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

Friendo.

04-10-15

Thanks Spaulding as always!

Spirited Away will perhaps get better with time, and I already like it, but it's still not his masterpiece. And chaotic was maybe not the best word, but it does describe how the animation overload feels at times. I have watched most of his films, and generally the smaller and deeper ones are better to me.

I always hate to talk anything less than positive of a film, especially of so-called "classics" or whatever, but it certainly doesn't always mean I think less of it. Beverly Hills Cop is a fine film, a whole lot of fun and Eddie Murphy is a great and unique lead for its time. But hey, 3/5 is not at all a bad rating, at least not in my book. I had a fun time, but there just wasn't anything to it that could lift it higher for me on this first watch. I mean, there is even films out there I love but don't give a huge score. I have a system and I know how it works. And I don't bash the film for being entertaining, I'm simply stating that is what it's aiming for and that is what it succeeds greatly in. For me to give a movie like, a 5/5 or close it just has to have a bit more to it, or maybe it should have made me laugh my a** off through the entire runtime. But for me it was fun and entertaining nothing more.

Gatsby

Master of My Domain

04-11-15

Originally Posted by MovieMeditation

Spirited Away will perhaps get better with time, and I already like it, but it's still not his masterpiece. And chaotic was maybe not the best word, but it does describe how the animation overload feels at times. I have watched most of his films, and generally the smaller and deeper ones are better to me.

MovieMeditation

Friendo.

04-11-15

Thanks Gatsby! I replied in bold to the different paragraphs...

Originally Posted by Gatsby

As a Spirited Away fanboy I feel the need to post my opinion.

The world of Spirited Away basically has every type of human being in the entire world in forms of animals and mythical creatures. Miyazaki cleverly criticizes the selfish and the greedy and praises those who are willing to stand up for the weak. Add it with beautiful and surreal animation and that's a masterpiece.

And as the fanboy you are, I feel like like I have to criticize your fanboyism! On a serious note though, yes I definitely got what he was trying to say with the film. The greediness presented, as well as the different characteristics with the various characters was mostly something I payed attention to throughout, especially with the second viewing. But honestly, I wouldn't exactly call it really cleverly done, but it is a smart way to do it and it works for the film in a great way... That said, I don't think you should take my "criticism" of the film as if I talk down to the film, but more that I'm not a huge fan of the way Mayazaki makes his films. As I said, they are often a bit too much of the good if you ask me, and it feel like he sometimes looses a bit of his control when trying to cram as much as possible into his works. But I respect him, I admire him, and I like him as a director. But he isn't a favourite of mine and his films are hit and miss for me - though always spectacular to look at!

But yeah the film isn't for anyone. People who can't stand fantasy stuff and bizarre situations and off-beat story will probably dislike it, as seen with you guys and a bunch of different MoFos.

I can handle a lot of fantasy and I love fantasy, but yeah, as stated above it does get too much for me, at times, with Mayazaki's films, and just personally I feel like it's too much but I most definitely understand if you like this type of films. For a huge fantasy-fan they must be amazing! And again, I respect his work a lot... But just to end it off, although I did criticize the film for some elements, I still gave it a positive rating, and I still like the film. I just felt like I had to cover the point I didn't like as well, you know, balance my review. It may have sounded more bad than good, but hey, people know this film is great people know how much praise it gets, so I felt it was more important to talk about my dislikes than what I liked - because the positive things are quite obvious and that's also what everybody talks about! But yeah, I totally understand your love for this film! And I think my own rating will rise with time...

Lastly, I want to comment on your dedication. Those write-ups and formatting most have taken a hell lot of time and effort, and yet all you get it only a few replies and 8 rep! You're a very underrated reviewer, keep posting until your name shines.

Wow, thanks you VERY VERY much, Gatsby! That sure means a lot to me. Yes, I really go that extra mile for y'all, as much as I do it for myself actually... Not that it's because I have the time and the will to always deliver high quality, but as some know I'm truly a perfectionist and if I do something I want it to be perfect. Therefore I often end up sitting there for 4 hours writing, when I only planned on doing 1 hour. But yeah, overall I wish more MoFos, including myself, would reply in other people's threads and just give a few comments, instead of just throwing rep. I like getting rep, but a reply is ALWAYS better, no matter if it's one sentence, two sentences, or thirty.

Anyways, it's replies like yours that makes me keep going, thank you.

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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; 04-14-15 at 04:25 PM.

