Music Obsessions – March 2024

Losing track of time is honestly the theme of 2024 so that’s why this month’s music obsessions is coming at the end of the month instead of the beginning. However, we’re here with another Taiwanese singer as we dive into our next one. While I wanted to alternate between male and female singers, I ended up listening to a lot of this singer recently out of spontaneity so we’re just rolling with it. This month’s focus is….Leehom Wang! He is a singer that I happen to have a lot of their physical albums, probably the most out of the Taiwanese singers that I like.

Born in New York, Leehom Wang made his debut in 1995 when he was offered a contract by BMG after participating in a talent competition. However, his eventual success brought him into Decca Records and finally Sony Music Entertainment before releasing his best selling album, his fifth one Revolution that brought the breakthrough in his music career. As he worked through a career of best-selling albums and truly finding his fame in the early 2000s when he entered into the actor career in a few Hong Kong films.

Leehom Wang’s is known for his R&B and Hip-Hop style that fuses with traditional Chinese music. Its one of the stand-out elements of his music style that makes his music so unique in this area especially since he does also dabble in a lot of different styles as well from ballads to dance-pop to rock music. However, his traditional Chinese music fusioned R&B and Hip-Hop songs are the ones that do stand-out a lot as it was branded as China Wind music known as “chinked-out” and establishing himself as an influential and important artist in Chinese music. This eventually brings out some of my favorite albums starting with Shangri-La (2004) and Heroes of Earth (2005).

Being a musician with talents in multiple instruments like violin, piano, guitar and drums, its what gives Leehom Wang and his music a lot of variety and dives into a variety of style to keep things always feeling fresh. While his later albums after the “chinked-out” albums didn’t seem to get the same traction, his album Change Me dove back into the older styles of music paying tribute to 1930s Shanghai and Broadway while promoting an environmental awareness and global warming message.

Being not too current on the news for artists, my research has shown that due to his divorce issues, Leehom Wang has temporarily quit the entertainment business a few years ago. I’m not on top of the allegations and what happened so I’m not going to go into this. The Music Obsessions post is solely to share music that I love and Leehom Wang is an artist that has contributed a lot in this sense.

唯一 (2001)

你不在 (2003)

Can You Feel My World (2003)

一首簡單的歌 (2004)

心中的日月 (2004)

花田錯 (2005)

改變自己 (2007)

搖滾怎麼了!! (2008)

Reality Show Roundup – January & February 2024

Things are really behind the last month so we’re going to be doing a double month wrap-up for Reality Show Round-up! Its also because I haven’t been watching a lot of variety shows lately and trying to catch up on some dramas so this segment is a little more quiet than usual.

Queer Eye (Season 6, 2021)

Season 6 returned in 2021 providing the positive breather in the middle of the pandemic as their production also got shut down during the recording of the first episode. I’m a big fan of Queer Eye on Netflix and its great to watch the Fab Five start as it started more along the lines of a makeover show but has now become a lot more than that because Karamo isn’t the only person who shares on culture and general mindset as the whole group has something to share depending on who they are working with.

Set in Texas this time, they pick an incredible ensemble of heroes. Its probably one of my favorite seasons because I liked 90% of the heroes they chose because these people really have some big hearts and great stories to tell in how they are using their own way to support their community and/or the inner struggles that they need to work through. I honestly can’t really decide which episode I love more but I’m always a big fan of the following episodes:

• Episode 1: Showdown at the Broken Spoke
• Episode 3: No More Bull
• Episode 5: Craw-Zaddy
• Episode 7: Snow White of Central Texas
• Episode 8: Gimme Shelter
• Episode 9: A Legend in the Baking

Queer Eye (Season 8, 2024)

Kicking off 2024 at the end of January on Netflix is Queer Eye Season 8 which offered a continuation in New Orleans with six episodes featuring an array of “heroes” of everyday people who was nominated for one reason or another to help them move forward in life in a better way. New Orleans has been an interesting area and Season 7 did introduce some interesting people that had their makeovers from different walks of life and needed different help.

