Uzumaki: Spiral into Horror is one of Junji Ito's finest writings to be released as an anime on 28 September 2024. Junji Ito is known for his horrifying stories dealing with some psychological aspects, some gruesome deaths, and some crazy evil intentions. Although it's not his first anime series adapted from Manga, this is a highly anticipated big one. His level of horror is unlike any other, for some it might come out silly, but he hustles with the inner mechanisms of the brain to not only scare the viewers but also dwell deeper and ponder the possibility of such shocking incidents.
1. Junji Ito Collection(2018)
Itis one of the weirdest shows I have ever seen, there is no story per se, as the title of the anime suggests, it's a small example from Juji Ito's work, there are all short stories of maybe 10-15mins, some episodes do have multiple chapters put in it, one after the other. The stories are very creepy, and scary and the animation has perfectly portrayed the weird characters in the most chill down viewer's spine kind of way. Some stories are pretty interesting and make you wonder what was going through the writer's head while making them.
I am not the one who likes horror, but some of the stories I did feel were pushing a little too much out of reality and it kind of felt silly, I am sure there are people out there who would enjoy such small stories filled with the eerie storyline and disturbing visuals of the acts presented by the protagonist or the antagonist. Most of the episodes do end in a cliffhanger, I am not entirely sure if the Manga has the closure to the story, but it did feel nice to know the end for some of the stories, instead of watching more of such ominous scenes.
2. Spiral (2000) - Uzumaki
The movie is mainly focused on the concept of obsession, yes the movie itself has some very freaky visuals, but all that might look fake, in the end, the most fear lies in the fact that when a mind takes hold of something and it becomes impossible to get rid of it, all because we have no control over it. This movie explains that with the obsession over spirals, there are some gory and psychologically disturbing scenes and even though it was made in the year 2000, credit has to be given for making it as impactful as it can be.
Junji Ito is known for making such grotesque horror stories, where he goes above and beyond reality to introduce other worldly concepts to bring about a horrifying experience. The show entails not just one person, but the whole town captivated by spiral objects, so much that they themselves would want to turn into spiral objects. People in the movie start seeing snails, the spiral in their fingerprints, and even the spiral motion of the washing machine, they get so occupied with it that, they wouldn't even mind their death for the sake of this spiral.
Alright, there is the list of everything to watch before you watch the anime, hope you guys have enjoyed the read, if you did make sure to spread the word about this blog to others interested as well, cause I am only going to be bringing you guys more of what you guys just read, hopefully I have at least motivated you to give one of these movies mentioned a watch. Well, I only wish to improve your experience in entertainment.
Agatha All Along is a series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, released on 18 September 2024. Agatha is a witch from the 1600s, she practices the dark arts, betraying the council of witches behind their backs, when the council tries to kill her, she has become more than powerful enough to kill them herself, and she goes on in this path of dark arts and would be in search of chaos magic, she finally meets Wanda who after all the trauma and sadness she had to face, synthesis the chaos magic in herself. This amazing battle between the two witches is worth watching.
1. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
This movie is the introduction to Wanda Maximoff, who is the reason why Agatha was introduced into the MCU in the first place, hence it's important to know a little bit of a back story about her. Wanda also know as the Scarlet Witch is an enhanced individuals who has telekinetic and telepathic abilities, along with her brother Quick silver are products of Hydra experiments. Both of them though they mean well are on the wrong side of the battle, which makes the viewers. Once they realise what Ultron is actually upton they they turn towards the good guys and finally help them defeating Ultron.
This movie runs thick since it is set in Sokovia a place where there is a lot of political tension, along with tension amongst the Avengers which makes it much more dramaful. Another important character who runs in the movie is Vision, who is more important as the next movies include a deeper dive into each of their characters. Wanda in this movie is shown as a little bit of a badass superhero who can manipulate anyone at her will and shows her immense willpower throughout the movie as she had to put up with a lot of things including childhood trauma and the fact that she was the reason for the death of a lot of people just because she decided to side Ultron first.
