4/5 stars
watched june ??, 2024

OH MY GOD. this movie is so fucking unserious. "WOW, their brains reaally are blue!" . tell me why these characters are so zesty, too. not zesty in the yearning way that it's like in zero day, just flat out zesty as hell. anyway i really like this movie, it was really funny, the satire and jokes all landed really well, the way this movie was released the same year as columbine is insane. i fw goth kid (male) and goth kid (female) most. also the dude with the shirt that read "i hate white people" was so fucking funny im ngl.

4/5 stars
watched june ??, 2024

ok so i watched this a bit ago as of july first, but i really really liked this movie. the long extended cuts, the laugh track over the horrific abuse of mallory. the dramatization, the music, the satire. GOD this movie is so good. i cannot understand how anyone can watch this movie and think it's advocating for violence, its so damn clearly a satire on the way media sensationalizes serial killers. I REALLY really liked this movie. i don't think i'll rewatch it, not because the violence was too much for me or anything, but because--- oh who am i kidding i wanna rewatch this movie. anyway, i really really liked it, i can't wait to rewatch it and see how my perspective changes!

5/5 stars
watched june ??, 2024

a movie my dad's owned and rewatched tons of times so i vaguely remember some scenes. i was like "hey whats that movie with the father daughter by the pool?" and he pulled this up and i watched it. i rlly liked the depiction of johnny's apathy. the acting was really beautiful and so were the scenes. my favorite scene was when they were underwater and it was playing you only live once by the strokes. i also like how it starts off with him driving aimlessly and ends with him getting out of his car and walking straight.

4/5 stars
watched june ??, 2024

i FINALLY watched this movie; i've heard some of the songs independently and i've always liked melanie's music, but i never got around to watching the movie. and GOD, i really really liked it. all the choreography, the sets, the costumes... everything was so gorgeous and ethereal. i really have a deeper respect for melanie now that i've watched this. i've always thought melanie's music was cool in the back of my mind, but i definitely have a greater appreciation for all the songs now.

4/5 stars
watched june 2nd, 2024

elephant is a movie which is based off of columbine. the imagery behind "the elephant in the room" used as a metaphor for gun control and mental health was interesting. i also thought showing the mundanity of the hallway conversations was a good choice to show the juxtaposition between the horrific things going on and what everyday life was like. and i get that the hallway shots were intentional, and they were fine the first couple of times, but it fell a little flat in my opinion. i'm not sure, maybe it's due to the high quality of the filming? but elephant is real in the way that a movie is real. i like zero day because it's just real.

i do think that it was a very artistic movie, and that was very interesting, but at the end i think it just fell a little flat for me, which is why i have it ranked at a solid 4/5.

5/5 stars
watched circa june 1st, 2024

i have so many goddamn thoughts about this godforsaken movie. as i write this on june 6th, i have not been able to stop THINKING ABOUT IT. i even spent 30 minutes of my last therapy session talking about cal and andre, the two main characters. this movie is just... absolutely amazing in a gutwrenching way. i haven't really watched other found footage movies, but i honestly don't think any of them could come close to the sheer insanity and art of this one. something this movie did that made it so fantastic was the characterization. the little cries for help, like in the graveyard are heartwrenching. the lighthearted tone they carry in their conversations permeates the whole atmosphere is so unsettling.

they are very obviously terrible people, but they play that off in the more "normal" scenes, such as when it was andre's birthday, or at the house party, or even burning all of their possessions. it's such a terrific portrait of two highly unstable teens, but at the same time, they HAD the resources. they HAD friends, family, money, safety. and they just chose to throw it all away. the humanization of terrible people is very important to me. once you believe that only "crazy people" could do something this awful, you have lost. ANYONE could have done what they did, and that is why it is so important to learn about how to prevent these things.

5/5 stars
watched may 19, 2024

wow, i really liked this one. i immediately got attached to benecio, irene, and standard (funny ass name). the stomping scene in the elevator reminded me of in dr0 when junko killed matsuda. i've gotta say, the gore wasn't what scared me necessarily- this film builds up suspense really well.