Sezin Devi Koehler's Blog, page 2
January 19, 2024
Accidental Fall, Broken Elbow, and Surgery, Oh My
It’s too bad that ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events’ is already taken since it would be the perfect title for my memoir. Case in point: On Jan 14, 2024 I tripped at home and faceplanted on the hard stone terrazzo flooring, effectively shattering my left elbow. This is while I am still dealing with the Nov 2023 carpal tunnel surgery that went awry, leaving me with a still not-fully-healed right wrist. Dude, why?!?!
Not only am I in an ungodly amount of pain.
It gets worse.
The break is such that without surgery, I will never regain more than 50% of range of motion in my arm, as well as a host of immediate medical issues like bursitis and arthritis that will quickly affect my ability to write. Not to mention being able to do basic tasks like putting in my own bra and bathing myself.
I have insurance, but as is the case in the USA, my medical bills will be astronomical regardless. The first surgery copay comes in at over $5000! That’s more than I make in a year.
I’m about to become one of those Americans whose life is destroyed virtually overnight by medical expenses, because of one simple accident at home — a trip and fall that could happen to anyone.
If you have the means to support my GoFundMe, donors who contribute $100 or more get their name in the Much Ado About Keanu book acknowledgments. But I also understand that times are tough all around. If all you can do is share my campaign on social media, that’s often as effective as giving money yourself.
Thank you in advance for your support, Dear Reader. I appreciate you more than you will ever know.
Yours faithfully in Keanu,
Sezin
The post Accidental Fall, Broken Elbow, and Surgery, Oh My appeared first on Zuzu's Reviews, by Sezin Devi Koehler.
January 9, 2024
🌻Updated Call for Pitches🌻 ‘Flowers Out of the Attic: Personal and Critical Perspectives on VC Andrews’ Dollanganger Saga’
Foxworth Hall still beckons writers for my upcoming essay anthology Flowers Out of the Attic: Personal and Critical Perspectives on VC Andrews’ Dollanganger Saga. While submissions officially closed weeks ago, I do have some gaps in the collection I would love to fill. I’m opening up my call for pitches specifically seeking writers to cover:
Seeds of Yesterday essay/analysis Christopher Dollanganger essay/analysis (Christopher Senior, Junior, or both)Cory Dollanganger essay/analysis Disability rights advocate to discuss issues of Carrie, Julian, Jory, and Bart Deep dive into Wes Craven’s original script for the 1986 Flowers in the Attic filmIf this is you or someone you know, please send a 150-200 word chapter summary, your author bio, and three relevant writing samples to FlowersOutOfTheAttic [at] gmail [dot] com. This call will remain open until all the essays have been commissioned.
*This will be a paid opportunity once I’ve secured an agent/publisher.*
Submit a form.TwitterFacebookInstagramGoodreadsMediumThe post 🌻Updated Call for Pitches🌻 ‘Flowers Out of the Attic: Personal and Critical Perspectives on VC Andrews’ Dollanganger Saga’ appeared first on Zuzu's Reviews, by Sezin Devi Koehler.
January 1, 2024
Grinchmas 2023: ‘The Apology’ Is Every Level of Christmas Horror, From Grief to Murder
The holiday season can be the most awful time of year, especially when you’re grieving and have a strained relationship with your family. Such is the case for Darlene (Anna Gunn), who lives alone in her lakeside mountain town cabin and continues to hold out hope that her 20-years-missing daughter Sally (Holland Bailey) will be found. And this year, she’s hosting Christmas Day festivities at her house for her sister and children. The weight of all this tests Darlene’s sobriety when, just as she’s about to have her first vodka neat in 19 years, there’s a knock at her door.
Her unexpected visitor is Jack (Linus Roach), her ex-brother-in-law who wanted to surprise his children, who he hadn’t spent Christmas with in the 20 years since Sallys disappearance. What at first seems like an innocent enough pop-in, especially as Jack reminds Darlene of their romantic past. She’s lonely, after all, with just her old friend and neighbor Gretchen (Janeane Garafolo) to keep her company. But Jack’s visit takes an unexpected, shocking, and indescribably awful turn as Jack reveals his actual Christmas Eve motive, shattering Darlene’s quiet life on every level.
Alison Star Locke’s ‘The Apology’ reads as much as a play as it does a taut Christmas horror movie, as she focuses on two commanding performances from Anna Gunn and Linus Roach. The thunder and snowstorm sets the stage for a claustrophobic and quietly devastating narrative.
