators (Soos and the Real Girl).

Yea Kentucky Route Zero! I loved that scene you took a screenshot of.

Here's my list! As happens every year, heres also a list of 2014 games I'd still like to play.

Thinking about end of year lists, I also made a list today of my favorite animation this year on the blog thingey.

Oh I forgot to mention it was cool seeing other people put Shadowrun Returns Dragonfall-Directors Cut on their lists.

I love making these goty lists but it's been a weird, transitional year for games and I guess for me too. So far only 4 games I'm sure about on my list. Only just got one of the current gen consoles a few days ago... Some amazon sale ps4 games coming in the mail soon and maybe the winter steam sale will help out too... otherwise theres some games like Dark Souls 2 and Destiny (ps3 version) that I liked wasn't blown away by.

In the last two weeks I've watched:

Omnivores (2013)

The Horde (2009)

Here Comes the Devil (2012)

Patrick: Evil Awakens (2013)

Return of the Killer Tomatoes (1988)

Lair of the White Worm (1988)

Mine Games (2012)

The Taking of Deborah Logan (2014)

Sightseers (2012)

Shrooms (2007)

Mr. Jones (2013)

The Monkeys Paw (2013)

Monkey Shines (1988)

Beneath (2014)

The Caller (2011)

There's four I'd recommend on this list: two of them are found footage types, The Taking of Deborah Logan and Mr. Jones. Deborah Logan is about a documentary crew filming a woman who they think has advanced Alzheimers and is surprisingly well made. Mr. Jones follows a couple who have moved to a remote cabin to film a nature documentary and they find out their neighbor is a famous reclusive artist, it's more of a mind trip kind of horror than physical and even if the very end was pretty predictable I enjoyed it.

Lair of the White Worm is a bit hard to judge because I'm not sure if some of the things that come off as campy were meant to be shocking. I'd lean towards intentionally campy with scenes like Amanda Donohoe preparing to rape a sacrifice to the great white worm with a giant white dildo. The whole movie is pretty nuts but never stops taking itself seriously which is a definite plus. Stars Hugh Grant and Peter Capaldi!

The Caller is the last movie I'd recommend, mostly because of its premise (which I won't spoil, sufficed to say it has something to do with a phone) which took me by surprise, creeped me out, and made me wonder what the hell I would do to get out of the protagonists situation (as absurd as it was).

Overall a good shocktober. I got burnt out in the middle, but saw enough decent new movies that it was worth it. Everyone with Netflix instant should watch Witching and Bitching.

My week two:

Oct 9 : Human Centipede: The First Sequence (2009). Thought I might as well watch this seeing as the emphasis for me this year was seeing new movies. Like you'd guess this movie is all about the premise, and already knowing it kind of makes watching the thing a moot point. But, the actor that plays the villain is really really creepy.

10: Brain Dead (1990) Would say its more of psychological thriller than horror. One of those movies that keeps you guessing the difference between reality and delusion is until the last minute. Bill Pullman AND Bill Paxton star, and Paxton as a sleazy 90's executive is great.

11: The Legend of Hell House (1973) Apparently one of the classic paranormal investigators inside a haunted house movies. Didn't completely hold my interest, or maybe I'm getting burnt out after 11 days of horror movies, many of them not so great

12: Escape From Tomorrow (2013) A man decends into madness while vacationing in Disneyworld with his family. Shot in black and white and obviously very low budget. Disney resorts are definitely a source of untapped horror and this movie has some great creepy moments, but runs a bit too long.

13: Creepshow 2 (1987) A horror compilation movie starring "The Creeper" as a narrator thats almost a carbon copy of "The Cryptkeeper" (don't know enough about these characters to get into a who's first kind of thing). You don't get more 80's than this movie. I remember reading the Stephen King story one of the segments was based on: "The Raft" about a killer oil slick that terrorizes some teenagers.

14: The Bell Witch Haunting (2013) I'm a fan of the found footage horror movie genre, but I can't think of anything good to say about this. There's a moment when a green hand reaches out of a crawlspace when no one is looking that made me laugh just cause it was such a boogedy boogedy moment that was obviously just thrown in at the last minute in editing.

15: Witching and Bitching (Las Brujas de Zugarramurdi) (2013) Excellent horror/comedy, I don't know who came up with the english title but they need to rethink their life. But to be fair, there are witches in this movie, and almost all of the male characters are bitching about something. I'm so glad this movie came up on Netflix because my interest in this marathon was definitely starting to flag. Recommended to anyone who likes the more comedic horror like Evil Dead or Cabin in the Woods.

16: American Horror Story: Freak Show (2014) (episode 1 and 2) As a horror fan I'm biased, but I've always liked this series. This season has a great opening sequence with some stop motion animation. If it's anything like the previous seasons, the plot will be a brew of several horror tropes: so far we've got freaks being driven to murder by normals inhumanity, a killer psycho clown, and a Norman Bates man child situation. There have already been two 1950's vaudville performances of modern songs which gave me a Bioshock Infinate vibe.

So far (all these on Netflix instant):

1 The Collection (2012) : Average horror/action with some dumb/funny moments.

2 All The Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006) : Terrible Slasher movie filled with awful people who all die for some reason. Everyone is obsessed with Mandy Lane including the director, a lot of embarrassing slow motion shots of her. Much discussion of "dibs" on Mandy Lane. It's really a relief when they all die.

3 Kill List (2011) A good atmospheric thriller, recommended, one of those movies that can be easily spoiled so nothing else.

4 Carrie (2013) Not a terrible remake of Stephen King's Carrie, a bit puzzling why it was made. The Poltergeist style ending is super dumb.

5 Shivers (1975) David Cronenberg's first movie. Once it gets rolling is extremely disturbing. Parasite-Sex-Zombies scariest type of zombie ever.

6 Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) Creepy thriller, recommended. Amazing how well the effects have aged, I like how the pods have these thin fibrous tendrils that look like hair. That turkish bath/mud spa whatever the hell it was made my skin crawl. Young Donald Sutherland, Jeff Goldblum, and youngish Lenard Nemoy.

7 The Awakening (2011) Slow paced ghost story with a lot of twists. Loved that scene with the doll house that slowly sped up until the scare.

8 Thale (2012) Norwegian paranomal thriller, not bad. Two guys are cleaning up a dead man's house and find what might be a supernatural creature.

Kill List definitely had a jarring effect on me, I'd chalk a lot of it up to the music and sound effects which reminded me a lot of what Kubrick did in the more surreal parts of his movies.

October has to be the best month of the year; you've got candy, horror movies, and a deluge of new video games, common.

Enjoyed doing this last year, going to try to concentrate on movies I haven't seen yet as opposed to old favorites, but I might break down at some point.

So many people have good things to say about Kill List, I'm psyched its on Netflix.

So far I've watched The Collection, which...isn't that great. A mix of gore, torture stuff, action movie bruhaha, its really all over the place. Theres a few funny cameos though, an actor from the HBO show Oz and another from The Wire play mercenaries. I still can't figure out why it's acceptable to shoot a homeless guy as a way to summon the police.