CineVibez Magazine Issue #8
Back to School Vibez
Welcome back to CineVibez Magazine, where every movie has a vibe … even It Ends with Us (hereafter IEWU). Just don’t ask me to explain the plot. Today, we’re going back to school with new segments on cinema’s greatest books & ‘zines. We’re even going to touch upon Chimp Crazy, a new docuseries streaming on Max. But first, movies!
Gossip Corner: It Ends with Us Ends
I saw IEWU at the Alamo Drafthouse a week or so ago. I ordered my Alamo go-to: two Modelos with lime and a side of fries. The packed audience included a lot of newbies, which is great to see (you know they’re new if they have questions about ordering food & drinks).
I’m sure you already know about this one’s premise and the depictions of domestic violence. What’s interesting, though, is that the movie shows you two different interpretations of the abuse scenes. You see one in real time depict the scene as an accident. After the abuse revelation, however, we see differently shot scenes now showing Ryle’s intent to cause harm. It is literally two different scenes.
Lily’s line about being an unreliable narrator needs to do a lot of heavy lifting to make this movie work. That way, you can assume the early scene showing the domestic violence as an accident is from Lily’s POV. It’s subsequently shown differently once Lily recognizes what’s really happening. So, one way to look at this as an attempt to show how victims blur reality to protect themselves. I won’t say this movie is a success, but it's an interesting experiment.
But what’s the vibe? The first 90 minutes is beat-for-beat a stereotypical romantic comedy. The domestic violence scenes initially look like lighthearted, poorly-landed jokes. The movie waits until the very last minute to reveal Ryle’s heel-turn. This movie is all over the place, but I consistently thought it would make a great Lifetime movie. Let’s go with Lifetime Movie vibez.
TBPH, the “behind-the-scenes” drama revealed on the press tour is more interesting than the movie. Speaking of which, 2024 has been a great year for press tours. Seriously, they are getting more attention then box office numbers post-Barbenheimer. We need a newsletter about press tours. The title “Press Tour Whores” is sitting right there! Topics could include Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, Cillian Murphy, and so much more! The idea is a no brainer, especially if you include links to puppy interviews. Actually …
The Press Tour Telegraph
Hey, how about these press tours? I'm looking forward to the Saturday Night press tour. A good PR firm will have the living SNL cast members interview the actors portraying them. And is Michael Keaton is prepping for a role in The Grudge 3 on the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice press tour?
Next week, we’ll look back at the Don’t Worry Darling press tour. In the meantime, enjoy more puppies!
Movie Vibes
Let's cut to the chase. I saw a lot of movies since Issue #7.
In addition to IEWU, I saw Cuckoo and Alien Romulus at Alamo Drafthouse. Cuckoo was a pretty mediocre mad scientist horror movie with eerie, sticky vibes. Hunter Schafer takes a beating the whole runtime, which lends to the sticky vibes. The German Alps help create the eerie vibes with all the darkness and whatnot.
Sadly, Alien Romulus consists of nothing more than nostalgia vibes. Cailee Spaeny was great as always, but this movie felt like a franchise greatest hits album. The blind facehuggers sequence is the only scene that felt fresh.
I also saw a lot of movies I discovered in old fanzines I found on Internet Archive. Psychotronic Video mentioned Crawlspace, a 1986 rip-off of the H.H. Holmes story with a little nazisploitation and 80s styling thrown into the mix. The movie stars Klaus Kinski and elicits claustrophobic and paranoid vibes because that’s how Klaus Kinski makes me feel.
Finally, I’d like to recommend a film that’s more insane than Crawlspace. That film is Pin (1988). Wow, Pin is something else. The acting stinks and it's not particularly well shot, but I promise your eyes will be glued to the screen for 90 minutes. What looks like a cheesy horror flick is really a fascinating character study of a kid who's either crazy or can talk to an anatomically correct medical dummy. Expect uncomfortable, mysterious vibes. This one is a rare treat.
Radio Recs
Welcome to Recommendation Station, where I recommend things. I’ve been a fan of Holiday Sidewinder since I saw her open for the Killers and Alex Cameron pre-pandemic. Check out her Kokomo remake here. Anywho, I just saw that she’s opening for Sophie Ellis-Bextor who you may remember from Saltburn’s final scene. Both musicians are phenomenal and you should go to their live show - check here to see if they’re coming to your town.
Back to School Vibez
I love reading about movies as much as I love watching them, so naturally I'm adding a books & ‘zines segment to CineVibez Magazine. Starting with Issue #9, I'm going to review an issue of a movie fanzine, movie guide, or book along with some of the movies referenced in them. I'm very excited about this idea.
I use Stremio to watch movies, which means I don't have the “benefit” of streaming algorithms. This led me to movie guided and fanzines. I have since found some really fun hidden gems and I have no doubt I'll find more. So I gotta share these rare finds with you guys.
And finally, today's book recommendation is Warped and Faded by Lars Nielsen and his friends. It's essentially a guide for Alamo Drafthouse’s Weird Wednesday movies. Weird Wednesday movies are the best.
TV Funhouse
I try not to talk about tv here, but I need to mention Chimp Crazy, the new docuseries on Max. In the 90s, my mom hired Connie and Chimparty to come to my brothers birthday party at our house. Kirby the chimp came and played on our swing set for a few hours. I think he ate cake too. Anyway, this new doc is about Connie and Chimparty; it turns out that Kirby was abused and neglected - it's really sad.
Conclusion
I’m going to try to publish more often, but we'll see how successful I am. I'm pretty pumped about this fanzine idea - maybe that will motivate me. Until next time, happy watching!
Murray