MovieMeditation's "One, Two, Three" Reviews!

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Friendo.
09-12-17
Originally Posted by Yam12
Your rating of mother! makes me want to look forward to it even more
Understandable.

But remember... you might fall in the group who hate it... or the one who love it... who knows



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Trying Real Hard To Be The Shepherd
09-12-17
Not reading review until I see it. I will be back. This weekend hopefully.
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You can't win an argument just by being right!
09-12-17
Originally Posted by seanc
Not reading review until I see it. I will be back. This weekend hopefully.
Not spoilery if that's what worries you, sean.



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Mantis Toboggan, MD
09-12-17
Originally Posted by MovieMeditation
Originally Posted by Yam12
Your rating of mother! makes me want to look forward to it even more
Understandable.

But remember... you might fall in the group who hate it... or the one who love it... who knows
Well I love Aronofsky so there's a high chance that I'll probably like this



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BANNED
09-12-17
Somehow The Wrestler is the only Aronofsky i've seen. Think it has a fair amount of high points including Rourke's performance but overall i'm not a big fan. This looks interesting though.



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Friendo.
09-12-17
Originally Posted by Swan
Nice. Sounds like my kind of movie.
I really don't want to hype it up for ya, but yeah... I thought of you when I saw it for sure.

And you should give Black Swan a spin, @Camo.



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You can't win an argument just by being right!
09-12-17
Black Swan wasvexcellent



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Friendo.
09-13-17
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MovieMeditation's

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2011
Mission: Impossible
Ghost Protocol*
directed by Brad Bird
-

one word
Elevated.



one sentence
Brad Bird reanimates the long- and fast-running Tom Cruise vehicle to impossible heights, by upping the stakes, adding new characters and expanding the universe, making this the most slick, super-charged and entertaining entry in the M:I franchise yet.

one paragraph
'Ghost Protocol' is an exciting movie, which gets a welcomed face-lift from newcomer and first-time live-action director, Brad Bird, who seems to understand the universe well and how to balance it all out playfully and professionally. The humor in this one seemed spot-on, whereas the previous third outing was almost too dramatic and the newest fifth one got a little too silly at times. The one seems to even out the edges and make the movie a fun thrill ride, which by the way, might be the most exciting the franchise has ever been. The IMF is gone, the team is a mixed bag and the mission is their biggest one yet. I liked how a lot seemed to be against them this time and how things went wrong around every corner; equipment failing, unforeseen circumstances arises and Bird really makes this 'Mission: Impossible' seem truly impossible at times. The action hero always makes it, yet Brad Bird makes me actually doubt that and I gotta give it to him. Well done.

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The stakes are elevated everywhere; even the set-pieces seem crazier and more precisely calculated than ever, with Burj Khalifa probably being the one that started this whole 'how far can Tom Cruise go' type of deal... Every set-piece is so exciting and excellently crafted,
having some of the best for the entire franchise. The opening prison outbreak, the infiltration in the Kremlin, the Burj Khalifa inside- and outside action, as well as the car park insanity at the end. It really holds some of the most exciting tension, the most thrilling action and the overall best entertainment I have had with these movies - that said though, I love most of them and every entry has something great to offer - but this one just seemed to be the most packed.

All the gadgets as well, seem to have been thought out even more thoroughly; having me excited even before they are put into use. And as I said, I love how there is a failing domino effect to this entry, especially in Burj Khalifa where everything seems to go wrong all at once, placing the audience dead center in the delusional danger happening on screen. And once again, towards the end, Brad Bird and the writers really sell the fact that Cruise and co. are up against someone that is constantly ahead of them - so far that you actually think they might have won this time. The whole missile deal was handled so well that I was sweating and praying for Cruise not to crash and die on us this time around.

I keep returning to this franchise and it is always a blast - and 'Ghost Protocol' is probably the one to get the notch for being the best. The action is so slick and inventive, the visuals and audio experience stimulate your senses and it is simply such a good time with a movie. This is my Mission, and I choose to accept it as being absolutely amazing!


Question
What's your thoughts on the franchise and your favorite one yet?
Do you like inventive action or just good old, down to earth car chases?

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Trying Real Hard To Be The Shepherd
09-13-17
I think me and you are the exact opposite on Ghost Protocol and Rogue Nation, although I don't like Rogue Nation at a 4.5 clip. I love the first one, which remains my favorite, and have disliked all the others till 5. I prefer the stripped down action.



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Friendo.
09-13-17
Originally Posted by seanc
I think me and you are the exact opposite on Ghost Protocol and Rogue Nation, although I don't like Rogue Nation at a 4.5 clip. I love the first one, which remains my favorite, and have disliked all the others till 5. I prefer the stripped down action.
You probably like Rogue Nation more because, in areas, it is close in style and approach to the first one - which you say is your favorite one. So I get that.

Personally I've just always had a thing for inventive, creative action - where I'm always able to suspend disbelief if it's well done. That's also one of the (admittedly many) things that pulls me in with the Fast films - they are also constantly trying to come up with new and exciting things to take things to the next level - but still keeps it practical and slick. Mission Impossible also seems to really try hard to come up with new and exciting gadgets and ways to build an impossible mission.

What's your favourite action movies, sean?



