Ontario February 1 update: 1969 New Cases, 2132 Recoveries, 36 Deaths, 30,359 tests (6.49% positive), Current ICUs: 354 (-2 vs. yesterday) (-43 vs. last week)
Due to process adjustments and transitioning to CCM, additional records were reported for Toronto Public Health on January 31, 2021. This impacts overall case counts for Ontario.
In 1969, a man walked on the moon (or on a Hollywood movie set depending on your conspiracy/sanity ratio). Also in 1969, Walmart was incorporated.
Today is the first day since January 11 that the 7 day average has gone up (1889 vs. 1887 yesterday)
7 day positive rate up vs. yesterday - first time since January 10th
Testing Data:
Backlog: 11,651 (-3,965), 30,359 tests completed (4,828.9 per 100k in week) 26,394 swabbed
Current hospitalizations: 1,158(-1), ICUs: 354(-2), Ventilated: 260(+8), [vs. last week: -240 / -43 / +8] - Chart
LTC Data: 62 / 30 new LTC resident/HCW cases
ICU count by Ontario Health Region (vs. last week): TORONTO: 74(-12), CENTRAL: 117(-18), EAST: 63(-9), WEST: 99(-4), NORTH: 1(+0),
Based on death rates from completed cases over the past month, 34.2 people from of today's new cases are expected to die of which 0.4 are less than 50 years old, and 1.1, 3.0, 7.2, 10.4 and 12.0 are in their 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s respectively.
I watch a horror movie every day, here are the best ones I watched in 2020
(2020) Invisible Man 9/10 This remake, simply put, is excellent. I’m a huge fan of Leigh Whannell and while I do think the story itself is fantastic, it’s his directing that blew me away. This movie is so fucking tense without showing anything for a huge majority of its runtime. When shit actually starts to go down, it’s the definition of thrilling. Elisabeth Moss killed her role. (2020) The Rental 8/10 The meat and bones of this movie is a character driven drama story. It’s tense and having so much knowledge right away as the viewer that the characters don’t have is frankly anxiety inducing, in a good way. I thought all four main performances were fantastic, especially Sheila Vand. There’s a moment in the film where everything is abruptly subverted in a grand horror fashion and depending on your tastes, that may be off-putting. To me, it was absolutely genius. Dave Franco directed the fuck out of this movie and eliminated all the comfort of campiness that great slashers usually hold. (2020) Relic 8/10 Robyn Nevin is fantastic here and all the supporting roles are great but not only does this woman make the movie, she is the movie. Her dialogue, her delivery and her body language, at least to me, are a huge chunk of the entire plot. I just found this movie to be gentle until it isn’t, which makes for the most tense moments. It’s a very claustrophobic film; I think it does justice to a very serious and frightening illness. (2020) Palm Springs 8/10 It doesn’t take long to catch on that, while this is a romantic comedy, it’s also a sci-fi horror film and a specific subset of sci-fi that makes me anxious. So in some regards, at least to genre placement, there’s my bias. The movie is seriously a treat though. It’s a new spin on an old formula and it’s genuinely funny, suspenseful and endearing. Even if you disagree that it shouldn’t be discussed in the horror circles, you won’t regret watching it. (2020) Shirley 7/10 It’s an incredibly interesting film for many reasons but mostly because it exists as a biopic, as well as a psychological horror film. Jackson is played Elisabeth Moss who is just wonderful. She really brought to life the internal struggle of Jackson. I’d suggest doing some research before diving into this because her profession during the time period was not glamorous or widely accepted, which gives context to, well, everything. (2020) Becky 8/10 Kevin James was fantastic. He’s a sadistic fuck in this movie. But he doesn’t deserve all the credit and the writers don’t either. I’m going to highlight Greta Zozula here. The most powerful moments in this entire film were purely cinematography based. Melanie Garros and Jenn McGouran deserve a shoutout as well. This was a cookie-cutter home invasion film at its core and these people, among others, made it one of my favorite home invasion films of the decade. Alissa Gee deserves recognition too for creating the most disgusting moment I’ve seen in a minute. (2019) Parasite 9/10 This film is most obviously on-the-nose but in the same breath, so incredibly impactful. I can’t even describe the seamless transition from black comedy to horror. It’s a heartbreaking view on classism and poverty while also just being a thrilling experience. Every single performance is remarkable and natural. I’m not even sure what else to say without spoiling it. This film isn’t just specific to Asian culture but very relevant to anyone feeling that they’re in a rut. (2019) Villains 8/10 The premise is sort of simple but the horror is in the details. i loved how everything played out and I thought all four main actors did an incredible job. Everything was super convincing which had me invested and tense. There’s a scene at the end, despite the movies dark, comedic aspects, that was really sweet and very climactic. (2019) Swallow 9/10 Haley Bennett delivers a heartbreaking performance with a powerful but melancholy ending. The narrative itself is twisted and sadistic. This film make me anxious, depressed and in the end, I’m not sure it offered much reprieve. I loved this film but I’d caution anyone going through mental trauma to venture cautiously into it. It doesn’t promote anything negative but the subject matter can be difficult. (2019) Nimic 8/10 When I googled the name of this film it gave me the Romanian translation of “nothing” but also, “everything”. For a 10-minute short it offers so much. It felt like a powerfully dark statement about performance in general. (2019) The Head Hunter 9/10 This was one of the most creative, restrained yet somehow absolutely insane movies I’ve seen all year. I’m absolutely blown away. The exposition is limited and told so refreshingly through almost entirely visuals. It’s caused many viewers frustrations but for me, it was absolutely the best aspect. That’s saying a lot because visually, stylistically, it’s fucking remarkable. I’ve heard people say this movie is boring and to me, there’s not a dull moment throughout the entire film, not a single wasted shot. It’s thrilling, dark, gritty, campy at times and embodies this identity that’s both somehow fluid and refined. It feels like an arthouse film in its minimalism but avoids any pretentiousness you may associate with that sub-genre. Jordan Downey has done some intentionally so-bad-it’s good movies in the past and he clearly wanted to still reference those aspects through some of his shlocky, 50’s horror inspirations in here; especially Fiend Without a Face. That’s a creative decision that will turn a lot of people off but I just really appreciated it and it made the actual watching experience so incredibly fun. (2019) The Lighthouse 9.5/10 This film is among the few that I felt compelled to watch it again almost immediately. It’s so incredibly rich in every aspect that can make a movie successful. The visuals are jaw-dropping; almost every single frame of this film is photographic. The soundtrack is stripped down to just these haunting sounds of fog horns and piss buckets. The package everything is delivered in, from an artistic standpoint, is so memorable. The performances by Pattinson and Dafoe are both some of the best I’ve seen this entire year and really, the decade…possibly of all time. They deliver this brilliant script’s dialogue with such passion, humor and intensity. The story in this film is shrouded in mystery but the clues and tools needed to decipher it do exist and with a rewatch, finding them felt so rewarding. It’s the kind of movie that I want to make my friends watch, simply so I have someone to discuss it with. It’s one of the best horror films I’ve ever seen. (2019) I Trapped the Devil 7/10 This one is a bit of a slow-burn but I felt the tension from beginning to end so none of it felt like a blind investment. It had the potential to be another, cookie-cutter, pretentious statement but what I found it to be was simply a well-crafted horror film. (2019) Pet Sematary 7.5/10 The original film was entertaining to me but I felt it was also dated and a bit too unintentionally silly for my tastes. So going into this, I was hoping for a darker, more serious film and I’m happy to say, that’s what I got. (2019) Guns Akimbo 7.5/10 This is non-stop gory action, an absurd story and an insane performance by Radcliffe, who I’m such a big fan of at this point. The best part? It’s genuinely, laugh-out-loud funny, both through physical comedy and clever dialogue. (2019) Harpoon 7/10 I enjoyed this movie a lot and I mean “enjoyed” in every sense of the word. It was the kind of movie to stop making me think so critically about the acting and cinematography because I just find the stranded genre so fun. This movie really delivered in both dark humor and pure, unpredictability. (2019) Annabelle Comes Home 7/10 I know that Gary Dauberman has worked closely with the series so he definitely understands Wan’s Conjuring universe’s vibe. I mean that from both a pacing and cinematography standpoint. I loved that all the possessed artifacts come into play. (2019) Vivarium 8/10 This movie is fucking terrifying. The cast may even be too loaded because it’s the environment and Senan Jennings that makes everything so scary. The final 30 minutes of this film are a complete mindfuck and just left my jaw on the floor. (2019) It Chapter 2 9/10 It embodies the heartfelt, character driven story of King’s novel so incredibly well. Every single performance by the adult actors is fantastic and as much as people didn’t like the overuse of humor, it felt like a natural evolution to me. Things were destined to be less scary with the adult characters coming into contact with an evil they’ve faced before. The last 30-min to me were just so touching, sad and it was the culmination I was hoping for. (2019) Zombieland: Double Tap 7.5/10 It’s certainly a sequel as far as sequels go but I had a ton of fun with it and it was great to see this group back together. It’s a super cheesy film and I would expect some hate but the original is cheesy fun too, if even to a lesser extent. (2019) The Color Out of Space 7/10 The entire suspense if the film is how each individual character reacts to this unknown force but Cage’s is of course the most volatile. I love the body horror and I think the entire movie is pretty goddamn exciting in that aspect. It goes so far beyond what you’d expect. (2019) Joker 9.5/10 To have a Batman-universe film stand out this much among all the others is incredible. This film intentionally evokes almost every emotion until a raw, chilling finale. Gotham is unkempt, unstable and teetering. (2019) Come to Daddy 7.5/10 This movie is definitely a dark comedy but it’s incredibly interesting in that, among the dark humor, is a real horror movie and a very graphic one at that. (2019) The Lodge 9/10 The misdirects in this story are excellent and I was blown away about how well the cinematography was used to manipulate the viewer. It feels like it’s twist after twist but in reality, nothing changes and that’s the scariest aspect to the entire movie. (2019) Home with a View of the Monster 7/10 They do a fantastic job of storytelling, switching timelines and perspectives throughout the film. It’s a technique that’s been around longer than we’ve all been alive but one that’s not easily mastered. (2019) Ready or Not 7.5/10 It’s just a ton of fun and Samara Weaving is fantastic. There’s so much great meta-humor and the effects are top notch. I think this sub-genre of sadistic games being played has been done to death so it was a welcomed surprise to see a film do it in such a successful way. (2019) The Platform 9.5/10 One of my favorite things about horror is that you can trace history itself through the decades, with films reflecting the current political, social and economic state around the globe. First we has Us and then another incredible film Parasite, all with similar desperate themes of class instability. Then you have The Platform, which in its pure brutalism combines horror, religion and politics to make an incredibly powerful statement. (2019) I See You 9/10 This film consistently surprised, disappointed and impressed me throughout its runtime based purely on my own expectations. It frankly made a fool out of me. (2019) The Vast of Night 7/10 This movie is pretty low-budget but they really worked with what