MovieMeditation�s Diary Reviews // �Come and meditate with me!�

Friendo.

07-18-15

Originally Posted by Cole416

Gonna have to play catch-up if you want to get movies > days haha.

Very nice reviews though!

Yeah I know, but because of my past health problems I couldn't find the time nor motivation to keep doing reviews and I eventually lost my pace and had to quit watching movies for a time too.

But as I stated in the past, I will try my best to catch up and slowly get back to my past pace. If anything, I still deliver reviews no matter which date it says above them.

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/watching movies for mark f/
MovieMeditation's Cinema Reviews // Film Diary 2015 // Letterboxd Profile // MovieMeditation's Top 50 Horror

Gatsby

Msg

Master of My Domain

07-18-15

I give Brazil the same rating as you did. Ya see, satire films are supposed to always worked for me, but Terry Gilliam's cluttered and unsure world he drew makes the delivery weak and sometimes it goes out of control, making it not suitable for my taste. I have to give it a rewatch though.

I don't care about the racism in Peter Pan too, but maybe because I don't care about the movie itself.

But great write-up and I can see why you love it.

Captain Spaulding

Defending Champ

07-19-15

As you probably know from the bombardment of +rep I gave you this morning, I finally caught up with this thread. Lots of reading, but lots of good stuff. Although I'll admit, I did occasionally find myself thinking, "Damn, MM, enough with the wordplay! Just tell me what you thought of the movie!"

Sorry to hear that you were having health trouble. Hopefully you're all better now. I'm starting to think that writing long reviews must be harmful to one's health. Apparently JayDee can't go more than five minutes without crapping himself. He's always going to the doctor and getting things shoved up his bum. Now you're suffering from health issues too. Maybe Yoda needs to slap a Surgeon General's Warning on the Review page.

There's way too much for me to try to comment on everything individually. I will say that I was especially pleased to see that you've finally seen the brilliance of Once Upon a Time in the West. One of my top three favorite films. If it doesn't place inside the top ten on the 60's Countdown, I'll be disappointed.

I found it a little puzzling that you liked Rambo 3 more than the others in the series. I love First Blood. It'd make my top 100. Part II and Rambo aren't as good, but I still enjoy them for all the carnage. Rambo 3 is the only one I dislike. I'm probably in the minority, but I prefer the character of Rambo to Rocky.

Every time I read someone's response to Harakiri, it makes me regret not watching it in preparation for the 60's list. I've yet to hear a bad thing about it. Your review for Peter Pan makes me to want to revisit it. With the exception of Bambi, I haven't seen any of the old Disney classics since I was a kid. Peter Pan was never one of my favorites, but I think I suffer a little bit from a Peter Pan complex, so I might connect with it more now as a man-child than when I was an actual child. I've never heard of any of those old Disney compilations you were watching. Doesn't sound like I'm missing anything.

Cool to see that you and I are in the same camp that prefers Kill Bill Vol. II. I've been watching a lot of kung-fu movies over the last few weeks, especially stuff from the Shaw Brothers catalogue, so I've been seeing firsthand a lot of the things that QT incorporated into Kill Bill. It's making me appreciate Vol. I more than I used to, even though I've always loved both movies.

A special

for your reviews of Planet of the Apes, Children of Men, Monster and Death Proof. It sounds like you liked Brazil less than your rating implies, but tried to be generous since it's beloved by many. Personally, I hated that film, although I'd have a difficult time explaining why exactly. It was just one of those films where I checked out mentally pretty early on and had to suffer through its padded run-time.

Anyways, keep up the good work and stay healthy, MM!

MovieMeditation

Friendo.

07-19-15

Thanks Captain! I was beginning to worry that you would never show up in here.

Anyways, I'm glad you enjoy what you are reading and had fun though it must've been one hell of a task to do. I saw you repping from way back and could see in terms of minutes between rep, that it looked like you were indeed reading every last bit of it. Thank you for that dedication to what I do, I must say I appreciate it a whole lot, especially when you end off by making a long thoughtful comment on the whole scenario. Thank you.

