MovieMeditation’s Diary Reviews // “Come and meditate with me!”

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Damn. I sure have to see that! Camp-overload you just can't go wrong here! This is camp or go-home! 100% freshly brewed camp! I actually think I'll watch it very soon no kidding!



MovieMeditation presents...
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... current day count
88 .......................... 80

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March 14th

The Dark Knight (2008)*


"If you're good at something, never do it for free."

Movie Commentary with Swan & rauldc14
I really love this movie a whole lot, but somehow I feel like it is definitely debatable, even between me and myself, whether I should really throw this that perfect rating or maybe just take it down a notch. But if I have to be honest, for all of what the film is trying to do it succeeds extraordinarily well, and there are plenty of amazing aspects that have the potential to completely overshadow every single possible flaw of this film. It is a powerhouse tour de force of a film, slowly changing into complete madness and chaos – but without ever loosing its edge or its down-pulled control. The movie balances on a fine line between blockbuster and drama material, and it never turns into your typical overbloated blockbuster mess, which is what I really love about it.

Basically, it is a dramatic crime thriller disguised as a superhero blockbuster, and it is fantastic just how bravely Nolan executed his vision without ever thinking he had to make a certain kind of film to please the studio and/or audiences. If you really think about it, the amount of action this film has is truly at a minimum, and even the big climatic closing is not your typical overbloated and explosive computer generated mess that we are used to these days. It is something a lot closer to the core and spirit of the story and what it sets out to be. And there is really no need for me to praise the hell out of Heath Ledger here, because we all know just how damn great that performance is, but we shouldn’t forget that the character is actually well-written also – even considering the fact that the strong side of the Nolan brothers has never been with the scriptwriting and general dialogues; something that, to me, seems to have turned far worse over time…

For a film that supposedly revolves around the theme of “chaos”, it has a surprisingly high amount of control and focus to it, with a lot of attention paid to even the smallest of things. The amount of cringe-worthy dialogue is thankfully at a minimum and the script actually has plenty of great quotable lines that I have come to love over time…

FAVORITE SCENE // The Interrogation Scene

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March 15th

Escape from L.A. (1996)
-


"Welcome to the human race."

I’m not a huge fan of the first but I do really enjoy it, and the character of Snake Plissken is fun and interesting to watch and follow. But when I heard the sequel was supposedly just a lesser and almost retold version of the first one, I was already kind of let down. And not only that, but it was supposed to be extremely cheesy and campy as well, which many people saw as a negative factor about it. So yeah, it should be clear by now that I went into this with pretty low expectations to put it nicely, but still I was kind of looking forward to watch it.

And honestly it wasn’t even as bad as I thought it would be, and I generally enjoy it quite a bit – especially for its campiness and silliness. It is also clear that the film doesn’t want to be anything but a fun ride, with a few hints of social commentary and satire here and there only to lift the campiness even higher. It isn’t a great movie, by no means, but for a rainy Sunday it works just enough to be worth it although I will probably just stick with the original.

FAVORITE SCENE // Hollywood Plastic Surgery Scene

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March 16th

I Origins (2014)


"What would you do, if something spiritual
disproved your scientific beliefs?"


I like films that deal with the unexplained in a scientific way, leaving its audience in a sort of convinced and thought provoked state, which ultimately helps making the story all the more intense and frightening. It doesn’t even has to be a subject that exists, which is then developed further on for the purpose of the movie; it can even be something that has never been dealt with but is being discussed on a fun and philosophical level. I just love to watch those kinds of movies.

‘I Origins’ has a first half that many prefer, but I honestly like the second half more. I understand that if you want a sort of try-hard love story with a little science then that may be the reason for the love, but with the second half they finally started to discuss what they set out to discuss. Of course this is also where the movie leaves its “safe zone” and begin to take it further than what some people may be comfortable with, but honestly it does it in a great and not too edgy way. Personally I wished that they had gone even deeper than they did, but generally it was still a pretty fun and interesting film to follow.

And don’t get me wrong, I like good character development and a story that is set up right, but to me it simply went on too long with a story too thin to handle an hour or so of “surface love”. I wished they had cooked it down to 20-30 more intense and focused minutes, and then used the rest to keep on diving deeper into all the theories and such. In the end it just feels like only a small percentage of the story has been dealt with, and that is a shame. But overall an enjoyable and very interesting film.

