{"id":14842,"date":"2026-05-24T14:46:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T18:46:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/?p=14842"},"modified":"2026-05-24T14:47:04","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T18:47:04","slug":"weekly-movie-roundup-164","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/?p=14842","title":{"rendered":"Weekly Movie Roundup"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Last week, I watched 9 movies:<\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt35222590\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1-3-202x300.jpg\" alt=\"Exit 8\" width=\"202\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-14841\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1-3-202x300.jpg 202w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1-3-691x1024.jpg 691w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1-3-768x1138.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1-3-1037x1536.jpg 1037w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1-3-1382x2048.jpg 1382w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1-3-scaled.jpg 1728w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 202px) 100vw, 202px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt26671415\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2-3-202x300.jpg\" alt=\"Seven Veils\" width=\"202\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-14843\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2-3-202x300.jpg 202w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2-3-691x1024.jpg 691w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2-3-768x1138.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2-3-1037x1536.jpg 1037w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2-3-1382x2048.jpg 1382w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2-3-scaled.jpg 1728w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 202px) 100vw, 202px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0097179\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/3-3-201x300.jpg\" alt=\"DeepStar Six\" width=\"201\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-14844\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/3-3-201x300.jpg 201w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/3-3-685x1024.jpg 685w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/3-3-768x1147.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/3-3-1028x1536.jpg 1028w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/3-3-1371x2048.jpg 1371w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/3-3-scaled.jpg 1714w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 201px) 100vw, 201px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<ul>\n<l>I found <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt35222590\/\">Exit 8<\/a> more creepy and unnerving than <em>scary<\/em>, but that&#8217;s not a knock against it, because the movie <em>is<\/em> unnerving. And while it&#8217;s not exactly subtle about its themes, it&#8217;s nice that it&#8217;s actually kind of <em>about<\/em> something.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/k_-iaEm8BHM?t=57\">In\/Frame\/Out<\/a> describes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt26671415\/\">Seven Veils<\/a>, in part, as an exploration of &#8220;why the idea that great work is born of suffering serves as an antiquated justification for allowing terrible things to go unchallenged.&#8221; Layered, often deeply uncomfortable, with arguably Amanda Seyfried&#8217;s best performance to date.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li>When movies like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0097179\/\">DeepStar Six<\/a> fail, it&#8217;s usually because the filmmakers put more attention and effort into the creature design than the characters, and here it&#8217;s more of the opposite problem. Not that the characters are always well drawn\u2014their deaths are largely interchangeable, and their behavior becomes increasingly inconsistent\u2014but the movie&#8217;s cheapness in both design and ideas only shows up at the end, when despite some decent scene-setting and character work, it&#8217;s clear they have nowhere interesting to go.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0044314\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/4-2-197x300.jpg\" alt=\"5 Fingers\" width=\"197\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-14845\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/4-2-197x300.jpg 197w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/4-2-671x1024.jpg 671w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/4-2-768x1172.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/4-2-1007x1536.jpg 1007w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/4-2-1342x2048.jpg 1342w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/4-2-scaled.jpg 1678w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 197px) 100vw, 197px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0030150\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/5-2-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"Four Men and a Prayer\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-14846\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/5-2-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/5-2-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/5-2-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/5-2.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0324242\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/6-1-216x300.jpg\" alt=\"Three\" width=\"216\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-14847\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/6-1-216x300.jpg 216w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/6-1.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 216px) 100vw, 216px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0044314\/\">5 Fingers<\/a> is a smart, tidy war-time thriller, with terrific turns by both Danielle Darrieux and James Mason.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0030150\/\">Four Men and a Prayer<\/a> is serviceably entertaining, with a very game cast.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li>The last of the three horror stories in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0324242\/\">Three<\/a> is probably the best, but they all have their moments, and all three not enough of them. Aside from the <em>very<\/em> 2002 look to the movie, and the interesting look at horror across different Asian cultures, none of the stories quite come together in the end.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0056626\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/7-197x300.jpg\" alt=\"Two for the Seesaw\" width=\"197\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-14848\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/7-197x300.jpg 197w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/7-673x1024.jpg 673w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/7-768x1168.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/7.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 197px) 100vw, 197px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0037151\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/8-192x300.jpg\" alt=\"One Body Too Many\" width=\"192\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-14849\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/8-192x300.jpg 192w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/8.jpg 320w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 192px) 100vw, 192px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0106664\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/9-203x300.jpg\" alt=\"The Dark Half\" width=\"203\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-14850\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/9-203x300.jpg 203w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/9-692x1024.jpg 692w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/9-768x1136.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/9-1038x1536.jpg 1038w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/9-1384x2048.jpg 1384w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/9.jpg 1470w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 203px) 100vw, 203px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0056626\/\">Two for the Seesaw<\/a> can&#8217;t help but feel dated in places, and there plenty of times when the characters sound like anything but real, but Mitchum and MacLaine are terrific together in this strange, sad romance.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li>There are better <em>The Old Dark House<\/em> knockoffs than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0037151\/\">One Body Too Many<\/a>, but this one is goofy, short-lived fun.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0106664\/\">The Dark Half<\/a> is fine, but I kept expecting it to be a lot better than it is.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I also re-watched <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0120906\/\">Zero Effect<\/a>, which is a weird &#8217;90s riff on Sherlock Holmes, but which is really quite engaging.<\/p>\n<p>And with that, my weird, unexpected numbers game of the week concluded. It wasn&#8217;t anything I&#8217;d planned, but after following <em>Exit 8<\/em> with <em>Seven Veils<\/em>, both of which I&#8217;d been meaning to watch for a while, it seemed all but inescapable, at least the way my brain works. And there were a bunch of really good movies in there I wouldn&#8217;t have thought to watch if I wasn&#8217;t searching for movies with numbers in them. This is actually isn&#8217;t <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/?p=13187\">the first time<\/a> I&#8217;ve tried this experiment, and it&#8217;s yielded some odd results.<\/p>\n<p><center><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/thats-numberwang-300x168.jpg\" alt=\"That&#039;s Numberwang!\" width=\"300\" height=\"168\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-14851\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/thats-numberwang-300x168.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/thats-numberwang.jpg 474w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/center><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last week, I watched 9 movies: I found Exit 8 more creepy and unnerving than scary, but that&#8217;s not a knock against it, because the movie is unnerving. And while it&#8217;s not exactly subtle about its themes, it&#8217;s nice that it&#8217;s actually kind of about something. In\/Frame\/Out describes Seven Veils, in part, as an exploration &#8230; <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/?p=14842\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14842"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14842"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14842\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14855,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14842\/revisions\/14855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}