they had to create this warm, throwback aesthetic that just tickled my tiny little nuts. It’s a dialogue driven, on-the-nose Twilight Zone homage and I really enjoyed it. (2019) John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum 8/10 The choreography and production is mesmerizing. This might be a Hollywood mainstream action film but the kills are powerful and fucking brutal. (2018) Bloodline 7.5/10 Sean William Scott is a forever type casted actor but has managed to break free of that throughout the years and this is another great example of him doing just that. His performance is reserved but effective. (2018) Gwen 8.5/10 It’s an incredibly heartbreaking story that, while exists in the folk-horror genre, subverts any and all expectations. Eleanor Worthington-Cox and Maxine Peaks carry the entire film. (2018) Freaks 8/10 Emile Hirsch, Amanda Crew and Lexy Kolker were all great but it was Bruce Dern who blew me away. He’s such a powerful on-screen presence; just his delivery alone establishes a lot of the more horrifying elements to this film. (2018) Overlord 8/10 I thought it would be a traditional zombie movie and the circumstances would be the twist but it was its own thing. It’s kind of difficult to describe but I think action-war-horror would be the closest thing I could pin it too. Jovan Adepo was a great fucking lead. (2018) Monster Party 7.5/10 It’s awesome to experiment but this is a film that will appeal to almost everyone without feeling unoriginal or sold out. This is dark humor at its most enjoyable and the practical effects and gore are fucking awesome. (2018) Pledge 7.5/10 It’s a simple premise but so well executed. I loved the ending and pretty much 95% of the creative decisions. This isn’t a bloodbath of a horror film but it’s violent as hell. (2018) High Life 7/10 This film is a really uncomfortable watch from beginning to end. It’s filled with violent, psychosexual imagery, a disjointed narrative and cum. It ends and if you don’t outright hate it, it’s hard to explain why you like it because it’s such a rough watch. I fall in the latter category. (2018) Possum 8/10 I love the way the story unfolds in the end, just methodically bit-by-bit until a crushing reveal. I felt for this main character and his pain seemed so real. (2018) Wildling 8/10 Bel Powley and Liv Tyler both play very complimentary fantastic roles. There’s an extended portion of the film that’s almost uplifting and pleasantly strange, following their relationship with each other. I’m happy to say things turn sinister quickly and the last 30-minutes are a wild ride, to say the least. (2018) The Nightingale 9.5/10 Jennifer Kent decided to put in such a universally disgusting scene that had people walking out of screenings and almost justifiably so. It’s really difficult to watch in portions. It’s just fortunate she followed it up with a masterpiece. (2017) John Wick: Chapter 2 8/10 These assassins dance so carefully around innocent civilians that it almost comes off as a black comedy, in a great way. (2017) My Friend Dahmer 8/10 To me, especially with Ross Lynch’s performance, it was an equally endearing and chilling film. It humanized someone who I’ve always considered to be a literal monster, which is something I don’t know how to feel about. (2017) One Cut of the Dead 7/10 This movie is super creative and pretty fucking hilarious. It feels like a modern day Bowfinger. (2017) Marrowbone 7.5/10 The characters portrayed are vibrant and fully realized, whether it be through substance or lack-there-of. I obviously don’t actively try and predict movies like a gameshow but this film seemed to excel in misdirect. (2016) White Girl 8/10 It reminded me a lot of Larry Clark’s Kids but actually intelligently modernized to make a statement on these neighborhoods on the fringe of gentrification. (2016) The Lighthouse 7.5/10 Mark Lewis Jones and Michael Jibson play their respective roles as the lighthouse keepers really well. Towards the end of the film when the story demands even more of them both, they truly deliver. (2015) Room 9/10 Brie Larson is an incredible actress and plays this profoundly realistic character. There's moments where emotions do bubble over but most of the time, she does so much by doing so little. (2015) Jurassic World 7.5/10 Some people will be completely turned off by some of the more absurd and out-there plot elements but I have to say, despite it being cheesy on paper, a lot of the newer sci-fi concepts just happen to work. This is bound to forever be kind of divisive but I liked it. (2015) Tag 8.5/10 It’s like Tokyo Gore Police meets The Matrix. Sono makes a powerful statement on film media, gender oppression and interestingly enough, he doesn’t leave himself out of the lens of criticism. (2015) The Invitation 9/10 This movie’s horror aspect is incredibly telegraphed and manipulated with these creepy violin sounds. However, Karyn Kusama’s impeccably clean cinematography and direction use all of that to its benefit. (2014) John Wick 8/10 I saw this movie in theaters and let me just say, as a beagle owner, this may be my favorite revenge movie. Keanu Reeves is badass as shit and it was the first film in a long time to make me interested in action. (2014) Spring 8.5/10 It feels helpless and hopeful at the same time, Benson’s script is amazing. I’ve always said that films shot in idyllic landscapes are a blank canvas for horror. There’s so much beautiful contrast. (2014) The Treatment 7.5/10 This film is so unnerving, dark and depressing. The bones of it are structured like any crime thriller but the meat of it is pure depravity. (2014) Clown 8/10 This is body horror and one of the better ones out there; the slow, methodical transformation throughout this movie was so effective. (2014) The Incident 9/10 Bleak doesn’t even begin to describe this film. It’s pure nihilism, screamed loudly into the universe. (2014) The Guest 8.5/10 I fucking love the story, Dan Stevens is fantastic and the production was cleanly executed. It’s Adam Wingard’s best film so far. (2013) Blue Ruin 9/10 It’s a standout to me among revenge films. Macon Blair’s character isn’t some bloodthirsty ex-navy seal bent on revenge. He’s a completely broken man that’s overcome by heartbreak. (2013) Evil Dead 7.5/10 It’s one of the few examples where a remake of a classic, near perfect movie, actually works. (2013) Redemption 8/10 The film is shot so well, the editing and portrayal of the visuals all correspond to the ebb and flow of his characters physical and mental health. (2013) Under the Skin 9/10 The second death in this movie is one of the most remarkably unsettling scenes I’ve witnessed to date. (2011) The Strange Thing About the Johnsons 7/10 Astor flips child molestation on its head in a tense, sickeningly well-made film and I absolute hate it. Do not watch this movie, this will only detract from your overall happiness. (2011) Contagion 9/10 There’s some fantastic performances by Paltrow, Law, Fishburne and quite a few others. However, it’s the research and writing of this film, the frightening scientific accuracy, that makes it so effective. (2011) We Need to Talk About Kevin 9/10 This is probably one of the most sensitive subjects you can approach and I’m a huge fan of Lynne Ramsay. Ezra Miller has one of the most chillingly realistic performances of the decade. (2010) Inception 9.5/10 It’s Nolan’s masterpiece in my mind and that statement isn’t to be taken lightly, as everything he’s done has felt powerful. (2010) Buried 8/10 This is one of my favorite movies filmed all in one location. It’s tense, claustrophobic (obviously) and it feels genuinely helpless. (2010) Skeletons 7/10 It’s a strange little film but it’s charming, smart and a refreshing take on the exorcism sub-genre. (2009) The House of the Devil 8/10 My absolute favorite aspect of this film is the retro feel. It captured 70’s horror so incredibly well. Ti West is a talented filmmaker and this is one of my favorites by him. (2009) Cropsey 7/10 If there was one thing I really took away from this film, it would be how society and children in particular adapt to unsolved murders. (2009) The Loved Ones 7.5/10 It reminds of almost a modern day interpretation on The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, if the dinner scene was the entire film. (2008) Lake Mungo 9/10 This family is so incredibly natural, real and convincing. It’s not too over the top. The horror is hidden in every frame and simultaneously interwoven with heartbreak. Despite many previous and later films attempting to do what it does, I’ve never seen anything like it. (2007) An American Crime 7.5/10 Elliot Page is wonderful as Sylvia Likens, she just has this innocent nature to her that amplified the violent aspects of the film. I loved the editing of courtroom footage throughout the runtime, it was a constant reminder that what you’re watching actually happened, despite the theatrical nature of the film at times. (2007) Teeth 8/10 Teeth is actually such an incredibly hard movie to review critically. The film itself, as a whole, is so many things at once. It’s a comedy, an exploitation film, a revenge film and even sort of…a slasher? I have to give respect where respect is due. (2007) Death Sentence 7/10 This movie is so goddamn intense during the action sequences that it actual reminds me more of a Max Payne video game film adaptation. It’s so over-the-top but in a really entertaining way. (2007) Timecrimes 8.5/10 I loved this movie when I first saw it but upon re-watching it, I can’t help but stress its influence in the time-loop horror sub-genre. Sure films like Primer definitely helped pave the way but Timecrimes really manages to focus less on the science fiction and more on the horrifying consequences that come with time travel. (2007) Zodiac 9/10 It’s not the most violent film, it’s much more story driven but the moments of violence feel fucking powerful. The horror in this film isn’t about the serial killer, it’s really about obsession and Gyllenhaal absolutely nails his performance to bring that aspect home. (2006) Population 436 7/10 It didn’t aim to disgust or push boundaries; it’s just a fun, creepy story with a satisfying ending. (2006) Children of Men 9.5/10 It’s a bleak film, as bleak as they come from some perspectives but through the violence and despair is a powerful message of hope. Clive Owen’s character is as a broken as the world around him and one of my favorite character arcs of all time. (2005) Red Eye 7/10 The setup is sinister enough, being in the confines of a plane, to warrant it being discussed as a horror but it does devolve into an action thriller, not that I’m a genre-snob. Both Cillian Murphy and Rachel McAdams are fantastic and it’s a tight knit package. (2005) The Descent 9.5/10 It’s absolutely terrifying and top-to-bottom, one of the most effective horror movies ever made. After seeing over a thousand horror projects, this still remains one of the most intense, period. (2005) Constantine 8.5/10 Listen, I’ve obviously never even heard about this comic but let me just say, as a standalone movie, it’s fucking awesome. It’s basically Keanu Reeves battling his way through hell, murking demons and basically just being badass as shit. (2004) Saw 8/10 It’s one of the most creative projects of the 00’s and a project that launched Wan’s and Whannell’s career. I can safely say, the two of them haven’t had any major misses since. This movie is raw, disturbing and has a strong mystery-driven backbone that makes it iconic and endlessly re-watchable. I absolutely love it. (2004) Hellboy 7.5/10 Listen, I’m not a fucking nerd who is all-knowing about these comics and how well they translate to film but let me tell you, this movie fucking rocks. Ron Perlman kills this role and has so much personality. (2000) The Gift 8.5/10 Everyone here is wonderful. If I had to pick a standout though, it would be Giovanni Ribisi. His performance is so raw and emotive. The unstable nature of his character actually held up as the backbone to the mystery portion of this film, making it very much unpredictable. (1999) The Ninth Gate 9/10 It’s two hours of a giant satanic onion being peeled back layer by layer. It’s clear that when Polanski isn’t raping children, he’s creating filmmaking masterpieces. (1999) Deep Blue Sea 7.5/10 The science-fiction aspects may be super contrived to someone smarter than I am but the entire movie is so goddamn entertaining. I love all the characters and LL Cool J is particularly hilarious. (1998) Pi 7.5/10 Aronofsky is challenging religion with science and mathematics and it comes together in a really insane way. (1997) The Lost World: Jurassic