MovieMeditation

Friendo.

04-14-15

MovieMeditation presents...
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... current day count
113 .......................... 103
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April 1st

The Virgin Spring (1960)

"Flying birds find something, sitting birds only find death."

If you by any chance caught my post in the shout out box, this was the review that I unfortunately lost while writing it. Granted, it wasn�t more than three carefully written paragraphs so it isn�t like the worst thing ever, though I have obviously lost interest in trying to recreate those three paragraphs. Therefore I don�t intent to do any kind of detailed writing with this film, but I will quickly sum up the most important parts of which I can remember.

Overall it is a very small and straightforward film, that has some kind of poetic atmosphere to it in some places, but mostly it is a bit too plain to make me love it entirely. I do think it was quite great though, in its own way, and those few high points that truly shined bright to me, was definitely enough to make this a very enjoyable watch.

FAVORITE SCENE // "The Virgin Spring"
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April 2nd

Furious 7 (2015)

"Cars don't fly!"

SPECIAL EXTENDED REVIEW
Not too long ago, I rewatched every single �Fast & Furious� film in the franchise, with a short and well planned gap in between. It was a pleasant and effective experience to actually watch all of the films with so little space in between, which made the stories and characters come together in a great way, and I noticed plenty of small details that would otherwise have been totally unnoticed or eventually forgotten if the gap between had been longer� Anyways, as a huge fan of the series and its wide arrange of characters, which you have come to love and care about over a timespan of almost 15 years, I was undoubtedly looking forward to the 7th installment in the franchise. But with Paul Walker�s sudden and tragic death, I was worried about how they went about handling the situation in a respectful way; both in relation to the actual person and the character as well.

The film starts off pretty great, and apart from the usual stiff and at times cringe-worthy dialogue, it seems to bring a nice and confident atmosphere already within the very first few minutes. This franchise has become more self-aware by every sequel it spawns, and with this seventh film, it seems as if it almost drives towards being a full-blown soap opera at times. Sometimes it felt like it was delivering a varied selection of scenes, all equipped with cocky and punctual dialogue and remarkably humorous one-liners. If this, by any chance, sounds like I�m bashing the film for it I can tell you that I intend to do the complete opposite. The fact that this franchise is largely held together by a strong set of characters, makes it a perfect opportunity to play around with all of them, and let them interact in ways that enforces their persona in such a way, that it is often so stereotypical or unusual that you can�t help but have a great time with it! Unfortunately though, the characters and heart and soul of the franchise gets a bit lost throughout the second half of the film.

As the film started out, it seemed to become the greatest and most entertaining entry in the whole franchise thus far, even topping the acclaimed and fan-favored entry, �Fast Five�. Unfortunately, the high point of the film ended together with the major and noteworthy action sequence about 40 minutes in. A huge set piece in the film, starting out with an inventive plane drop, and ending with a bus on a cliff and a car rolling furiously and outrageously down a mountainside. This entre sequence from start to finish is by far my favorite thing in this film, and a close second to being my favorite set piece in the entire franchise; only slightly topped by the perfectly executed bank vault heist in �Fast Five�. This doesn�t mean that I didn�t enjoy when the story was brought to Dubai and on, but by then you had already experienced what might as well have been the very climax of the film, and at this point the film only tried to top what came before it by being ridiculously over the top, instead of controlled and well made. And the whole story about the Team fetching a chip that can help them fin Deckard Shaw, is to stupid in itself, but even more stupid when Shaw always shows up by himself anyways�

I pretty much hated the whole �side plot� with Kurt Russell and that villainous black guy. The fact that they have Jason Statham at their hands and then chooses to make him a side character, which is only showing up when he is needed, is just so stupid. I miss when the franchise was all about the characters and their own decisions in life, now they are like the Mission Impossible Team getting hired to do various assignments for different people, and then only have a weak side story as the direct interaction and effect. Talking about different unnecessary characters and villains, that big climatic set piece in the end might just be the weakest of the entire franchise� These films have never been just about cars, but cars have always played an important role in the film, and especially the actions scenes. Let�s take a look at the various climaxes on the films, starting with where the franchise took a turn and �got back to its roots�: in the 4th film we had cars driving through tunnels, in the 5th film we had cars driving with vaults being chased by other cars, in the 6th film we had cars being used to take down a plane, and here it began to go a bit down hill. But what do we have in the 7th film then? We have battle helicopters, automatic drones, flying missiles, and lastly, street fights. Oh yeah, there is some cars driving around here and there, but more as a hectic escape instead of being actual center pieces to the action and story.

