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Obsession (2026) Spoiler Free Thoughts
33 Plays9 days ago
Join Nicholas, fresh out of Beyond Fest (April 2nd, 2026), for a special bonus episode! He got the chance to see OBSESSION, directed by YouTube horror filmmaker Curry Barker (Milk & Serial), and he is sharing his SPOILER FREE THOUGHTS of the movie.
Nicholas also gets into discussing some other things he's been watching. Things like: Scream 7, Iron Lung, The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist, Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, The Drama, Redux Redux, Slanted, Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, undertone, the films of Peter Weir, Jordan Peele's Nope, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Labyrinth (Jim Henson's Masterpiece), and much more!
Remember to follow us on Instagram @morbidcuriosities_pod
Email us at morbidcuriosities10@gmail.com with comments/questions/concerns/recommendations
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Transcript
00:00:58
Speaker
you
00:01:12
Speaker
What's up, party people? I'm Nicholas Ewers, and this is Morbid Curiosities, a horror movie podcast. Today on the podcast, I'm going to be talking about Obsession, directed by Curry Barker. I had the privilege of seeing that early. I'm going to give some brief, spoiler-free thoughts on that movie. And then, for the tail end of the episode, I'm going to talk about what I've been watching and just what's been going on lately.
00:01:35
Speaker
So stick around for that if you have any interest in that. But I'm not going to really waste a lot of time. I'm going to get right into the obsession talk and then save the back half of the podcast for all of the meandering and things like that.
00:01:51
Speaker
So at the time of recording this, I got to see Obsession yesterday. I went to be Beyond Fest. It's happening right now in Chicago. It was pretty awesome. I discovered that it was happening earlier this week and was like, oh my God, like,
00:02:08
Speaker
obsessions playing here because i saw people logging it on letterboxd and was just like how are people seeing this damn movie so i just googled obsession screening near me and it said it was playing at the music box up in chicago over on like the north side by wrigley field and or not too far from wrigley field i guess the alamo is closer but i saw that obsession was playing and looked further into it and saw that beyond fest was happening i subscribed to the music boxes newsletter, their weekly newsletter thing that they send out.
00:02:41
Speaker
But for some reason, it just goes in like my promotions bin or whatever for my Gmail account. So I have just been totally missing these cool events happening there. But got to go check out Obsession.
00:02:56
Speaker
So I'd been excited to see this movie for a while. Last year, I went to see Five Nights at Freddy's 2, which... i I won't get into that one that much, but I didn't like that movie. I thought that one and the first one were pretty bad. But before that movie, there was this trailer that played, and the trailer was super effective, and at the end of it, it was like obsession.
00:03:20
Speaker
i was just like, oh my god, like... It's one of those trailers, look it up if you haven't gotten the chance, the Obsession teaser trailer. It just gives away the premise, doesn't really give away much more. I'm not sure what else is out there. I haven't seen any other trailers and I'm pretty grateful for that.
00:03:38
Speaker
But I just see the super like interesting and effective teaser trailer that stuck with me. And after I saw that, I was just like... oh man, I wish I was seeing that movie. And then the whole time during Five Nights at Freddy's 2, I just kept thinking about this movie obsession, ah like building it up in my head. What could this movie be? What are the implications of this premise?
00:04:03
Speaker
And if you guys don't know the premise, skip forward maybe 15 or ah however many seconds. I'm going to read the premise off or i'm going to read the plot description off
00:04:16
Speaker
After breaking the mysterious one-wish willow to win his crush's heart, a hopeless romantic finds himself getting exactly what he asked for, but soon discovers that some desires come at a dark, sinister price.
00:04:29
Speaker
Okay, so... I mean... pretty simple premise right there. But I see this trailer and it just sticks with me. And this movie that I had never heard of wasn't on my radar is all of a sudden my most anticipated movie of 2026. So yeah, I jumped at the opportunity to see it. I was super happy that I was able to.
00:04:56
Speaker
And just to get into my brief spoiler-free thoughts, This movie's pretty great. I think you guys should check it out. but I'll just say that right now. If you haven't heard of it, maybe go in blind, but I think you're safe to check out the teaser.
00:05:13
Speaker
This movie made my skin crawl. It presents a really simple yet cool premise and delivers something genuinely creepy and upsetting. curry barker shows that he's a filmmaker that we're gonna just have we're gonna have to keep an eye out for i have a feeling he's gonna light the world on fire at least if he sticks in the horror genre and maybe if he branches out he might be incredible and and capable at making other types of films But his horror chops are just on full display here.
00:05:49
Speaker
The dude, he started off making YouTube horror shorts. You can go find them and watch them. Milk and Cereal is the the one that I've heard most people talk about as being really good, really solid. It's about an hour long. I'm hoping to make time for it you know sometime in the near future before i get a chance to re-watch obsession i would say this dude shows a lot of promise i i know this is kind of cliche to say but i can't wait to see what this guy does next i think what he does with obsession is awesome it's an awesome feature film directorial debut
00:06:31
Speaker
The movie is playing with themes of codependency and really fun and interesting ways, but then also playing with the idea of this entitlement that men feel, especially when it comes towards women and their feelings, and really takes the idea of, I'm a nice guy, why doesn't she like me? She should like me. What's wrong with me?
00:06:58
Speaker
And really takes that... to a a wild extreme. and And this movie, for as well directed as it is, it wouldn't be as strong without Indy Navrat as Nicky and Michael Johnston as Bear.
00:07:16
Speaker
They really inhabit these roles so well, Indy especially. And if her performance as Nikki doesn't work, the movie doesn't work. And she does incredible work with what she's given. The audience I saw it with was very reactive and there were things that she was doing that was getting...
