Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Thursday Movie Picks #16: Haunted Buildings

Thursday Movie Picks


Hello and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks! Halloween is tomorrow and this the last week of the  Halloween Edition of Thursday Movie Picks! I hope you've enjoyed reading mine and other participants picks this October and even check out some of those movies yourself.


October 2 - Unstable Characters (characters that seemed off...eg. Donnie Darko)
October 9 - Zombie Movies
October 16 - Found Footage Movies 
October 23 - Vampire Movies
October 30 - Haunted Buildings

 
Before we start let's go through some of the simple rules for the newbies; Each week there is a topic for you to create a list of three movies. Your picks can either be favourites/best, worst, hidden gems, or if you're up to it one of each. For more information and future topics please visit the Thursday Movie Picks page here.



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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Haunted Buildings

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I love ghost stories. But I much prefer stories about haunted buildings rather than haunted people (which tend to go to the possession route) thus haunted buildings became this week's theme and my picks will be all favourites.


Dark Water came out at the height of the popularity of Asian horror and I was actually quite reluctant to see this because after awhile the movies all seem a tad similiar but ended up really liking Dark Water and the remake which came a few years later. In Dark Water, a newly divorced mother and her young daughter moves into a rundown apartment. The mother is struggling to cope with the big change in their lives and ensuring that she provides a good home so she can continue having custody of her daughter. But unfortunately creepy water stains start to appear on the ceiling of the apartment which is only the beginning of other weird things that would happen.

"What is a ghost? A tragedy condemned to repeat itself time and again? An instant of pain, perhaps. Something dead which still seems to be alive. An emotion suspended in time. Like a blurred photograph. Like an insect trapped in amber." This movie had me with its opening lines. I think a good ghost story is both scary and tragic. Well at least the ones I like are and I just love this movie. It's just heartwrenching. In the Devil's Backbone at the end of the Spanish civil war, after the death of his father, Carlos is left at an orphanage which is haunted. The boys at the orphanage believes the ghost is Santi a former occupant who has disappeared and soon the ghost has latched on to Carlos trying to communicate with him. Without going into it too much, let's just say there are more sinister things in store for people at the orphanage other than the ghost child.

The Others (2001)
Isolated mansion. A family with a peculiar affliction. Weird servants. Limited lighting. This movie really does have a great set up for a haunted house story and plays the suspense really well. There's this scene with the little old lady in the veil in a darkened room in the trailer...that was one scary jumpy scene.


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So that's it...my three picks. What three movies made your list today?



If you are participating be sure to add your blog post to the linky widget below (Enter your Blog Post URL, your Blog Name and your email {which will remain hidden}). Please also visit the other participating blogs, spread the word about this meme, and also link back to my blog on your own Thursday Movie Picks post :)
  
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Participating Blogs/Bloggers

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Weekly Recap #14: Deadline, Downton Abbey, The Walking Dead

Read




Recently finished the second book of the Newflesh trilogy about a bunch of bloggers uncovering some conspiracies set in a post zombie apocalypse world where blood tests and showers with bleach and sterilization of clothes are a part of every day life I really enjoyed the first book but this second one not as much. I suppose it's because we follow a new narrator, Shaun, who's not as likable. He is quite a jerk. Plus I think there was less zombie action here and more of just driving around and waiting things out.
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Watched

Movies 





This was boring. I tuned out from the second half. Some of the jokes are quite funny but the lead actor has a monotous kinda voice and his delivery is just not expressive enough for an outright comedy. It's seem like it would be more suited for a satire or dark comedy for which this movie is neither. 


TV


Yes! Miss Bunting finally leaves. Good riddance. In her final goodbye to Tom, she tells him that she loves him and Tom actually has this painful winced expression like he wished she didn't confess it. She is just awful! She presumes too much that Tom likes her just as she presumes she can say whatever she thinks at those dinners she attends but just ends up being a rude guest. And Edith! She is the stupidest of all the Crawley sisters and now she is about to ruin the farmer's family.

I like this episode the least. It is not bad but Seth and Richie hardly share a scene together, and it's the great dialogue between the two that I love. Richie once again goes in and out of madness which makes us wonder how much of the shit he does Seth can tolerate.

