2021 Thursday Movie Picks Schedule (Final)

Hi everyone! Thanks to everyone who submitted a theme suggestion. There were some interesting suggestions that I just couldn't pick, because as you know being a host I participate in every single one of the TMPs and I would have had to sit out on some of them as, if you've been a frequent reader of my blog or comments, I've mentioned here and there that I don't watch Anime, watch few Docu Films and few black and white movies and so far none silent ones. Basically I only pick themes that I know I can participate :) .

Here is the updated final schedule which I will also post on the Thursday Movie Picks page for your easy reference. 

Any questions or clarification needed please leave a comment.

 

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2021 Thursday Movie Picks Schedule (Final)

January 7 -  Oscar Winners Edition: Best Picture
January 14 - 2020 Releases
January 21 - Police Detective
January 28 - TMP Television Edition: 2020 Freshmen Series
February 4 - Romance Tropes Edition: Fake Relationship
February 11 - Romance Tropes Edition: Friends to Lovers
February 18 - Romance Tropes Edition: Forbidden Love
February 25 - Romance Tropes / TMP Television Edition: Love Triangles
March 4 - Oscar Winners Edition: Best Actor and Best Actress
March 11 - Movies That Haven't Aged Well [Suggested by Getter]
March 18 - Fake Identity
March 25 - TMP Television Edition: Opening Title Sequence
April 1 - Oscar Winners Edition: Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress
April 8 -  Amateur Sleuths
April 15 - Female Cinematographers [Suggested by Brittani]
April 22 - Psychological Thriller
April 29 - TMP Television Edition: TV Score and/or Theme Song
May 6 - Oscar Winners Edition: Best Director
May 13 - Period Dramas
May 20 - Cyberpunk
May 27 - TMP Television Edition: Globetrotting (Scripted, Non-reality, Non-travel, Non-docu series)
June 3 - Oscar Winners Edition: Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay
June 10 - Worst Book to Movie Adaptations [Suggested by ThePunkTheory]
June 17 - Natural Disaster
June 24 - TMP Television Edition: Fish Out of Water
July 1 - Oscar Winners Edition: Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects
July 8 - Female Athletes
July 15 - Non-English Language Movies
July 22 - Summer Break
July 29 - TMP Television Edition: Book Adaptations
August 5 - Oscar Winners Edition: Best Costume Design and Best Makeup and Hairstyling
August 12 - Movies that Confused You [Suggested by Brittani]
August 19 - Treasure Hunt
August 26 - TMP Television Edition: Books You Want to be Adapted into a TV Series
September 2 - Oscar Winners Edition: Best Original Score and Best Original Song
September 9 - Actors or Actresses Playing Themselves
September 16 - Outlaws
September 23 -  Femme Fatales
September 30 -TMP Television Edition: Non-English
October 7 - Halloween Edition: School
October 14 - Halloween Edition: Folk or Urban Legend
October 21 - Halloween Edition: Horror Comedy
October 28 - Halloween/ TMP Television Edition: Horror
November 4 - Oscar Winners Edition: Best Animated Movie
November 11 - Dream Sequences
November 18 - Book Adaptations
November 25 - TMP Television Edition: Mystery
December 2 - Oscar Winners Edition: Best Foreign Language Movie
December 9 - Rags to Riches
December 16 - New to the City
December 23 - Holiday Party
December 30 -TMP Television Edition: Holiday

Thursday Movie Picks #338: TMP Television Edition - Space / Aliens

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five titles and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is TMP Television Edition -  Space / Aliens

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Well this is a tough theme. I just realised I don't really watch that many sci-fi series and much less those that takes place in space or have aliens. The only recent one is The Expense. So my picks today are Alien TV series I saw as a kid.

Roswell (1999–2002)

The series follow three alien teens as they navigate life and high school. They lead very human lives hiding their alien powers well until one of them saves a classmate. This was one of my favourite teen shows growing up. I'm quite surprised I have yet to talk about it on this blog because I was like really into this series back then and would check out the fan websites for all the latest news. The series was so much fun and the two main leads had such great electric chemistry. I know the series got a reboot/re-imagining recently with the characters aged up to being adults; I hope it eventually gets added to Netflix so I can watch it.

