In The Shape of Water, a mute janitor working in a government laboratory forms a bond with a captive amphibious creature.

Starring Sally Hawkins, Doug Jones and Michael Shannon and directed by Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water was released December 1, 2017.

Recommendations:

Tay — The Lure (Smoczynska, 2015)
Tim — The Elephant Man (Lynch, 1980)

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In Halloween, a masked killer returns to his quiet suburban hometown after escaping a mental institution and begins stalking a babysitter and her friends on Halloween night.

Starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasence and directed by John Carpenter, Halloween was released October 25, 1978.

Recommendations:
Tim — The Hitcher (Harmon, 1986)—where to watch
Tay — Halloween H20 (Minor, 1998)—where to watch

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In The Shining, a family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where a sinister presence influences the father into violence. The young son, gifted with psychic abilities, witnesses disturbing visions of the past and future.

Starring Danny Lloyd, Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall and directed by Stanley Kubrick, The Shining was released May 23, 1980.

Recommendations:
Tim — Doctor Sleep (Flanagan, 2019)—where to watch
Tay — El Orfanato (Bayona, 2007)—where to watch

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In Weapons, a small town is shaken when an entire third-grade class vanishes overnight, leaving only one child behind, and no clear answers as to where the children went.

Starring Julia Garner and Josh Brolin and directed by Zach Cregger, Weapons was released August 8, 2025.

Recommendations:
Tim — The Innocents (Jack Clayton, 1961)—where to watch
Tay — Place Beyond the Pines (Derek Cianfrance, 2012)—where to watch

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• Tim on Letterboxd

In 28 Years Later, a father and son leave their quarantined community on a remote island to venture into the zombie-infested mainland.

Starring Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Jack O’Connell, and directed by Danny Boyle, 28 Years Later is was released June 20, 2025.

Also, don't miss our other podcast, promoting the Peaks Central Asian Film Festival. Check out the latest episode here, and follow them on Instagram here.

Recommendations
Tim: A Bigger Splash (Guadagnino, 2015)—where to watch.
Tay: Dead/Alive (Jackson, 1992)—where to watch.

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In 28 Days Later, a man wakes up in an abandoned hospital to find the world devastated by a mysterious virus. He soon joins a group of survivors, they face both the infected and the horrors of what humanity has become.

Starring Cillian Murphy and directed by Danny Boyle, 28 Days Later was released June 27, 2003.

Also, don't miss our other podcast, promoting the Peaks Central Asian Film Festival. Check out the latest episode here, and follow them on Instagram here.

Recommendations
Tim: Re-Animator (Gordon, 1985) — where to watch
Tay: Southern Comfort (Hill, 1981) — where to watch

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In Zodiac, policemen, journalists and a cartoonist become obsessed with identifying  the titular killer, whose cryptic letters and brutal murders haunt the Bay Area. As the years pass, the case consumes those chasing the truth.

Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., and Mark Ruffalo, and directed by David Fincher, Zodiac was released March 2, 2007.

Also, don't miss our other podcast, promoting the Peaks Central Asian Film Festival. Check out the latest episode here, and follow them on Instagram here.

Recommendations
Tim: Mindhunter (Fincher, 2017) — where to watch
Tay: All The President's Men (Pakula, 1976) — where to watch

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• Tim on Letterboxd

In Prometheus, a team of explorers travels to a distant planet hoping to uncover the origins of human life. What they find instead is a threat beyond anything they imagined.

Starring Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender, and directed by Ridley Scott, Prometheus was released June 8, 2012.

Recommendations
Tim: The Killer (Fincher, 2023) — where to watch
Tay: Hard To Be A God (German, 2014) — where to watch

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Alien focuses on the crew of a commercial spaceship who investigate a distress signal and unknowingly bring a deadly alien lifeform aboard. One by one, the crew is hunted in the isolation of deep space.

Starring Sigourney Weaver and directed by Ridley Scott, Alien was released May 25, 1979.

Where to watch Alien.

Notes

• Peaks Central Film Festival
• Chestburster in Spaceballs 

Recommendations
Tim: The Hidden (Sholder, 1987) — where to watch
Tay: Repo Man (Cox, 1984) — where to watch

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Annihilation is a sci-fi mystery about a group of scientists who enter the Shimmer—a strange, mutating zone to investigate a phenomenon no one understands. As they journey deeper, the landscape—and their minds—begin to unravel.

Starring Natalie Portman and written and directed by Alex Garland, Annihilation was released February 23, 2018.

Where to watch Annihilation.

Notes

• Annihilation and Decoding Metaphor (Folding Ideas)
• Mandelbulb

Recommendations
Tim: Evil Does Not Exist (Hamaguchi, 2023) — where to watch
Tay: Rush (Howard, 2013) — where to watch
James: Devs (Garland, 2020) — where to watch

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