Cassette tape/5 stars. Highly recommend not waiting until Christmas Eve to reveal family secrets.
Grinchmas Nights of Frights 2023
is the newest installment of my Horrorthon365 project, eclectic and unexpected genre watchlists with accompanying microreviews to suit the changing seasons. Horrorthon365 was sparked by a gnarly hand injury and surgery gone awry, hence the flash-style reviews. Browse the entire collection here.
The post Grinchmas 2023: ‘The Apology’ Is Every Level of Christmas Horror, From Grief to Murder appeared first on Zuzu's Reviews, by Sezin Devi Koehler.
Frost Bites 2024: ‘The Last Winter’ Is a Climate Change Nightmare
January tends to be a challenging month, and for many areas of the world the frozen landscape only makes matters worse. The next segment of my #Horrorthon365 project focuses on these frost bites, stories where the cold is as much a character — or even monster — as the people at its mercy. Tales where the snow itself slays, and where the deep winter chill enters hearts and souls, leading to extreme human cruelty.
In Larry Fessenden’s 2006 ‘The Last Winter,’ the permafrost in the remote ice fields of Alaska has been melting around an oil-hunting base and environmental monitoring site. Tensions are already high with the crew, as the corporate oil riggers clash with the environmentalists also on site, who are particularly concerned about the scarily warm temperatures. After a young crew member Maxwell (Zach Gilford) goes missing and returns acting bizarrely, Hoffman (James LeGros) becomes concerned that noxious gases may be escaping and scrambling the crew’s brains. But brash oil drilling team leader Pollack (Ron Perlman) refuses to entertain the notion, even as more and more inexplicable things continue happening.
One by one the team succumb to natural and unnatural causes, as they fight for survival against a potentially supernatural foe as well as the unfortunate consequences of environmental damage. The desolate icy tundras exude an undeniable chill even from a distance that adds to the creeping terror of ‘The Last Winter.’
This is an unsettling watch, even though the some of the special effects haven’t aged well. The message, though, is what’s important. Especially as in the years since this film came out a number of different ancient viruses and bacteria are back in circulation because of melting ice caps.
Caribou/5 stars. Highly recommend this film that is not at all like ‘The Thing’ even though it sounds similar.
Frost Bites 2024 is the January installment of my Horrorthon365 project, eclectic genre watchlists with accompanying microreviews to suit the changing seasons. Horrorthon365 was sparked by a gnarly hand injury and surgery gone awry, hence the flash-style reviews. Browse the entire collection here.
The post Frost Bites 2024: ‘The Last Winter’ Is a Climate Change Nightmare appeared first on Zuzu's Reviews, by Sezin Devi Koehler.
December 30, 2023
Grinchmas 2023: Gaspar Noe’s ‘Climax’ Is the Winter Holiday Party From Hell
It’s the closing of winter season for a French dance troupe, having their end-of-year party in the repurposed old school where they’ve been living. But before the fête properly even begins the dancers start tripping, and not consensually. Somebody has spiked the punch with LSD and one by one those who partook start losing their minds.
Gaspar Noë’s ‘Climax’ is just that, as the audience experiences a terrifying 96-minute apex of horror. From start to finish, this film doesn’t quit. And as the acid-induced psychoses deepen, the once group of friends and colleagues turn on each other in the most unimaginable ways.
It took me three hours to watch this movie — twice the length of the actual screen time — because I kept having to pause to catch my breath, trying not to throw up. This is a tough watch, and the Christmas/end-of-year holiday party setting makes it particularly painful. Especially since there are children at the event, to boot.
Eyedrops/5 stars. Only recommend for people already familiar with Gaspar Noë’s work. Everyone else, this is not for you.
Grinchmas Nights of Frights 2023 is the newest installment of my Horrorthon365 project, eclectic and unexpected genre watchlists with accompanying microreviews to suit the changing seasons. Horrorthon365 was sparked by a gnarly hand injury and surgery gone awry, hence the flash-style reviews. Browse the entire collection here.
The post Grinchmas 2023: Gaspar Noe’s ‘Climax’ Is the Winter Holiday Party From Hell appeared first on Zuzu's Reviews, by Sezin Devi Koehler.