The Outer Limits  (1995 - 2002)

This is a sci-fi horror anthology series which I saw mostly the first few seasons. I don't actually remember any of the episodes except for one. It was the very first episode of season one that was about these insects taken from soil samples from Mars, I remember it really scaring me. Apparently that episode was an adaptation from George R.R. Martin's short novel.

 

The X-Files (1993 - 2018)

This is another series that I'm surprised I've never talked about on this blog since it formed a large part part of my childhood TV experience. However, like The Outer Limits, I really don't remember any of the episodes since it was so long ago and I only saw the seasons that were from the 90s. I was probably too young to have seen the series then and some of the episodes were scary; I would cover my eyes...still I would stay tuned for the next episode.

 

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Thursday Movie Picks #337: Holiday Action Movies

 

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share your movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five movies and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Holiday Action Movies

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I've been watching quite a number of 80s and 90s action movies this past year, so today's theme was easy. In fact, these are the very movies that inspired it.

P.S. I've posted the Preliminary 2021 Schedule last Sunday, check it out here.

Lethal Weapon (1987)

I really enjoyed this one. It's a fun action packed buddy movie with two leads that have great chemistry. And it's also set around the holidays. Remember when they had the big fight in Murtaugh's front yard where the house and yard was in full Christmas decor.

Die Hard (1988)

I basically saw this because Peralta in Brooklyn Nine-Nine is obsessed with Die Hard and I hadn't seen it yet. It was ok, I was not that charmed by it. Anyway the whole premise is McClane attends his wife's office Christmas Party when a group of terrorists comes in and hold the building hostage.

Die Hard 2 (1990)

This one is similarly set around the holidays. McClane is waiting at the airport for his wife's plane to arrive when of course a group of terrorists come and seize control of the airport. I actually prefer Die Hard 2 to the first. McClane is interacting with a lot more people and covering a lot more ground (it being an airport and all); there's just a lot more things going on rather than McClane by himself like in the first movie and I just found this funnier.

 

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2021 Thursday Movie Picks Schedule (Preliminary)

 
Hi everyone! The upcoming 2021 run of Thursday Movie Picks will be the eighth year I'm doing the series. I'm amazed that some of you are still here joining me each week.

This year I'm running two special edition themes. First is the Romance Tropes Edition which will of course run in February. This, I hope will be an annual edition just like the Halloween Edition with different themes each year. The second one is the Oscar Winners Edition. It will be on the first Thursday of each month. Since I only have ten Thursdays for it (as October is all Halloween and February now all taken up), I've had to do double categories for some Thursdays. For example "Best Actor and Best Actress", "Best Song and Best Score", etc. For these you can pick 3-5 movies for each category, so a maximum of 10 if you're up for the challenge, or pink 3-5 movies for both categories.

As you know with each year, it has been harder and harder coming up with new themes, which is why I have some fixed returning themes. I also require a little help from you for some theme suggestions. I have a few dates open; EIGHT in total (I've highlighted the dates, but please note I may rearrange the order of all the themes on the final schedule). If you're interested in submitting themes here are the submission criteria:

a) must have participated in a few TMPs and have been an active commenter on my TMP blog posts.
b) submit three (no more as I'll probably have a hard time choosing) suggestions by posting a comment on this post. Only on this post.
c) please submit suggestions by December 29 as Final Schedule will be released latest by December 31.

Any questions or clarification needed please leave a comment.