Park 7/10 One scene in particular that stuck with me was the raptors in the tall grass, so aesthetically gorgeous and well-shot. It’s not a perfect movie but Goldblum and Moore are charismatic, it’s fucking action packed and the set pieces are diverse as shit. This isn’t some dialed in bullshit for a quick buck. (1997) Men in Black 9/10 Vincent D’Onofrio was fucking incredible. The entire villain that is Edgar is one of my favorites of all time. Everything from his speech, his loose-skin and awkwardly stiff gate just really sell it. (1996) The Craft 7.5/10 I love all the acting and characters but Fairuza Balk is probably my favorite. She’s just so eclectic and over-the-top. (1995) Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight 7/10 This is such a fun movie and very much in the Tales from the Crypt vein. It’s campy but super violent too; the practical effects are fucking dope. It’s kind of like Evil Dead meets From Dusk till Dawn. Billy Zane is great in it and just brings a ton of personally to the film. I even really dug the raunchy, meta-horror opening. (1994) The Mask 7/10 Jim Carrey is his usual, hilarious, eclectic, over-the-goddamn-top self which softens the edges. There’s also a villain though and the same childish aspects don’t apply to him. As a kid, he was kind of scary actually. (1993) Jurassic Park 9.5/10 Even just typing that title blows my mind, this movie was made in 1993 and 27 years later, it still looks better than most modern monster movies. Jurassic Park is everything. This movie is the perfect blend of horror, action, adventure and sci-fi. (1991) Highway to Hell 7.5/10 This is an absolutely awesome 90’s horror movie. It has cameos from the entire Stiller family, even fucking Gilbert Gottfried. You also have Chad Lowe, who I truthfully didn’t even know existed. The story, set pieces and script are also all excellent. It’s darkly funny, well-paced and just a wild ride from start to finish. (1990) The Exorcist 3 8.5/10 This movie, for a film following such an iconic movie, being a third film in a series, is just bafflingly good. The original writer of the first film is returning and his script as well as directorial product both deliver. (1989) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 8/10 Indy is still Indy here, he’s fucking badass; his character and dialogue excel in this entry immensely. Not just dialogue but this film contains some of the best action choreography of the entire series, something that almost seems unfairly diminished through repetition. This movie is fucking awesome. (1988) Akira 7.5/10 This story is one that would feel very difficult to pull off through traditional media. The level of violence and body horror would possibly be even too much for Cronenberg’s plate. The ending of this film is mind-melting. (1988) Hellbound: Hellraiser 2 7.5/10 It’s violent, dark, disgusting and gory as fuck. It feels like a fever dream of hell. I loved the female character kind of forcing this disgusting erotic nature and it doubled down on the series soul which is the deadly allure of hell. (1988) Vampire’s Kiss 7/10 I love American Psycho and watching this, I can see where a ton of the performance inspiration in that film came from. Cage’s body language here is so insanely expressive and probably my favorite part of the entire project. Even if you’ve seen this one before, I highly suggest a re-watch, there’s something special about it. (1987) Fatal Attraction 7.5/10 Holy shit Glenn Close you goddamn crazy bitch, such a great performance. This movie is so incredibly and exponentially tense as it plays out. I loved Micheal Douglas and the entire film is just a reminder to never fucking cheat. (1987) The Believers 7/10 It gets a bit absurd at certain points but the cult aspects are awesome. I also think it’s the first horror movie I’ve seen specifically about Santeria. It’s not perfect but it stuck with me. (1987) The Lost Boys 8/10 Joel Schumacher’s The Lost Boys is so indicative of 80’s horror that it could very well be the face of the decade itself. The one-liners, the practical effects, aesthetics and story are all just wonderful. I’m not sure what else to say, this movie feels like a warm blanket to me. (1986) Little Shop of Horrors 8/10 Rick Moranis is as goofy as ever and good god…the practical effects are mind-blowing. You’re watching this giant plant movie and it just melts your brain thinking about how it was accomplished. (1986) Aliens 7/10 They exploited the action of the first film to capture a larger audience and lost what made Alien such an effective horror movie in the first place. I still like this movie because it contains my favorite heroin and monster but I’m sick of acting like the Alien series ever needed a director like Cameron. The ending is absolutely insane and bumps this up a few points for sure. (1984) The Terminator 8/10 This movie, simply put, is badass as shit. I’m aware the series kind of progresses into more action focused territory with the sequels but the original will always be a horror movie to me. The pacing, the unstoppable force that is Arnold, it’s all thrilling as shit. (1984) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom 8/10 I think it’s a scary movie and a really dark turn in the trilogy. There are quirky aspects of it character wise that are kind of goofy but playful. Overall though, goddamn dude, these set pieces are amazing. (1984) Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter 7/10 Jason is super fucking powerful here; he moves quickly, intelligently and is able to drive the suspense of the movie. The success is greatly attributed to a solid performance by Crispin Glover but more importantly, Corey Feldman. I know Corey gets a lot of shit these days but he was an eclectic child actor. (1981) Raiders of the Lost Ark 9/10 Raiders of the Lost Arc is such an important movie to me. It helped open my eyes to darker content as a child, for better or worse. Everything that could ever be said about this film has been said, I’m just here to show my appreciation. (1980) City of the Living Dead 8/10 This movie is batshit insane in the best way possible. It’s ultra-gory, tons of crazy impressive practical effects which are very much Fulci in style. The narrative is a bit confusing but I think, or hope at least, intentionally so. (1980) The Ninth Configuration 7/10 The Ninth Configuration, while still representing William Peter Blatty’s struggle with religion, is tonally very different from The Exorcist. It’s a tedious, slow, detail oriented, character driven film that exceeds so well because of great writing. (1979) Nosferatu the Vampire 8/10 This film not only embodies and celebrates the original in terms of structure as well as substance, but in its restrained filmmaking methods; its ability to let shots live without intervention. It’s atmospheric, well-trimmed and just an all-around, exceptional film. Klaus Kinsi as Nosferatu is perfect. (1979) The Amityville Horror 7/10 I like James Brolin’s character, he’s odd and the axe sharpening is somewhat iconic. The film has both pacing issues as well as dialogue issues. With that being said though, the finale in sinister as fuck and really brings life, quite literally, to this evil house. (1979) Alien 9.5/10 My love for this single film transcends my love for the genre itself. Ridley Scott pulled off an absolute masterpiece and despite having watched it 25 times, I still cannot comprehend how a film of this quality was pulled off in 1979. It’s as close as perfection can be. (1978) Dawn of the Dead 8/10 Obviously at first glance you can tell this is a really lengthy film at over 2-hours long. However, the pacing is actually my favorite part. Romero really builds up to the climax slowly and lets you linger in his world for such a long time that it becomes fleshed out through pure exposure. (1978) Slave to the Cannibal God 7/10 I love the visuals, the story and Ursula Andress’ great big dirty milkers. It’s a wonderful, sleazy little exploitation film. The audio is also fantastic; I just love the way this film is edited all around. (1977) Shock Waves 7/10 Peter Cushing is awesome and I really liked Brooke Adams as well. Despite the cheesy premise though, this film is dark and moody. The tension and action really builds throughout the film and with the atmospheric nature, you kind of forget the ridiculousness of it all. (1975) Satanico Pandemonium 7/10 This is a pretty great, atmospheric, old-school exploitation film. It dives right into the temptations of sex and the devil among this convent. It gets pretty fucking dark, especially for the time period, specifically for Mexican horror. (1974) Vampyres 9/10 It’s dark, moody, sexy and offers one of the most unique vampire film experiences to date. It’s a film that makes Dennis’ idea from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia about a full-penetration, Dolph Lundgren crime fighting movie seem almost plausible. (1973) Soylent Green 8/10 I loved all the concepts and details in this film. It took me a bit to get invested but once I was, real food was replaced with gold in my brain watching the plot play out. Charlton Heston did a great job of bringing life to this fictional universe as well through his dynamic and invested performance. (1973) The Crazies 7/10 There’s this great scene with this old lady knitting that I just adore. The innocent and violent clash in such an effective way. Obviously the horror aspects in that scene, as well as the virus itself are very fictional. The government response though, seems almost plausible, considering how they’re currently handling Covid-19. (1972) Horror Express 8/10 It’s genuinely creepy to this day and the storyline is ambitious as fuck. I’d be hard-pressed to say it’s not one of the better horror-sci-fis of the 70’s and that category includes some great fucking films. (1968) Even the Wind is Afraid 8/10 Coming over a decade before Suspiria, I can’t but feel, despite how unknown this film is, how influential it was to the genre. The story is great; it’s not super violent or anything and when they do show anything, it’s so well built up. It’s either a reveal at either peak tension or the opposite, when it’s least expected. (1967) Our Mother’s House 8/10 Jack Clayton, simply for directing The Innocents, is one of my favorite directors. He manages to capture super poignant emotional moments unlike no one else. We have some great modern directors working today that do the same but in terms of 1960's horror, it was harder to come by. (1967) Violated Angels 7/10 It’s actually based on an American case, about a man Richard Speck who broke into a hospital in 1966, raped and murdered eight nurses. The cinematography is startling cold. The dialogue is profound and helpless. This has to be up there with the most cynically sexualized piece of exploitation cinema. (1964) Lady in a Cage 7.5/10 It’s a really great little thriller with a solid performance by Olivia de Havilland and also James Caan. I think this movie captures such a helpless nature really well. (1964) The Last Man on Earth 7.5/10 I loved this movie. It’s actually one of my favorite Price films, which at least for me, is a bold statement. His films tend to have this warm, campy feel to them but this one actually felt pretty dark and desolate. It still contains those less-serious scenes and bits of dialogue but the writing and ideas themselves feel like a huge leap forward for the horror genre. (1960) The Virgin Spring 9/10 This is clearly the inspiration for The Last House on the Left and while I appreciate that film immensely, it didn’t evoke the same emotions this one did. The cinematography, per-Bergman, is impeccable. (1958) The Fly 7.5/10 The plot is actually non-linear and the first half is my favorite. Patricia Owens plays up the paranoia of her character incredibly well and I was actually really happy to see Price in a supporting role. (1956) Forbidden Planet 8/10 I personally think it’s one of the best sci-fi films of the decade. I know I’m going to get chirped for saying this but there’s even a scene towards the end that I believe could have inspired the tesseract in Interstellar. (1935) The Black Room 7/10 This is another Universal horror film starring Karloff, directed by Roy Neill. It presents itself with the usual, tight-knit flair you may have come to expect but it somehow has seen much less recognition than any of the major monster movies. I really liked this movie. (1932) The Old Dark House 8/10 This is also Karloff’s best look to date. I mean seriously, his performance is pretty muted and mostly expressed in body language but he has the same screen presence as Mickey Rourke.