00:07:39
Speaker
all kinds of reactions, gasps, screams, ah ah like uncomfortable laughter. She just ah is a powerhouse in this thing and really carries it. Without her, this movie, I don't know what it would be, but and Before things even really get crazy, she just has this charisma and lights up the screen in this kind of way.
00:08:10
Speaker
And it just really works. She does a good job of making you latch on to and care about this character. juxtaposed to Michael Johnston and his the work that he does with bear and I mean kudos to him for how much he allows you to despise his character it's just it's incredible for as much as you really grow to like Nikki in the beginning you just have this disdain for bear and Michael Johnston just carries everything he's doing with that character so well
00:08:48
Speaker
He really allows you to hate this character. And it's so it's so well done. i think both leads do so well with what they're given and turn in incredibly memorable performances that I think people are going to be talking about all year.
00:09:05
Speaker
The supporting cast as well. They're also incredibly memorable. Megan Lawless, Cooper Tomlinson, and Andy Richter, too. I had no idea Andy Richter was going to be in this thing. And I don't even It didn't seem like my audience quite like knew immediately who he was. but i mean And for those of you who don't know, like you probably would know him most as Conan O'Brien's ah sidekick, basically, on his talk show.
00:09:35
Speaker
um But he's a comedian in his own right. But all three of them, Megan Lawless, another real charming performance, believable. That character, her character feels like somebody I've met in real life. Same with ah Cooper Tomlinson, or the work he does with his character. I was just like, this is somebody i used to know in my life. And he's funny, genuinely funny.
00:10:00
Speaker
You really latch on to these characters. Andy Richter, too, for the little screen time that he has. Everybody just feels so lived in. This world feels like it's occupied with real people. And I appreciated that because it's easy to fall into horror tropes.
00:10:20
Speaker
And this the leads and the supporting characters felt pretty refreshing. um And tonally, the movie feels in the vein of something like Smile, I would say.
00:10:32
Speaker
But I did overall really enjoy this movie. I rated it at four stars on Letterboxd. You can go follow me there at Nicholas Ewers. I think this is a movie that gets better as it goes on.
00:10:45
Speaker
And I'm really eager to rewatch it. I'm definitely going to be seeing it next month when it comes out. I don't know if it's May 1st something along those lines. It's in May, though.
00:10:57
Speaker
I'm pretty sure that. was like Hockum. We have a lot of really good horror movies coming out this year, it seems. At least in like May. It seems like its that month is jam-packed with horror movies. Yeah.
00:11:12
Speaker
I'm super excited, probably going to be doing a good amount of podcasting on them. um There were a couple reasons why this movie isn't quite at five stars for me, and I've thought about it and pretty hard. and This is something that happens with movies that are marketed particularly well and pretty secretively.
00:11:34
Speaker
And I'm thinking of more recently Long Legs and Obsession. And again, I don't know how secretively this is being marketed, but the first trailer I saw didn't give anything away.
00:11:44
Speaker
And I have a habit. I've had this habit since I was a kid and wasn't able to go see horror movies where ah back then I would just imagine what the scary thing was and it would always end up being scarier in my head. did that with Seed of Chucky.
00:12:00
Speaker
Jeepers Creepers was another one I did that with. I feel like Long Legs and Obsession, i kind of built up what these movies could have been in my head and Not to say that when I saw them, they were bad, but I was felt a little bit of disappointment.
00:12:19
Speaker
But it's a situation where, at least with Long Legs, I saw it again the next day and got it a little bit more and was a little bit more accepting. And I've rewatched it, I want to say like twice, at least since I saw it in theaters.
00:12:35
Speaker
And I've grown to like it more and more each time I've seen it since it's left theaters. So... You know, I think when expectations kind of get thrown out the window, you're able to revisit something and really grow an appreciation for something over time. And I have a feeling that might happen with Obsession because there's definitely a little bit of that going on. And this goes hand in hand with that. I guess one of my criticisms is that I feel like the premise could have been mined for a little bit more.
00:13:07
Speaker
It seemed like I don't know, I was watching, and I'm like you know, I feel like I've had certain things happen in relationships, and not saying they need to be represented on screen, but I was thinking, you know, I think there's a little bit more territory and a little bit more fun games to be had in the middle section of this movie.
00:13:31
Speaker
And then... ah And this is spoiler free, but these are my feelings. I felt like the movie, you know, the idea of somebody losing their own agency to infatuation that they had no choice in, that's dark.
00:13:49
Speaker
Especially when it's ah a woman and a man and the woman is losing her agency. There's like some horrifying shit that happens in this movie and I'd say going with a trigger warning.
00:14:04
Speaker
But I felt like for how ah dark all of that is and what the movie, how it plays with that idea and that premise, I felt like it could have reckoned with all of that a little more. It could have reckoned with the horror and the implications a little more.
00:14:24
Speaker
Maybe you'll see that and you'll disagree with me. You'll be like, Nick, this, this, and this. um Maybe on rewatch I'll feel like, oh no, it it reckoned with it quite fine. And maybe I'll think, yeah, it it did really well with its premise and the territory it mined for. Because I've heard people criticize the movie saying that it felt like it stretched the premise a little too thin.
00:14:48
Speaker
And I was thinking maybe that's what I'm feeling but i I think it is more that like the movie could have ah done a bit more with the premise.
00:14:59
Speaker
But what it does do is pretty cool and adds up an awesome and effective horror movie that's going to make your skin crawl and your stomach turn and make you feel vile and disgust for what's happening. And...
00:15:18
Speaker
It's a powerful movie. There's a power to this movie. I think people are going to love it. I think this movie is going to blow up and be huge. And I think it's really going to satisfy. Longlegs, there was some disappointment I felt from a lot of people who saw that movie.