FAVORITE SCENE // Girl in the Crowd Scene & Elevator 1 and 2 Scene

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March 16th

Interstellar (2014)*
critical
// entertaining
-


"We used to look up at the sky and wonder at our place in the stars,
now we just look down and worry about our place in the dirt."


EXTENDED REVIEW
This movie disappointed me greatly when I first watched it, and I guess that is mainly because of my hopes that all the ambition of the project was to be realized. Especially because I know that Nolan can take your typical blockbuster and make something far more out of it, even considering the fact that he seems to have lost his way by now. Still I hoped that somehow this could bring back the Nolan I once knew, and give me something that could live up to the ambition of the project…

But unfortunately, what I got was a boring and totally stretched out 40-minute opening, with not nearly enough character development or even a sense of a story that is actually moving towards a point, which would make the 40 minutes of nothing worth it. It is stiff, uninteresting and overall a poor attempt at making us care for these individuals and understand their characters. Anyways, when you get past those 40 minutes, what you get is a collective mess of people discussing semi-scientific plot points in an overly scientific way, often complicating even the simplest of sentences, and walking around in the dark even more so than the audiences do. Many times it felt like the movie wanted to be way smarter than it actually was, and because of its heavy themes it wanted to have a equally heavy script. But because most of the film is just people looking in the dark for answers they don’t even know if exists, it ends up being so extremely boring for the viewer to follow – or at least try to follow. The film is loaded with overwriting and overstuffed apathy and it seems as if the movie isn’t even sure what it wants to do.

There isn’t really enough interesting stuff to keep the movie going by itself either, and it feels like it kind of stays on this level between the edgy and the all-too-comfortable, and it doesn’t at all dare to go all the way until maybe the final act of the film... But when we finally get there, it actually begin to become interesting, because here Nolan finally explores the theories instead of just talking about them, and also plays with own ideas, wich somewhat succeeds, although still holding some of the same clichés and stupidities a blockbuster usually has. But even for all of its ambition and science it is mostly a fun popcorn movie, which I think was what mainly took me out of the film the first time I watched it. I expected more from the story, something that was only semi-realized in the last act, and I was already quite disappointed by then. There is no denying that the movie generally looks great visually, though Nolan seems to rush his direction more than usual, perhaps because he doesn’t want to distract his audience from what he thinks is a very heavy and strong script. But I was really missing some signature camera work from Nolan, because I honestly think he felt so anonymous on that department. The soundtrack and general sound mixing and editing was amazing though (except for the problems already raised by many) and really completed the experience for me – again, a very fun time on the surface of it all.

The actors assembled in this film are all of great talent, but that doesn’t mean you will get great acting. I don’t think I have ever seen a movie with such great talent wasted, neither do I think McConaughey was right for the lead role. I like him as an actor, but I think because of his raising popularity he just got asked to do pretty much everything – and this just wasn’t fit for him, at least in my opinion… And also, every actor seemed to deliver a performance on autopilot, and I don’t really know if that was because of the script or their own commitment to the film – probably the former, since they most likely had no idea of what kind of character they had to play, in such a muddled and overly ambitious script. And yes, the script really is overly ambitious, and I know there are people out there who will say something along the lines of “you are just too stupid to understand the film.” I’m not calling myself superior in the intelligence department, but this really isn’t as deep and complicated as it wants to be. Yes, it is very possible that all the theories, physics and math make total sense in their respective areas, but that doesn’t make a great film on its own. The science should help drive the actual story of the actual script forward, instead of driving it to the ground and overcomplicating everything. The science aspect simply doesn’t fool me one bit, I don’t want a movie that sounds smart I want it to actually be smart. I don’t care for a movie discussing theories on a correct level if it doesn’t try to prove or disprove them. Why raise a bunch of theories if you aren’t going to do nothing but let it float there in mid-air?