The Headless Girl That Nobody Seems To Miss (1983, St. Louis. Mo, Jane Doe Child)
St. Louis Jane Doe of 1983 (Also known as Hope, Little Doe, Little Jane Doe, "Precious Hope.", Lily, Sweater Girl, and The Girl Nobody Seems To Miss) Content Warning: The case involves the gruesome death of a child. I picked this case in hope of a quick and easy write-up. However, the more I looked for basic information the more and more the information became blurred. A game of telephone if it were. Please keep this in mind as you read through my write-up. I did my best to gather as much possible info but there are so many details that seem wrong or misinformed. Interestingly enough the lead investigator of the time also thought this would be an easy case. "Back then I thought this would be an easy case to crack," recalled Burgoon, one of the city's first homicide detectives at the scene. We'd find out who the girl was and that would lead us to the killer." - Joe Burgoon Feel free to copy-paste and use my collected info in any way you wish. Credit is nice but never needed for any cases I write-up. I would rather the info be used and our Little Doe's case eventually solved. Also, I'm probably going to keep adding and working on this write-up. The piles of information laying around are so vast! I am not worried about my spelling or grammar but I understand if you must point out my mistakes. There will be discrepancies with the info on this case just because the information available was so contrary! Lastly, if I have quoted you and you do not want your name attached just let me know, or if you want your name edited. The Story The story of the Little Doe starts out on a cold day on February 28, 1983, in St. Louis, Missouri. Two people often described as looters, enter an abandoned Victorian home (at one point renovated into an apartment) of 5635 Clemens Avenue in the city's West End Cabanne neighborhood at about 3:30 pm. Then straight from the pages of a penny dreadful, one of the men lit up a cigarette and illuminated the headless body of Little Doe who was there in the dark laying on the ground. Police quickly arrived and they assume she is a discarded prostitute, but when they turn her over they realize she was only a child. The newly appointed and first black commander of the homicide division Leroy Adkins was desperate to solve this case. Adkins wanted to show his community that the police cared for its black community just as much as it cared for its white. However, as hard he worked the case remains to this day unsolved. The Location And Day Details The historical records of weather for that address in St. Louis Missouri back up the claims that it was very cold that day. You can also see in the older news photographs that the police in the area dressed warmly and some are even smoking cigarettes as they searched. This is an important note because the weather had an impact on the body conditions and recoverable evidence. On that day in history the last TV episode of "M*A*S*M*A*S*H" airs. The day falls on a Monday and Ronald Reagan was president. It has been 37 years since this date. The site and area as seen in the photographs were defunct. The building itself was described as "a crumbling vacant apartment building." The photographs available can attest to this. Trash strewn about, full dumpsters and the building has opened windows, along with vacant property signs attached to the door. It is north of a previous invisible dividing line that divided cities even after de-segregation. It has been said that this area was predominantly black and there are some crime scene photos showing crowds of young black children watching the investigations. In the photos, the area is crowded with parked cars. The area is off the main loops or well-traveled zones but is close to several known drug areas and a loop notorious for prostitution at the time. Nowadays this area has seen improvements as well as a boost from an older generation and middle class. This is the best historical outline for this building that I could find. Tues. Sept 23 1975 the building was listed in the newspaper with a notice of delinquent tax liens and then the building was owned by a Bland S. Before that in the 1940's a man named Abraham Grabel lived there and before that, a catholic man of John Kern Boderick from the 1800s may have owned the home. The building is large, with red brick, and reaches about three stories tall. It has white stone trim and seems to have an overall feeling of once grandeur. Above the door frame in Latin is the inscription Domi the word for home. The homes in this area on average were built before 1930 and in particular, this area is known to have a great many mansions and large historical buildings. Some well cared for but most in disrepair. It is important to note that St. Louis has a particular abandoned property problem. It causes crime to sky-rocket and though non-so as gruesome similar crimes have happened in these abandoned buildings. It is sadly very common to find raped and tied up women in these buildings. Dog fights, homeless activities, and other crimes. The area was used as a dumping ground for trash and bodies. People that used to live there in the area described that in the 1940s through 1950s it was a mostly white middle classed neighborhood. Then it became predominantly black. The building has been demolished and replaced with a similar building in 2002 that provides housing for older adults called the "Leisure Living Community". It's unclear if the older building was bigger or if the new building was built just off to the side of the old location. They did a sweep around the area and canvassed the northwest St. Louis neighborhood but it was in vain. It was said they searched a 16 square block radius around the crime scene, searching sewers, trash cans, and even roofs for the head or any other clues but found nothing useful came up. Also important to note that the body was found in the building's basement furnace room. There was a lack of blood at the scene. Save for a few reports that there was a smear on the wall of the stairs and “You could see where there were trails of blood on the stone, where she was brought in there,” said Burgoon. which just concluded she had been carried down. The lack of blood is what makes the detectives certain that she had been killed elsewhere and placed. The fact she was placed here makes detectives think it might have been a local that knew crimes like this occurred in abandoned houses of the area. The basement was so cold the police report that it was too cold for "even rats". Thus the body had been well preserved. The photos show a darkened room with stone-like stairs and stone brick walls. The floor is littered and a few bottles can be seen on the ground including a bleach bottle. It's possible Little Doe was found under debris. Looking at an older video it seems the basement *might* have been accessible from the outside. There were outside stairs going down made of stone and the broken stairs above (before entering) were wooden and breaking. I have seen indoor house pictures featuring walls of blue wallpapers or paint. So, that's why it's a bit unclear if the basement was accessible from the outside. Investigation Within hours of her discovery, the police started a media blitz in hopes someone would come forward with a missing child that matched her description. Teletype messages were sent throughout Missouri and Illinois with no results. I've read some of these teletypes when nationwide. Months later these were stopped because of the cost. Adkins pleads with the community directly and held meetings at places like Bethesda Temple on Delmar Avenue. "Somebody out there knows something," he said. "Talk to your neighbors. Talk to your friends. Somewhere out there is a mother without a little girl, a brother without a sister, a neighbor without a little girl running up and down the street." Adkins continued going to community meetings for some time. Adkins said they corresponded with every police agency as well. When the case was fresh at least 15 officers and detectives worked the case. They questioned the community and surrounding area. In the old film, I can see crowds of people watching the crime scene area. Many of them are young children just like Little Doe. However, nobody knew anything. Then they went through the local school rosters and some surrounding areas. "We've even gone through school absentee records and haven't come up with anything" - Captain William E. Relling (Juvenile Division). With no results here wither this is what leads police to the idea that maybe the victim wasn't a local. It is important to note here that most of the school systems were disorganized and not very reliable in tracking children's names and whereabouts. School systems at the time got money for each child enrolled. Kids who were no longer in school were still being kept on records. Brenda Schlegel was upset about that public information and made it a point to harass the newspaper to write about it. They wanted the public to know that only "some" of the schools had issues but not all. Then a search of the area began to look for any evidence. Jerry Thomas and Frank Booker were only some of the police officers who searched the area. Looking at an old photo they searched every nook and cranny. Even dumpsters. The local area can be seen with large piles of trash. They had over 100 men searching at one point on Wednesday after the body was found on Monday. The case garners national attention and it's very obvious that detectives worked as hard as they could. Adkins pleaded with the black community for information and wrote ads in at least three black newspapers and magazines. They even put the word out in the prison systems in hopes someone would be mentioned. Groups in the northwest St. Louis neighborhood, begin a campaign to get the vacant buildings occupied, securely boarded, or torn down. A protest is held by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) outside of the building Grant Williams an organizer said about 40 people showed up. Skinker-Page-Union-Delmar (SPUD) organization discussed the vacant building issue. It helped at 7:30 pm at the New Mount Gideon church. It was an important topic that Little Doe was found