Recent Watches

 Long time no post! 

I consider myself a very avid movie watcher. I definitely watched more movies over the Covid-19 pandemic than I do now (working full time will do that), but I still try to make time to do a double feature once in a while! 

I actually saw the 2024 Nosferatu in theaters twice; once after Christmas with my friends, and again a few months later with my fiancé and his best friend. I absolutely loved that movie, it's everything I want in a classic horror remake! I think the contrast in Orlok's characterization when compared to Herzog's 1970's version, or even the original, is really fascinating. Herzog's Orlok feels simpering and pathetic to me, someone who is desperate for love and attention. Eggers' Orlok combines sexuality with disgust to create a character that is both commanding and repulsive, and I think that play on the titular character makes his whole take on the story feel fresh and interesting. 

That's the only movie I've seen in theaters this year (so far), but I've watched a lot of movies at home! They haven't all been winners, but I wanted to talk about some of my favorites. 

Dellamorte Dellamore (1994) 

I can't stop thinking about this movie, and I don't know that I ever will. I watched it in Italian maybe a decade ago, but rewatched the dubbed version again with my fiancé last night... and the whole story finally clicked for me. 

SPOILERS AHEAD: my theory is that Franco and Francesco are the same person (I know, duh). Franco Dellamore works as a civil engineer for a corrupt mayor, feels trapped in his relationship with his wife, and feels like he's nothing but a walking wallet for his college-aged daughter. This is exemplified by the character She and the times she appears throughout the film. I think he had an affair with his secretary (She in the real world), felt overwhelmed with guilt and killed his daughter and wife, and then attempted to kill himself... but he missed (the same way he misses She's brains the first time he shoots her, and the reason it's emphasized that you have to hit the head throughout the movie) and put himself in the coma we see him in near the end of the film. The entirety of the movie is Franco Dellamore's guilty psychosexual fever dream, where he creates a new sexy persona (Francesco Dellamorte) to compensate for his feelings of emasculation and the notion that his sexuality (having an affair with She and committing the murders of his wife and daughter) caused his life to fall apart. He is simultaneously running from his guilt, and begging someone in his dream to hold him accountable for his crimes. 

I think that if Francesco Dellamorte is Franco's Superego, Gnaghi is his Id. Gnaghi is the anchor that tries to keep his brain alive (keep the dead leaves from blowing away) and represents his base instincts (eating, sleeping, joy, the grossness of human life) while Francesco runs around murdering people, reading the phone book, having sex with the trauma ghost of his affair partner and evading the police. Francesco speaks to Franco on the phone and justifies his crimes, saying that he's finally free, while Gnaghi tries to signal that what he's doing is wrong. 

Dellamorte Dellamore (I refuse to call it Cemetery Man, that title is in no way indicative of what this movie actually is) has definitely earned a spot among my favorite films, and I'm so happy I decided to give it another watch! 

The Vourdalak (2023) 

Took me long enough to watch this one! This is another movie that became an immediate 10/10 for me. Everything about it is visually stunning, and it was the most elegant take on gender and sexuality I've seen in recent history. The vourdalak sucking on their shrouds is also one of the most unsettling things I've EVER seen in a horror movie; it sounds innocuous, but the uncanny valley factor of the puppet combined with the sound effects of the sucking is genuinely horrifying. It's the most perfect version of the "came back wrong" trope, combined with insightful commentary on hypermasculinity, repressed sexuality and familial love. 

The Dead Don't Die (2019) 

I guess when you're Jim Jarmusch, you can kind of start phoning it in and do whatever you want. This is not to say I didn't like the movie; I actually kind of loved it. Jim Jarmusch assembled all his favorite actors and basically played with them like action figures for an hour or two, and it was riveting. But it's such a completely absurd movie that any attempt to analyze it makes you sound like a giant pretentious ass, so I'm not even going to try. 

Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992)

Personally, I think we should hand total creative control of Batman IP over to Tim Burton, because nobody has ever done it better than him. I grew up very into DC Comics, but I wasn't able to fall in love with Batman as an adult until I saw these. Burton somehow captured everything that was great in Adam West's Batman, but contrasted it with Brutalist and Art Deco architecture and the signature Burton macabre vibe to create a wholly new product that feels truer to the comics than any other adaptation. The costuming, set design, makeup and performances are all so incredible, but the stories are really what got me. I really appreciate that the conflicts are so small-scale: the whole world isn't at stake, it's just one horrible little city that might not be worth saving anyway. That to me is the core of Batman, one rich kid with a hero complex fighting a Sisyphean uphill battle to save a place that, while awful, is his home. 

That's all for now! If you have any theories about Dellamorte Dellamore, PLEASE comment them. I feel like I'm still piecing the whole thing together!