What is even more fun about that is, when Nolan finally reaches his last act, he actually leaves most of what he set up beforehand, by finally delivering his vision and ideas and develop further himself. And that is also why we as an audience have so much fun in the end, because we are finally watching a movie and not a documentary of some sort. I don’t understand why he purposely want to leave his audience in the dark for so long, other than he wants the movie to be “smart and scientific”, and when it comes down to it he doesn’t at all want to make a scientific movie. Because the overall film and its story, is just a big bloated blockbuster disguised as a science film, and everything from the central story, its characters, the visuals and the soundtrack makes that aspect quite clear. Only the script is in doubt of whether it should be wise or fun, and the result is an average script where someone accidently spilled the content of a science book onto it and added a little love and a little sentimentality here and there for impact-value…

‘Interstellar’ is an ambitious film with great and interesting ideas but it is simply executed so badly that, on every other level than entertainment, it fails. So if I had to rate it on that kind of level, I would give it a very low grade, but thankfully, on a second watch, I was able to see past all that and just enjoy it for the overall entertainment value, good visuals and a great soundtrack – and that made me like it a whole lot more, and if I continue to view this as pure entertainment I probably won’t mind watching it again some day.

FAVORITE SCENE // Spinning Endurance Scene & Journey and Fall to 5th Dimension Scene


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"""" Hulk Smashhhh."""
Really like your thoughts on The Dark Knight. It used to be one of my favourite movies ever. I still love it, but I've seen it that many times that it's effect has wore of a little.
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Optimus Reviews
LATEST REVIEW Zack Snyder’s Justice League // Godzilla vs Kong
My Top 50 Favourites

"Banshee is the greatest thing ever. "



Really like your thoughts on The Dark Knight. It used to be one of my favourite movies ever. I still love it, but I've seen it that many times that it's effect has wore of a little.
Yeah I know what you mean, and I totally understand. I'm sure it won't keep on holding that perfect rating, but I think I will always enjoy watching it. It has great rewatchability in my opinion.



MovieMeditation presents...
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... current day count
93 .......................... 84

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March 17th

Bambi (1942)*

DISNEY CLASSIC no.5

"Man was in the forest."

This is one of those Disney films that I’m fairly sure I haven’t watched since childhood, but it is certainly a film that I have wanted to revisit time and time again. I even bought the film on Blu-ray, but still it just remained on my shelf, unopened and unwatched. Anyways, suddenly I ran into some time-consuming problems and I was desperately in need of a shorter film to watch – and finally, with a runtime of only 70-minutes, ‘Bambi’ was the perfect choice of the day!

And my God, why in the hell haven’t I revisited this until now... I remember, as a child, that throughout the film there was a beautiful controlled atmosphere present, with an unmatchable combination of music and visuals, which simply seemed to go perfectly in hand with each other. Though, as a child it was quite obvious that I only noticed all this vaguely, mainly because of my natural senses being triggered by the present emotion on screen, and not because I was a 5-year-old movie expert or anything. Now, however, I’m able to dive into every little detail of it, and just by referring to the beautifully handled opening scene with the forest slowly waking up and coming to life, it is simply amazing what they have achieved with this film. And with a perfect mixture of classic old-school Disney and a more mature style of animation and storytelling, I think this film succeeds on so many levels.

Honestly, the film could be titled anything from ‘The Life of the Forest’ to the ‘The Course of Nature’, and it would still be surprisingly fitting for the themes and general approach of the film. The reason I’m not awarding it with a higher score, is because of a few mishaps here and there, mainly when the movie goes “full Disney”, talking about love and such in a very silly and forced way. I know that Disney always insists on a comic relief in their films, whether it is just a single character or an entire scene, but this time I just thought a certain kind of silliness didn’t fit in with the rest of the film. I enjoyed Bambi’s amusing and uplifting encounters with frozen water, snow and other animals of the forest, but all this was kept on a fitting minimum for the purpose of the film and its story. Anyways, minor complains aside, this is a beautifully told and not the least beautifully animated film about heavy themes – and even for the golden age of a more edgy and unsettling kind of Disney – it is mostly using lighter settings and characters to stay away from total and absolute dread and depression.

FAVORITE SCENE // The Opening Scene & The Ending Scene

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March 18th

Superbad (2007)*
-


"I am McLovin."

