Movies Round Up Ep 006 (Midsommar, The Da Vinci Code, Suspiria 1977)

Midsommar 2019

Florence Pugh as Dani

I don't know if it's just because I had high expectations, but it was disappointing. It just felt unnecessarily long and what's this I'm hearing there's even an extended director's cut 😬. Why didn't they noped out of there the second they saw Hårga? I get that some people live in communes but they really have a cultish vibe from the get go. Also, no offense to Americans but I find it hard to believe not a single person in their group whined about things like food, lodging, etc..

I'm curious about some things though. It was mentioned that it's a special celebration that occurs every 90 years. The 9 day festival aside, they do celebrate midsommar yearly. Although the May Queen didn't necessarily have to be from the outside they bring in new people every now and then (even if they're not all killed, some would stay in there as new members of the family etc.). How would they explain all the missing people? People go missing all the time sure, but if it happens constantly won't someone bound to notice? I mean, it wasn't covered in the film, but even if the "pilgrims" specifically chose people who have little to no family/friends surely a handful of people must know that they went to Sweden and never came back? I went to google to read on reviews, meanings, analyses and interviews with Ari Aster to see if I'm missing something because I don't get why people like it so much. The director saying he sees the movie as a fairy tale is an interesting take. I may have to rewatch to appreciate it more but I just don't have any desire to, at least not so soon. 

Might as well talk about this, but after reading about lush caves in Minecraft, I've learned about the Swedish illustrator John Bauer (one of his paintings, "Stackars lilla basse!" made an appearance in Midsommar, and his "Oskuldens Vandring" inspired the lush caves biome). His painting was used in a shampoo bottle and commercial in the 1970's / 1980's (it says 70s on the Swedish wiki and 80s on the English one). The brand is Timotei Timotej. The ads itself had someone with a long blonde hair and white clothes but I'm trying to find a photo of the actual shampoo bottle with Princess Tuvstarr on it. All the old bottles that I've seen only has an illustration of a flower on it. The print ad below is from 1977 and the TV commercial is from the 80s



The Da Vinci Code 2006

I remember liking the book when I was a teen but I was too young to watch it at the theaters back then and I guess it slipped my mind as I got older. Finally decided to watch the film and it literally took me several days to finish it. I was thinking the movie had no business to be nearly 3 hours long but I didn't realize I was watching the extended version (I'm dumb).

It's probably more than 15 years since I've read the book so I know what the story is about but I forgot all the details. I guess making the movie made sense at the time because the book was popular and controversial but I'm not sure if it holds up more than a decade later. I've read the summary of the book afterwards and it seems they didn't stray far from the story. However, it wasn't as interesting as I remembered and it felt that they just slapped on a popular actor for the movie and that's it. Not sure if it's because I know what's going to happen at the end but it was underwhelming. 

"I've never met a girl who knew that much about a cryptex."

Suspiria 1977

When I was looking for a movie to watch, I was choosing between the original Suspiria film or the 2018 remake. One look at the movie stills from the 1977 film, I knew I had to watch it. It certainly didn't disappoint and I'm actually surprised at how much I ended up liking it. The cinematography is just stunning. I really loved the colours and specifically, how the first murder scene was shot. Of course the effects look flimsy in todays' standards, but it still did a good job in creeping me out and making me nervous, especially when Sara (Stefania Casini) fled to the attic. If I have to nitpick, the first two murders completely outshine the ending sequence, I think. And also we didn't see much of Olga's (Barbara Magnolfi) character? When Suzy (Jessica Harper) first entered Tanz Dance Akademie (the name reminds me of Dance Dance Revolution lmao) we only saw a glimpse of Olga talking on the phone and when she went up the staircase. But with that black dress and thigh high slit she absolutely ATE. From the way it was set up in the earlier in the film, it felt that they were going to involve her more in the story later on but no. In my mind, she knew about the coven and is wanting to join. Anyway, it's an absolute delight to watch. I will definitely be binging on other Dario Argento movies soon.

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