Author: Locklyn Wilchynski

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog. Look at how far we have come. We have gone through music, movies, characters, books, and everything else under the sun. It has all come to a conclusion with this final blog post. We all know that the ending song of any film’s soundtrack is the most important; it’s what you’ll always remember. So, in order to conclude this year’s soundtrack I’ve decided to list an outro song for each of the people that have made an impact on me this year. I love you all!

Cain – Mary on a Cross by Ghost

Cain, my dear roommate, thank you for being one of the coolest people that I have ever known. You never fail to make me smile (or make me wanna hit you). I don’t know where I would be today without you. These two years being your friend have been the best. You are such a happy soul and you are so talented. I am already so proud of you for all that you’ve done, but I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for you. So, for your outro, it was a very easy decision. Mary on a Cross by Ghost. It was the first song that I showed you from them and one that sparked a whole new era for you. I hope when you hear this song from now on you think of me, one of your bestest buds. 

Erin – Angeles (Live) by Elliott Smith

Erin, you just might be the human equivalent of a Sony Walkman. When I met you I immediately knew that you would grow to be one of my favorite people and one of the people that kept me sane throughout the year. You are so incredibly smart, passionate, and just freaking cool. Dude, you wouldn’t believe how hard it was to pick an outro for you. We have so many memories with so many different songs. I was going to pick a slipknot song or one that we both had a huge love for, but instead, I wanted to choose one song that reminds me of you. Your soundtrack finale is: Angeles – The Live Version by Elliott Smith because it’s your favorite and you have played it live for me so many times. I was never not impressed. I love you and I can’t wait to see what you become!

Emma – Talk to Me by Stevie Nicks

Emma, it’s really hard to describe how much you have impacted my life over these two years we have spent together. I never thought I would meet someone who gets me the way that you do! You have opened my eyes to so many great pieces of art (Scully & Mulder/Joel & Clem) and you always made it hard not to be happy around you. You are one of the strongest, most creative people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. I bet you already knew this, but picking your outro was super hard because listening to music is something that we do together often. I was considering A Case of You by Joni Mitchell, Rooms on Fire by Stevie Nicks, the theme song from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and even the Wishing Tree song from South Park. While those are all significant options, I found myself drawn to Talk to Me by Stevie Nicks because of how much the song means to you and now how whenever I hear it I think of you.  I also know how much Stevie in general means to you, so I had to do what had to be done. Anyways, I am so honored to be able to call you one of my best friends. 

My Goodbye – Learning To Fly by Pink Floyd

Here we are once again. When I think of the ending of this chapter, this installment of my life I think about the youthful desire to break free from the constraints of life and live on your own terms. Although I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t living on my own terms, this song beautifully encapsulates the feelings of an end but also a beginning. I can picture it as the screen fades in and as it fades back to black. My soundtrack outro song is Learning to Fly by Pink Floyd.

All of this nice talk coming from me is odd, so I’ll have to end this one on a short message. “In case I don’t see you… good afternoon, good evening, and good night!”

Hello everyone, and welcome back to my blog! This is not a surprising entry on the site, yet you know I had to come out and update the list since the new Scream (6) came out. I just watched it yesterday, so my opinions are all fresh in my mind. So, in this blog, we will be ranking the Ghostface killers based on intelligence, motive, kill count, and brutality.

10. Quinn, Detective Bailey, Ethan (Scream 6)

I hate to put them in last place, but frankly, I just can’t bring myself to put them over any other Ghostface killer. I find it very disappointing that there were only 5 kills in the movie despite having the biggest team. I thought the brutality in this film was one of the more intense ones, which I do love to see in Scream movies. I thought the twist of Quinn faking her death was interesting, but that is not enough to make me go crazy on this ranking. I also thought their motive was reused from Mrs. Loomis, which was also a little disappointing. The movie was spectacular and one of my favorites, but these guys hardly make the list.

Intelligence: 3.5/5

Motive: 2/5

Kill count: 5 total

Brutality: 4.5/5

Plan Execution: 1.5/5

9. Amber (Scream 5)

A lot of people really liked Amber in Scream 5… I did not. I thought she was a very obvious killer and very annoying. Some people speculate that she was the mastermind that was pulling the strings on Richie, but they are very much portrayed as equals and are the only Ghostface killers to not turn on each other at the end. Amber also was able to kill off a legacy character (rest his soul) which is a very rare occurrence, and I do give her props for that. It is the reason she is not last. 