2. Captain America: Civil War (2016)
Wanda plays a pivotal role in this movie, she is the reason the whole reason the Avengers go against each other. The Avengers being a group of enhanced individuals, causes them to use that ability a bit too lightly and while they are doing good as a whole, in the process they also cause some causalities that they seem to oversee, this causes the government officials force some restrictions on the Avengers, to which only half of the members will be willing to sign, which causes the whole dispute, Wanda being the main reason this is being put into effect, we get to see how strong she is, the one who can shake up the whole of avengers.
After all that happened in the movie Age of Ultron, we see a little bit of Wanda having a tragic back story and we also see Quick silvers death which has already affected Wanda so much along with the fact that she is the reason Ultron was able to cause soo much chaos after all this whole thing with Sokovia accords just causes her to think that she is maybe some sort of a monster, not only that even some of the Avengers including Vision start to believe that other should be protected from her powers. All in all this movie gives a more deeper look into Wanda and all the problems she is dealing with for her to act this way.
3. Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
This movie starts off with the whole Avengers being split up after the Civil war and as a product of that Wanda and Vision would have left the life of fighting crime and villains, and they would have adapted the life of a common man, living peaceful. Not long after that, they realize that Thanos is after the 6 infinity stones, and one is on Vision's head. Wanda although tries to protect Vision, Thanos is inevitable. Vision deals with major blows from Thanos's henchmen. He decides that the stone should be broken which means that Thanos would never be able to collect all the 6 infinity stones. Wanda and the other Avengers unable to lose their comrade decide to take him to Wakanda to fix him.
After their arrival they meet Shuri (Black Panther's sister), she comes up with a plan in literally 2 seconds, she realizes that his neural network can be separated from the stone's neural network which is a very tedious, time consuming task, and requires maximum precision. Whilst they decide to resolve the Vision issue, Thanos's army is already on the doorstep, waiting kill the Avengers and take the stone, making sure that no one stands in their way. In the end, Wanda is forced to break the stone with her powers with much sadness and regret. This makes another horrific story in her life, where she had to kill her lover without giving a second thought.
4. Avengers: Endgame(2019)
By far the best movie I have watched in a while, this movie is a culmination of 21 movies before it, and it was a blast. Thanos has created so many problems and the Avengers decide to come together and get everyone they lost back, and for Wanda, she loses her lover Vision, even though Vision is synthetically made Wanda and Vision would have made a real connection between each other. Even though Wanda knows that she can't bring back Vision, she still fights with her team to save the universe and bring back all her friends that she has lost.
The powers of the mind stone technically make Wanda she is expected to be strong, mixed with the anger when she sees Thanos in the flesh again, she almost kills him all alone, until Thanos has to use some of the guns in his ship to fire at her risking his army while doing so, he was ready to lose some of his army for the sake of making sure that he doesn't get killed by her. In the end, Wanda is seen to have found her closure about Vision and she finally feels that, even though Vision is not with them anymore he knows that they won that fight against Thanos, which would have made Vision happy.
5. WandaVision (2021)
Post Endgame Wanda is sad about Vision's death, she has to face multiple deaths and so much trauma, that she unlocks and unleashes Chaos magic over Westview (a small town) and converts it into a Sitcom. Agatha Harkness a witch in the 1600s, gives in to the Dark arts and kills her kind, she witnesses this "beauty", and comes to Westview to unlock this magic herself. To do so she shows how dark Scarlet Witch (Wanda) is based on a book called The "Darkhold".
Agatha would have been secretly in control of the whole town herself, manipulating people and Wanda as she wanted it to, she depicts how powerful she is by bringing out the worst in Wanda, by making her relive the trauma she had to face, thus making her super vulnerable. The scarlet witch knows how to turn the tide and show exactly how smart and powerful she is. Wanda would have created vision by compiling the piece of mind stone in herself, which is already a great feat. After all this Wanda locks Agatha in a rune, which is her creation, and traps her, it would be really interesting to see how the new series "Agatha All Along" pans out from here.