Ultimately though, this is definitely a worthy installment to the franchise, with a first half being pretty damn amazing and with a second half going from good to mediocre to bad. You can see the struggles they have had to put together a complete and functioning story, that not only works on its own, but also works as a nice and respectful farewell to the character of Brian O�Conner, played for the last time by the late Paul Walker. Overall it all feels like a very mixed bag, with this entry creating both high points and low points for the series� I don�t mind when the action gets really over the top, but as I have said before there is a fine line between over the top and pure ridiculousness. When the cars are dropped from a plane or when a character is running on a falling bus, that is over the top but entertainment-wise fairly acceptable. But when the film begins to rely so much on coincidence, and with a physics-level of maybe 10%, then I begin to move further and further away from the film. Without spoiling anything, when it comes to �Dom�s hero moment�, there was so much that needed to happen for it to actually be possible on any kind of level. After a while you just give up, even though my tolerance level is off the roof with these movies�

FAVORITE SCENES // The Mini-Van Scene, The Plane Drop/Mountainside Action Sequence & The Tribute
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April 3rd

Running Scared (2006)*

"Who's laughing now, you f*cking gray meat limp dick motherf*cker?
Mack daddy? Who's macking now, bitch!?."

After watching �Furious 7� I felt like going back and revisiting some of Paul Walker�s previous works� And not counting his time spend riding in fast cars, there really isn�t much good to choose from. But I did remember this shining moment for the actor, where he played a stressed and anxious character; worrying for his own and his family�s safety after a major mistake he made. I remember actually loving this film back in the days, but I was quite uncertain whether or not it would hold up on a rewatch this many years after�

So the question is, did it hold up or didn�t it? Yes and no. Firstly you should probably know, that this is a high octane trash thriller meant to be presented as a homage to films of its genre, especially that of Quentin Tarantino and Guy Ritchie. The camerawork in this film is very hectic and forcefully tries to pull of shots not seen before, combining skill and respectable computer magic. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn�t, but what bothered me the most was how much I was letdown by it when it started out. I remembered it to be much better, and the camerawork and hectic storyline mostly annoyed me. But thankfully, once the film really got going, I began to fall into the right mood again, and for the film it tries to be it does just right to be a joyful and explicit ride!

The story and the characters all have some moments of true greatness, and mostly the good outweighs the bad. Paul Walker has never been a great actor, but he does deliver the best he has ever done with this film, and despite his bad reputation, I think he is very convincing and admirable in a few places throughout this film. The movie itself doesn�t try to hide how much it wants to get noticed by the audience and how much it wants to be like its cinematic idols, but in its own bizarre and tacky way it does actually succeed quite nicely.

FAVORITE SCENES // The Sick, Sick People & The Ultraviole(n)t Climax
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April 4th

High and Low (1963)

"I'd rather be told the cruel truth than be fed gentle lies."

A foreign film with a ridiculous 60s-buzz around this forum, and obviously among other film fanatics as well. I don�t mind films that aren�t in a language that I understand, but it is very rare that a foreign film comes along and becomes more than just another pretty great piece of filmmaking. This one was more than that; this one pretty much blew me away with a tight and well-made story, and great characters and camerawork.

I really didn�t expect this film to be as great or as wide-ranged as it was, slowly building up its story, and turning into what you could call an investigational crime epic. It is such a small film, in a way, but I was surprised about how it continued to reach further and further towards the top, continuing to develop the story for its entire runtime. This isn�t a short film, but it is constantly moving and it is always interesting to follow. The writing for this film is pretty amazing, and Kurosawa has gathered some great actors deliver the dialogue, as well. Overall, this Kurosawa masterpiece probably ranks among my favorite foreign films ever made. You know what, cut the �foreign� stuff, it is among my favorite films of all time as well�

FAVORITE SCENE // Honeslty, too many to chose from...
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April 5th

Oculus (2013)*

"I've met my demons and they are many.
I've seen the devil, and he is me."

