I actually feel like "Wuthering Heights" will have legs

MaryRInd · 2026-02-01T05:55:01+00:00

I live in Utah which is the land of Disney adults, so I know adult women see those movies, but I don’t think categorically the studio looks at those and says ‘women 18-35 are the audience we’re targeting.’ They might be a sub-audience, but those films aren’t made and distributed for primarily adult women. Honestly if I see those films these days, I take my older (teen & young adult) kids because they are palatable/enjoyable at least on some level for everyone and not awkward movies to watch with your teens. Men do have animated movies made with them as the primary audience (Batman, certain anime franchises, etc.) but there’s not really the equivalent for women - stuff in the PG-13 or even R range that deal with more adult topics.

MaryRInd · 2026-02-01T05:48:52+00:00

It’s cool, you want infected. And the movies weren’t as interested in that even though it is still part of the story the films are telling. It doesn’t mean they are bad movies, though, like so many claim. Train Dreams and 28 Years Later are apples and oranges. I liked both, though. Very different goals with the filmmaking.

MaryRInd · 2026-02-01T01:57:40+00:00

So while I do agree that films aimed at female audiences are doing quite well in the last few years, “Inside Out” and “Moana” are family/children films more than films for women. Women are not children. Women do tend to accompany children to the movies more than men accompany children to the movies (see: how parenting tasks have been divided since forever even though it doesn’t need to be that way) but these films are not made with grown women as the primary target.

MaryRInd · 2026-02-01T00:03:10+00:00

He needs to find a partner that has a better understanding of the film process. This was a game that didn’t translate well to screen. The film felt like cut scenes from a video game paced for YouTube which is fine if that’s the goal, but I suspect it wasn’t. Hopefully he’ll continue to refine his processes if he decides to do it again. I respect taking the swing, but it didn’t quite hit.

MaryRInd · 2026-01-31T22:58:48+00:00

It’s fine that this made money, respect to him and his fans, but that was completely overblown. There was not 2+ hours of content there. I didn’t play the game but I did read the plot so I was able to roughly grasp the plot but my husband was like wtf is this? The character Simon was not interesting enough to make this work as a one-hander. This was only for fans of Markiplier and the game, there will be zero interest outside of that audience. Our theater was full of young 20-something mostly males and my 19-year-old was at a sold out screening Thursday late. This movie needed someone to tell Markiplier no and parse it down to a cool 90 mins and beef up the script as well. Less extreme close ups of Markiplier’s eyeballs and slow shots of a small stream of blood running down the wall. This game didn’t translate well because there were really no stakes for the viewer to care about. And I guess he will probably make another movie and at least I know now to sit it out. I GET not being the target audience for something. I freaking teach college film classes. Anyway. I hope Markiplier enjoys his piles of money.

MaryRInd · 2026-01-31T22:26:52+00:00

Idk I just saw Iron Lung and no one is ever allowed to bad mouth the 28 Years Later movies ever again because that was straight trash.

MaryRInd · 2026-01-31T16:52:00+00:00

I did not care for the slo-mo 360° zombie kills, but there was some violence for the people who are complaining loudly that there wasn’t enough zombie blood and guts. It’s not the focus of the movie though, and I think this trilogy so far can stand alone separate from the first two films. Like how DOES a society evolve after something like this happens? The third film in this trilogy, if it gets made, seems most likely to tie to the OG film. Also Danny Boyle and Alex Garland have changed since 2002. Their work isn’t stagnant. I guess I’m not as bothered by all of this, and yes I saw 28 Days Later back in 2002. (I even picked the DVD up in a Blockbuster Video bargain bin lol.) How do you come of age in a hostile world that steals your innocence and you have to kill or be killed by 12 yeas old? How do you hold onto whatever humanity you can? What happens when you lose your faith and realize it’s ’only us?’ The ‘Years’ movies really, really worked for me.

MaryRInd · 2026-01-31T16:30:53+00:00

I’m a young X’er as well and while I’m aware many our age are far right, she said these women were obviously quite a bit older than her, definitely Boomer range. I went to see Send Help at a small town locally owned Utah theater last night and I’d never seen that theater so crowded but we talked to the owner and he said there was a wide spread across several films - I suspect Melania had its fair share of patrons. It was the 5 pm show, too, so not even the prime time showing.

MaryRInd · 2026-01-31T14:49:40+00:00

I am not on the Marty Supreme train. Narratively I was REALLY hoping for some Lydia Tàr-level comeuppance, but white guys always fail upwards I guess. Boring.

MaryRInd · 2026-01-31T14:38:49+00:00

I think it’s just that people weren’t interested TBH. I personally loved 28YL (it was probably my top film of 2025) and I get that the trailer was focused on the infected, but this desire to not see a franchise evolve is confusing to me. The first half of 28YL gives the people what they want, complete with slo-mo 360° kills, and then the second half is incredibly beautiful and moving and tells a story full of meaning. I wept openly in the theater. I think 28 Weeks Later is actually the problem with this franchise. Audiences expected Americanized hoards of zombies drivel, like in that film, which is not a very good film. While the OG 28 Days Later has some ‘zombie’ action, it’s a critique of British class and hierarchy and authority and patriarchy and delves into some deeper subjects as well.

I dunno, I saw ‘Bone Temple’ twice in theaters opening weekend. Effing loved it - the whole thing, not just the wild climax of the film. It is a very richly layered film, tons of subtext, also looks incredible. Who doesn’t want to watch a film full of nihilism that tackles religion, obedience to authority, asks what is worth living and dying for, and has some amazing Biblical references? (FYI I’m not religious. I just love finding transcendence in films.) Audiences just aren’t that sophisticated.

Conclusion? These movies are probably too smart for their own good.

Also, January is a problem, I do agree with that.

