COLUMN: Sydney Sweeney is deliciously deranged in nunsploitation horror ‘Immaculate’
The world owes Sydney Sweeney an apology.
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The world owes Sydney Sweeney an apology.
At the start of “Love Lies Bleeding,” we find ourselves rising out of a dark gorge, deep in the New Mexico desert. Shrouded in a hazy red glow, the hellish history of this location feels tangible. Although its significance isn’t revealed until later, the sinister energy clawing at the chasm’s rocky sides lingers under the film’s pulpy, provocative surface.
This is perhaps my most stereotypical “film bro” take, but I think Joel and Ethan Coen are two of the greatest American directors working today. I love the Coen brothers as much as the Dude from “The Big Lebowski” loves White Russians. I’d even go so far as to say I take pride in being an expert on the “Coenesque.” From their lovably eccentric characters to their critical but oftentimes playful exploration of nihilism and its fallacies, the Coens have mastered the art of making films that are widely accessible and thematically dense.
In 1855, Walt Whitman’s gargantuan poem “Song of Myself” was published, and the world was blessed with one of his most influential verses: “Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes.).”
We’re so back.
One thing about me — I love bad movies. But in my never-ending quest to find the next great bad movie, I sometimes stumble upon films undeserving of this reputation at all. I won’t call the older films on this list “ahead of their time” – sometimes a film’s datedness is what makes it loveable – but their comedic sensibilities do seem better suited for modern audiences. Of course, taste is subjective, but the five films that I’ve chosen to highlight feel distinctly misunderstood for their time.
Due to my unfortunate theater kid tendencies, I was a huge fan of the “Mean Girls” musical in high school. I frequently watched “slime tutorials” (if you know, you know) and belted the songs on my way home from school. I may have been an alto, but nothing was going to stop me from belting “I’d Rather Be Me” — an angst-ridden, voice-destroying ballad — or “World Burn” — Regina George’s second act showstopper.
According to my Letterboxd Year in Review, I watched 565 films in 2023; a number that, when shared as a personal fun fact during class introductions this past week, made one of my professors gasp. I can only hope his seemingly involuntary response stemmed from admiration, and not concern. Yeah, let's go with that.
A year ago, if you told me “Saw X” would be one of my favorite films of 2023, I probably would have responded with, “Wait — they’re making a tenth one? Gross!”
Twenty years ago, after unsuccessfully shopping the idea in their home country of Australia, two film school graduates arrived in Los Angeles armed with a proof-of-concept short film, a creepy puppet and a screenplay that would eventually spawn one of the most iconic horror franchises of all time.
In August, I watched and logged 33 horror movies on Letterboxd – an app used by both serious cinephiles and casual moviegoers to write reviews, find new films and track ones they’ve already seen. Every sweltering night, I would come home to my apartment, crank the A/C and pick a horror movie to decompress with. You may be wondering: “how does one decompress with scenes of gruesome terror and visceral violence?” To which I’d say, I don’t know – I’m just a girl in her horror era.
Since I saw “Oppenheimer” for the first time, I’ve been trying to piece together my thoughts on the film. But I can’t.
In this life, few things are as consistent as the “Mission: Impossible” movies. Even the worst film in the franchise — which, in my recognizably unpopular opinion, is the third film — has its merits. With each new entry, the scope of the story somehow gets bigger, and Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) faces threats that are increasingly more menacing. From deadly viruses to secret terrorist organizations, it seems like nothing can beat Hunt and his team of IMF — Impossible Mission Force — agents.
The day was June 28. The air: humid and dreary. As I sat on my phone scrolling through Twitter, I never could’ve anticipated the horror that I was about to experience. But then, it happened: I read those fateful words.
As a Wes Anderson loyalist who is tired of seeing his style corrupted by AI programs like ChatGPT and Midjourney, I was more than excited to see his eleventh feature film, “Asteroid City,” on the big screen. Not only is “Asteroid City” Anderson’s most soulful live-action film since “The Darjeeling Limited,” but it also exists as a reminder that artificial intelligence will never be able to capture the intricacies of what makes his style so special.
With the first day of summer quickly approaching – June 21 to be exact – I find myself aching to make this summer break count. If you’re a rising senior like me, you’re probably familiar with this restless feeling. After all, it is our last summer break before we enter – pause for dramatic effect – the real world.
Let me preface this by saying that I’m not the biggest fan of live-action remakes.
Like a raccoon looting through food scraps in a dumpster, I’ll watch anything I can get my hands on. Foreign cinema, horror films, romantic comedies, weird b-movies nobody’s heard of — I like it all. That’s not to say I don’t have my preferences though, and big action franchises are definitely near the bottom of my roster.
“Avengers: Endgame” was a miracle for Marvel Studios. One of the biggest blockbusters of all time in terms of budget, profit and sheer scale, “Endgame” was a worldwide phenomenon years in the making. The film was by all means, a complete and utter success.
Is it just me, or was this semester especially draining? Now that we’re nearing the finish line, I’m ready to unwind by doing what I do best: watching movies.