Monthly Archives: August 2026

Aug 29 2026

My Top 20 Songs of the 2000’s

Another list that was painful to make. There are so many amazing songs that I wanted in the list, but I wanted to keep it at 20 songs. But I think this is as good as it’s going to get. Like last time, I kept it to one song per artist which was hard as hell. How do you choose between perfect songs? So here they are, my top 20 songs of the 2000’s.

20 – For All the Lost by Necessary Response

Such a great song to dance to. This brings me back… No video for this one, but I hope you enjoy the audio.

Released in 2007, from the album Blood Spills Not Far From The Wound.

19 – Mein Herz Brennt by Rammstein

Some people might have gone with Sonne or Mutter for this place, but I really prefer this lesser known song. So good.

Released in 2001, from the album Mutter.

18 – The Nobodies by Marilyn Manson

(s)AINT almost took this spot, but listening to them again, I realized that this is the superior song. Maybe. Did I mention this list was hell to make?

Released in 2000, from the album Holy Wood.

17 – Destroy Everything You Touch by Ladytron

I’d completely forgotten just how much I actually love this song. I haven’t heard it in a while, and I still remember all the lyrics (but not why I walked into the kitchen. Brains, am I right?)

Released in 2005, from the album Witching Hour.

16 – TZDV by Faderhead

I still remember the first time I heard this song. I was sitting in a club for a goth night in Quebec City just chatting with friends. This song came on and I was instantly in love. Love that pounding bass!

Released in 2008, from the album FH3.

15 – Military Fashion Show by And One

Such a great song to dance to. Man, do I ever miss dancing… *nostalgia kicking in* No video for this one.

Released in 2006, from the album Bodypop.

14 – Change (In the House of Flies) by Deftones

Passenger almost went here, but then I listened to this one again and was like, yup, that’s the one. Such a powerful song.

Released in 2000, from the album White Pony.

13 – Your Joy is My Low by IAMX

When I heard this for the first time, I was dancing in a goth club in Montreal (significantly more people in there than the club in Quebec City, lol) and this song came on. Halfway through the song I literally stopped dancing and just listened. So good.

Released in 2004, from the album Kiss + Swallow.

12 – Hellraiser (VNV Nation remix) by Suicide Commando

The original of this song is just so-so, but this VNV remix is awesome. They added some great melody to it. At around the 3 minute mark they added an instrumental bit that was heaven to dance to.

Released in 2000, from the album Hellraiser.

11 – Map of the Problematique by Muse

Singer Matthew Bellamy, besides being a cutie, has such an amazing voice. I had a hell of a time choosing just one Muse song, there are so many amazing ones. Undisclosed Desires had the spot before I went “hold on…” and remembered this song. This video is the only official one they have out, live at Wembley Stadium. But here you can hear just how good they are live.

Released in 2007. from the album Black Holes and Revelations.

10 – Judith by A Perfect Circle

Might seem like the obvious choice, but this really is an amazing song. Singer Maynard James Keenan’s voice is just so powerful. Shoutout to Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums, it was thisclose to being the one I picked.

Released in 2000, from the album Mer de Noms.

9 – Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes

Singer Jack White was made up to look like a pretty boy for this video, and the girls (and some guys, I’m sure) went crazy. Jack hated it and made sure he looked weird in videos from that point on. I was so disappointed, lol. Oh, and the song is an absolute banger. Simple but oh so effective.

Released in 2003, from the album Elephant.

8 – Exterminate Annihilate Destroy by Rotersand

Another one that’s just amazing to dance to. Plus it’s a little geeky, just like me! Unfortunately no video for this one. Not an official one anyhow. There’s a few that viewers made with clips of the Daleks, lol.

Released in 2005, from the album Welcome to Goodbye.

7 – Breath by Breaking Benjamin

Here’s another one that was hard to pick just one. But, listening to them again, this song is head and shoulders above the rest. I was so sure there was a video to this song…

Released in 2006, from the album Phobia.

6 – Like a Stone by Audioslave

Such a loss to the music world, singer Chris Cornell had a voice like butter. I love doing this song at karaoke. Or in the shower… lol.

Released in 2002, from their self-titled album.

5 – The Bitter End by Placebo

I was waffling between this song and Song to Say Goodbye for this spot, but this one won. And it has (almost) nothing to do with how hot singer Brian Molko is in it *fans self*.

