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Just caught up on all this and I am really a huge fan of your reviews. They're really in depth and have good reasoning for your ratings. Keep up the good work man, I haven't seen most of these movies (trying to start getting into a lot of movies) but the ones I have seen I pretty much agree with you on.
MovieMeditation’s Diary Reviews // “Come and meditate with me!”
→ in Movie Reviews
UPDATE
Okay, so because of my newly founded Horror List setting its sails, as well as a few personal and work-related activities that are beginning to fill up my schedule, I had to reconsider the state of my film diary entirely.
I have come to the conclusion that I have simply been aiming too high lately, for what should essentially be much simpler and straight-forward, since it's basically an everyday activity. I recently began adding quotes, favorite scenes, special extended reviews etc., which was all too much in the long run. I simply have to restrain myself and make my life easier... or I'll die at early age.
BUT this diary will indeed be kept alive, of course, but I will be REDESIGNING the LAYOUT and structure, and I will hopefully post my write-ups more often, but in smaller and more direct form. STILL even I know that sometimes I get carried away anyways, and that I can't help.
And with that said...
NEW DIARY UPDATES COMING TOMORROW...
Okay, so because of my newly founded Horror List setting its sails, as well as a few personal and work-related activities that are beginning to fill up my schedule, I had to reconsider the state of my film diary entirely.
I have come to the conclusion that I have simply been aiming too high lately, for what should essentially be much simpler and straight-forward, since it's basically an everyday activity. I recently began adding quotes, favorite scenes, special extended reviews etc., which was all too much in the long run. I simply have to restrain myself and make my life easier... or I'll die at early age.
BUT this diary will indeed be kept alive, of course, but I will be REDESIGNING the LAYOUT and structure, and I will hopefully post my write-ups more often, but in smaller and more direct form. STILL even I know that sometimes I get carried away anyways, and that I can't help.
And with that said...NEW DIARY UPDATES COMING TOMORROW...
Last edited by MovieMeditation; 05-01-15 at 04:51 AM.
X
Favorite Movies
X
User Lists
MovieMeditation presents...
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... current day count
130 .......................... 120
__________________________
April 13th
—— 1990 ——
Rocky V
—— drama ——
Definitely deserving of its poor reputation
as the worst entry in the Rocky franchise
Even despite a fairly acceptable first half, at least on its own terms, it goes straight to rock(y) bottom once it stops being an actual 'Rocky' film, and our beloved boxer turns into a drunk weakling slurring his words more than ever and sounding like a little baby most of the time. At least Stallone himself knew that his performance and own self was “off” during this production, as he commented on it in an interview once. This film really don't know what it wants to be, it is basically all over the place most of the time as well.
__________________________
April 14th
—— 1942 ——
Saludos Amigos
—— animation ——
DISNEY CLASSIC no.6
Disney’s strange attempt at creating some kind of world wide safari trip
using animation and voice-over to enlighten people about other parts of the world
I just recently found out that they call these “package films”, which is basically a feature length film consisting of various shorts thrown together and mainly used to finance upcoming Disney projects. Thank God for that, because as a stand-alone project, this is some very mediocre and messy type of animation, which is missing structure and style.
-
__________________________
April 15th
—— 2014 ——
It Follows
—— horror ——
Finally we receive a fresh and chillingly original horror film
coming from a great newcomer in the business
It has to be said from the start though, that for all its originality, it is also a film that pays plenty of homages to various horror classics; especially the evil conceptual storyline is clearly inspired by ‘The Thing’, while the actual setting and overall style could be some kind of modern ‘Halloween’. That said, everything else and even the previously mentioned elements feels very original, and the execution is both daring and inventive, while also fitting perfectly in with today's modern horror style.
