Studio Ghibli over the course of four decades has released over 26 feature films as well as several short films and projects. In this article we will discuss the discography of this studio and give you a complete guide to watch Studio Ghibli movies.

Table of content

I am making this section in case you wish to explore a specific genre, you can skip to it or if you want movie reccomdation based on the level of familiarity you have with the studio movies. Here is the layout of the article:

Based on level

1. Movies to start your journey: Beginner

2. Explore further: Intermediate

3. Hidden gems: Advanced

Based on Genre

1. War Theme

2. High Fantasy

3. Shojo/ Romance

4. Magic

Based on level

This is not a comparison of how good the movie is how much you know about the studio. Its about introducing new movies to your list on the basis of familiarity, how underrated they are and How you should start watching if you have no clue.

Movies to start your journey: Beginner

This level will include movies that are essential watches to get into Ghibli movies, these are extremely popular (for a reason!) and provide insight into why people fell in love with Ghibli in the first place.

1. Spirited Away (2001)

One of the, if not the most popular Ghibli movie. Spirited away is a story about a young girl who transcends time and space into a world filled with witches, supernatural entities and monsters. The term “Spirited away” is derived from a old Japanese religious belief of human vanishing upon upsetting the Kami “gods”, the whole movie is filled with folklore and religious references.

Fantasy│Cozy│Cottage core│Adventure

2. My neighbor Totoro (1988)

An absolute fan favorite is the 4th feature film from the studio. My neighbor Totoro is a story about two sisters who move to the countryside with their father while their mother is recovering in a hospital. The movie follows them as they stumble upon the creature in the nearby forest, among which is the gentle giant spirit of the forest, Totoro.

Adventure│fantasy│Cozy

3. Kiki’s delivery service (1989)

One of my personal favorites, this movie is about a little witch named Kiki who lives alone in the city as she learns to be independent. Soon she starts a flying delivery service to earn a living, accompanied by her cute but sarcastic taking cat Jiji. The film is a slice of life, coming of age tale and is o adorable and mindful in exploring a young girl navigating through life, friendship and hardships.

Slice of life│Coming of age│Fantasy

4. Ponyo (2008)

This is one of the most fascinating movies, the plot revolves around a ponyo who is a “gold fish like creature” who accidently gets trapped in a glass jar and drifts to the shore of a small village where is she rescued by a 5 year old boy names Sosuke. How ponyo navigates frienship, a new world and her growing desire to become a human through magic formas the basic premise of this movie.

Ocean│Fantasy│magic│friendship

5. Castle in the Sky (1986)

The first official Studio Ghibli release, Castle in the sky is a movie about a young girl named Sheeta who acquires a mysterious crystal which is target of many high prolific people, along with her friend Pazu, she embarks on a journey to find the ancient sky city of Laputa. This film is filled with sky battles, politics, air crafts and friendship.

Adventure│Friendship│Sky city│Courage

Explore further: Intermediate

This section will contain movies that are more complex in their execution of the plot and deal with themes other than light hearted slice of life.

1. Princess Mononoke (1997)

After being cursed by a dying boar god, Prince Ashitaka travels west for a cure and lands straight into the middle of a brutal war between humans and the ancient forest gods. This movie is so good, it will make you questions the life around you; an absolute gem.

Adventure│dark fantasy│war│Forest

2. Pom Poko (1994)

A community of shapeshifting tanuki find their forest habitat threatened by a massive suburban housing development. Using their magical transformation powers, they stage elaborate tricks to scare off human construction workers

Satire│Forest│Magic

3. Graveyard of fireflies (1998)

One of the most beautiful stories ever animates, this movie tells the story of a young boy and his little sister struggling to survive in a poverty ridden japan during World War 2. Watch this movie if you wanna have an ugly cry.

Emotional│war│sibling│Semi biography

4. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)

Technically, this isn’t a ghibli movie because it was made by the same artist before they officially named the studio, Ghibli but it kind of is a Ghibli movie. The story is set in a post apoclype world where a kindom called valley of wind is led by the fierce princess Nausicaa as she embarks on a quest to unite humanity and nature again.

Adventure│sci fi│fantasy│friendship

5. Whisper of the Heart (1995)

Shizuku is a book worm who notices every library book she checks out has already been borrowed by the same boy: Seiji. This unexpected discovery leads to start of a new friendship and self discovery

Coming of age│self discover│friendship│teenage

Hidden Gems

These are movies that deserve way more love than they get, this includes some of my favorites

1. Only Yesterday (1991)

Taeko, a 27-year-old unmarried office worker in Tokyo, takes a trip to the countryside to help harvest safflowers. Along the journey, memories of her 10-year-old self resurface, forcing her to confront childhood regrets, family pressure, and whether she is living the life she actually wanted. This is a very grounded cute tale, with a non linear structure that is so fun and emotional to watch at the same time.

Emotional│friendship│Drama

2. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013)

A story about enforcing societal handcuffs unto young women, his movie follows Kaguya who was found by a woodcutter growing inside a bamboo. When she grows up he takes her to the city to learn etiquette and marry a good suitor. The animation style of this film is so so beautiful.

Folk tale│female lead│cute

3. When Marnie Was There (2014)

Anna, a lonely and self-loathing 12-year-old suffering from severe asthma, is sent to stay with relatives in a quiet seaside town. There, she meets an abandoned mansion befriends a girl named Marnie. This movie counters many themes like depression, foster care anxiety, and attachment issues.

Drama│mystery│horror│mental health

4. My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999)

Presented as a series of comic-strip-style vignettes, the movie follows the everyday quirks, petty rivalries, and small triumphs of a typical modern Japanese family. This is is such a funny, cute movie, such a comfort watch.

Family│Funny│Shojo│Quirky

5. Porco Rosso (1992)

In 1930s Italy, a veteran World War I fighter ace named Marco Pagot lives as a freelance bounty hunter in the Adriatic Sea. Traumatized by the war, he has been turned into a pig. This movie feels like a fever dream, its funny, charming and endearing.

War│fascism│Survivors guilt

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Genre

Now that we are past the levels, its time to divide the movies through genres. I won’t explain the movies as i have already done for 15, there are four main themes in Studio Ghibli movies:

• War Theme

• High Fantasy

• Shojo/ Romance

• Magic

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  I. War Theme

• Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)

• Castle in the Sky (1986)

• Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

• Porco Rosso (1992)

• Princess Mononoke (1997)

• Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)

• Tales from Earthsea (2006)

• The Wind Rises (2013)

• The Boy and the Heron (2023)

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II. High fantasy

• Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)

• Castle in the Sky (1986)

• Princess Mononoke (1997)

• Spirited Away (2001)

• Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)

• Tales from Earthsea (2006)

• Ponyo (2008)

• The Secret World of Arrietty (2010)

• The Boy and the Heron (2023)

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III. Shojo/Romance

• Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989)

• Only Yesterday (1991)

• Porco Rosso (1992)

• Ocean Waves (1993)

• Whisper of the Heart (1995)

• Spirited Away (2001)

• The Cat Returns (2002)

• Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)

• Ponyo (2008)

• The Secret World of Arrietty (2010)

• From Up on Poppy Hill (2011)

• The Wind Rises (2013)

• The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013)

• When Marnie Was There (2014)

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IV. Magic

• My Neighbor Totoro (1988)

• Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989)

• Pom Poko (1994)

• Spirited Away (2001)

• The Cat Returns (2002)

• Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)

• Ponyo (2008)

• The Secret World of Arrietty (2010)

• When Marnie Was There (2014)

• Earwig and the Witch (2020)

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Alright that was it, I know this might be my longest article. If you made it this far thank you reading!! Let me know what are your favorite Ghibli movie.

Here are some articles to explore the world of movies:

Well now if you’ll excuse me, I have some Video tapes to return

And a lot of the times they don’t even have the movies you wanna watch, So in this article i will tell you 10 free movies sites to stream, these websites have really old, niche movies from all over the world with good quality and subtitles most of the time. These are all tried and tested so, let’s get into it. Also check out my letterboxd: Videotapes letterboxd

Caution ⚠

I have used all of these sites on rotation for the past 2 years and so far have not faces any issues, but you can never be too safe so please use a VPN while surfing these sites. Or use a browser with a strong pre installed VPN like Brave, Zen, or fire fox. Using an ad blocker really helps tho most of these sites don’t have a lot of ads and some don’t have any at all. Every website link is in the title.

The List

1. CineJoy

Cinejoy is one of the best websites to stream both movies and shows and that is the reason i kept it first. It has a very clean and organized style and is very easy to surf, they even have an option to surf movies by different providers so you can watch Hulu exclusives, Crunchyroll, peacock etc, all in the same area. And it provides great recommendations based on what you previously watched.

2. Movy

Movy has a very netflixy format but it is great for streaming by genre or specially new upcoming movies, they also have many streaming platforms to choose from. The quality of the movies in great on this site.

3. 1show & 1flex

I put these together because they are like two peas in a pod, 1show is for streaming shows and 1flex is for movies, tho both of them contain movies and shows. They are exact same format as netflix. A lot of servers to chose from, sometimes they do take time to load and buffer but aside from that they are great sites.

4. Shuttle Tv

Another great website is Shuttle Tv, the format is very pleasing to look at, everything is neatly organized and they have a wide range of movies to choose from. A pick in my opinion.

5. Kisskh

This is for all my asian drama lovers, I have used Kisskh for 4 years now and it has a wide range of kdramas, Cdrams, Jdramas, Thai drama, Taiwanese, Indonesian, Filipino etc. And trust me i know BALL when it come to kdrams i have watched over 75+ (i had a phase yall forgive me). Let me know if yall want a kdrama reccomdation article tho.

6. Animex

This is a great website for streaming Anime series or movies. A lot of options to choose from. I don’t watch a lot of animes but i do love attack on titan and i love love loveeeeee animated Japanese movies like perfect blue, ghibli movies (article incoming), paprika etc.

7. Versus Media

This is one of those sites that I have really fun streaming because it specializes in independent small production houses and indie movies and short films, like you could be surfing and come across absolute trash or GOLD. Great way to diversify your taste in cinema.

8. Internet Archive

Yes I know you have heard this recc a mllion times but it is truly one of the best resources to watch films, specially old films or unpopular movies. I have watched so many films just by scrolling on the website. I love it.

9. Silent hall of Fame

This is a very unique website that has a huge catalog of silent films from all over the world, I first came across it when i wanted to watch “The smiling Madame Beudet” for my article Female rage as a cinematic genre. There are so many great classic films to watch on here.

10. Rare Flim

This is one of my most favorite sites to surf, Rare films as the name suggests is a site full of rare films from all over the world from different time periods. I got to know about it because it was one of the only places that i could find “The Silent Echo”, its a great Nepali film for those of you who haven’t watched it please do.

Alright that was it, a bit different from my usual content but I couldn’t gatekeep any longer and now if any of you dare ask me “where do I watch it?” I will kill you in your sleep. Love yall

Here are some articles to explore the world of movies:

Well now if you’ll excuse me, I have some Video tapes to return

Now that we have got that out of the way, let’s begin. Pattinson is one of the best actors working in Hollywood right now; he began his career in the movie Ring of the Nibelungs, where he played a minor role. He has had a very successful career spanning over two decades and has given us some outstanding performances.

With his current “generational run” at the box office, I am stoked for his next performance as Chris Hansen in Primetime, which follows Dateline NBC correspondent Chris Hansen as he launches and escalates the controversial hidden-camera sting operation To Catch a Predator. So here are 5 movies to watch to understand the brilliance that Robert brings to the screen.

5. The Batman (2022)

NASTY, FILTHY, and DISGUSTING are some of the adjectives I would use to describe Robert in this movie, which is kind of weird as he plays Batman, the symbol of righteousness and power. But this movie shows you a young vulnerable Batman; he is still learning, a young man sitting between piles of old dirty files searching for any clue to help the dark, cold city of Gotham. He keeps making mistakes over and over again; it’s pathetic. He cries himself to sleep; it’s not heroic. Robert in this movie is just a human like Batman was always supposed to be.

The emotional depth and, lowkey, the emo-ness he brings to the character are admirable and one of, if not his best, performances.

4. Good Times (2017)

Imagine having the worst panic attack of your life, but you’re high as fuck and also the world is ending. That is exactly what this movie feels like. The lighting and cinematography in this movie are elite; every character is well designed and stays exactly where they are supposed to be. The only distracting element in this movie is Robert, who acts like a catalyst and makes a bad situation ten times worse. Throughout the movie everything that can go wrong goes way worse, and Robert is always in the middle of it. His performance in this movie was immaculate.

3. The Drama (2026)

This Robert Pattinson and Zendaya movie is one of the best dramas of 2026; it follows a couple to be married who uncover a secret that sends their plans off track and forces them down a spiral. I kept this movie on the list not only because it is a great film but also because Robert shows excellent conviction in the display of a man who is so in love yet disturbed by the actions of his to-be wife. A definite must-watch for drama lovers.

2. The Lighthouse (2019)

Please do not read any synopsis or review of this movie and just watch it. This is one of the movies that made me realize the brilliance that Robert is capable of; it’s gritty, dark, emotional, and everything you don’t expect it to be. An absolute must-watch to get into Pattinson’s filmography.

