Hello everyone. Welcome back to another #moviemonday. 

Today I’ve decided to talk about the original Scream. Let’s dive in. 

This movie was released in 1996 and it was directed by Wes Craven. 

Plot. 

This movie takes us to the fictional town of Woodsboro, where a mysterious killer is running around in a Halloween costume. This killer seems to target Sidney Prescott, a young high school girl who is struggling with the impending anniversary of her mother’s death. 

The movie is sort of a combination of a slasher and a mystery movie because the movie plays with horror tropes, spells them out and attempts to subvert them, while also keeping watchers guessing who the masked killer is. 

I think that Scream is really clever because it is almost a really dark comedy about horror movies. This movie makes fun of horror tropes, while also demonstrating how thought provoking the horror genre can be, and it is easy to see why this movie stood out when it was first released because it was the first horror movie to break the fourth wall almost, because the characters in the movie are aware of horror movies. They talk about horror movies, they watch horror movies, and all of the characters play a certain role. 

Characters. 

Sidney Prescott is the movie’s main protagonist. She is smart, she’s kind, she’s a normal high school student. She has good friends, a boyfriend whom she loves, and all is going well except for the fact that the anniversary of her mother’s death is approaching. Sidney’s mother was murdered so this first anniversary is obviously very difficult for her and it is made even more difficult when this masked killer shows up in town. 

Sidney is set up to be a horror protagonist who is not like other horror protagonists. She doesn’t believe in the set up of “scary movies” and she often points outs things that she thinks are ridiculous about horror movies. For example, she says that the girl always “runs up the stairs instead of out the front door” – I’ve paraphrased this line here, but the idea is that Sidney is poking fun at the stereotypical girl that tends to star in horror movies. There is often a trope in horror movies where the female character is being chased by the killer and rather than running out the door, they run upstairs which only leaves them with nowhere to go. 

Sidney is smart and she is strong and throughout this movie she has some incredible scenes where she fights back and the action scenes are really enjoyable to watch. 

This is an interesting movie because it has a really strong cast of ensemble characters. There’s Sidney, her boyfriend Billy, her best friend Tatum and her brother Dewey. There’s Randy, the movie nerd, he’s the one who tells the rest of the characters, and the audience, all about the “rules” of horror movies, so I would say that Randy is the one who is pointing out the horror tropes, and demonstrating how Scream is attempting to subvert them. There’s Stu, Cotton Weary, the man who Sidney believes killed her mother, so much so that she testified against him, and finally there is Gale Weathers, the most opportunistic and ambitious reporter you’ll ever see. 

The movie’s antagonist is the killer obviously. This masked killer goes by the name “Ghostface” because of the Halloween mask he wears while committing his crimes. “Ghostface” is a vicious, sadistic killer who likes to taunt his victims on the phone before he chases them down and kills them with a knife. “Ghostface” is a very creepy antagonist because of the way he lurks around corners. The audience knows someone else is going to be murdered when we see a shot of “Ghostface” lurking in the background. 

I obviously won’t be revealing who “Ghostface” is because that would spoil the whole movie, but what I will say is that I think Scream is extremely well written because at some point, in seems that anyone could be the killer. As I was watching I was trying to guess, and because of the way the movie subverts horror tropes, I was making guesses but then changing my mind because it seemed too obvious, only to circle back and think well maybe the movie is trying to throw me off by being so obvious. The movie knew what it was doing, the premise was very clever and it was executed really well. 

The other character that I can talk about in more detail without spoiling any details is Gale. At first I disliked Gale because of her uncaring attitude towards the victims in the stories she is reporting. At the beginning of the movie, Gale sees every case as an opportunity for a story, for publicity for herself, she wants to make the news, she wants to be the one reporting it but as time goes on, she becomes less exploitative and more caring towards Sidney and the other people of Woodsboro. I thought she was a really interesting character because in a way I felt she was a mirror of society, I felt that she represented the way in which society can be fascinated by crimes and by violence. I mean there is a reason why murder mysteries and detective shows are so popular, and it is because there is something unexplainably desirable about experiencing violence in a safe way. That’s why it’s called a morbid fascination. We want to know the details of events that have taken place, we want to know who did it and why, but we don’t want to be part of the violence ourselves. This movie and Gale’s character points out why people enjoy horror, it’s scary and thrilling, and morbidly fascinating, but at the end of the day, the events that are occurring in Woodsboro are not entertaining, or at least they shouldn’t be.  

Themes.