This season structures around a little bit of the same which looks at a family man in need of resparking the romance in his relationship, a KISS fan, a clarinet virtuoso, a deaf athletics director, a former nun and a grieving chef. Queer Eye episodes at this point have managed to create some touching moments and even educational for their viewers. There’s always something to learn from each of these people and usually helps create positivity and confidence in life. While as a whole, I don’t personally feel some of these stories to be as strong as say Season 6, there are some pretty good ones this season as well with The Sweet Life and The Flying Nun being the two that really stands out in my opinion.

The Grand Tour: Sand Job (2024)

While my husband remains a devoted fan to The Grand Tour since Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond moved their trio to Amazon Prime, the most recent release earlier this year The Sand Job set as a driving challenge through Mauritania, is my first time in over a decade to sit down and watch a complete episode. Not surprising that it still has a lot of the comedic elements that this group manages to have especially with the silliness and recklessness of some of the decisions. Being the penultimate show for The Grand Tour with these three, The Sand Job offers another exotic location and another trio of cheap modified race cars selected by the trio here to take on this long, arduous journey. The part of the joy of these challenges is not only the trials and tribulations they go through on the journey as each of their cars break down, but also the challenges thrown at them and the sometimes outrageous ways they decide to choose to solve it. As outrageous as it is, its part of the entertainment from these three as they engage in their shenanigans.

The Sand Job offers a very one-sided element issues in terms of car issues however the environment is fairly exotic so it also has its own set of unknowns and there are some moments where they all get into some fun stuff. I’m not sure if its just getting into one of these episodes after so many years but at times, this feels like a road trip travel show but just taking a more mechanical angle. The Sand Job is an entertaining episode and the dynamic of the trio still remains after so many years. I suppose its time to go back and catch up on the previous Grand Tour episodes and get some more laughs.

What’s Up – February 2024

BOOKS

Currently reading: The Book and the Sword

I’m not going to lie, reading really didn’t happen too much in February. While I do want to read The Book and the Sword, the fact that my toddler now requires a different bedtime story time style has limited what I read. Instead, we’re cycling through a lot of the easier children’s books. I’ve read about 10 times of 2 Chinese books per day because he just loves it and then bedtime revolves around a mish mash of other books that I’ve already mentioned before. I’m hoping with less work during my downtime, I will be able to actually pick up a book to read. A part of that will be made easier once I do another more realistic reorganization of my storage space so that I can sort through my books a little easier.

MOVIES

• Lust For A Vampire (1971)
• The Lost City (2022)
• Bitch Ass (2022)
• The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (short 2023)
• The Swan (short 2023)
• The Rat Catcher (short 2023)
• Poison (short 2023)
• The Mummy (1999)
• Wild Card (2015)
• Love and Monsters (2020)
• Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022)
• Enola Holmes 2 (2022 rewatch, Review)
• Opera (1987)
• The Tall Man (2012)
• Past Lives (2023)
• Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong (2015 rewatch, Review)

While everyone’s preparing for the Academy Awards and catching up with viewings, I’m surprised to actually review my February list and see that I watched one winner and one nominee with The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Past Lives respectively. Both of which are really great films in their own way. As I truck along with the Oh My Horror Challenge and falling behind with the actual reviews, I’ve seen some pretty great movies this month which is making my first time watches list a little more respectable. All the short films on Netflix directed by Wes Anderson are pretty great. I finally watched the 1999 The Mummy which I’ve actually never seen before and absolutely loved it. Love and Monsters is an underrated film that is also incredible. As for a movie that grew on me more and more as I thought about it, that would be Past Lives.