I'm actually surprised that you are the first one to point out how exhausting the wordplay overload sometimes is, which is something I'll admit does take overhand sometimes. But the way I write my reviews is the way I like to read reviews as well, and I personally love that the opinion on the film is just as fun reading as the actual text itself. I'm not the biggest fan of people just saying "this was good, this was bad, I didn't like these characters because they were bad people". I love to spice my writings up, and YES it does get a little too much sometimes and I'm sorry for that, but to be honest, what makes it fun for ME to write is playing around with words and sentences or else it simply gets too repetitive for me - and for you I would imagine. I do hope that you at least enjoy the wordplay and lively sentences on occasions, and it's only a few times where you feel like it's too much. I sometimes, too, think I go over the top with it, but what the hell...

You're are killing me with those health jokes, though hopefully not in the literal sense! Anyways, yes sometimes movie watching and movie writing is very exhausting. I'm a perfectionist, so that makes it even harder to deliver mediocre stuff. When reviving my diary thread with a new design I promised smaller reviews. Now I make full length reviews with pictures and all, every. damn. time. Why? I just can't help it. I even sit up sometimes until 3 and 4 AM finishing up reviews. But in the end I like it a lot, but I must try and not make it take over too much. I must restrain myself on occasion, but it's hard when you love writing and love seeing people respond to what you write.

I don't know why I liked Rambo III so much, but I just did. I guess I made it pretty clear in my review why, but yeah, it's just my kind of dumb fun and it feels comfortable with what it is. Go see Harakiri asap! And in relation to Peter Pan, I actually wasn't that big of a fan of it, once I got older. But this revisit totally surprised me. I loved it... And as you know I'm going through the Disney classics chronologically, so I had to go through those terrible compilations and some of them sucked very bad. But thankfully I'm at the great ones now!

Maybe I did like Brazil less than my rating implies, but I simply can't rate it properly without a rewatch. I kind of liked it, yet I kind of hated it. Anyways, hope you will keep on checking in and meditating with me! And please do keep giving me constructive feedback, like when you commented on my wordplay, though I don't know if you did mean it as a negative thing that made my reviews exhausting. Anyhow, I like when people are honest and obviously I want to keep on delivering great stuff for y'all, so if there's anything missing, JUST SAY IT!

Thanks again, Spaulding, I've missed you in here!

Captain Spaulding

Defending Champ

07-19-15

Originally Posted by MovieMeditation

I'm actually surprised that you are the first one to point out how exhausting the wordplay overload sometimes is, which is something I'll admit does take overhand sometimes. But the way I write my reviews is the way I like to read reviews as well, and I personally love that the opinion on the film is just as fun reading as the actual text itself. I'm not the biggest fan of people just saying "this was good, this was bad, I didn't like these characters because they were bad people". I love to spice my writings up, and YES it does get a little too much sometimes and I'm sorry for that, but to be honest, what makes it fun for ME to write is playing around with words and sentences or else it simply gets too repetitive for me - and for you I would imagine. I do hope that you at least enjoy the wordplay and lively sentences on occasions, and it's only a few times where you feel like it's too much. I sometimes, too, think I go over the top with it, but what the hell...

I love your wordplay and the time you put into your reviews. I meant it more in a humorous manner just because I had so many movies to catch up on. Abbreviated meditations would've been less time consuming for me in this instance, but that's on me for falling so far behind. Keep doing what you do the way that you do it. I wasn't trying to provide any type of criticism.

MovieMeditation

Friendo.

07-19-15

Originally Posted by Captain Spaulding

Oh yes, I could definitely see that you were joking, don't worry.

But it could still have been a sly comment trying to make me realize I maybe overdid it a little. But cool you do like it then! I love connecting the film, theme and subject to my writing style on that particular review. Of recent ones, I think it worked great with my Mad Max: Fury Road review, with all the vehicle, chase and motor references... Thanks, and I hope you'll check in regularly, so you don't feel overstuffed from all that reading. I can't even imagine how exhausting it must've been.