1. TWILIGHT (2008)

And on top of the pyramid is the BEST movie EVER made, absolute cinematic brilliance, THE RENAISSANCE THAT CHANGED OUR PERCEPTION ON LIFE: Twilight.

This movie is so incredibly essential to watch if you are a Robert Pattinson fan; this is by far his best work. I mean, he is so incredible in this movie you start to question life itself. “How did I live so long without ever experiencing this beauty before?” The most ICONIC, BRILLIANT movie ever made. This is the holy grail of cinema.

Honorable mentions:

• MICKEY 17 (2025)

• Remember Me (2010)

• Odyssey (2025)

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  Robert Pattinson is one of my most favorite actors of all time and I am so happy that he is getting mainstream attention for his craft and not solely for his looks. If you made it this far, thanku so much for reading!! Below are the letterboxd ratings for all the movies mentioned above:

1. The batman (2022): 4.0/5

2. Good times (2017): 4.0/5

3. The Drama (2026): 3.7/5

4. The lighthouse (2019): 4.0/5

5. Twilight (2008): 3.1/5

   Thanks for reading!! If you liked the article consider subscribing! Love yall 💗💗

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   Well now if you’ll excuse me, I have some Video tapes to return

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In this article we will discuss all the promotional material of Toxic, including the ladies on ladies teaser, official trailer, cast, set design, budget etc. Once we start dissecting this trailer you will understand why I named the title Sex, Blood & Cinema.

Plot

The plot of Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups follows Raya, a ruthless gangster rising through the criminal underworld of Goa. Set between the 1940s and 1970s as Portuguese colonial rule crumbles.

Interesting concept right? Yeah I thought so as well but so far the promotional material plays a very different story. I will explain this point further but so far, the story is new and fresh, there is a lot that can be done with the plot given and hence there is a lot that can go wrong as well.

Cast & Budget

The Film has an all star cast with some of the biggest names of south Indian and Hindi Cinema.

• Yash: Raya

• Nayanthara: Ganga

• Kiara Advani: Nadia

• Huma Qureshi: Elizabeth

• Rukmini Vasanth: Mellisa

• Tara Sutaria: Rebecca

• Akshay Oberoi: Tony

• Sudev Nair: Karmadi

Yash is the main lead, co- writer, and producer of the movie, every shot of the teaser, trailer is filled with him, like nothing else except him. I don’t have any problems with the casting choice, mostly because they have not explored these characters in the promotional material (Thank god).

The official budget is not confirmed yet but the estimates are between 500 to 1000 crores, so its certainly not a mid budget film.

Ladies & Ladies trailer

This is one of the most controversial and infuriating material released from this movie. Ladies on ladies is the teaser introducing all the women in the movie, and every scene and I mean EVERY SINGLE scene has Yash in it. The main female characters of the film are barely shown and every second scene is a sex scene. Yash has sex with almost every women in the film at least according to the trailer. If you haven’t seen it, here you go:

The trailer shows Kiara Advani who is Yash’s lover whom he has sex with. Tiara sutaria who is some sort of femme fatale, the point is Yash has sex with her too. And two other female characters who are shown in the trailer who are Yash’s sex partners. And he has sex with other no- name women as well.

The trailer has a very cringy fight sequence with 3 white women fighting Yash and I mean it is a very hard watch but the action choreography in this scene is so lazy and pathetic, it is very obvious that they just wanted white girls in short clothes on the screen. While the entire trailer is playing out, in the background a voice is narrating something to us and this hit is so fucking insane I can’t believe they thought this was empowering. GET READY for this bullshit:

Love makes monsters of women. It is a beautiful illusion if one understands the depth of its deception. And yet here we are... fighting for his scraps of devotion. But here comes a plot twist, ladies... Don't forget the predictable spectacle of men and their cocks.

First of all this is so poorly written, if you pasted this inside a BTS fanfiction from 2019 it would have fit right in. But the actual problem is that the film promises a powerful female cast but while introducing the uses heavy sexual innuendos. The last line “Don’t forget the predictable spectacle of men and their cocks.” Is being said as one of the women fighting Yash falls onto him and Yash places the barrel of his gun inside her mouth. This shit is so trash. The women in this film are used merely as sex dolls except a few exceptions.

Official Trailer

The official trailer was dropped a few days ago and there are a lot of things I like and dislike.

Set

The camera and color grading is phenomenal is some scenes, the movie is living up to the high budget with the lavish set pieces, especially the night club and circus scenes look very well done.

But of course there are a lot of instances where the CGI is very poorly done and looks cheap.

This looks like they are standing in front of a videogame screen.

What the actual fuck is this? I have no words, what happened to acting? color grading? cinematography? visual effects?

City

The film has a great advantage of having an incredible city to work with, Goa was one of the last Indian territories to be freed of colonial rule. The story is based in 1940s to 1970s Goa, the film deals with underworld Mafia business and drugs & ammunition smuggling. This is a great opportunity to showcase the intricate history of a state that has been reduced to a vacation spot.

The trailer also shows shots of different cultures so its most likely that Yash will travel to different locations outside India. This scene in particular looks like a traditional Chinese celebration

Dialogue

This trailer has some of the cringest dialogues I have ever heard, man I could not believe someone thought this shit was tuff. In one of the shots, Yash is forced on his knees with a man pointing a gun to his head and the man asks

“Any last wish?”

And Yash replies: “Tere bhai ko jala kar, use rakh ko ander khichna chahta hu, khichne dega kya?”…….

In another scene, Yash is talking to Kiara for the first time and says:

“Aurat ka haseen ho na Kamaal hai, usi ko hatiyar banalo toh bawaal hai, ek raat ka itna leti hai?”

Another scene two women are talking and they are both his side chicks. One of them says:

“Who are you?”

the other one replies: “I’m his regular”

the first one points a gun at her and says “I’m his permanent”

Man this shit is so so trash, I hope the original lines are better because the hindi dub is so bad I can’t even believe they are promoting this as a Pan India project, the dubbing in other languages are so bad. Also the BGM is so loud that you can’t hear anything until you hold the speaker close to your ear.

Shock Value

The trailer and teaser combined have 10 separate scenes of sex and nudity display. And scenes containing acts of violence are uncountable, are we to believe that showing multiple shots of Yash having sex is integral to the story? I can guarantee you when the movie releases half of the sex scenes would be filer shots.

As we know sex sells, and these repeated shots are catering to the largest section of Yash’s fanbase, the young men. These men will chime in to see the movie only for Yash and sex, they will have zero interest in the movie, cast, music, storyline or cinematography nothing. The violence similarly is nothing but a facade to hide the lack of command over the screenplay, Indian cinema is in a “who are show more gore in movies” race and Toxic absolutely trying to get it. Yash also appears naked in one the scenes and like why, what was the point?

Shock value to everything to them, Toxic was supposed to release alongside dhurandhar and people were quiet excited for the theater rivalry but at the end moment Toxic backed away and re scheduled thier release. So generating hype for the movie through sex scenes and violence is their only way.

Conclusion

I really wish to support this movie, the plot is unique and interesting, they have good budget, great actors. If they tried this could be a great film about a man who climbed to the top of the underworld and slowly lost his min and used physical reliefs such as violence, sex and drugs. But its most likely that they will brush through that and focus on sex, blood and star worship as the core of the film. Also the trailer already revealed much of the plot, I thought of explaining it here but there is no point in spoiling it for you guys, Who know it might turn out to be a good movie.

Well now if you’ll excuse me, I have some Video tapes to return

But the book is not perfect and does have some extremely problematic tone and themes. So when I heard that a book as complex as this was getting a film adaptation, I was very confused. In this article, we’ll discuss the cast, director, storyline and how they are going to deal with the problematic themes of the story as well as the portrayal of complexity of the characters on the screen.

Bell Jar and Why its impossible to make it a movie

Bell Jar is a book about a young woman in 1950s America dealing with depression and suicidal tendencies. This book really revolutionized the way mainstream media looked at women’s mental health. The novel challenged social stigma and sexism. But all this could have still been adapted on the screen; the real problem is that Bell Jar is not a fiction, but it’s not a non-fiction either.

The novel is a semi-autobiography; the characters and setting are fictional, but the events were inspired by the author’s life. You can’t treat Esther (FL) as a character; Sylvia lives in the book through her experiences. Moreover, the story is based inside Esther’s mind; we live in her brain with her. She doesn’t leave us even for a second; you simply can’t replicate this feeling in a movie, especially when the character is dealing with such heavy emotions.

The complexity of the character and the story is not an easy thing to present on the screen. That said, it is not impossible; of course, many movies have been made with similar storylines and have done a very commendable job at transporting us inside the character’s mind. There are a lot of movies with characters dealing with depression, but Bell Jar has turned into a cultural phenomenon. Everyone has a different interpretation of the characters and stories, not to mention Esther is a character based on a woman who gives her characters a happy ending but tragically dies by suicide.

Cast

Alright, I’m going to need you guys to be civil when I tell you the casting for Esther is… Billi Eillish, I know. Let us dissect that choice.

Billie Eilish has never acted in a full-length film before; in fact, she has only acted once in an episode of Swarm, where she plays a cult leader, and to be honest, she wasn’t bad. I think she did a great job, but good enough to play Esther? Fuck no. A role as complex as this requires an experienced actress who knows her craft. I think someone like Michelle Williams would have been great; she has such a melancholic look on her face. I loved her in Blue Valentine and Brokeback Mountain, or maybe a new face with theatrical history.

Also, fuck book accuracy, right? Because how does Billie look like Sylvia? And before you start typing, yes, the book never explicitly describes Esther’s looks, so we are going to assume that she looks similar to Sylvia Plath since the book is also a semi-autobiography. I guess the bigger question is, why must there be a big name attached to every movie? Bell jar is a big name; even if you cast a first-time actress, people are going to come to watch the movie. But now this will be a “Billie Eilish movie.”

I hope Billie proves me wrong because I do not have trust in this casting choice. Also, Corner Store is in this movie for some fucking reason; his role is not known yet, but I have zero opinions about him. I haven’t watched a lot of his movies, so we can just hope for the best.

Director

I am a big believer that a director makes or breaks the film; it doesn’t matter if you have the biggest cast, writer, or cinematographer in the world; if the director is trash, the whole film is done for. And so when I heard that Bell Jar is being adapted into a movie, I ran to see who the director is, and I am not mad.

The film is directed by Sarah Polley, who made her feature film directorial debut with Away from Her (2006), for which she won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Director and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. She won her first Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for the film Women Talking. So I do have some belief in her to do a good job; tbh I’m just grateful that it’s going to be a woman-directed film. I haven’t watched any of her movies, but from what I have heard, she is pretty good. Of course, there will always be better options, but I’m excited for what she will bring to the screen.

Also, the movie has an all-white women crew and cast. I get the cast, of course, but not a single woman of color in top executive roles. This is so ignorant considering the kind of themes this movie deals with: the screenwriter, director, producer, costume designer, camera operators, and sound department—none of them have a leading POC. Let’s discuss more of that in the next section.

Racism

The most infamous part of Bell Jar is the constant Racism against people of Color. Let me quote a few instances:

“The city has faded my tan, though. I looked yellow as a Chinaman.

“She just sat there, dusky as a bleached-blonde negress in her white dress and sipped daintily at her drink.”

“Then my ears went funny, and I noticed a big, smudgy-eyed Chinese woman staring idiotically into my face.”

"A tall, indolent-looking Negro walked in with a tray... He grinned, showing two rows of long, yellow teeth."

"I thought the people in Peru were as ugly as Aztecs."

And these are just a few; the book is also filled with fatphobic and ableist remarks. My question is, will Billie Eilish say the N word? Will she look in the mirror and call herself an idiotic Chinese woman? Will she say that the yellow tan makes her look Chinese?

If yes, then I am curious to see how the film will handle such scenes. She doesn’t have to explicitly say the N-word, but there have to be racist remarks throughout the movie as well as microaggressions. Sylvia was a white woman in the 50s, and she was racist as fuck.

If no, then it will be 100x worse because not only are you making a movie on a racist white person, but you are also actively ignoring the blatant racism equipped in their novels; the book is inspired by real events, and the racism is a reflection of what the average white person used to think like. Sylvia wrote this book at the height of civil right movement, black and brown people were marching the streets everyday for their rights, so the average white folks definitely knew what was happening and how wrong it was. Would it be right to erase this history?

Conclusion

The internet is very divided on this movie; while Billie Eilish fans are thrilled, people who have actually read the books are not happy at all. There was no need for a Bell Jar movie; we have tried in the past. The 1979 Bell Jar was so infuriatingly bad I had to stop midway; I mean, it was terrible.

Out of all of the books, they chose this one for screen adaptation, but alas, the production has already begun, and there is nothing we can do about it. The film will most likely be released next year, mid-2027. Now we can only hope that everything turns out to be good.

Well now if you’ll excuse me, I have some Video tapes to return

We’ll discuss everything, CGI, acting, cast, costume, sets, music, director and the press. If you are not into movies a lot, it might be hard to pick out details, so stick around and let’s get into it because i have a lot to say.

Note: These are my personal opinions from which you might disagree, feel free to express your thoughts in the comments.