TV

• Indulgence (染指, 2024)
• Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre (Season 1, 2023)
• Gilmore Girls (Season 3 rewatch Review)
• Gilmore Girls (Season 4 rewatch Review)
• Gilmore Girls (Season 5 rewatch Review)
• The Grand Tour: Sand Job (Season 5, 2024)
• Justice in the Dark (光渊, 2023)
• Gilmore Girls (Season 6 rewatch Review)

Currently binging: Asia Super Young, Memories Beyond Horizon S2, Till The End of the Moon

I honestly don’t even know where to start for TV series. I had a lot of stuff to take care of so of course that meant a significant focus on the Gilmore Girls rewatch. I tried out one of the short dramas Indulgence, which are basically 10 minute episodes each on Youku. The best way to describe it would be best compared to reading trashy romance novels. The production value is not the great, the story has some old-fashioned plot points and the acting is below average for the most part but I can see why some people do enjoy these dramas.

We finished Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre and much like any anthology short film series, it has some that work better than others. I’ve never read any of Junji Ito’s horror manga but if this is even just dipping your toe into his mind, its absolutely wild. Some of these stories really go off the left field and some are pretty unique and others are simply terrifying. Like nightmare-inducing terrifying because I did end up getting nightmares when I first started the series.

Finally, for some shorter episodes, I don’t usually watch The Grand Tour but I did sit down for the latest season/episode The Sand Job which was a lot of fun. I also caught the 8 episode Youku series Justice in the Dark adapted from a novel Silent Reading by Priest. The series ended with so many loose ends but had some a great world building and concept that I ended up buying the novel series since it doesn’t seem like any sequel is in the works.

GAMES

Currently playing: Somerville, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy, I Love Hue

As expected, gaming took a similar hit to books. I actually ended up continuing on I Love Hue which is a relaxing mobile puzzle game where you have to rearrange colors according to the gradient level. Its one that I’ve been playing on and off over the years but still like to go back to every once in a while.

Oh My Horror Challenge Week 4: The Strangers: Prey At Night (2018)

The Strangers: Prey At Night (2018)

Director: Johannes Roberts

Cast: Christina Hendricks, Martin Henderson, Bailee Madison, Lewis Pullman, Damian Maffei, Emma Bellomy, Lea Enslin

A family of four staying at a secluded mobile home park for the night are stalked and then hunted by three masked psychopaths. – IMDB

The sequel of 2008’s The Strangers comes a decade after with 2018’s The Strangers: Prey At Night which takes the initial vacation home setting into an open space mobile home park. While the initial film wasn’t impressive enough for myself to feel this was long-awaited, this sequel does have a few elements that end up being a much more satisfying horror film as a whole.

While certain films benefit and use a single enclosed location really well, its a tough one to use when its based around a home invasion and not some type of discovery or deeper location secret however, The Strangers: Prey At Night increases the scope of the film by opening up the location to a mobile home park which gives it not only multiple mobile homes to explore but common space area and lots of open space to increase that sense of isolation. Adding in the darkness from the night setting, the film is able to create a lot more surprises and unexpected scares from the trio of The Strangers.

While the film is set 10 years after its predecessor, The Strangers are essentially the same as they also are a trio with the same masks: Man in the Mask, Pin-Up Girl and Doll-face. The concept of having killers initially inspired by true events makes it unsettling especially with their masks which also help add to the creepy factor. The first film set up this trio’s purpose which gives them all the more freedom to truly do everything to further extents in the sequel. Prey At Night does take that element to give these characters a lot more than just creeping around but gives them a little more room to play and toy around their victims as they stalk and prey on the family of four that make their stop at this mobile home as an invitation from their family who they soon realize has been murdered. If there were any little issues with this character is the Man in the Mask feeling like a classic slasher which takes a lot of effort to get rid of.

The Strangers: Prey At Night does have a small cast which works to its advantage. The family of four including the mother played by Christina Hendricks eventually does dwindle to an even smaller cast as it switches it focus to the survival of brother Luke (Lewis Pullman) and sister Kinsey (Bailee Madison). There is no doubt that the focus of the survival is on Kinsey as a lot of the chase and escape focuses on her side of the story. Bailee Madison is known for a lot of her child actress roles in my knowledge so its refreshing to see her in this role, even, the characters as a whole don’t really have a lot of depth. However, the film does deliver on the entertaining horror moments that build up in their intensity as the film heads to the finale. The general store and swimming pool scene being one of the more memorable of the film.

