2016 Halloween Countdown : Horror mini-reviews

Tonight is Halloween! I'm back to share my observations on the horror films (or films with horror elements) that I have watched so far during 2016. A word of warning, minor plot spoilers may occur. Hope you enjoy reading my journey through the classics and lesser known gems! Have you watched any of these? Agree or disagree? Will you be watching a spooky film this evening?

The Witch (2015) (Robert Eggers)
I really wanted to like it, and I admire they went for something we don’t see every day. A great premise with the setting and old language. Each frame looks authentic, but a forgettable story. Passable yet not as great as the hype indicated. Didn't get under my skin which the best horror films do. Maybe I was expecting to be shocked and scared, which didn’t happen at all.
6.5/10

The Neon Demon (2016) (Nicolas Winding Refn)
**Spoiler free review** Best film of 2016 so far. I love the colors, the Cliff Martinez score, and overall atmosphere. My god that ending. I've never seen anything like that before in my life. On one level I admire the imagination and guts, on another level I felt sick to the stomach which never usually happens to me. You may require a barf bag. I can't erase those images from my mind and wasn't able to sleep properly that same night. If a movie can provoke that kind of reaction it must have some merit. A cautionary tale about the dangers of modelling and fame seeking.
8.5/10

The Birds (1963) (Alfred Hitchcock)
Tippi Hedren is beautiful although I must admit she has an annoying nasal voice. The story is well-told and unsettling, because bird attacks could happen. The bird sound effects work well and particularly believable is the first bird attack at the birthday party. And it’s not just the attacks that are chilling, Hitchcock also generates suspense from moments when the birds gather in flocks and the townspeople walk by anxiously. Jessica Tandy is effective as the possessive mother to Mitch. According to a recent interview with Tippi Hedren real birds were used when she is trapped in the house. Yikes. People go on about that the special effects are laughably dated, but I'm not one of the naysayers. A masterpiece.
9/10

in Memory of Chip Lary from Tips from Chip

I decided to step out of blog retirement briefly to express my sadness at the passing of blog friend Chip Lary from Tips from Chip. I don't know the details surrounding his death, except he recently wrote of surgery and removal of his gallbladder. Two family members commented on his site that he passed away on April 21, 2016.

Chip worked as a Project Manager. In his free time he was a film buff and completist, working his way through various film lists, which he wrote about on his site. He was a frequent visitor to my blog and other film blogs and expressed a keen interest in other people's writing. If you asked him a question he provided insightful answers. He also had a good sense of humor.

As far as I know he was not yet 50 years old, so he died far too young. Very sad to lose someone I considered a friend. Chip's death affected me deeply because I had interacted with him for several years. The blogosphere will not be the same without him. Chip will be missed by family and friends.

Other tribute posts:
Steve at 1001plus
Msmariah at A Space Blogyssey

Goodbye for the time being

I have thought long and hard whether I should continue blogging and the conclusion I arrived at is I still enjoy watching movies and listening to music, but no longer have the urge to share my opinions. At least not as often as I do now.

I started in 2010 in order to meet like-minded people and I have attempted to take part in the LAMB blogging community over the last 5 years. I appreciate those readers who have stuck with me over the years and I will keep in contact with a few of you.

Recently the blog has become marginalized. This has happened on other blogs as well. I realize it’s a time issue, people have busy lives and commenting is not a high priority compared to work, family, and other daily activities.
Despite my attempts to attract new readers by commenting on many blogs over the last 6 months, I feel these acts have not been reciprocated to the extent I wanted, which is disheartening. Comments that excite me are rare and the only discussions I remember this year were on my Weird Science review , New Year Resolution post, and Books read in 2015 round-up. (Most of the online interaction I had happened on other sites)

New features such as Tuesday Short Film have not been welcomed with the interest I had hoped. If you want to see my top 50 short films you can find the list here. 80s Thursday only has 2-3 regular commenters I am aware of and will continue as a sporadic project on YouTube where I will share lists for best songs from 1980, 1981, 1982 and so on.

I may post year-end lists on the blog, so keep an eye out for that. I like to keep a diary of what I have watched/listened to, and I'll continue to write my observations on film and music at letterboxd and Rate Your Music, which you are welcome to follow and comment on.

But at this point I don’t want to spend time writing blogposts every week for only a small number of loyal commenters. Many who used to comment on my site seem to have moved on.

My site won’t be deleted and can still be used as a reference for previous posts. Sorry if I sound bitter. The goodbye is positive and liberating for me, because now I will have time to pursue other interests.

I'll still follow a few blogs and you can always send me an e-mail.

80s Thursday - Best songs of 1980 (part 15) (synthpop)

With regards to synthpop from 1980, I previously shared tracks by OMD, Visage and Japan. Below are a few more synthpop albums from that year that deserve attention

Album: Vienna by Ultravox
Listen to:
Vienna
Astradyne
Private Lives

Album: Travelogue by Human League
Listen to
Being Boiled

Album: Metamatic by John Foxx 
Listen to:
Underpass

Album: From A to B by New Musik
Listen to:
A Map of You
Science
On Islands
Adventures
The Safe Side

Album: B-2 Unit by Ryuichi Sakamoto 
Listen to:
Riot In Lagos

Album: Folk of the 80's by Men Without Hats 
Listen to:
Antarctica








Best songs of 1980 (part 1) (part 2) (part 3) (part 4) (part 5) (part 6) (part 7) (part 8) (part 9) (part 10) (part 11) (part 12) (part 13) (part 14) (part 15)

Tuesday short film: Soft (2006)

A powerful and award-winning 14 min British short that stays with you. About a rough neighbourhood, violent gangs and a father-son relationship.



SPOILERS: I don’t think it’s pro-violence, as some reviewers have suggested. Vengeful anger is a human reaction. He has shown more feistiness than his dad, but this was also a naïve decision to attack, and will probably lead to more violence after the credits have rolled.



You can watch the short here

Favorite short films (part 1) (part 2) (part 3) (part 4) (part 5)