iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 29/09/2026

Time to watch the Improv 101 Showcase that my wife is in, in like the tiniest little theater I've ever seen. The things people do today for professional development are wild.

A tiny little theater stage with an old blur and red carpet and canvas prints of paintings on the walls, which are made up like painted wood. Blue spot lights and orange string lights accentuate the space.

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 25/09/2026

Oh you should, it's a wonderful place. There was this little vegan hemp cafe there called Magokoro, it overlooked the beach and had delicious food. It might sound odd or touristy, but the bread was amazing. I wonder if it's still there. I left Japan right before COVID hit...

An image by Michael J. Riser of Kamakura, Japan from the top of a temple. It overlooks many homes and buildings, plus the sea, on a hazy day through green trees that frame the shot.

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 14/08/2026

Time to IMAX at 70mm. It's ... well, it's sure big. Finally seeing The Odyssey. We're lucky we live close enough to one of the few of these 70mm screens that we can see this, even though it was sold out for so long we had to wait quite a long time. Let's burn out our retinas!

A large slightly transparent 70mm IMAX screen in a mostly empty theater.

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 10/08/2026

post you from a different era of your life Four eras, each listed in the alt text.

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 22/07/2026

Share a horror movie title that begins with the letter “B” 🎥 B is for ... Baskin (2015)

A movie poster for Baskin, showing a large face in the dark, the outline of the head obscured by darkness, its eyes slightly agloe or lit by unseen light. In the center of its forehead is a red-orange keyhole with a screaming man seen inside, pulling at the edges as though trying to escape.

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 21/07/2026

Share a horror movie title that begins with the letter “A” 🎥 A is for ... Antibirth (2016)

A poster for Antibirth, starting Natasha Lyonne, Chloe Sevigny, and Meg Tilly. It's printed in neon pinks and purples, with a stylized face in the center with several hands surrounding it forming a moon-like circle. A small fetus hangs below. The title sits in the low center in large block letters.

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 07/07/2026

Mitch McConnell arriving to the next session of Congress.

A brain in a jar with a holographic face above it screaming in pain, in a black and white still from The Whisperer in Darkness. A band can be seen on part of the brain machine turning a lever nearby.

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 07/06/2026

#horrorwatch is tonight, but I need something to do until then, so I'm watching Gazer on Shudder. Been waiting for this one to go live for a bit now. It's got a vibe I really dig. #mjrfilms

A still from Gazer taken via photo. It shows the main characters eyes in closeup, slightly unfocused, under harsh lights they have smooth, tan skin, and slight circles under their eyes. They seem feminine but indeterminate.

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 05/06/2026

Ubuntu server installed. Now to rebuild the entire goddamn Docker Compose stack and pray to the software gods. Bought someone's used gaming PC for a song (the GPU is nearly worth what I got the whole system for), so I don't need all the RGB, but this thing will be a welcome addition to the homelab.

A crowded workshop table with a gaming PC on it, colored LED fans whirling in blue and purple, next to a mouse, a keyboard with similar colors, and an old, dirty monitor with dirt, tape, smudges, and a bunch of Linux install logs on the screen. It sits below a bright overhead workshop light and a warmer bar light. Books and band posters can be seen to the side and back.

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 31/05/2026

I don't want to be buried, because what a fucking waste, but if I ever am, I hope it's underneath the creepiest and weirdest gravestone statue imaginable. #horrorwatch

A picture of a weird statue of a thing with an odd spine and bulbous head with pits and veins sitting between two pots by a stone wall. From the video game Bloodborne.

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 31/05/2026

Bought this at random today because I just felt like a beer, not realizing it's 9.5% abv. Ahem. After two, it's been a ... pretty chill evening. Good night for a spooky movie. #horrorwatch

A can of Voodoo Ranger Juice Force IPA with a skeleton that's got a fighter pilot's helmet on. The can is bright orange.

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 12/05/2026

Wife is at a conference, work is done for the day, pizza has been acquired, edible has been eaten. Time to watch some trash and play Diablo.

A picture of a living room. A tablet in the foreground shows Diablo IV war plans, while the out-of-focus background shows a TV with a series of pictures on it (it's an old RKG Halloween stream).