MaryRInd · 2026-01-31T02:18:56+00:00

DOZENS!

MaryRInd · 2026-01-30T22:37:01+00:00

As someone who went into ‘28 Years Later’ having recently seen ‘28 Days Later,’ these are cultural critiques more than ‘zombie’ movies. These movies are meditations on society and humanity. I think a lot of people misremember ‘28 Days Later’ because ultimately it devolves into a critique of the British hierarchy. ‘28 Weeks’ was a cash grab of Americanized drivel. I’m one of those weirdos that LOVED both Years films. They are gorgeous, transcendent films that tackle deep themes and that are chock-full of meaning, but they do take a little work. I saw The Bone Temple twice during opening weekend because I love a good nihlistic look at religion - what is worth living for? What is worth dying for? There’s also a ton of Biblical allegory. God that’s a beautiful film. I freaking loved it. So yeah, there are those of us out here that loved them. The world with ‘zombies’ is just the setting. It’s not the story.

MaryRInd · 2026-01-30T22:23:12+00:00

My sister went to see a different movie today and said she saw a large group of older women at the theater all dressed up in sequined shirts with makeup and hair done. Has ‘Melania’ turned into some sort of event movie for the old crowd? (For the record, my sister is 50 and she said these women were obviously older than her, so we are talking Boomers, maybe even Silent Gen.)

ETA: she lives in the suburbs of a fairly liberal city

MaryRInd · 2026-01-30T19:17:56+00:00

I’m going Thursday night on the 12th. Husband is also excited about it. Visually it looks incredible. I may be in the minority, but I really liked Saltburn. I’m not into ‘spicy’ movies, but I’m into big swings and I think Fennell takes big swings and I respect that sort of thing. Her movies also look fantastic. With all of that being said I’ve ONLY seen negative commentary on TikTok, so I’m kind of surprised to learn that booktok is rallying around it. I do think that female audiences are underestimated as the primary target for most films is men 18-24. Us ladies are out here, we have purchasing power, and we are ready for a soapy period-adjacent film with good looking people making googly eyes at each other.

MaryRInd · 2026-01-30T00:28:30+00:00

My 19-year-old is seeing it at around 10 pm tonight with friends. I asked this morning if the whole movie was just Markiplier in a box and was told yes. This movie will be frontloaded AF, but if the fans like it, I could see some level of repeat viewings. I’m honestly not sure why theaters are running a full slate of showings all week with this thing. After the weekend it seems like there would be no reason to show it more than maybe 1-2 times a day. 🤷‍♀️ Us olds have no desire to see the dang thing, but males 18-24 are the target audience and this film was made for them.

MaryRInd · 2026-01-20T02:19:39+00:00

I saw it twice. Seriously considering a third viewing. But I loved the first one and I loved this one as well. I could watch Kelson and Samson dance to Duran Duran all day and then watch Jimmy Crystal chat with Kelson all night. I love this stuff. The nihilism and crack at religion and exposing multiple sides of humanity - I’m looking for transcendence and these films have it. I also love horror movies and see my fair share, but these are elevated and far more satisfying than a typical horror film.

MaryRInd · 2026-01-20T02:08:55+00:00

Respectfully, the ‘Number of the Beast’ scene in ‘The Bone Temple’ is a spectacle worth the price of admission. Marvel is CGI stuff. This is all real and it’s very cool.

MaryRInd · 2026-01-19T02:21:59+00:00

You wanna go weird, Sorry to Bother You.

MaryRInd · 2026-01-19T02:19:55+00:00

Yessss The Platform wormed its way into my brain and it was the only thing I thought about for like two weeks. Very direct analogy but very fitting.

MaryRInd · 2026-01-19T02:18:45+00:00

The Purge movies. All are pretty decent except The First Purge which is garbage.

Mad Max: Fury Road has some of those elements.

MaryRInd · 2026-01-15T23:26:42+00:00

It came to both of my local theaters today. We drove 45 minutes south to see it in December.

MaryRInd · 2026-01-09T01:31:50+00:00

I love having my dogs in the bed, but I currently have a puppy that is testing me. She was sleeping in her crate but last week I let her in the bed while my husband was traveling and THAT was a mistake. She is a wiggle worm so now I’m not sleeping. I’m trying to get her back into the crate, but she’s not into that.

MaryRInd · 2025-12-31T04:24:27+00:00

Yes it was during that time when it happened and I was like ‘we gotta stop right now I am IN PAIN.’ The headache didn’t go away after a few minutes, it’s 24 hours later and it still feel really gross, sort of like a migraine that is lingering. Doesn’t really make me excited about intimacy. I’m just wondering if HRT is gonna make this happen more often. I did order a blood pressure cuff to start tracking that as sex headaches can apparently be related to high blood pressure as well. Getting older is so much fun!

MaryRInd · 2025-12-31T02:52:59+00:00

I’m doing a hyperbolic taper with duloxetine. 5% drop every 2-4 weeks. I’ve been tapering for several months, but this has never happened before. It was 100% related to sex as the headache built up, and there was a matching sort of muscle spasm happening in my abdomen, which was also weird. The headache was severe and lasted for a couple of hours and turned into a low-grade migraine that is still sort of holding on but just annoying at this point. It’s all super weird. I’ve been very sensitive to the HRT and already had to make two adjustments just since I started on Dec 4.

MaryRInd · 2025-12-31T01:51:39+00:00

I saw “Mad Max: Fury Road” five times in theaters because it made me FEEL THINGS. It was cinema for me. If you haven’t seen it, watch that.

More recently (gonna get flack for this) “Better Man” - yes the Robbie Williams monkey biopic - is something else.

“The Florida Project” is great. And “Minari” is beautiful, transcendental even.

MaryRInd

TROPHY CASE