MovieMeditation

Friendo.

07-19-15

MovieMeditation presents...
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... current day count
188 .......................... 199
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May 29th

�� 2015 ��
Shaun the Sheep
MOVIE
�� animation ��

"Life's a treat
with Shaun the Sheep!"

I wouldn�t exactly call myself a major fan of the television show, which this movie is based on, but on occasion I did have a fun time watching the fuzzy animals fluffing around on the farm, while finding fun things that would eventually drive the farmer insane. But sheep in steep trouble for seven-minutes is one thing; but turning these small simple shorts into one entire full length feature, with what can only be called a serious surplus of sheep, I was afraid that I would become tired and bored by the end of it, while constantly watching these little animals for eighty-five minutes straight, until I was finally hit with the �sheep-counting-curse� and eventually fell asleep. How would the minds behind ever translate these seven-minute shorts of speechless sheep and mute men, into something that would be worthy of the big screen, while still keeping the spirit of the source material intact and without having any dull parts throughout? What a mission indeed, but thankfully it is the minds of Aardman Animations who are shepherding these sheep, so it should hopefully live up to my high expectations�

First off, I have always loved, admired and supported the works of old fashioned stop-motion animation, which often made me watch films I wouldn't even have seen, if it weren't for the handcrafted charisma of carefully constructed moviemaking. Great art takes its time, but moving a single frame of film manually, by hand, maybe sounds a little bit like over-interpreting the saying. But the final results of stop-motion are always breathtaking and admirable, especially if the subject of the animation is something you are interested in.

So when being familiar with the lovable characters from the television show, I couldn�t wait to see how they would expand on the otherwise tiny little farmland universe. And how did they expand! The stop-motion animation is beautiful and especially the enormous set pieces of an entire city is extremely well-done, considering being used to small fences and open fields. The amount of detail throughout goes hand in hand with the simplicity of the characters, which makes it a complete joy to watch! The humor is even surprisingly edgy from time to time, which makes it fun for both kids and their parents to watch.

Comparing the film to the shorts, the creators have found a respectful way �shave the sheep� and give it a newer and fresher new look, but you are never in doubt of who and what you are watching. But this technique makes it easy for newcomers to adapt to the universe, without ever risking the film going circles or fencing itself in a tight spot. The spirit of the show is definitely intact and the humor is exactly the way we know it from Aardman. Sometimes the movie does play it a little too safe for its own good, but then in the next scene you are suddenly surprised at how they can turn it around and take an unexpected route. The many possibilities are like an open field, but thankfully the writer-director team finds a way to stay within familiar grounds, but still do something completely new. 'Shaun the Sheep Movie' may not be as great as previous short-to-film production, like the �Wallace and Gromit� movie for example, but comparing the movie to its respective source material, it works as a great development of the world, which used to be a whole lot smaller.

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cricket

Msg

Registered User

07-19-15

Nice work with the reviews MovieMed!

That's probably the lowest rating I've seen for Paths of Glory. I still haven't seen it-I think I'll hit it this week!

MovieMeditation

Friendo.

07-19-15

MovieMeditation presents...
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... current day count
189 .......................... 200
__________________________

May 30th

�� 1990 ��
Jacob's Ladder
�� horror ��
REWATCH

After just one watch I couldn�t go as far as calling this a total favorite of mine,
but now after a rewatch, it does begin to climb slowly up the ladder of all time personal picks.