00:15:36
Speaker
I feel like this movie is not going to be that disappointment. i think it's I think this movie is going to really satisfy, and it's going to end up being a lot of people's favorite modern horror movie.
00:15:51
Speaker
It feels like it's going to be big watching it. I mean, even like the the jokes, they hit, the horrific moments hit. There's one jump scare in particular that really stuck with me,
00:16:03
Speaker
and I think affected the whole audience. It felt like we all collectively got scared. It felt like we were all waiting for the same jump scare together, holding our breath, like like giggling with anticipation, and then when it finally happens, it felt like it still got all of us, and then it takes that scare and just fucking...
00:16:30
Speaker
takes it to a whole crazy level and you're just like whoa what this movie is doing something i didn't think it was gonna do it's a pretty fun time as i'm talking through it you know i don't have any negative feelings towards it i felt like there could have been a little bit more that would have hit a couple buttons for me, scratch a couple itches, really, you know, there's a couple things that this movie could have done that could have made a horror masterpiece for me.
00:17:04
Speaker
But I'd say believe the hype behind this movie. it's ah It's a really solid one, and go check it out when it comes to theaters. Go see it with an audience.
00:17:15
Speaker
I think you're going to have a great time. I mean, it might make you totally uncomfortable too and might disgust you to the point where you hate it and that's totally understandable, but I think it's a totally effective horror movie that's going be super memorable. It's like the barbarian of this year.
00:17:35
Speaker
ah except I think it's going to be bigger than Barbarian. I think this is going to be a ah smash hit people are going to talk about. It's the kind of movie we would sneak into when we were in high school. like We would try to see this horror movie.
00:17:51
Speaker
um I think it's going to be the talk of the town, and even though May is going to be an awesome month for horror, I hope Obsession doesn't kind of cannibalize all of them. We'll see how it shakes out, but I think this movie is going to be a hit.
00:18:05
Speaker
So go check it out. You know, i've I've had my doubts about Blumhouse. I've taken my shots at Blumhouse over the years, but the they did something good with this one. They've got something good on their hands, and I think they know that.
00:18:20
Speaker
So everyone, go check out Obsession when it comes out in theaters. I'm reading right now it's coming out May 15th. Go check it out. Go see it with friends. Go see it alone. You're going to have a great time.
00:18:33
Speaker
All right, now on to some other stuff. Yeah, I know it's been a while since I've recorded an episode for the podcast, probably about a month. I said I was going to deliver a Scream 7 episode.
00:18:46
Speaker
Recorded something, but didn't put it out. Me and the guests who had recorded it weren't too happy with how it came out, and I didn't want to release something that we weren't too happy with, so i just kind of sat on the episode.
00:19:01
Speaker
I can give some brief thoughts on that movie real quick right here. I saw it twice in theaters. I got to go to an early like preview thing for it, I want to say, where I got a ah poster that I think was pretty bad.
00:19:17
Speaker
Pretty bad-looking poster. One of the worst posters I think I've gotten. But I ended up seeing Scream 7 with a packed audience. It was almost sold out crowd. And people were going wild the whole time. The vibes were pretty cool. It was filled with people who were just diehard Scream fans. And watching the movie, it felt like watching Avengers Endgame opening night or The Dark Knight Rises opening night.
00:19:42
Speaker
Like people were decked out in Scream gear and cheering at every single moment. The vibe was really cool. I quite enjoyed being there and experience that. I like being in a hype theater.
00:19:56
Speaker
So that might cloud my judgment a little bit. But Scream 7, I didn't really, didn't hate it. I had my expectations pretty low. And I mean, I wasn't that big of a fan of Scream 6 either. You guys could listen to the episode me and Mercedes did on that movie. Yeah.
00:20:13
Speaker
So I felt like the franchise was already on a decline, and this wasn't the first time where people at large have thought the franchise was in a pretty rough space. space This also isn't the first Scream movie that people have outright hated when it came out, but don't know, I've talked with some people about it, and they've kind of talked about the movie as if it what's on. Yeah.
00:20:45
Speaker
there wasn't anything too crazy the movie lacked in a lot of areas it's on the weaker side of the scream entries It's near the bottom of my ranking. I would say right there with Scream 6. It's one of those two at the bottom.
00:21:00
Speaker
But i I didn't hate it. I guess I don't hate any of these movies. It didn't walk out mad. The chatter outside of the theater was pretty positive. It was one of the few times in recent memory where people just in large groups were standing outside of the theater chatting it up about the movie and how awesome they thought it was. And There's something about that vibe that I really enjoy being around. It was kind of nice.
00:21:27
Speaker
And, you know, it was for a movie that, ah I mean, that way better it be that movie than Five Nights at Freddy's 2. I don't know, another horror movie that got odd and just weird praise, but that's all like gamer people, I think, praising that movie. Speaking of which, Iron Lung, another movie that I had flirted with covering and I actually saw for the podcast, but things fell through with the guest that I was going to see it with. And then too much time had passed and I was just like, I don't know if I'm going to have this movie fresh in my head. I do wish I made time to record that. or I do wish I kind of recorded something on that just to combat a little bit of the generosity i think people have had for Iron Lung.
00:22:16
Speaker
I mean, it's a movie with, a and I'm not going to spoil it I guess. I'll just give my spoiler-free thoughts. But it's a movie where the plot is like totally incomprehensible. ah Watching it, I was just like, I don't get what's happening here. And sometimes that could really work, but I don't think that was the intention of the movie was for you to be lost. It all just felt like nonsense, mumbo jumbo.
