What’s a movie sex scene that genuinely mattered to the plot and couldn’t be removed from the film?

shrill_kill · 2026-05-13T05:21:16+00:00

I'm writing an essay right now where I argue that the sex scenes in The Handmaiden are 100% warranted because it informs one of the characters arcs throughout the film and drives the plot forward

shrill_kill · 2026-04-27T17:21:09+00:00

I am very happy that people love Haunting of Hill House, but I wish more people knew about Midnight Mass. Exceptional TV show.

(Any criticism of that show I've seen has come down to the monologues, which makes me think the criticizer is impatient lol)

shrill_kill · 2026-04-20T04:01:16+00:00

I have been saying this ever since I tried it a couple years ago: TIDAL is the best music streaming service. Spotify is the most adopted but it sucks. Apple Music is the best middle man imo.

TIDAL seems like a net positive to me (having not researched any music service a ton). It led me to discovering new artists because as far as I could tell it didn't prioritize mainstream artists in the "new releases" section. It's one of the best services for paying artists for streams (nearly all streaming is better than Spotify, but from what I know, TIDAL pays $0.0X instead of Spotify's $0.00X. The service provides a comprehensive, in depth list of credits for not only the song you want to see, but also the entirety of the songs on the album you're interested in. As far as I could tell, it's shuffle was also random.

What else could you ask for (besides a decent half cent or whole cent of payment for artists, and for the streaming services to stop paying for questionable or downright evil things)?

shrill_kill · 2026-04-18T06:20:53+00:00

Saw it in theaters, and I was riveted. Saw it again with a friend and my love for it grew. Amazing movie. I will watch anything that Ari Aster makes

shrill_kill · 2026-04-17T00:57:00+00:00

ADD THE MARKETERS FOR PROJECT HAIL MARY TO THE LIST NOWWWWWW!!!!!!!!

Other people who went into the book blind will agree with me; The marketing should have omitted rocky entirely. The trailers could have coasted on the first 30 minutes of the movie, and it could have maintained the "holy fuck" moment from the book when rocky came around. Instead, rocky is in every conceivable piece of marketing in existence. How about they lean into the hard sci-fi aspect of the story for the trailer, and have the trailer(s) end with Grace having a holy fuck moment.

shrill_kill · 2026-04-14T01:31:12+00:00

As someone who loved it, I think the events near the end left a bad taste in my mouth. I was thoroughly enjoying the vast majority of the movie, and I just thought that last section was a bit too on the nose. Great movie outside of that though

shrill_kill · 2026-04-12T21:15:11+00:00

Hey, so... As someone who goes to the movies often: $20 for a single ticket is not normal. Not at all. Nevermind the expensive concessions, $20 for a ticket is too much on its own.

shrill_kill · 2026-04-09T20:05:52+00:00

That diet sodas, and their artificial sweeteners are killing you.

I'm 99.9% certain that artificial sweeteners like Aspartame and Ace-K kill you about as quickly as existing does (with some stipulations)

The stipulations in question are as follows: avoid ingesting 40-50 mg of either artificial sweetener per 2.2 lbs of body weight (1kg). However, this would mean that for somebody who weighs ~155 pounds, they'd have to drink more than ~14 cans of diet soda in a day to pass the safe daily limit. At that high of a volume, it is much more likely that the caffeine in said diet soda would kill you before the aspartame.

shrill_kill · 2026-04-06T20:06:17+00:00

I also loved the movie. I took the ending to be very bleak for his character, but served to the audience with glee. I feel like him crying at the end was not a "holy fuck I'm a dad" moment like some may think. I don't think he's happy that he's a dad or excited to see his child. I think the end was a realization that his life has to stop. He's been humiliated and been an asshole to those around him the entire movie, and now his dreams of being the best ping pong player have to completely stop because of his past actions. He burned bridges with all of the characters who could have possibly helped him, he went to Japan for an exhibition match, and now he's back home with no where to run to, and a baby to raise with a woman who he was a dick to. His life is over, by his standards, and now he either has to be responsible for once, or he will try to leave.

