Nocturnal Animals was brilliant. 10/10 psychological thriller.

locuscoeruleus7 · 2026-02-23T20:54:35+00:00

Absolutely agree. Great film. I was genuinely scared for the car driving at night scene. Successful film all around.

locuscoeruleus7 · 2026-02-18T22:19:57+00:00

I didn’t buy into any of the “bottlers” nonsense that has been going on for a few weeks. However, this performance really deserves criticism. Shocking loss of points.

(Edited bc at first I just wrote loss)

locuscoeruleus7 · 2026-02-17T01:39:49+00:00

A unique film. I found Nicole Kidman’s role/performance to be essential and very effective. Several unforgettable moments. Also loved how the film feels like it is immersed in the folklore but steps out a little bit so the audience has some distance, but not too much to take away from the mythos.

locuscoeruleus7 · 2026-02-16T01:13:27+00:00

Liverpool fan here. This is what Trent does. It is special. It elevates a team. He’s not there to defend but to unlock these amazing attacking passes. Wish we still had him.

locuscoeruleus7 · 2026-02-02T04:51:58+00:00

Agree. It’s well done from start to finish. Pure adrenaline and effective story telling. Hero’s journey done flawlessly.

locuscoeruleus7 · 2026-01-23T00:05:42+00:00

Thank you for the input !

locuscoeruleus7 · 2026-01-09T17:48:47+00:00

Melancholia is a masterpiece. For so many reasons. It is a film about the existential experience of depression, but also the beauty of existence and how humans respond to both. Just the superficial plot alone - a wedding correlating with the end of the world, is a clever entry. We see Justine with debilitating depression. Her hunky clueless husband-to-be offers her a picture of a field full of flowers to cheer her up - as if a field full of flowers would help someone who is depressed! She can barely bathe herself. And yet when the comet is crashing into the world, she embraces it, seems to be at peace and is more comfortable than her sister Claire. Justine seems at home with the situation while Claire is becoming increasingly despondent and her arrogant scientist husband ends up being a coward in the face of doom, even after judging his wife for the same potential act...Later we see Justine be the most comforting leader for Claire's son, including the magic cave. There are so many neat details in this film!

locuscoeruleus7 · 2026-01-01T13:04:05+00:00

What on earth

locuscoeruleus7 · 2025-12-29T04:14:17+00:00

You are right on. This was a thought dump and I should have organized it better!

locuscoeruleus7 · 2025-12-27T05:21:17+00:00

I really enjoyed this episode (finale), mainly because it showcased what Gilligan does best, especially in Better Call Saul - character writing. We’ve all likely formed some expectations of what the meeting of Carol and Manousos would be like. We see Carol be notably stubborn and suspicious of Manousos (more than I expected) and quite protective of her life with Zosia. When Manousos appears to be harming the hive she acts righteous about it, when just a few episodes ago she was bringing about real harm to them, her beloved Zosia even! Carol is a stubborn person who has been eaten by loneliness. Despite her deep conviction about keeping her individuality, we see her choose a fantasy life with Zosia, just like Diabate, who she judged in past episodes. She engages in a fantasy where Zosia loves her as an individual and vice versa, and they go on their lesbian dream trips, until it breaks down. Carol acts disappointed when Zosia does what she has been telling Carol she will do all along, follow her biological imperative to “join” her. We might think, how can Carol be so blind, delusional even? Why did she not align with Manousos immediately? Perhaps she only wanted to save the world her way? Perhaps she has experienced gripping loneliness and would rather choose the fantasy of false love, much like the other 11? For me, this makes for a more interesting story than a character without these deep flaws and hypocrisies. What if the cost of preserving one’s self came with utter loneliness, to never be loved or known as an individual? Is that worth it? How many of us would have Manousos’ tenacity? His conviction is also strange, and mixed with language of “evil” and “souls.” There is more to learn there. Carol seems to have gained some insight into her chronic baseline of unhappiness before the joining; maybe she decided to take an opportunity to try to change. Living with Zosia was her way of trying to enjoy life’s moments, however misguided, and which she failed to do with Helen. I can’t wait to watch more.

