Bug's Favorite Movies

 Hello! I'm Bug and welcome to my blog! The site is still under construction so if it looks a little barebones then I apologize.  But! I hope a little bit about some of my favorite movies will be enough to keep you occupied. These are in no particular order, just some of my favorites in general. Hope you like them too!

   

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        Up first is Evil Dead 2 by Sam Raimi and starring Bruce Campbell. I am a huge fan of the horror comedy genre and I think that Evil Dead 2 really nails it. It has some amazing and terrifying cinematography while also being goofy and gory and fun throughout. Also the choreography is wonderful. Bruce Campbell is an amazing physical actor. Putting his whole body into every moment on screen. From fighting with his own hand to nearly drowning standing up from fake blood. Evil Dead 2 is a god damn riot and I love it with my whole heart.

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Auteur director Neil Breen's magnum opus. Fateful Findings is a tour de force in dramatic sci-fi storytelling. Telling you anything risks ruining the film itself. It feels like eternity and I have watched it upwards of 10 times.

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The Princess Bride is one of the most whimsical and charming films of all time. Every moment is an absolute delight and it never lampshades it's own silliness. The moments of beauty and humor align perfectly rather than contradict each other and it creates a film that is a masterclass in every genre it dabbles in. A perfect example of how to make a movie that uses it's humor and heart to accent each other and bring out more in both. The Princess Bride truly feels one of a kind. So many films nowadays feel like they're trying to use humor to take away from their serious moments. Like they're warning the audience to never get too invested because the movie itself isn't. The Princess Bride destroys that insincerity with a kind of genuine joy that is hard come by in today's blockbuster landscape.

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A camp masterpiece. But I'm a Cheerleader stands out as one of the funniest films of the 90s and my favorite queer movie of all time. The entire film oozes color and charm and it uses the aesthetics of the film with fantastic intelligence. Juxtaposing the overly simplified, cookie cutter world of the conversion therapy camp with the complexities and darker tones found in real world sexuality. Using its set design to show just how much our ideas of gender roles and sexuality are simply wrong. A great film on a variety of levels that I highly suggest. Also, Dante Basco is in it and hearing the voice of Zuko say a lot of these lines is just hilarious.

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Speed Racer fucks. This movie is truly just radical and is a sugar rush for the eyes throughout its entire runtime. It is by far the Wachowski sisters' best film and I don't even think it's close. The final race is a cinematic climax that pays off on every bit of foreshadowing provided throughout the lengthy run time. This movie flopped at the box office hard but if you want a movie that looks beautiful as hell, has a lot of heart, and is often very funny, then I highly suggest it.

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Akira Kurosawa's best work. This film adaptation of Shakespeare's King Lear drives a knife into your heart and makes every god damn moment tense to the point of terror. And that's not even mentioning how stunningly beautiful it is. I watched Seven Samurai before this and Kurosawa has a unique talent with ending his movies. The final shot is so profoundly beautiful and tragic in both films. Kurosawa uses the camera to engrave his vision into your skull. Leaving you with a stunned silence that few films have ever evoked from me. Watch it.

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Spielberg is best known for his charming characters and feel-good narratives. Schindler's List is not one of those films. It is a tense story of a man trying to atone and a film that will confront you with the lowest points in human history. Another film defined by its use of color, Schindler's List beats you down over and over again with the unassailable fact that people did this. That humans, just like you and me, hated enough to seek out the total destruction of an innocent people. Even if Schindler saved many, to him it is not enough. And the audience is made to bare witness to horrors that he profited from before he decided to make a difference. A horrible reminder of the damages that fascism wreaks and a sign that you can do something to stop it, if you're willing to stand up.

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The Thing is the best murder mystery film of all time. A film so good at building tension and terror that when watching the film I was actively scared of a dog. It will have you constantly searching for any sign of what's to come as the alien monstrosity works it's way through the crew. But there is no escape. The artic setting of the film trapping our characters perpetually in a permafrost. Tightly paced with absolutely beautiful practical effects, The Thing will draw you in to its horrible little world and leave you terrified to leave. After all, whose to say there isn't a perfect mimic in your home as we speak?

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A bit of a double feature for our last entry, the first two Alien films serve as quite possibly the best sci-fi stories ever put to screen. Alien is a tense, dangerous film. The setting is cramped and hostile and our main character is horribly outmatched. Ellen Ripley cannot fight the Xenomorph. She has to run and hide and pray to escape with her life and it is a terrifying experience. Aliens somehow keeps that same tension despite being a wholly different genre. Now they can fight. Xenomorphs go down in droves throughout the film but even when better equipped and trained, there is still a constant tension. Both films have a remarkable amount to say about the concepts of motherhood and how corporations harm people and they act as a perfect duology.