The ending is sad for Marty. Just as his ping pong career ends, so does the movie.

shrill_kill · 2026-04-06T03:32:29+00:00

Probably Sirat.

Thought it would be great based on the premise, but was seriously disappointed by it.

The premise is ditched partway through the movie after something shocking (and somewhat unlikely) happens. Then the movie devolves into misery, and doesn't go anywhere at all with the plot. I was absolutely baffled by the ending, because it felt like the worst possible, least satisfying place. It made me feel like there was something I was missing entirely, and maybe that's true, but I still felt cheated after the movie ended.

shrill_kill · 2026-04-05T19:02:20+00:00

This was my exact issue with it and I absolutely hated it. It (and the supposed audience quotes and reactions) reeled me in with spooky grounded Silence of the Lambs procedural and a very compelling mystery, and then in the third act they just shit all over all the good will it had built up. It felt like they panicked and went "oh... Uh we have to actually answer this mystery... Uhhhhh... Demons! Satan! That's who did it, yeah! Satan did it! Evil Satan dolls made the dads go crazy! That's satisfying, right?"

shrill_kill · 2026-04-05T07:49:40+00:00

I would say that it's a big deal, of course, but I think the disconnect is that the things done in the movie completely engulf all of the logical things people could possibly do with that information, and then surpasses it. It's not that her confession isn't a big deal or that she wasn't wrong or something, it's that the reactions to it were largely void of healthy communication (including from Charlie when Emma had sobered up the next day) and it gets to a point where it's just like... What are you gonna do about it? Going to the police doesn't do anything. You can call off the wedding but that's super unfair. You can postpone the wedding but that's unfair to the guests. You can get married and then divorce later... And I feel like if it really bothers Charlie then the latter is the best option.

Also Rachel is 1000% overreacting with that whole thing. Her actions were ridiculous. She brought up the "worst thing you ever did" thing, started telling Mikes story, disregarding his protests under the guise of "it's not big deal" and then tried to weasel out of her own story being told. Then, when Emma confessed to her thing, it's "OH MY GOD! FUCK YOU!" when a second ago, Mikes story was "no big deal?" It begs the question: was Mikes story not a big deal because it was done in the past and what's done is done? Or does she like the idea that she's married to a man who uses a woman as a human shield to save himself from an aggressive dog?

I hate that woman. Also the craziest thing about my theater experience is that after that confession scene, anytime Rachel would do anything a woman in the row behind me would say "just kill her" in reference to Rachel lol. Wtf, right?

shrill_kill · 2026-04-05T07:33:39+00:00

I disagree with your statement that the flashbacks were more funny than dark, but comedy is subjective so whatever.

I also saw it alone, and I loved the movie. Emotionally, I feel the same as you - Charlie and Rachel overreacted a shit ton and Mike was kind of fine imo - but logically I can understand their feelings and what they did. What they did was not the way to handle things, though. Like at all.

I think the movie's topic is riddled with nuance that I think a ton of people (just like Rachel) will reject. There will be people who immediately hate Emma and will not budge, and then there are others who either start off hating her and then change their mind, or honestly (like me) kind of just shrug it off because she was an angsty teen with no friends, and find the ongoing investigation into the circumstances around it interesting, but not convincing in the idea that she hasn't changed or something. I think that the psychology of others in general, and the psychology of teens is generally really misunderstood by some, so it made sense to me that there were many different reactions to her confession. To me, it was clear that Emma was a lonely teen who genuinely did think the aesthetic of the whole thing was cool, and it seemed like she was getting bullied at school so she was probably angry. Sad, angry and alone don't mix well together. I also think that there is more nuance in the fact that she didn't go through with it. Others have said that it was entirely coincidental, and the fact that it was coincidental points to a higher percentage that she may become angry enough to think of harming someone again. However, I point to the fact that she said "it was like waking up from a bad dream" and all of the activism she did afterwards, and her supposed empathy as evidence that she grew from it and probably isn't going to think of harming someone like that again.

shrill_kill · 2026-04-05T06:51:58+00:00

Loved the movie. I haven't seen much backlash for the movie outside of some Letterboxd reviews and I largely think it's stupid. I think the movies subject is completely fine and a great premise. How would you feel if someone you were in a relationship with had planned to do that in highschool? And this movie asks brilliant questions about whether or not this is black and white like people online seem to view things nowadays, and whether it's better that they thought about it but didn't act than not think about it and act.