Contains excerpts from my horror list
After just one watch I couldn�t go as far as calling this a total favorite of mine, but now after a rewatch, it does begin to climb slowly up the ladder of all time personal picks. I remember having a hard time putting thoughts to text out of pure, but clouded, memory. But now, when just recently revisiting it, I no longer feel trapped in a straitjacket when trying to type out my thoughts on this film, neither do I wander the mind wondering about my past viewing and what really happened. Because this is a complex and very strange film indeed. But strangely enough, I was surprised at how much of it suddenly came back to me once I began to watch it; particularly all the haunting hallucinations and sinister scenery stood razor sharp from the start, and ultimately reminded me exactly why I love this movie. And by the way, I might have to point out that this writing will contain some spoilers, so beware if you want to read any further�

This movie might actually be the greatest current cinematic attempt at visualizing the look and feel of actual nightmares and fearful paranoia. The way our main character seems to disappear in and out of different states of the approaching afterlife is rather impressive, especially since it is edited expertly together with his struggle to stay alive after being seriously wounded in Vietnam. As an audience we get to experience the life before the after, so to speak, and travel through the mind of a man trapped in some kind of loony limbo. A petrifying passageway that revives the past and reimagines the future, while gliding seamlessly in and out of loving memories, deep sorrows and nightmarish creations. If this disturbing mess is really part of my spiritual passing to the hereafter, I don�t think I would even survive the intermediate journey to my final demise. I would most likely die in my death; just imagine how paradoxical that actually is?

Describing �Jacob�s Ladder� in detail is not easy, but try to imagine how it would be to live out your worst nightmares, all the while being tricked and teased by absentminded images of your past, present and non-existing future� That is exactly how the main character in this film lives � or rather dies � and it is visualized in an absolutely terrifying manner that is both creepy and clever as hell. Tim Robbins does a great job in the role of the paranoid war veteran, who is slowly going completely insane, and his portrayal of every layer in this unworldly voyage is delivered with some serious acting expertise. The story and the unsettling imagery is great, but if we never believed the main character we wouldn�t believe anything around him either. But Robbins makes us buy into it, and travel through the gates of hell with him, and come out on the other side feeling relived. He comes to peace with himself and his life, while I just come to the conclusion that this movie rocks!

+

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Last edited by MovieMeditation; 07-19-15 at 08:21 PM.

MovieMeditation

Friendo.

07-20-15

MovieMeditation presents...
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... current day count
189 .......................... 200
__________________________

May 31st

�� 2003 ��
Pirates of the Carribbean
The Curse of the Black Pearl
�� adventure ��
REWATCH

I must say I'm feeling lost at sea when it comes to keeping track
of how many times I have visited and revisited the Pirates of the Caribbean films...

I even remember all the way back in 2003, where I was setting sails towards the local theatre to witness The Curse of the Black Pearl. Even to this day, the undying adventure ride still holds up as one of the best within its genre, and while some of the sequels have been loose canon fire to some, I still enjoy them quite a lot�

But despite the potential hits and misses of future films, the very first entry in the series is simply a prime example of how to deliver a perfect adventure movie, in my opinion, holding a vivid cast of wonderful characters, a direction that knows how to bring the story to life, as well as a musical composition that captures the atmosphere and fills out the epic scale to a satisfying level of pirate-perfection! I just love when the score of �Gladiator� comes on! No wait, never mind� So, anyways, this is actually the type of film that could easily be thrown overboard as simply being your typical dumb fun �rum-com� movie, spelling mistake intended, but I have to admit that this film is simply too well-made to be dusted off as a lazy craft. This movie is, at times, dumb but is never dubious about it, and it has no trouble turning to something a lot wittier either. There are a few places where the movie definitely walks out the plank, yet it never actually wobbles on the way, and when things start to go down, it certainly knows how to make a splash as well! That said though, I�m not the biggest fan of the climax of the film except for a few fun highlights, but as an overall adventure film, I cannot doubt its cleverness.

Already by the very opening, the movie sets the atmosphere and its story straight for its audience and we are casted directly into this wonderful world of the old days of pirates and lords, men and cowards, good and evil and so on. And when the man, the myth, the legend himself, Captain Jack Sparrow, is first introduced to the audience � with Johnny Depp towering above the horizon on what looks to be a giant ship entering the scene to the likes of epic orchestral music � only to witness that it is his major ego, which flows much higher than the small boat he is standing in. This is comedy gold and a great character introduction! By now, we already know the character quite well actually and know what to expect from the film. And on top of that, we quickly feel how comfortably goofy everything is, but while still having control of the scenario, knowing when and where to change the course of action. And if you ever doubted the skills of the people behind this film, you don't have wait long, because as soon as Jack Sparrow and William Turner enter a breathtaking fighting duel, balancing the silly with skillful sword fighting, you know this is far from an ordinary adventure flick...