Penguin comes clean with his new boss and we finally see what Fish is planning with her protege. I think the show should show less of Bruce because the whole thing of making him a mini adult is just not working. 

DC is out in public! He set the whole thing up right? Because it was a way to be able to walk freely instead of confessing that he faked his death...right? And surely he sees through Victoria's lies? 

I thought we'd see Morgan this week but nope. Not a fan of Bob, he's probably one of the weakest characters in the show...but the end of this episode was just so horrific. Reminds me of Sin City. And did Daryl really see Beth in the car? The car went by fast and I didn't catch anything.

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Thursday Movie Picks #15: Vampire Movies

Thursday Movie Picks


Hello and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks! Its October and it's currently the Halloween Edition! I hope you've enjoyed reading mine and other participants picks the last three weeks and even check out some of those movies yourself. It's a new week so continue to brace yourself for some scary flicks as for 5 Thursdays in the month of October, the themes will all be Halloween related. 

October 2 - Unstable Characters (characters that seemed off...eg. Donnie Darko)
October 9 - Zombie Movies
October 16 - Found Footage Movies
October 23 - Vampire Movies
October 30 - Haunted Buildings

As you can see there are some fun themes in the coming weeks. So if you haven't join us already, now is definitely the time to.

Before we start let's go through some of the simple rules for the newbies; Each week there is a topic for you to create a list of three movies. Your picks can either be favourites/best, worst, hidden gems, or if you're up to it one of each. For more information and future topics please visit the Thursday Movie Picks page here.
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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Vampire Movies

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Like last week I am once again doing a hidden gems list.

Living in a part of the world where daylight hours are consistent throughout the year it fascinates me that there are parts of the world that do not get daylight for weeks at a time during certain periods. And this is exactly the premise of 30 Days of Night. In a small Alaskan town, night has enveloped them and a coven of vampires have descended for the darkness have provided the perfect conditions for hunting. Tired of movies with romantic vampires...don't worry, this one only features the vicious kind.

In Byzantium, Clara and Eleanor are mother and daughter who have been on the run from some mysterious men moving from town to town for the last 200 years. Arriving at a coastal town they masquerade as sisters and try to start a new life. I really enjoyed this movie. Visually Byzantium is  beautiful and I love the interesting take on the vampire story especially that at it's center is the mother and daughter relationship with Clara struggling to protect and provide a life for her daughter and Eleanor the eternal schoolgirl who yearns to be free from their secret and tell her story.

Daybreakers (2009)
I've mentioned Daybreakers on this blog once before for the Attack of the Sequels Blogathon. I think Daybreakers is a pretty imaginative movie, painting a world where vampires are the dominant species and everything in it is transformed to serve the needs of vampires (darkened cars, underground tunnels for daylight travelling). Trouble in this vampire world is the dwindling human population meaning the blood supply upon which the vampires are dependent on is almost exhausted. Despite it not being able to fully exploit the great premise and falling apart in the last third, Daybreakers is still a very entertaining action horror movie.


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So that's it...my three picks. What three movies made your list today?



If you are participating be sure to add your blog post to the linky widget below (Enter your Blog Post URL, your Blog Name and your email {which will remain hidden}). Please also visit the other participating blogs, spread the word about this meme, and also link back to my blog on your own Thursday Movie Picks post :)
 
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Participating Blogs/Bloggers

Monday, October 20, 2014

Weekly Recap #13: Godzilla, Downton Abbey, The Walking Dead


 Read


When I first saw this book on a book blogger's blog I thought why is she reading an IKEA catalogue. It's not. It's a book about a fictional haunted retail store which is a ripoff of IKEA. I love the whole concept and the book's packaging. The story starts off strong. It got a little weird in the middle when the ghosts start to appear but the end was pretty good. 

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Watched

Movies 


I watched this a long time ago and couldn't remember much of it and so a rewatch was in order. I actually thought it's about a werewolf which it is so not. I loved the way the main characters were introduced. They were wearing the trench coats that covered half their face as featured in the movie  poster. It created a great air of mystery to who these men were. The movie had some nice pretty scenery shots and costuming, but the story just wasn't for me.