in a building that had not been boarded up. Myrtle Hartfield of SPUD said that SPUD had been working with the Land Reutilization Authority to get the buildings boarded up. Little Doe also prompts community action to offer free fingerprinting services to young children in the area. Calena Glasby and organizer of a neighborhood said "The kids talk about everybody's anxious for it to be solved" Joe Burgoon seeks help from the FBI Academy In Quantico, VA in 1986 (A unit that operates a national database for unsolved killings.) however at the time only Little Doe's case was unique. Kristin Cole Brown of Child Find, a non-profit national organization that tracks down missing children. "Ms. Brown said the organization had recorded only one similar case - the July 1981 abduction of a 6-year-old Hollywood, Fla., boy whose head was found three weeks after he disappeared. (Adam Walsh the son of the TV Show host "America's Most Wanted") Adkins said the case of the beheaded girl may go unsolved if the girl was brought here from some other area or if a relative was involved in her death. Child Find did try to offer a 1,000 reward to anyone who could identify her. They probably should have then and now offered a reward for ANY lead. With this, the case winds down. Little Doe had lain in the cold room for nearly 10 months unclaimed. Unsolved Nearly 30 years after Little Doe was found Adkins said the case gave him nightmares. Adkins was the first African-American homicide commander. It was important to him to try to solve this case because he wanted to show the black community they were cared for. "Besides finding out who she was, the other thing that really bothered me was, 'Did we do everything we could in our investigation? Did we miss something?" Adkins kept a chart on the wall of his office listing details of the Little Doe case and it included dozens of index cards with names of people that had been questioned. Detectives spent years trying to solve the case following just wisps of leads and stab into the dark. In the later years of the investigation, they would call families of missing children even remotely resembling the Little Doe just so they could rule them out. At least eleven families gave DNA. When one family didn't the investigators went so far as to search their trash for anything they could use as DNA evidence. I've consistently found news articles through the years of the detectives doing their best to keep this case in the public eye and very obviously trying to solve it. In 2016 Burgon again asked the FBI to run the case again. Burgon even used to send new bulletins across the country every year on the anniversary of her discovery. In 1990 he went on Oprah Winfrey's TV show to discuss the case. Adkins occasionally writes letters to local newspapers to remind people of the case. The Use of Psychics One of the more puzzling sides to this case is the frequent use of psychics. Looking only through the lens of today it seems absurd but during the time I can imagine the police had nothing to go on and were desperate. They also wanted to show the public they cared. Unfortunately, this cost the police the only pieces of evidence to LIttle Doe's case. When the authorities approached psychics, one said her head would be on a boat in the Gulf of Mexico. Another in Florida requested to see her sweater and the nylon bounds, but they were lost in the mail. Even another one, Sharon Nolte, believed she was a Chippewa Indian named Shannon Johnson and her killer was a drifter living in southern Texas. All the psychic claims led to dead-ends or were disproven. Other leads have been less conventional. Grasping for clues, Burgoon once sat in on a séance in a Maplewood home. Under dim candlelight, the detective passed around photocopied fingerprints of Jane Doe to a table full of psychics. As the clairvoyants channeled the spirits, Burgoon sat in the corner and observed. "The psychics put their hands on the fingerprints and would shoot straight up in their chairs like they got a jolt or something," remembers Burgoon. "At the end of the meeting, they told me to call the Coast Guard. The head is on a boat in the Gulf of Mexico." The séance wouldn't be the last time homicide detectives looked to the paranormal for help. In 1994 Burgoon and Adkins agreed to appear on Sightings, a nationally syndicated television show on the occult and the supernatural. Connected by phone, the homicide detectives sat in St. Louis with notepads at the ready while a psychic in Florida entered the mind of Jane Doe. Producers filled in the backdrop with Hitchcockian theme music and shadowy, slow-motion footage of children at play. The product was vague enough to seem eerily real, but it only harmed the investigation. Prior to the show's taping, detectives mailed the psychic the bloodied sweater and the nylon rope used to bind Jane Doe's hands. They never got them back. The evidence was lost in the mail. I heard the TV show was supposed to have mailed it back but they did it improperly and the items were lost. A group of psychics arrived to view the body in the cold room but nothing came of it. Little Doe Little Doe had been found laying on her stomach under trash and with her hands bound behind her back. Wearing only a dirty yellow jumper. Little Doe had the unfortunate honor of being the only decapitated eviction in the nation of the time. At first Little Doe was mistaken for being a prostitute or drug addict from the Cabanne Courts, a nearby housing project. It's hard to see why someone would confuse a child's body with an adult but Little Doe was bigger than average. Though only between the ages of 8-11 years old (it is possible she was older), she is around 5ft to 5 ft 4 inches tall and around 70 to 75 pounds. Even though she was thin it has been observed that was she was well-nourished. Little Doe had dark skin and it was of dark to medium complexion. Described as well cared for and not homeless her stomach had been empty at the time of her death so we know she had not eaten within 8 hours of her death. Little doe was reported to have not gone through puberty and did not have developed breasts. Her fingers had chipped nail polish in shades of red and at least two coats. There were no signs of previous abuses prior to this on her body. A white substance found on her stomach was initially believed to be semen, but further tests showed it contained no DNA. A public hair on her leg was also found but detectives are confident this belonged to someone on the scene after she had been found. Little Doe's sweater was described as a once-bright yellow orlon with long sleeves. There is no manufacturer's label. Often described as dirty there are several photos of the sweater available. The tag seems to be a darker color and possibly sewn in on the four corners. in one older newspaper, it described the label as ripped out. Does not seem to have any major dirt drag marks on it. The nylon cord is red and white and heavy. A newspaper clip suggests that this is similar to a ski rope or a boat line. Another news article of the time says it could have been jumping rope or a boat roap like that used to moor small boats. The autopsy (autopsy number 441-83) contrary to current popular belief failed to disclose a cause of death. Little Doe is oft-reported that strangulation was her cause of death. However, there is no conclusive evidence that this is so. The decapitation itself could have been a cause, strangulation, or suffocation. No other bodily injuries were there. * I have heard she may have had a bruise on her chest. No scars or abnormalities, no prior broken bones, and she still had her appendix. They think she had been dead only 2-3 days before her body was found. However important note some sources say the basement and the weather were so cold she was frozen through and the exact time of death could not have been pinpointed at the time. It wasn't until the mold testing was there a proper answer. The weapon may have been an ax, a large knife. Detective Riley said "Her head appeared to have been cleanly cut off, it was like somebody took a carving knife to her." large serrated knife. I also was not able to find a definitive document to say if she had been sexually assaulted but in general it seems to be thought that a one-time rape had occurred. Missouri Botanical Garden performed mold tests on her body which determined she had been killed within five days of her discovery. It had been concluded that she was raped by some articles but in others, I found contrary statements so this is debatable. Little Doe's fingerprints, footprints and DNA had been collected. I can't find any newspaper article that mentions this but there may have been some marks on her thighs that correspond with a dragging motion.
PT. TWO to be posted in the comments my write-up is actually too long! Adding a link here to a resource even though I will have collected info in PT. TWO just so I can post this submission.
Ontario February 1 update: 1969 New Cases, 2132 Recoveries, 36 Deaths, 30,359 tests (6.49% positive), Current ICUs: 354 (-2 vs. yesterday) (-43 vs. last week)
Due to process adjustments and transitioning to CCM, additional records were reported for Toronto Public Health on January 31, 2021. This impacts overall case counts for Ontario.
In 1969, a man walked on the moon (or on a Hollywood movie set depending on your conspiracy/sanity ratio). Also in 1969, Walmart was incorporated.
Today is the first day since January 11 that the 7 day average has gone up (1889 vs. 1887 yesterday)
7 day positive rate up vs. yesterday - first time since January 10th
Testing Data:
Backlog: 11,651 (-3,965), 30,359 tests completed (4,828.9 per 100k in week) 26,394 swabbed
Current hospitalizations: 1,158(-1), ICUs: 354(-2), Ventilated: 260(+8), [vs. last week: -240 / -43 / +8] - Chart
LTC Data: 62 / 30 new LTC resident/HCW cases
ICU count by Ontario Health Region (vs. last week): TORONTO: 74(-12), CENTRAL: 117(-18), EAST: 63(-9), WEST: 99(-4), NORTH: 1(+0),
Based on death rates from completed cases over the past month, 34.2 people from of today's new cases are expected to die of which 0.4 are less than 50 years old, and 1.1, 3.0, 7.2, 10.4 and 12.0 are in their 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s respectively.