Alright, there is the list of everything to watch before you play the series, hope you guys have enjoyed the read, if you did make sure to spread the word about this blog to others interested as well, cause I am only going to be bringing you guys more of what you guys just read, hopefully I have at least motivated you to give one of these movies mentioned a watch. Well, I only wish to improve your experience in entertainment.
Alien: Romulus is one of the movies in the Alien saga, released on 23rd August 2024. Alien is a whole saga movie that started in the late 1900s and was one of the first movies to take you to space and speak about otherworldly creatures that sparked the imagination of many people all over the world. You would be surprised as to how even the oldest movie looked so realistic when compared with recent advancements in VFX. The saga deals with this mysterious powerful alien species that has close to zero weakness, a crew has to face it amongst the stars and the void that is space itself, which makes the viewers watch at the edge of their seats.
1. Alien (1979)
It's the first movie in the saga, the movie starts with a ship crew getting up from slumber halfway through returning to Earth, woken up by the ship's AI, only to realize that they were woken up because of an SOS call in a nearby planet, upon landing, they encounter multiple problems which leads them to eventually get a baby alien on to the ship accidentally. Things only go wrong from here. Watching this in 2024, one must appreciate the amount of production that has gone into this movie made in 1979. It's not a prolonged movie and is pretty much action-packed, there is no screen time for sulking and buffer time for emotions when something bad happens which is what makes this movie interesting.
It must have been the most gruesome movie at that time, not being much of a horror enthusiast I didn't feel that scared. The movie was horrifying indeed and did keep me on the edge of my seat the whole time. The movie captures the essence of an alien invasion on a flying ship perfectly, the movie makes sure you are engaged until the end of the movie, with a couple of unexpected twists and some of the vilest deaths, not to mention the gooeyness and the unknown nature of the alien, which made me flinch. An invincible alien against a group of 7 humans with limited resources, who do you think will win? Watch to find out.
2. Aliens (1986)
This movie starts where the first movie ended, Ripley the sole survivor rescued by her employer's ship after 57 years, losing her child as well due to old age, upon investigation her employers share that on the same planet where she was stuck now there is a terraforming colony which recently has gone silent, to investigate this, Ripley and a crew of marine go back to the planet. On investigation, they find a sole surviving child named Newt and a whole hive of aliens in the terraforming colony. Now one would wonder that Ripley along with a group of soldiers couldn't be more prepared, but you are wrong, the aliens are found to be more and more persisting than ever.
This movie continues to hold that thrill of finding out what happens next, it takes a less load of scary as now you are familiarized with what the aliens can do, and the movie still doesn't stop to surprise you all the way through till the end. There is a touch of wholesomeness in the whole movie which gives a moment of breathing from all the goriness. This movie gives the viewers an idea of how the colonization of this alien invasion can take over an entire colony within seconds. There is struggle literally till the last minute of the movie, which feels like a never-ending trauma for the protagonists and the rest of the survivors, the final standoff was very dandy, and the saga starts to grow on you at this point.
3. Alien 3 (1992)
This movie was a little off track and honestly, this was a little too prolonged, somehow again the shuttle from the previous movie gets destroyed and they land on a planet with a prison, yes you guessed it only Ripley being the sole survivor, the directors must really like her. Well somehow there is a new species of the alien which has now infected a bison from the ship and now has successfully infiltrated the prison as well. The whole prison was made in order to keep the prisoners from using weapons and hence they are now weaponless and against a new unknown species of the alien.
There are a lot of slurs in this movie, since we are viewing a bunch of thieves, murderers and rapists fighting against an alien, even though weaponless, they do figure out some ideas and methods to trap the alien somehow until a rescue team comes and rescues them. There are a couple of twists in the middle, but at this point, there is no longer horror or scary, its just a bunch of horrifying deaths you wished you'd never seen. Surprisingly (In a sarcastic tone) Ripley is actually special soo much that the company is ready to send a rescue her. To realize what makes her special and how she fits in the whole saga, it makes an important movie.