Am I the only person who didn't know what's going on half the time. I mean I know the electricity was messed up and so no good lighting but it was just so dark I didn't know what I was looking at for most of the action scenes.



TV

Miss Bunting is so irritating. Can they drop her please? It's getting old. She does the same thing every episode. In other news, Cousin Violet gets a marriage proposal from a Lord. I think it's so cute! But I thought that doctor and her kinda like each other. Aren't they always having tea or something?

I am loving this show. Love the dialogue between Seth and Richie. Richie is showing more of his insane-ness. My theory is that Carlos hypnotized him to make sure he delivers the money across the border. We also meet some new characters in this episode as well; the family with the RV. From the promos, I suppose they will cross path with the Gecko brothers pretty soon.

I think this series may be losing me a little. I hope Gotham doesn't become too episodic, what with a new mad men/killer every week. I'm liking the Penguin development but everything else is just so meh. And can Gordon please stop confiding in Bruce about police/government corruption! He's like what 11?

DC found Emily. He should recognise her right? I mean the last time they met should be when Emily was a teenager. Plus how could he not know Amanda has been masquerading as Emily. I know he was holed up in a cave the last decade but surely he was curious what his enemies were doing all this time, and if ever checked out about any them in any media, he would have come across Emily right? Right?

I binged watch season 4 in time for the premiere of season 5 earlier this week. Season 4 was so-so. I really didn't like when the survivors were separated and whole episode s sometimes just focused on one small group. I don't think some of the characters story was strong enough to carry one whole episode. So I'm glad the gang has finally met up with each other in the premiere. As expected the sanctuary is messed up. How did the sanctuary people go from being the "cattle" to purposely baiting people to come to the sanctuary? At the end of the episode my mom was like saying  Rick's group is pretty large now and I said that can only mean one thing - one or two of them won't survive the season.


Thursday, October 16, 2014

Thursday Movie Picks #14: Found Footage Movies


Thursday Movie Picks

Hello and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks! Hey we're in the third week of the Halloween Edition! I hope you've enjoyed reading mine and other participants picks the last two weeks and even check out some of those movies yourself. It's a new week so continue to brace yourself for some scary flicks as for 5 Thursdays in the month of October, the themes will all be Halloween related. 

October 2 - Unstable Characters (characters that seemed off...eg. Donnie Darko)
October 9 - Zombie Movies
October 16 - Found Footage Movies
October 23 - Vampire Movies
October 30 - Haunted Buildings

As you can see there are some fun themes in the coming weeks. So if you haven't join us already, now is definitely the time to.

Before we start let's go through some of the simple rules for the newbies; Each week there is a topic for you to create a list of three movies. Your picks can either be favourites/best, worst, hidden gems, or if you're up to it one of each. For more information and future topics please visit the Thursday Movie Picks page here.
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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Found Footage Movies

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I suppose there have been found footage movies before, but it was probably Blair Witch Project that made it one of the trendiest sub genre in horror movies. What with it being cheap to produce, with stories that have mainstream appeal and has resulted the best of them being extremely profitable. I'm actually really tempted to flip it and go for found footage movies that aren't horror, but since this is the Halloween edition and I have not pick much scary stuff in the past 2 weeks, I'm going to keep it simple and stick with horror.

So here are some of my favourites in alphabetical order:





A lot of the found footage movies have characters walking around investigating some supernatural occurrence. This one has that and surveillance footage of a house that seems to be haunted...which is exactly what people are curious about right? Will supernatural stuff make an appearance when no one is watching? Paranormal Activity certainly serves that and if you haven't watch too much of the trailers or clips online, this movie can be a real scary one to watch. One thing that ruins it a little I guess is who edited the camcorder and the surveillance footage together?

So I'm picking both the original and the remake. They're both pretty similar being about a group of people being quarantined in an apartment building when there is an outbreak of a mysterious virus, and I enjoyed watching both movies. The found footage style of camera work, which makes the audience feel right there, certainly make these movies two of the scariest zombish-creature movies I've seen. Plus the story starts at possibly the beginning of an epidemic with what seems to be patient zero, so like the characters in the movies we have no idea what's going on. 