SPECIAL EXTENDED REVIEW
People often debate what the scariest things on earth are, especially in relation to their respective portrayal in horror cinema. Some say ghosts, others say monsters, a bunch will say zombies, and another bunch insist on vampires... When it all comes down to it though, everything depends on which of the previously mentioned subjects that are most "real" to you. Do you have a slight belief in the supernatural? Do you think that there are maybe creatures out there that we have yet to discover? In the end, these can all feel very real to us, depending on your level of belief. But really though, what we all can agree on � mainly because it is as real as it can possibly be, and because it is something we all fear or have deep respect for in some way � is the unpredictable psychological terror. A certain sort of abnormality, which takes place in ones mind or in those of which are around you. In fact, you never quite know how mentally sick a person can actually be, just by looking at them. The most famous real-life mass murderers have all tricked a majority of people into thinking that they are totally normal and well functioning, even when they really aren't... So when and how are we actually able to tell what is real and what is not? This was probably the longest and most detailed intro I have ever written to a specific subject I want to discuss in a review, which is, in relation to this review; the psychological aspect of horror films.

The great thing about having a psychological side to things during a horror film, or any other genre for that matter, is that you can play around with your audience as much as you would like to. For example, you can set up a whole world that only exists in a given person�s mind; you can create split-personalities and present them as if they are in fact real people; you can even present your movie as being told from a subjective perspective, which means the audience members will never know if whatever happens on screen is actually happening or not. What is even smarter, is if you take a little of these above elements, then take two storylines and combine them seamlessly together, only to let the audience try to decipher what is actually happening on screen. �Oculus� does exactly that, and it works amazingly well in my opinion. Also, the film does a great job at constantly building up each element and each storyline, so that as we get further into the film we begin to discover more of the characters, begin to understand their situation, and begin to understand why they are here and what they try to accomplish. Though it is not really what the try to accomplish that is the greatest part, it is more how they try to accomplish it and all of what try to break their path to successfully �beat the curse�.

In the following paragraphs I will slightly interpret the plot and what it is about overall. So if you want to go in completely fresh you probably shouldn�t read any further. It isn�t spoilers per say, but I do discuss what I see in this film. Anyways, honestly though, I really didn�t think that this specific theme or subject actually needed any discussion or explanation, up until I fell upon a couple of reviews for �Oculus� on various sites around the web. If I had to point out a specific one that annoyed me the most, it would be that person who kept calling it �a haunted mirror movie�. For example he would say; �this was pretty good for a haunted horror movie� or he would keep on babbling away about how he didn�t like the ghosts and the supernatural stuff, and that the movie needed to be scarier. How he cannot look past that single-minded aspect, even when the film is clearly going in many other directions, is truly beyond me. I realize you can�t make a totally definitive analysis of a film, and I�m not trying to either, but without digging too deep into the film I don�t think that I will step on too many people�s toes, by saying that the film is about two people, who were both mentally scarred as a child, and are therefore haunted by their fear-provoking past, caused by their imbalanced father, and a mother, who slowly turned mentally sick as they grew up. The children didn�t know what to make of it all and made up this mirror story as a cover for the frightening truth. Throughout the film it is mostly the brother who works as the �right mind� in these various situations, and he even explains this previously mentioned aspect directly to the audience when he says, �the mirror isn�t evil, it was just something we made up as children to cover for the real truth.�

I�m actually quite surprised that only a handful of people are able to view this film as something which isn�t necessarily supernatural, but is really about two people fighting against their past � a past which get brought up again once they enter the house which laid ground to it all. Even the clever and extremely impressive editing clearly shows the audience the transitions between problems in the past and how they get provoked or triggered to reappear to them again. Honestly I wouldn�t want to dig in the film and its themes too much, but I just can�t believe how single-minded some people are, and I might bash certain people for a minor reason, but it is obviously because I think this is a great and refreshing �horror film� that has many layers of true dramatic force.

Anyways, I won�t do a complete analysis of the film, because obviously I don�t want to spoil too much, and I don�t want to turn my diary thread into a film analysis thread either.

But really though, I can�t even begin to explain just how much people miss out when they don�t want to look anywhere but on the direct surface of things � even in relation to whatever movie they might see. I have watched this film twice now, and I even caught a lot of different stuff on the second watch, as well as had a few of my assumptions reinforced. If I really had to dig deep though, and this is truly reaching into the darkest of corners, I actually noticed how the film could also be compared to today�s standards of society, in relation to healthcare, parental responsibility/child custody, as well as thorough and correct mental evaluation. But now we are indeed going beyond of what I wanted to say with all this: this is a smart film, which is expertly edited together, and holds a fantastic soundtrack and beautiful visuals to go with the intensity of it all. I hope I made some of you want to watch this, because it is definitely one I recommend!