Intelligence: 3/5

Motive: 2/5

Kill count: 3 (Dewey, Liv, Judy)

Brutality: 3.5/5

Plan Execution: 3.5/5

8. Richie (Scream 5)

This shouldn’t be very surprising. He isn’t very great and is also very obnoxious. I feel like they tried to mix Charlie and Stu and came out with the son of Dennis Quaid. He has an equal amount of kills with Amber, yet somehow he seems like he was just better. He was able to infiltrate Sam’s life on his own without the history that was provided to Amber. He was also not very smart to think a lot of the things he planned would actually end up that way. 

Intelligence: 3/5

Motive: 2/5

Kill count: 3 (Vince, Wes, officer)

Brutality: 3.5/5

Plan execution: 3.5/5

7. Charlie (Scream 4)

Charlie had some of the most brutal kills, phone calls, and one of the highest total kill counts of the entire franchise, which is the only thing that I really like about him. Jill was the mastermind behind the two, and somehow he did not predict her turning on him despite the fact that all the Ghostface’s prior had had that happen to them… and he called himself a Stab expert. I also take off points for not successfully killing off Kirby. He seemed like a very average Ghostface.

Intelligence: 3/5

Motive: 2/5

Kill count: 7 (Marnie, Jenny, Rebecca, Hoss, Perkins, Kate, Robbie)

Brutality: 5/5

Plan execution: 1/5

6. Mrs. Loomis (Scream 2)

Mrs. Loomis’s reveal went down as one of the biggest plot twists of the century, but that doesn’t mean that she was a great Ghostface. She was the mastermind behind Mickey and had him do most of the heavy lifting before offing him. Her motive was solid, but what was really special about her? Nothing other than killing Randy, one of the most loved characters in the franchise. Her motive, however, was pretty good. The only issue I have with it is that she had deserted her son in the years before this, so I was a little confused as to why she was so hellbent on getting revenge. 

Intelligence: 5/5

Motive: 4/5

Kill count: 2 (Randy, Mickey)

Brutality: 1/5

Plan execution: 3/5

5. Mickey (Scream 2)

Mickey is probably one of the most underrated Ghostface killers. Yes, he was almost as obvious as Amber, but he had the motive to go with it. He wanted it to be obvious so that he could go to court and blame the movies. He was the first Ghostface to incorporate the movies in his motive, which set a precedent for all future killers. He was sneaky, sociopathic, and creative, which are all great traits for a Ghostface. He also has the third-highest kill count of them all.

Intelligence: 2/5

Motive: 4.5/5

Kill count: 6 (Phil, Derek, Maureen Evans, Cece, Halle) 

Brutality: 4/5

Plan execution: 2/5

4. Jill (Scream 4)

Jill is just the way better version of Amber. She had a better motive, was more intelligent, and was the only Ghostfave EVER to get passed the 3rd act. She had everyone fooled, even the audience. I am not a huge Jill fan, but I can give respect when respect is deserved. She was smart, savvy, and bloodthirsty for fame. She herself had a low kill count but somehow made up for it in every other aspect. 

Intelligence: 5/5

Motive: 4.5/5

Kill count: 2 (Charlie, Trevor)

Brutality: 4/5

Plan execution: 4.5/5

3. Stu (Scream)

You can never go wrong with the original. Stu was the sidekick to Billy’s plans and had one of my favorite motives: none. In the movie, he blames it on peer pressure, but he obviously has a lack of empathy for human life and tends to have a liking for the “slice and dice,” if you know what I mean. Some watchers did not enjoy his presence, but the overwhelming amount of fans he has says otherwise. He brings in a lot of the comedy for the franchise and really sparked a lot of ideas for future killers. 

Intelligence: 1/5

Motive: 4.5/5

Kill count: 2 (Kenny, Steve)

Brutality: 4/5

Plan execution: 1.5/5

2. Billy (Scream)

Now here come the heavy hitters… literally. Billy is by far the best Ghostface on the playing field of history and almost every other aspect than the ones I am focused on. He had some super creative kills, sick lines, and all-around great motive because it is the only one that stems from his own experience and is created without the influence of prior Ghostfaces. 

Intelligence: 4/5

Motive: 5/5

Kill count: 4 (Tatum, Casey, Principal Himbry, Maureen Prescott)

Brutality: 4/5

Plan execution: 2/5

1. Roman (Scream 3)

While Scream 3 is not one of the fan favorites of the franchise, we all agree that Roman is by far the most impressive Ghostface. He has the biggest kill count of the entire list at a whopping 9. Not to mention he was the only lone killer. He did not have any partners in his film and was the mastermind behind the first movie. He is far too great of a character to deserve anything other than the number-one spot. I guess it runs in the family. 