Before I started with this list I imagined there were a lot of found footage movies out there but there really isn't and few good ones.

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So that's it...my three picks. What three movies made your list today?



If you are participating be sure to add your blog post to the linky widget below (Enter your Blog Post URL, your Blog Name and your email {which will remain hidden}). Please also visit the other participating blogs, spread the word about this meme, and also link back to my blog on your own Thursday Movie Picks post :)
 
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Participating Blogs/Bloggers

Monday, October 13, 2014

Weekly Recap #12: Blindless, Gotham, From Dusk Till Dawn...


Read

The book has an interesting premise of a blindness pandemic. I think it is less about not having sight but more on exploring what people would do when they know they are not monitored by people around them. Will they continue to regulate their own behaviors like they used to or will they not, now that there is no one to literally see and judge them doing uncouth and uncivilized things. I'm looking forward to seeing the movie which was made a few years ago. The book went to some dark places and I wonder if the movie took it that far.

Fallen by Lauren Kate 
This is another YA book that has been turned into a movie, set to be release next year. I've never been attracted to angel theme books because I don't like when books get religious and preachy. The very few angel theme ones I've read are on the fantasy, romance or apocalyptic side. Fallen is more fantasy/romance and I like this the least. Firstly it has a love triangle which is just so overused in YA books. Secondly we all already know Daniel is a fallen angel and that Luce and Daniel are a cursed couple (its in the book synopsis) and the book in the doesn't really go beyond being just a story about Luce finding out what we already know about Daniel and Luce. Thirdly nothing is ever explained. The shadows? The love story; we are just suppose to take that Luce and Daniel have this epic eternal love without giving any foundation to their love story? Why are they cursed? Fourth, why are the fallen angels all in one place masquerading not only as humans and but also that they are friends even when they are on different sides. I suppose things are left unresolved for the purpose of enticing its readers to read the 2nd book (it's a 4 book series), but having read the first book...not sure I'd pick up the second


TV


Downton Abbey Season 5 Episode 3
Edith has become irritating again. It was a bad idea bringing the child so near and now she's meddling in the rearing of the girl. Whoa Mary! Will she drop Gillingham...sure looks like it. And can everyone stop inviting Miss Bunting upstairs!

Am I missing something from the end of episode 2. So Gordon and Bullock caught the creepy kidnappers, but obviously something bigger is going on there right? I thought episode 3 was going to dig deeper into the case. But instead it's about a balloon vigilante?

What is wrong with Charlotte? she like latches on any new guy that comes around? And now with the fire? She's getting nuttier and people are so going to find out because it's so obviously arson...

I vaguely remember the movie. It had George Clooney and Selma Hayek with a snake and crazy club filled with vampires...that's about it. It has since been made into a TV series and I'm so glad one the cable channels is airing it albeit a little late. The first episode is explosive! Even though I can't remember which actors played what role in the movie, every time I see Seth Gecko speak I can imagine George Clooney speaking the same lines. Clooney obviously played this role in the movie and I'm right after checking IMDB. I love how they dressed the Gecko brothers in this. They look like they jumped out of some fashion magazine of course and just so out of place. Which in a way works because they so obviously are and so out of their depth with the turn of events or more like Richie being a little trigger happy. And Richie and those glasses...he does look insane doesn't he? Overall this series looks promising. I like the dialogue between the brothers, their relationship is interesting and I can't wait for the second episode.

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Thursday Movie Picks #13: Zombie Movies


Thursday Movie Picks


Hello and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks! We're now in the second week of the Halloween Edition. Once again brace yourself for some scary flicks as for 5 Thursdays in the month of October, the themes will all be Halloween related. 

October 2 - Unstable Characters (characters that seemed off...eg. Donnie Darko)
October 9 - Zombie Movies
October 16 - Found Footage Movies
October 23 - Vampire Movies
October 30 - Haunted Buildings

As you can see there are some fun themes in the coming weeks. So if you haven't join us already, now is definitely the time to.