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Trying Real Hard To Be The Shepherd
09-13-17
Originally Posted by MovieMeditation
You probably like Rogue Nation more because, in areas, it is close in style and approach to the first one - which you say is your favorite one. So I get that.

Personally I've just always had a thing for inventive, creative action - where I'm always able to suspend disbelief if it's well done. That's also one of the (admittedly many) things that pulls me in with the Fast films - they are also constantly trying to come up with new and exciting things to take things to the next level - but still keeps it practical and slick. Mission Impossible also seems to really try hard to come up with new and exciting gadgets and ways to build an impossible mission.

What's your favourite action movies, sean?

Good question, I am so not an action guy. Love the first Mission Impossible. Goldeneye is great. First Blood, Raiders Of The Lost Ark are up there.



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Friendo.
09-13-17
Originally Posted by iank
I find Ghost Protocol really dull, myself, the worst in the series next to the 2nd one.
Rogue Nation replaced the first as my favourite.
Yeah, for many, it seems to be the case that Rogue Nation is a favourite or at least one of the best - or the best yet - in the franchise...

I was just so disappointed with it. It was still good fun and all, but I was disappointed. Read the longest review on the forum of the movie if you want.

The villain was laughable, the story was the most recycled, predictable and least exciting yet and action set pieces seemed to be running out of ideas, copying from other actioners and the past movies - like the motorcycle chase "homaging" the 2nd movie and the ending "homaging" the opening of the 1st movie, for example... and a lot of the characters were so generic to me and even the ones we knew and love seemed like monotone cardboard versions of themselves - like Luther the grumpy big tech guy and Benji the stupid and scared guy and Brandt the worried and complaining guy...

And the CG and suspend of disbelief annoyed me too, more than it probably should. Tom Cruise being sucked into the airplane and breaking his back - or not - looking dumb as hell. The car flipping so artificially and the underwater scene having too much CG to be as tense as it could have. And the ending was so anti-climatic - even the director himself said he shouldn't have cut it as short as he did.


It just didn't do it for me.
Last edited by MovieMeditation; 09-13-17 at 08:13 PM.



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Mantis Toboggan, MD
09-13-17
With Mission Impossible I've only seen Ghost Protocol and Rogue Nation. I did enjoy both of them but would probably rank Ghost Protocol first.
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Friendo.
09-13-17
Originally Posted by Yam12
With Mission Impossible I've only seen Ghost Protocol and Rogue Nation. I did enjoy both of them but would probably rank Ghost Protocol first.
You should get to the rest of them, Yam. They all got something great to offer and boosts some of the most iconic action or tension-filled scenes in cinema.



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09-16-17
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2017
The Hitman's
Bodyguard
directed by Patrick Hughes
-

one word
Confused.



one sentence
Hitman's Bodyguard hits up two of the biggest acting assassins in the game, from two very different styles and times, who slay every comedic moment they come by, yet the movie somehow fails to find its funny bone inside broken bones, blood spatter, bad romance and a very confused script.

one paragraph
Director Patrick Hughes doesn't have the greatest track record and he seems to struggle to reach his big break-through, Red Hill, from 2010. He directed The Expendables 3, which was nothing to write home about, and now he takes on full-blown action-comedy with some of the biggest and best to ever do it. With that cast, how can you fail? Somehow Hughes manages to do just that, by having a confused and cramped up script that doesn't allow the actors nor their comedy to breathe properly. Instead the movie wants to send some kind of political message - or at least a way too worked up wannabe version of that - inside a film that finds time for too much nonsense instead of picking a direct path. The movie seemed to be a comedy, yet it is way too serious and overly dramatic for that. And by the end of it, the movie seems to hint that it was a romantic comedy all along, inside a very bloated crime-thriller slash buddy-comedy B-movie. I don't get it. What a waste.

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It is truly a shame that such great talents go to waste because the movie appearently wants to wreck itself before it even gets started. It is nice to see Samuel L. Jackson back slangin' one-note bad language, but not even that can save a script that seems to hold the man down or dictate him his lines and personality instead of letting the expert handle things with expertise... Reynolds make a big comeback, so to speak, with Deadpool, where he really got to work on his crooked comedy and charming trash-talk. He does a lot of the same here, but he also seems held back by a bloated script and fragmented tonal style.

The logic in the movie also got on my nerves a few times; like when Jackson didn't know a phone could be tracked. Like, come on. Sure, the dude's old school - but tracking was possible in the god damn 80-90s. I'll let that slide though. But what I won't let slide, is when Jackson (almost) escapes Reynolds early in the movie and somehow he manages to pull an even dumber excuse later in the movie, to leave the room and escape. Only so a sort of important scene could take place. The movie often seems written for the plot points, and not the other way around, which really brings the movie down. Last logic side note; Reynolds also holds a god damn nail gun, and uses it to perfection, yet chooses not to use it more than once so that the director can spice things up a bit with some other action. Meh.

Admittedly, a lot of the action looks nice, partly because it is practical and also because some of the funnies and best moments with the characters comes in the midst of the madness. That is kind of what I wanted more of - comedy that came from out of a situation and not artificially made into a situation. This movie should have been A LOT better than it was. What a shame.


Question
Can you relate to the feeling of comedy coming off as too scripted and stale?
What are other movies ruined by such script and/or where great talents were brought down by bad guidance/production?

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