I’m gonna firmly say nothing going on in the world right now is as weird and confusing as Valerie and Her Week of Wonders. I mean seriously what did I just watch? I think the part that is really hard for me is that I get it. Like, with the readings and some online research I understand what the movie was about. But I think what really gets to me is that I expected a movie with a totally nonsensical plot so I would just be able to focus on the visual beauty. Instead I found myself scratching my head to decipher metaphors and symbolism the whole time because there definitely IS a plot. But even then, the events don’t really make sense still. I’m trying to put into words what I mean. I think the best way to put it is that this movie had just enough of a coherent plot that I wanted to follow it but it didn’t make enough sense in the end to reward someone who tried to follow it. That isn’t to say that I didn’t get the plot, it just wasn’t a satisfying way of getting there. I’ll be honest (and I might catch some flak for this) I think Valerie was an incredibly boring character. Every time she started to get interesting she would revert back to some scene to convey her innocence and it was infuriating. I felt like she would start to grow only to revert back to the way she was before. I’m not even entirely convinced that she didn’t revert back at the end of the movie. For a movie that was about growth and puberty, I felt like every step she made forward was followed by two steps back. On the other hand, I absolutely loved the visuals and the costume work. That was all fantastic. I guess I really don’t have an opinion past indifferent towards the movie. If I had to pick an incredibly pretentious art house movie it would be this I guess? I don’t really know.
This week we had some really good presentations from the readers and also a presentation about Scream. Without the readings I definitely wouldn’t have known where to even start with my post about the movie so that was invaluable. Scream actually is one of the few horror movies I like because it almost feels like a movie you have to watch. I don’t like horror at all so it’s really weird that I like Scream, but I remember watching it at a sleep over with friends when I was young and having a great time watching it. It was an awesome presentation! I also presented this week and I want to apologize for how long mine went. I know mine started pretty late too so it was gonna go over anyway but still. I just had so much I wanted to talk about. My original presentation when I practiced it was closer to around 45 minutes so I definitely cut a lot out but I really hope I convinced some people to give Blade Runner and its sequel 2049 a watch!
Cult Movies 
Hi Chris! Don’t worry Im not going to roast you for saying Valerie was a really boring character! I Really liked what you said about her taking two steps back for every step forward. I hadn’t really realized that but once you said it I couldn’t agree with you more! I can think of a few different pretentious art house films for you to watch so you don’t have to settle for this one if you want. I mention two in my own blog post this week. I thought your presentation was yes long, but great. If you read Spencer’s blog this week he had a great line that I hope he doesn’t mind me stealing, where he said your presentation, “ran long with passion.” You are obviously a huge fan of Blade Runner 2049 and have inspired me to go check it out. You did an awesome job and thank you for not making us sit through the first 45 minute edition!
LikeLike
I watch the Scream Parody first before I even watched the original movie. I watched the original movie my freshman year with my roommate and it was better then I expected and you have to force me to watch a scary movie but I really enjoyed it and it was fun to watch and the ending is surprising. Netflix even had a show series called scream and that one is really good too. I would recommend it.
LikeLike
I agree. I watched the film twice in my attempt to understand what the plot even was. Until I did the readings I had no idea the statue with bees was Adam and Eve, and the fact she ate apples a lot missed me entirely. This film is filled with so much to unpack and appreciate that it’s hard to just watch it once and call it done. I think that makes it even better. Even though it’s hard to follow sometimes it gives you something new every time you watch it, like a prize in the cereal box, but you get one with every bowl.
Scream is my all-time favorite scary movie. I grew up loving Ghostface. Although the rest of the series drops off the farther into the franchise it goes you love it just the same. I also loved the Netflix series, starring a new storyline and cast. Although, I was not so impressed with the final season where the cast and plot are completely tossed aside for a new one, so I just skip that season like it never happened.
LikeLike
I loved your presentation on Blade Runner 2049 this week, it made me realize why I like that move again and why I try to watch it at least once a year. I liked how you mentioned how fantastic the visuals are in the film. I think that the plot was easy to understand, but that is my own opinion, I could see why somebody could get confused about the plot and where the film is going during it.
LikeLike