It goes without saying that violence is a major theme of this movie. It is a horror movie about a masked killer who prefers to stab his chosen victims to death, and while it is a funny movie too, there are some scenes that if you’re squeamish like me you should definitely avert your eyes during them. This may be an underrated take, but I think that an underlying theme of this movie is the idea of a love for film. Randy’s character specifically loves horror movies and so he is the one explaining the “rules” of a horror movie. The movie then plays out these rules in front of our eyes, and this demonstrates a real love for film because the movie pays homage to, and also subverts classic horror movie tropes and themes. I said already that I think it was a really well written piece because this premise was really clever, at the time of this movie’s release this kind of satire in horror movies was unique, and the idea was executed really well. 

Structure.

The movie is an hour and fifty minutes long. I would say that this movie follows a three-act structure. The movie opens with a young girl making popcorn alone in her house, and while she’s doing this she gets a phone call from the killer. He taunts her on the phone, quizzing her about horror movies, and when she fails to get his questions right, he reveals that he has killed her boyfriend. The girl, played by Drew Barrymore, attempts to escape but the killer gets her and her death is what establishes what this movie’s plot is going to be – a sadistic killer is on the lose and he’s not finished yet. 

The second act of the movie is when the killer seems to set Sidney in his sights and he harasses her on the phone. This is the part of the movie where the audience begins to question who the killer is and it becomes apparent that it could be anyone. The ensemble are trying to live their lives while dealing with the fact that there is a killer in their midst. 

The final act is the final showdown. We know that Sidney will battle “Ghostface” at some point in time, it’s a question of when, not if, and we are hoping that Sidney will be the last girl standing. We also know that before this movie ends we will need to learn who the killer is, so the stakes get higher and the action gets more intense, and the movie really ramps up the tension before the reveal. 

I think the movie moves at a nice pace because it doesn’t feel too long, but it’s also not rushed so the tension has a chance to sit with us and suspense builds really nicely. 

Final Thoughts. 

I don’t think I ever would have chosen to watch this movie by myself. I’ve said before how I just don’t like blood, but I was told that I would really like this movie because of the mystery aspects to it and because of the way it plays with tropes and themes. As an English Literature student who has studied film theory, I did really enjoy this movie because of this subversion of horror tropes. I like how the movie poked fun of the genre while also being part of it. I thought it was really clever. Despite the moments of gore, I actually really did enjoy this movie and believe it or not, I would watch it again. I’ve recently watched the sequel, and although I hid behind a pillow for certain scenes, I did enjoy that movie too and I am looking forward to finishing the original trilogy. 

If you like scary movies then you’ll like Scream, and I completely understand why this movie has the following that it does. I’m glad that I watched it. I would watch it again. If you don’t like scary movies, I would say that this movie combines elements of horror and elements of dark comedies, so it’s not a gore fest throughout, and at times it even plays like a mystery “who done it?” so you may end up liking it a lot, just like I did. 

This has been Movie Monday. It won’t be long before we move into February and I will be talking about some romantic comedies as we move closer to Valentine’s Day, so I thought that Scream would be a fun choice, especially since I’ve just watched it recently. 

Have a great week. 

Kate xo.  

Hello everyone. Welcome to another #moviemonday. Apologies that this discussion is late but it couldn’t be helped. In fact, it is almost fitting because after a stressful Sunday, I decided that I wanted to watch a Disney movie because I wanted to unwind so it’s been a bit of a busy week already but now it’s Tuesday and today was a much better day so it is onwards and upwards for the rest of this week.

Monsters, Inc. is a 2001 Pixar movie. It was directed by Pete Docter.

Let’s dive in.

Plot.

This movie takes audiences to a world of monsters, where all the power is fuelled by the screams of children. In order to get the screams, the monsters work at Monsters Incorporated. Sully is the best scarer in the company. The idea is that every night the monsters go through a door and scare a child and their screams are collected in order to give the city electricity. All is going very well until a child ends up in the monsters’ universe. Now Sully and his best friend Mike must get the child, who Sully has affectionately named Boo, home before anyone finds out she is there, but on their journey back to Boo’s door, Sully and Mike discover that there are some secret plots going on in the workplace and they must put a stop to them.

Characters.

James Sullivan, Sully, is the movie’s main protagonist. Sully is a good guy. He’s a hard worker, a great scarer, a good teammate, and a good friend. He’s got everything going for him and when this child ends up in his care, he is logical. He knows no one can find out and he knows that he needs to get her home safely and as the movie goes on, Sully begins to really care about this little girl and so he becomes very fatherly. This little girl teaches Sully a valuable lesson about himself but this is something I will cover in themes.

