Two hours by myself to watch a movie and fold ten days’ worth of laundry.
Two hours to do it before everyone gets back.
That’s plenty.
I don’t even need it to be good. I just want to add it to my watched list and maybe have a conversation about it with someone who isn’t seven years old or tired of hearing me talk about things in a way that makes her feel like I’m not interested enough in what is directly in front of me.
But that’s fine.
It’s okay if this is just for me.
Yeah.
That settles it.
Horror movie it is.
If I pick something with a 90-minute runtime, I should be good to watch it fully, and fold all the clothes in front of me.
When the hell did all these new releases happen?
You can never go home (2018, Dir. Carmen Follia) 95 minutes
A powerful but lonely executive is the sole survivor of a helicopter crash. Having forgotten why she left home in the first place, she returns to reassess her priorities and care for her aging parents on their estate. But something isn’t right. Everywhere she looks, decay has taken hold. Is this neglect or something from her past, consuming her childhood home? Follia’s atmospheric debut signals the arrival of a fresh voice in horror.
Moody. Gothic. Right up my alley. But I just don’t feel like watching any representation of aging or degenerative illness. After what we went through with Kay’s father and the last year of his life.
Yeah, that’s for another day.
Bunkhouse (1982, Dir. Jay Delys) 100 minutes
Queer horror legend Jay Delys brings his slick, voyeuristic directorial stylings to this overlooked campsploitation classic. Something is stalking the rowdy boys of bunkhouse 8. Is it an animal? An unknown creature? Or something far more familiar?
Not what I’m going for today, but I should circle back to this one.
Eventually.
Their hearts fed flowers (2018, Dir. Robert Foundry) 140 minutes
In the settling ashes of an apocalyptic event, what are the survivors supposed to do but rebuild? And what happens when the survivors disagree about what should be done with the millions of dead?
The reviews for this one were really strong (how is it that I spend more time reading about movies then actually watching them?). Philosophical exploration of death and personhood. Scary ethical implications where you’re cheering for a character one second and feel gross for having done it the next. It’s exactly the pretentious genre film I want to be watching but it’s so long. Two hours and twenty minutes. What? Why? No, I want to watch something in one sitting because when Kay and Thomas get home, there will be other things to do.
I need to decide on something soon.
Classrooms (Dir. Jordan Lenewsky, 2024) 90 minutes
A teenage couple sneak into their high school late at night only to find that their teachers’ work does not end with the final bell. Five stories, one director. This new anthology film by director Jordan Lenewsky will shock and terrify.
Perfect. An anthology film. If I can’t finish it all this time, at least I can cut it at a logical point and get back to it when everyone’s gone to bed.
That’s the door.
They’re back.
Thomas’ appointment with Dr. Samuelson should have started five minutes ago, they shouldn’t be back yet. I don’t know what that means. Skipping this appointment wouldn’t have been a good idea. Or did they get in early? Did Kay call or message? I left my phone in the other room.
I haven’t touched any of the clothes. The one God damn thing Kay asked me to do, and I haven’t even started. Now she’s going to look at me like I’m screwing up and Thomas is going to feed off all of that annoyance for the rest of the day and be just as miserable and I’m going to do everything fast and without being asked and lay extra attention and affection on Thomas who is going to love it but I can already see that he’s worn out by the morning and Kay is going to tell me to knock it off because she’ll see right through what I’m doing and how self serving it is and knowing her she’ll wait until tonight when I’m exhausted from the running around and guilt to want to talk about it and by then I will absolutely say the honest thing which we always do anyways but in this case it will be the wrong thing to say when she’s been shouldering so much of the doctors and tests and the missed schoolwork.
I just wanted to watch a movie.