FAVORITE SCENE // Hard to choose, but every clever edit between the time periods is great...

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NatashaR

Why so serious?

04-14-15

With Furious 7, I feel that you just need to sit back and enjoy the ride. After Fast Five and Six, I don't think it would've been possible to make something less ridiculous. When I saw them going back to where it all started, I thought it would sort of go back to basics... I loved the crazy racing and stuff in the first few movies and would've liked to see more of that. However, it was really enjoyable and a respectful and elegant farewell to Paul Walker. I thought the CGI would be more obvious, so I was glad it wasn't distracting.

cricket

Registered User

04-14-15

The Virgin Spring seemed so unlike a Bergman movie to me, simple like you said, but it's the kind of film I really look for. I was shocked at how much it was like one of my favorite horror movies.

I love Running Scared and have been trying to get Derek Vinyard to watch it. Some crazy ***** in that movie.

Another big fan of High and Low here, my second favorite Kurosawa so far.

I want to see Oculus.

MovieMeditation

Friendo.

04-14-15

Originally Posted by NatashaR

I'm totally aware of how you need to just clear you mind and enjoy the ride, but that doesn't mean I can't criticize the film, even for the genre it tries to be a part of. I know you aren't saying that I can't, but just to make it clear I love this films, and the seventh one was definitely a worthy follow-up. I'm one of those who actually love what the series has turned into, and Fast Five is my favorite, with the first one being a great cult classic on its own terms. I did reviews for all Fast-films, if you haven't read them you can check for links on page one.

In relation to noticable CGI, I thought they did a great job overall, but there was some places where it was so damn obvious. The building-to-building jump you see a quick slow-mo close-up of Paul, and that is clear as daylight how CGI'd it is. The CGI worked best when it was accompanied by bodydoubles and actual face-copy-paste, instead of a fully CGI'd Paul Walker, like that scene mentioned.

Originally Posted by cricket

I couldn't get into Seventh Seal, but Virgin Spring worked for me. Oh, and Fanny & Alexander is amazing, but I hear people say Bergman basically took everything he had done in the past and used it here, which obviously made a great film. And after seeing some other Bergman, I can definitely see why people would say that. Being watching Fanny & Alexander first, I probably won't get tired of it, I still think it's amazing.

Yeah, watch Oculus! And try to view it as a psychological horror, like I wrote in my review, because if you watch it as just a basic stupid "haunted mirror movie", I'm sure it will suck.

Many thanks to both of you for checking in and meditating with me! Let's keep the commenting rolling people!

cricket

Registered User

04-14-15

I haven't seen The Seventh Seal or Fanny and Alexander yet. I've seen about 8 of his and the only one I didn't really like was Winter Light.

MovieMeditation

Friendo.

04-14-15

Originally Posted by cricket

I haven't seen The Seventh Seal or Fanny and Alexander yet. I've seen about 8 of his and the only one I didn't really like was Winter Light.

What is your top 3 Bergman?

cricket

Registered User

04-14-15

I think I would rank what I've seen like this-

Cries and Whispers
The Virgin Spring
Autumn Sonata
Hour of the Wolf
Wild Strawberries
Persona
Through a Glass Darkly
The Silence
Winter Light

Funny Face

serious delirium

04-15-15

You already know how I feel about Oculus. I think what stood out for me was the relationship between the two main characters. I didn't believe that they were close, even when they were young, so it was hard for me to understand why the brother stayed in the house as long as he did and that ultimately weakened the plot for me. Oculus had moments that reminded me of other psychological horror movies I enjoyed like The Uninvited (2009), The Sentinel (1977), The Other (1972) and The Innocents (1961) but it just wasn't my cup of tea.

I am looking forward to watching Furious 7 and now I'm interested in watched Running Scared. Nice write ups!

Miss Vicky

MoFo's Resident Bitch

04-15-15

Originally Posted by cricket

Cries and Whispers
Persona
Through a Glass Darkly

I'll second these three. Hour of the Wolf and Virgin Spring were good, but the three above are better.

__________________

Optimus

"""" Hulk Smashhhh."""

04-15-15

Fast And Furious 7 as you probably know from my review - I enjoyed. But I know what you mean about the climax coming a little to soon and Jason Statham was sort of sidetracked. But I've learned to just go with these movies now and just switch of and enjoy.

Running Scared is actually a good little film. I haven't seen it in a while but I remember enjoying it's really dark tone and story.