Mike is Sully’s best friend. He is the wise-cracking comedian of the duo and so some of his reactions to the situations they find themselves in are comedically over the time. At times he gets frustrated by Sully and his feelings get hurt, but at the end of the day he is a true friend and he knows that Sully is doing the right thing so he helps him do it. His comedic talents gain more appreciation at the end of the movie.

Boo is the little girl who finds herself in the world of Monsters Incorporated. She is very sweet and very adventurous and she melts Sully’s heart. She is not old enough to speak properly yet so she communicates through actions and little sounds and some words here and there, but despite her lack of talking, she does not fail to make an impact on Sully.

Randall is the movie’s antagonist. He is Sully’s rival scarer in the company. He is determined to beat Sully in the scaring record and there is a stark difference in Randall’s attitude compared to Sully’s. Sully scares children because it is his job, but he is a kind person when he is off the clock. Randall seems to take delight in the fact that he is terrifying and he is not kind to his fellow co-workers. It is important to note that monsters believe that children and things in the human world are “toxic” so they must never let a child touch them, and they must also avoid touching things like children’s toys.

Sully learns that Boo is harmless which is why he is determined to get her home safely before someone else tries to harm her.

Another key character is Henry J. Waternoose III. He is the CEO of the company and he is determined to never let the company fail and he is worried about the expected “scream shortage”. I think he is a great character because he seems so level headed and fair. He seems kind. We feel we can trust him, but this movie teaches us that the real monsters aren’t always who we think they are.

Themes.

The major theme in this movie is friendship. I also think that the idea of overcoming differences is a huge theme in this movie too. Sully and Mike are the best of friends, always there for each other no matter what. They may have ups and downs but when it comes down to it, they can count on each other. The friendship between Sully, Mike, and Boo is really important. Monsters have been taught that children are a danger to them so when Boo first appears in their world, Sully and Mike are afraid of getting too close to her. Sully is the one who sees she is a harmless little girl so he sets aside all he’s ever been taught and decides that he has to get her home safely. I know it is a children’s movie but I think that this movie really demonstrates how fear can come from ignorance, and I will always point out how children’s movies can be so much more nuanced than they get credit for. There is an idea of overcoming one’s fears that is explored in this movie. Sully and Mike must face their fear and see that Boo is not a threat to them, and Boo learns that she does not need to be afraid of the monsters in her wardrobe. It is funny because Boo is never scared of Sully and Mike, she is only scared of Randall because Randall is her monster. He is the one who goes through her door at night and scares her, so she sees him in that context. Sully is kind to her, he does not pose a threat despite very big and strong so she sees him in only a positive light and I think this demonstrates how very often children are so perceptive. There is a moment in this movie that I love, and it is when Sully is giving a “scare demonstration” upon the request of Mr. Waternoose. Sully demonstrates to new scarers how to scare a child and it is the first time that Boo sees him in a light she views as scary. After this moment, she won’t go near him, she cries, for the first time in this movie, she views him as a monster and Sully, who has seen himself on the monitor, is horrified by what he sees. He sees how scary he looks, he sees how much that would scare a child and he does not like it. He reflects on this. He asks “did you see the way she looked at me?”, and I just think that it is a very powerful moment. I love the classic Disney and Pixar movies for this exact reason. Yes they are created with the target audience being children, but that does not mean they are not good. It does not mean that they are silly. They are often filled with emotional moments, some that we may miss until we watch them again through adult eyes, but I was very impressed with this movie after watching it again because it is funny, I love the premise, I think the concept is clever, but it is also very heartfelt and heartwarming.

Structure.

This movie is 92 minutes long which is the perfect length in my opinion. Something that I like about Disney movies and Pixar movies is that they tend to be only an hour and a half long, most likely because a young child probably would not sit watching for much longer, but these movies prove that you don’t need hours and hours to tell a perfectly rounded out story, you simply need to do well with the time you have. The opening sets up how the monster world works, the incident where a monster is “decontaminated” because they touched a child’s sock shows how afraid of humans the monsters are, and so when Boo ends up in the company, the audience knows Sully has to get her home because she is not safe there. We know that he has to avoid Randall and everyone else, we know he has to get her to her door, we understand the stakes and so as the movie plays out and Sully tries to get Boo home, while bonding with her in the meantime, it means that the movie’s ending is all the more heartfelt. We can see how much he has come to love Boo. We know she has to go home, but we know that this is going to be sad and all the questions that the movie set up are answered, and it’s all done in an hour and a half. Nothing feels rushed, nothing feels half-done, the twists are compelling but they make sense, and so it just shows how a great story can be told in a shorter time frame.