First look

I am talking about the teaser not the trailer in this section because the teaser was so grand and wonderful that it actually got me so hyped up, remember i am desperately hoping for the success of this movie and when the first look dropped, I believed in this project whole heartedly.

I mean look at the sheer scale at which its being produced, i can still hear the soul shivering music. I loved how they didn’t show us a lot in here and just gave us a little hint that the grandeur of the project. Till this point I was totally rooting for this film.

Cast

Since Ramayan is one of the most revered epics in the world, choosing the cast was a crucial task and I am not mad about any of the choices to be honest. If you don’t know, here are the cast members:

• Ranbir Kapoor: Ram

• Yash: Ravan

• Sai Pallavi : Sita

• Ravi Dubey: Lakshman

• Sunny Deol: Hanuman

• Arun Govil: Dashrath

• Rakul Preet Singh: Surpanakha

• Sheeba Chaddha: Manthara

These are the main characters and i don’t find anyone sticking out like a sore thumb. I mean yeah, were there way better actresses to play the role of Surpanakha, yes but i am willing to give Rakul a chance. I am stoked about Sai pallavi playing Sita, an absolute gem of casting choice. Sheeba Chaddha as Manthara was THE BEST casting choice of the whole movie, I am very very excited for her part in the film.

Now when it comes to the main two, Ram and Ravan, to my surprise, I loved Yash in the role. I think he brings a certain rage and grandeur to the role, though we have to see if he succeeds in displaying the devotee aspect of Ravan as well.

Ranbir Kapoor as Ram was met with huge attention, but not necessarily good attention. A lot of people are saying now that a longer trailer has dropped, they find Ranbir’s acting a bit too bland and boring for the role; most people cannot see him as Ram and are quick to relate him to old iconic roles. Some say he looks too old, too polished, too bland, too stiff. I do agree that Ranbir does seem a little stiff in his acting, especially in shots where he is required to be still and observing, but in comparison, he really shines in emotionally engaging scenes. I guess we just have to wait and see how well he does, because there is no doubt he is an amazing actor.

Trailer

Now that we know all that, we can finally get into the trailer itself. The Ramayan trailer was release on 30th July at 4:30 AM because it was a good Auspicious time (shubh muhurat). This video was 4 minute, which is suspicious long for a trailer. So lets, see the good and bad aspects of the same.

Structure

The trailer plays out in a one by one sequence format, starts with Ravan capturing Lanka, us meeting the royal family, the vanvaas, Supurnakha etc… But why? We already know the epic, everybody does. What was the need to spoon feed us the plot? Well this question will be answered in the later sections.

This structure was one of the most disappointing things about the trailer; I feel like a musically powered trailer would have been so, so much better. Especially when you have composers such as A.R. Rahman and Hans Zimmer. An absolutely wasted opportunity.

Set design

I was so excited to see what they have planned for the sets of the film because not only do they have an enormous budget, they have a story that requires huge sets and people who are capable of creating them. But I have to say I’m somewhat… disappointed.

Let’s start with the good; the interior of the palace is GORGEOUS. I mean, I gasped at the beauty of the set design. The whole palace and Lanka are crafted so gracefully. Look at these scenes; aren’t they beautiful?

Now when we talk about the bad ones, there are a few that genuinely made me laugh. First of all, there is a serious and I mean SERIOUS color grading problem in this movie because why is it so inconsistent? Some shots look amazing, but some are so bright I’m blinded, and some are so dark I can’t see shit.

Perhaps the most awful part of the trailer was the fake forest set. My heart hurts to imagine what could have been our reality. These shots of the forests look so artificially generated; it’s painful.

Costumes

Ok, are the costumes historically accurate? Fuck no. But do they look good? Yeah, yeah, they do. Before I pick out the bad, let me just say, Sita’s costumes are so exquisite, and the jewelry of every character is very on point.

There seems to be a big debate about the attire of women in this movie. People are saying that the female character should not be wearing a modern blouse that is a colonial outfit forced on Indian women to suit the British idea of modesty. Moreover, people noticed that Ma Sita is fully covered head to toe, but Surpnakha is wearing an antariya. This is imposing the “good women cover themselves head to toe and bad women wear short clothes” stereotype. While an Antariya is a traditional Indian attire, it is portrayed in a sexy vamp outfit in the trailer.

VS

But it is also important to understand that we as a country are very sensitive to our religious beliefs, and if Ma Sita were dressed in a historically accurate sari, then the uproar would have been extremely intense, so it makes sense that they went with the safe choice. But I still find it weird that they chose to keep Surpnakha in an antariya.

CGI

Finally, the main dish, the 4000 crore dish. In one sentence “sometimes it may be good, sometimes it may be shit”

You know, the CGI in this film is nowhere near bad, but because Namit Malhotra (producer) hyped it up so, so much, it looks alright. Namit really went podcast to podcast raving about how amazing the visual effects are going to be, and so, rightfully, the audience is not satisfied with the mediocre result. The company responsible for the CGI is DNEG, which has won multiple awards, including an Oscar, for movies such as Dune and Oppenheimer.

And Namit Malhotra had the guts to compare the vision of Ramayan to these movies. One of the most talked about shots is the look of the Asur in the movie, which looks very Game of Thrones monster-like and has no attributes of Indian Asurs.

As I already mentioned, the forest scenes look very fake and artificial. And some of the other looks including:

Is this a video game? Compare this to the aerial shot of Bahubali, and you will notice the huge difference. S.S. Rajamouli did it with a 400 crore budget more than 10 years ago.

Please don’t get me started on whatever the fuck this is. But there were also a lot of good moments in the trailer, which showed us a glimpse of what the film might actually be about. Shots like:

These scenes like got me hoping that the movie will have better shots and sets.

Director

Ramayan is directed by Nitesh Tiwari, who is a well-reputed director with films such as Chillar Party, Bhootnath Returns, Dangal, and Chhichhore under his belt. But can I be so, so honest? I don’t think he has the experience of handling such a massive project; working with a budget of 4000 crore is an extremely hard feat for the most experienced of all directors and especially for someone who has never worked with projects of big scale ever.

I mean, he is incredible in emotionally engaging movies and delivers great tales, but Ramayan is an epic that is not worth such a gamble. In my opinion only two directors are capable of handling such an intense movie: SS Rajamouli and Sanjay Leela Bhansali. These two are the pinnacle of modern Indian cinema, and I believe they are very respected and experienced with massive budgets, especially Rajamouli sahab, who is known for making epics.

But I am very excited to see what he brings to the screen; I do think he can deliver a great film.

Press tour

Now we come to the final and most infuriating aspect of the whole movie, the press surrounding it.

Namit is dead set on making Ramayan a global craze, and so the whole cast has been on a North American press tour, pandering and begging white people to be interested in our tales, but it’s just… sad. Like they don’t care and you are just forcing it down their throats.

And this is where the “pathetic” in the title comes from; it is not the movie, but the press tour is so sad and pathetic.

Can you imagine if they did the same press tour in Asian countries? Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand, Bhutan, Myanmar, hell, even East Asia. This is a tale of our people, and we are getting the leftovers of white people; it is so disappointing. I get that they want to show the West that India is not the poor helpless country that they think it is; the representation of brown people and Indians is very stereotypical in Western media, and it is understandable that they want to combat it, but this is not the way to do it.

Conclusion

It may seem like I want this movie to fail, but that is not the case; in fact, I desperately want this to be a success. I love what they are attempting. But I can’t help but criticize; even so, I hope for the best and wish it all the success.

Well now if you’ll excuse me, I have some Video tapes to return

I LOVE LOVE LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEE HIM SO SMUCH HE IS SO CUTE, SO BEAUTIFUL, CHARMING, FUNNY, UGHHH LOVE LOVE HIM.

It never occurred to me back then but while rewatching it a few years later, i noticed that Prince Naveen might not be what the media perceives him to be.

Also please note this post is solely for entertainment and is not intended to harm any culture or people’s sentiments. At the end of the day he is TOO fine to care.

Family Background

Naveen is a royalty and the son of the rulers of the fictional kingdom of Maldonia. He is officially by Disney described as “Racially ambiguous”, they do not use the term “Brown” or “Black to refer to his race unlike the female lead MY QUEEN TIANA who is a beautiful gorgeous black women.

If we are guessing solely on the basis of looks, here is a picture of his parents:

I want you to look at the picture and tell me that his mother isn’t wearing a Saree and some like to argue that it could be sash but honey lets not lie to ourselves, that is a saree very clearly. His dad to me north african, maybe Arabic but still very racially ambiguous.

The kingdom of Maldonia according to some people is a mix of the Maldives and North Macedonia, one south asian country and one European country.

Prince Naveen

Thought the movie we do not get any reference to this ethnicity other than the fact that he is prince of a fictional kingdom and they don’t even tell us where the kingdom is.

As far as the name goes, Naveen is a sanskrit name meaning a novel person but it has later Arabic roots as well. Its a brown name is what i’m saying and this is one of the most prominent theories along with the fact that his mother is dressed in traditional indian attire to suggest that he may be of a south Asian descent.

Why couldn’t Naveen be black?

Isn’t it weird that a movie with so many wonderful and inspiring black characters, a movie meant to represent the hardships, beauty and resilience of black power in America; a movie with a strong intelligent Black women as its lead, has a racially ambiguous Prince?

I mean Prince Naveen could be black, why not specify his race? And you might think “oh its because disney wanted more POC representation” BITCH PLEASE………………….

Disney doesn’t give a fuck about brown people, but there is a reason why Naveen is not described as racially african or black. Look at this scene from the movie:

Throughout the movie Lotie (an ICON), who is a rich white women is very clearly infatuated with Prince Naveen. In fact the whole movie is filled with women fawning over him.

And I want to ask was the idea of a dark skinned black man being desired by a white women too much for disney to swallow? Was brown diluted enough? Because if we are talking race of a character, doesn’t it make more sense for him to a African Prince or an South Asian Prince, why must he be stripped off his ethnicity?

Also he is voiced by a Brazilian voice actor so…. like okay? Every African American character is voice by a Black person but not Naveen.

Final interpretation

As a brown girl i would love love to believe that he is a brown man but i know his identity as a character is not so easy to manipulate and interpret so i think he is……

Afro-desi, yep that settles it. His mom is clearly Indian and his dad is African, though i’m not sure exactly which part of the continent.

I LOVE PRINCE NAVEEN.

Well now if you’ll excuse me, I have some Video tapes to return

In this article i want to discuss Cillian’s craft and his approach to films and ultimately rank his top 10 movies. This is celebrating 30 years of cinematic brilliance.

Young Irish Lad

Funky title but not funkier than Cillian’s teenage band, yes he was in a acid jazz band in the 1990s called The Sons of Mr. Green Genes, this was before he started acting. His debut was in the Irish drama “sweety Barrett” where he played a role of a waiter, nothing major just a small role. He continued to act in several Irish movies throughout the mid- late 90s, most of them being small scale productions like A man of few words (2001) and Eviction (1999)

Cillian's first major Hollywood role was in the 2003 American-British epic war film Cold Mountain, but his international break through was the 2003 apocalyptic movie 28 days later (one of my fav zombie horror!). This movie brought him into mainstream Hollywood, soon he stared in one of biggest movies of the decade Batman Begins (2005) as scarecrow. Since then it has been one wonder after another.

Film Philosophy

Cillian Murphy’s approach to acting is famously rooted in the traditions of an old-school craftsman. He once mentioned how a director once told him “It takes 30 years to make an actor” further adding “And I believe that. You have to learn your craft, learn your trade and also you have to live a life and experience things."“

He never had a professional acting degree or school, instead he spent years working as a theater actor which lead him to the big screen. Cillian is a big believer of manifesting your life onto to the screen to reflect the emotions of the character you’re playing. There is widely circulated saying in the film community “Cillian won an Oscar and went back to making films he believes in”.

Top 10

I’m keeping this article short because i really want to dive deep into his filmography and my personal top 10 movies he has ever been in. So Here are the ranking, i will not be including movies like “Dark knight” because Cillian had a one second shot in the entire movie, he was no way a big part of it. Also i will rank them based on how good Cillian was in them not on the basis of how popular the movie was. Please keep in mind this is my opinion and you might digress.

10. Inception (2010)

Yes i know, why is Inception on the tenth place. But again, this is a Cillian Murphy list not a Nolan list which a lot of people seem to mix. Cillian plays the role of Robert fischer, a rich heir who is target of Leonardo’s dream thieve team, the plan is to infest Robert’s mind with ideas of doubt and manipulate him into dissolving his empire.

When i tell you Cillian looks like the only human in this movie to me, i mean the sheer vulnerability he expresses as a lonely man who shields himself from the world but deep down is just a hollow shell. A man whose entire life is one big corporate meeting, he plays the role wonderfully.

9. Steve (2025)

This is the second movie from Cillian’s production studio Big Things Films and it is easily one of the best movies of the year. The story follows Steve played by Cillian, the exhausted but deeply devoted headteacher of Stanton Wood, a crumbling, mid-1990s British reform boarding school for troubled, volatile teenage boys. While a documentary crew is at the school to document the rowdy boys to create sensational news.