__________________

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"Banshee is the greatest thing ever. "

NatashaR

Why so serious?

04-15-15

Originally Posted by MovieMeditation

Sorry maybe what I said came off the wrong way... I realized that you liked it and I agree with what you said... for some reason I just felt the need to sort of defend the movie despite the things that are wrong with it. To me the most annoying was Jason Statham's dumb character and his stupid accent... 'oh I'm just gonna randomly show up during the movie to showoff how badass I am'

MovieMeditation

Friendo.

04-15-15

Jason Statham part in this was mainly the writer's fault. He didn't have anyhing "to play with" as a character. A shame.

And it's all good.

These movies gets plenty of hate, so it's understandable that you've become "used to" defending it.

I do quite often as well, and in the same way. But yeah, as a fan of the franchise I obviously want to look at the movie from all sides, and not just be a blinded fanboy or whatever.

MovieMeditation

Friendo.

04-18-15

MovieMeditation presents...
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... current day count
117 .......................... 107
__________________________
You thought this thread was laid to rest just because of my Horror Top 50 List?
No way...

April 6th

Fantasia (1940)

DISNEY CLASSIC no.3

*music playing*

After having a quite frenetic and stressed day, I was looking for something I could relax to and just let my mind float freely from having to think and perform too much. In short words, I was looking for something to truly meditate to.

Anyways, I knew I had this one laying around, and after watching it through a while back without paying much attention, I thought this would be the time where I could finally disappear all the way into it. After all, that is exactly what this kind of film needs. It is basically a broad and intense sensory experience, full of music and colors coming together to create some really fascinating animation.

And that was definitely what it was; a truly fascinating trip down through a wide arrange of talented animators� minds, all giving it their absolute best and most personal piece of animation. What you get then, is of course both hits and misses. This is definitely Disney�s most daring and far-out project, trying to create this special and unique experience to its audience. It works most of the time, but when a short isn�t that good then you have a problem. And honestly, I thought there were way too many that just wasn�t that good. A lot of them felt like the animators were getting so much free time to play, that what they ended up with was missing structure and impact. It started out great, slowly building up from colors, to figures, to characters, to a full world of animation! It worked best when it was simplistic, because in that way it went perfectly together with the musical score. Other than the famous Mickey Mouse short and the very last haunting short, most of them were so bland or just too much.

I feel like this film is getting too much praise for being brave and experimental, instead of looking at the actual core of what it presents us with. Sure it is nice to see beautifully hand-drawn animation, but that doesn�t cut it for the shorts that are rather bad. It is a great idea and concept though, and it was great to finally experience this film properly. But I wasn�t overly impressed by it as a full film, but more some individual scenes and hand-drawn set pieces.

FAVORITE SHORTS // Mickey the Wizard & The Evil End Short
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April 7th

Triangle (2009)*

"I feel like I know this place.
I recognize this corridor."

Well, the actual synopsis present on most sites doesn�t spoil the actual plot too much, but if I want to talk about this film just to some extent, I simply have to tell you what the film is essentially about. So if you plan on watching this film and want to go into it completely unknowing of what to expect, then don�t read this review. I won�t spoil the film per say, but the storyline that it follows I will of course discuss.

So this group of people gets stranded on a huge ship and weird stuff starts to happen. More precisely, this one girl who is also the main character gets to relive the same exact timeline over and over again, and then has to perfect it in order to survive. This film is actually really interesting and also extremely well done when you notice how small the budget must have been. Despite the typical plot holes these films never seem to be able to get around, it is a fairly clever and frightening adrenaline-fueled ride! I love how the film spreads out the breadcrumbs for you, and have you guessing along trying to gather the plot almost in the same tempo as the main character does it. I have always had a weak spot for movies about parallel universes and copies of oneself, so this film is plenty unsettling to watch for me at times. The story of the film seems to only keep raising throughout the film, but at a point it does go a little downward and the ending could have been slightly better. But as I said, I like how you get to pick up the pieces as an audience, and constantly find references to previous things that happened (or is it future things that will happen?)

This film wasn�t as great as I remembered, but considering the plot of the film it holds up extremely well on a second viewing. It is still a lot of fun and at times quite terrifying, and the story is still very strong and clever even considering the possible plot holes � most of which you don�t really care about. I think there are only one or maybe two plot holes that I was quite annoyed by. Overall it is a ride to enjoy, and if you haven�t seen it I would definitely recommend it � it is guaranteed to give you a very different and fun experience.