 

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2021 Thursday Movie Picks Schedule (Preliminary)

January 7 -  Oscar Winners Edition: Best Picture
January 14 - 2020 Releases
January 21 - Police Detective
January 28 - TMP Television Edition: 2020 Freshmen Series
February 4 - Romance Tropes Edition: Fake Relationship
February 11 - Romance Tropes Edition: Friends to Lovers
February 18 - Romance Tropes Edition: Forbidden Love
February 25 - Romance Tropes / TMP Television Edition: Love Triangles
March 4 - Oscar Winners Edition: Best Actor and Best Actress
March 11 -
March 18 - Fake Identity
March 25 - TMP Television Edition: Opening Title Sequence
April 1 - Oscar Winners Edition: Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress
April 8 -
April 15 -
April 22 - Psychological Thriller
April 29 - TMP Television Edition: TV Score and/or Theme Song
May 6 - Oscar Winners Edition: Best Director
May 13 - Period Dramas
May 20 -
May 27 - TMP Television Edition: Globetrotting (Scripted, Non-reality, Non-travel, Non-docu series)
June 3 - Oscar Winners Edition: Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay
June 10 -
June 17 - Natural Disaster
June 24 - TMP Television Edition: Fish Out of Water
July 1 - Oscar Winners Edition: Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects
July 15 - Non-English Language Movies
July 22 - 
July 29 - TMP Television Edition: Book Adaptations
August 5 - Oscar Winners Edition: Best Costume Design and Best Makeup and Hairstyling
August 12 -
August 19 - Treasure Hunt
August 26 - TMP Television Edition: Books You Want to be adapted into a TV Series
September 2 - Oscar Winners Edition: Best Original Score and Best Original Song
September 9 - Actors or Actresses Playing Themselves
September 16 -
September 23 -  Femme Fatales
September 30 -TMP Television Edition: Non-English
October 7 - Halloween Edition: School
October 14 - Halloween Edition: Folk or Urban Legend
October 21 - Halloween Edition: Horror Comedy
October 28 - Halloween/ TMP Television Edition: Horror
November 4 - Oscar Winners Edition: Best Animated Movie
November 11 - Dream Sequences
November 18 - Book Adaptations
November 25 - TMP Television Edition: Mystery
December 2 - Oscar Winners Edition: Best Foreign Language Movie
December 9 - Rags to Riches
December 16 - New to the City
December 23 - Holiday Party
December 30 -TMP Television Edition: Holiday

Thursday Movie Picks #336: Films Directed by a Female Director

 

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share your movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five movies and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Films Directed by a Female Director

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Today's theme is a suggestion from Brittani. Well I'm going to be pretty random and pick 3 movies that I like that were directed by women. And I'm doing a theme within a theme.

P.S. I'll be posting the preliminary 2021 schedule this weekend, so come and check it out.

The Virgin Suicides (1999)
A group of men tell a story of the Lisbon sisters, who they were obsessed with when they were teenagers, who had all committed suicide over the course of a few months. I had read the book and loved it and then saw the movie which I thought captured the book's dreamy nostalgic melancholy perfectly. Sofia Coppola had both adapted the screenplay and directed the movie and this still remains my favourite movie of hers.

Somersault (2004)

An Australian coming of age tale about a teenage girl who runs away from home to a mountain town. Written and directed by Cate Shortland who is also the director of the upcoming Black Widow. I remember this the least since I saw this just the once quite some time ago but I remember liking it and that it had a good performance by Abbie Cornish; this I think was her breakout role.

Jennifer's Body (2009) 

A cheerleader develops an insatiable appetite for boys in this horror comedy. I liked this when it came out and though it was not well received then, I thought that it would eventually be a cult favorite one day. Karyn Kusama also directed another horror movie I like, The Invitation, which was a more tension filled horror thriller.

 

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Thursday Movie Picks #335: Movies for Seniors / The Elderly

 

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share your movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five movies and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Movies for Seniors / The Elderly

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I've been noticing, say in the last ten years or so, that there are more movies where the main character or an ensemble of characters are the elderly and touching on issues that are part of aging which I thought were clearly targeted at seniors. Rightly so, I guess, since there are quite a lot of places experiencing an aging population where these seniors have both the buying power and the time to watch movies and wouldn't they want to see themselves reflected on screen. Studios have got to tap that market right? Plus there are those senior citizen discounts movie theaters tend to have to get seniors into theaters. Anyway here are the movies I like.