Released in 2003, from the album Sleeping with Ghosts.

4 – In Repair by Our Lady Peace

I’d started listening to Our Lady Peace less in the 2000’s. A lot of the newer stuff I just didn’t like. This song is a massive exception. So good.

Released in 2000, from the album Spiritual Machines.

3 – I Don’t Care by Apocalyptica, with Adam Gontier

The 2000’s is when Apocalyptica started making their own music. Before then, they were doing Metallica covers on cello. On a few tracks per album from then on, they would borrow a singer from another band, in this case Three Days Grace’s Adam Gontier, and actually have lyrics. Their instrumental stuff is really nice, but I like to sing along. I also have a massive crush on “lead” cellist Eicca Toppinen (he’s the one with the long blond hair). Whew…

Released in 2007, from the album Worlds Collide.

2 – Crawling by Linkin Park

Choosing which Linkin Park song is the best of the decade was almost impossible, but I finally decided on Crawling. I always did prefer the songs that were heavier with Chester’s vocals more than Mike’s. He is sorely missed.

Released in 2001, from the album Hybrid Theory.

1 – Wreath of Barbs by :Wumpscut:

I was waffling a long time which should take first place, this or Crawling, but I finally decided on this. It might change tomorrow, but for now, this is it. I love everything about this song.

Released in 2001, from the album Wreath of Barbs.

And that’s it! As usual, a lot of the rankings are probably interchangeable, but for today, this is what I went with. I hope I was able to turn you on to some new music, and help revive old favourites. Next up, sometime in the not-too-distant future, the best of the 2010’s!!

M.

Aug 23 2026

Mel’s 5 Second Review: Exhuma

Exhuma (2024)
Kim Go-eun, Choi Min-sik, Lee Do-hyun, Yoo Hai Jin, Kim Jae-cheol, Kim Sun-young, Lee Jong-goo, Lee Yeong-ran
Directed by: Jang Jae-hyun

This one’s been in my to-watch list since it came out 2 years ago, and I finally got around to it. And while I’m left slightly confused, I did enjoy my time with it.

After tracing a strange ailment to a remote grave site, a team of supernatural experts soon discovers what happens when you mess with the wrong grave.

So, this one was special. I can confidently say I’ve never seen anything quite like it. But honestly, that’s because this film leans heavily on Korean and Japanese folklore, so I had no idea what was going on half the time. The run time was also a little daunting, clocking in at 2 hours and 14 minutes. I’d say it was a little excessive, but really, it didn’t feel that long. It’s definitely a slow burn, but everything that’s in there kinda needs to be. I’d have been even more confused if anything had been left out.

On a technical level, this film is gorgeous. The colours, the camera work, everything worked in its favour. The acting was all around terrific, especially from our leading lady. I almost didn’t watch it cause when I put it on, on Prime, it was dubbed and I was like nope, I’m out. But then I thought to check the audio settings, and I changed it to original, and put English subtitles on and voila! No more awful dubbing. And from the little I heard, the dubbing was truly awful. And, because I’m contractually obligated to say so, the most beautiful Asian man I’ve ever seen is in this film (Lee Do-hyun as Yoon Bong-gil). I mean, holy hell…

So, do I recommend it? If you don’t mind experiencing other cultures, and slow burns don’t bother you, then yes, absolutely. I give it a pretty great 8/10. Now to go hunt down Lee Do-hyun’s other work…

M.

This film is currently streaming on Amazon Prime, AMC+, and Shudder.

Aug 19 2026

Mel’s 5 Second Review: La Llorona

La Llorona (2019)
Sabrina De La Hoz, Margarita Kenéfic, Julio Diaz, Ayla-Elea Hurtado, María Mercedes Coroy, María Telón, Juan Pablo Olyslager
Directed by: Jayro Bustamante

Shudder has a tendency to dub movies that aren’t in English and I absolutely hate it. I’ll actually stop it, no matter how much I want to see it. I’ll pick the actor’s real voice every time, even if I don’t speak the language. Anyways, I was happy to see that this film wasn’t dubbed. And, oh boy, was it one of the very few things I actually liked about it.

Retired general Enrique and his family must face the truth of his actions and the sense that a supernatural force is targeting them for his crimes during the Mayan genocide.