December 29, 2023
Grinchmas 2023: ‘The Killing of a Sacred Deer’ Is a Deeply Twisted Christmas Horror
During rehearsal for her school’s Christmas choir show, Kim Murphy (Raffey Cassidy) collapses, her legs mysteriously paralyzed. Her brother Bob (Sunny Suljic) is already in the hospital with the same malady, a paralysis that has absolutely no medical explanation. But it has another one: The Murphy family has been cursed.
Unbeknownst to Anna Murphy (Nicole Kidman) and her children in ‘The Killing of a Sacred Deer,’ her heart surgeon husband Steven (Collin Farrell) has been meeting with young Martin (Barry Keoghan), the surviving son of a patient who died on the operating table years before. At first it seems like Martin’s interest in Steven is grief over his father. But it quickly turns far more sinister than that, when Martin gives Steven a bizarre ultimatum: Kill one of his family members to atone for killing Martin’s father. And until Steven does, each person will each become paralyzed, and bleed from their eyes until Steven makes his choice. They will all die otherwise, slowly, painfully, incurably.
It sounds laughable. Until everything Martin says will come to pass, begins happening with a vengeance. Needless to say, the Murphys do not have a merry Christmas in this disturbing film from Yorgos Lanthimos.
How did Martin enact an actual curse? The lack of explanation puts this intense family drama in Fae horror territory, as the dark enchantment Martin placed over the Murphy family hellishly deepens.
Pillow case/5 stars. Only recommend for horror fans with strong stomachs, as the violence against children is really hard to take.
Grinchmas Nights of Frights 2023 is the newest installment of my Horrorthon365 project, eclectic and unexpected genre watchlists with accompanying microreviews to suit the changing seasons. Horrorthon365 was sparked by a gnarly hand injury and surgery gone awry, hence the flash-style reviews. Browse the entire collection here.
The post Grinchmas 2023: ‘The Killing of a Sacred Deer’ Is a Deeply Twisted Christmas Horror appeared first on Zuzu's Reviews, by Sezin Devi Koehler.
December 22, 2023
Grinchmas 2023: ‘It’s a Wonderful Knife’ Is the Perfect Queer Christmas Eve Companion to its Inspiration ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’
I was planning to share this microreview on Christmas Eve. But when I realized Tyler McIntyre’s ‘It’s a Wonderful Knife’ takes place on Sunday December 24, 2023 I had to fast-track so horror nerds like myself can watch the movie on the actual day it takes place this year. Like, when does this ever happen? Never. Because it’s really hard to coordinate things like this in a film production, which take years to organize. And this fantastic attention to detail carries through the entire film in the best ways.
Written by Michael Kennedy, who co-penned one of my new favorite films of all time ‘Freaky,’ ‘It’s a Wonderful Knife’ is similarly and unapologetically queer, and it’s fucking GLORIOUS. The story is essentially a slasher retelling of Frank Capra’s classic ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’ the tale of George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) who is driven to suicide on Christmas Eve. After that fails, he wishes he was never born and his guardian angel Clarence (Henry Travers) grants the wish.
Similarly, in ‘Wonderful Knife’ it’s a year after a gruesome Christmas Eve tragedy in Angel Falls that took the lives of five citizens, including Winnie’s (Jane Widdop) best friend. Remember Kate’s (Phoebe Cates) worst Christmas Eve ever in ‘Gremlins’? Well, Winnie and Angel Falls’ incident gives Kate’s a serious run for its money — Savings and Loan pun intended. Winnie continues to have extreme PTSD from what she witnessed and did to survive.
But everyone else has moved on to business as usual, including family and friends who leave her alone in her grief. A furious and frustrated Winnie finds herself at the edge of town and George Baileys herself on an Aurora Borealis. Within moments she’s attacked by the same Angelfaced serial killer who rampaged a year before, in an Angel Falls run by now super-powerful real estate tycoon Henry Waters (Justin Long), who has developed the bejeezus out of the once-charming village. Winnie realizes that she’s the only one who can stop the killer, and the only one who believes her enough to help is social pariah Bernie (Jess McLeod) who everyone in town has renamed ‘Weirdo.’
It’s hard to imagine that a Christmas slasher could be so delightful, but this one is, and an absolutely perfect queer companion feature to Capra’s film. It’s gorgeously life affirming, and as beautiful an installment of queer horror as its sibling film ‘Freaky.’ That said, ‘It’s a Wonderful Knife’ is also an important reminder for the holiday season (and all year long) that as bad as things seem, things can always get worse, and especially amid the current political and social climate of real-life horrors like genocide plus the ongoing pandemic.
