Rewatching this (3rd time)
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Lilith — 1 year ago(October 17, 2024 07:30 PM)
I think that like most people, we're probably more familiar with the more famous/familiar of Poe's poetry, and from what I recall, or actually do not recall, I don't remember ever reading Gold-Bug, which is one reason I had such a hard time wrapping my head around this particular storyline. Plus, I think the storyline sucked. Putting aside any Poe relevance, which I don't see, the theme itself just doesn't do it for me. Not like the others. The acting itself was also very dry and mundane. (Unless it was supposed to be?)
Legrand explains that on the day he found the bug on the mainland coastline, Jupiter had picked up a scrap piece of parchment to wrap it up. Legrand kept the scrap and used it to sketch the bug for the narrator; in so doing, though, he noticed traces of invisible ink, revealed by the heat of the fire burning on the hearth. The parchment proved to contain a cryptogram, which Legrand deciphered as a set of directions for finding a treasure buried by the infamous pirate Captain Kidd. The final step involved dropping a slug or weight through the left eye of the skull in the tree; their first dig failed because Jupiter mistakenly dropped the bug through the right eye instead. Legrand muses that the skeletons may be the remains of two members of Kidd's crew, who buried the chest and were then killed to silence them.
^^^^While there's more, that's the basic gist of the Gold-Bug storyline. The only thing I can think of is they were trying to make something to tie into Cleopatra, Egypt, the sapphire eyes, the mummification tools, and of course, the gold scarab - but even then, that was just the logo and didn't seem to hold any other particular relevance to the Gold-Bug storyline. This one confused me the most. The mirror effects were brilliant, but again, what's up with the storyline?
"Your emotional state is not my responsibility." – Warren Smith -
Lilith — 1 year ago(October 17, 2024 09:38 PM)
So, you like Hill House first, top of the list, with House of Usher and Bly Manor tied for 2nd place? Why do you like Hill House the best?
I need to watch Hill House again.
I'm doing some repetitive work at home and while I'm doing that, I've been putting House of Usher on (also on repeat) in the background, and as always, I enjoy picking up things I may have missed before.
Well, I mean, I am focusing on working on a project, so it technically is in my background, but I just really enjoyed it. Tonight, it's time for some new horror flicks, time to settle down with the popcorn!
"Your emotional state is not my responsibility." – Warren Smith -
Lilith — 1 year ago(October 18, 2024 02:36 AM)
That's definitely one of the parts I enjoyed the most: having the Bent Neck Lady explained and have it being a throughline within all of the episodes. It seemed like such a arbitrary thing at first, but the importance was a real payoff in the end.
When it comes to these series, regardless of the role, I think we can agree that Carla Gugino is perfectly splendid!
Bly Manor
threw me for a loop. Did you see/predict what was happening? I only caught onto a few aspects because they were so heavily focused on. That little boy did a smashing job given the task/s he had of essentially portraying two different people. Brilliant performance.
With regards to
The Addams Family
movies with Angelica Houston, I think the casting was very good. (Much better than Morticia in the series
Wednesday
who went so off the rails that she missed the mark entirely). Houston kept to Morticia's devilish and whimsical charms and her same sense of humour. She also maintained that deadpan delivery. I think that Christina Ricci did a better job as Wednesday that Lisa Loring did! I enjoy them because they kept sufficient references to the original. I wasn't quite a fan of Uncle Fester, however (Christopher Lloyd). Not sure why, just couldn't buy into it. I'll still watch them, however, every October!
"Your emotional state is not my responsibility." – Warren Smith -
Lilith — 1 year ago(October 18, 2024 10:48 AM)
Carla Gugino has a bit of a Gary Oldman in her style. She morphed herself in Usher, changing her appearance, her posture, her voice, her accent (that's a really tough one, accents, because native-born speakers will pick up on it if they're off by even a bit). The way, in
Usher
again, that Carla "turned herself into" a chimp and a cat was brilliant. She also pulled in and out of character so smoothly when Verna would make an appearance and speak to them and then pop back to whatever character she was meant to be playing. She's perfect with voices. Her face, her countenance, her image, she's just everything!
With
Bly Manor
, totally! That's what threw me for a loop, especially when it finally came together that he was at times playing Peter and then he'd snap back to being Miles. For a boy so young to be able to successfully come across as an adult in a little boy's body and then back to a regular little boy, he made those transitions so smooth. I just picked up on changes but couldn't figure out what - just that things were getting creepy.
Peter (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) is so handsome, isn't he? That accent! He also came across as charming (when he wasn't being a murderous psychopath).
Flora was perfectly splendid! She reminded me of what I would imagine Princess Charlotte to be, somewhat, just in the formality and behaviour.
The whole storyline with Hannah was the first one I figured out, because she never ate, but then I would get confused with Dani's interactions with her.
All in all, very, very good.
Isn't it funny that for
The Addams Family
, that we both think Christina Ricci played Wednesday better than the original Lisa Loring? lol
"Your emotional state is not my responsibility." – Warren Smith -
Lilith — 1 year ago(October 18, 2024 03:44 PM)
I wondered about that part as well, (the story), because I'd have thought everything would become clear and sounded quite familiar. But they were quite young. That's the only thing I can think of.
The very, very ending was so sad. When the time had arrived….
"Your emotional state is not my responsibility." – Warren Smith -
Lilith — 1 year ago(October 19, 2024 03:01 PM)
bcd8d4056b12fd3e0b2eea181eeb0123 said...
Yes I know that ending scene broke my heart.
All of Flanigan's work is really well done. I like that he utilizes the same actors.
"Your emotional state is not my responsibility." – Warren Smith -
The Real Soldier Boy — 1 year ago(October 13, 2024 03:16 PM)
It was ok, but the Mike Flanagan shows have had a pretty southern trajectory.
I gave up on his last 2 shows early.
It's a shame because this was an absolute masterpiece
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