FAVORITE SCENES // First sign of repeat circle & woman body x100
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April 8th

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)*

-
DISNEY CLASSIC no.1

"Magic mirror on the wall,
who is the fairest one of all?"

As you may have noticed already by now, I�m currently going through all of the Disney Classics from beginning to end, pretty much chronologically � the only sidesteps I�m going to take will be in the beginning of things, because of the fact that I have already seen two of them out of order, and I don�t feel like revisiting them already with less than a month between, obviously. So here we are, with the first ever Disney feature length animated film, and it is also the first in the Classics line, which is widely praised and loved all over the world. �Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs� is of course a well-known classic from Disney, but as I�m going through these films, I must say there are really some weird and unsuccessful ones during the very beginning. But thankfully, this one is not one of them�

Disney first classic might just be the most magical and mystical fairytale to be found in and around the whole list. It is also clear how much of a breakthrough this was, and how it has a victim of countless of retellings and recreations � even Disney themselves has tried to create the success and magic of this one over and over again. But really, nothing comes close to what this can and eventually does. The story feels so close to heart and soul and the animation and techniques are absolutely stunning for its time. Even some of the works that in fact came after it, still cannot match it the level of pure skill and revolution that this film has going for it.

Despite of my rating, this is definitely a masterpiece on many levels, but I can�t deny some of its flaws, and those few moments were the time feels as if it has passed just a bit ahead of it. That said, this holds up extraordinarily well, and the majority of the film is still as fresh and innovative as it was on its release.

FAVORITE SCENES // Forrest Turns Evil, "Yodelaiooo" & Evil Queen Scenes
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April 9th

The Crow (1994)

"People once believed that when someone dies,
a crow carries their soul to the land of the dead."

I saw this film on a few of those official mofo lists and thought it would be interesting and ideal to check it out. I have also wanted to see it for a long time, and the hype around it seems overwhelming for a film of its style and genre. But then again I hadn�t watched it yet at that time, so who knows what kind of film this really turned out to be. I still had a strange feeling that the death of its main star would influence the film in the same way as it has been seen before with plenty of other films. But even for that matter, my expectations weren�t lowered, and I truly wanted this to be good�

And it was. Actually it played out pretty much as I expected, and it seems to be one of those films that are lucky to work as well as it does. It could easily have been overly campy or strangely bizarre, and even though I was going to say it really wasn�t, it kind of is� but in a totally awesome way that is! The story is unique and interesting, and the visuals are nice and inventive, while balancing on the edge of being stupid and actually being sensible. What I mean by that is only to praise the film, because as I said, despite how many places I was certain it was going to fail, it didn�t. And I truly love it for that.

This film is just so badass� you could say it is rather dramatic at its core, but on the outside it is totally loony, as well as intentionally intelligently irresponsible inverted insanity. Try to say those words fast 5 times� Oh yeah, by the way, this movie is awesome did I tell you that? Because it is. Awesome I mean. And very much so. Awesome� Just awesome.

FAVORITE SCENE // Honestly, too many to chose from...
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April 10th

Pinocchio (1940)*

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DISNEY CLASSIC no.2

"I've got no strings to hold me down..."

I have some very fond memories of this film, even for all its mental madness� I mean seriously, if you ask someone what they remember �Pinocchio� for, you know, this children�s animated film, they will most likely say something along the lines of �that freaking donkey scene made me crap my pants and yell for my mom!� Anyways, despite of this I mostly remember key scenes from the film, and not exactly what ties them together. After this revisit, that was exactly what was missing and ultimately made me lower my rating�

This film has an opening that tries so hard to be magical, but it literally goes on for about 30 minutes of the runtime, and all you experience is music playing on stupid self-made wooden crap, and people dancing and yelling. I was more annoyed by this opening than what it looked to be aiming for. I love the characters of Figaro and Cleo though; they are just great! But as I said earlier, this film seems to jump from scene to scene without much in between, and the story structure is totally off in my opinion. It doesn�t have a proper middle or end, at least not any of which feels connected to the previous stuff happening. It is very all over the place. I really mean it when I say that this rating hurts, but I cannot give it more judging from this rewatch. The film didn�t at all work for me this time around.

FAVORITE SCENES // Donkey Scene & Monstrum Scenes
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April 11th

Rocky IV (1985)

"It's suicide. You've seen him, you know how strong he is.
You can't win."