00:22:41
Speaker
It really wasn't compelling. It was one of the most boring movies I've seen in a theater in a very long time where I wanted to crawl out of my skin.
00:22:52
Speaker
It was so boring. i don't know. I've seen some like five-star reviews, some glowing reviews that are just like, okay, let's take it easy.
00:23:04
Speaker
But even just the pat on the back, yeah, you did it. You made a movie with a low budget. i I don't quite get either. There's other movies made with small budgets that don't get the kind of pass that Iron Lung has been getting.
00:23:20
Speaker
And this is a movie where the budget, it was like crowdfunded. where yeah if you have access to stuff like that, if you if you've worked to earn a fan base and they'll give you money to create something, you've earned that.
00:23:36
Speaker
ah That's totally cool, but Let's not pretend like it's a ah bigger feat than other indie films out there, is what I'm saying. it It's getting a ah weird pass, that ah and I'm just here to kind of take it down a notch. it It feels kind of funny. i don't know. Iron Lone is just an incredibly boring movie that I wanted to walk out of and i would have walked out of. if I, at the time, knew I wasn't going to be covering it for the podcast. And since I spent my money on seeing that movie, I didn't even see it at a theater at an AMC, so I couldn't use my A-list for it. i saw it at a Marcus Theater.
00:24:20
Speaker
Yeah, I just feel like a way to justify the time spent, because it's a long movie, too. It's like two hours long. It's crazy. Justify the money spent and the time spent. I just have to...
00:24:32
Speaker
you know playfully take shots at Iron Lung for the rest of the year. I think that's that's something that's going to have to happen. But on other things that I've been watching.
00:24:45
Speaker
The AI doc or how I became an apocaloptimist. Really had a good time with that one. that It's a documentary. Documentary? A documentary.
00:24:55
Speaker
Done by Daniel Roher and Charlie Tyrell. It's great. I was wrapped in the whole time. just It was just really insightful. it didn't give me anything or It didn't reveal anything revolutionary to me. But it gave me a lot to chew on and even like hit home at certain points.
00:25:16
Speaker
There's a lot of stuff about bringing a kid into this world. And is this going to be a better world? And what are these tech CEOs in it for? Yeah. all of this is just for their benefit. All of this AI supporting it. It's just to justify like using it. It's just to justify them putting all this money into it. And it just are we just supporting these soulless tech people? I don't know. But it's a very interesting documentary that I i really liked. I walked out feeling pretty strongly on that.
00:25:53
Speaker
um Another kind of horror movie I saw, Slanted, that's a great one. Really liked it a lot. Won't spoil anything that happens, but go check out Slanted. Go support this movie. It's great.
00:26:04
Speaker
um I bumped up on the special effects a little bit. My girlfriend didn't, though, so, you know, results may vary depending on who you are. But I thought it was a really ah really pleasant movie. And i mean, it was directed by Amy Wang.
00:26:18
Speaker
I can't wait to see what she does next. There's a lot of good in here. And there's two parent characters played by Vivian Wu and Fang Du. They're great. Whenever they're on screen, this movie is 10 out of 10.
00:26:31
Speaker
It's so just lovely is a weird choice of words to use, but it's lovely undertone. Kind of keep it in the horror realm. Yeah, I plan to talk about different movies, actually, but I'm just going through my diary on Letterboxd and just kind of picking.
00:26:48
Speaker
Undertone, very solid little horror flick. It takes a while to get going, but when it gets going at the point when it does, i mean, man, i was left I was left with chills. I walked out of the theater ah feeling a bit of a rush.
00:27:02
Speaker
It is reminiscent of some of the better Paranormal Activity movies, and it's a great way to show how sound design can actually make a movie. This thing's super effective. The weird issue i bumped up on with this one is it thinks that podcasts are recorded in 5-10 minute chunks at 3 in the morning, which, mean, not too far off from how I'm doing this episode, let's be honest. But Undertone.
00:27:27
Speaker
Solid movie. Go check it out. You probably already have checked this one out if you're listening to the podcast. slanted is one i don't know anyone who's seen that one so go check that out ready or not to here i come this movie's a lot of fun great time at the movies i went in not caring about i was like ready or not sequel who cares i was kind of thinking maybe these radio sounds guys aren't really making movies that are for me i re-watched ready or not the first one and Didn't really like it as much on rewatch.
00:28:01
Speaker
I don't love their Scream movies. And Abigail, not my favorite movie. I didn't really care for Abigail all that much. Ready or not 2, don't know what it was, but I had a great time with this movie. I thought it was blast.
00:28:17
Speaker
Initially, I thought there might not have been much to mine for here, but the filmmakers really deliver a series of fun and well-shot and well-edited sequences.
00:28:28
Speaker
i think the addition of the sister character, played by Katherine Newton, just takes this movie to a whole other level. It gives Samara Weaving someone fun and talented to really act against.
00:28:40
Speaker
Both of them, her and Katherine Newton, they're great pair. I don't know if they are going to do ah a third Ready or Not movie. I'd go see it, but I mean, Ready or Not 2, very solid. I'd be totally fine if they're just like, yeah, this is it.
00:28:56
Speaker
we're We're ending it here. um Less new movie I'll give some brief thoughts on, I guess. I'll give brief thoughts on three more movies from this year.
00:29:11
Speaker
Redux Redux, a lo-fi sci-fi movie directed by Kevin McManus and Matthew McManus, starring Michaela McManus, the three McManuses, as they're all known in Hollywood, the three McMani, maybe, i don't know. Great movie. Just hit streaming. Go rent it Go support this thing.
00:29:31
Speaker
Going blind. Super fun premise. Really awesome use of resources. Just shows how you can take a small budget and do so much with it and create such a fun sci-fi concept and create a world that feels so big.