4. Alien Resurrection (1997)
Man they wouldn't let go of Ripley, this movie is set 200 years after the previous movie, where the scientists have cloned Ripley as a sort of half-human, half-alien, so that she can be the host to the mother alien, clearly all the scientists were out of their minds and were psychotic. Them being so intelligent to call themselves scientists and they thought this was a good idea. Obviously this group of scientists were doing their experiments at the table and had genuinely created some of the vilest creatures one can ever imagine, the only horrifying part of this movie was that they never felt bad about creating it, even in their last moments as they die in the hands of the alien, the alien appeared to them as beautiful.
The scientists also go as far as to smuggle in some expendable humans from a group of thugs in a sort of illegal black market sort of business. Well, I was surprised that they were able to clone Ripley from a single drop of blood, but they had progressed more than that to be able to give birth to 12 of those aliens. You got to give them the credit making one of best space adventure/thriller movies during the 1900s. This movie has got more robots, aliens, and other creatures, and this being the sequel to Alien3 is a must-watch.
5. Prometheus (2012)
This movie is a prequel to the whole alien universe, It starts with a couple finding a set of cave paintings, which depicted a being that people worshiped, they called him the "Engineers", the couple believed they were the makers of humans, them along with a crew on the ship called Prometheus, their inquisitiveness causes them to find the monolith which hosted the Engineers, as they go inside and explore, although they find what they came for they also find some other organisms which they wished they hadn't found.
Dr. Shaw is the protagonist of the movie, she is a scientist her curiousness gets her into all kinds of trouble, she struggles until the end to find the answer, although during her troubles there is an android who helps her always named David. This movie is a little slow and kind of random, felt a little out of place, but the reason to watch this movie is because this explains the birth of the alien species and how it came about, who is the actual reason for this? They show a glimpse of the first alien species that came about.
6. Alien: Covenant (2017)
This movie is the direct sequel to Prometheus, Covenant is another ship hosting about 2000 colonists who were being taken care of by another android called Walter. They end up hearing a human voice on a nearby planet on their way to a habitable planet. As they go reach out to that planet they realize that their little exploration has cost them 3 crewmates by the early alien species, they finally meet David the android in Prometheus, who fills them up with what has happened and how the alien species is that dangerous.
Not long after consecutive attacks from the alien, the mother ship releases a lander vehicle to pick up the leftover crew along with the protagonist of the movie Daniels, which is where there is a twist and the movie teaches us that there is no one to be trusted, the whole movie ends in a cliffhanger, the movie itself feels very repetitive like the Prometheus, and it felt it was more eerie than the previous one, the ending explains how it all connects to the alien evolving as well as shows who is reason the alien species continues to survive and thrive. Which is quite the thriller, it will be cool to know how this connects to Romulus.
Alright, there is the list of everything to watch before the new movie releases, hope you guys have enjoyed the read, if you did make sure to spread the word about this blog to others interested as well, cause I am only going to be bringing you guys more of what you guys just read, hopefully I have at least motivated you to give one of these movies mentioned a watch. Well, I only wish to improve your experience in entertainment.
This movie is the continuation of Guardians of the Galaxy volume 2 in the marvel franchise, the movie starts off with the gang having their own little space station/planet called knowhere, with all of them chilling in their own little abode having the time of their lives building their own little community, of all kinds of people. Such that no one ever felt they were out of place or didn't belong there, it was a safe heaven people all over guarded by the gang themselves.
Everything is joyous until things begin to go south, the sovereign and their weapon Adam warlock attacks them and almost kills rocket racoon as part of their revenge plan against their community, at the same time they were also ordered to do so by the High Evolutionary, the antagonist in the movie. The crew not being able to withstand this, they begin to search on how to fix Rocket and that introduces us to his backstory . The movie continuous with them trying to figure out his cybernetics and how to heal him from this injury.
In order to do so each member of the group is tested in their own way and they manage to pull of crazy stunts, and each of the guardians have a very big role to play. All in all the movie shows a detailed version of Rockets backstory as well as does an amazing job at showing how much they all care about each other as well as the star of this movie Rocket racoon.