And to that effect, Winnie’s not-dad dad in the alterverse (Joel Hale) says in a particularly moving monologue, “You know it’s really something. One person, one life, can change everything just by being gone. And they don’t even know it. And they are so lucky that they don’t get to see the pain that they left in their wake. And they should be so lucky. Could you imagine? What seeing this would do to a person?” What a vital, and powerful message, especially for those who struggle during the holiday season.
My only complaint about this film is the several scenes of intensely flashing lights, a content warning that was absent from my film rental and could affect photosensitive viewers. Everything else is chef’s kiss perfection.
Pink tracksuit/5 stars. Highly recommend horror fans buying this one instead of renting it since you’ll likely watch it every Christmas Eve from now on. I know I will.
Grinchmas Nights of Frights 2023 is the newest installment of my Horrorthon365 project, eclectic and unexpected genre watchlists with accompanying microreviews to suit the changing seasons. Horrorthon365 was sparked by a gnarly hand injury and surgery gone awry, hence the flash-style reviews. Browse the entire collection here.
The post Grinchmas 2023: ‘It’s a Wonderful Knife’ Is the Perfect Queer Christmas Eve Companion to its Inspiration ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ appeared first on Zuzu's Reviews, by Sezin Devi Koehler.
December 18, 2023
Grinchmas 2023: ‘I Trapped the Devil’ (2019) Is a Creepy Indie Christmas Horror
It’s been two years since Matt (AJ Bowen) has been to his family’s house to see his brother Steve (Scott Poythress). Since it’s Christmas, Matt and his wife Karen (Susan Burke) decide to pop in, to find the home fully decorated for the holidays, but they are decidedly not welcome. The longer they stay, the clearer it is that Steve isn’t well. And he eventually reveals he has a man locked in the basement. A man he is convinced is the actual devil in human form.
“Evil is what hurts you the most,” Steve says before this already dark tale takes more fatal turns.
With an ominous score and atmospheric lighting punctuated by the bright Christmas decorations, I Trapped the Devil is a journey into the heart of madness. Or is it?
3/5 stars. The pacing is a smidge slow so recommended for genre fans looking for actual holiday-themed quick watches.
Grinchmas Nights of Frights 2023 is the newest installment of my Horrorthon365 project, eclectic and unexpected genre watchlists with accompanying microreviews to suit the changing seasons. Horrorthon365 was sparked by a gnarly hand injury and surgery gone awry, hence the flash-style reviews. Browse the entire collection here.
The post Grinchmas 2023: ‘I Trapped the Devil’ (2019) Is a Creepy Indie Christmas Horror appeared first on Zuzu's Petals.
December 13, 2023
Grinchmas 2023: ‘The Menu’ Invokes Holiday Meal Efforts for Ungrateful Guests
For many who celebrate the holiday season, food is often one of the highlights. Lots of families have Christmas feasts to celebrate the season, both in big ways with extended family and friends, as well as intimate gatherings for only a few. But as is common for the holidays, stress often wins out over pleasure as interpersonal and toxic family dynamics come to a head when everyone sits down to eat.
Mark Mylod’s ‘The Menu’ seems to be set in early spring or fall based on wardrobe choices. But it has a lot in common with many Christmas dinners gone wrong, even if it takes the general discomfort to the level of mass murder.
Chef Julian Slowik (Ralph Feinnes) is a haute cuisine artiste who caters to the most elite of the elite. And he has crafted a special menu for all the people he believes contributed to his loss of love of his art of cooking. The menu is death on high concept, fancy little plates. No, there’s no poison. It’s all much more calculated and painful than that.
Mirroring Jesus’ last meal with his deciples, ‘The Menu’ has its own Mary Magdalene in sex worker Margot/Erin (Anya Taylor-Joy) and it’s own Judas in Tyler (Nicholas Hoult), the one sycophantic fan of Chef Slowik who knew every detail of the menu, and brought a date even knowing she would die. Like Judas, Tyler meets his end at the end of a rope for his betrayal. We also have three not-so-wise men and their financial fraud. King Herod in the pretentious has been actor played by John Leguizamo, channeling his inner Steven Seagal. Ciaphus appears as a duo in Saveur food critic Lillian (Janet McTeer) and her editor Ted (Paul Adelstein).