Cillian in the movie plays a man who is so busy healing other’s wounds that he doesn’t notice that he is bleeding dry. When asked by the crew to describe himself in three words, steve replies

“very very tired”

8. Batman Begins (2005)

Calm down, i know this was the movie that launch him into mainstream hollywood but as good as this movie is, Cillian plays a secondary antagonist role which is not a small role by any means but it is a Batman movie I was too focused on the plot to noticed his minor role. But i kept this movie on the 8th position because it was so memorable.

Cillian Murphy as Dr. Jonathan Crane was chilling and refreshing, it was a different take and worked miraculously. I was quiet young when i watched that movie but i remember his character so so well, though Murphy auditioned for Batman, this role was perfect for him.

7. Anthropoid (2016)

It hurts my soul to put this movie on number seven because i love it but Murphy has too many good movies. Anthropoid is a historic spy thriller based on a real-life Slovak soldier trained by British forces. He and Jan Kubiš (Jamie Dornan), parachute into their Nazi-occupied homeland. Their top-secret mission, code-named Operation Anthropoid, is assassinate SS General Reinhard Heydrich.

The duo dynamic between the soldiers is such that Cillian’s character, Josef is always stoic and reserved while Jamie’s character is allowed to panic and be vulnerable. But when in the face of danger Josef remains clam, and Cillian plays this so well, a man who wakes up each morning to be die.

6. Red Eye (2005)

I cannot express in words how much i love this movie and Murphy’s acting in it, absolutely unhinged and incredibly hot for a cold blooded assassin. The plot revolves around a Hotel employ played by Rachel Mcadams who has access to hotel inner management which is needed by Cillian’s character who is a assassin to kill a major political figure.

80% of the movie is based on a plane and it is so thrilling. Cillian is so cocky, funny and cold blooded in this movie. This was one of my very first Murphy movies ever and I love it. And i frankly don’t care if you don’t like it (i was 13 give me a pass).

5. Sunshine (2007)

This is an incredibly sci fi thriller which plunged into fame recently after the success of Hail Mary. The movie starts in 2057 where the sun is dying which is threating the extension of humanity, Cillian’s character, robert is the lead physicist aboard Icarus II, a massive spacecraft carrying a colossal stellar nuclear payload. The mission is simple but seemingly insane: fly directly to the Sun, drop the bomb into its core to reignite the star and come back.

Robert is a very quiet and collected characater which works great with Chris Evens’s character who is a hot headed engineer. Cillian beautifully captures the essence of a man who is aware he is flying towards death.

4. Breakfast on Pluto (2005)

“Now I am become Diva, the server of cunt.”

Such a brilliant, fantastic movie about gender identity, political violence and resilience. Breakfast on Pluto is a story about Patrick who was abandoned by his birth mother, since young Patrick identified as a women and later adopted the name kitten. Kitten is cute, soft but also strong and fearless, the plot follows her as she travels across Ireland and london in search of her birth mother and the obstacles that come her way.

Cillian Reportedly trained for months for this role, practicing feminine posture and hanging out with drag queens and trans women to better understand kitten. And the end result was just ICONIC.

3. 28 days later (2002)

My first ever Cillian Murphy movie, a intense apocalyptic zombie thriller where the real horror is Man. The movie starts with a robbery into a research facility which causes the experimented monkey to be let loose, these monkeys bite people and infect them with a virus that makes humans raged and hungry for flesh. The plot revolves around a group of survivors to make it out to safety.

This movie is so so so good i love it, this was always Cillian’s breakthrough into hollywood and he absolutely excelled the “tired raged man” concept, Also Naomie Harris is so incredibly hot it will blow your mind.

2. The Wind that Shakes the Barley (2006)

This brilliant historical piece proved Cillian’s capability in playing emotional heavy and intense action roles. Set in mid 1920s, amidst the brewing Irish War of Independence, Cillian’s character Damien is a young doctor who is on his way to london but on his way he encounters the horrors his people are subjected to by the British army. In his angry he tears the tear ticket and joins his brother in the struggle for independence.

The reason this film is high on the list is not only because it is a great movie in general but always it is everything Murphy represents, his pride and love for his country and people, actors starring in films they believe in, acting for a purpose; for greater cinematic art.

1. Oppenheimer (2023)

Whose surprised? This is THE Cillian murphy movie, Oppenheimer introduced international fans to his craft and cemented his name into the world of Cinema forever. If you had been living under a rock and don’t know, Oppenheimer is a story about J. Robert Oppenheimer a brilliant physicist who is hired by the US government during World War II to lead the top-secret Manhattan Project. He builds a laboratory and gathers the world's best scientists to built world’s first atomic bomb.

The sheer scale at which this absurd movie is made and how well everything pans out is incredible. I love how Cillian’s eyes are so fucking intense throughout, like he has a billion equations running laps in mind 24/7 and they all equate to death. A young brilliant mind to a guilt ridden old man, Cillian Murphy is genius in all aspects of this movie.

Honorable Mentions

I know a lot of people won’t agree with my ranking but these are just my opinions. There are a lot of movies which i didn’t mention in the top 10 but i incredible movies.

1. Watching Detectives (2007)

2. Small things like these (2024)

3. Sunburn (1999)

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   Alright I’m done, let me know what is your favorite Cillian murphy move. If you made it this far, thank you so much for reading!! Below are the letterboxd rating for the same:

1. Oppenheimer (2023): 4.2/5

2. The wind that shakes the Barely (2006): 3.7/5

3. 28 days later (2002): 3.6/5

4. Breakfast on Pluto (2005): 3.8/5

5. Sunshine (2007): 3.7/5

6. Red eye (2005): 3.3/5

7. Anthropoid (2016): 3.6/5

8. Batman Begins (2005): 4.0/5

9. Steve (2025): 3.5/5

10. Inception (2010): 4.2/5

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    Well now if you’ll excuse me, I have some Video tapes to return

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What was originally a story stolen and plagiarized by Disney turned into a sick orientalist fantasy for white people to enjoy. In this article i will break down how Aladdin simplifies and disrespects the culture of Arabia and South Asia.

Original VS Live action remake

The original “Aladdin” was story rooted in the One Thousand and One Nights tales. The original film by Disney came out in 1991 and is so incredibly offensive you won’t believe it. So let me tell you about just a few of them:

1. As the movie starts, it pans over a huge desert as music plays in the background among the lyrics of the song is the like

   “Where they cut off your ear, its barbaric but hey its home” this line is just the start of potraying Arabs as violent cruel people.

2. You must have noticed i am using the word “Arabs” instead of naming the country on which the movie is based. Well its because the movie is a haphazard mix of whatever the fuck the white creators thought “middle east” was like.

3. In the movie their is a scene in which Jasmine gives a little kid a apple off a vendor’s stall and when the vendor sees it, he pulls out a huge knife and pins her hand down to chop it off. Again re establishing the belief of violent Arabs.

4. Women in this movie are so overtly sexualized, its sad. One time Aladdin is surrounded by prostitutes in a brothel (yes this is a kid’s movie) while one of the dancers grinds on his crotch.

5. The by far the WORST, There is a scene in this movie where while dancing and singing the genie pulls out a long sheet from Aladdin's ear as a trick and wipes his butt with it…. The sheet had Quran verses written on them.

6. And of course, Princess Jasmine’s attire being a revealing sexy outfit that is not suitable for a princess at all. Compare to other Disney princess Jasmine is much more sexualized.

The first movie was very extremely offensive in its portrayal and you’d think the live action would have corrected the mistakes made but oh lord you would be so wrong.

Indians and Arabs are the same thing!

While watching the original and live remake you will see a disturbing pattern where the creators treat the culture of Arabian peninsular as the same as the South Asian subcontinent. Throughout the movie Arab people’s attire, music, turbans, food, physical setting, traditions and much more is switched with Indians.

And and will talk about this deeply in each category’s personal section but it shows how our culture doesn’t matter to them as long as it makes money, its good.

Attire

The movie is filled with people wearing Indian clothing and men wearing turbans native to India. This kind of ignorance would be expected if it was the old version but the 2019 remake does the same fucking thing.

You tell me the picture above doesn’t look like a Indian Mughal emperor, this is supposed to be the Arabian Sultan. And I know a lot of people will make the argument that “Mughals” were Persian descendants but they ruled for over 500 years, most of it is a unique blend of Indian and Persian culture which ultimately is a part of Indian history not Persian.

The feather on the top of the turban is a Indian attire as well as the outfit he is wearing.

The genie himself is wearing an Indian costume and the jewel in middle of the turban is again Indian adornment.

Again wtf is this outfit? Please name me ONE country in Arabia where this is the traditional attire because i am not aware of it. The bright colours, the pattern, the embroidery it all looks like a cheap copy of a Lehenga.

Music

Both the movies are filled with basic orientalist desert music but what is baffling is that the 2019 version does not have a SINGLE Arab composer for the movie. Like imagine the audacity to make a movie about a certain group of people and completely to ignore their actual practice and traditions. All of the composures were either white or brown but no Arabs.

There is a scene in the movie where Jasmine plays the Oud which is a traditional middle eastern instrument and she plays it like a fucking guitar, I mean the sound out of the instrument sounds like acoustic guitar yall i can’t with this fuckass film.

Dumbification of Jasmine

In the original movie as weird as it was, Jasmine wasn’t a dumb scared girl. Yes the tropes were offensive but there was a effort to present Jasmine as a strong fierce princess. Unlike the live remake which equates her strength with singing songs and fighting with her father, the original does it more subtly.

There is a point in the movie where Aladdin and Jasmine are running aways from the city guards and while crossing over houses there is a big gap. Aladdin gives Jasmine his hand but instead of following him she vaults across the houses using a stick. So badass. But in the remake when Aladdin calls her across she stumbles and says that she can’t do it. Whyyyyyyyyyyyy?

Another one is when during the climax Jaafar (villain) uses magic to freeze sultan and everyone else into air including Jasmine leaving her to his mercy. Everyone except Aladdin so of course he swoops in and saves the damsel in distress. I mean there could have been so many ways to re write this scene but nope they exaggerated the damsel in distress trope, something that is opposite to everything that Jasmine’s character stands for.

Practices and Settings

Yes there is more.

The movie shows many practices that are Indian but presents them as Arabian.

1. A scene includes a man swallowing fire and spitting it out, which is a traditional Hindu practice to showcase devotion to gods but was later stolen by the British as a showman trick.

2. The bazaar in the movie may look like a Middle Eastern market at first, but when you get a closer look, they are filled with Indian gulal (colors) similar to one used on Holi.

3. There are random shots of people in the street doing yoga as well.

4. The architecture of the palace in the original movie is closer to Mughal architecture with a circular dome at the top, but more than that, it is similar to Russian architecture predominantly seen in Eastern Orthodox Christianity.

   

5. Another crazy thing is that while dancing in the palace, they break into kind of a bollywood dance number with cringy stereotypical moves

   

6. Also the actress playing Jasmine, Naomi Scott is half white, half Indian compared to her lady in waiting Nasim Pedrad who is an Iranian actress and a much better choice in my opinion for the role but eh what do i know.

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   Orientalism

   Orientalism is a term used to describe the Western world’s patronizing, stereotyped, and often exoticized depictions of Eastern culture.

   When I watched Aladdin for the first time, I was mesmerized because I thought it was India and not another country. That movie alone is responsible for propagating so many harmful stereotypes of brown people, such as “Arabs and Indians are the same,” or sexualizing belly dancing.

   This movie is a very good case of how orientalism demeans and exploits eastern cultures and treats them with utter ignorance until they are profitable.

This may sound extreme, but this is a kid’s movie, and if young minds learn such ignorant representations of Arabia or India, it will create more harm for the next generation of brown kids.

Well now if you’ll excuse me, I have some videotapes to return

You are more unlikely to hear the later movie, Haunted 3D: Echoes from the past. It is a horror movie which is sequel (because we can never have original material in this industry anymore) and the first movie was already so trash i can’t imagine how they dared to pitch the idea for the second movie.

But this isn’t an isolated case, haunted 3D is just a result of the environment created for horror to breed as a genre in Bollywood and the environment is so dire and suffocating you might as well kill yourself before you try making a movie. In this article i wanted to focus on how Bollywood, the biggest film industry in the world lost the art of making good horror movies.

Classic Horror

Bollywood wasn’t always this bad at horror, India’s first horror movie was a blockbuster named “Mahal” made in 1949, the movie was extremely successful despite being the first of its kind. It launched the careers of Madhubala and Lata Mangeshkar and made them a house hold name. The plot is about a man having visions of a mysterious The director of the movie ethereal women in his dreams and convincing himself that he is his lover, this delusion drives him to the brink of madness. Mr. Kamal Amrohi took heavy inspiration from the surrounding and real life encounters of local to construct a new reality on the screen.

Mahal paved the way for the horror genre in bollywood, some of which include, Aur Kaun? (1979), Kohraa (1964) and Madhumati (1958). One of my personal favorite from this era is Gumnaam (1965), its a slash horror film about a group of people stuck on an island with a killer on the lose and it is done so wonderfully. You might know it from the famous eerie song . “Gumnaam hai koi”.

Beginning of the end

Horror never really had a “Decade” unlike other genres like romance, thriller, action, or comedy. But whenever a horror was released people lined up to see, so undeniably there was a audience for this type of films. Anything close can be the “Ichchadari Naagin” craze of the 80s with classics like “Nagina” (1986) or Sheshnaag (1987) which dealt with themes of supernatural.