The first half of the film might actually be one of the best horror experiences I have had in years, but it unfortunately looses a bit of steam towards the end. As soon as you find out more about the plot and "curse" it isn't all that fun anymore, and the story begins to depart from its quiet and singular kind of tension, while also trying to up the stakes and style in an attempt to please audiences even more. It only does the opposite though. The film definitely worked the best on smaller scales, especially the claustrophobic scenes taken place in the house. A horror film hasn’t genuinely scared me in a long time, but this film definitely had some elements to it that was very unsettling and terrifying to watch on the big screen… Oh, and the soundtrack was great by the way.
__________________________
April 16th
—— 2012 ——
The Avengers
—— comic book ——
REWATCH
The supposedly biggest and most crowd-pleasingly awesome superhero blockbuster
ever made to that day
...And yet, when I finished watching this for the first time back around its release, I wasn’t overly impressed by it. I was fairly entertained and mildly satisfied with the final product of this film, but never were my thoughts anywhere near what most people seemed to throw at it. Perhaps it was too big and too crowd-pleasing for its own good?
Anyways, this rewatch didn’t really change my thoughts much and I still feel like people threw themselves into this one too easily. The film tries so hard to be the perfect incarnation of an imperfect gathering of diverse heroic characters. Sometimes it just looks so pretty and polished up that I get slightly annoyed by it. Another thing is, that what is arguably an advantage is in fact also one of its disadvantages; the comic book feel of the film… Out of all the stand-alone projects that came before it, this feels the most as a full-blown and respectfully made comic book film. What I liked about many of the others though, was that it was a more realistic and humanly environmental take on a “superhero”. It was like you copy and pasted something unnatural into what we know and love. In ‘The Avengers’, superheroes are now like the most commonly known thing and there is so much otherworldliness to it that you sometimes get too distanced from the very core of the story. Of course it is a story that wants to discuss and showcase its superheroes, but without much of a grounded feel or any true human interaction, it just feels “off”. I realize many totally won’t care about this aspect, but it is one of my negative things.
Another thing is, that this film does not only feel like an assemble of characters of which obviously it is, but also an assemble of totally random scenes. Yes, we do have a central story on our hands but it just seems as if we move along from set piece to set piece without much thought or connection. Also, the most dominate set pieces, especially the last one, is so full of messy CGI and completely overloaded with popcorn moments, that I slightly doubt that half of the mainstream audience, who dislikes Transformers but like The Avengers while, action-wise, their similarities are striking. What works the best for this film though, is undoubtedly the strong chemistry between these diverse characters. It is fun and imaginative to see them interact on a small-talk basis, as well as when they are in full-blown battle using each others powers to the disadvantage of the bad guys. I also think that this must be what is the cherry on top for audiences who loved this. If there is something to get picky about they forgot once all their favorite superheroes interact or make cool moves in slow motion. Mostly this is fun popcorn entertainment with some great scenes between characters, but for me there was a whole lot missing if I were to ever love this. Let’s see what the sequel brings.
__________________________
April 17th
—— 1944 ——
The Three Caballeros
—— animation ——
DISNEY CLASSIC no.7
Disney is once again trying their luck
at this weird collection of various animated shorts
This must be Disney's third attempt at creating this weird mash-up of various storylines and so-called shorts, set to different types of music and having some weird mix of live-action in it as well. And it's awful that they do that, because this was actually one of the better attempts so far, but it really became bad towards the end, especially the element about Donald Duck having a truly horny persona throughout... Really weird, I must admit. This film was pretty much all over the place, and though it started out nice, it just became worse and worse as time passed by. A shame, because we had a little bit of potential here, actually.