Our Souls at Night (2017)
Two old neighbours who have each lost their spouse some years back have had little contact with one another until out of loneliness one of them seek companionship from the other. I had actually happen to have seen Barefoot in the Park (1967) starring Fonda and Redford which had played on TV just before this premiered on Netflix. 50 years later and I think both of them still have pretty good chemistry.

The Meddler (2015)

A widow moves to Los Angeles to be closer to her adult daughter after her husband's death. When her daughter rejects her over-mothering, she plays the mother role to her daughter's friends and an employee at a store she frequents. I like this one, it's quite sad and sweet too. Susan Sarandon plays the widow, who's lonely and a little desperate to do something and be needed hence the over-mothering which her daughter just doesn't want. So she sort of have to find her own place in a new city and make new friends.

Quartet (2012)

Set in a home for retired musicians, a group of residents' preparation for a concert is disrupted by the arrival of a new resident. I don't remember this as much since I haven't seen this for quite some time. But I remember enjoying it and thinking it was just very charming and funny.

 

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Thursday Movie Picks #334: Adaptations

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share your movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five movies and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Adaptations

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Today is one of those annual themes. I'm picking once again recent watches. I haven't read any of the books they're based on, but I did enjoy their adaptations.

Enola Holmes (2020)

Based on a children's book series - Sherlock Holme's teen sister, Enola, sets off on her own to find her missing mother using what she thinks are clues left by her. This was such a charming, funny and fun adventure movie. If I was 12, I would have loved this and probably watch it repeatedly.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018)
Based on the book of the same name - A writer forms a friendship with residents of Guernsey Island who had formed a book club during WWII where reading and talking about books became an escape from the harsh life of living under Nazi occupation. I picked this back for the Bookish theme and it's here again as it fittingly fits today's theme and because I like this charming romantic drama.

Stonehearst Asylum (2014)

Based on a short story by Edgar Allen Poe - A new graduate, the alienist Dr Newgate arrives at Stonehearst Asylum to expand his training. He soon realises something is not quite right in the asylum. Asylums are scary especially those ones in the past; if you've heard of Nellie Bly, you'd know of how terribly patients used to be treated. The ill treatment of patients plays a large role in what eventually happens in the movie. Anyway I really enjoyed this gothic psychological drama and there are two good twists in the story: one which happens quite early on and the other at the very end.

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Thursday Movie Picks #333: TMP Television Edition - Non-English

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five titles and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is TMP Television Edition - Non-English

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So it's Thursday again and what's become my favourite Thursday of the month since I'm now watching more TV than movies. My picks are from the ones I have caught up with this year.

Borgen  (2010 - 2013) (2022 - )

A Danish series following the lives of politicians, press advisers and political journalists. I picked this two months ago for the journalist theme. Anyway, it's a really good drama, so definitely one to check out if you have a chance. And apparently Netflix has revived it for a season 4 in 2022 so I am looking forward to see what has happened to the characters since.

 

Rita (2012 - 2020) 

A Danish series following the life of the outspoken and rebellious teacher Rita. Just finished the latest season today and I have really liked this charming drama that's filled with humor and quirky characters and have enjoyed seeing how the characters' storylines have progressed over the years. This series has even been remade in a few countries and there's also a failed US pilot that never got picked for a season.

How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast)  (2019 - )

A German series following two teenagers who start an online store selling drugs. I really enjoyed this fun quirky comedy. If you like sort of those mockumentary type of thing, I would recommend this too, because in between the regular type of narrative following the two teens and their entrepreneurial adventures there are little snippets of the characters being interviewed for a sort of documentary that takes place sometime in the future talking about their experience. 

 

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Thursday Movie Picks #332: Movies about Villains

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share your movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five movies and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Movies about Villains

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Oh this is a fun theme. I'm picking 3 of my most recent watches that I like.

