Rosemary's Baby

Yeah I'm not letting go of the season quite just yet.

I knew what I was getting into, in fact I'd be surprised to find anyone who doesn't know the gist or especially the ending of Rosemary's Baby. It doesn't help we've had over 50 years of cultural osmosis to aid in that little factoid, so do I just spoil the damn thing? I'm angry enough to do it, not because the quality of the picture is bad or any technical details or whatever, but because the events, the AUDACITY on display here would make anyone lose it. I won't lie to you for a second the opening titles made me vastly more interested to watch this than any other reason a person could throw at me, and why the hell does nobody talk about horror gimmick maestro William Castle being the producer on this film?? This is the guy who gave us House On Haunted Hill, The Tingler, and The Night Walker but nobody will put respect on his name for helping get this movie made. Unacceptable! Frankly I'd rather bring that up than the director, I don't really torch people to the ground on this show but yeah not so fucking much with this guy and the laundry list of offenses he's garnered. I wash my hands of this madness. But what really gets on my metaphorical tits with this film is just the sheer blatant abuse poor Rosemary goes through after just moving into a new apartment and wanting to start a family in New Yawk Cit-ay. It starts off innocently enough but that spiral hit for me fast after Rosemary and her husband Guy get to know the neighbors, but of course me knowing the scheme I was ready to start swinging on anyone, in particular her husband. Maybe it's telling in a good sort of way that I do not come into contact with gaslighting asshats regularly, so hearing this sack of shit almost non-stop gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss it up was...infuriating to say the least. In fact I kept waiting for something, anything for Rosemary to take some initiative on and do shit for herself. An empowering film this is not, and when she tries to it's too little too late but I was begging her to murder people in this movie before end credits. Hand over my heart they would have had to redefine the word "manslaughter" after I was done with that prick after the impregnation sequence, basically him chalking up drugging and taking advantage of a young woman as "Yeah it was weird with you being unconscious, but hey I at least trimmed my nails LOL" and even, and EVEN STILL when the other shoe drops and huzzah the Antichrist will walk the earth these sum' bitches are still lying straight to her goddamn face!! What the fuck 1960s??? I'm sure it was done that way to enforce the sheer unwinnable feeling, that dread and paranoia, no semblance of safety in sight kind of mood that pervades the film but at a certain point whether you're a mama or a papa if that's your kid coming into question, you're gonna slice a bitch. That is just it. Honestly if at least the husband or that satanist woman who looks like everybody's diabeetus filled aunt got turned into a human pincushion I wouldn't be this upset! But it's only getting louder and I'm tasting iron on my tongue, and you're saying Dude relax it's a movie to which I reply with, I shan't. And you know me, I don't come at this from some uber feminist ragebait horseshit, I'm a reasonable guy but I've experienced a lot of unreasonable things. It really took me by storm, obviously as you can tell but let's at least talk about the good things here cause it really isn't all bad. Mia babe, holy shit you got snubbed at the Oscars cause man oh man did she act it to 11! So sweet, so hopelessly näive, didn't deserve anything that happened to her at all. Which is funny because I hear despite the stalwart dedication of the translation from page to screen, Rosemary has some backbone in the book. John Cassavetes I have no clue how he played this bastard of a husband so well, but it's really a testament to his acting that you just can't stand the guy for a second, so kudos there! The elderly couple down the hall the Castevets again played super well by Ruth Gordon and Sidney Blackmer, doing such a range from charming yet slightly annoying busybodies to devout Satan worshippers, proper good acting in my estimation! All the on location shooting in New York makes it feel that more real and the apartment building itself has a lot of character and quirks, plus you get a little timecapsule edge to just being on the streets of quite possibly the most famous city in the world. I like the pacing as well, it's a bit over 2 hours and amps up just right as we progress, some would call it boring because in truth nothing all that much happens until the end that we can definitively say is real but I would argue otherwise. Because of the tone and mood presented you kinda are not sitting comfortably, you know something's up but not fully what. I was kinda surprised how trippy the movie got with it's dream sequences adding another layer of strangeness to it all, and to be fair it's directed competently. I did notice a strong lack of score or soundtrack, save for the credits I swear it's all diegetic which enhances the overbearing mood of it all. So on a technical level and even a story level it's a mighty good film but my God it irked me something fierce. Do I recommend it? Yeah if for no other reason than to say you saw it, but it's solid regardless! I give it 3 stars, 8/10! And who the hell says Halloween is over? So check in tomorrow for another devil movie.

Harold And Maude

Oh man I feel like an ass not seeing this sooner in my life.

I have no issue saying Harold And Maude is a great movie, though when it opened in 1971 it was favored with mixed reviews but it's certainly a movie you can appreciate more nowadays. It's such an odd little movie and became a cult hit for decades, and for good reason. The story concerns a young man who is obsessed with death and soon meets an older woman who is a bit out there but they inexplicably attract one another and a quite lovely relationship blooms between them. The thing with this movie is while the plot may not seem like much new, it's truly the details and humor that propel it from being a good movie to a really great movie, and I could talk and explain them all day but you just have to see the movie. I almost daresay I shouldn't tell you a thing beyond bare bone basics, just so you have those hard reactions and can enjoy the movie without hinderance. I will say that Bud Cort is amazing and the character quirks and mannerisms he has got me hooked very quickly (not to mention I may have laughed just a tiny bit too hard at certain scenes with him). Ruth Gordon is absolutely brilliant in this movie, so dang funny, so flippin' charming, I really don't think the movie would have worked at all without these actors. And I like the fact that they are weird, they are eccentric, but that's not their entire performance because they have incredibly strong moments where they show that they are still people and not just over the top caricatures. It doesn't come off as a dark and slightly twisted spoof of a romance, it just shows two odd people that find great solace and friendship together despite it being unusual circumstances that brought them together. And yes I do fully support this relationship, they have wonderful chemistry together and have even lovelier moments. The film looks spectacular at times, worthy of being shown in art museums with certain shots, and the editing is actually a bit unconventional of the time. To be honest this is how movies are more edited today than in 1971, though the visuals, music, and cinematography couldn't be mistaken for anything else but the 70s. I can't even imagine how much of a different beast this was in cinemas at that time, it's completely unconventional in almost every way but it still has such a unique charm and wicked sense of humor to keep you watching it. It's certainly a comedy first but there's moments where you get unbelievable bits of wisdom, and it has quiet atmospheric moments to it which just made me love this movie to death. Like this really and truly is a movie made for me in every sense. So you know I'm going to give it 4 stars, there was never a question about it. 8.5/10, I friggin' adored this bizarre sweet piece of cinema, I am no doubt adding it to my Criterion Collection and I really hope you enjoy it. This was a real treat guys and if you got Prime Video you can watch it right now, and I swear it's worth the 90 minutes even if you don't love it. Just...great start to this week and the next two movies can be found there too, so stay tuned for more recommendations.