My first memory of Blackpink was around the summer of 2017 when someone in the Popheads Plug.dj room played “As If It’s Your Last”. That song was stuck in my head ever since I first heard it. It had everything I wanted from a K-pop song at that time - a fire rap verse, beautiful vocals, an upbeat production that had an addictive pop bubblegum melody in the chorus. The gorgeous music video definitely played a huge factor on the song’s memorability. A few months later, I was watching Justice League with my relatives when Barry Allen aka The Flash arrives at his Flash secret den, only to be surprised to find Bruce Wayne aka Batman waiting for him. Why am I mentioning this scene? Behind Batfleck (a portmanteau of Batman and Ben Affleck) is the TV screen of the “As If It’s Your Last” music video and the song can be heard for a few seconds before fading into focus on the dialogue between Batman and The Flash. Being in a Southeastern Country where the influence of the Hallyu wave is huge since the early 2000s, everyone in the theater were pleasantly surprised by the fact that a K-pop song, let alone a song from a group with only 5 songs at that time, was featured in a Hollywood superhero movie. At that moment, I had a huge feeling that the song being featured in Justice League will increase the presence of K-pop in the West to the point that a K-pop song actually charts in Billboard Hot 100 soon and BLACKPINK is going to be one of those groups. To my surprise, I was actually right. BTS and Blackpink are the most popular K-pop groups right now thanks to their success in the West, which was the place that is quite hesitant to accept K-pop as a dominant force in pop culture despite its popularity outside the West, especially in Asia. The groups’ appearances in the Billboard Hot 100 and UK Singles Charts definitely made Western labels realize that K-pop is a dominant force globally. As part of the Popheads Album of the Year 2020 series, I take a look at Blackpink's first full album appropriately titled “The Album''. Their debut full album was highly anticipated as it took four years since their debut in 2016 to finally make this happen. With this post, I deconstruct Blackpink’s history and their legacy, how the tracks fared as an album, and why “The Album” deserves its place as the “Popheads’ Album of the Year”.
PART 1. THE GROUP
When Blackpink made their debut on August 8, 2016, the anticipation was high as they were YG Entertainment’s second girl group after 2NE1. The high anticipation is also because the group was supposed to debut in 2012 after YG’s founder and now-former CEO Yang Hyun-suk teased a possibility of a second girl group back in 2011. The name for YG’s second girl group wasn’t even called Blackpink in the first place as the group was initially named “Pink Punk”. “Pink Punk” was supposed to be YG’s answer to SM Entertainment’s Girls Generation (SNSD) as the initial number of members were supposed to match the number of members of SNSD, which is nine members. YG even uploaded videos of some trainees who were likely to be members of Pink Punk to build public interest before the group’s supposed to debut. And then, Pink Punk never happened. Yang Hyun-suk’s indecisive, premature decisions during his time as CEO of YG is the reason why he earned so much infamy within the K-pop community, along with other things. But let’s not delve into that. Between 2011 and 2016, it was clear that this second girl group went through drastic changes. The line-up of members changed from nine to seven, then to five, to just four. Besides Pink Punk, the group had other possible names such as “Baby Monster” and “Magnum”. I honestly wonder what kind of crack did the people in YG Entertainment smoke to think that these are legitimately good names for their second girl group. Did they get that crack from Senguri? We may never know. Blackpink’s debut was an instant success as they released their debut double singles “Whistle” and “Boombayah”, compiled as a single album “Square One”. “Whistle” and “Boombayah” debuted at #1 and #7 at South Korean Gaon Digital Charts respectively. The group also became the fastest girl group to earn a win in a Korean music show as Inkigayo gave the group a trophy win for “Whistle”. Looking back, the group said that debuting with “Whistle” as their first single was risky at that time due to it having a “weird country vibe” and its minimal production, which led many people at YG against its release. They followed “Square One” with the next single album “Square Two” with singles “Playing with Fire” and “Stay”, which both aim to show Blackpink’s softer side, compared to the chaotic, party-vibe of “Square One”. While most K-pop groups usually have at least two to three comebacks per year, it seems like Blackpink only has one comeback per year based on the release pattern of when the group has their comebacks. On June 2, 2017, they released their comeback standalone single “As If It’s Your Last”. The following year, they finally released their first mini-album (which is basically an EP) “Squared Up” on June 15, 2018. “DDU-DU DDU-DU”, the mini-album’s title single (K-pop equivalent to lead single) propelled Blackpink to global popularity especially in the West as the single debuted at #55 and #78 in the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart respectively. This marks their first appearance in these charts. Additionally, the song’s music video is currently the second most-viewed K-pop music video with 1.4 billion viewers, being only behind Gangnam Style by former fellow YG artist Psy with 3.9 billion viewers. In 2019, Blackpink released their second mini-album “Kill This Love” on April 4. The release of the mini-album was significant as it’s the group’s first release under Interscope Records, which distributes their music and handles their promotions in countries outside Asia. The titular track peaked at #41 on Billboard Hot 100 and #33 on the UK Singles Chart. This era is best remembered for the group’s promotions in the West as a result of their increasing popularity, specifically their iconic Coachella appearance that made them the first K-pop girl group to perform in the festival. Their Coachella gig highlighted the group’s stage presence and high energy as performers, backed with a live band that complimented the group’s electronic-style music. It’s Blackpink like we never saw before and it’s definitely a refreshing contrast to their more calculated promotions in their home country of South Korea.
PART 2. THE MEMBERS
A huge part of Blackpink’s appeal are the members. Their beauty and charismatic personalities are some of the reasons why the group has a huge fanbase of Blinks, which is the fandom name of the group. Obviously, K-pop idols are trained to be charismatic. But there is something about the dynamic of the members that feel unmatched and they harmonize well together as a group. It’s sort of a relief that YG didn’t stick to their plan of having a nine-member girl group. During training, Jennie said that the female trainees are shuffled to different groups every two months and there would be “little fights” on who gets assigned to positions in the group such as vocals, rapping, and dancing. When grouped with Lisa, Jisoo, and Rosé, Jennie said it was already clear on who gets the parts. Each member of the group carries the whole group in their own different ways. They all have different backgrounds, different motivations on why they wanted to become idols and trainees under YG, and different skills that make Blackpink as a whole. I will be describing the members in the order they were revealed before their debut.
Jennie
Jennie Kim was the first member to be revealed as part of Blackpink on June 1, 2016. She is the group’s assigned main rapper and lead vocalist. Jennie was born as an only child to wealthy parents on January 16, 1996, in Seoul, South Korea. Jennie moved to Auckland at the age of eight after she was asked by her mother if she liked the place during their visit there. Jennie seemed to adjust her life well in New Zealand and she was featured in a documentary titled “English, Must Change to Survive” for South Korean broadcaster MBC about her experience as a Korean kid living in a foreign land. Jennie moved back to Seoul in 2010 after not being interested in taking up law in the United States, which was suggested by her mother who eventually supported her daughter’s decision. While Jennie didn’t have any formal musical background growing up, she was interested in K-pop during her stay in New Zealand. She auditioned for YG Entertainment as a vocalist, in which she performed “Take a Bow” by Rihanna. While Jennie was accepted as a trainee under YG, the judges advised her to train for the role of a rapper as she is the only trainee who can speak English. A trainee for five years, Jennie was one of the most popular trainees in YG and has already gained recognition before her eventual debut as a Blackpink member. YG uploaded videos of Jennie covering “Strange Clouds" by B.o.B. featuring Lil Wayne and “Lotus Flower Bomb” by Wale while she was a trainee. She also appeared as a featured artist for Senguri’s “GG Be” and G-Dragon’s “Black” in their respective solo albums, which she performed with the latter in Inkigayo making it her stage debut Because of her early popularity, Jennie was highly speculated to be part of the original line-up of Pink Punk before the idea was scrapped. After the release of “Square Up”, Jennie became the first member of the group to debut as a soloist. She released her debut solo single aptly titled “Solo” on November 12, 2018. The music video is the most-viewed music video by a Korean female solo artist with 600 million views on YouTube. Just recently, she launched her own YouTube channel on her 26th birthday where she intends to create vlogs about her everyday life. Her first vlog served as an introduction to her channel which included a cover of Tangled’s “When Will My Life Begin?” by Mandy Moore. The vlog has already gotten 10.9 million views two days after its release.
Lisa
Lalisa Manoban, known by her stage name Lisa, was revealed as the second member of Blackpink on June 8, 2016. Lisa is the assigned main dancer, lead rapper, and sub vocalist of the group. She is also the “maknae” of the group, meaning she is the youngest member of the group, as well as the only non-Korean member in the group. Lisa’s birth name is actually different as she was born under the name “Pranpriya” before legally changing to Lalisa. She was born in Thailand on March 27, 1997. Lisa took dance lessons at four years old and often competed in dance competitions. She was part of the Thai dance crew “We Zaa Cool'' with childhood friend and fellow K-pop idol BamBam from GOT7. She also competed in a singing competition where she represented her school, ending up as a runner-up. Inspired by her idols and eventual YG labelmates BIGBANG and 2NE1, Lisa had her eyes on the K-pop industry. She auditioned for YG Entertainment when the agency visited Thailand. Out of the 4,000 Thai applicants, she was the only one accepted to be a trainee under YG. Lisa began her 5-year trainee journey in 2011 as she is YG’s first foreign trainee. Like Jennie, she was speculated to be part of the original line-up of “Pink Punk”. Her highly impressive skills as a dancer have always led her to be assigned as the main dancer in different groups that she designs most of the choreography herself. While still training, YG released a video of 16-year-old Lisa performing “Turn Up The Music”, albeit she was nameless in the video. Lisa is the group’s most popular member as she is the most followed member on Instagram with 45.2 million followers. Her widely-shared dance performance of “Swalla” in the Blackpink In Your Area tour and the “Did It Work?” memes that surrounded her legs contributed to her worldwide popularity. In 2020, Lisa released a limited edition photobook on her birthday aptly titled “0327”, which consisted of photos she took with her film camera that included some shots of her fellow members. Outside of her Blackpink duties, Lisa is a dance mentor of the Chinese survival show “Youth With You”. She was dubbed as “Mentor Lisa” by Blinks as her strict mentoring style in the show surprised everyone since it was the opposite of her shy personality. Her fellow members have teased Lisa over her strict mentoring style.