As I have said before, comedies are very much a hit or miss for me more than anything else, mainly because it all depends on the humor, the jokes, the actual approach and so many other things. But one specific element, which is more important than anything else when you are dealing with a comedy, is the sense of confidence and comfort with being what it is and doing what it does. If the jokes and humor that the film wants to reach and handle successfully are all delivered in an uncertain and forced way, it simply won’t work…

Thankfully, even considering the fact that this is a comedy in the spirit of America’s signature raunchy and rather childish comical approach, it actually succeeds surprisingly well in my opinion, and that is probably because of the same exact statement I mentioned above – it knows what it is doing and it is immensely proud of it. It doesn’t hold anything back when it comes to the jokes and general comical settings, but somehow it pulls it all off in grand style. First of all, I think it is because of the fact that the setting and main plot of the movie knows where it has to take its jokes to be taken “seriously” in the comedy world, and secondly the film somehow manages to be really well-written considering the fact that it contains a “****” or “sh*t” or “d*ck” in pretty much every single line. And even though I’m totally aware that the following is a minor underlying element of the film, I really enjoy the more dramatic undertone about friendship and general youthful high school life.

And I know it is unusual to discuss such things in a comedy, but the characters of the film are actually a little more complex than what meets the eye. Not that we got a deep character study on our hands here, but every detail about our main characters have been thought about and played around with to such an extent, that it actually creates some fun minor elements that may or may not be noticeable, but when you do notice them it makes the film a whole lot better. I must admit that this film has lost a bit of steam now when I have gotten older, and also because I am watching even more movies than back then, but I can’t deny that it is a well made comedy of its subgenre and style, and a rare success in my eyes. I really love British humor, but the American humor is, most of the times, too silly and over the top for me to enjoy. I need something more, apart from the jokes, which of course have to be well written and well delivered on their own, and ‘Superbad’ seems to bring me just that. Together with last years ‘22 Jump Street’ I have found hope in the fact that good American comedies still exist and resurface from time to time, while movies like ‘This is the End’ and ‘The Interview’ are examples of the genre at its worse in my opinion…

FAVORITE SCENE // The Fake ID Scene

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March 19th

Winter Sleep (2014)
+


"“Not seeing a man for what he is, idolizing him like a god,
and then being mad at him because he's not a god. Do you think that is fair?”"


I have held back from watching this film ever since it was widely released to audiences across the world, and I even considered reviewing it myself when it was offered to me on the page I do reviews for. But in the end I chose to skip it at the cinemas, and perhaps you are asking yourself why I did that, if it was a movie I really wanted to see and could do so for free. Well, the shortest answer to that question is: it is freaking 3 hours and 16 minutes long.

So, as an audience, do you at all feel the extensive minutes when you are watching the film, and does the running time slow the movie down in any way? Yes and no to both questions, actually. I don’t think it comes as a shock to anyone that I did acknowledge the long runtime of the film when watching it, but I will say, even considering the dramatic slow-burner that it is, you really don’t feel its extensive length in a torturing way at all. Once you are captured by it, you invest yourself enough in the story to see the minutes fly by surprisingly fast, in the company of some very lengthy and thoughtful discussions about relationships, work, beliefs, and pretty much anything in the world that you could think of. I must admit, I thought this was going to be some very long and boring 3 hours when I was watching the first hour of the film, but suddenly it somehow went deeper into specifics of the story and the characters as well, and this was also more emotionally driven than the confused and hectic first hour. If you can see yourself enjoying long discussions, which are of course executed perfectly on pretty much all levels of filmmaking, then this film should definitely be worth a watch for you.

It looks great visually, rather breathtaking at times, and I love how the story evolves and constantly progresses throughout. And even for the long running time it gives you plenty of food for thought to fill up the runtime all over again. There may not be much going on, on the outside, but there is a hell of a lot going on, on the inside. But I do wish an hour or maybe just half an hour was cut out, because 3 hours and 16 minutes is admittedly a bit too long; even considering that it generally works great. But for all its greatness it really does test your patience and your butt-cheeks, as said by some reviewer, and although that is a rather amusing statement, it is also very true…

FAVORITE SCENE // First Lengthy Discussion Scene


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I really need to give Superbad a second chance. I feel like the only person that thought it was a below average comedy.
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Letterboxd



Great reviews, I really like Superbad as well.

Have you seen Tropic Thunder?



I really need to give Superbad a second chance. I feel like the only person that thought it was a below average comedy.
I can totally understand people who think that, but yeah why not give it another go.