00:29:47
Speaker
ah Go check out Redux Redux. Highly, highly recommend it. So cool. So glad I got to see it in the movie theater. I really enjoyed Redux Redux.
00:29:59
Speaker
ah The drama. I just saw the drama today. ah Still chewing on it. Still chewing on it. Rated it four stars on Letterboxd. Zendaya and Pattinson.
00:30:10
Speaker
Awesome performances from them. As always, actually. I mean, especially Pattinson. When is he ever bad? But... Zendaya. This might be one of my favorite Zendaya performances, if not my favorite.
00:30:23
Speaker
I thought she was really good in this, actually. this is There's a good chance this is my favorite Zendaya performance, maybe next to Challengers. iana heim Alana Haim. She's awesome in this movie. So good, so funny.
00:30:37
Speaker
She's really bringing it. Mamudu Athi as well. He's great. He is such a warm presence on screen. What else has he been in? Kinds of Kindness. That's what else I know him from. Yeah, he's I love him. Yorgos Lanthimos, my guy. i love that he's working with him too. ah For those of you who don't know, but that's the Begonia director.
00:31:00
Speaker
But, I mean, they're playing this couple, and they're such a believable couple, Alana and Mahmoodoo. I really, I quite enjoyed the work that they were doing. I think that they elevate them. I mean, a great supporting cast really elevates a movie, and I think they did a great job with their characters and what they had.
00:31:21
Speaker
Christopher Borgley, he did Dream Scenario. That's a movie that came out in 2024. really The drama is just a great follow-up to that. ah I can't wait to see what the dude does next. I think the drama is something that's going to grow with me as I think about it.
00:31:37
Speaker
And I hope to re-watch it. I'd like to watch it with my girlfriend. it It's a movie that surprised me. I haven't seen that many trailers for it, so I don't know how much the marketing gives away, but I'm really surprised with what this movie did and what the setup for it all is. I'm not going to give it away, but it caught me off guard and ah really caught it had my attention it really did and i think it does a good job of bringing you in and getting you on board with zendaya and robert pattinson's characters you just you fall in love with them as a couple and who they are as people and they feel like very believable people i'd say everybody in the movie feels believable and
00:32:24
Speaker
Behaves, at least to me, pretty believably. A24, past two years have put out these weird like sideways, I don't know if you would call him rom-coms or like romantic dramedies between materialists and the drama.
00:32:42
Speaker
I like both of them. I think I like Materialist more. That movie spoke to me in a very big way. ah But the drama is very fun watch. I would recommend it to a lot of people if you want something juicy and exciting at the movie theater.
00:32:59
Speaker
The last new movie I'm gonna talk about, it's been out for a while, but I've watched it so many times. Let me see. I've watched it four times so far since it came out back in February.
00:33:12
Speaker
Nirvana the Band, the movie The Show. Guys, if you haven't checked this movie yet, go check it out. This movie is awesome. It's so good, so funny, so heartwarming. It's an instant comedy classic.
00:33:24
Speaker
I'm not going to give away anything about it at all. But it's directed by Matt Johnson, and it stars Matt Johnson and Jay McCarroll. I mean, just Matt Johnson in general, he's a filmmaker that I just find inspirational, and I've really latched on to him in the past couple months.
00:33:43
Speaker
Back in 2023, he released this movie called Blackberry. If you guys haven't checked that out, go check it out. The movie rules. It's one of my favorite movies from that year. i put it in my favorite movies of all time list. I've rewatched it twice, maybe three times this year. I think I've rewatched it three times this year after seeing Nirvana, the band, the movie, the show.
00:34:04
Speaker
I really, really like that movie. it It's awesome. And earlier two like Earlier this year, back in like February, I watched Operation Avalanche, an earlier movie that Johnson directed and also stars in.
00:34:19
Speaker
That movie's awesome. It's ah got a genius premise, and it's executed so perfectly. it's It's awesome. I love Operation Avalanche. I think about all the time, actually.
00:34:31
Speaker
and Right now I've got Nirvana, the Band, the Movie, the Show, and Blackberry in my favorite movies of all time list. I think Operation Avalanche is probably going to end up there at some point. I do find the work that he does to be a certain type of genius, and I really love and appreciate what he's done. And Nirvana, the band, the movie, The Show...
00:34:52
Speaker
I think he's going to have an incredible career, and this is going to be a real special gem in his filmography that we're always going to reflect on and reference, and it's really going to capture a period.
00:35:07
Speaker
i don't want to say that it's his best movie because I feel like he's going to go on to make incredible things, but this movie rules. It's one of the best movies of the year. It's so strong.
00:35:19
Speaker
It's so cool. The work that he does is just inspiring, and I think he's going to go on to make some pretty incredible movies if people allow him to.
00:35:31
Speaker
and Nirvana, the band, the movie, the show just so delightful, so fun. It's available on VOD right now. I would highly recommend purchasing it.
00:35:42
Speaker
Renting it if you know you you don't want to take a risk. But go on a limb. It's worth a blind buy. It's really good. Super good. Nirvana the Band, the show, the movie, is something where, I mean, I feel like you could reasonably watch it with a kid or children and it would be okay. There's swearing in it.
00:36:01
Speaker
Yeah. ah Language is really the big thing, I'd say. And they might not get every reference, but the tone and the playfulness and the sense of humor.
00:36:13
Speaker
It's so fun and funny. This movie is such an accomplishment. What they were able to do, what they were really able to accomplish. They go out there and You know, there's a mixture of guerrilla filmmaking and interacting with people in the real world.