So maybe on the outer deck, this is noting but a by-the-books blown-out family adventure, with everything we have come to know from the genre, and from other productions having some kind of involvement from Disney. We got everything from the unlikely hero, the prohibited romance, the caring but powerful father and all the way to the notorious duo of stupidity. The latter is especially something we know well from almost every single Disney film, whether animated or not. The classic team-up of a thick idiot and a thin idiot, only this time, we have a double dose of idiots, with a duo on both sides of things � good and evil. So clearly, this is a familiar backdrop, but the movie succeeds by creating an original foreground for us, with independent and yet universal humor, adventurous atmosphere, and great characters who lift off their respective cardboard cut-outs and becomes more lively than they were on paper... It�s the same boat, but a completely different crew. I don�t even feel the need to parley with the captain of this ship, because Captain Verbinski clearly knows how to sail this ship straight into the waves of success! I love this film for what it is and will always do!

-

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Last edited by MovieMeditation; 07-20-15 at 03:16 PM.

MovieMeditation

Friendo.

07-20-15

MovieMeditation presents...
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... current day count
189 .......................... 200
__________________________

June 1st

�� 2013 ��
S N O W P I E R C E R
�� sci-fi ��
REWATCH

Snowpiercer?
More like Slowpacer...

With the above said, it's not like the movie is a total bore or anything, but it is so slow in terms of developing its plot, almost like it is constantly chasing its own tail for answers. It never does much explaining; neither do the characters really feel that fleshed out by the end of it. They are just there to drive this big clumsy train of a plot forward, straight into nothingness. And when we finally arrive at the last train-set, I don't feel relieved at all, only in terms of the movie almost being over, but I'm not intrigued, afraid, shocked, excited or anything of that matter. Overall, I think the way they try to round off the plot and the story of these characters is both pondering and predictable�

What I like though about the film, is how the actors at least try and work with what they got from the screenplay and mostly the set designs of the film are quite unique and beautiful to look at. It is fun to see where all the effort went, really, which clearly looks to be in the detailed design of each of these train-sets. The cinematographer working on this film has done a great job at lighting the dark and gloomy beginning of the film as well as the bleak backdrop of a snowy landscape, which fits with what the director at least tries to tell with his characters and their story. And the cinematographer knows his colors just as well, when we enter the various wagons of everything from gloomy yellow shades to the dark and light of the killer carriage carnage � which is probably one of the highlights of the film I guess. Overall a great use of color and lightin, though a little too forced at times maybe � but that seems to lay with the writer and director's vision for this film, not the cinematographer.

�Snowpiercer� really tries to be this beautiful journey through the grittiness, trying to balance poetic and ambitious themes of the future of mankind, politics, survival and so on, but as I said earlier it just doesn't go anywhere with it. It lets everything hang as semi-developed side stories and overshadowed theme-constructions and it just doesn�t add up in the end. Oh yes, and that ending is horrible and a weak attempt at closing the film with a message of hope. This movie is dull as hell to put it clearly, and I never cared for the characters or where they where going. This film derailed itself from the very beginning...

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Cole416

I have to return some videotapes.

07-20-15

Not really the biggest fan of POTC, and had an itch at one time to see Snowpiercer but ill hold off..

Nice reviews, I wish I could kick them out as quick as you can.

Cole416

I have to return some videotapes.

07-20-15

By the way, your total movie count stays the same on your last 3 movies.

MovieMeditation

Friendo.

07-20-15

Originally Posted by Cole416

Not really the biggest fan of POTC, and had an itch at one time to see Snowpiercer but ill hold off..

Nice reviews, I wish I could kick them out as quick as you can.