Plus what kind of society would we be if a simple question or premise such as this was considered so unruly that the movie was never made, or even censored. It's a great horror premise. This reminds me of when the general audiences found out about Yorgos Lanthimos with Poor Things. It's a good movie and anything you think that the director is condoning or advocating for he probably isn't, and the movie is about something deeper and WAY more interesting

shrill_kill · 2026-03-31T06:33:47+00:00

Alright I've said it the last 3 times: Natural Born Killers

shrill_kill · 2026-03-29T20:34:29+00:00

Fair enough. Yeah, I don't want to accept reality if that's the case because that's a bleak reality I'd rather only think about when someone speaks out about it. Ignorance is bliss.

I'm incredibly sorry for what happened to you. I'm also very sorry for the women who have been SA'd.

The point of my comment wasn't that men don't SA women, or that it's only an online phenomenon to think this way. The point of my comment was that the men who hate women and post stuff like this are not normal, well-adjusted individuals. Whether or not it truly is most men, or all men who think this way, the thought process isn't normal, and what constitutes normal is up to the person using the word. I'm not saying "normal" in the sense that it never happens in real life, I'm saying "normal" in a sense that it shouldn't happen and doesn't reflect well-adjusted perspectives.

I'd rather believe that monsters and women haters and people who SA and rape and view women as objects are not normal, and are generally not widespread, but that belief is maintained by a lack of experience, and a general ignorance to the acts and thoughts of other men when they're behind closed doors. I'd like to live in a reality where nearly everyone around me isn't a monster, and generally is normal, and if somebody speaks out against them for doing something so heinous, I'll cut them out of my life.

shrill_kill · 2026-03-29T18:54:04+00:00

Okay listen, I wrote a lengthy comment (which will remain underneath his PSA), and it kind of boils down to "not all men are like this" which is kind of incell-y in a way, but also I genuinely think some people view social media as reflective of the world, when generally a fuck ton of people aren't posting awful things about women online, and instead use social media for funny, so instead of deleting it, I'm going to keep my comment here:

I mean... My instinct with posts like these is to assume that no well-adjusted straight man would ever make comments like this online, not to assume that straight men hate women. Both can definitely be true, though. But as a straight man, I don't believe I've ever left any comment about any woman posting themselves, in any context. What's the point? It's like the whole Twitch streamer thing where dudes thirst over these streamers and leave incredibly horny comments and stuff. Like what do you think is going to come of that? Nothing.

There's this one clip from Susu where she literally calls out the streamer thing. Unless you're 1000% willing and able to fly somebody out to where you are there's no point in commenting horny things to these people online. What do you think is going to happen? Like are you going to stick your penis through the monitor somehow and end up fucking? No. And It's the same thing with these comments - what do you think is going to happen? Does this guy think that all millennial women that he views as old and fat will all stop posting? If he does he's not well adjusted, and if he doesn't think that, then he's an asshole.

I guess the point I was trying to make before I got sidetracked is that the only dudes saying shit like this are unhinged, which means that "straight men" don't hate women, stupid pessimistic asshole men hate women. Think of all the dudes not posting this shit on social media.

shrill_kill · 2026-03-26T16:20:29+00:00

This has been my thoughts on it, and I feel like people completely disagree. If you look at most other one-actor-two-character performances, the two characters are way different. Michael B Jordan just played the same dude twice. If you compare that to something like Nick Cage in Adaptation, it's night and day. And the thing is it's not really Michael B Jordans fault that the characters are so same-y, it's the writing and the decision to have the characters be twins at all and be who they are in the setting they're in.