Overall, The Strangers: Prey At Night is a better horror film than its predecessor mostly because it manages to be more well-balanced and increases in its intensity. Its not a perfect film by far but it does utilize a lot of its great horror potential to create something that has some great moments and add in a little creepy and unsettling feeling. The acting could be better as a whole but its sufficient to keep it engaging.

*Part of the 2010s Horror pick for Oh My Horror Challenge 2024*

What’s Up – January 2024

Letterboxd Year in Review 2023

Film Logged: 168 (there’s 10 TV series logged in here)
Hours Watched: 485 Hours
Most Watched Actor: Bill Murray
Most Watched Director: Wes Anderson
Top Rated 2023 Films: Hidden Love (TV series), Once Upon a Studio, Sly
Most Watched Week of 2023: 11 Films on Week 45 (Nov 6-12)
Most Watched Day of 2023: Monday
Most Watched Theme: Emotional and captivating fantasy storytelling
Most Watched Nanogenre: Horror, Twist, Death

Honestly, I’m pretty impressed with how Letterboxd has gotten pretty detailed with the other statistics other than the most watched actor and director which, due to Movies and Tea, its usually pretty easy to guess who those two will be and I guessed this year’s with no hesitation.

WHAT’S UP

Books

• Fox Volant of the Snowy Mountain

Currently reading: Boy: Tales of Childhood, The Book and the Sword

I can’t even remember when I started the book but it has to about 3 months to finish Fox Volant of the Snowy Mountain. If you’ve only seen any of the adaptations, I’d say to try to look this book up because it is such a treat. The version I had included two short stories originally published in 1961: Blade-dance of the Two Lovers and White Horse Neighs in the Western Wind which were also pretty fun to read as well. Its not quite as well structured and executed as Fox Volant but Blade-dance had some fun ensemble of characters while White Horse dragged a little but had some interesting twists. I will eventually get the actual review up once I catch up with all the writing that’s fallen behind in 2024.

Movies

• Saltburn (2023 Review)
• Asteroid City (2023)
• Body Parts (1991 Review)
• The Flying Swordsman (2022 Review)
• Puppet Master (1989 Review)
• I Did It My Way (2023 Review)
• Miss Shampoo (2023)
• Prisoners (2013)
• The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)
• The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014)
• The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (2015)
• The Neon Demon (2016 Review)
• Enola Holmes (2020 rewatch, Review)
• Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002 rewatch)
• The Strangers: Prey at Night (2018)
• Wolf Pack (狼群, 2022 Review)

I’ve worked really hard to keep up with movie reviews this month and I think it really shows some promise (even though this post is coming out incredibly delayed from usual). January was a great month for movie-watching. Not sure the actual movie quality was really good but I did get around to catching up with the rest of the film series for Hunger Games before it left Netflix and joined the Oh My Horror Challenge so its boosted up the film count and helped explore some interesting horror genres/subgenres.

My recommendations this month aren’t too plentiful but Asteroid City, Prisoners and Wolf Pack from my first time watches are definitely the stand-outs. While Puppet Master, Body Parts and Miss Shampoo had their fun parts, the first two also had some really weird moments that I’m not sure I’m totally behind and the last one is solely because I’m not a fan of the comedy style so some of the jokes really didn’t land well for me and while it was meant to be cringe-y over the top romance, some of it just felt really uncomfortable.