Yeah, Snowpiercer is not worthy of the hype it got, in my opinion. And thanks, glad you like them! And really I don't know what is happening, I suddenly spit out these reviews much faster than I used to. I actually found a new way of doing them, which helps a little and makes stuff just a tiny bit easier. But I don't know if I can keep doing this pace.

Originally Posted by Cole416

By the way, your total movie count stays the same on your last 3 movies.

I know. And that's because it would be too annoying to update the header so it fits the past when I'm this far behind. I have a 'day counter' on my computer and I can see the total of movies watched this year on my letterboxd profile... So yeah, it's easier to just look there and post what it says. It wouldn't be too hard to change, but I just feel like it's a little stupid changing now, I don't know... Maybe some day. Right now I just focus on the reviews!

Thanks for meditating with me Cole!

MovieMeditation

Friendo.

07-20-15

MovieMeditation presents...
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... current day count
190 .......................... 201
__________________________

June 2nd

�� 2005 ��
A s h e s
a n d
s n o w
�� documentary ��

Feather to fire,
fire to blood,
blood to bone,
bone to marrow,
marrow to ashes,
ashes to snow...

I will just let the pictures speak for themselves...

no rating for now

__________________________

Thanks to sumantra roy for casting light on this movie.
It was a true experience.

cricket

Msg

Registered User

07-20-15

I've only seen that first movie of the Pirate's series and enjoyed it quite a bit. I should try the second one at some point.

I really don't have any interest in Snowpiercer, mostly because of the trailer. How come you watched it a second time?

MovieMeditation

Friendo.

07-20-15

Originally Posted by cricket

It was for the sci-fi HoF.

I wanted to be fair, so had to make sure.

I ended up giving it the exact same rating. Not terrible, but a below average movie definitely, in my opinion.

Zotis

BANNED

07-21-15

I enjoyed the first Pirates of the Caribbean, but none of the others. I don't know how I'd feel about the first one if I went back and re-watched it. I probably wouldn't even like it any more.

Snowpiercer looks awful.

MovieMeditation

Friendo.

07-21-15

MovieMeditation presents...
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... current day count
191 .......................... 202
__________________________

June 3rd

�� 2008 ��
IN BRUGES
�� comedy ��

Maybe that's what hell is,
the entire rest of eternity spent in f*cking Bruges

Sometimes I love a good crooked comedy with a decent dose of dark humor on top of it, which, when I come to think of it, suddenly makes me feel lucky that I ended up in a low life habitation like Bruges. Not only is the actual location funny enough on its own, weird residents and all, but I also have the pleasure of the pitiful company of two horrendous hitmen, who pretty much suck at their jobs. At least one of them does, since he ends up killing he little boy by accident, which is what eventually makes him end up in Bruges where everything goes wrong�

The movie is one of those that I like to call modern-day period pieces on a small scale, but often with major problems. They are in fact the exact opposite of grand scale period pieces, in the way that films like �In Bruges� deals with the small insignificance turned significant. We have these two guys in a small hotel room, in a small city, waiting in silence or with small talk, until the coast is clear again for them to go out into the open. And that�s it. It makes for a fun film, where all the little things count, every joke and every gesture gets to shine in all of its glory, because the movie doesn�t have anything else to go on. The fun-factor depends entirely on these two individuals, their weird accents, together with all the stuff they accidently get themselves into. I loved Colin Ferrell and Brendan Gleeson in this, they were the perfect odd couple for this audacious adventure into destined failure. Ralph Fiennes was a pleasurable although slightly clich� villain, which was also the lovely person who had them thrown into Bruges in the first place.

Ultimately I had a lot of fun with this film, though it didn�t quite reach my expectations. I found it very inventive in terms of how independent it wanted to be, but even when it felt overly clich�, it was mostly because of the play on typical thrillers and arduous action films. This movie succeeded in attempting to be a failure all the way through, and the journey with these guys was great, while I didn�t buy into everything. It was mainly the smaller things of which you could pick out here and there, which made this movie marvelous entertainment!

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Cole416