Final Thoughts.

This movie was the perfect cure to a bad day. It was funny, it was really compelling. It had been a few years since I had seen it so I did not remember everything which made watching it again all the more enjoyable. I was fully invested in the story and I think that I would call it one of my favourite Pixar movies. I’d highly recommend it.

This has been #moviemonday.

Kate xo.

Hello everyone. Welcome back to another #moviemonday. 

Today I am talking about Die Hard 4.0. 

There are five movies in the Die Hard series, I think that the original is the best. I love the third movie too. Last night I watched the fourth movie in the series and because it is a stand alone story, I’m going to discuss it this evening. 

Let’s dive in! 

This movie was released in 2007 and it was directed by Len Wiseman. 

Plot. 

John McClane is back and this time he is battling technology. When he is sent to collect a hacker and bring him to Washington, John thinks it’ll be an easy job but when he arrives at Matt Farrell’s apartment, he ends up fighting off a mysterious group of men who are attempting to kill Matt. 

The two become an unlikely team as they have to figure out a way to save the day when there’s virtual terrorists on the loose. 

Characters. 

John McClane, everyone’s favourite unlikely hero is back. Once again he’s in the wrong place at the wrong time and despite his protests, he has to save the day because he’s “that guy”. John is fed up with this happening and so in this movie he is a slightly more unhinged unlikely hero and it is brilliant. He’s quick thinking and sarcastic as always and he doesn’t fail to deliver the action. 

Matt Farrell is our hacker. He is the movie’s main protagonist alongside John. 

Matt is in his twenties and he is a tech wizard, he writes code and throughout the movie he helps John figure out what is going on. He’s nervous and rambling and a bit of a loveable nerd but when the chips are down, Matt steps up to the plate. 

Thomas Gabriel is the movie’s antagonist. He is the man behind the chaos. He is the person who is causing all of the destruction that John and Matt must fix. He is calculated, cunning, and extremely tech savvy. He’s on a quest for revenge. 

John McClane’s daughter Lucy also makes an appearance in this movie and she is every bit her father’s daughter. She’s sarcastic and very intelligent. She’s feisty and when danger lurks, she’s able to hold her own. 

Lucy is also John’s weakness so there are some brilliant moments in this movie when John is fighting for his little girl. 

Themes. 

I would say that the power of technology is a major theme in this movie and while many people have said they dislike this movie, I think it is very good and I actually really like the premise. 

The movie explores what happens when everything that is run by technology gets shut down. Traffic lights are hacked and this causes major collisions. Power is shut off which causes blackouts. Utilities are shut down, alarms are set off, financial sectors crash, and chaos is rampant. It’s the perfect way to take out an entire system. The country is in darkness. 

Another theme is family. John and his daughter have a complex relationship. She is angry with him and she goes by her mother’s maiden name but at the end of the day, Lucy loves her father and she is terrified when she thinks he’s badly hurt. She wants him to make it and John is determined to make sure that nothing happens to her. An important lesson that people should learn is that you do not mess with the people who John McClane loves.

Heroism is another theme. John and Matt have quite a poignant conversation about why John does what he does. Why does he save the day? Why does he run towards danger and not away from it? John says he wishes someone else would save the day so he doesn’t have to, but no one else will do it so that’s why he does. That’s what makes him that guy. John is a hero because he does what he has to do. Matt learns this lesson and he learns that he too is more heroic than he gives himself credit for. 

Structure. 

The movie is just over two hours long but it’s action packed so it doesn’t feel too long. I enjoy how this movie’s threat is more technology based as John must figure out how to fight the bad guys while they’re hacking into his gps, his phone, his radio etc. The movie demonstrates how much of our lives are digitally recorded and it’s fun seeing John out of his depth but still incredibly willing to fight. 

The structure of the movies in the Die Hard collection is always very satisfying as there is always a moment when all the dots connect and we see the full picture. We see the motivations behind each character and we see John’s plan to fix things. This movie is no different. 

Final Thoughts. 

Overall I enjoyed watching this movie. There are some great lines, some brilliant action scenes and while it isn’t the best movie in the series, I think the concept was interesting and well executed. I would recommend giving it a watch. 

This has been Movie Monday. 

I hope you all have a lovely week. 

Kate xo.