Before we start let's go through some of the simple rules for the newbies; Each week there is a topic for you to create a list of three movies. Your picks can either be favourites/best, worst, hidden gems, or if you're up to it one of each. For more information and future topics please visit the Thursday Movie Picks page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Zombie Movies

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Ah zombie movies...I'm relatively quite new to them having only begun seeing them in the 2000s with 28 Days Later which have been argued to not technically be a zombie movie since the infected didn't die first before reanimating. Anyhoo...I have like most of the ones I've seen and 28 Days Later is a definite favourite, but it won't be part of my picks this week as I'm going for Hidden Gems.

Zombieland and Shaun of the Dead are the more popular zombie dark comedies so I thought I'd highlight Fido for one of my picks. Fido pretty much begins where Shaun of the Dead ends but set in the 50s. So imagine a world like Pleaseantville where zombies have been domesticated by having them wear collars making them controllable and productive members of society. In this world having a zombie servant becomes a desirable thing because it's all about keeping up with the Joneses right? Until of course...accidents happen.

So we already have a zombie comedy, let's now have a zombie romance, Romeo and Juliet style. Don't worry there's no tragic suicides here because Warm Bodies is light hearted fun comedy/drama/romance set in a zombie apocalypse. Plus R the Romeo in this tale is already dead. Yep he is a zombie. His brain has limited functionality (he can't even remember his name), just enough for him to know he is hungry and needs to eat people. That is until he eats one boy's brains and inherits his memories and the emotions tied to it. R soon find himself falling for Julie, a living girl from the boy's memory, and goes to great lengths to protect her from his fellow zombies. You're probably now thinking how the romance part works out since Julie is human and R is dead...it works out...you'd just have to see it.

After the delays, the reshoots the movie had and how different the story was reportedly to be from the book, I had expected World War Z to be disappointing. So I was quite surprise that it turn out to be an entertaining, heart pumping and action packed zombie flick. I'm not a fan of fast zombies...but it does make this zombie infested world extremely scarry. World War Z follows Gerry, a UN investigator, fly around the world to investigate the disease. So basically through him we see the zombie apocalypse on a global scale, which I don't think any other movie has done before, and certainly effectively gives a certain sense of escalating claustrophobia as we come to see no corner of the earth is untouched by the pandemic. I would also recommend the book. Other than the zombie apocalypse affecting the whole world, the story is vastly different. The major difference probably being that the book is made up of a series of accounts of the war by characters from different parts of the world from various backgrounds told to a UN agent interview style.

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So that's it...my three picks. What three movies made your list today?


If you are participating be sure to add your blog post to the linky widget below (Enter your Blog Post URL, your Blog Name and your email {which will remain hidden}). Please also visit the other participating blogs, spread the word about this meme, and also link back to my blog on your own Thursday Movie Picks post :)

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Participating Blogs/Bloggers



Sunday, October 5, 2014

Weekly Recap #11: Downton Abbey, Gotham, Revenge


So the past two weeks or so I've been watching a lot of TV because it's that time of the year where all the TV show have their series and season premieres. I think this is the first time ever that we've had so many scripted TV series making their premieres on the local cable channels the same week or some even within 24 hours of their US/UK premieres. These cable channels have finally figured that they either air these show immediately or not ever bring these shows in at all because no one will be watching them if they bring them a season or two late like they used to. 

Anyway...here's a recap of some, not all, of the series I've been watching.



The reality TV shows:

Amazing Race 25
Still love this show. It always fun seeing the contestant completing the challenges and navigating foreign countries under time and budget constraints. This is probably one of the most challenging game shows to play and I suppose especially to produce from a logistical standpoint. 

Survivor 29
Similarly I still love watching Survivor mostly for the strategic games the contestants play. It's still early days; the fun usually really begins when the tribes merge and the alliances start to come into play more.

X Factor 11 UK
I've only seen the US version which did not get a 4th season. The UK version is I believe where the show originated from and so the format is of course similar. Currently the contestants are at the judges houses. Thus far only the male solo acts have given amazing performance. 