‘The Menu’ even features an angel who heralds the torment to come in Doug Verrick’s (Michael Neal) denouement. And afterward, Chef Slowik comments on how silent the night is with the man dead.
But really this is a film about trying your very best for people who show no appreciation, as is the complaint of many who shoulder the domestic and emotional labor of preparing holiday festivities. The difference is in real life, those people are mostly women.
Broken emulsion/5 stars. Highly recommend not trying to satisfy people who will never be satisfied.
My neighbor’s tree has a s’more ornament and I couldn’t help but think about ‘The Menu.’ Grinchmas 2023, Horrorthon365, Microreview, MoviesGrinchmas Nights of Frights 2023 is the newest installment of my Horrorthon365 project, eclectic and unexpected genre watchlists with accompanying microreviews to suit the changing seasons. Horrorthon365 was sparked by a gnarly hand injury and surgery gone awry, hence the flash-style reviews. Browse the entire collection here.
The post Grinchmas 2023: ‘The Menu’ Invokes Holiday Meal Efforts for Ungrateful Guests appeared first on *Sezin Devi Koehler*.
December 12, 2023
Grinchmas 2023: ’‘Babes in Toyland’ Is an 80s Christmas Caper With Many Dark Undertones
Cincinnati. I’ve been able to spell that natty name from memory since I was 8 or so thanks to Keanu Reeves’ 1986 Christmas TV movie ‘Babes in Toyland’ and its off-kilter yet hearty tribute to the city.
‘Babes in Toyland’ begins on Christmas Eve when independent 11-year-old Lisa (Drew Barrymore) is left home alone by her single working mom Mrs Piper (Eileen Brennan) during a snowstorm. Lisa, an adultified child — an eerie mirror of Barrymore herself during that time — decides to go visit her older sister Mary (Jill Schoelen) at the toy store where she works, in spite of the blizzard conditions. At Mr Barnie’s (Richard Mulligan) toy store, the madhouse vibe is accentuated by Barnie sexually harassing Mary and threatening to fire her if she continues seeing her appropriately aged boyfriend Jack (Keanu Reeves). In a fit of frustration they all decide to quit and it’s on the perilous drive home Jack loses control of the car and Lisa wakes up in Toyland — where versions of everyone in her life have Toyland counterparts.
On the surface Toyland is an absolute Disneyfied dream. All pastels and adorable characters driving around in puttery little cars. But just a quick peek deeper and the darkness lurks in elderly Mr Barnaby Barnicle (Mulligan) coercing teenage Mary Contrary (Schoelen) to marry him or else he’ll evict her mother and her huge gaggle of children from their shoe house.
And it gets more twisted from there. Barnaby Barnicle — who lives in a creepy forest outside town — has designs to create a troll army to take over Toyland, and the world beyond. There’s even a hellmouth under his forest where the trolls are breeding, and where Mary Contrary and Lisa eventually get held prisoner. There’s so much grim in this story, even amid the adorableness of the town. Like the Teddy Bear police force who often violently herd both citizens and intruders. It’s a weird moment of copaganda that even in this imaginary Toyland, the framework of the police state extends.
But ‘Babes in Toyland’ does offer some lovely moments. Like Keanu as chivalrous and brave Jack Be Nimble, who is as adorable as he is badass even as a youngster. And the only ever instance of an Asian Santa Claus in Pat Morita’s Toy Master, who brings a wonderful moment of representation that remains singular in pop-culture history.
This is an absolutely wackadoo movie and to me represents the 80s in a really specific way that couldn’t be captured or replicated now. Young Keanu is a dream. And the musical numbers are so delightfully bizarre, this ends up being a strange little masterpiece of a time capsule.
Georgie Porgie/5 stars. Highly recommend streaming this for free on Tubi.
Grinchmas Nights of Frights 2023 is the newest installment of my Horrorthon365 project, eclectic and unexpected genre watchlists with accompanying microreviews to suit the changing seasons. Horrorthon365 was sparked by a gnarly hand injury and surgery gone awry, hence the flash-style reviews. Browse the entire collection here.
The post Grinchmas 2023: ’‘Babes in Toyland’ Is an 80s Christmas Caper With Many Dark Undertones appeared first on Sezin Devi Koehler.