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 11/05/2026

Share a horror movie that isn't talked about enough

An info sheet for Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum showing a date of 2018, a runtime of 91 minutes, directed by Jung Bum-shik and produced by Won-guk Kim,.with a list of actors.

A poster for Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum with the title in Korean and English in large block lettering at the bottom of the page over black. Above is an image of the asylum in white, with its outer staircase colored red, looking almost like a helix.

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 11/05/2026

Quote with the last four games you played. But let's be real, it's about 300 hours of Diablo in the last couple weeks.

Promo image for Diablo IV: Lord of Hatred, showing Mephisto, a long and lanky demon of bone.and fleshy red muscles, with two gigantic horns and several smaller ones, and a sort of inverse halo behind his head.

The cover of Vampire Crawlers, with a vampire with glowing eyes, slicked back hair, and a goblet of red liquid standing before w green sky and bright moon with bats.

The cover of Bloodborne, showing a man in a long coat from behind. He stands in a narrow alley in a Victorian-looking street if dark buildings. In one hand he holds an old-fashioned gun and in the other a weapon that appears to be a saw blade with a long handle.

The cover of the original Baldur's Gate, which looks like a book. In the center of a leather-like surface is a stone symbol that looks like water droplets circling a skull with glowing eyes.

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 09/05/2026

Had to jet just as the movie ended to take my wife for a photo opportunity for her work. Very folksy way to end the evening. Happy #folkhorrorfriday, folks!

The sun setting behind hills and a plateau.

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 30/04/2026

Fuck me this game is pretty sometimes. I should go to bed but I just want to slip into Diablo's quiet oblivion and loot grind for a few more hours. #DiabloIV #gamesky

A screenshot of Diablo IV's Lord of Hatred expansion, showing an isometric view above a wooded landscape. A wirey female necromancer, a large golem of flesh and bone, and two NPCs stand in a clearing. Brown to yellow and fiery orange leaves, green grass and moss, grey stone paths, and low, ruined walls make up their surroundings. A quest indicator at the side says "The Path of Riddles, Search the forest," and a prompt by the player reads "Fragrant Clearing". A game UI with hotkey controller shortcuts and other elements sits below.

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 30/04/2026

Quote with your vibe if you were a vampire. (I'm the goo on the chair.)

A screenshot of Bloodborne showing a player standing before the ornate golden throne of Queen Annalise, the Queen of the Vilebloods now ground to a living pulp by Alfred, a man standing next to the player. He wears a white cloak stained with blood, a triangular metal helmet of bronze, and he holds his arms out to his sides. He leans back triumphantly, and the subtitles read, "All mangled and twisted, with every inside on the outside, for all the world to see!"

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 23/04/2026

I'm not sure how much of this I would have to drink to get used to it. Somehow it tastes ... more alcoholic than regular beer? It's weird. Maybe I just know the taste of Sapporo too well and my brain can't parse it. I can't do decaf coffee and enjoy it either.

A close-up of a can of Sapporo Premium Non-Alcoholic beer. It's held by the top by a hand, and in the background is a bowl of curry with cubed tofu and a blurry portion of a room.

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 21/04/2026

This feels a ton like one of the temples nearby where I lived, though it wasn't nearly as rural-feeling as this village. I really miss the festivals.

A still from Shikoku showing a large temple with vertical banners at its front. It's surrounded by red and green trees. There are booths off to the right side, and a crowd of people to the left. In front of the temple hall are numerous dancers and musicians clothed in red costumes, the dancers wearing what look almost like moth wings.

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 21/04/2026

Well, being back in the real world for a few minutes was terrible, and I want no part in any of that, so #nowwatching 死国 (Shikoku), another #j-horror movie, in the hope that reality will unassert itself and leave me the fuck alone for a while longer. #horrorsky #horror #mjrfilms

A poster for Shikoku, showing a girl imwith long black hair in a kimono standing in the water among colorful flowers. The scene is dark and there's a light shining behind her, over her shoulder. To the right in vertical Japanese writing is the title of the film, written as 死国.

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 21/04/2026

Movie was worth it for this scene and the followup chaos alone.

A still from Chakushin Ari Final (One Missed Call 3), showing 12 students standing in a hallway. Offscreen there's an open elevator they're all staring into, and most of them are screaming with a few looking shocked.