Scripted TV:

Downton Abbey Season 5
The first season was the best. Each subsequent season after were inferior and this new one continue to be so. Mainly because the characters are acting so stupidly and the newer characters are just so very weak. Lady Rose I suppose was introduced to be the young blood in the Crawley family after Sybil death but argh she is just like the annoying teenage cousin. Then there's Miss Bunting who's suppose to be Tom's new love interest. She gets invited to a big dinner at the Crawley's and somehow makes comment after comment that insults them. 

Gotham Season 1
Not really a fan of most of the DC superheroes, but this seems really interesting having the story start off where it all began when Bruce parents were killed and yet not have Bruce be the protagonist. It's fun seeing all the younger versions of the characters in the Batman universe. It does get a little campy in the second episode with the two kidnapper characters. I'm also not getting why James Gordon is being frank with Bruce with the failings/corruption of the police department. Bruce is rich and very mature for a child, but still a child. Still I'm enjoying most of the show so far.

Revenge Season 4
I've been binge watching season 3 so that I could watch the season 4 premiere. It surprises me that I continue to enjoy this show which essentially is a revenge soap opera. But honestly it is a fun series with a lot of clever set ups which doesn't necessarily mean they all play out smoothly for Emily. Sometimes it's more fun when it doesn't and we get to see the characters carry out their contingency plans if they already have one or if they don't...just scramble. We lost two major characters in season 3 which was incredibly unexpected and so sad but I suppose necessary to illustrate the stakes. Now I'm looking forward with what they'll do in future episodes with the reemergence of a major character.




Thursday, October 2, 2014

Thursday Movie Picks #12: Unstable Characters


Thursday Movie Picks


Hello and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks! The Halloween Edition! Brace yourself for some scary flicks as for 5 Thursdays in the month of October, the themes will all be Halloween related. 

October 2 - Unstable Characters (characters that seemed off...eg. Donnie Darko)
October 9 - Zombie Movies
October 16 - Found Footage Movies
October 23 - Vampire Movies
October 30 - Haunted Buildings

As you can see there are some fun themes in the coming weeks. So if you haven't join us already, now is definitely the time to.

Before we start let's go through some of the simple rules for the newbies; Each week there is a topic for you to create a list of three movies. Your picks can either be favourites/best, worst, hidden gems, or if you're up to it one of each. For more information and future topics please visit the Thursday Movie Picks page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Unstable Characters (characters that seemed off...eg. Donnie Darko)


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Stories with unstable characters are always interesting because things are almost never as they seem. Here are some of my favourites as usual in alphabetical order:

There are so many creepy kids movies that it can be a sub genre itself and Orphan is one of the newer entries. Esther the orphan is the creepy kid in this movie and she is definitely weird. She wears clothes that look like they belong to a few decades before and always has this ribbon choker thing around her neck which reminds me of an eerie folk tale of sorts of a ribbon wearing woman. Possessing a mature intelligence, Esther charms her way into the hearts of her adoptive parents, but its clear to us pretty soon that Esther has more than some anger management issues

Psycho (1960) - "A Phoenix secretary steals $40,000 from her employer's client, goes on the run and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother."
This is a classic. I'm not sure anyone could ever go into this not knowing anything. I kind of wonder if I had known nothing of Psycho, would I have guessed when Marion first meets Norman that Norman was off his rocker? 

The story is somewhat similar to a certain Hitchcock movie (which I heard it was inspired by and shall not be name here so as to not be a spoiler) but has a different interesting twist to it. In Stoker, India is a quiet loner who has just lost her father and the arrival of her creepy Uncle Charlie is about to further shake her idyllic existence and awaken a suppressed side of her. Visually Stoker is just so pretty to look at despite the disturbing premise. Everything is just so stylish and immaculate which just heightens the suspense and tension incredibly well as we wait for that something terrible we know is coming to finally come out.

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So that's it...my three picks. What three movies made your list today?


If you are participating be sure to add your blog post to the linky widget below (Enter your Blog Post URL, your Blog Name and your email {which will remain hidden}). Please also visit the other participating blogs, spread the word about this meme, and also link back to my blog on your own Thursday Movie Picks post :)

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Participating Blogs/Bloggers

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