MovieMeditation's Reviews... for the heck of it

Friendo.

02-12-22

MovieMeditation presents...

Reviews for the heck of it
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Damn.

I just realized I only had old and obsolete review threads of the past with thematic or time-based outlines, which made no sense to post in at this time... so that means it's time for a new review thread!

Perhaps people will keep asking if I'm back and I probably won't have an answer, but yeah... I'm thinking I'm back. At least sometimes. Occasionally. When I feel like it. For the heck of it.

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1. Scream (2022)

2. The Whale (2022)

3. The Fabelmans (2022)

3. M3gan (2022)

4. Magic Mike's Last Dance (2023)

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

Last edited by MovieMeditation; 07-02-23 at 09:17 AM.

MovieMeditation

Friendo.

02-12-22

SCREAM (2022)

To those of us who has been craving yet another clever continuation of the Craven-classic from the 90s we now have a fifth film in the franchise, which might be non-differentiable to the original in more ways that just its time-and-age-appropriate title, �Scream��

Also, since Wes is no longer with us, this is the first film in the self-aware serial-killer-series without its creator. Another MIH (missing in horror) person is writer, Kevin Williamson, who did not return to refuel this requel into the next decade. So, herein lies a million-dollar question whether the new directing-duo is ready or not to rekindle the long-faced killer without leaving its long-time fans with equally long faces.

This slasher sequel slash requel slash reboot starts off as any other �Scream� movie, though with a few modernized updates. And in general, that is very much the formular for the rest of the film as well, which honestly is no surprise nor necessarily a setback. I completely expected to just lay back in the cinema seats to watch a meta-horror not outright backtrack or backstab its own legacy, but certainly jab at or point to its own popularized pop-culture meta-verse. And so it does. In mostly satisfying ways.

Maybe the fifth film�s fourth wall breaks aren�t even a third of the way fun as the second or first film in the series, but I�m surprised to say that it still works� One could say that the franchise will always be able to stay semi-fresh and relevant because of its constant commentary on the current state of horror movies and studio strategies � but even so, it is still the exact same bag of tricks. But by now you know exactly how the tricks are treating you and you either ride high on the sweet sugary rush of on-the-nose nostalgia and murderous mono-mysteries, or you roll your eyes at the knock-knocking references standing in line outside the door, constantly trying to charade itself in yet another obvious getup.

�Scream� does get a tad silly, but it is still a requel that never ends in complete ridicule. While the finale doesn�t quite stick the landing, the film as a whole doesn�t stick out like a sore thumb either. It sits proudly and persistently as part of the franchise � at least according to itself � and it doesn�t tarnish a legacy though its legacy characters aren�t utilized as well as they should have been. The acting can be a mixed bag too and not everything works here, but I�m surprised by the decent pace and established set pieces, though neither of those elements pierces as deeply or delicately as that of Wes Craven.

�Scream� anno 2022 fits the bill of the franchise and will make the money needed to tell the studio that people scream for more. But with that said, I do hope they shake up and stake up things before it stalls completely, so it doesn�t end up freeze-framing itself inside its own legacy framework and becomes a fading and forgettable Wes side story�
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Last edited by MovieMeditation; 02-15-22 at 11:33 PM.

seanc

Lone Wolf

02-12-22

No interest in this movie because I�m a fraud of course. I will enjoy this thread though.

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Letterboxd

MovieMeditation

Friendo.

02-12-22

Originally Posted by seanc

No interest in this movie because I�m a fraud of course. I will enjoy this thread though.

Thanks, Sean! Knew I can always count on you.

Any movies I should watch and review? New or old? Been in a state of indecisiveness as to what to watch lately�

seanc

Lone Wolf

02-12-22

Originally Posted by MovieMeditation

Thanks, Sean! Knew I can always count on you.

Any movies I should watch and review? New or old? Been in a state of indecisiveness as to what to watch lately�

I would love to see you go down a Kurosawa rabbit hole, or an old director like that. You have such great insight I gotta admit my disappointment when I see you writing about F&F and things like that. Recent films? I will be singing the praises of Spencer for the next year. Your thoughts on that would be interesting.