2. CHARACTERS
Lets start off with the star of this movie, Rocket Racoon himself, whats not to love about him, he is a talking racoon, everybody loves a talking animal in a show. He is the most lovable character after Groot of course, he is funny and seems like the kind of guy who would want a laid back life, but he doesn't really get what he wants. He is the geek of the group he knows too much science, he builds his own weapons and even makes some for his friends. He is intelligent enough to know how to ride a spaceship by himself. He is loved by his mates and all of them deeply love him for who he is and would even die to save his life.
Moving on to Peter Quill aka Star lord, he is the only human in the group, he is from Earth and would have been abducted and raised by a group of space bandits called ravagers when he was kid, so we know what kind of a behavior we can expect from him. For a person who was raised by ravagers he is genuinely a nice guy overall, he is the leader of the group and he knows how to bring the group together.
He always deals with his own issues in the side and after the death of his recent love interest Gamora he would be in this depressed state of mind, but when it comes saving rocket he puts all that behind and focuses on whats important. Although sometimes he messes up stuff trying to do what he feels right, but in the end he manages to fix his mistakes as well.
Next we move on to Gamora she was Peter's girlfriend, I am saying, "was" cause a lot of things happened and she died in the legendary Avengers Infinity war, the Gamora we see now is from an alternate timeline, after the death of the alternate timeline Thanos, Gamora decides to continue to stay in this timeline along with the ravagers. In this movie Gamora gets stuck with the guardians as part of her mission from the ravagers.
She is cold hearted in this movie, she does not hold back when it comes to harming innocent people although thats not how guardians work. She doesn't really care about Peter in this movie on the other hand Peter still wants the new Gamora to like him. Being the badass woman she is, she stomps on his heart several times in the movie, although it seems as if there might be a chance of Peter and Gamora getting back together in the coming movies.
Lets speak about Adam warlock, he is the child of the ruler of sovereign and hence is like the prince of the community, he was synthetically produced and hence he would be like a child in an adults body. He sticks on to his mother like a small baby and cannot really think on his own, he just follows her orders not knowing the consequences of his actions. He is portrayed as too dumb to realize the gravity of the situation as how a just born baby would behave. Although there is hope for him in the future as he begins to see the good side of things.
Finally lets speak about High evolutionary, yes thats his name. As weird as it may sound he is one hell of a character, he is a brilliant scientist gone rogue, he is the person who would be trying to create the perfect society of highly intelligent individuals, in doing so he has to experiment on innocent beings first and use that to build what he wants. He would be the ruthless incarnation of a god who has the ability to create worlds and at the same time destroy them in seconds. As viewers we can see the faults in his ideology which makes him a great antagonist in this movie.
3. CINETMATIC APPEAL
The animation in this particular movie, is of high quality and stands out compared to the animation in other Marvel movies, yes I am talking exclusively about Antman quantumania and Black panther Wakanda forever. The animation contributes positively to the overall viewing experience, it doesn't look like it was made by some third party unlike the other movies, this feels like a good production VFX and graphics, which makes it even more pleasing to watch.
The comedic and entertaining aspects of the movie, notable and appreciable element of the viewing experience. The Guardians of Galaxy series lies on the foundation of humor majorly unlike other marvel movies which just seems to skim through the comedic aspect. Hence the jokes were well written and the execution was phenomenal.
The inclusion of a diverse set of characters, with notable actors and celebrity personas, creates excitement and anticipation for the movie, promising a rich and engaging ensemble cast. As the universe is expanding much like the actual universe, the production is able to bring in more lovable and varied set of cast on to the table. This aspect makes the viewing experience more enjoyable to a wide range of viewers to see their favorite celebrities making an appearance.
This movie contains a decent amount of surprising and unpredictable plot developments, enhancing the narrative's intrigue and engagement for the audience. These twists are not overwhelming although they are unexpected, hence it does play a pretty important role in a viewer's experience in watching it whilst not getting bored of it at the same time.
4. PERSONAL OPINION
The characters Drax and Star-Lord are known for their comedic interactions and humorous personalities, one being a jock who is illogical at times and fails to understand the intricacy of the situation and the leader who is trying to explain the intricate situation to him, Peter gets annoyed at every comment Drax has to offer his point of view on things, this adds an element of entertainment and lightheartedness to the story. Their witty banter and amusing exchanges contribute to the comedic aspects of the movie.