TV

• Dead Ringer (叠影狙击, 2023)
• Mountains and Oceans (你是我眼中的山川和海洋, 2019)
• Closer To You (我的刺猬女孩, 2020)
• Queer Eye (Season 7, 2023 Review)
• Queer Eye (Season 6, 2022 rewatch)
• Queer Eye (Season 8, 2024)
• Gilmore Girls (Season 1 rewatch, Review)
• Gilmore Girls (Season 2 rewatch, Review)

Currently watching: Asia Super Young, Singing With Legends S5, Justice in the Dark, Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre

While TV series kind of took a backseat at the beginning of the month and it was somewhat of a deliberate choice since I wanted to get back to writing movie reviews. The focus this month other than another Gilmore Girls run because its the best overtime companion was the new season Queer Eye and working through some of the Youku subscription which has some fun stuff and more Hong Kong series even if I just watched Dead Ringer which was relatively decent if not a little predictable and some weird acting but ruined it with a very lazy ending and then went through the Sabrina Zhuang series with Mountains and Oceans which I had some mixed feelings about throughout but it had a silent attack on me and caught me off-guard a few times and turned out to be pretty good but not quite as good as Closer To You which probably isn’t as good as a similar time travel series premise like Shining For One Thing but its a lot more fun.

Games

Currently playing: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Gaming really took stumble in January which usually happens because I’m just really busy with work. It doesn’t change even if I’m part-time because the workload just diminished in proportion for the most part. I did work through a a little bit more of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney but I’m at the episode 5 which is also the last and hardest one of the game. I’ve always had issues with this episode and with my crappy memory and its been probably the longest stretch between replays for this game, I basically remember the plot but can’t remember how to solve a lot of the stuff so its a new experience overall.

I apologize for the delay for this post but February wrap-up should be coming up relatively on time!
I have a few other posts to catch up on before we get there but I’m working on it!

What have you been watching/reading/playing?

Wolf Pack (狼群, 2022)

Wolf Pack (狼群, 2022)

Director (and writer): Michael Chiang

Cast: Max Zhang, Aarif Lee, Luxia Jiang, Ye Liu, Yi Zhang, Gianluca Zoppa

While seeking answers about his father’s suspicious death, a tactically trained physician infiltrates a mercenary group and soon uncovers a dangerous international conspiracy that could threaten the lives of millions of civilians. – Well Go USA

Wolf Pack is the directorial debut of Singaporean screenwriter-playwright Michael Chiang while also penning the script of this action thriller which follows a young physician that gets caught up in a mercenary group as he tries to learn about his father’s death which gets thrown into an international conspiracy.

When we look at the script of Wolf Pack, its not necessarily the most original idea about mercenaries and international conspiracies, not even how the whole issue pans out. However, what does stand out is the little moments that add together to create a lot of variety and maybe a little unintended comedy to lighten up the mood in an increasingly tense plot. Despite that, the film does keep a steady tone and keeps things focused on a different view of mercenaries and focuses a lot on having good and bad guys in any spectrum whether its political or solely in the mercenary world.

As we follow the main character Ke Tong (Aarif Rahman) and learns more about this mercenary group which he basically got kidnapped into by one of the members called Monster (Luxia Jiang), he realizes that there’s a strong sense of belonging, loyalty and righteousness in this group that extends further than simply making money under the leadership of Lao Diao (Max Zhang). Loyalty and righteousness, good and evil are usually common themes in Chinese films which root from classic Chinese stories and the fact that its implemented here fairly subtly does work well. What doesn’t work as well is the melodramatic bits which is a normal staple in Chinese cinema but loses a little bit of its momentum when not executed well.

Wolf Pack does hit a lot of good elements where it counts. The casting here is pretty solid. Max Zhang has been in the business for a long time starting out as a stunt actor and eventually getting his own films. He has been part of some Hollywood films in minor roles like Pacific Rim Uprising. His wushu training from when he was an athlete lends well to his action sequences. While this film leans heavily on the firearms elements, there were a few close combat moments which was able to show off some of his skills.

The same applies for Luxia Jiang who is also trained in martial arts and wushu. However, her role of Monster has a lot more room to play around as the character brings in a little charisma to the group of men in this mercenary crew. Both Max Zhang and Luxia Jiang deliver pretty decent roles here. The mercenary crew as a whole work well while the other members have less screen time outside of the action scenes, they each do represent their role in the crew well. The cast on the whole is pretty decent especially since this involves an international plot and the English dialogue all lands pretty well.