The real era for horror development was the 2000s and 2010s. One of the earliest 2000s horror i can clearly remember is Bhoot (2003), this movie has one of the eeriest scenes played wonderfully by Urmila Madondkar. The reason for this was boom was because the new millennium brought a new audience of collage going urban people who wanted to experience thrill and scare in the theaters.

The next few years were bangers with movies like Darna Mana Hai (2003), Raaz (2002), 1920 (2008) and the holy grail of indian horror Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007). For many young viewers it was the first time they were experiencing the magic of horror genre on the big screen, the movie was precise and knew what it wanted to be. It was funny, self aware, the music was wonderful and the actors knew what they were doing. Despite being a copy it managed to garner respect and become a cult classic.

The next decade was full of expiremental horror with releases such as Phobia (2016), Pari; a demonic cult movie (2018), Go Goa Gone; bollywood’s only well done zombie movie (2013). In 2018, the commercial cinema was caught in a chokehold by the blockbuster horror Stree, this movie brought back horror into mainstream media. But perhaps the best of the decade was yet to come and it did in the form of “Tumbbad” (2019).

Star obsession

The first reason is the crazy star obsession and worshipping in this country. When you look at hollywood most of the new age horror is made by new director on tight budgets, they have new talents and a fresh vision (Hereditary, Get Out, Smile, obsession, backrooms). But it so hard to penetrate into Bollywood, whether you are an actor, director or a writer, Young talents have no choice but to waste decades of their lives struggling to achieve their dream.

New bollywood equates star power to a movie’s success, unless a big name is attached to the film be it an actor or a director. When you have the same people on the director’s chair for decades it causes them to lose charm that made their movie work in the first place. For example, Priyadarshan Sir (not a famous horror film director i know) but he is a very good example of a revered director who just lost touch with his audience.

Similarly Akshay Kumar, a wonderful actor who at the age of 55 after giving this country countless gems is trying to replicate the charm people initially fell in love with. He is a skeleton of the man he once was. Bhoot Bangla (2026) was unnecessary but it must feel good to relieve your prime.

VFX disparity

Technological disparities have always existed in the bollywood as compared to hollywood and it made sense in the early movies. India could not afford to spend so much on technology but decades later we are in an era where movies have budgets of 300 crores and we can still not do VFX correct.

And its not like we don’t have the talent for it, try reading the post credits of hollywood movies the VFX section is full of Indians, computers is what we are great at. Aside from being expensive there are a lot of reasons for this:

• A big chunk of the budget goes to the actor’s fees, and i mean 70 crores to one veteran actor type of thing.

• Most of the time VFX is not planned into the scene before hand but rather it is added as a post production “headache”

• VFX takes a long time to be developed and some creators just don’t give a fuck

• And finally AI has killed every shred of creativity left in these people

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Cliché Plots

But the main issue still remains that bollywood is in dire need of new writers and directors. Plot is the center a movie unlike bollywood films where the star is the center of the movie.

This industry is becoming like a fast fashion brand, whenever a film does something unique and succeeds, the whole industry just mass produces the that shit like a thousand times. This happened with the “Horror comedy” genre (stree 2, Bhoot bangla, Munjya, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2) or the “Kabir singh angry man” genre (Animal, Baaghi 4, tere ishk mein).

An Indian person who watches movie like Hereditary (2019), Wailing (2016), Ring (1999), Obsession (2026) has to go to their nearest theater to watch “Huanted 3D” feels like torture.

Exceptions

There will always be exceptions when talking about a whole genre and an entire industry. Bollywood isn’t bad at making movies it just makes an overwhelming amount of bad movies, but there are still exceptions that shine like a silver lining in a dark cloud. Even though regional cinema produces far better movies in this genre. If you wanna watch some good Bollywood horror movies, let me give you some actually good ones.

Reccomdation

1. Kaun? (1999)

This horror thriller is a masterpiece, written by a young Anurag Kashyap. The story takes place in a mansion where a young women is alone on a rainy night, when she hears a knock on the door. The whole movie is so meticulously shot as a strange man who claims to a seral killer keeps interrupting her night.

2. Bulbbul (2020)

When you watch this movie it really makes you wonder how bollywood manage to exploit such a promising actor like Tripti Dimri. The movie is a wonderful telling on the horrors of a patriarchal society through folk horror. In the movie a young girl is married to an older man and is forced to go to his mansion, the movie explores how patriarchy destroys lives in the most unexpected ways.

3. 404: Error Not Found (2011)

This movie quiet cliche in its plot though the end product is well received by the masses. This film follows a young collage student who moves into a room in this dorm which was previously occupied by a student who took his own life. Soon after moving in, he starts experiencing hallucination and visions. There are a lot of twist anf turns in this movie and i quiet liked it.

4. Phobia (2016)

This is a gem and i was quiet disappointed to find such mixed reviews because i found it to be quiet daring. The plot revolves around an artist who develops a phobia of public spaces and shuts herself in her apartment, only to discover that the house is breeding something far more sinister.

5. Tumbbad (2019)

Are we suprised? Yes the final movie on the list is Tumbbad. Truly a masterpiece in the genre specially in bollywood, I have listed it in my 5 Asian Horror Movies Worth Holding a Grudge Against as one of the best films from India in horror category.

The plot explores everything from human greed, classism, capitalism, patriarchy, folk horror and so much more. I watched it back in 2020 and the most memorable part of this movie for me was the atmosphere, the village is described as a place where is forever rains. Any more detail will spoil the movie, so if you had to watch just one movie from this list let it be this one.

Alright that was it, I know i missed a lot of them so let me know what are your favorites. If you made it this far, thank you so much for reading!! Below are the letterboxd rating for the same:

1. Kaun? (1999): 3.7/5

2. Bulbbul (2020): 3.4/5

3. 404: Error not found (2011): 3.4/5

4. Phobia (2016): 3.4/5

5. Tumbbad (2019): 3.7/5

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On the account of missing the pride month post i thought why not combine two of my favorite things Gay+ horror and believe me when i say this genre goes far deeper than i expected. Just a disclaimer there is going to be a lot of homophobia discussed in this article. Alright let’s get into it.

Gay in horror

This section isn’t about gay horror movies but gay people in horror movies. In the early days of Hollywood there was a lot of experiments done when it came to new genre, one of which was thriller/ psychological horror which at the time was seen as same thing.

You might be aware of Psycho (1960), this movie changed the trajectory of Hollywood thrillers but at the time of casting, the iconic role of Norman bates was seen as a career death and who did they pick for this experimental role? A gay man of course. Anthony Perkins was hunted for doing this role, before ‘psycho’ Anthony was the romantic lead but after that he was heavily type casted and lost his popularity in the mainstream media.

Similarly in Strangers on a train (1951), Alfred Hitchcock abuses the the fact that lead actor Robert Walker was struggling with severe mental health issues and stress regarding his personal life and identity. Hitchcock weaponized Walker's manic, nervous energy for the role. The whole movie Robert’s character stalks and harasses a straight man.

Beginning

You can go back as far as you want but for me, the earliest gay horror has to be The Old Dark House (1932), this movie is director by an openly gay director (yes in 1935) James whale and has many gay theater actors in the cast like Ernest Thesiger.

This iconic movie was the first ever recorded use of the word “gay” in a movie to deliberately imply homosexuality. You can argue that it meant “happy” at the time but James knew exactly what he was doing when he described an eccentric feminine man as “ever so gay”. The movie is about a bunch of friends finding a shelter in the storm and entering a creepy mansion, same Hollywood trope but the characters are so unique and have a blend of queerness in all of their roles

You might know Mr. James Whales as the director of the iconic Frankenstein (1931) or Bride of Frankenstein (1935).

The Great rise

Queer horror started getting main stream attention in the late 70s during the sexual revolution and hippy movement. And then came the holy grail of queer cinema “the Rocky Horror Picture Show” (1975). This movie about a bisexual genius cross dressing alien doctor revolutionized the genre, soon midnight screening of this movie became a meeting spot for queer youth all over the city.

The 80s followed right behind but there was a problem the “AIDS plague” had dawned over US and at the time AIDS was seen as a gay disease, something only gay people specially men could spread and so the stigma around queer media grew stronger. Nonetheless, we saw an interesting mix of gay and slasher horror in works like A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 (1985) and Hellraiser (1987).

Reccomdation

Now for the most awaited part, here are some queer horror to enjoy this summer:

1. Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

I briefly mentioned it above but this is a staple of queer cinema and one of the best movies you will ever watch. The movie begins on Henry Frankenstein’s wedding night. He is in bed with his new wife, Elizabeth, when Dr. Pretorius bursts into the castle. Pretorius seduces Henry away from his marital bed, convincing him to leave his wife behind so the two men can become "partners" and create life together in a lab. Like c’mon this shit is so gay and the bride is so iconic, she screams in the face of her husband disgusted that she has to tied down to a man. LOVE.

2. A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 (1985)

Ok this movie is nowhere as good as its first counterpart but it is a fun watch, the plot is same Freddy Krueger haunting people and stuff. There is a lo of homoerotic subtext in this movie around a closeted teen in the 80s and i mean the boy has a Kate bush poster in his room what else do you want?

3. Daughter of Darkness (1971)

LESBIAN VAMPIRES!!!

Yes this is a lesbian vampire, thirsty for blood movie. If that alone doesn’t convince you to watch it then i don’t know what will. So this French movie is about a couple that goes to a resort and meets this mysterious Countess Báthory and her secretary Ilona. And its all downhill from there, a sense of sophistication and heaviness maintains itself across the film. I personally love this one.

4. Hellraiser (1987)

This movie is so brilliant and daring it will amaze you. Clive Barker a openly gay director making a movie about underground BDSM leather scene in New York in guise of horror in peak AIDS hysteria. It plays on the societal stereotypes on gay people, at a time when gay bodies were seen as toxic and disease ridden Clive turned panic into art.

The hidden commentary in this movie about homosexuality, pain, demonizing pleasure, homophobia is so intricate. An absolute must watch for queer horror.

5. Jennifer’s body (2009)

Yes again.

I have talked about this movie in probably every other article i write but yall its too good. This was “Megan fox in transformers” but for lesbians. A film about a demonic sapphic hot girl and her nerdy shy best friend ughhhh sign me UP.

Alright that was it, let me know if i missed any of your fav queer horror. If you have made it this far, Thank you so much for reading!! Below are the letterboxd rating of all the movies listed above:

1. Bride of Frankenstein (1935): 4.0/5

2. A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 (1985): 2.8/5

3. Daughter of Darkness (1971): 3.5/5

4. Hellraiser (1987): 3.7/5

5. Jennifer’s body (2009): 3.5/5

   Thanks for reading!

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1. You Don’t Mess with the Zohan (2008)

The Palestinian genocide (yes, it’s about that) is one of the worst events in human history. So it would only be appropriate to make a movie about an Israeli counter-terrorism agent going to the U.S. to become a hair stylist and fall in love with a Palestinian girl.

This movie is so fucking irritating. I mean, for once, forget about the counter-terrorism agent; Adam Sandler in this movie just sexually assaults people and gets assaulted in return, like that is the entire movie. In the end Palestinians and Israelis living in that block come together to fight, idk, something. This movie is a fucking fever dream.

2. My fault (2023)

Actually it’s my fault for watching this fuckass movie; if you haven’t seen it, imagine a movie, but it’s just a long-acting “POV” TikTok. This is the most mediocre movie ever; the dialogues are so cringy, character dynamics do not look organic at all, and of course, the lovely incest.

plot: This girl moves into mansion because her mom married a rich guy and she falls for her step brother. That is it and this shit is 3 MOVIE FRANCHISE.

3. Adventureland (2009)

Loser, asshole, pathetic nerdy Jessie Enesburgh and Krissten Stewart’s final avatar before she became a butch lesbian. This movie is so lukewarm; it is so eh. I don’t have an opinion regarding it whatsoever; it’s just eh.

So they both work at a theme park, and then they fall in love and shit. Oh, also Ryan Reynolds grooms Kristen in this movie, so yeah.

4. The Wedding Planner (2001)

They somehow managed to make Matthew look weird, like that is skill. This movie also has Jennifer Lopez, so whatever you want to interpret from it.

The whole movie is Matthew being like “Let me just cheat on my fiancée” and Jennifer being like “You’re a prick! B-but...” Don’t torture yourself; watch something better. The plot is that Jennifer is planning Matthew’s wedding with someone else, and she falls for him (yeah, I know).

5. 200 hundred pound beauty (2006)

Finally the star of the movie, you know what is the worst part of this movie? I watched it when i was 10 and i have been disturbed since.

So this gurl is like really “fucking fat” (yes they day it multiple times) and that is the only thing we get to hear about her like being chubby is some kind of terminal disease. So she gets plastic surgery and becomes thin and gets a boob job too for some reason and its a big plot point (see what i did there). Now that she is “pretty” she can be a singer.

South Korean beauty standards in the early 2000s is nightmare fuel. Even while critiquing the toxic beauty standards they will make sure you know fat is ugly and the female lead is better off thinner. Alright gang.