__________________________
April 18th
—— 2006 ——
Rocky Balboa
—— drama ——
REWATCH
Finally we are at the last entry in the Rocky franchise in which Stallone comes back
to try and give his character a worthy send-off after the last disastrous attempt
It seems quite clear from the start, that this film didn't have the best of financial supports, and fairly often it feels very low budget and like a direct-to-dvd feature. I'm not referring to the last fight here, which I thought was a very interesting and worthy attempt at creating a new way of showing the boxing fights; by letting the fighting play out like a real match on television. It brought great realism to the film and if felt appropriate for the time-period as well. The overall atmosphere of the film is very close to the first one, and though Stallone sometimes plays it too safe, he generally succeeds with this approach. But still, this is a very slow movie that keeps on feeling like it is closing off throughout the entire film, and is playing out the very last round. Sometimes, it even feels like an epilogue to the franchise and not an actual stand-alone movie.
But I can't deny that it feels so great to revisit the characters again, and at this closing point in time, and it is hard to hate too much on a film that feels so respectful and honest about what it is doing. A perfectly acceptable send-off to the Rocky franchise indeed.
__________________________
April 19th
—— 1982 ——
First Blood
—— thriller ——
Now that we got the Rocky franchise out of the way
how about we go straight to another acclaimed Stallone franchise?
This is the first entry in a series of films, which maybe aren't the best, according to many, but still the first one seems to be getting a whole lot of praise coming from everywhere. And I can clearly understand why, though I'm not really a person who stands beside that opinion myself. I really wasn't that impressed with this film. Mostly it is just your typical 80’s cheese-fest, though definitely more down-toned in style and execution than many others from its time. Still, the fact that Rambo is supposed to be this smart war veteran, and know every trick in the book and outside of it, but still makes stupid decisions throughout the film. That really makes you question the character and the movie itself. First off, what sets the whole plot in motion is basically Rambo refusing to talk or say anything, and combined with a lot of coincidences and a whole lot of stupid characters that do stupid things; suddenly we have Rambo racing through the city on a motorbike and eventually having dogs, helicopters and soldiers on his tail… All that for a simple choice of silence and some bad cops making poor decisions… Seriously?
The movie is so unbelievable and often feels very stilted and empty. There are a few things I really like about the film, and it is fairly entertaining for the most part, but there are too many things I get distracted by throughout to fully enjoy it. I can’t really take it seriously, not when the film is so lazy at putting together a story and putting up a set of characters.
__________________________
April 20th
—— 2015 ——
Avengers: Age of Ultron
—— comic book ——
The long-awaited blockbuster sequel
to the biggest superhero movie ever!
Even though I don't know if I will ever find time for it, I still plan on delivering a full detailed review for this film, which should be up in my Cinema Review thread as soon as possible...
N/A
__________________________
April 21th
—— 2008 ——
The Ruins
—— horror ——
%20HindiDub/The%20Ruins-Cover-FreeMp4Moviez.Com.jpg)
This film has been on my watchlist for the longest time ever, and did it live up to the long-awaited expectation of horror greatness?
Well no. It sucks... The idea of it is not bad, and I liked a few elements here and there, but man the characters? They were like the worst and most poorly written I have seen in a long time. Everything they did and said was rubbish and unintelligent. The movie had plot holes and preposterous crap scattered out all over the film like some kind of a reversed version of Hansel and Gretel where the breadcrumbs was those you wish not to find. You would simply laugh and shake your head each time another dumb thing happened. If I had to give it credit for something, it would be the overall idea of the film – which is based on a book so how much credit does it really hold? I’m glad I saw it though, now I don’t have to wonder about whether or not it sucks. Because it did.
-
__________________________
I hope you like the new redesigned layout, and that you will still be checking in! I think the posters will be an on/off kind of thing, since it takes time to find them. But maybe I'll just do it for the bigger movies and let the unknown ones stand without a poster, as I did now.
Enjoy.
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... current day count
130 .......................... 120
__________________________
April 13th
—— 1990 ——
Rocky V
—— drama ——
Definitely deserving of its poor reputation
as the worst entry in the Rocky franchise
Even despite a fairly acceptable first half, at least on its own terms, it goes straight to rock(y) bottom once it stops being an actual 'Rocky' film, and our beloved boxer turns into a drunk weakling slurring his words more than ever and sounding like a little baby most of the time. At least Stallone himself knew that his performance and own self was “off” during this production, as he commented on it in an interview once. This film really don't know what it wants to be, it is basically all over the place most of the time as well.