00:36:33
Speaker
There's a mixture of, you know, using old footage that they captured years ago and blending it with footage from now. And there's just, you know, there's a narrative behind it all. And there's a relationship between two characters.
00:36:51
Speaker
There's an arc that these characters go on and it's lovely. I would recommend this movie to anybody. My parents, my significant other, a friend at work.
00:37:04
Speaker
And i think if you sat down, put your phone away, given an honest chance, anybody would be able to really get into Nirvana, the band, the show, the movie.
00:37:16
Speaker
So go check that out. Definitely. If you haven't had a chance. And I'll just talk about a couple other things that I've seen lately and I've liked.
00:37:29
Speaker
Labyrinth, the Jim Henson movie. Loved that movie. It was my first time watching it. Watched it a couple days ago. Loved it. That movie's a damn near masterpiece. The songs are pretty terrible.
00:37:42
Speaker
If you X-Nay the songs and... You know, the beginning, I felt like it was a little weird. Jennifer Connelly's character, the way she behaved, it was something where I'm like, I got to look past this a little bit.
00:37:53
Speaker
And yeah, the songs, I'm like, man, some of these songs are bad. Put those aside, it's an incredible work of art. It's a masterwork. I love looking at it.
00:38:06
Speaker
I love being in the world. it's the The puppet work is beautiful. It's inspiring. It seems unbelievable. It feels like you're these are real creatures, real people.
00:38:22
Speaker
And I listened to the What Went Wrong podcast cover Labyrinth today. And just the work that went into it is incredible. Labyrinth is a masterpiece or a damn near masterpiece. If you cut out those songs, it's it's basically a perfect movie.
00:38:40
Speaker
But I loved, I love, love, loved watching Labyrinth. And I've been thinking about it since I watched it. I've been thinking about it more than Obsession, honestly. This movie is totally for me.
00:38:52
Speaker
i Tried to watch Dark Crystal afterwards. I really wasn't vibing with it. So it's not just, oh, puppets are on screen and it works for me type of thing. I'm not going to, you don't get a pass just because you got puppets in it.
00:39:06
Speaker
But Labyrinth is an incredible movie and I'm so glad that I watched it. Really am. I've been watching a lot of Peter Weir movies recently. Gallipoli.
00:39:17
Speaker
Really good movie. Really solid. ah Between that and The Year of Living Dangerously, I'm starting to get the Mel Gibson thing. You know, growing up, he was just like a bad man.
00:39:29
Speaker
At least like everything that I saw in the news and all of that. So I've never really been able to latch on to him as an actor and I've never sought out ah movies that he's been in or been a part of and I've Never really, if I see him in a cast list, it doesn't get me excited. It kind of comes off as a turnoff. And wasn't too excited going into Gallipoli or The Year of Living Dangerously. But I really like Gallipoli.
00:39:55
Speaker
I think Gibson is good in both movies. Really good, actually. get why he was movie star. i get why he was a movie star he has a really good screen presence to say the least. So I don't know if I'm going to be seeking out bunch of Mel Gibson movies. I've occasionally debated on putting on Braveheart, but I don't know. I don't really care to, but, uh, yeah, I, I had more of an understanding after watching those two movies and, uh,
00:40:29
Speaker
witness starring Harrison Ford. That was ah a really fun one. I like that one a lot. That's probably my favorite Peter Weir so far. I've watched The Truman Show, but I've got to rewatch that, so I'm not counting that in my Peter Weir ranking so far. And I haven't seen Master Commander.
00:40:48
Speaker
Picnic at Hanging Rock, I liked it okay. But Witness is up top. Witness rules. Harrison Ford's great in it. This movie's so cool. Go check it out. If you don't know anything about Witness, it's Harrison Ford, undercover, Amish community,
00:41:06
Speaker
What more could you ask for? It's fun. It's exciting. It's hot. i Go check out Witness. Do yourself a favor. It's it's a great Harrison Ford vehicle.
00:41:18
Speaker
And really good work from Peter Weir. I think he did a fantastic job with it. um Jordan Peele's Nope. Rewatched that. Liked it a lot more. Have a greater appreciation for that. and Don't have a whole lot to say, I guess, about it. Daniel Kluya and Kiki Palmer, though, they're great.
00:41:34
Speaker
Both of them give magnetic and super memorable performances. It's one of those things where a couple days after watching it, I had both characters in my head and haven't been able hadn't been able to get them out of it.
00:41:48
Speaker
and The imagery in Nope 2, it's gorgeous. Nope has a lot of good ideas, lot of good themes too. It's a movie that I found deeply upsetting the first time I watched it, especially the the chimpanzee, the ape stuff, whatever you want to call it, whatever the proper term is.
00:42:06
Speaker
Throwback to the Primate episode with Rocia. But I liked this a lot more on rewatch. at Jordan Peele is fucking cooking. It's not my favorite of his movies, but he's an interesting and compelling filmmaker that just every frame is just interesting and there's something going on and something worth looking at. The dude doesn't waste a minute of your time. And ah for that, I really love the work that Nope is doing.
00:42:35
Speaker
And we were talking about things being like, like every frame being awesome. That's something too that I felt about Labyrinth. It's a movie where every frame just has so much that's worth looking at. It's an, isn't that what the movie is?
00:42:51
Speaker
Isn't that why we watch them? There's so much going on. I guess I'll end it here. The last movie that I'm going to talk about, I'll do two more.
00:43:02
Speaker
Sentimental Value, and movie that i think got almost virtually snubbed by the Oscars and won Best International Film, I think, and very deserving. Sentimental values, maybe that I had like no interest in. The trailer just did nothing for me.