Joker (2019)

This was good. Most of the time it didn't even feel like it's about a comic book villain from the Batman universe, but just about a very tragic disturbing character. Joaquin Phoenix transformation into this character was also just hard to look at with how emaciated he looked.

 

Brightburn (2019)

This one has a real interesting premise: what if a Superman-like character that crash landed on earth as a child was evil? This one probably didn't live up to its potential with that great premise, but it was decent. I sorta expected it to be more of a dark superhero like movie, however it turned out to be more horror and pretty gory too.

Venom (2018)

Venom, if you aren't familiar, is one of the villains in the Spiderman universe. I didn't really know what to expect from this movie going in but I ended up liking it. It's a fun action movie and I liked how Venom looked. Very alieny monstrous. Though Eddie Brock doesn't go quite all that villainy yet in this, he was able to maintain some control over Venom. There is going to be a sequel so I am looking forward to it.

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Thursday Movie Picks #331: Favourite Cinematography

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share your movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five movies and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Favorite Cinematography

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Today's theme is a suggestion from Brittani and it is certainly a tough one in that there are just so many to choose from. So I'm doing a theme with a theme. My picks are all period dramas based on books I've read. I'm not going to name them, so have a guess what movies they are from the movie stills.

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Thursday Movie Picks #330: Bookish Movies

 

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share your movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five movies and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Bookish Movies

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When I set this theme Bookish Movies, it is meant to be more than just adaptations (a theme we already have annually) or movies about writers (a theme we had in 2016), though they could very well be that too since those things are not mutually exclusive. I would say the Bookish Movies theme is meant for those movies that are about the love of books and reading or a sort of homage to everything literary. Here are some of my top bookish picks:

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018)
A writer forms a friendship with residents of Guernsey Island who had formed a book club during WWII where reading and talking about books became an escape from the harsh life of living under Nazi occupation. This is one of my most recent watches. A bit of tearjerker but I really enjoyed this charming romantic drama.

 

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
The movie follows the lives of the eccentric members of the dysfunctional Tenenbaum family. This is one of my favourite movies and this is possibly not the most obvious choice for bookish movies, but here's why it's my pick. There's just a very storybook-like quality to almost all of Wes Anderson movies and it is especially so with The Royal Tenenbaums, visually and narratively. If you remember, it is told in chapters (each chapter introduced with an image of the first page of the respective book chapter if I recall correctly) and the movie is narrated by an unseen narrator. The movie is also populated by characters many of whom have written books and we get to see those books with their gloriously retro design book covers. And if you've seen the Criterion DVD, the slipcase is designed to look like a book and the DVD cover art inside has a very whimsical picture book sort of illustration. Basically The Royal Tenenbaums from the movie to the packaging of the DVD completely charms my bookish heart.

Dead Poets Society (1989)

A new English teacher teaches his students to appreciate poetry, express themselves and seize the day. Just one of my favourite movies ever. Once again it's about a group of people meeting up to talk about literary stuff.

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Thursday Movie Picks #329 Halloween/Television Edition - Horror

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share your movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five movies and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Halloween Edition/Television Edition - Horror

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Hey it's October again and it's time for the Halloween Edition. Take a look at what's in store for the rest of the month.

October 29 - Halloween/Television Edition: Horror

 

 

Last week of the Horror Edition and it's also the TV Edition. My picks today are the most recent horror TV series I've seen the past year.

 

True Blood (2008 -2014)
I had seen this back when it aired then had stopped until about season 3 or 4 and finally completed the series this year. Basically watched right from the start again. Overall I enjoyed it; it was a fun sexy horror dark comedy.

Castle Rock  (2018 - )
If you like Stephen King adaptations I'd recommend this though this isn't really an adaptation. It's new stories based around characters and settings made famous in some of King's books. I prefer the second season, less confusing and it has a more identifiable character that the story features, which was a younger Annie from Misery.