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 21/04/2026

Feeling crappy and didn't get enough sleep, so gonna finish off the Chakushin Ari trilogy while I've got some downtime this morning. Let's see what the finale has in store.

A poster for 着信あり Final (Chakushin Ari Final, One Missed Call 3). It shows two Japanese girls, each on a flip phone. The one on the left looks intense and apprehensive, while the one on the right looks as if she's smouldering with anger. Male and female classmates appear at the bottom in a strip of red with black ink for the images. Above is a class photo superimposed over a green, dark hallway where an adult and child figure walk away from the camera. Text in the middle of the screen reads 「終り。」 (the end).

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 21/04/2026

A short horror series based on Illbleed for the Sega Dreamcast. A TV miniseries or maybe a series of novellas.

A screenshot from Illbleed showing main character Eriko, polygonal woman in a purple shirt and white skirt, attacking a mannequin in a warehouse. The mannequin springs huge gouts of blood everywhere.

A shot of Illbleed on the Dreamcast. Main character Eriko walks away from the low camera, which looks up toward her as she walks toward a giant wood and metal gate with a large metal archway that reads "ILLBLEED" across it. The sky is dark and the gate is framed by numerous lanterns and lights.

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 21/04/2026

I never made it to Taiwan, but this makes me miss China a ton. Feels so much like the countryside around where I stayed. Japan is also often extremely green and gorgeous, but the coastal area along Hangzhou Bay would just leave me gobsmacked sometimes.

A still from Chakushi Ari 2 (One Missed Call 2) showing a Taiwanese landscape. Trees and hills toll as far as the eye can see, with blue sky in the background, and numerous ruins of a mining operation and town are scattered about. Everything is beautifully overgrown, a sea of various shades of bushy green.

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 21/04/2026

I'm bored and I never finished this the last time I watched it (no fault of the movie), so gonna give it another go. I'm on a hardcore Japanese horror kick right now, J-Horror and otherwise, as happens now and again. So I'll probably be hard at it for a bit ... #horrorsky #mjrfilms

A poster for 着信アリ2 (One Missed Call 2), showing a Japanese girl in the center holding a flip phone and staring at it with a terrified look on her face. To the right is another Japanese woman with a wary look, and to the left is a man with an incredulous expression. Behind them looms a huge, blank face with black eyes. In its yellow-tinted flesh an image of a cityscape is superimposed. Over the bridge of the nose is 「遊ぼ。」 in Japanese, or "Let's play."

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 19/04/2026

Back on it after having to leave it overnight. I have mixed opinions on this (unpleasantness with pigs I could do without), but am generally enjoying it. Makes me wanna go finish Yakuza 0 finally. I do love some 1980s Japan.

A still from The Blood of Wolves. Two detectives at left and center with a beautiful woman on the right. The woman and central detective look down at someone in front of them, toward the camera, while the other detective gives a contemptuous look at the central detective. The subtitles read, "What exactly did Uesawa do?"

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 19/04/2026

The platonic ideal of the yakuza movie scene. You could watch a thousand of these and they'd all basically be this.

A still from The Blood of Wolves with a mid-sized back room with two couches, a low coffee table, all framed by goons in black suits while two men sit and talk. Another sits in the middle at the far side of the table, bandages around his head.

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 19/04/2026

Well, as long as I don't pause it a single time I should have just enough time for THE BLOOD OF WOLVES before #horrorwatch tonight at 6pm Pacific. I do love a good yakuza movie.

A police detective and a beautiful woman sit inside an interrogation room in a still from movie The Blood of Wolves. Each has a bright pink cup of flavored ice in front of them, and the detective reaches across to stir the woman's. The subtitles read, "sorry it's so hot in here."

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 18/04/2026

I have no idea what to expect from this. Starts with a young kid listening to a woman fuck in the next room before getting accosted by a weird zombie arm or something. Then we cut to dudes in a restaurant talking about fucking chickens. Okay!

A shot from Baskin, showing a balding man with a silver ring and a black leather jacket. He's smiling and holding a hand up to his face, sitting at a table. Behind him hang beige or white curtains that look brown in the dim orange light of a restaurant. The subtitles read, "But I have plenty friends who fucked chicken. - You and your friends, man!"

