preacher boy
going up to a character i enjoy and being like "i'd like to award you the highest honour i can bestow" and the honours in question are like. bad at sex. undiagnosable mental anguish. loser's temperament. actual body horror shit. nicotine addiction.
"Elijah, why are you here?"
WUNMI MOSAKU and MICHAEL B. JORDAN as ANNIE and SMOKE SINNERS (2025) dir. Ryan Coogler
STRAUME / FLOW (2024) — dr. Gints Zilbadolis
for @madworld-bbs
Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein FRANKENSTEIN 2025 — dir. Guillermo del Toro
"Well, then, in the Savage Garden," said Armand, "you shine beautifully, my friend. You walk as if it is your garden to do with as you please. And in my wanderings, I always return to you. I always return to see the colors of the garden in your shadow, or reflected in your eyes, perhaps, or to hear of your latest follies and mad obsessions. Besides, we are brothers, are we not?"
One of my favorite aspects of Sinners how they use the musical scenes to build tension. Because they start out small, with just Sammy and Stack in the car, then the performance with Slim at the train station, and then working up to the scenes in the barn.
The first juke sequence is the most visually stunning, of course. It's chaotic but overwhelmingly positive, beautiful, and joyous. When we move to Pearline's song, things start to darken. The thumping stomps are timed with the twins beating the man with the loaded dice. We've already seen violence in the film, but this is a steep escalation intentionally set to music.
Then, we think the tension is going down when the ******** show up (no spoilers 🤫), but they are so immediately unsettling that we never feel at ease. Their music is sweet and their voices are soothing, but it's a front, one that fractures pretty quick but shatters completely with the Rocky Road to Dublin.
Rocky Road is a perversion of the first juke scene, twisting the joyful chaotic energy of the dance into a masterfully disturbing parody, where the full evil and madness (and twisting of spirituality) of the ******** is put on display.
It's just such a good way to build the narrative. I love love love how serious they were about making music the keystone of every filming decision.
Name ten female characters you like, you get zapped if it's jsut a male character you call a babygirl or other feminine nicknames because I can't see people calling Lestat coquette again
"There are legends of people born with the gift of making music so true, it can pierce the veil between life and death. Conjuring spirits from the past and the future." SINNERS (2025) dir. Ryan Coogler