The Guardians are recognized for their humor, its a group of people from different parts of the world who have come together in a team, all of them have had different experiences which leads them to have different perspectives and behaviors, lets be honest here most of them have silly behaviors and sometimes even make extremely cringe jokes but since its a group of aliens that makes it really funny and that adds to their popularity and charm within the group.
Adam Warlock and Cosmo are iconic characters from the Guardians of the Galaxy comics, the introduction of these two new characters into the series makes it that much more interesting and makes sure that the plot doesn't seem repetitive. These two characters are one of the fan favorites and hence most of us who really enjoy the comic do have a smile on our faces when we see them getting perfectly adapted into the movie.
The movie references characters and elements from other Marvel movies like Doctor Strange and Shang-Chi, these are small elements that have been added and done as way to expand the cinematic universe and increase world building as it is called. This adds an exciting layer of Easter eggs or hidden references for fans to discover and enjoy.
I never really enjoyed Gamora's character in the previous movies, it always felt as if she was made to be there just for the sake of being the love interest of Peter, but that wasn't the case this time, her character was presented in a positive light or in a manner that is really pleasing to watch. She has the right amount of sass and the bitchy attitude in her at the same time, not having to think about Peter all the time she is able to make good decisions at times when they are in a pinch.
This movie has darker or more intense elements than typical Marvel movies, adding a level of intensity and horror to the story. I was really surprised to see that in this movie. The deaths in this movie is what makes this movie important in the whole saga, with some deaths comes character development and its extremely vital for the saga to progress.
Groot has grown some more, as in every movie Groot's growth progresses ever so slowly, from the middle aged version to baby version, then teen version and now the young and energetic adult Groot who is reasonable in behavior and to the point in every sense, he is confident and formidable, he has all these tricks up his sleeve which makes him by far the coolest Guardian as well as the coolest Groot version of all times. He can really surprise with the things he can do and makes viewers like myself more excited to see what else does Groot have to offer in the upcoming movies.
The movie evidently includes emotionally touching or heartwarming scenes that contribute to the overall emotional impact and resonance of the story. Its a wholesome movie overall in ever emotion in the movie has been expressed evidently and it has a good flow of the progression. The longer we know the characters, the more impact its gonna have when there is a heartwarming scene and this movie has done an incredible job in bringing that out.
This movie should be praised for giving each character their moment to shine and be featured prominently, creating a well-rounded and satisfying viewing experience for the audience. There are umpteen number of movies where the good characters are never given the right amount of screen time and shine they deserve and hence they end up in the shadows, this movie has given each ever character a great opportunity to shine and prove their prowess which I really liked.
The overall theme of this movie revolves around the fact that the high evolutionary's strong belief and conviction may have unintended consequences or negative outcomes, emphasizing the importance of balanced perspectives. He gets so involved in his own desires that he tends to forget about all the ethical aspects and in turn that leads to bad consequences. Sometimes its good to listen to what other people say about you, even though it might be a bad remark, its better to know it and improve on it rather than falling into an endless pit with no way of coming back.
5. CONCLUSION
The movie apparently concludes on a positive and satisfying note, leaving the viewer with a sense of beauty or fulfillment, wrapping up the story in an aesthetically pleasing manner.
In summary, "Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket's Redemption" is a thrilling addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe that deepens our connection to the beloved Guardians. The film's blend of humor, action, and heartfelt moments is complemented by outstanding animation and visual effects, making it stand out within the MCU.
The movie introduces new and iconic characters, like Adam Warlock and Cosmo, providing fresh depth to the story and preventing any sense of repetitiveness. Notably, it delves into darker themes and character development, giving each Guardian their time to shine while emphasizing the importance of balanced perspectives. This is a must-see for Marvel fans, offering a well-rounded, emotionally impactful, and highly entertaining cinematic experience that leaves us eager for more adventures in the ever-expanding Marvel universe.