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 18/04/2026

Everything is trash so it's time to watch trash. Or maybe not trash. I know zero about this except it has cops and is rated well on Shudder, so maybe it's a better cop horror than Bodycam was. It's Turkish, so not exactly the same context, but let's see where it goes. #horrorsky #mjrfilms

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 18/04/2026

Wow, so uh, this one starts with a rather different vibe all around. I guess I should stop using the hashtag since we're done, unless anyone else wants to do a double-feature with me ... #folkhorrorfriday

A still from Spiral, showing a doctor in green surgical scrubs and mask staring wide-eyed at the bloody corpse of a man sitting up in front of him. Another doctor looks down at a clipboard, unaware. In the background.

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 18/04/2026

I also remember loving this shot so much. And being creeped out by the pictures with the distorted faces. Related but unrelated, I remember one of the earliest times being scared as a kid was people disappearing from pictures in back to the Future. That freaked me out so bad. #folkhorrorfriday

A shot from Ring, showing Yoichi, a young boy, and Ryuji, a middle-aged man. They each hold an umbrella in the middle of the rain along a city street and stare at one another.

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 18/04/2026

On to Body Cam because I feel like the devil's own asshole and I ain't gettin up for shit. Just enough time to finish this before #folkhorrorfriday in an hour and twenty! No idea if this is any good, but I do love a weird house / hell portal movie, and this already strikes me as that. #mjrfilms

A skewed still from Body Cam showing a cop standing at the door of an old house, rats spilling out of the doorway across the porch. It's presented as body cam footage, with name and date in the corner. The subtitles read, "Christ!"

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 17/04/2026

Long day of actually working for a change. Sorta nice. Now to relax and watch The Mortuary Assistant even though consensus is it doesn't quite make the grade. I'll reserve judgement (I love the game), and this will get me through until #folkhorrorfriday tonight!

A still from The Mortuary Assistant (film), showing a man in a blue coat and khaki pants standing next to and looking over a body on a steel table. On the other side is a woman in bright green gloves and a white coat dealing with a small table full of instruments. The room has blue-toned walls with bricks on the bottom and plaster on the top, with a black and white checkered floor. It's cluttered with cabinets and embalming fluid and other assorted Mortuary detritus.

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 14/04/2026

Vote for my lil baby girl Millie in the Pooch Playoffs! It's silly but it's for charity, and we'd love to see her make it to the final four. Been a rough year and our clan could use a little joy. Vote at erinlackey.com/poochplayoffs! First bracket ends tomorrow, then a new one daily until the 19th!

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 11/04/2026

Also, for the #folkhorrorfriday crew and followers generally, if you haven't yet, check out @crossroadsfolk.bsky.social and their first issue, which is a joy from top to bottom. Some great writing, insights, and art in a sexy little volume. Hope I can scrape together enough money for future issues.

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 21/03/2026

As though for a time I didn't exist, as though I had no place in the world, no part of the life around me. #folkhorrorfriday

A picture of Ralph the diner guy from Groundhog Day. He wears a flannel jacket and green baseball cap. He has a short reddish-brown beard. The subtitles at the bottom of the image read: "That about sums it up for me."

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 21/03/2026

Carnival of Souls in ten minutes for #folkhorrorfriday! Can't wait! I've missed the last of these plus the last two #horrorwatch weekends. My life is smaller without them. I also fucking love this cover for the Criterion release of this movie. So good.

Black and white poster for CARNIVAL OF SOULS. Closeup of a woman who looks distressed and maybe a bit delusional. Behind her looms a shadowy pavilion at night.