Alright that is it, i have a lot more so i’ll probably make a part 2. If you genuinely like any of these movies don’t fucking talk to me, you need help. If you made it this far, thank you so much for reading!! Below are the letterboxd rating for the same:

1. You Don’t Mess with the Zohan (2008): 2.5/5

2. My fault (2023): 2.4/5

3. Adventureland (2009): 3.3/5

4. Wedding planner (2001): 2.7/5

5. 200 pound beauty: 2.9/5

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Savour me drenched in your blood,

and i shall let you devour my flesh

Nobody knows why we kiss, its not natural. They assume its for bonding and safety but why do we pretend to bite and swallow each other in the name of love? One of the earliest mentions of kissing in found in a Sanskrit text where its described as “Inhaling one’s soul”.

Kissing is the softest and kindest form of cannibalism. In a way we all wish to consume the things we love. So let’s dive deep behind the concept of Cannibalism as a metaphor and its use in Cinema.

What does love taste like?

Cinema is nothing but an extension of reality, everything we want to be, everything we want to see. And so most of our idea of love also stems from what we see in our cinema. Be it the soft breeze of the Notting hill or the mustard field of DDLJ, love slips into the mold of our concept of it.

I ache to feel his teeth graze my skin, i pray my cold flesh don’t make his hand shiver. How do make a cannibal a deity? Why does his blood taste like wine?

Love tastes like you

The beginning

The beginning of display of cannibalism as an act in cinema looks a bit different from what we know it as today, though the core remains the same; Flesh. The earliest mentions of flesh eating can be seen in the silent classic

‘Tarzan of the Apes’ (1918) where the movies ends with Tarzan saving the WHITE French naval officer from AFRICAN cannibalistic tribe. Or ‘Trader Horn’ (1931), in which a heroic WHITE man saves a WHITE girl from a fierce AFRICAN flesh eating tribe. Or ‘Cannibal Holocaust’ (1980) in which a WHITE man goes into Amazon rainforest and meets a cannibal tribe.

Notice something? The earliest mention of cannibalsim stems from white supremacy and savior complex. Now you might think what this has to do with cannibalsim as a metaphor for love but we need to understand how and why did that metaphor evolved into the way that it did and for that we can’t ignore its history. I can name you a dozen more movies with the same plot, the birth of our beloved metaphor in cinema was to spread the “dark continent” propaganda.

These movies show the tribal people like genuine monkeys like no shit, these film makers use the word “monkeys”. And compared to the tribe our tarzan who is WHITE is much more civilized and better because he is not BLACK.

Evolution of Cannibalism

Though the early cinema is full of cannibal horror, the real “boom” in the industry was introduced in the 1970s by Italian film makers. This era was filled with pioneers such as Ruggero Deodato, Umberto Lenzi and Jesús Franco.

You might ask what were the films containing cannibalism like in this modern ear?….. WHITE man does into south American, Asian or African forest and faces a cannibalistic tribe. That is it. Yes decades gone by and nothing changed, the topic of discontentment isn’t that they are showing the flesh eating tribes because these tribes did exist but the fact that there is so much white supremacy in these movies and colored people are always uncivilized animals.

‘Man from Deep River’ (1972) is one of the most important movies in this genre, this movie paved the way for the later much better movies from this genre. But movies like this were very simple and monotone in their display of gore, this included graphic shots of rape and real animal torture (one of the reasons why this was such a controversial genre). Their was no emotion or resonance associated with the violence showed in these movies.

Modern Cinema

1990s was the decade where monumental shift was seen in how the genre was executed and perceived. All thanks to our GOAT Hannibal Lecter.

Silence of the lamps (1991) was a revolutionary film for the genre because it brought the horror back home, it showed that the flesh eaters exist in our modern society, dressed in tuxedo sitting on a leather arm chair. His hunger is intervened with his refinement, his class, his Caviar and fava beans. Another movie is Ravenous (1999), an absurd dark satire on American civilization and the horrors of what happens when u consume to much. The hunger is bleak and slimy blood, soldiers sword fighting, cooking together.

When we talk about 21st century, American psycho (2000) is the perfect example of consumption as a curse, Patrick Bateman is so perfect he eats a bit of himself everyday to continue his lifestyle, his sustain the greed, to feed the monster in his head. The symbol of a perfect civilian.

Cannibalism as Fear

We love to relate cannibalsim as a symbol for love but fear is the mother of love. Cannibalism through different decades symbolizes different fears, one of the reasons why the cannibalism boom was seen in the 70’s was because cinema is culture and culture is a product of society. The huge evangelical white supremist movement in contrast with the hippy movement amidst the international rise in serial killing can be seen manifesting itself into cinema.

The film makers placed the horrors of the modern world, killing, poverty, greed into a forest of a different continent and it gave the audience thrill, a thrill that absurdly gave them a sense of safety as well.

Cannibalism as love

When did we start to equate the disgusting act of consuming another human as a metaphor for love? When did it become acceptable? There is no point in searching for an answer because it has been like this since forever and we can see this love manifesting itself as a creature known as vampire. In the article by Vampirism as a Sexual Metaphor. The author mentions how vampirism is inherently sexual at least the western horror and i can’t make an argument against it.

After the airing of the critically acclaimed TV show Hannibal, tumblr and other writing spaces took off with the new internet sensation of cannibalsim, this was the first time cannibalism as a metaphor for love was receiving such intense mainstream attention.

You don’t feel disgust at the thought of your lover’s skin, the soft plump of flesh surrendering under the pressure of your teeth, deeper and deeper until the wine starts to spill out. That’s my devotion to you, my prayer to the lord.

You will consume everything the world offers you and that is your curse, you are everything you once loved and you’ll carry it’s weight to your grave.

Recomendation

Here are some movies that you can enjoy when you feel the hunger.

1. Bones and all (2022)

If you could only watch one movie out of all movies here, i would support Bones and all as a strong recommendation. This movie discusses the terrifying weight of intimacy. The plot is about a young girl on a trip across 80’s mid west America trying to find her birth mother and she meets a boy named Lee who is a drifter, the catch is that they are both “eater”, people born with insatiable hunger.

2. Raw (2016)

Directed by Julia Ducournau, Raw explores the realm of female desire and coming of age. The story follows Justine, a life long vegetarian who is forced to eat raw rabbit kidney during a ritual and soon her body starts to go under a terrifying transformation and she develops a hunger for Human flesh.

3. Dumplings (2004)

This amazing Hong Kong horror movie, it follows a gynecologist who runs a part time restaurant and sells dumplings that are famous for their age defying quality. This movie talks about how women are forced into a mold for beauty and how going extreme is the only way to sustain the perfection the society excepts of you.

4. Jennifer’s body (2007)

Oh sue me, i love this movie and it is perhaps one of the best depictions of female rage and desire manifesting into cannibalism. A girl named Jennifer after being sacrificed in a ritual gone wrong, comes back to life as a demon and starts to kill and eat men in the town.

Needy: "You're killing people."
Jennifer: "No, I'm killing boys. Boys are just placeholders, they come and they go."

5. Aamis (2019)

Be prepared for the HOLY GRAIL of cannibalism as a metaphor for love, this Assamese romantic horror movie is everything you’re looking for. It is entirely about cannibalism as the ultimate, tragic metaphor for forbidden love and unresolved desire. The film follows a platonic, forbidden connection between Nirmali, a lonely married doctor, and Sumon, a young PhD student researching local meat-eating habits. Because they cannot physically be together, they channel their intense emotional connection into food.

Give yourself a gift and watch it.

Alright that is it, if you made it this far thank you for reading!!

Let me know your favorites. Below are the letterboxd rating of all the movies:

1. Bones and all (2022): 3.7/5

2. Raw (2016): 3.7/5

3. Dumpling (2004): 3.5/5

4. Jennifer’s Body (2009): 3.5/5

5. Aamis (2019): 3.6/5

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So you can imagine how excited i was for this release, especially because he hasn’t has a clean hit since RRR.

Plot

Peddi is a movie about “a daily-wage laborer who uses his exceptional athletic abilities—specifically in cricket and wrestling—to unite his marginalized village, fight systemic discrimination by upper-caste landlords, and win legal recognition and dignity for his undocumented community”

this is the official synopsis, sounds so wonderful right? Well it didn’t exactly work out in reality. The movie from a plot point of view is below average and DON’T get me started on the display of sports in this movie.

Peddi plays cricket with the fakest most obvious CGI ball and random shots of Ram Charan aura farming. Peddi is the fastest sprinter, Peddi is a national champion after 10 minutes of wrestling practice. Peddi is basically God.

Casting

Now I’m not going into the whole nepotism conversation when i say that i don’t think Janhvi should be in these movies. This is not only because she can’t act to save her life but also because she is trying to “do” something that clearly doesn’t align with her creatively.

Janhvi hasn’t had a clean hit since her debut and she very obviously is trying to get on the “Telegu craze” to make a name for herself. I can’t lie, I did enjoy seeing her in Milli and Gunjan Saxena.

Aside from Janhvi Kapoor, I don’t have problem with anybody in the cast. Mainly because its filled with veteran actors. Though nobody impresses you as much as Ram Charan, its so sad because he truly gave it his all. He was so committed to this movie and he is the only one in he cast that will make the movie bearable for 3 HOURS AND 11 MINUTES.

Janhvi’s role

Now that we have Peddi’s plot and casting out of the way, let’s discuss the main concern of this movie.

Let me tell you first and foremost that there was no need for a romantic lead in this movie, NO NEED AT ALL. Like the male lead could have carried this movie throughout the screen time with zero problems. But of course how would they pull thousands of young men in the theater.

Janhvi in this movie is supposed to be a strong women, daughter of a powerful man. But all she does is look sexy, i wish i could tell you anything else about her character but that is IT. Her introduction shot is the camera panning over her stomach and slowly travelling up her breast to reveal her face, that is how they treat the leading lady of their movie.

Also Janhvi is a village women but always has her nails and lashes done and you could say that its because she is rich but why the fuck does she face a full face of makeup 24/7? Always dressed in the clothes with that insane push up bra.

Predatory romantic dynamic

This movie has one of the most problematic displays of romance i have come across in the past few years, you’d think the would be a it lowkey since its a pan india project but no they go all out. I love Telegu cinema and movies but we have to admit they have a very regressive way in which they portray women especially in the “masala” commercial movies.

Throughout the movie, Ram Charan is constantly ogling at Janhvi, CONSTANTLY. There is a scene in this movie where Peddi is staring at female lead (i can’t even remember her name) and they is a 7 second shot of her chest on the wide cinema screen, like nothing but her chest in close up.

The most problematic sequence is when Peddi says to his friends that he needs to “trap” FL and then breaks into her house at night, pins her down, forcefully kisses her and then runs away. The female lead is obviously traumatized by this but our hero is so happy and then he breaks into a song. And i love this song so so so much, i hate that they ruined ‘Chikiri Chikiri’ for me.

Worst thing? Moments later in the movie, some goons sexually assault the FL and Peddi beats them up and becomes her hero OH GIVE ME A BREAK. Abuser beat abuser, abuser cancel.

The Outrage

It hasn’t even been 3 days since the release and the internet is angry and rightfully so. The portray of Janhvi is so regressive and the romantic dynamic will make you cringe and puke instead of giggle. The music except ‘Chikiri’ is forgettable at most, the plot is sloppy, the dialogues are cringy, and the representation of sports is so trash.

And director’s excuse of Peddi’s action is that he is a village man and only knows the “rowdy” way of approaching women. The is such a tone deaf and disrespectly way of describing a village man, like he is some kind of jungle unruly animal.

Janhvi in a recent interview said "If a DOP places a camera somewhere I am not comfortable with, I should be able to say, 'nahi, yeh nahi chalega, mujhe nahi chahiye' (No, this will not work, I don't want this) without seeming unprofessional." I totally agree with this statement but then she also said that because she is privileged as a nepo baby she thinks she shouldn’t complain about things and that people who hate her for it.

I mean girl please, nobody is criticizing you because of that, i do think hat someone like Janhvi has the privilege to say no and walk out of a movie when it doesn’t align with her morals or vision and this is a luxury that most outsiders don’t have so her saying that she is scared of backlash seems a bit out of touch. That being said it is heartbreaking that she is put under scrutiny for something that isn’t her fault.

The bigger Problem

The backlash against Peddi brings a bigger question to the limelight,

Indian cinema progressed but did the Indian women?

Name 5 Hollywood movie with leading women who did huge box office numbers, now do the same but ANY Indian cinema industry. You will notice a gap and that is because we don’t view women as someone capable of pulling in numbers alone even though some have managed to do so. The male star worship is so huge in this country that the idea that a women doing the same number as their “superstar” seems threatening.

In my “Female rage as a cinematic genre” article i discussed how no matter the genre is the portrayal of women is always monotone.

While watching movies a concerning pattern can be noticed with writing of male vs female characters. Female characters are not given the same range or armory of emotions as their male counterpart. Female characters are shown in the same stereotypical way regardless of the genre, While male characters are task driven, female characters are plot driven.

And for a while it was understandable, the large mass of cinema audience were men and to make sure they keep coming in. The producers and directors kept catering to their fantasies. But we need to move on and embrace the fact that women are not sex fantasies but real humans, i know shocker isn’t it?