MovieMeditation

Friendo.

02-12-22

Originally Posted by seanc

F&F is cinematic art and I need to educate the masses about its importance in cinema history.

But you are on to something about Kurosawa. I need to see way more of the guy. So that could indeed be interesting. I have Spencer ready to watch so that could be in the near future for reviews� I hope I�ll like it but I wasn�t that big on Jackie.

Citizen Rules

Noir Time

02-12-22

Nice to see you back working on some reviews MM. Kurosawa is a fine study subject, but I'd expand that to also include some of his contemporary directors, like my favorite Ozu.

Oh what the heck is F&F?

MovieMeditation

Friendo.

02-12-22

Originally Posted by Citizen Rules

Ah yes, Ozu. Been meaning to dive into his filmography for ages. Haven�t seen a single film by him. Know several of his films though. Just haven�t seen them yet.

And F&F is what all true cinephiles know is the highest art imaginable in the genre. All of us who knows are like family.

Citizen Rules

Noir Time

02-12-22

Originally Posted by MovieMeditation

Ah yes, Ozu. Been meaning to dive into his filmography for ages. Haven�t seen a single film by him. Know several of his films though. Just haven�t seen them yet.

And F&F is what all true cinephiles know is the highest art imaginable in the genre. All of us who knows are like family.

Ergh!

rauldc14

2022 Mofo Fantasy Football Champ

02-15-22

Originally Posted by MovieMeditation

Thanks, Sean! Knew I can always count on you.

Any movies I should watch and review? New or old? Been in a state of indecisiveness as to what to watch lately�

Sean and I created monthly watchlists. I've added some variety so I can watch whatever I'm in the mood for at the time. It's worked so far for me.

MovieMeditation

Friendo.

02-15-22

Originally Posted by rauldc14

Sean and I created monthly watchlists. I've added some variety so I can watch whatever I'm in the mood for at the time. It's worked so far for me.

That�s a solid idea. You have an example of such list?

Back when I did my one movie a day thing I also did weekly or monthly themes as a main source of what to watch. That helped me decide better� so it�s definitely a good idea doing something like that.

rauldc14

2022 Mofo Fantasy Football Champ

02-15-22

Mine was really no rhyme or reason other than variety. Here was my 15 for February I picked:

Young Girls of Rochefort
Raya and the Last Dragon
Tick Tick Boom
Black Widow
Memories of a Murder
Quai des Orfevres
Human Condition Part 1
Being the Ricardos
Pirates of the Caribbean Curse of the Black Pearl
Johnny Guitar
The Last Duel
Soul
The Story of Floating Weeds
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
Jackass Forever

Gideon58

Registered User

03-16-22

Man it's about time you started a review thread. I will be watching it like a hawk.

seanc

Lone Wolf

03-18-22

Waiting on that 4.5 review of Belfast

MovieMeditation

Friendo.

03-07-23

THE WHALE (2022)

Brendan Fraser delivers exactly the gargantuan performance I expected to see from him and chews up the scenery like he�s suffering from an actor�s eating disorder � puking in a bucket and almost having the audience puke in their popcorn buckets as well�

But Fraser does nothing wrong here. He gives the performance � as the lonely gay obese writing instructor � he was instructed to give. In fact, despite the rather despising misery porn we are witnessing, he somehow manages to be great enough to transcend that. At least almost.

Because yes, I do realize we are supposed to almost laugh at the sheer absurdity of Charlie�s pathetic self and situation� and simply swallow up the towering emotion on display despite the morbid but morbidly humorous happening of seeing a fat person perform the slowest speed run through his food cabinets and stuff his face to the loudest string instruments I�ve heard in a movie in a while.