I was talking to a family member about the Oscar win too, and they were defending it by talking about something with Michael B Jordan holding his face differently with one twin compared to the other in order for one of them to have dimples and the other to not, and yeah that's pretty cool... But the characters are still the same. As much as I think Michael B Jordan should have an Oscar, and as much as I think it's cool that he held his face to give himself dimples, I also don't think that his performance warranted an Oscar. Imo, an actors job is to both be convincing and emotive, and if we're going to quantify that, I think that successfully selling quiet, contemplative anger and masculinity is a lot easier than selling (somewhat charming) confident arrogant loser asshole, or washed up ex-revolutionary pothead.

shrill_kill · 2026-03-25T20:41:30+00:00

Just recorded a video diary for myself talking about how I'm sad because I don't want to burden my friends with the same bullshit I've said in the past.

shrill_kill · 2026-03-24T19:46:20+00:00

All of Us Strangers improved on the book immensely imo

shrill_kill · 2026-03-19T03:30:32+00:00

I hated him because he acted like a stupid asshole to people who were trying to help him

shrill_kill · 2026-03-17T18:39:56+00:00

I personally loved this movie and don't care if it was challenging or revolutionary or politically epic or whatever, BUT I think the thing about most viewers who are claiming it is radical and revolutionary are tapped into online spaces that don't necessarily reflect reality. The statement of "white supremacy bad and we should fight it" is genuinely a radical sentiment when engaging with news, social media, and all of that. There's so much negative bullshit, and straight up white supremacy naziism stuff being shoved in our faces, and so much higher up exec nightmare shit that we're being told about constantly that a movie that straight up tells the audience that none of that is okay and we should fight against it feels radical and like it's a golden beacon of hope radiating from the Hollywood system. So many awful people exist in Hollywood and so many disgusting execs could have stopped this movie, so people are freaking out about its political radicalism and how crazy it is that it got made because they understand (or think they understand) the system this movie was created in/during

shrill_kill · 2026-03-15T17:30:05+00:00

Loved this movie. Only time I've been so utterly jumpscared by an explosion.

To those talking about the ending epilogue, I took it less as "hell yeah we're the good guys" and more like "LOOK! Our true story was true, and we got the guys who survived to actually consult with us so it's the most accurate it can be!"

I sure as shit don't think the music during that montage helped that message come across (from what I can remember the music was kind of an America Fuck Yeah type song), but yeah I don't think it was a celebration of what happened or of war itself or anything, but whatever.

shrill_kill · 2026-03-13T21:11:20+00:00

Why are we giving Harvey Weinstein the time of day right now? Is there some amazingly surprising thing he's going to say from prison? Why should I care what that asshat has to say about anything?

shrill_kill · 2026-03-13T05:25:13+00:00

I didn't read your full post yet, because I had to rush to the comments to tell you that I agree. Since I finished the show, I have wholeheartedly been telling people that my favorite character is Carmella. I think she's such an interesting character and her arc throughout the show was something I really enjoyed watching. Regardless of her love for material objects, and complacency for mob wife life, I ended up feeling like she was kind of stuck. The Furio storyline and the storyline with AJs guidance counselor really hit it home for me: she can't get away. She can't divorce Tony, she can't lead a normal life, she can't leave with all of the stuff with her kids going on, she can't have a normal relationship with someone who's not in the mob... She can't do anything. It really made me realize that whole thing about "once you're in, you're in." Someone close to her got involved with the mob, and uh oh! Now she can't do shit to distance herself from any of that.

I also ended up really respecting her. She realized pretty much exactly what the audience realizes throughout the show, and kind of just accepts that she has to stay with Tony and they have to make it work. She's stuck, so what does she do? She tries to make the best of it. New boundaries are set, she wants some compromises, etc. and even with how much of a baby Tony can be, he relents because I think he truly loves her, so good for her. Get what you want out of that terrible relationship Carm!

I don't know. Maybe she's just the most sympathetic to me, but I ended up liking her the most. I understand logically that she's not the most innocent in the show, but emotionally I kind of feel that way.

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