Jisoo
Kim Ji-soo, more commonly known by her first name, was revealed as the third member of Blackpink on June 15, 2016. She is the group’s lead vocalist and “visual” member, meaning she is the most attractive member according to Korean beauty standards. She is also the eldest member of the group, making her the “eonie” of the group. Jisoo was born on January 3, 1995, in South Korea and she grew up with a close, extended family. Despite being a visual member, Jisoo was bullied as a kid about her appearance by her relatives who often called her a monkey. Being an idol was not on Jisoo’s radar growing up. She wanted to involve herself in the arts as she considered wanting to become an actress, a painter, or a writer. She developed her acting skills by joining a drama club during her time as a student. Despite not knowing about YG when she auditioned, Jisoo was accepted as a trainee and began her 5-year trainee journey. Like Jennie and Lisa, Jisoo was speculated to be part of the original line-up of Pink Punk. Before her debut, she made appearances in commercials for Samsonite, LG, and Nikon. There is always one member in a K-pop group that would likely become actors later in their careers and Jisoo is one of them. It isn’t surprising as she has openly shown her interest in becoming an actress and the members even remarked that she would win an Oscar for her “acting face” alone. Before her debut, she had a cameo appearance in an episode of the KBS show “The Producers” with labelmates Dara of 2NE1. Now a K-pop idol, Jisoo appeared in a role in tvN’s fantasy-drama “Arthdal Chronicles” where she played her first fictional character. Jisoo will be starring in an upcoming JTBC drama “Snowdrop” that is slated to premiere later this year.
Rosé
Park Chae-young, more commonly known as Rosé, is the fourth and last member to be revealed as part of Blackpink on June 22, 2016. She is the assigned main vocalist and lead dancer in the group. Rosé’s English name is Roséanne Park as she was born outside Korea and grew up living overseas. She was born on February 11, 1997, in Auckland, New Zealand. Her family moved to Melbourne, Australia when she was eight years old. While Lisa’s musical background is more on dancing, Rosé’s musical background is more on singing as she grew up singing in a choir and has played the guitar often in school. When YG went to Australia to look for potential trainees, she was advised by her father to try auditioning. After being accepted as a YG trainee, she had to drop out of school and move to Seoul within two months. Rosé said it was difficult to be separated from her family during training. Despite feeling homesick, she was determined to become a K-pop idol. Rosé had no formal experience with dancing, which caught her off-guard when she first trained. She definitely had a lot of time to hone her dancing skills that she eventually became the lead singer in the group. Before her debut, Rosé was a featured artist in G-Dragon’s song “Without You” in 2012. Given her position as the main vocalist, Blinks have been anticipating her solo debut. She has released covers of Halsey’s “Eyes Open” and Nat King Cole’s “The Christmas Song”, which really showcased her unique vocals. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she covered a series of songs in a jam session that was live-streamed on her Instagram page. Rosé will finally make her debut as a soloist early this year and teasers are expected to pop-up as reports say that she finished filming the music video of her solo debut. Given YG’s well-recorded unreliably on their commitments, we could only hope this would finally push through. While I have described every member of Blackpink, there’s one more person that needs to be mentioned as he plays a crucial factor in Blackpink’s success.
Teddy Park
Teddy Park is a former member of YG’s boy group “1TYM” and now an in-house producer for YG Entertainment. He wrote and produced many iconic tracks for BIGBANG and 2NE1 such as Fantastic Baby and I Am The Best respectively. Teddy produced the majority of Blackpink’s discography and has received songwriting credits of Blackpink’s collaborations with Dua Lipa (Kiss and Make Up) and Lady Gaga (Sour Candy). According to the album’s production credits, he is credited as the album producer and creative director for the group.
PART 3. THE ERA
When YG announced on May 4, 2020, that Blackpink finished recording their first full album and will shoot a music video for their pre-single later that month, the news was met with cautious optimism. YG has a track record of promising things that didn’t come to fruition so this announcement was understandably taken with a grain of salt. It’s worth pointing out that the group was previously featured on “Sour Candy” by Lady Gaga as a promo single for her album “Chromatica”, which indicates that Blackpink might be coming out with their new material. Also, Interscope is capitalizing on the increasing popularity of K-pop in the West by investing Blackpink in their roster. With this, YG has to commit to its schedule. And so they did by dropping a teaser poster a month later that revealed that the pre-release single will drop on June 26. The pre-release single would later turn out to be called “How You Like That?”, which was met with huge anticipation as teaser posters and videos of the members were revealed until its release. The single became an instant success the moment it dropped as the music video’s premiere was watched by 1.66 million simultaneous viewers on YouTube, making it the highest-rated YouTube Premiere. It was also the fastest music video to hit 100 million viewers in just 32 hours before BTS’ “Dynamite” took over the title two months later, beating Blackpink with 24 hours The song itself was a hit in the charts. It debuted at #32 on Billboard Hot 100 and #20 on the UK Singles Charts. Blackpink then teased the release of their second pre-release single featuring an unnamed artist on July 23 that will be released a month later. It was widely speculated that Ariana Grande is the unnamed artist that the hashtag “#AriPink” trended on Twitter. It was later revealed that Grande is actually one of the songwriters of the single and that Selena Gomez is the actual unnamed artist on August 11. The title would later be revealed as “Ice Cream” on August 22. The single’s music video, in which the scenes had to be shot separately in South Korea and Los Angeles due to the COVID-19 pandemic, gathered 79.08 million viewers in 24 hours. The single is currently Blackpink’s highest-peaking single on Billboard Hot 100, debuting at #13. Throughout the hype of Ice Cream, YG announced on July 28 that Blackpink will FINALLY release their first full album titled “The Album” on October 2. The name was met with mixed reactions, calling it “lazy”. However, Rosé said that they have worked on the album for so long that simply calling it “The Album” is the best way to describe their project because it’s so straightforward - “Blackpink: The Album”. Accompanying the album’s release on October 2 is the release of the album’s title track “Lovesick Girls”, which became the sixth biggest 24-hour music video debut at 61.4 million viewers. While the song peaked at #59 on Billboard Hot 100, the new Billboard Global 200 showed that the song debuted and peaked at #2, with the song topping the separate Global Chart that excluded the US. In-between the releases of the singles was Blackpink’s new reality TV show on YouTube called “Blackpink: 24/365”, which showcased various activities that the members participated in, such as pottery making and kart racing, as well as revealing behind the scenes footage of their music videos. The 16-episode reality series served as a way to promote the group and the album’s release. The series began on June 13 with a prologue until it aired its finale on October 24. It was supposed to have one more episode that was scheduled on October 31 before being pulled off after Chinese netizens were concerned over a clip of the episode’s teaser that showed the members touching a baby panda without gloves and masks during the pandemic. To cap off the era, a Netflix documentary film about the group was made under the title, “Blackpink: Light Up the Sky”, which documented Blackpink’s first four years as a group featuring behind the scenes videos and footage during their training days. It also showed the friendship between the members and their producer Teddy, their retrospective look on their training days, as well as their struggles of keeping up the busy lifestyle as K-pop idols. The documentary film also showed the girls recording the songs for The Album, as well as Rosé preparing for her long-anticipated solo debut. The documentary received positive reviews, which critics liked the documentary for showing the members’ work ethic and their fun personalities.
PART 4. THE TRACKS
“The Album” is a pop album that has influences of hip-hop, R&B, and EDM, all of which compose Blackpink’s musical signature since their debut. “The Album” is composed of 8 tracks (including the three singles) with a length of 24 minutes and 26 seconds. This is somehow normal for a K-pop mini-album, but too short for a full-album. In comparison, Twice’s second full-album “Eyes wide open” has 13-tracks with a length of 43 minutes and 29 seconds. As an eight-track album, it’s an equal mix of English and Korean songs as Blackpink attempts to market themselves in the West. All of these songs were recorded in The Black Label in South Korea, with some of the album’s mixing and additional input by producers made remotely due to the pandemic. Teddy serves as the album’s main producer, along with YG’s in-house songwriters and producers Danny Chung, R.Tee, 24, Løren, Vince, and Future Bounce. Frequent Blackpink songwriter Bekah Boom also worked on the lyrics of “The Album”. New songwriters and producers include Victoria Monét, Tommy Brown, Steven Franks, Ariana Grande, Ryan Tedder, Melanie Fontana, Torae Carr, Jonathan Descartes, Brian Lee, Leah Haywood, David Guetta, Tushar Apte, Rob Grimaldi, Chloe George, and Steph Jones. The featured artists in “The Album”, Selena Gomez and Cardi B, are also credited as songwriters in their respective tracks “Ice Cream” and “Bet You Wanna”. Additionally, Jennie and Jisoo received their first songwriting credits ever with “Lovesick Girls”. For this section on the post, I will give my thoughts on each track. I will also include the line distribution statistics based on random_k’s lyric distribution videos (with the exception of Love to Hate Me which I will base on HEXA6ON’s lyric distribution video of the song) and input my thoughts on the distribution as well.
1. How You Like That?
We begin “The Album” with the first pre-release single. “How You Like That?” is an appropriate opener to the album as it’s your typical Blackpink clap-back anthem. The best way to describe my mood on this song is the way AJay reacted to the song, in which she said “This is how you open the album”. Of course, many have criticized this song for being too familiar with the previous singles “DU-DDU-DDU-DU” and “Kill This Love” and I do agree that this song is definitely a rethread of these songs. However, I will disagree that this song didn’t serve anything new to the table. For me, “How You Like That?” basically re-defined Blackpink’s sound that complements the group’s pop and hip-hop tendencies that the previous singles haven’t reached before. It feels redundant to talk about Blackpink’s music videos because it always expected that their music videos would always serve BUDGET regardless of the quality of the actual song. Like, look at the budget! And they shot this music video during a pandemic!