It�s just� despite the intentions or whatever, it�s just too much. And like Charlie, the movie got no balance either and falls flat on its face in the face of its own overworked scene orchestration. I find a dark humor here, but at the same time it�s so demandingly dramatic that I�m just left with a stiff smile of terror on my face instead.

I usually love Darren Aronofsky, but what he has created here seems very much unlike him. It almost seems like the entire movie is intentionally a joke. This gigantic fat man crying his heart out the entire runtime. It�s so extreme. I�m sorry to say, but this whale should�ve been watered down heavily if you ask me (and I�m not talking with crocodile tears).

Instead, the baseline for The Whale is being a two-hour punchline and Brendan being the emotional punching bag-fag in the center, with Darren punching and pounding the belly fat of a fat f*ck on the verge of flatlining in what feels like an eternal emotive masturbation session. And barely � just barely � keeping this thing alive and afloat for two hours by means of a clunky cinematic defibrillator on max and a few helping slaps to the face with heavy handed themes and more emotion.

So yeah, I don�t know� it�s such a weird movie experience to be honest. A small-scale, whale-sized Oscar-bait blob, which feels as much as a joke and a jab at Hollywood as it does a genuine try at swallowing up every prestigious award possible. Fraser is genuinely pretty great for what he is given and so is Hong Chau. I�m just greatly confused is all.

Because this bait I�m simply not biting. Sorry. It�s not working for me. Not as a serious drama, not as a commentary of sorts and not as a comedy either. And I�m not going sit here and act like the movie isn�t just Darren Aronofsky serving me junk food on my couch every five minutes while he plays me the largest smallest violin known to man. And certainly not at all when the dreary daughter and lost religious runaway is taking up space.

Whale, oh whale� a perfectly fine but perplexing time at the tv for me. I guess if I had to sum up this tsunami of pseudo-intellectual wordplay and semi-serious nonsense I just wrote myself through, I would probably say that I didn�t hate it nearly as much as I simply found it super weird. I�m just pretty indifferent and rather confused� confusing� confounded.

Charlie, Oscar, November� or November, Oscar Tango� I truly don�t know. Someone help. Send backup please. I guess I�ll give it not a high five, not a low five, but a big fat middle five for Fraser. Because I love him.
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Last edited by MovieMeditation; 03-07-23 at 03:42 PM.

Gideon58

Registered User

03-07-23

Originally Posted by MovieMeditation

THE WHALE (2022)

Brendan Fraser delivers exactly the gargantuan performance I expected to see from him and chews up the scenery like he�s suffering from an actor�s eating disorder � puking in a bucket and almost having the audience puke in their popcorn buckets as well�

But Fraser does nothing wrong here. He gives the performance � as the lonely gay obese writing instructor � he was instructed to give. In fact, despite the rather despising misery porn we are witnessing, he somehow manages to be great enough to transcend that. At least almost.

Because yes, I do realize we are supposed to almost laugh at the sheer absurdity of Charlie�s pathetic self and situation� and simply swallow up the towering emotion on display despite the morbid but morbidity humorous happening of seeing a fat person perform the slowest speed run through his food cabinets and stuff his face to the loudest string instruments I�ve heard in a movie in a while.

It�s just� despite the intentions or whatever, it�s just too much. And like Charlie, the movie got no balance either and falls flat on its face in the face of its own overworked scene orchestration. I find a dark humor here, but at the same time it�s so demandingly dramatic that I�m just left with a stiff smile of terror on my face instead.

I usually love Darren Aronofsky, but what he has created here seems very much unlike him. It almost seems like the entire movie is intentionally a joke. This gigantic fat man crying his heart out the entire runtime. It�s so extreme. I�m sorry to say, but this whale should�ve been watered down heavily if you ask me (and I�m not talking with crocodile tears).

Instead, the baseline for The Whale is being a two-hour punchline and Brendan being the emotional punching bag-fag in the center, with Darren punching and pounding the belly fat of a fat f*ck on the verge of flatlining in what feels like an eternal emotive masturbation session. And barely � just barely � keeping this thing alive and afloat for two hours by means of a clunky cinematic defibrillator on max and a few helping slaps to the face with heavy handed themes and more emotion.