00:43:17
Speaker
And I was so wrong for not taking any interest in it. And maybe i just needed to wait and I saw it at the right time. Because when I watched it on March 12th, that's when I have it logged on Letterboxd, I loved it. I loved the story, the themes, the writing, the directing, the acting, the score. and This movie's gorgeously shot.
00:43:39
Speaker
It's a five out of five masterpiece. Total home run for me. i don't know if I would have ended up checking it out if it wasn't nominated for Best Picture, because I tried to watch every Best Picture before the Oscars. and I finished everything except for Train Dreams. I got started watching it and I loved what I saw of Train Dreams, so I got to go back and finish that because that movie seems so powerful and beautiful. But, I mean, I feel the same way about Sentimental Value. So great. It's a perfect movie. I loved it.
00:44:10
Speaker
It felt like it was made for me. it Just go check it out if you haven't. It's kind of like I'm Still Here was at the Oscars last year, where it was this movie that kind of just went under the radar in way, and I almost missed it. Then when I watched it, I was like, damn, this is like one of the best movies that the the year had to offer.
00:44:33
Speaker
And that's how I feel about sentimental value, at least for me. It works so hard, and feel like Occupy a special place in my heart. And going back to the nope kind of thing of ah having a new appreciation after revisiting a movie and the sentimental value thing of talking about a movie that I think is a masterpiece, but Everything, everywhere, all at once.
00:44:58
Speaker
I got to see this in a movie theater recently. It was one that I didn't get to see back in 2022 when it came out. I did see it, but I didn't get to see it movie theater back in 2022.
00:45:11
Speaker
um I had went to the movies. I was living in Arizona at the time, and I flew to Illinois to visit friends and family. And the day that I flew back, the local theater not too far from my parents' house was playing every everything everywhere all at once.
00:45:29
Speaker
And I told my brother, I was like, let's go see it. We wanted to see a movie together. I was like, I really want to see this. I'm so surprised that it's playing here. Let's take the opportunity to go see it. So we get our tickets.
00:45:41
Speaker
He is in the theater and I'm waiting for food that we ordered. And I'm like, just text me when the movie's playing. I'm going to text from him. i go to know. He eventually comes to see me, I think, while I'm waiting for the food. And I'm like, hey, what's going on with the movie?
00:45:57
Speaker
He's like, ah it just hasn't started. And I was like, oh, that's weird. And I went and sat down and yeah, it was just a blank screen. and My brother went talked to the manager, and the manager was like, oh, let me get it started. And then she comes back and is like, yeah, they actually didn't send us the movie. We don't have that movie right now, ah but we'll have it tomorrow. So you guys can go see whatever other movie you wants we want. So we went to see Ambulance instead. And Ambulance, honestly, great movie. Really fun. Really fun movie. Maybe my favorite Michael Bay movie, actually, even though I haven't seen, like, The Rock.
00:46:35
Speaker
But... Yeah, so I didn't get a chance to see it ah because of that, and I never made it out to the movie theater in the rest of the time that I was out visiting, and then I just missed it when I was in theaters and eventually caught it at home. and It didn't really... I liked it, didn't love it, though.
00:46:53
Speaker
I thought it was cool. There was a lot going on, and it was really heartwarming, but it wasn't a movie where I walked out and was like, my life has changed. but there was a regal about 40 minutes for me that just happened to be playing it i really want to see a movie that day and was like fuck it let me just go see everything uh sorry i keep stumbling on the title let me just go see everything everywhere all at once and i'm so glad that i did i have like no regrets about making 40 minute drive there and driving 40 minutes back this movie is just a blast it's a delightful
00:47:27
Speaker
This is a movie that's so much of a movie in one movie. it like It demands a big screen. I can't believe that i didn't get to see it on the big screen. and I love truly love that I got the chance to see it on a big screen. it really It meant a lot to me, and it added to the experience in a way that I couldn't have imagined.
00:47:47
Speaker
I feel like I want to see it again on a big screen every time it comes through or anytime a theater is playing it. I wish I would get a notification. they're like, hey, tomorrow this theater is playing this movie.
00:48:00
Speaker
Go check it out. And I wish I could bring people in my life who haven't seen the movie to go see it that way because it's such a fantastic experience to see it. And the Regal I went to, it was the Regal Bolingbroke.
00:48:12
Speaker
It was really nice. It was actually reminiscent of this Regal that I would go to in California where they just have like really, really nice reclining seats and they don't even have like that many seats. It's like a big, wide open theater with like just large, comfy couches. I don't know how to describe it. I'll have to go back and take a picture but i remember i saw priscilla and oppenheimer and where evil lurks in regal with just like limited seats but they were bigger and comfortable bigger and more comfortable seats than your typical theater and they were like staggered and placed in uh different ways and it was like nice wide and open it was a really cool environment uh
00:49:00
Speaker
Not like many theaters I go to. And maybe a lot of Regals are like this. But there was like one Regal in particular in California. I think it was the Irvine Regal that I would go to that had a section of theaters that they called them like their premium theaters or whatever. And they labeled it as 21 and older when we saw Priscilla one time. And it's not like they had a private bar there. There was a bar in the area of that theater but anybody going to any theater could have walked to that bar so I don't know what the difference was but they were a nicer cozier like the setting felt more comfortable and cozier I guess but everything everywhere all at once this movie's a work of art goes hard it was a great way to kick off my spring break I locked into this movie like I never had before
00:49:56
Speaker
Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Su, Ki-Hui Kwan, Jamie Lee Curtis. They're all so fantastic. They bring this movie to light. You just love them in every universe.
00:50:07
Speaker
i I mean, especially Michelle Yeoh this time around. i felt like i I felt like I really related to Michelle Yeoh's character and felt really seen by her.