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 18/03/2026

Genuinely excited to check out the first issue of @crossroadsfolk.bsky.social. Wishing the team much success! Having gotten to know @theharvestmaid.bsky.social over the last year and change here on Bluesky, I can say they're someone you can be excited to support.👻🪦🖤 #horror #horrorsky

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 10/03/2026

Been too long away from Yharnam. Bloodborne is one of my all-time favorite games and somehow I still never finished the DLC all those years ago, despite having like 300 hours in the game. Time to finally rectify that. #bloodborne #horrorsky #gamesky

An image from Bloodborne showing a street jutting off of a courtyard in Yharnam, a gothic-victorian nightmare of a city. In the foreground, the player character stands with her back to the camera. She wears a black cloak, slathered in blood (not hers) and holds a saw with a wooden handle and gnarly looking teeth in the blade in her right hand, plus a blunderbuss in her left hand. Next to her is a tall man in a wide-brimmed hat, a long white scarf, and a long black coat. He also holds a pair of weapons. Above him floats the name and title "Old Hunter Father Gascoigne". The two characters look at a large man in the distance pounding on a door. To the right is an abandoned carriage. To the left is a coffin wrapped in chains and locked.

An image from Bloodborne on the PS4 showing two depressing-looking statues of cloaked figures that hold lit lanterns. In the far distance rise the spires of the city of Yharnam, a gothic-victorian fantasy city, set against a backdrop of orange sunset sky and cloud.

A screenshot from Bloodborne. It shows a player character standing in the Hunter's Dream, a small workshop of sorts. There's a large fireplace, a statue of a woman in robes behind many candles, gloriously detailed wood arched ceilings and wainscoting, shelving with all manner of containers, stacks of assorted books on various surfaces (including the floor), and a bench over which hang saw blades suspended by chains. It's an odd mix of comfortable, cozy, and foreboding. Two small windows in the high reaches of the space cast white Sundays into the room's warmer tones from the fire.

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 10/03/2026

Okay, at the encouragement of @christaqua.bsky.social, I'm back to watching Honey Bunch on Shudder. Started it and got waylaid. Hadn't had time to go back and finish (was only 20 minutes in), so now I've got a pizza and one-third of an edible ... let's finish this up. #nowwatching #mjrfilms

A still from Honey Bunch. It shows the main character, a white woman with blond hair (Grace Glowicki), in a bathtub. She has a slightly confused and bewildered expression, mouth open slightly, tears forming in her eyes. Green plants sit in the background.

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 07/03/2026

This all being over a dog means I'm going to be emotionally devastated by the end, doesn't it. #folkhorrorfriday

A lil grey pittie snoozin on the lap of Michael J. Riser, a man wearing blue jeans and a black t-shirt.

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 27/02/2026

A rather odd collection for my #letterboxdfriday #last4watched post. It's been a weird week and I've been watching a *lot* of movies.

A screenshot of the last 4 of my Letterboxd watches. The Empty Man at 4 & 1/2 stars, Scanners at 3 & 1/2, The Well at 3, and Disturbia at 3.

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 26/02/2026

Time to curl up under the covers, nibble the frayed edges of existence, and watch one of my comfort movies because kiiinda fuck everything today really

A poster for the film The Empty Man (2020) directed by David Prior. It shows a skeletal, mummified corpse of a strange humanoid creature. It sits in a squatting position with hands folded together in front of it, and looks roughly human except for having 9 or 10 fingers on each hand, all of them far too long, and has two large bone protuberances coming out of its chest and shoulder areas. It sits atop a pile of bones.

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 24/02/2026

Comb jellies might be a little challenging, but could sure be fun ...

$A comb jelly, a somewhat amorphous sea creature with eight lengths of tines that run along a translucent body refracting the light in a rainbow of colors.$

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 24/02/2026

The inimitable Howard Shore lending his talents, though so far this hasn't had all that much music to speak of. Lots of dialogue, this one is quite talky and rather slow outside of the one murder so far. #thebrood #mjrfilms

A still from The Brood. It shows a man in a brown Adidas athletic outfit with a towel wrapped closely around his neck. He has an odd combover and is red in the face. The subtitles read, "I mean, Raglan encouraged my body to revolt against me."

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👻Michael J. Riser𖤐🧊❌👑 @michaeljriser.com · 24/02/2026

#nowwatching The Brood tonight in my haphazard, leisurely quest to watch earlier Cronenberg films I haven't seen. 🎥👻 #filmsky #horrorsky #horror

A poster for David Cronenberg's The Brood, advertised as "the ultimate experience of inner terror". A white backdrop shows a dark blue and black photograph in the center with a bunch of children standing in a darkened hallway. One stands closer to the camera, off center to the left. The film's title appears below in large red block letters.

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