Movies
Excision
“It’s like a Shakespearean tragedy without the Shakespeare. In the end, all of the subconscious craziness in ‘Excision’ is just an unnecessary afterthought tacked onto an insightful coming-of-age story.”
Quirky coming-of-age comedies are the bread-and-butter of the Sundance Film Festival. They’re part of a storied tradition that includes titles like Tadpole, Welcome to the Dollhouse, Stolen Summer, and Son of Rambow, but where does an occasionally trippy and disturbing comedy like Excision fit into this storied tradition? Like the best coming-of-age comedies, it’s awkwardly funny and painfully relatable…when it’s not shocking you with Tarsem-like dream sequences featuring gouts of blood and midgets in diapers. But I’ll get to that in a minute. Like 2007’s Teeth, it’s a Sundance comedy that defies easy categorization.
18-year-old Pauline is the film’s juicy center of indie-film adolescent angst. With her hooded eyes and cro-magnon eyebrows, she’s definitely ugs. (The foxy AnnaLynne McCord wore a series of prosthetics for the role.) Bullied at school and ridiculed by a domineering mother (Traci Lords), Pauline is desperate for new friends, but her attempts at friendship are rejected at every turn. She’s just too goddam ugly.
As a parable of adolescence, Excision is very cleverly observed. It’s riddled with the staples of indie teen comedy: menstruation, virginity, a struggle for sense of self. In fact, Excision serves as the textbook depiction of cinematic teen anguish. So then why make the choice to inter-cut all the awesome melancholy with crazy-ass dream imagery? And why build such meticulous characters only to end it all in a screechy, bloody finale? It’s like a Shakespearean tragedy without the Shakespeare. In the end, all of the subconscious craziness in Excision is just an unnecessary afterthought tacked onto an insightful coming-of-age story.
Movies
SCREAMBOX Investigates UFOs and Extraterrestrials: Several Documentaries Streaming Right Now!
As someone who is obsessed with UFOS (or more recently known as UAPs) and the concept of extraterrestrials, I love a good documentary. Sightings have been on the rise since the 1940s, with the atomic bomb seemingly acting as a catalyst for new visitors. But what are these UFOs/UAPs? Is there an explanation or are they simply beyond our explanation? Why are they here? Who are they? How much do our governments know? The questions are endless and so are the documentaries that attempt to uncover the secrets behind decades of sightings and alleged confrontations.
Whether you’re a seasoned viewer or new to the rabbit hole, there’s always a handful of interesting documentaries to get your neurons firing and leave you with sleepless nights. SCREAMBOX is investigating with the addition of several docs, all streaming now on the Bloody Disgusting-powered service. Here’s the breakdown:
Aliens (2021): Beam into this unidentified streaming documentary for a glimpse into Extraterrestrial life. Aliens are hypothetical life forms that may occur outside Earth or that did not originate on Earth.
Aliens Uncovered: Origins (2021): Before Area 51, hidden deep in the desert, the military discovered a hidden gem that helped them create Project Bluebook.
Aliens Uncovered: ET or Man-Made (2022): The crash of Roswell wasn’t meant for New Mexico. In 1947, a neighboring state had 3 major sightings that were swept under the rug.
Aliens Uncovered: The Golden Record (2023): In the late 70s, the US government launched a message to our distant neighbors.
Roswell (2021): This high-flying documentary examines the July 1947 crash of a United States Army Air Forces balloon at a ranch near Roswell, New Mexico. Theories claim the crash was actually that of a flying saucer, but what is the truth?
Also check out:
The British UFO Files (2004): Since the 1940’s the British Government has been investigating the Flying Saucer phenomenon. High-ranking military and government personnel, speak out for the first time, offering unique eyewitness accounts and inside information.
Alien Abductions and Paranormal Sightings (2016): Amazing Footage and stories from real people as they reveal their personal encounters of being abducted by Aliens.
And do not miss Hellier (2019): A crew of paranormal researchers find themselves in a dying coal town, where a series of strange coincidences lead them to a decades-old mystery.
These documentaries join SCREAMBOX’s growing library of unique horror content, including Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls, Here for Blood, Terrifier 2, RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop, Hollywood Dreams & Nightmares: The Robert Englund Story, The Outwaters, Living with Chucky, Project Wolf Hunting, and Pennywise: The Story of IT.
Start screaming now with SCREAMBOX on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Prime Video, Roku, YouTube TV, Samsung, Comcast, Cox, and Screambox.com.