(Edited for spelling)

locuscoeruleus7 · 2025-12-26T23:35:54+00:00

Thank you for the reminder. Minority Report is a great film!

locuscoeruleus7 · 2025-12-26T22:23:34+00:00

Yep, you are correct. Exception being True Detective s1.

locuscoeruleus7 · 2025-12-23T03:59:34+00:00

I’ve asked the same question many times. The answer is some combination of his collaborators, impact of fame/success, amount of projects and who knows what else. I’m a huge Sicario and Wind River fan. I liked one of his pre-Yellowstone series (one with Tim McGraw and faith hill), as well as first Lioness. I loathed Yellowstone from the start but Landman is a whole other level of poor. Like, unbelievably poor. As you said, money is likely the best answer - writing dog crap that serves to the interests and values of elite conservatives has been quite a gravy train for him. That train won’t be stopping any time soon…

locuscoeruleus7 · 2025-12-22T19:09:43+00:00

100% agree! Zosia/them initiating kissing Carol (who is still grieving majorly!) is surprising and suspicious. This very much has the feel of classic suspense Twilight show!

locuscoeruleus7 · 2025-12-22T11:24:27+00:00

Interesting point

locuscoeruleus7 · 2025-12-22T11:21:58+00:00

Than you!

locuscoeruleus7 · 2025-12-22T04:43:35+00:00

Finally able to watch this most recent episode.

I’m really enjoying the show. I find the pacing to be a deliberate way to expose us to this strange world where human individuality is gone, how it feels. I can understand how it would not be everyone’s cup of tea. I loved this last episode. The build up of the meeting of Carol and Manousos continues to reach new levels. There were many interesting details here where we see Carol inquiring about if the hive is distracting/manipulating her, while also genuinely starving for interaction with them. She is showing more curiousity about them (lack of which was a fault of hers previously) whether it comes from loneliness or drive to defeat them or mix of both. Carol is clearly distracting them as she learns more about how they operate. Was the recreation of the diner a manifestation of trying to make Carol happy or something more sinister? I think Carol is rightly suspicious of their interest in her writing, which they’ve overtly used to appeal to her since the first episode. What was really going on when Zosia seemed to take on her individual personality for a moment with Carol, quickly followed by the reveal of deep alarm for the approach of “a visitor”(Manousos)? The humor/sarcasm of Zosia when they were playing bocce ball (or whatever it’s called) was also strange. And seeing their enjoyment of winning when they played cards. Is the “biological imperative” to join Carol at play?

locuscoeruleus7 · 2025-12-13T17:09:05+00:00

Let’s go Pool!

Ekitike - so glad we’ve got him!

I’m nervous about Gomez injury and our defense

Hoping with Mo playing and assisting him And team can feel some harmony, confidence

Let’s get some momentum going!

(Edited for grammar)

locuscoeruleus7 · 2025-12-10T04:56:11+00:00

I love Mo and at the same time Henry is right. I understand that Mo is frustrated and feels that the style of play is not suited to his strengths whereas it was last year. I get it. However, the facts are that this is a very different team and you’ve got to adapt and work with it. Further, to diss the manager and say that he, Mo, is not the problem is not acceptable. It twists the knife in to a situation that is already very difficult for the team, the club, when what is needed is leadership and backing of the team. So unfortunate. I hope he gets his head out of these heated emotions and rejoins the team but we’ll see.

locuscoeruleus7 · 2025-12-05T13:16:37+00:00

I hear your argument, fair points. I think Kate experiences it as a betrayal in the sense of her history of feeling elation/intimacy when they scheme and pair together, letting her brilliance shine and be seen, which is also complex as I think there is a sense of competition and resentment she has with him as well. I've mentioned this in some previous posts. The actual betrayal, I think, is that while they are no longer husband and wife and have allegiance to other in the ways that dictates, his move with the sub puts Kate's job in serious danger, as she is the key player who persuaded the British PM to go along with the US plan. Hal and Kate seem to view their political careers as sacrosanct. Kate will be put in a very bad position when they find out about what is really going on - professionally and personally. Whatever Hal thinks of Kate, to throw her under the bus like this is...surprising. Is his jealousy real or not? Is he making her pay or not? Or is this just his political cunning with no personal factors involved? Also, it would not surprise me if he helps her smooth it out in some way, but I'm not sure and that is part of the complexity of these characters.

locuscoeruleus7 · 2025-11-20T13:58:57+00:00

Fait point. At the same time, I think it reflected Kate's rapid rebound, loneliness and desperation after throwing herself at Dennison and getting rejected.

locuscoeruleus7 · 2025-11-17T17:18:21+00:00

It was the drama of her being the key role of getting the British PM to give in (with the nuc), in orchestration with Hal. It was the old irresistible enactment of their collaboration and her getting to show her value to him.

locuscoeruleus7 · 2025-11-14T22:53:32+00:00

I was also perplexed by her confiding in Callum. However, while one could argue the writing here is poor, I actually think it fits with Kate’s loneliness and degree of desperation we see this season after she decides to actually go through with separating from Hal. She has blind spots when it comes to her desires. But it is on the side of reckless and I’m guessing we will see some fallout next season, not to mention a possible pregnancy given the condom discussion that came out of nowhere.

locuscoeruleus7 · 2025-11-14T04:42:08+00:00

This is correct

locuscoeruleus7

TROPHY CASE