 

Servant (2019 - )

I really like this. It's basically about this couple whose baby died, I think from SIDS, and with the wife unable to accept the death, the family, upon a friend's advice decide to use a doll in place of the baby. The wife proceeds to treat it like her baby, alive and well. The series begins when the couple bring in a live-in nanny to care for the doll baby when the wife ends her maternity leave and restarting her job, which brings the weird to a whole new level. This series has such super creepy atmosphere and you can't decide who to be afraid for more, the young nanny staying in a household where one its members is suffering a mental illness, or the couple who have opened their home to a stranger from unknown origins.

Locke & Key  (2020 - )
This, if you didn't know, is based on a graphic novel of the same name written by Joe Hill (Stephen King's son). I have been waiting for an adaptation of this since I read it a few years ago and there had been a pilot episode shot in 2011 that was never picked up for a full series. While overall I did enjoy this new adaptation, I thought the depiction of the supernatural stuff was pretty decent, season one is still a bit of a disappointment. The problem is that I remember the graphic novel to be much more sinister in tone and this adaptation is just too PG and YA-ish. I'm hoping they make the tone in the second season darker and not waste such a great horror premise.

The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020 - )

This is from the team that brought The Haunting of Hill House. This time it's an adaptation of The Turn of the Screw. Like the other series, this too was a slow burn, it only really started to get good for me from episode 5 (just like on Hill House) where things start to make a lot of sense and we begin to see the connections. While not as great as Hill House, Bly Manor was still good and features some similar things like: a lot of jumps between past and present, characters who aren't fully aware of their being, a character self sacrificing to appease the restless and it is similarly more sad tragic horror rather than jump scares horror. Now I'm eagerly anticipating what other literary house this anthology is going to tackle. Some have speculated it's the Eel Marsh House from Susan Hill's The Woman in Black which I am so for, that house is creepy. Another literary house I think would be interesting is Hundreds Hall from Sarah Water's The Little Stranger.

 

 

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Thursday Movie Picks #328 Halloween Edition - Holiday Horror

 

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share your movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five movies and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Halloween Edition - Holiday Horror

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Hey it's October again and it's time for the Halloween Edition. Take a look at what's in store for the rest of the month.

October 22 - Halloween Edition: Holiday Horror
October 29 - Halloween/Television Edition: Horror

 

 

Well this was quite tricky, trying to remember what movies was set against what holiday. My picks today are all non Halloween movies.

 

Escape Room (2019)
Staying on her college campus during Thanksgiving break, a young woman accepts a mysterious invitation to an Escape Room. It was an ok tension filled movie where the characters try to solve elaborate puzzles before time runs out. 

P2 (2007)
After working late at her office on Christmas Eve, a woman finds herself trapped in the garage and pursued by the crazy garage attendant. I don't remember much of this now, but I think it was an ok movie.

Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)

On a day trip to Hanging Rock on Valentine's Day, a few students from a girls' boarding school and a teacher disappear. One of my favourite movies. I wouldn't really categorise this as outright horror, I'd say this is more of a mystery drama that has some horror elements, in that people have gone missing, with subtle hints of the supernatural. Overall the movie is beautiful and eerie. Also the movie like the book cleverly misleads you into believing that it's based on a true story.

 

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Thursday Movie Picks #327: Halloween Edition - Snow / Winter Horror

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share your movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five movies and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Halloween Edition - Snow / Winter Horror

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Hey it's October again and it's time for the Halloween Edition. Take a look at what's in store for the rest of the month.

October 15 - Halloween Edition: Snow / Winter Horror
October 22 - Halloween Edition: Holiday Horror
October 29 - Halloween/Television Edition: Horror

 

 

I think the snow and cold makes a good backdrop for a horror movie. It sort of heightens the sense of both physical and psychological isolation. Anyway this is another hard one. Mostly because I'm running out of movies to pick from. These are all ones I've picked before for other themes.