Even though your ratings for both films are respectable, I'm disappointed that you felt a disconnect with The Apartment and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Those are two favorites of mine, especially The Apartment, which is firmly entrenched in my top ten.

I don't think I could be less interested in Jiro Dreams of Sushi.

I've seen Thank You For Smoking, but don't remember much about it except not particularly caring for it. Glancing over Eckhart's filmography, I seem to dislike almost everything he's been in. Dude's a very dull actor, in my opinion.

Your tepid response to The Apartment is similar to my response to The Graduate: liked it, didn't love it; respected it more than I enjoyed it. I've only seen it once, though, and that was several years ago, so I'm definitely going to revisit it before submitting my 60's list.

When it comes to confusing, mind-puzzle type of films like Primer, I seem to prefer them with either a heavy dose of surrealism or a tint of schizophrenia. Primer, on the other hand, just seemed too drab and clinical. I imagine the film appeals to people who solve complicated math equations for fun. I was bored to death by it. Carruth's followup, Upstream Color, was more interesting and boasted some great visuals, but I still felt that same level of detachment. I know Swan's a big fan of both films, but his mind is broken.

I expect my reaction to The Imitation Game to mirror your own.

Batman is my favorite superhero film, so I've seen it dozens and dozens of times, but as a kid I never cared as much for Returns, so I'm much less familiar with it. I haven't watched Returns in ages, although I actually own the DVD now. I'm looking forward to watching it sometime soon and seeing how I respond to it as an adult. If anything, I expect to like it a lot more now than I did back then, especially considering how much I miss camp in this new era of gritty, overly serious superhero films.

I haven't seen or heard of The Kid with a Bike.

The "vulgar, silly" humor you complain about in American comedies is my bread and butter (because I'm a god damn patriot!), so some of the aspects that turned you off from Top Five are likely to appeal to me. Even though I enjoy Chris Rock's stand-up, though, I rarely find him funny on screen. I'm not in a rush to watch Top Five, but I'll rent it somewhere down the road.

I feel like a hater when it comes to The Dark Knight, but only because I get so annoyed with all the "OMG GREATEST FILM OF ALL TIME!" declarations. I think the first two-thirds of the film is excellent, but I've always felt that it loses its momentum after the climactic showdown in the street between Batman and The Joker. If I'm watching it on TV or something, I usually turn the channel after The Joker's escape, since the movie is all downhill from there.

Not a fan of Escape From New York, so I've never bothered with Escape From L.A.

I Origins is on my watch list. The middling reviews don't leave me hopeful, even though I enjoyed Another Earth.

I regret not making a point to watch Interstellar while it was still in theaters. Your review and your rating seem out of sync.

I love your write-up for Bambi. It was always my favorite of the classic Walt Disney films.

I also love your write-up for Superbad. I've seen the movie so many times by now that it's started to lose its luster a little bit, but I still think it's one of the best, most quotable comedies of the 2000's. I'm happy that the movie is good enough to transcend your typical dislike for raunchiness.

I had never heard of Winter Sleep until recently when Lucas or someone wrote about it on here. If I remember correctly, he said the same thing you did about the length, but was still impressed enough with the film to give it a good rating. I'll add it to my watch list.
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Another great write-up Spaulding! Thanks for finally being able to do some meditation with me.

I only want to point out you response to my Interstellar review, because I know what you mean, but I thought I made it clear why I rated it as I did. Anyways, if I had to rate Interstellar for the scientific movie it wants to be, I'll probably rate it as low as
, but if I had to rate it like your typical blockbuster action flick it would score like I rated it back there.

The reason why my review is so much more about why I think it is a bad film is, that I haven't really wrote my thought about that movie anywhere, and in as great a length as I did here. Despite being entertained the second time, Interstellar is one of my most "hated" movies of all time. What I mean by that is I hate all the praise it gets from people, and I wanted to make sure to point out every single flaw which bothered me with this film... So, I guess my review was more in general than actually covering my rewatch of it only. Hope you see my point. So yeah, the review and rating are actually kind of two different opinions on the same film, and I see how stupid it might look now.



MovieMeditation presents...
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... current day count
102 .......................... 92

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March 20th

Alien (1979)*
+


"What kind of thing? I need a clear definition."