So yeah, I don�t know� it�s such a weird movie experience to be honest. A small-scale, whale-sized Oscar-bait blob, which feels as much as a joke and a jab at Hollywood as it does a genuine try at swallowing up every prestigious award possible. Fraser is genuinely pretty great for what he is given and so is Hong Chau. I�m just greatly confused is all.

Because this bait I�m simply not biting. Sorry. It�s not working for me. Not as a serious drama, not as a commentary of sorts and not as a comedy either. And I�m not going sit here and act like the movie isn�t just Darren Aronofsky serving me junk food on my couch every five minutes while he plays me the largest smallest violin known to man. And certainly not at all when the dreary daughter and lost religious runaway is taking up space.

Whale, oh whale� a perfectly fine but perplexing time at the tv for me. I guess if I had to sum up this tsunami of pseudo-intellectual wordplay and semi-serious nonsense I just wrote myself through, I would probably say that I didn�t hate it nearly as much as I simply found it super weird. I�m just pretty indifferent and rather confused� confusing� confounded.

Charlie, Oscar, November� or November, Oscar Tango� I truly don�t know. Someone help. Send backup please. I guess I�ll give it not a high five, not a low five, but a big fat middle five for Fraser. Because I love him.
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I liked this movie a lot more than you did, but I sure enjoyed reading your review. I loove the way you write.

MovieMeditation

Friendo.

03-07-23

Originally Posted by Gideon58

I liked this movie a lot more than you did, but I sure enjoyed reading your review. I loove the way you write.

Thanks as always, Gideon. I can always count on you - a trusty fellow reviewer - to peep into my review threads.

I write a lot of my reviews on Letterboxd now, but I�ll try to get back to be posting them on here as well. At least these long-enough-to-count-as-a-tagged-review reviews.

MovieMeditation

Friendo.

03-08-23

THE FABELMANS (2022)

Whether fact, fiction or fable you can always count on Steven Spielberg to deliver on his craft and knowledge of cinema�. only this time it�s rolled up, attached, injected and projected with and within his own life�s story � and that adds an interesting layer to be sure.

When I saw promotional material for The Fabelmans, I wasn�t all that interested. However, that feeling flipped around, because once I finally did see the actual film, I was very much invested. And so it goes. Almost every single time with this Spielberg guy. While I was never what you would call film negative about it, I was perhaps in between� I was interpositive, if we were to stay inside the movie lingo� But I reedited and reevaluated my thoughts rather quickly once the movie started when being presented with the one thing that almost never fails in a Spielberg picture � his craftmanship.

Because even his lesser movies seem to have a genuine craft about them; a proper core of cinema and storytelling and expertise, which shines through even the bad stuff. With The Fabelmans though, there aren�t exactly much bad stuff. Some bland stuff, perhaps, some cliches, of course, but mostly it�s very well-realized and I was never bored for its two hour and thirty-minute runtime� characters are vivid and well-rounded, performances are heartfelt and tender, visuals are welcoming and slightly mystical, score is soft and complementary� all of them presented at 24 beautiful frames a second.

Many movies have been made through the years about filmmaking, cinema and art. But Spielberg has ultimately found a path for his picture that�s very true to himself and one which leaves a fingerprint that�s both old and new. A greatest hit, a hit by the greatest or just a great film that hits home. And if you also love filmmaking yourself � going all the way from the craft to the very effect that it has � it certainly isn�t a bad thing either�

I very much enjoyed this. It�s a Spielberg film through and through, but I had more fun with this than some of the director�s newer outings, and honestly, I think that goes both ways. And the ending just seals it with a brilliant cameo and a wonderful closing shot. Bravo.
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Gideon58

Registered User

03-09-23

Originally Posted by MovieMeditation

THE FABELMANS (2022)

You liked this one a little more than I did, but, as always, love reading your reviews.

MovieMeditation