The Blackcoat's Daughter a.k.a February (2015)
Other than the two staff staying off the main buildings, the last two girls stay alone at their boarding school waiting for their parents who seem to be late in picking them up for winter break. I like it. The whole being alone at a school that looks quite isolated in not great weather is already creepy. Throw in a girl who seems off and you're just dreading in what way it's all going to go wrong.
   

The Visit (2015)
Two siblings on their own visit their estranged grandparents whom they have never met before for a vacation. I like this one too. It starts off like a fun vacation with the kids quite excited to meet their grandparents for the first time but then things get weirder weirder.

Let the Right One In (2008) 

A bullied boy befriends his new strange neighbour. One of my favourites. I know the title is likely a play on the whole vampire lore of having to be invited into a home. But I also think it works in the case for Eli, in that she, the vampire, has to be careful who she lets into her secret, and we see that it's a cycle, that she had picked the right one in Oskar's predecessor.

  

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Thursday Movie Picks #326: Halloween Edition - Based on a True Story

 

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share your movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five movies and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Halloween Edition - Based on a True Story

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Hey it's October again and it's time for the Halloween Edition. Take a look at what's in store for the rest of the month.

October 8 - Halloween Edition: Based on a True Story
October 15 - Halloween Edition: Snow / Winter Horror
October 22 - Halloween Edition: Holiday Horror
October 29 - Halloween/Television Edition: Horror

 

This is so hard. Why did I ever come up with this theme.

 

An American Haunting (2005)

This is based on the story of the Bell Witch, which some believe is true while others think it's an urban legend of sorts. I saw this a long time ago. I remember not being impressed by it and that it starred the girl who played Wendy in Peter Pan.
   

The Exorcist (1973)
This was apparently inspired by a real exorcism on a teen boy in 1949. I am not a fan of possession/exorcism movies...I don't find them scary, I just find those possession scenes too over the top. What I did find scary, were the earlier parts of the film, before the full blown possession of Regan, where the changes in her was thought of as being a medical issue. She is sent to various medical tests and we see her mother scared and worried. That, I thought was scary and presented well. It was the kind of real horror that a lot people go through when they are sick, the stress and anxiety of having to go through test after test, a process of elimination, just to find a diagnosis.

Psycho (1960)
This was inspired by the story of Ed Gein. Out of the three movies I picked today, this is the only one I like.

 

 

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Participating Blogs/Bloggers

Thursday Movie Picks #325: Halloween Edition - Horror Movie Houses

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share your movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five movies and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Halloween Edition - Horror Movie Houses

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Hey it's October again and it's time for the Halloween Edition. Take a look at what's in store for the rest of the month.

October 1 - Halloween Edition: Horror Movie Houses
October 8 - Halloween Edition: Based on a True Story
October 15 - Halloween Edition: Snow / Winter Horror
October 22 - Halloween Edition: Holiday Horror
October 29 - Halloween/Television Edition: Horror

 

I find large old empty houses scary and they of course make great settings for horror movies. Here are some of the houses I remember.
   

The Haunting (1999)
I rewatched this again recently. I wasn't a fan of it then and still not now and it really just pales in comparison to the great TV series The Haunting of Hill House. But the house in the movie was memorable. It was this large empty mansion with a lot of very heavy ornamental decor...even after all these years I still remember the cherubic angel (or was it cupid) carvings (on the mantel?) which would suddenly move.  

Crimson Peak (2015) 
I didn't love this as much Guillermo del Toro's other period horror movies but I still thought it was an ok movie. And the house was memorable (it's this big dilapidated gothic mansion with a giant hole in the roof) as well as the imagery of the exterior of the house later in the snow with the red clay.

 

The Little Stranger (2018) 

Like Crimson Peak this one too features a crumbling mansion though it still has its roof and looks less gothic and more of a country home. The house is creepy in part because the family's fortunes have greatly reduced after WWII and with only one servant left to serve the family of three, the house is very empty and has that sad depressive atmosphere, which makes every weird thing that happens more creepy.

 

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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 series, and also link back to my blog on your own Thursday Movie Picks post :)

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Participating Blogs/Bloggers