One of the greatest and most inventive sci-fi horror films ever put to the screen. It starts off slow and secretive with a grand and detailed showcase of the various halls and rooms of this rather enormous spaceship, which is made to appear like a very small and tight-spaced claustrophobic place. The pacing is key to this film in my opinion, and how the film builds itself up is almost perfection, and I love how audiences are left in the dark for a long period of time only to get everything thrown at your face when you are least expecting it.

The effects, the soundtrack and the visuals are all fantastic, and together with the acting this is a powerhouse of a film. The last 30 minutes are crazy intense and a rather surprising level of excitement and scale, since you wouldn’t expect that the film would reach such highs if you compare this to the very first minutes of the film. This is definitely a film I never get tired of rewatching and it has plenty of iconic scenes and exciting moments to make everything worth it every single time.

FAVORITE SCENE // The Chest-Burst Scene, Tight Air Tunnel Scene & Ending Scene

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March 20th

The New World, Extended (2005)*


"Love... shall we deny it when it visits us... shall we not take what we are given?.."

If you are the kind of person who doesn’t love how Malick usually dwells in beautiful imagery for too long, then you would probably appreciate a shorter version of the film, but personally I’m definitely a fan of Terrence Malick as a director and as a true visionary, so I don’t mind. I hate how pretentiousness has almost become synonymous with his signature style of filmmaking, because I think some people just don’t want to look further into his works than on the outer shell of it all.

It is a shame in my opinion, because although he sometimes aims too high, he is mainly a master at storytelling through nothing but pictures and sound. He understands that filmmaking is a free medium, which doesn’t have to be approached in any particular way. The best way to describe Terrence Malick is that he makes pictorial poems. If you envision filmmaking is written material, then a novel would be your typical film, while Malick would make poems instead. A novel follows a story with a plot while poems are more thought provoking material made to discuss certain themes of messages, which is exactly what Malick does with his films.

Anyways, The New World is a great and humanistic love story and furthermore a great and authentic view into the life of a completely different culture. I love how Malick portrays both of these elements, and overall it is also a good depiction of the story of Pocahontas. And yes this is the extended version and yes it is long and challenging to watch, but in the end it is all worth it in my opinion.

FAVORITE SCENE // The Learning Between Cultures Scenes & Battle Scene

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March 21st

Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed (2004)


"Welcome to rehab, baby."

The first one was a major surprise for me, and it worked as an extremely refreshing and inventive twist on some generally old and tired werewolf flicks from the past. This was a lot of fun and crosses in and out between many genres and styles, but without ever loosing steam or becoming boring or stupid. I was actually surprised of how well the whole theme was handled and how certain and confident it was when delivering it. With this sequel, however, it doesn’t use this theme or style anymore, which is actually fine since it would be tiring. Honestly though, I can’t see why the first one needed a sequel…

The sequel is just your typical werewolf flick and a boring one at that. I really didn’t like much about this one; I thought the story was stupid, uninteresting and poorly put together. The sequel is still called ‘Ginger Snaps’ but ginger is nowhere to be seen except in ghostly and hauntingly presentations. I still want to see the second sequel, but my expectations are truly lowered and I guess that can only benefit the film.

FAVORITE SCENE // none.

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March 22nd

Aliens (1986)*


"Get away from her you bitch!"

I had the extreme pleasure of rewatching this on the big screen due to a special classic event being held at my preferred cinema. I really must say it was a great experience, especially because I have always seen this sequel as my favorite in the franchise and because it is a great big and adventurous sci-fi flick with pretty much everything a fan of the first, and of the general genre, could ask for. It is also quite unusual for a sequel to departure completely from what the previous one set up. The first one is basically a sci-fi horror-thriller through and through, while the second one is definitely more of a sci-fi action adventure. I don’t mind at all though, especially since the master of sequels, James Cameron, is in charge of all the exciting madness!

It’s funny, the perfect recipe to a great sequel is actually just taking the general plot of the first film, add something bigger and crazier while balancing it with control, and lastly add something that expands on what the previous film(s) created. Not that this is an easy task, because many films fail while doing this, but if you do it right you have a great sequel on your hands. Think about it, the film is about our main character and some associates going to a planet where they get attacked by strange creatures. After all is picked out one by one the main character is the last one standing to get the job done, who then has to get out before the entire thing explodes and hopefully killing every sign of the creatures. Unfortunately the creature gets with her on board, and she jumps in a special suit and flush out the alien in an air vent.