This movie does have some good going for it. The story is actually excellent, although I seem to remember the La Llorona story being something quite different. Hold, let me go look it up… Ok, yes, it is different. Here’s what Google had to say about it: “La Llorona, or the Weeping Woman, is a famous ghost in Hispanic and Mexican folklore. The legend says a heartbroken or angry woman named Maria drowns her children in a river after her husband leaves her. She then kills herself. Cursed to wander the earth, her ghost cries out for her lost children near water.” (If a version of this sounds familiar, it’s because Supernatural’s pilot episode was about this, except they called her a Woman in White.) Water still features prominently in the story, just not quite in this way.

This, in my opinion, would have made a fantastic short film, maybe half an hour long. But there are just so many long shots of little to nothing happening that I was begging for something to happen. I spoke out loud to my tv, “something, anything, please, just stub your toe, even, come on”. I do enjoy a good slow burn, but this was glacial. The acting was mostly pretty good, and it did have some good looking shots.

I actually knew nothing of the real-world events that inspired this film. I thought that this was going to be a period piece, set during conquest. I was actually quite upset that it wasn’t! Looking it up after the fact and boy, do humans ever suck. Wouldn’t it really be nice for vengeful ghosts to come around and take care of these people?

So, do I recommend it? No, not really. It’s slow and mostly boring. It’s got a good final 10 minutes, but it’s not enough to save it. I give it a (generous) 4/10.

M.

This film is currently streaming on Shudder and AMC+.

Aug 7 2026

Mel’s 5 Second Review: Thine Ears Shall Bleed

Thine Ears Shall Bleed (2024)
Andrew Hovelson, Hannah Cabell, Lucas Near-Verbrugghe, Lea Zawada, Duke Huston
Directed by: Ben Bigelow

I found out about this movie from mistylane over at Cinema Scminema and thought it sounded at least somewhat interesting, so I went over to Tubi and found it. And, oh boy…

In the 1860’s American West, a minister and his family are traveling in a covered wagon when they hear a mysterious sound coming from the woods. Believing the sound to be God, they worship it, until they start to discover the sound might be something much more sinister.

I don’t often use Tubi, only as a last resort really, if what I’m looking for is there and nowhere else, cause Tubi has ads, and ads give me toothaches. But this sounded intriguing enough that I decided to watch it anyways. And while it wasn’t god-awful, it wasn’t great either. I believe mistylane was of the same opinion.

So first, the acting. It was bad. And the dialogue, worse. People just don’t talk like that, even in the 1860’s. The acting wasn’t quite bad enough to make my ears bleed (eh eh), but really, it wasn’t far. The son in particular was really bad. Which is too bad cause he was kinda cute. Maybe? It was actually hard to tell cause he kept making weird faces.

As for the story, it was an interesting concept. But a good part of the movie is just plain dull. Now, I do love me a good slow burn, but it still has to be interesting, the characters engaging, and this was neither. The first half is basically the characters just walking around. There had to be a better way to do this. Now the second half was much better than the first, but really, the bar was set real low. But there were actually some interesting things happening. And the twist, if it can be called that, was good, even if I did see it coming a mile away. They might have explored other mythologies to make it more interesting, but whatever, it was fine.

SPOILERS INCOMING

But the ending is where I have my biggest gripe. So Mr Booker, who we now know is Lucifer, is looking for a pure soul so he can escape the woods (ok? But why is he stuck in the woods in the first place?). The daughter was not, apparently because she wanted more in life than playing an organ in a tiny church. The wife was not because, and this is great, she sinned in independence. The father was not because he pridefully wanted a bigger flock to come to his church. He was also tricked into killing his wife, so definitely not pure. So that leaves the son. But he also killed. Booker told him he’d make him blind again if he didn’t shoot his father. And so he did. But how does this make him pure? Wouldn’t choosing to kill over being blind make him impure? Wouldn’t purity have been sacrificing his sight to save his father? And then, of course, he loses his sight again anyways as soon as they leave the woods, Booker telling him that he wouldn’t need it to enjoy what was coming, so it really was just another trick. But again, how is Luke pure after killing, but the father is not? I guess maybe I’m thinking about it too hard? Meh..

So, do I recommend it? No, not really. There’s the bare bones of a good story here, but all of the dressing isn’t great. I give it a ho-hum 4.5/10.

M.

This movie is currently streaming on Tubi and Fawesome.