Intelligence: 5/5

Motive: 5/5

Kill count: 9 (Cotton, Christine, Sarah, Steven Stone, Tom, Angelina, Tyson, Jennifer, John)

Brutality: 4/5

Plan execution: 4.5/5

Thank you all for reading this month. I hope you enjoyed everything and I will see you next time! <3

Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog. Today we will be covering the cousin of last month’s blog. Instead of music, we will be covering movies. Now, these movies might be some of my favorites but not all of them. There are way too many movies to even consider. Finally, these are not in any particular order. Let’s begin.

1. Practical Magic

“Of course, you’re going to see me again. We’ll grow old together. It’s going to be you and me living in a big house… these two old biddies with all these cats. I bet we even die on the same day.” – Gillian Owens

I feel as if I should have mentioned that these lines are my favorite due to the context of the movie. If you haven’t seen the movie you won’t understand the heart-wrenching ache of happiness that this line brings me.  This movie is about two sisters who are witches. This quote comes from my favorite moment between them. They have some troubles with a very special man, and things go down. Through all of the trials and tribulations, one thing comes of it: the importance and resilience of sisterhood. 

2. Girl, Interrupted

“Have you ever confused a dream with life? Or stolen something when you have the cash? Have you ever been blue? Or thought your train moving while sitting still? Maybe I was just crazy. Maybe it was the 60s. Or maybe I was just a girl… interrupted.” – Susanna Kaysen

This might seem like a very basic choice for this movie considering the title is in the quote, but there is something about it that speaks volumes to the feeling I get while watching this movie. Susanna Kaysen is incredibly insightful.

3. The Virgin Suicides

“So much has been said about the girls over the years, but we have never found an answer. It didn’t matter in the end how old they had been, or that they were girls, but only that we had loved them” – Narrators 

This is a great quote from the movie, but not for a good reason. The whole premise of the narrator being a group of boys on the outside watching the Lisbon sisters suffer means so much because of how they see them. They are no different from Trip or any other boy that hurt the girls. They do not love them like they say. They cannot even fathom them and the complexities of their individual aches.  

4. Almost Famous

“It’s all happening” – Penny Lane

You know I had to choose a quote from my girl Penny Lane. This is her mantra for essentially living in the moment and taking it all in because her words are true. It is all happening all of the time. 

5. Empire Records

“Damn the man, Save the empire” – Lucas

The infamous ‘man’ has not only been mentioned in this film but also in School of Rock in the form of “stick it to the man”. ‘The Man’ is who runs the world. It is whoever is in charge or whatever group or person is above you. Tyrants, bosses, governments, and all of the above. This means too much to the movie and the characters in it, not because they are struggling financially to save Empire Records from being bought by a bigger franchise, but because of each character’s troubles as mentioned in the film prior. 

6. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Clementine: …Show me which constellations you know.

Joel: Um…oh…I don’t know any.

Clementine: Show me which ones you know!

Joel: Okay…okay

There are so many lines in this movie that deserve to be in this spot, but there is something about this interaction between Joel and Clementine that stabs me directly in the heart.  He obviously doesn’t know any constellations, so he makes one up and I think that is so beautiful. 

7. Dazed and Confused

“Let me tell you this: The older you do get, the more rules they’re gonna try to get you to follow. You just gotta keep livin’, man, L-I-V-I-N.” – Wooderson

This is a really cool quote from a not-so-cool character. It’s iconic, therefore I have to include it. However, he didn’t lie. You just gotta keep living man. 

8. 10 Things I Hate About You

“But mostly I hate the way I don’t hate you. Not even close, not even a little bit, not even at all.” – Kat Stratford

This might also seem like a basic pick but the delivery made by Kat was absolutely magnificent, not to mention the cut to Patrick’s face as he watches her from his own seat. It is such an impactful moment. 

9. The Lost Boys

“Initiation’s Over, Michael, It’s Time To Join The Club.” – David

The Lost Boys is an 80s cult classic vampire movie and one of my favorite films. This is a really interesting line because of the situation that Michael is in. He is hanging underneath a bridge with a bunch of leather-wearing vampires that want to turn him into one of them. They suddenly drop one by one into the abyss. 

10. Pretty Woman

“Do You Have Anything In This Shop As Beautiful As She Is?” – Edward

To most people, this line might fly right over their heads, but for me, it stood out like a sore thumb considering Edward’s usual demeanor. He is consistently cold and sarcastic with his comments, but this one is sweet. It is foreshadowing for the later events and one of my favorite lines from Richard Gere.

