Feels like this entire month was taken up by massive work project deadlines and going to see vampire movies. Both spooky, I guess. Cold weather is closing in heralding the end of bike season. I am not looking forward to winter. Though, I am a fan of the holidays.

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This month’s playlist:

The Hunger

I love my local indie movie theatre. The Belcourt shows a healthy mix of contemporary releases and classics. And I especially love their themed series. Recently they screened movies featuring David Bowie and showed a series of vampire classics. The Hunger tied into both.

Tony Scott’s feature debut is a slick, sexy, atmospheric experience that will lull you into a moody haze. Gorgeous cinematography and soundtrack. I would not be surprised if the costuming in the opening scene influenced the art direction for The Matrix.

Primal

Primal has been characterized as Genndy Tartakovsky’s “adult” cartoon. There are copious amounts of gore, yes. But it shares identical DNA with Tartakovsky classics: Dexter’s Laboratory and Samurai Jack. The same silliness and charm are kneaded into the brutal violence of this prehistoric world. For as many incredibly animated battles to the death, Tartakovsky inserts quiet scenes for his characters to reflect, brood, and rest. The “adultness” of primal is not the violence. It is complex characters dealing with their trauma and emotions in complex ways.

Also, the animation is top-tier.

Ouran High School Host Club

Long time fan of the anime (and the studio, Bones). So I decided to read the manga. And this led to a concurrent rewatch of the anime. Both are so good.

Host Club is a brilliant comedy. It also has deceptively deep characters, specifically Tamaki and the Hitachiin twins. The manga and anime deftly transition between the silly and serious.

Nosferatu

The climax of The Belcourt’s October Sucks vampire film series and also my music highlight of the month. Nosferatu was an unlicensed adaptation of the 1897 novel Dracula that was ordered destroyed by the courts. A few prints of the 1922 film survived, but only portions of the score that accompanied the silent film.

So on the 100th anniversary of the film, The Belcourt invited local artists (Eve Maret, Dream Chambers, Belly Full of Stars) to compose and perform an original score for the screening. It was a special experience to watch a silent film with a contemporary, ambient synth score with a live band in the theatre.

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This month I also made a ton of Chainsaw Man gifs and photographed a graveyard.