For fans of mercenary films with lots of shootouts and infiltration, Wolf Pack is a fun choice. Of course, for those less familiar with Chinese films, perhaps there might be a little bit of dramatic moments that might feel more than what the film needs. However, Wolf Pack is a surprisingly satisfying and entertaining action film. While its a little thin on the hand to hand combat which is what Max Zhang and Luxia Jiang is trained in, there’s still enough action to keep this a thrilling film experience.

*Wolf Pack is currently available digitally on Well Go USA*

Music Obsessions – February 2024

It wouldn’t be fair to talk about the start of Taiwan Mandopop without first talking about the obvious choice: Jay Chou. Dubbed the “King of Mandopop”, Jay Chou started out as a singer-composer and lyricist but much like many of the artists to pop up in the 2000s, they wear many more hats in acting and directing films, publishing a book and even supporting the esports world.

While not having been exposed too much before Jay Chou popped onto the scene, his influence on mandopop is one that deserves a lot of respect as his unique musical style brought on a wave of change by not only combining a lot of Western R&B, rap and rock genres into his music but also creating the Chinese Style Music genre which crosses cultures between using traditional Chinese instruments and pairing them with Western styles. His unique style is also his use of relaxed enunciation which is a staple of his singing which slurs the words together which breaks away from more traditional singing styles popular in Asia which focuses on the contrary. While the enunciation element does get commented on a lot for better or worse, Jay Chou keeps to this style and creates very catchy tunes for the most part and successfully incorporates a lot of different genres and styles to keep his music fresh.

While Jay Chou is super popular in Asia, I sometimes do wonder how popular he is in the Western world, especially since he has a Netflix travel show called J-Style Trip where he travels the world with his best friends to share music and demonstrate his love for magic. At least the first season was like that but I haven’t dived into the second season which aired recently.

Tornado (2000)

Dad I’ve Come Back (2001)

Common Jasmin Orange (2004)

Far Away (2006)

Cowboy On The Run (2007)

Extra Large Shoes (2014)

Love Confession (2016)

Pink Ocean (2022)

That’s it for this Music Obsessions!
Let me know whether you know Jay Chou and what songs you like?

Music Obsessions – January 2024

I know, I know, its not January anymore and its even time to get the February 2024 out but its been a bit of a roller coaster to start the year and somehow the monthly segments are falling behind. With that said, its tradition here (or at least as long as I’ve been using Spotify for music) to use the January segment to share my Spotify Wrapped. Full transparency that it was only at the end of the year that I got into a deal for Spotify Premium so for the most part, these songs was by random and I didn’t skip over. Still, I can’t say I disagree on why these landed on the list since they are frequently played when I use Spotify.

Taiwanese artists focus starts next post which should be coming up once I get around to all the delayed posts.

Lets start with some fun Spotify stats:

• Top Genres: Movie Tunes, Mandopop, Cantopop, Show Tunes, Chinese Hip Hop
• Listened for 10, 204 minutes with 164 minutes on June 21st (makes sense since I was doing a long drive on vacation)
• Listened to 475 artists
• Top Artist: Max LL (Thanks to using the Spiritfarer soundtrack to wind down with my toddler before bedtime)
• Top Podcast: I Am All In With Scott Patterson (its the only podcast I listened to….)
• Style: Vampire aka listening to emotional, atmospheric music more than most
• And now for the countdown of the Top 5 songs…

5. 舊日回憶的山丘 (OT:Time Capsule No Oka)- Joey Yung

Released in 2002 from album Something About You, one of the earlier albums from Joey Yung, its one of the songs that has tuck with me over the years which I like a lot but I honestly think doesn’t get enough love. I don’t even remember when I heard it, probably from one of her concert compilations. During research for this, I actually realized that its original is Time Capsule No Oka by Maki Yano.

You can check out my Music Obsessions focus on Joey Yung HERE.

4. You’re Welcome – Dwayne Johnson

While we’re not big Moana fans at home other than my toddler’s attachment to the plush Pu’a, the pig in Moana, my husband’s a big fan of You’re Welcome so we always listen to the whole thing whenever it randomly pops up. I’m guessing that’s why its on the list. It is a fun time. Probably should revisit Moana at some point.