Thank you all for reading this month and I hope to see you all back next month.

Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog, it feels like it has been forever since I have written one of these bad boys. As the title says, I will be picking a line of lyrics from ONE song per artist on my Spotify’s current top ten artists and talking about them a little bit. 

10. The Smashing Pumpkins

“and I stumbled onto you as you stumbled over me, and you say the fates were cruel for throwing us together. I always loved you so, especially when you’d go ‘all the world must know. all the world must know That I loved you so” – Pennies

The Smashing Pumpkins always seem to know the greatest way to say what they want to say. Pennies is one of my favorite songs by them. 

9. Third Eye Blind

“And I’m hanging on your words like I always used to do, the words they use so lightly, I only feel for you, I only know this because I carry you around,
In the background.” – The Background 

This is probably my favorite Third Eye Blind song. The way that it is performed just makes the listener feel like they’re the ones in the background. I find the lyrics so sweet and sad, almost like sweet-sad. 

8. The Smiths

“There were times when I could have murdered her. But you know, I would hate
for anything to happen to her”

Okay, these lyrics are a little more silly than the others seen on this list, but that’s why they are my favorite. Girlfriend in a coma is my favorite song by the Smiths, so it’s only fair that these lyrics also happen to be my favorite. 

7. The Beatles

“Why she had to go, I don’t know. She wouldn’t say, I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday.”

The Beatles will always be classic, but somehow whenever I listen to this song I just seem to feel something new every time. It’s even more special considering the fact that the Beatles have so many different songs with such powerful lyrics. 

6. Red Hot Chili Peppers

“I liked your whiskers, and I liked the dimple in your chin, your pale blue eyes. You painted pictures ‘Cause the one who hurts can give so much you gave me such.” – Tearjerker

Although this isn’t my favorite Chili Peppers song, I always loved these lyrics because of how unconditional they seem. I definitely don’t have pale blue eyes, but the dimple in my chin feels very appreciated. 

5. Alice in Chains

“Am I wrong? Have I run too far to get home? Have I gone and left you here alone?” – Would?

Again, this isn’t my favorite Alice in Chains song, but it is one whose lyrics really show out to me. An honorable mention is Nutshell (my favorite) because of how those lyrics apply to Layne Staley. These are both so good.

4. Jeff Buckley

“Her love is a rose, pale and dying. Dropping her petals in land unknown, all full of wine, the world before her was sober with no place to go.” – Forget Her

I bet you guys didn’t think I would pick this song because of another super popular song of his. Jeff Buckley is probably one of my favorite lyricists of all time. It was so hard to just pick one line and this isn’t even the best one, it is simply my favorite. 

3. Pink Floyd

“We’re just two lost souls, swimming in a fish bowl, year after year, running over the same old ground. What have we found? The same old fears. Wish you were here” – Wish You Were Here

This one’s pretty basic as far as Pink Floyd songs go, but there is something about it that simply just scratches my brain. The poetry complemented by  David Gilmore’s passionate vocals and killer 12-string guitar just creates a perfect image in my head and a memorable experience.

2. Ghost

“She said, ‘if you had life eternal… Can you hear me say your name forever?
Can you see me longing for you forever? Would you let me touch your soul forever? Can you feel me longing for you forever, forever?” – Life Eternal

Everyone should know by now that Ghost is one of my favorite bands. This is one of their more ballad-like songs, and gosh it just makes me curl my toes. I feel like I’m ascending when I listen to this song. It is so passionate and corresponds to the band’s lore so well. 

1. Slipknot

“So, break yourself against my stones, and spit your pity in my soul” – Snuff

Snuff is, in my opinion, the best Slipknot song on the scale of lyricism. Corey Taylor wrote this song about how the protagonist’s soul is too dark to let love in and is telling somebody that they care about to get away from them for their own well-being. I found the concept easily understandable but also profound in a way that I never get tired of. 

Thank you for reading this month! I will see you all next time. <3

Hello everyone, and welcome back to my blogs. On a recent flight, I decided to watch (500) Days of Summer due to its popularity online and some influence from a few friends. I hate to say this because I love the music in the film, but the characters were so insufferable. 

Tom

Tom, while at first, I sympathized with him, by the end, I realized just how entitled, pretentious, and self-sabotaging he really was. At the beginning of the film, the first time Tom hears something about Summer, it is negative, and he takes that and pushes that narrative onto her until the elevator scene. He only changes his mind after she mentions that she liked The Smiths, his favorite band, and his entire personality. After that, it was all downhill. From the first mention of relationships, Summer had made it clear that she was not wanting to commit to something serious. In fact, she had stated that out-right to Tom multiple times throughout the film, but he, in his swayed perception of her, decided to keep going with it until she finally gets to the point she told him she would get to, and then blames her for the heartache he caused himself.