00:50:19
Speaker
Um... Not that I relate to the immigrant story, which I do find compelling nonetheless, but there was just something about her and who she was as a person and where she is in life that I really felt seen by. And it felt like the movie was kind of saying, everything's going to be okay. Everything you do matters. It all adds up to something.
00:50:44
Speaker
Just take it easy. It's all going to be okay. I really value the fact that I got to see everything everywhere all at once in a theater. I and wouldn't trade that for a different movie experience that I could have gotten that day.
00:51:02
Speaker
So, so happy that I have that moment and that experience in my life. Not to get too irreverent. But yeah, guys, that's that's the episode. i I hope you enjoyed it. You know, this is, I want to say, the first solo episode I've done on the feed before, but not the first solo episode I've done in general. I've done it for other podcasts before, so I hope you guys enjoyed it.
00:51:28
Speaker
Send me some feedback. Let me know what you thought if you want some more solo episodes. You can email me at morbidcuriosities10 at gmail.com and just share whatever feedback you'd like to for the podcast. Or if you want to inquire,
00:51:43
Speaker
about being a guest on the podcast. You know, Obsession is going to be coming out in theaters next month. You know, ripe territory for guests. ah Next month in general, all of the horror movies that are coming out, I'm very interested in talking about them.
00:51:59
Speaker
i will probably do spoiler-filled reviews either by myself or with somebody else and try to cover everything cool that comes out in May, at least when it comes to horror.
00:52:14
Speaker
I've got a a list that I want to do too. Probably another solo episode, unless there's a guest interested in hopping on. My top 25 horror movies of the 21st century.
00:52:27
Speaker
So yeah, that's something that's been on my mind. I've been cracking away at that list. I watched a couple movies recently that aren't going to make that list. Climax was one of them.
00:52:38
Speaker
did not like that movie at all. Not for me. Oh man, the movie was just upsetting in some of the worst ways. It felt a little bit racist.
00:52:51
Speaker
There's just a lot of unpleasant things happening in that movie and I didn't vibe with it. Yeah, so I'm gonna try to Put together an episode like that, that's pretty interesting to listen to. I've been working on some things in relation to the podcast, also some things not in relation to the podcast. Been writing a lot of music lately.
00:53:13
Speaker
Also been writing, working on a couple different screenplays. just kind of hopping around between the same three, i would say, trying to get one of them to the finish line, trying to not grow to hate any of them as I'm writing them.
00:53:32
Speaker
If anybody is, you know, I'm trying to hopefully pursue something with filmmaking. If anybody, if there's a writer, director, cinematographer, anybody out there who has any skill in filmmaking, email me at morbidcuriosities10 at gmail.com and get in touch let's see if we can collaborate or at least like give feedback on each other's work or something like that i'm totally into doing something along those lines with somebody in building an online relationship and maybe potentially becoming a collaborator either on writing or maybe doing podcast episodes together
00:54:09
Speaker
Who knows? But yeah, that's something that I would be interested in doing. The list episode, though. Top 25 horror movies of the 21st century so far, at least. You know, maybe in another 24, 25 years, however many years.
00:54:28
Speaker
I will update it on this feed if this feed exists for that long. And then I've got another got another set of episode ideas that I'm working on right now, conceptually. Something a bit different, strictly solo episodes, more research-based, I would say.
00:54:48
Speaker
So stay tuned for that. i I'm going to use the Top 25 Horror Movie episode as almost a little bit of ah a test for production, maybe see if I can come up with some new things to spice up the episodes a little bit, make them... a little bit more interesting to listen to, make them a bit more engaging.
00:55:07
Speaker
But also conceptually, I'm still trying to crank out a little things. I want to put together something special and make something that's worth listening to. But no, i'm I'm working on something that's fun that I've been wanting to do for a little while in podcast form, something that relates to talking about movies and putting some movies on people's radars, you know, some movies that people may or may not have heard of and getting to talk about some movies that may have been under discussed. So yeah, stay tuned for some of that. And any potential guests want to come on and just talk about a horror movie that they pick, I've i've got the room for it. There's some room on the feed for that.
00:55:48
Speaker
So just hit me up morbicuriositiesten at at gmail.com. You can also follow us on Instagram too at morbidcuriosities underscore pod. That's the place where you can do that.
00:55:59
Speaker
Leave the podcast a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or a five-star rating on Spotify if you wouldn't mind. That would be super cool. I'd appreciate it. And yeah, this has been Morbid Curiosities.
00:56:12
Speaker
If you're a new listener, thank you so much for checking out the podcast. Go follow me on Letterboxd at Nicholas Ewers. I'll try to give you a follow back. you know, comment in on any review and just say, hey, I came from the pod. it It's nice to know who's listening and that people are listening because I see the numbers. I see that they're there. They're not low numbers.
00:56:33
Speaker
It'd be nice to kind of engage with the listeners little bit, engage with the people, be a man of the people. hope you guys have a good night, a good day, whatever it is when you're listening to this. Go check out Obsession. Go check out Nirvana, the band, the movie, the show.
00:56:48
Speaker
All these things I've talked about. The drama. It's all worth it. It's been a great year for movies so far. I know all you guys are loving Project Hail Mary. I didn't talk about that one. I liked it. It's not bad.
00:57:00
Speaker
didn't it's I didn't love it like everybody else. Rocky didn't melt my heart like he did the rest of the world. Maybe I'm just a soulless monster, but glad everybody's out there loving Project Hail Mary.
00:57:12
Speaker
Great year for movies. It's awesome. Love to see it. Love to be at the movies. What a time to be alive. Great movies everywhere. Have a good one, folks.