3. Love, Maybe – MeloMance

This is the surprise of the list considering K-pop didn’t even make it on my top genres but somehow I listened to this one a whole lot. I honestly didn’t but Spotify seemed to like it and I listened to it a lot after I finished watching Business Proposal. I do like MeloMance and making a note to look up more of their songs.

2. School Song (from “Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical”)

Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical almost made it on my Top 10 Film Discoveries of 2023. It was one that I watched a lot last January when it first landed on Netflix. I loved the songs a ton and even searched up the actual musical versions. The film is really fun and all the dance choereography was so on point. It was honestly a toss up between School Song or Revolting Children making the list here since I listened to those two songs a lot at the beginning of the year.

1. 快樂王子 Happy Prince- Pong Nan 藍奕邦

Talking about underrated artists, Pong Nan is the one that I honestly don’t hear a whole lot of people talk about but I really like his songs. His music is really unique and the lyrics are well-written. It tells an emotion and/or a story really well. I love three of his songs Knowing Oneself, June and this song, Happy Prince, a whole lot. While I’m not so current on his newer music, these songs are my go-to. I’m actually a little surprised that its my top song. I honestly thought one of the Max LL songs would make it but its a pleasant surprise.

Youtube Music 2023 Recap

Since I’m late to the party for the January recap, I wanted to share the Youtube 2023 Recap as well for some more fun music! It feels like the first year Youtube’s done something like this for individual users and these one are pretty interesting picks. A lot of these ones have to do with either appeal to my toddler or performances that I loved.

My toddler loves Tengger’s voice. I’m not sure why. Its why he loves when I put on anything with his voice. This cover is so unique though. One of the faves of last year for sure and I always listen to when I’m having a bad day.

That’s it for January 2024 recap!
Sorry for the delay! Feburary recap will be coming very soon!
I’m still having an internal debate as to what artist to start.

Oh My Horror Challenge Week 3: The Neon Demon (2016)

The Neon Demon (2016)

Director (and co-writer): Nicolas Winding Refn

Cast: Elle Fanning, Jena Malone, Bella Heathcote, Abbey Lee, Karl Glusman, Keanu Reeves, Christina Hendricks, Desmond Harrington

An aspiring model, Jesse, is new to Los Angeles. However, her beauty and youth, which generate intense fascination and jealousy within the fashion industry, may prove themselves sinister. – IMDB

Its been a long while since I’ve seen a Nicolas Winding Refn film. The first (and last one) being Drive back before I was reviewing movies on this blog. Heading back into his world, the only thing I expected was a neon saturated and visually stunning film from Neon Demon as I headed into this knowing absolutely nothing about what it was about other than I like the poster and really enjoyed Elle Fanning in Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere. The Neon Demon hit the two elements I expected from it and even exceeded my expectations as this film truly is a mesmerizing and stunning visual experience even if I spent most of the film confused with what the end game was going to be with everything going on.

Cinematography is a great place to start when we look at The Neon Demon. Its a film that starts off with one of the darkest but stunning shots with Elle Fanning’s character Jesse lying covered in “blood” motionless on a sofa. The contrast of the colors and the whole set up of the shot is such a mesmerizing way to start the film. As the film moves on, the outfits and the lighting of the film capture the spiral of Jesse as she dives further into the model world and starts diving into her own narcissistic nature. There’s so much art to the how light is used in each shot from flashing lights that amplify the moments between everybody at the start to the mind-boggling scene that defined Jesse’s narcissism on her catwalk, the film is a feast for the eyes.

The narrative of The Neon Demon is almost like a character study of Jesse, a young model who finds herself as others appreciate her natural youthful beauty in the model world and quickly get taken over by her own narcissism. The film takes a little magnifying glass into the world of models and the perception of beauty. While I think its just my lack of depth into this world that stops me from understanding the film more but The Neon Demon’s biggest flaw probably is its plot which takes a lot of interesting moments in Jesse’s life and leaves a lot of space to wonder where its going and what its intentions are. With all that was going on, the biggest mystery was where the whole film was going and how it would end. The ending though, as a whole, is a big shocker which dials up the surreal horror element quite a bit and has probably an equally nauseating scene compared to Raw.