Okay, I�m beginning to have abstinences from all this writing and I�m shaking all over my body and I can feel my heart pumping out of beat... No really, that actually isn�t quite true, but I do feel like I have writing about enough for today haha, so this will be a quick one� The first two Rocky-films were so serious and drama-orientated, that when the third came along I totally hated it. I see some people loving it for all its campiness or whatever, but I really didn�t like it. It felt like it was directed like music video or just one long extended montage and spiced up with some homoerotic gestures I wasn�t at all pleased with what I was seeing. I guess I liked the continuation of the story, that he was now really famous and all that, in contrast to the second where he was struggling, but I think it was so poorly handled in this third outing.

Wit the fourth one, I was ready for camp and silliness and I did get it to some extent, but still I feel it was much better than I thought it would be, and I think it is all what the third tried to be but failed at. A lot of fun and one of the better Rocky films in my opinion. Oh, and we are of course excluding all the bullsh*t politics that Stallone thinks he can write and direct into this expertly. Nope, doesn't work. But the rest is classic 80s and great fun!

FAVORITE SCENE // Cross-cutting training montage
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April 12th

Dumbo (1941)*

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DISNEY CLASSIC no.4

"All we gotta do is build an act. Make ya a star. A headliner!
Dumbo the Grrreat!."

Here�s a Disney-feature reduced to something narratively smaller as well as shortened to something longitudinally tighter, and yet still as touching and worthy of that classic category � which is by now so well known and beloved � and existing as the very core of Disney�s colossal catalogue of films! I don�t think I have actually seen �Dumbo� since I was a kid, and I�m always kind of worried that those childhood favorites may not put a light in my eyes in the same way, which they so memorably did for me, and thousands of other children, back in those glorious days! But I�m pleased to say, that this fourth full-length animated flick from Disney was a lovely revisit for me, and I�m overly surprised at how much of this film seemed to still be stored in the back of my mine as I was watching the film.

This is once again a different and daring direction for Disney in many ways, and I like really how many of these classics managed to offer something new every time, at least up until they began to bring back old storylines. The first thing I noticed about �Dumbo�, was that the animation style was slightly more simplistic and cartoonish than previous classics. Firstly it bothered me slightly, but then I realized how fitting it was for the film and the story it wanted to tell, as well as how creative and free the animators could actually be. Unsurprisingly enough, this point brings me to one of Disney�s most weird and disturbing scenes ever created, which is of course �the pink elephants acid trip�. I imagine the director just told the animators that, because they had a scene with a drunken elephant on their hands in a children�s movie, �let�s just go crazy with it now that we have the chance!� And so they did.

For me the film takes a while to really get going, but when we come to the second half of the film it truly begins to be a lot of fun. Great visuals, inventive ideas, amusing gags, and some good songs accompanied with memorable and delightful music. For the smaller film of which it feels like, it is actually quite great, and I don�t know if it is the nostalgia kicking in, but I�m really close to providing it with a 4/5 score. Nevertheless, you can�t deny how charming and cute this film is.

FAVORITE SCENE // "Pink Elephants on Parade!"

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Last edited by MovieMeditation; 05-02-15 at 12:07 PM.

cricket

Registered User

04-18-15

I actually love all of the movies in that last post except for Fantasia.

MovieMeditation

Friendo.

04-18-15

Originally Posted by cricket

I actually love all of the movies in that last post except for Fantasia.

Jep, Fantasia let me down quite a bit. But if I hadn't been as much in the mood for it as I was, and if those two shorts mentioned as favorites hadn't been included, I would have hated the film...

Anyways, thanks for checking in cricket! Look out for Alyce Kills on that Horror List! I have a sub-category coming up very soon called "not even close".

Captain Spaulding

Defending Champ

04-29-15

If you wanted, MM, you could very easily quadruple your review count. Most of these "write-ups" are much longer and detailed than a lot of the reviews that get tagged.

I think it's cool that you're re-visiting all the Walt Disney classics. Watching them chronologically will probably be an interesting experience since you'll be able to see how things evolved over time. I should do the same. Many of them I haven't watched since I was 6 or 7 years old.

It sounds like High and Low just received another vote for the 60's Countdown.

Looks like you're falling farther and farther behind with your Film Diary. If you don't get your ass in gear, you'll soon struggle to remember what you wanted to write about each film. I've learned that from experience since I do it all the damn time.

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Letterboxd

MovieMeditation