Stranger Things

 Holy shit how did I not know about this series?

Dude, this is among the best show out there, ever! 

I've just finished You, and was looking for another show to watch. Well, not knowing what to watch, I stumbled upon Stranger Things and decided to give it a try, because the summary sounds good - supernatural teenage-horror, sounds like the kind I enjoy.

And OMG it blew my mind. I cannot remember when was the last time I finished a series in this short period of time.

The storyline is fascinating. A boy went missing, the community was shaken. There was shock, horror, confusion. Will's mother went insane thinking her son is trying to communicate with her via phones and lights. His brother initially thought his mother went insane, until Nancy, Mike's sister, also saw a similar terrifying creature and Jonathan drew the dots. Will's friends refused to accept he died and tried to search for him. They came across an enigmatic girl, Eleven, with seemingly supernatural powers, and Mike grew a liking to her. Well, story is about like that. 

The show is set in 1970s in a rural town in America. It's a science fiction about inter-dimension travel and failed experiments that somehow allowed subjects to gain supernatural powers that unwittingly invited an unwelcome creature that cause disruptions to their world. 

I finished eight episodes in three days. I know it's not an impressive record for most people, but for me this is quite an impressive one. The show is awesome. I cannot really express how good it is.

What particularly amazes me is the kids' performances. The main characters are all kids - either young children or teenagers, and yet all of them gave solid, professional performance that powerfully made this show amongst the best out there. It's incredible that these kids could act so marvellously.

If you haven't watched it, I highly recommend this show! I can't believe I jump into the bandwagon 5 years late!

You, Season 3

 This show is an oddity. Usually, a television series's quality drops as it progresses, but this actually improves.

Season 1 was, well, boring. Or, perhaps, it was more like the pace was slow. The progress was slow. It didn't feel captivating. It didn't make me want to continue watching. I gave the first season a try because I thought, why not? And to be honest, I considered giving up, although I ended up finishing it. The second season was an improvement, I liked it a lot.

And now here comes the third season. Holy shit!

The third season, in my opinion, is a monumental improvement from the first, and better than the second. I like the character Love, I seriously do. She's an insane killer with a personality problem, but somehow she's intriguing, shrouded with mysteries and love that fits the name. The third season basically has two major arcs, although both are linked together: it began with a short fling between Joe and the neighbour, Natalie, and her death due to an impulsive murder by Love. Then this was closed when Love killed a guy whose unvaccinated kid gave Forty (their baby) measles and blamed it on him. The first four episodes were awesome and my favourite of this series. I felt like the motion kept going, it didn't stop, and the suspense never failed. It's a real, significant improvement to the previous seasons.

After that's ended, we confront Joe and Love's more intrinsic, basic problems: they have trust issues. They love each other so much they feel like murdering each other. Both of them grow an obsession with another person, Love with the neighbour's kid Theo, and Joe with his boss Marianne. The pace went a bit slower in this second plot, but it ended with....well, Love dying. God. Love died! I mean, I love Love. She's why I find the show has improved, but now the season has ended with Love dead, and Joe in Paris looking for Marianne.

I'm not sure how season 4 would pan out but I hope it doesn't disappoint, although I'm prepared to face the fact that it'll be inferior than season 3. I wish Love is still alive. But, season 3 has been a very entertaining season and I absolutely love it. 

p/s Sherry is a very annoying, pretentious character that should have died in the cage with her husband.

The Conjuring 3

 Since covid-19 first came, I never entered a theatre, and I've lost track on what movie is about to be released, what has been released and what would be released. I waited anticipatedly for The Conjuring 3 to be released but I didn't know when it would be released. Unsurprisingly, when it was finally released, I didn't rush to a theatre to watch it, but I still noted that I would watch it eventually.

And I did so today.

The Conjuring 3 is the first movie in The Conjuring series (not franchise) that isn't directed by James Wan, so some disappointment seems inevitable given that a different touch would be inserted. Yet, I don't find this movie as disappointing as some critics too eager to criticise. I find it equally entertaining, albeit a little less scary. The storyline was still engaging, fascinating and extremely captivating. The horror is tellingly less scary than the predecessors, but it was still a remarkable work. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Ed and Lorraine Warren are as lovely as ever. Lorraine's psychic ability was also given particularly extra focus in this movie.

I think The Conjuring would remain a strong movie franchise to go on. After three movies, one might expect the quality to drop. But unlike other horror movies which depend heavily on the work of creativity which dissipates with time, The Conjuring series is based on allegedly true stories which would never run out of originality. I look forward to watching future Conjuring movies. Seriously, I do. Since J-horror and Thai-horror faded, there has been a serious dearth of horror movies in the market. The Conjuring series is a welcome revitalisation of horror movies.