The cast is pretty small here with Elle Fanning being the main focus and she does a fantastic job capturing the aspiring model Jesse. Her expressions and build in confidence and those little movements that define her character are done impressively. However, after watching a bunch of Hunger Games films and Jena Malone, she is one of the shining points in The Neon Demon right from the start when Ruby enters that first scene. Ruby is such a mysterious character and even when the film ends, there are still so many questions about her that are unanswered which normally would be considered a lack of development but somehow it adds to the mystique.

I’ve watched many surreal horrors during my festival covering days pre-pandemic so I’m not completely unfamiliar with how weird it can get. The Neon Demon is probably one of the most visually stunning films I’ve seen in a while and the film has such an unexpected and shocking twisted ending. In general, the final act was odd and crazy in a good way however, there was a good chunk in the middle which just lacked a lot of engagement and took some turns that left this film feeling a little underdeveloped to head into that final act. With that said, The Neon Demon has made me realize the underrated actress that is Jena Malone and I’m going to seek out more of her films this year.

Oh My Horror Challenge Week 2: Puppet Master (1989)

Puppet Master (1989)

Director (and co-writer): David Schmoeller

Cast: Paul Le Mat, William Hickey, Irene Miracle, Jimmie F. Skaggs, Robin Frates, Matt Roe, Kathryn O’Reilly, Mews Small, Barbara Crampton, David Boyd

Psychics find themselves plotted against by a former colleague, who committed suicide after discovering animated, murderous puppets. – IMDB

The Puppet Master film series is one that I’ve only recently heard about and since puppets (and not dolls) are actually fairly slim pickings as I’ve covered a few of the bigger ones, here we are watching the first film released in 1989 which goes on for another fourteen more films with the latest released in 2022. I’m not going to cover all the films consecutively this time around but its definitely peaked an interest to seek out the films gradually.

The film starts in the past as we watch a puppet maker craft his latest creation while his previous creations are animated around him and on the lookout for impending threat for his capability. This past scene acts as the introduction to set up both the story and the location of the present setting. As the group reunites together, the story does have its fun moments but the general plot is fairly predictable. Some of the spooks don’t land too well especially with the dead friend’s body moving around constantly. Even the kills feel more entertaining to watch than horrific especially since the more gruesome deaths are showed off-screen.

While the acting is a little over the top at times, there is some good elements for the character structure. They all have their own unique capabilities that we gradually learn from their actions like Dana, who we see in the opening as a fortune teller telling the fortune to a young Barbara Crampton which is a lovely cameo especially watching it now as she’s been part of many notable horror films in much more prominent roles, but at the hotel does a few more psychic things which give an idea of her abilities. However, the main character in this film is not her but the university professor who can see the future in his dreams.

The strength of The Puppet Master not surprisingly are the puppets. Not only do they expand the “villain” pool since its a group of them killing together but they all have their own abilities that make them distinctive like strength or leeches or knives. Also, their parts are stop-animated which makes it really neat and fun to watch especially since the camera likes to go into their perspective to film to keep the puppets a mystery before they are revealed. While there are definite technology differences which shows the age of the film, the sequences are well-executed. Plus, the puppets themselves have a nice mischievous personality which adds to these characters.

The Puppet Master sets a good foundation for the film. While the plot itself isn’t too exciting and at times, feels little awkward, the introduction of the puppet villains do add to the film a lot. Its not exactly a scary film, but it does hit a lot of the campy 80s horror entertainment elements. While I’m not a fan of horror films adding in the open endings suggesting something else is at work, cliffhangers and such, I was pretty satisfied with how this one chose to end which hopefully is a nice stepping stone to the next film. Fingers crossed.

*Oh My Horror Challenge 2024*