While the line distribution is not totally equal as Jisoo is missing out on ten seconds compared to other members, I feel like the line distribution is justified. You can definitely hear each member contributing their own lines in the song. Lisa being the member with the most lines also makes sense as she basically she slayed the entire second verse
2. Ice Cream (with Selena Gomez)
When Normani released “Motivation” as a single, you can definitely tell that Ariana could’ve sang this song since she is credited as a songwriter. It has the Grande fingerprints all over it. Yet, with Normani’s strong vocals that complemented the 2000s-inspired production, she owned this song with ease. My expectations for an Ariana-penned Blackpink track are quite high based on my feelings on “Motivation” alone and Selena Gomez’s contribution as the co-artist of the song propelled that higher. And oh boy, I wish I wasn’t this excited. The most disappointing thing about Ice Cream is that it felt like Blackpink attempting to sing an Ariana reject with no sense of originality. I know it’s ironic to say this since Blackpink is basically “2NE1 Part 2” for longtime YG fans, but this song lacked that distinct Blackpink sound that made me a Blink in the first place. It’s so uninspiring and sometimes jarring to hear, even with multiple listens. Also, the sexual overtones in the lyrics are just too fucking awkward for Blackpink to sing. With their music video that had a cute concept, this is sort of uncomfortable to go through with the sexual undertones in mind. This is the same group that had them bragging how good their bodies look in “Boombayah” and they showed their “sexier side” way better in their cover of Wonder Girls’ “So Hot”. The only saving grace of this song, which was the reason why I could barely tolerate “Ice Cream”, is Lisa’s rap verse. I could imagine Jennie slaying if she had her own rap verse too. Honestly, Selena would have owned this song by herself without the autotune. But it’s nice to hear Selena in an upbeat song like this in a while.
Immediately, I can’t help but think about how Jisoo got only two English lines in the song despite having more seconds than Rosé. Half of Jisoo’s lines are just “Ice cream chillin chillin”. Ugh. I know Jisoo is not a fluent English speaker but many K-pop idols who are not English speakers can sing the language well with enough practice. Thankfully, Jisoo had more English lines in other songs, but I’ll tackle that a bit later in this post. I am honestly surprised Selena had more lines in the song than I thought because I feel like I heard more of Jennie and Rosé, which funny enough I thought Rosé had more lines. This is definitely not the worst line distribution I have seen. It’s just that Jisoo could have sung more lines.
3. Pretty Savage
Remember the distinct Blackpink signature sound that made me a Blink in the first place? Now, this is what I am talking about. This is the quintessential Blackpink sound that I have been waiting for since Kill This Love. I would’ve imagined that Pretty Savage as a pre-release single would've fared better than “How You Like That?” but somehow, I am sort of glad it didn’t. This is the song that Blinks needed to hear as antis have constantly dismissed Blackpink as “influencers with no talent” in response to their constant lengthy hiatuses. Of course, with this kind of song, it’s already expected Lisa would definitely slay this song. It's nice to hear Jennie rap again after she wasn’t given those parts in the pre-release singles. The way she rapped “F bois, not my bois' ' is just too damn iconic. However, the star of the song is Jisoo who has the second verse to herself and her talking rap flow surprisingly works here. The best part is definitely her saying “Blackpink in Your Area” after being the only member not to say the iconic catchphrase for years. And of course, Rosé’s vocals in the bridge are just as amazing. Pretty Savage is definitely one of my top favorites in “The Album”. Let’s just forget the messy choreography though.
This is definitely one of the best lyric distributions of Blackpink so far. While Lisa exceeded ten seconds, every member can be heard equally with their outstanding lines given to them.
4. Bet You Wanna (feat. Cardi B)
Coming off from the success and controversy surrounding WAP, Cardi B and Blackpink is an odd, yet exciting collaboration. I can’t imagine any of the members taking the second verse other than Cardi. It would have been nice to hear the “supposed” explicit lyrics she had to tone down for obvious reasons. If she was allowed to swear, she would’ve sung “I bet if you make me wet, I’ll still be fire”, which plays in my head now when I hear the tone-downed version lyric (“I bet if you make me sweat, I’ll still be fire”). Bet You Wanna could’ve been the next single after Lovesick Girls to capitalize on Cardi’s success from WAP. The entire production is so chill, yet so catchy which makes sense considering Ryan Tedder and Tommy Brown’s involvement. The song is completely in English so that this could’ve been a Top 10 hit with the right push. Unfortunately, the promotional cycle for “The Album” ended so I guess this is going to remain as a fan-favorite track for many Blinks and not a huge hit outside the fandom.
Not a perfect lyric distribution, but not too bad either. Each member can be heard just fine and Cardi didn’t dominate the song too much, which is fair since she is a featured artist. Lisa could’ve gotten a bit more lines, but this is also fine considering she has topped the lyric distribution in the previous songs.
5. Lovesick Girls
Considering that Blackpink’s single releases have always been upbeat clap-back anthems, the release of Lovesick Girls as a title track is quite refreshing as it aims to show the group’s more melancholy side, both in the lyrics and the production. The most striking lyric is from the chorus where the girls sang “We are all born to be alone/But why are we still looking for love?”. This isn’t the most groundbreaking lyric at all, but it does feel a bit weird hearing that from the girls. It brings me back to the documentary where Teddy said that the songs they made for “The Album” are going to show a bit of themselves a bit more as a group. Living as a K-pop idol is quite difficult as it is and we don’t know a lot about them since their image is very calculated by their agencies. It’s not to say they can’t be in a relationship because of the infamous “no dating” rule in the industry. The girls were probably asking themselves if they could really find love in an industry that is obsessed with perfection. Again, it’s not a very groundbreaking lyric but it does give me a bit of insight into the girls’ psyche a bit on their perspective of love.
Rosé taking up the top spot in this lyric distribution makes complete sense since this is the song that is best suited to her vocally. I have a feeling “Lovesick Girls” was a brief glimpse of what kind of song that Rosé will be releasing for her solo debut. Jennie taking up second place is quite surprising, especially her English rap verse didn’t take too long as well. The distribution on Lisa is fine, but Jisoo could’ve slightly sang more lines.
6. Crazy Over You
There’s isn’t much to talk about this song other than its production, which best utilized oriental instrumentals to hip-hop production. This isn’t the best song on “The Album”, but it isn’t as bad as well.
The lyric distribution could’ve been fair if Lisa was given more lines to rap. But I think this is fine since Jennie didn’t have a lot of rap lines in this album. It’s definitely nice to hear more of Jisoo in this song as she perfectly nailed the pre-chorus with her vocals.
7. Love to Hate Me
For some reason, Love to Hate Me reminded me so much of Ariana with the way the lyrics are sung by the girls, especially in the chorus and the ad-libs. This song serves as an appropriate penultimate track as the song delivers its final clap-back before “The Album” comes to a close with a softer pop ballad.
Rosé: 28.7% Lisa: 28.1% Jennie: 26.4% Jisoo: 16.8% Honestly, seeing lyric distributions like this where three of the members had equal parts except Jisoo makes me sad. She was close to having an equal lyrical distribution and this could’ve been done if she sang a bit more lines in the song.
8. You Never Know
We finally reach the end of “The Album” as it closes with a soft power-pop anthem that feels very in-character with Blackpink. This song already gained some attention when it was revealed that Teddy had no involvement in the song, making it the first Blackpink song without him. It’s worth pointing that out because Teddy has a mixed reaction as a main producer of the group. While I personally don’t mind Teddy as a producer, it’s quite refreshing that he isn’t involved so that the group can experiment with other producers. This is definitely the group at their most sincere in this album, in which they address the message of not judging people based on how they look outside. This particular message rings true to the members personally and Blinks can see why. Getting hate comments is nothing new in the K-pop industry. But Jennie seems to be the most bullied member as she was often villainized in the public eye, from her alleged “lazy dancing” scandal to the intense coverage of her short dating life with Kai from EXO. She was also unflatteringly called “YG Princess” because of accusations that the agency has favored her over other members. With this context in mind, it was so painful to hear Jennie sing “But you'll never know unless you walk in my shoes / You'll never know my tangled strings / 'Cause everybody sees what they wanna see / It's easier to judge me than to believe” because she has faced so much criticism over nothing. Other members have gone through similar scrutiny as well, but it’s not as bad as Jennie’s situation. All of the members worked so hard and sacrificed so much to be where they are now, so having this song that asks people not to judge them as a closer feels like the perfect ending statement from Blackpink.
It’s so nice that most of the members almost got the one-minute worth of lines and having Jisoo at the top feels satisfying after the limited line distribution she got with “Ice Cream. Vocal wise, this is their best song to date as they get to showcase their most emotional, sincere vocals in this track. The only problem is that Lisa should’ve gotten more lines, especially since her vocals sounded amazing that gives the song a more “heartfelt” feeling.
PART 5. THE CONCLUSION
Now that I have given my thoughts on each track of “The Album”, here are my overall thoughts on “The Album” and the era itself. In the [FRESH] Popheads discussion thread of “The Album”, a lot of users were disappointed with how short the album is. Yes, the album is unfortunately quite short given that this is their first full album in Blackpink’s fourth year as a group. Users are also disappointed with how “outdated” the songs felt. To be fair on Blackpink, K-pop tends to be a bit behind when it comes to trends. It isn’t surprising that “The Album” would have some kind of outdated production in Wester music standards. The most obvious one would be “Lovesick Girls'', which sounded like an Icona Pop song. Sonically, the entire album isn’t even revolutionary at all. “The Album'' is produced on what’s popular in the charts right now and even the biggest Blink here (not me) would know that. So with all these criticisms pointed out, why is “The Album” even considered as one of the Albums of the Year? Especially as someone who had Taylor Swift’s “folklore” as my own personal AOTY? For my case as a Blink, a huge part of the reason why I am a Blink is that not only their music makes me feel alive, but also because the group has such a charismatic personality that it’s easy to see why they have a huge Western appeal. Along with BTS, Blackpink is leading this new Hallyu wave where the West has finally taken K-pop seriously as a dominant force, not as a gimmick. With “The Album” debuting at #2 in the Billboard 200, it's the highest-charting album by a female girl group since Danity Kane in 2006. On top of that, they have sold approximately 1 million copies worldwide (estimated 319,300 copies in the US and Europe according to Pinkvilla as of October 27, 2020), which is a rare thing to achieve in the streaming era unless you’re Taylor Swift. This huge success for a K-pop girl group proves that Blackpink will always be in our area no matter what. Even with the criticisms that “The Album” had over its short-length and its outdated production, you can at least still hear the huge amount of talent, personality and hardwork of the group in this album. It’s not the content of the album that makes “The Album” an AOTY, it’s the influence that it’s going to make to its listeners and pop culture as a whole. You know what the Blinks will say, “BLACKPINK IS THE REVOLUTION”.
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