Conclusion

The sad reality is that no matter how much we talk about women being hyper sexualized in the media, nothing will be solved until women get to sit on the powerful seats in the industry. And for that there needs to be a bigger movement for women empowerment and diversity.

I have never written an article like this before but Peddi really irritated me, this was kinda long post but it needed to be said. I would love to know your thoughts on this movie because mine are really conflicting. I do have to say that the cinematography in Peddi is BREATHTAKING, so beautiful. I hope the director Buchi Babu Sana realizes his mistakes and improves his craft because his debut Uppena was a really wonderful watch.

Also this movie has a budget of…. c’mon guess….. 350 CRORE TF.

Well now if you’ll excuse me, I have some Video tapes to return

True horror isn’t making the audience believe it’s real, it’s making the audience be grateful that it is not.

1. Structure

Usually in a movie there are 4 stages:

1. Balance

2. Disruption

3. Climax

4. New balance

For example in Dawn of the dead (2004), The movie opens with a normal every day life of a women a few moments later that peace is disrupted when a zombie child enter her house. The movie pans out over 2 hours and reaches the climax where they need to escape the building and leave the town. In the end, they climb on to a boat and leave the city, creating a new balance.

This is pretty standard but a lot of movies don’t follow this rule like the wailing (2016), where the movie begins amidst the disruption so as an audience we are never introduced to a balance. And when the end arrives we never get to see a new balance either, the director traps us in a constant loop of chaos.

2. Weaponizing stillness

In the mainstream western cinema, horror is loud and rapid. The camera angles become sharper and quicker, the music score gets louder and BANG! This kind of storytelling is designed to give audience the adrenaline rush and it may work the first time but it can’t sustain a whole movie.

The human brain is far more terrified of what it might see than what it actually sees.

In the Audition (1999) there is a scene of eerie silence, no music, no close up. We are forced to stay in this moment for 10 grueling seconds, as if the director is making us take a seat behind the women. In reality, there is nothing immediately scary about this scene; the women is not a ghost or a monster, just a normal human. The stillness of the moment forces your mind to make assumptions.

The human brain loves to imagine by using stillness of the moment to your advantage. The scare doesn’t happen to you rather you breed the terror in your mind throughout the movie.

3. Confusion

Some of the most commendable Asian horrors have a very confusing trope, its the point in the movie where the audience must hold on to every thing that is happening in the movie to make sense of the confusion.

Tale of two sisters (2003) does this beautifully, the critically acclaimed horror makes he audience believe a narrative that is false and makes the protagonist believe it too. The director demands active participation of the viewer, only then can you actually understand the hidden message in every scene. Some may argue that this method makes the audience lose interest in the movie but intelligent movies require an intelligent audience. You don’t wanna break the story so bad that viewers can’t keep up but rather you need to break them apart like a jigsaw puzzle.

Easy stories are never interesting, give your viewers active participation in an experience that is supposed to be one sided.

4. Manipulation

This stage refers to the ability of a writer or director to make the audience believe in a reality that isn’t real, to manipulate them into thinking they know the story. You may call this a plot twist but it is a bit different, plot twist usually happen at a singular point, manipulation is the stage leading to plot twist.

Not a horror movie but Oldboy (2003) does this impeccably, everything that happens leads up to a moment in the movie where the reality created for us to believe is shattered. Throughout the movie the audience has no idea that they too are just as naive as the character in the movie, that they are not a safe just because they are watching it in their comfort.

5. Illusion of safety

This tactic is found at two places

1. Before the climax

2. Before the ending

Personally I like it better when its placed near the ending, because its obvious before the climax there needs to be a moment of silence before the chaos breaks. It is the moment where the characters are ready to give their all, the ultimate fight. But when it happens in the ending, it feels exhausting. Like everything we went through wasn’t enough, it will never end.

The characters have already given everything they have, lost their friends, hanging on to a sliver of hope, only for it to be taken away from them before the movie ends.

You will never escape this horror.

There are many movies that do this, Ring (1999) the OG, does this after killing all the major characters we are made to believe the curse is over but the movie ends with the cursed videotape finding its way into people’s lives again.

Exceptions

There will always be exceptions when discussing movies, and in fact some of the greatest horror movies don’t act in a linear way at all and sometimes the classic way is classic for a reason.

1. Dawn of the dead (2004) and 29 days later (2002), both are great zombie horror movie which start and end with a perfect balance.

2. Train to Busan (2016) is one of the best horror thrillers ever made, doesn’t have a moment of stillness yet delivers all the thrill it promised.

3. Ju-on (2002), the movie that has multiple adaptation in various languages and is one of the most famous pieces of Asian horror has a very simple direction formula but is so perfect in its execution you won’t even notice it.

4. Obsession (2026), is one of the best examples of modern horror cinema, doesn’t manipulate its audience but dares to be vulnerable and show us everything and it makes the film so much more interesting.

5. Sinners (2025) and Audition (1999), are both movies that have a calm ending because they have excellent climax.

The point is that there is no right way to write good horror, all the movies mentioned above are unique in their execution and that is why they are still revered and remembered.

Alright that was it. If you have made it this far, Thank you so much for reading!! Let me know what are your favorite horror movies.

Well now if you’ll excuse me, I have some Video tapes to return

Ever had those nights when u wanna watch a movie but don't want to use your head too much. Something to get the edge off. Well i have a list of severely underrated rom-coms for you. Now fair warning, u may have watched some of these so don’t come for me. So let’s dive into the world of romantic comedies.

1. Geek Charming (2011)

Hailey Dunphy ALERT!!!!

Starting strong, this movie is the ultimate cute nerd X popular girl watch. If you like cute clichés this is for you!

The movie starts with Josh, the president of film club looking for a subject for his short film. And he meets Dylan, the most popular girl in school. Stuff happens and they make a deal, Dylan uses the film to become the blossom queen (i know i know) and Josh gets to record his film. But secretly Josh just wants to expose Dylan for being a fake. This movie is soooo cute!! Fun and charming.

2. Just like Heaven (2005)

Alright most of you may know this one, perhaps the most popular movie in this article but i couldn’t help myself. If you haven’t watched this movie, let me pain the picture!

David moves into his new apartment, unaware of the past tenant who is going to be living with him. Who is this tenant you may ask? It’s a ghost. Yes, the past tenant, a workaholic women who gets into a car crash and now is forced to figure out her new life in the realm between the dead and living. The movie is about David helping her regain her memories and find what happened to her and falling in love. Its the coziest watch!!!!

Also Mark Ruffalo is a bit too hot in this movie, just look at the top reviews:

3. Palm Springs (2020)

I’m a simple girl, i see Andy Samberg I watch.

Imagine being stuck in an infinite loop with Andy Samberg (dream come true). The story revolves around two wedding guest trying to escape the wedding venue and eventually each other but soon enough love stating to grow in between the chaos. This is the perfect modern romcom, funny, cute and entertaining. This movie is apparently quite popular but i have never met another person who has watched it.

4. Our times (2015)

Please welcome the only Asian movie in the list. I watched this one a while back. Our times is the most cliché movie EVERRRRRR. Shy girl X Hot bully.

The movie is about a girl named truly who is in love with the student president and a school badboy named Taiyu who likes the school goddess. Truly and Taiyu join hands to break the couple up so they can date their crushes but in the way they end up falling for each other. This movie was sooooooooooo gooooooood. Watch it!!

5. Watching Detectives (2007)

My DREAM cast with Cillian Murphy and Lucy liu.

Watching detectives is about Neil, a DVD shop owner who meets Violet, a real life fem fatale. Violet turns his life upside down, soon the line between reality and movies starts to blur. This is the cutest rom com EVERRRRRR MADE. Cilian Murphy being a nerdy loser desperate for lucy liu. perfection.

Give yourself a gift and watch it. PLEASEEEE!!!

Alrght that was it, Let me know if you want a part 2. If you made it this far, thank you so much for reading!! Below are the letterboxd rating for the same:

1. Geek Charming: 3.0/5

2. Just like Heaven: 3.3/5

3. Palm Springs: 3.8/5

4. Our times: 3.8/5

5. Watching Detectives: 3.4/5

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Well now if you’ll excuse me, I have some Video tapes to return

“fuck..” you mutter to yourself, the pain getting worse, you side eye the half eaten burrito u had for lunch

You get up to fetch some water but its getting harder to walk, you’re almost waddling. You rush to the bathroom ready for the war but its different. Something else, something fleshy. You clench the walls of your washroom tighter as something passes through your insides.

Congratulation you are now a mother (men too, you are also mother). We are all mothers.

Notice how absurd and idiotic that story was well, the next few films we’re going to discuss are gonna be 10x worse. These movies will fuck with your nervous system for no fucking reasons.

Stress?

Why do we do this to ourself? Watching movies that will keep u on the edge, well its for thrill. A sliver of excitement in this concrete jungle. But you know the worst part is when u pay for a thriller and its just the most lukewarm shit in the world Or worse when u go in for a nice chill movie and its suspenseful for no fucking reason.

And now you’re just sitting there like

1. Wall to wall (2025)

Let’s start with the deformed cousin of forgotten (2017). Man this shit is so trash.

The movie is about a man who moves into a new house and begins hearing things from within his walls, he thinks its the neighbors but all the neighbors swear its actually HIM, that’s making the noise. And i kid u not this man goes bat shit crazy, running around like a Chihuahua. He starts a conspiracy of all the people hating him and want him out of the building and it doesn’t make it better that he lost all his money in the stock market crash. This is film was absolute rage bait.

2. Fifty Shades of Grey (2015)

This fuckass movie is everywhere dude. Oh my lord…

So you’re telling me this girl goes to interview a rich CEO wearing a grandma blue cardigan and white floral button up shirt with the skinest skinny jeans in the world? Yeah yep just end this already.

If you’re living under a rock, this movie is about a CEO falling in love with a young virgin kawai girl who knows nothing about sex

This movie is so suspenseful like we are going to be fucked next. LEAVE me out of this. For context here are a few tings he says in this purely romantic movie btw:

“I exercise control in all things, Miss Steele.” Brother u are not the fbi calm down

"Every time you move tomorrow, I want you to be reminded that I've been here.” Wtf does that even mean

“Her sharp intake of breath is music to my d*ck.” Does he have ears on his dick?

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3. Pihu

This movie had me doing laps around my room. If you are sensitive to kid’s being hurt or in a suspenseful situation then please skip this one.

So the story starts with this family in which after a fight the husband leaves he house and the wife kills herself by over dosing, alright pretty straight forward. But oh my days, they have a 3 year old CHILD in the house who is all alone with her mother’s corpse. Dude this film has scene where u wanna jump into the movie. The child climbing over the balcony almost falling, eating pills but spitting them out, turning on the stove. This is shit was SOOO STRESSFULL.

4. Tale of two sisters

I’m sorry what the fuck was this?

I kid u not this movie is one of the most critically acclaimed movies of south Korean cinema and ranked one of the highest in Asian horror and horror genre in general. But i don’t get this AT ALL.

So its about a two sisters returning from a psychiatric hospital and they have a new step mom but they don’t like her and there is also a ghost who is just there. And everyone in the house goes crazy and then we find the younger sister is dead but then she also dies again but like she wasn’t there.

I just know that its dark and i’m scared

5. Disturbia (2007)

FUCK this movie dude. This fuckass kid is a being a constant bitch cause his father died or something and so they punched his teacher in a fight and now is under house arrest by the court. A teenage boy all alone at home, hmmmm what does he do? Oh yeah constantly watch the girl next door and invade her privacy obviously. The story spirals into a murder mystery but dude its like boiled chicken, no flavor no seasoning. This is movie was so stressing dude like what the fuck are they trying to do.

Alright the rant is over. If you made it this far, thank you so much for reading!! Below are the letterboxd rating for the same:

1. Wall to wall: 2.8/5

2. Fifty shades of grey: 1.8/5

3. Pihu: 3.2/5

4. Tale of two sister: 3.7/5

5. Disturbia: 3.1/5

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Well now if you’ll excuse me, I have some Video tapes to return

“oh no I’m like totally gonna take revenge for this” you say to yourself

The 5 minute montage of violent nude scene ends with the supposedly “horrifying” part being over and the audience pulls up their pants. You cry on the ground for 6.4 seconds.

skip 30 minutes

Standing on top of your rapist’s body

“Well well well guess who’s back?” You stab in the chest before he has a turn to reply “want me to go deeper?” you whisper in a sexy voice. In the end, you cry next to his dead body because somewhere along the way you fell in love with him too.

And that is how male centric sloppy cinema views female rage, Anger sourced from a violence done against the women and its done wrong too. Like women cannot be angry by nature, we must share our anger with men. But the genre that deals with such a complex emotion has to be much more than that. So let’s dive deep into this rabbit hole.

Female Rage as a concept

Female rage is the uninhibited expression of women's anger, often functioning as a powerful, cathartic reclamation of voice against systemic patriarchy, misogyny, and long-term suppression.

So basically a women being angry. But when did this concept emerge, literally speaking it has always been there. Draped in veils, hidden in the top shelf of the kitchen, sneaked under the office rug. Society view’s female anger tool of suppression and oppression. “Too emotional” or “hysteric”

Society has made us believe that male and female rage are very different things because male rage is an emotion while female rage is a over reaction.