Summer

While my analysis of Tom was pretty harsh, I can’t make myself enjoy Summer anymore so. She reminds me of the widely-known concept of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Her only role in the movie is to be the dysfunctional indie character that is chased after, only to be lost at the end and painted to be a terrible person for marrying someone and, in turn, ruining the main character’s life. I hate the way the writers treated her character. It was as if she really didn’t have any true purpose in the film other than to drive the plot forward with no life of her own behind her. The tiny peaks we do get into her life all revolve around the main character’s interests that he has in common with her. I watched this movie maybe two weeks ago and there is nothing about her that is significant enough for me to remember, and I think that is really sad because her character had so much potential. 

Thank you all for reading this month’s blog. I will see you all after Christmas break!

Hello everyone and welcome back to this month’s blog! By the time this is put up it should be October! If you know me then you definitely have heard of my love for horror movies! So, in honor of this month, I will be going through a few different techniques used in horror movies that really amp up the fear factor! I will also be putting examples from different movies linked in the list! Enjoy.

Story

The story is one of, if not the most, important aspects of creating a horror movie environment. It can either make or break a horror movie in my opinion. For example, The Conjuring does an amazing job of creating a truly terrifying story, especially since it’s based on true events. Their story had me engaged, invested, and practically hypnotized into the film. They created bonds between characters that felt so real and so strong, so that when the threat came you were almost falling out of your seat to make sure each person is safe and sound. On the other hand, the Saw franchise is an example of how a lousy story can break a movie. In the first movie, things were okay. It was intense and all, but I felt nothing towards those characters except for sympathy pains, which are caused by the overuse of body horror (my least favorite kind of film). It relies on gore and gruesome bodily harm to scare the watchers instead of creating depth and real deeper fear. 

Locations 

Location is another aspect of horror cinematography that I think also decides the type of fear that the watchers feel during a film. It can create a wide fear or a narrow fear. For example, Scream takes place in Woodsburrow, a quiet suburban town where nothing really happens. This creates a wide fear of unsafety within somewhere you would have already perceived as being safe. You could even go as far as saying that Texas Chainsaw Massacre could create a fear of backroads and hitchhikers. An example of a location that seems to create less fear for me, is in the movie Old, where they end up on a beach that makes them age super quickly. I find this particularly un-scary because of the very low possibility of this ever happening to me or anyone I love. 

Sound 

Sound is by far my favorite aspect to talk about. I can sit through a horror movie and afterward talk about how scary or how impactful the soundtrack was. Sounds within a movie can also become a cult-classic detail that thrives within the horror community, like the Halloween theme that I learned how to play on the piano. While that soundtrack has become less terrifying over the years of popularity, the original impact has stuck with horror movie fans for years. On the other hand, one of James Wans’ newer films Malignant had a magnificent soundtrack, and in some scenes, the lack of sound was what made it amazing. My first time watching it, the sounds made me sit up straight, and I have terrible posture. I will link those two songs used in scenes from those movies below.

Halloween: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPSXZxia23k

Malignant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2J2Gr65tp8

Lighting 

In many newer films and some of the old ones, light has been used in creative ways to create a sense of dread. As humans, we always wonder about what we cannot see, whether it be under the bed or the dark end of the hallway that we can’t quite see. The idea of the dark and what may lie beneath has inspired so many great films that are great because of the use of lighting. Like, Lights Out, outright tells you what they’re going to use to scare you, and it worked. The scene I linked below is the one that stuck with me the most. 

Lights out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw84SFLxC_o

 Angles

Finally, we have come to the last aspect that always stands out to me when I watch horror movies. Angles, paired with lighting and sound create the most fear-inducing combination. There are so many different ways to use angles in movies as well. For example, The Blair Witch Project and As Above So Below are two found footage films that use the found footage format to their advantage, by being able to hide parts of the set while also being able to do quick turns to lead the watcher right into the scare. Another way to use angles is what I call a predatory angle. It’s most well described as the perspective of the predator. It makes you worry for the prey, mentally begging them to turn around and catch their stalker but it also gives you insight into the stalker’s motives or patience. Jaws and He’s Out There have really good examples of this that I will link below. 

As Above So Below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekqjBZdbYJU (Graphic imagery warning)

Jaws: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrEvK-tv5OI (around 1min in)

Thank you all for reading this month! Have a very scary Halloween. See you next time! <3