Saturday Screen Time #43: Spooky season part one

Happy Saturday, everyone! It's almost Halloween! Since I haven't done one of these in a couple months, it seemed a good time to come back and update on my recent watches, both spooky and otherwise.

RECENTLY IN MOVIES

THE BEST

Butterfly Kisses - This one was a blind watch. I spotted it on a found footage list on Reddit and decided to give it a shot. It's definitely a low budget film, but sometimes those are the best kinds of found footage. This one follows two students working on a film project with the intention of getting a local legend on camera. It's definitely effective at building dread, even if it isn't a perfect movie. I'll probably give this one another watch next Spooky Season! (3.5/5 stars)

The 5000 Fingers of Dr T - I spent TWO full days trying to figure out the title of this movie. All I could remember was that I watched it in the 90s and it was like Dr. Seuss on acid. I searched everywhere (and it wasn't on the Wikipedia page for Dr. Seuss.) I finally stumbled across a website called 366 Weird Movies and, after combing through it, finally found the name! I ordered a copy and made my husband watch it with me. It's definitely just as weird as I remember. I'm so sad that this movie didn't have a better reception, but I truly believe it was ahead of its time. This movie is probably the strangest I've ever seen, but I'm so glad I found it again! (4/5 stars)

Enola Holmes - Of course I had to watch Enola Holmes! I guess everyone else watched it for Henry Cavill, but it just looked like a good movie to me, and I'm happy to report that I did enjoy it. The story was cute and I really enjoyed meeting a new character in Sherlock's world. The themes were a bit too on the nose at times and the editing took awhile to get used to, but it was a lot of fun! (4/5 stars)

Spiral - Another spooky movie! Spiral is about a gay couple who moves into a small community and one of them starts to notice the neighbors being weird. This movie had me wondering if things were really as off as they seemed or if it was all in the MC's head. It was definitely creepy and had me on the edge of my seat! I also loved seeing Jay from Unreal in something else! (4/5 stars)

Love and Monsters - I had absolutely no idea what this movie was about, but it was playing at our local drive-in. It was a NEW movie playing at a THEATER! Of course, we had to go pay the $6 to see it while safely distanced in our car. As the first new movie I've seen on a big screen since February, I have to say it didn't disappoint. The story was strangely uplifting and the monster design was amazing! I've already preordered a copy to commemorate this occasion and I really hope this turns into a franchise. (4/5 stars)

THE WORST

The Houses October Built - Well, they can't all be winners. This was another on Reddit's found footage list and unfortunately it was a miss. While the concept was interesting, I was bored out of my mind. I didn't hate it, but I won't be watching it again. (1.5/5 stars)

Mulan (2020) - Ugh. I never would have watched this so soon if my husband wasn't dying to see a new movie. Trust me, it was not worth the rental price. For whatever reason, they made Mulan into a Chosen One with superpowers and chose an actress who has no emotion whatsoever. Bring back Mushu! (1/5 stars)

The Devil All the Time - Okay, okay. I know this is supposed to be "artsy" and "deep," but I just could not. I am HERE for weird, slow movies, but this one was just not great. I can appreciate the incredible acting, which is why I'm giving it such a high rating, but it was honestly a mess of a film. It was dark and cruel for no real reason and the scenes seemed spliced together with no real coherent story. It was also about an hour too long. This just was not the movie for me. (2.5/5 stars)

Alone - Oof. Again, I was victim to my husband's need to rent new movies when there aren't many good options. This was a zombie movie in which the main character is trapped in an apartment during the outbreak. Once he spots a girl in an apartment across the courtyard, he proceeds to make the dumbest possible decisions over and over and I cannot. (1.5/5 stars)

RECENTLY IN TV

The Challenge: Invasion of the Champions - I forgot how much I love this show! This season was hard to watch at times as the champions invaded and dominated the rookies. I actually loved almost ever minute of it, but I'm taking a full star off for the really unfortunate final challenge. (4/5 stars)

The Vow - I watched an episode of a different show about NXIVM earlier this year, but I'm really glad it got a full series. This one follows a few individuals who left the cult and their journey as they attempted to bring it down. It's definitely fascinating, but I do wish there was a bit more focus on the inside workings of the cult. I believe there's another documentary series coming out on Starz that I'll probably watch soon! (4/5 stars)

Love Island - Infinitely better than this season of Big Brother, but still over the top and ridiculous, I did enjoy this season of Love Island. Some of the drama was too much, but the winners were amazing and perfect and it was a much-needed distraction from the garbage that is 2020. (4/5 stars)

RECENT DNF LIST