Female emotions VS Male emotions

While watching movies a concerning pattern can be noticed with writing of male vs female characters. Female characters are not given the same range or armory of emotions as their male counterpart. Female characters are shown in the same stereotypical way regardless of the genre, While male characters are task driven, female characters are plot driven.

And for a while it was understandable, the large mass of cinema audience were men and to make sure they keep coming in. The producers and directors kept catering to their fantasies. But as times went on, there was a shift in the way cinema viewed women.

Birth of Female Rage

In the summer of 1922 (yep its that deep) French filmmaker Germaine Dulac, made one of the most unnerving and influential film called “THE SMILING MADAME BEUDET . Considered the first film with true feminist element. Throughout the film the female lead’s husband makes suicidal jokes about killing himself, pretending to play Russian rulettee while controlling and manipulating her. One day after he leaves, she fills his gun with real bullets so next time he actually shots himself.

The whole movie is such a beautiful built up for the climax, every shot is like a painting. Dulac never makes it obvious, the joke isn’t the crude suicidal humor but husband’s ignorance towards his wife. Madame Beudet isn’t fueled by anger, she fueled by agony, humiliation and distain.

And this what the birth of female anger looks like in cinema, it’s cold, calculated but tested. Madame Beudet never wanted to kill her husband, he made her kill him; drove her to the point of insanity. And even in rage she looked like a painting.

Modern cinema

As the years have gone by, we have progressed as a society. The feminist revolution did many great things one of which included, the development of cinema as a whole. Today we have women led movies doing numbers at box office no could dream of. And since the public is changing, cinema had to change too.

But wasn’t always that way, in the journey of normalizing display of female anger and emotion. Society created new categories for us, “fem-nazi” , “fridge protecting the snack”, “crazy cat lady” or “angry black women”, racism in cinema became a new tool to oppress colored women who just got the chance to be on the screen.

But it’s 2026 now and while we are not perfect we have come a long way. So let’s discuss some actually good movies that explore female rage and emotion well.

Movie Reccomdation

We’re finally here, rage has to be one of my favorite genres. So here are my favorite picks.

1. THE VVITCH (2015)

This brilliant film directed Robert Eggers is one of the best portrayal of witch hysteria in medieval Europe, so if you’re a history nerd this is for you! The movie starts with a family relocating near a forest, Thomasin, the teenage daughter is under constant scapegoating, suspicion, and emotional/verbal abuse. Constantly being slut shamed for growing into her body and being labeled “seductress” by her own mother.

This one of my most favorite movies on this list.

2. AUDITION (1999)

Asami is a quiet, obedient and mysterious girl, stunning like moon on a cold winter night. A slow burn romantic movie turns into one of the most unexpected disturbing movies. A trained killer built through years of abuse and exploitation. This highly acclaimed Japanese horror will leave you disgusted with a lingering feeling of…. empathy?…. relief? That’s for you to figure out.

3. Eve’s Bayou (1997)

The film opens with Eve’s voiceover: “The year I killed my father, I was 10.” After seeing her father attempt to molest her older sister, Eve develops a resentment towards her someone who she looked up to. The journey from confusion and denial to acceptance and fury is beautifully portrayed in this Kasi Lemmons directorial venture. The movie blends themes of folklore and vodoo magic to create a perfect tale.

4. Lady Vengeance (2005)

If you have read anything from me before, you know I’m a cinema slut for Park Chan Wook. And lady Vengeance might be one of his finest works. After being wrong fully convicted of a crime and imprisoned for 13 years, Lee Geum-ja sets out for a bloody revenge. This movie deals with anger is such a brilliant way, revenge isn’t satisfying, it isn’t consoling either. Hand’s trembling, on your knees you dig through the flesh and blood for any relief but it doesn’t come that easy.

An amazing movie about female emotion and complexity.

5. Pearl (2022)

“Mia stop being so cunt”

Pearl as a movie or character needs no introduction. So perfectly crafted, every detail, ever lines feels like a hot iron rod touching your flesh. Pearl is a girl with big dreams, she dreams of a life in the big city, a life of freedom, love and Pearls.

But her plans are always cut short because of useless people around her. Pearl could kill my family and i would still sit down to listen to her side of the story (they probably said something mean to her). She just wants to be a star.

6. Kill Bill (2003)

Lord bless Uma Thurman for creating the color yellow. Kill Bill showed the world that a women led action movie could be just as thrilling and adventurous as a male led movie. Beatrice after being victim of a wedding massacre (which killed her unborn child) goes on a killing rampage. Every action set piece is so enthralling and well done. Lucy Liu can behead me and i would thank her. Cool women assassins killing men, I love this movie.

7. Possession

Finally to the most awaited, Possession is a movie about what happens when a women finally dwells in dissatisfaction. This movie is so beautifully written and shot but everything falls flat in front of Isabelle Adjani’s acting skills. The way she externalizes this rage and anger, rejecting everything the society constructed for her. Creating a reality of her own. Truly a gem for the ages.

Alright that’s it, I know this one was kinda long and more serious but really needed to get it out there. There are a lot more movies i haven’t mentioned here maybe I’'ll write a part 2. If you made it this far, thank you so much for reading!! Below are the letterboxd rating for the same:

1. THE VVITCH (2015): 3.8/5

2. Audition (1999): 3.8/5

3. Eve’s Bayou (1997): 3.8/5

4. Lady Vengeance (2005): 4.1/5

5. Pearl (2022): 3.7/5

6. Kill Bill (2003): 4.2/5

7. Possession (1981): 4.0/5

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Well now if you’ll excuse me, I have some Video tapes to return

This list is for people who want to get into the genre and explore it better, so you may not find the “niche” you are looking for. But classics are classics for a reason. So, here are some rainy night horror watches:

1. Kurokneko (1968)

Do you wanna watch a samurai have sex with his wife’s ghost while his mother who is also a black demon cat dances infront of the closed door?

Well you’re in for a treat because Kurokneko (Black cat) is a 1968 horror movie about exactly that and more. In a village ambush, a mother and daughter in law are raped and killed. And by the power of satan who for some reason wants to kill every samurai in the world, they start their killing spree by luring and killing samurais.

2. The Wailing (2016)

Genuinely what the fuck happened to South Korea in 2016?

A small town in the Korean countryside is met with a twisted fate when a spree of zombie killing starts taking place. And this is what the director wants you to believe. But the wailing is so much more than that. The truth is a curse pre dating humanity, a disease that laches on the victim and drives them to insanity, driven by the lust for death. And leaves the body just as silently as it crept in. This movie has one of the best child actor performances i have ever seen. Truly terrifying.

3. Tumbbad (2018)

The west usually associates south Asian horror cinema with sloppy surface level movies. But as they say “the opposite of love isn’t hatred, its ignorance”

Wanna watch a man driven by greed to rip open the womb of the earth and raid it? Well India has you covered. This is movie cannot be described in words, a genuinely terrifying tale. This movie has some of the most beautiful shots i have ever seen in a horror movie. An obessed man, a womb and a village where it forever rains.

4. Ring (1998)

One of the most genre defining movies from Japan, Ring is THE horror movie. A curse is travelling through a video tape, everyone who sees it dies in 7 days. The story follows a journalist who views the tape that leads to a chain of events and leads to her and her ex husband trying to find a cure to the mystery of the video. I can’t lie other than being a great film, i just love the face cards in the movie i mean damn (you’ll know what i mean when you watch it)

The crawling out of the well and the tv, yes all the gimmicks that hollywood copied are from this classic

5. Dumplings (2004)

“One human fetus dumpling please!”

Yes u read that correctly and i hate to have to elaborate. A gynecologist and a part time chef, Aunty Mei is a women of elegance and taste. But when a fading actress attracted by the age defying dumplings starts visiting, she slowly becomes obessed with finding the “secret ingredient”. Soon the cracks start to appear. Cause God forbid women appreciates delicacy.

If you made it this far, thank you so much for reading!! Below are the letterboxd rating for the same:

1. Kuroneko: 4.1/5

2. The wailing: 4.0/5

3. Tumbbad: 3.7/5

4. Ring: 3.6/5

5. Dumplings: 3.5/5

Well now if you’ll excuse me, I have some Video tapes to return

“honey… look someone’s there”

You turn expecting a human, hell perhaps even a ghost. But its neither. Joints jolting, tendons twitching and twisting off; its a body held together by whatever it once was. You hold your girl’s hand tighter trying to walk faster but its too late. You have been surrounded by others who popped out of seemingly nowhere.

“AHHHHHHH” she screams as the corpses engulf you. “BABYY, CAN U HEAR ME?” she call out.

And out of the fog you emerge breakdancing with the zombies on a banger called thriller. Which will sell over 70 million album and go on to be the most selling album of all time.

Congratulations you are now King of pop.

Zombies have a larger than life effect on our media and culture, you can deny it (why would u wanna do that though) but for so long. Let us dive deep into the art of Zombie movies.

So what is a zombie?

“A reanimated corpse brought back to life, often through magic or a virus, characterized by a lack of free will, mindless behavior, and a hunger for human flesh”

Basically a walking corpse, but as everything the lore of zombies goes far beyond its interpretation in modern media. Dating back to west African and Haitian folklore, certainly the fear of the dead coming back and terrorizing the living has been in our society for a long time. In Haitian folklore, the original zombie was not a flesh-eater. It was a person reanimated by a sorcerer to work as a slave forever. The fear of being turned into a zombie was the fear of eternal slavery. So when did we turn a fear born from folklore into a million dollar horror industry.

Zombie Cinema

The first zombie movie was released 1932, called “white zombie”. The use of the word zombie in the title tells us that these creatures were well known amongst the western audience long before the first movie. White zombie despite poor critical reception went on the become a commercial hit.

Fast forward almost a century later, there are over 1500 movies made (collected by Dr. Arnold T. Blumberg). Zombies are an undeniable element of horror cinema. It spans over multiple film industry across continents, some good some bad.

Why do we love zombie movies so much?

Fear is not inborn, it is something we create. Zombie too is a fear that has survived centuries because it represented a threat that was around us. And on the surface level it may seen that its the fear of the dead but that theory quickly falls apart when you take in account of the immense respect some cultures have for the dead but are still afraid of zombies.

Initially zombies in Haitian folklore were not a flesh eating monsters, it was a corpse reanimated by a witch or sorcerer to be a slave, for the Haitian slaves working in the plants this was a real fear. Death was seen as the only relief from this world but the idea of zombie instilled the fear of eternal slavery. In modern society, this shows up in different forms.

During Covid, the demand for zombie movies skyrocketed. Movies like “Night of the living dead” and “dawn o the dead” and “train to Busan” were trending. Once again we turned the threat of invisible virus into something that we could see, it was less scary because now you know what to be scared of. Moreover, every zombie movie attacks our biological instinct to avoid infection and to be afraid of death.

Fight or flight

The adrelienen rush from a zombie movie is different from other horror films. Because we know what we see on the screen isn’t a ghost or a demon but just a human, it could be you or me. The idea of zombies taking over and having to run away from the shackles of the society and live peaceful without the restraints of money and social structure feel like utopia to some.

Moreover, the concept of natural survival is very appealing to the modern civilians who are imprisoned in the jungle cities, stuck in their apartments. Zombie movies over the years have changed from horror folklore living dead to virus infected humans. This idea of a virus infecting people is very possible hence it makes zombie apoclyps a fairly plausible event.

These movies divides the world in two parts “Us” and “Them”. Humans and zombies, this breaks ancestral fear of other humans. The idea of a danger bringing the world together.

Zombie movies recommendation

Finally at the real deal. This is list is my personal opinion of some of the best zombie movies ever made.

1. Train to busan (2016)

Sue me okay, I love love love this movie. And i will defend it until the day i die and become a zombie. Train to Busan is about a father an daughter hopping on a train to Busan admist a zombie apocalypse, the problem is one of the zombie somehow got now the train. This intense thriller action packed film will never let you seat still. It kept me on the edge of the chair, truly on the best zombie movie everrrrr made.

2. 28 days later (2002)

This movie showed us even in a zombie apocalypse the scariest thing will always be a man. The movie is about 28 days from the day that a virus was leaked from a British research facility. Film follows a group of survivors travelling across the country. I watched this movie solely for Cillian murphy at first but really fell in live with the cast and the movie.

3. Night of the living dead (1968)

Ah yes, the godfather of Zombie movies. If you have been living under a rock and don’t know about this absolute banger of a movie, allow me to introduce you to peak cinema. This movie introduced the mainstream western audience to zombie horror and made it a staple in the genre.

4. Zombieland (2009)

I am physically and mentally incapable of not liking this movie. Brilliant cast, amazing writing, great plot and Woody Harelson. The movie is about two guys meeting each other admist a zombie ridden US and trying to find their goal. The best part of the movie is that we don’t know their names. I cant explain how GOOD this movie is. Hilarious and Thrilling. My personal Favorite.

5. Shaun of the Dead

British people. Watch it.

If you have made it this far, Thank you so much for reading!! Below are the letterboxd rating of all the movies listed above:

1. Train to Busan: 4.0/5

2. 28 days later: 3.7/5

3. Night of the living dead: 3.9/5

4. Zombieland: 3.5/5

5. Shaun of the dead: 3.9/5

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   Well now if you’ll excuse me, I have some Video tapes to return