Okay, was it the first film or the second I just described there? Both could totally fit that description but I don’t care, they are both great for different things. I love how this almost naturally up the stakes of the first one and develops further on the story, where the big high point is the actual “egg layer” being shown and the general action and tension in the film. I love the small more claustrophobic scene, slightly paying homage to the first one, where Ripley and Newt is trapped in the small room with the face huggers. Anyways, I do think my thoughts about which is my favorite of the franchise has changed to the first one, but it looks like my preference sort of paddles back and fourth between them, and I guess it doesn’t really matter. Both are really great films when it comes down to it no matter which is your favorite.

FAVORITE SCENE // Every Scene With The Mother & The Trapped-In-Room Scene

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March 23rd

Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)


"What time would you go back to? If you could."

A surprisingly fun and entertaining low budget flick by the director of the upcoming ‘Jurassic World’. I must say that is quite some confidence put onto this fairly new and untried director, but there is no doubt he knew what he was doing when being behind the camera on ‘Safety Not Guaranteed’.

The script was funny and inventive, the story was weird and interesting, and the end result was mostly a great success in my opinion. Of course it had some problems here and there, but that doesn’t change the fact that it was overall a joyful experience full of countless ideas and great ambition. I don’t know if I could see myself ever watching it again, but it is a movie I definitely don’t regret watching – a fun movie for a rainy day.

FAVORITE SCENE // The Break-in Scene


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I used to prefer Aliens, but it peaked for me with the first viewing, whereas Alien gets better and better with every re-watch. Both movies are favorites, though, even if Alien ranks considerably higher.

I'm one of those people who labels Malick as pretentious, but I still agree with everything you said about him, especially the part about his films being visual poems. Even though I'm not a fan, I have great respect and admiration for his films. I'm always impressed by his work. It's just that I'm often bored and frustrated by his unconventional approach. Aesthetically, his films are magnificent, but I rarely feel any emotional connection to the story or the characters. I don't feel invested. The same thing applied with The New World. It's like staring at a gorgeous piece of artwork on a gallery wall.

Not seen Ginger Snaps, so of course I haven't seen the sequel, either.

I'm interested in watching Safety Not Guaranteed. I remember hearing a lot of good things.



"""" Hulk Smashhhh."""
Nice Write-ups yet again Med.

There a few movies you have wrote about above that I really enjoyed.

Superbad is fantastic. It's one of the best comedy movies of the past 10 years. I know it's daft, and rude, but it also nails some of the childhood banter and problems that I had with my friends growing up, which is probably why I find it so funny. It's a very fun movie, with a great cast. And who ever thought Jonah Hill would come all this way after his performance here.? Crazy.

Aliens as you know made my top Top 100 favourites. It's a great action movie and in my opinion the best of the franchise. Alien however, meh. I know it's a classic and a very well received movie but I didn't enjoy it at all. I thought it was the weakest out of the original 4 movies . It just felt to damn slow and long for me. Not much really happens, plus it probably doesn't help that it was actually the last movie in the franchise that I watched.

Keep em coming.



Thanks for checking in to meditate, Optimus! It's very much appreciated!

Those comments about the first Alien really hurts, I must admit. I guess it may be because it was the last one you watched, and because it is older and much more downtoned than the rest. But I do think potential rewatches would do it for ya... If you know that it builds slow, if you know it is less action-packed, then maybe you can learn to appreciate it for what it is, with further viewings.



"""" Hulk Smashhhh."""
Thanks for checking in to meditate, Optimus! It's very much appreciated!

Those comments about the first Alien really hurts, I must admit. I guess it may be because it was the last one you watched, and because it is older and much more downtoned than the rest. But I do think potential rewatches would do it for ya... If you know that it builds slow, if you know it is less action-packed, then maybe you can learn to appreciate it for what it is, with further viewings.
I've seen it a couple of times now Med. I must admit, it is a lot more intense and chilling but that's about all. Maybe it's because the other movies are a lot more action packed and there's a lot more going on so I enjoyed them more. I am a huge action nut .