__________________________
April 14th
—— 1942 ——
Saludos Amigos
—— animation ——
DISNEY CLASSIC no.6
Disney’s strange attempt at creating some kind of world wide safari trip
using animation and voice-over to enlighten people about other parts of the world
I just recently found out that they call these “package films”, which is basically a feature length film consisting of various shorts thrown together and mainly used to finance upcoming Disney projects. Thank God for that, because as a stand-alone project, this is some very mediocre and messy type of animation, which is missing structure and style.
-
__________________________
April 15th
—— 2014 ——
It Follows
—— horror ——
Finally we receive a fresh and chillingly original horror film
coming from a great newcomer in the business
It has to be said from the start though, that for all its originality, it is also a film that pays plenty of homages to various horror classics; especially the evil conceptual storyline is clearly inspired by ‘The Thing’, while the actual setting and overall style could be some kind of modern ‘Halloween’. That said, everything else and even the previously mentioned elements feels very original, and the execution is both daring and inventive, while also fitting perfectly in with today's modern horror style.
The first half of the film might actually be one of the best horror experiences I have had in years, but it unfortunately looses a bit of steam towards the end. As soon as you find out more about the plot and "curse" it isn't all that fun anymore, and the story begins to depart from its quiet and singular kind of tension, while also trying to up the stakes and style in an attempt to please audiences even more. It only does the opposite though. The film definitely worked the best on smaller scales, especially the claustrophobic scenes taken place in the house. A horror film hasn’t genuinely scared me in a long time, but this film definitely had some elements to it that was very unsettling and terrifying to watch on the big screen… Oh, and the soundtrack was great by the way.
__________________________
April 16th
—— 2012 ——
The Avengers
—— comic book ——
REWATCH
The supposedly biggest and most crowd-pleasingly awesome superhero blockbuster
ever made to that day
...And yet, when I finished watching this for the first time back around its release, I wasn’t overly impressed by it. I was fairly entertained and mildly satisfied with the final product of this film, but never were my thoughts anywhere near what most people seemed to throw at it. Perhaps it was too big and too crowd-pleasing for its own good?
Anyways, this rewatch didn’t really change my thoughts much and I still feel like people threw themselves into this one too easily. The film tries so hard to be the perfect incarnation of an imperfect gathering of diverse heroic characters. Sometimes it just looks so pretty and polished up that I get slightly annoyed by it. Another thing is, that what is arguably an advantage is in fact also one of its disadvantages; the comic book feel of the film… Out of all the stand-alone projects that came before it, this feels the most as a full-blown and respectfully made comic book film. What I liked about many of the others though, was that it was a more realistic and humanly environmental take on a “superhero”. It was like you copy and pasted something unnatural into what we know and love. In ‘The Avengers’, superheroes are now like the most commonly known thing and there is so much otherworldliness to it that you sometimes get too distanced from the very core of the story. Of course it is a story that wants to discuss and showcase its superheroes, but without much of a grounded feel or any true human interaction, it just feels “off”. I realize many totally won’t care about this aspect, but it is one of my negative things.
Another thing is, that this film does not only feel like an assemble of characters of which obviously it is, but also an assemble of totally random scenes. Yes, we do have a central story on our hands but it just seems as if we move along from set piece to set piece without much thought or connection. Also, the most dominate set pieces, especially the last one, is so full of messy CGI and completely overloaded with popcorn moments, that I slightly doubt that half of the mainstream audience, who dislikes Transformers but like The Avengers while, action-wise, their similarities are striking. What works the best for this film though, is undoubtedly the strong chemistry between these diverse characters. It is fun and imaginative to see them interact on a small-talk basis, as well as when they are in full-blown battle using each others powers to the disadvantage of the bad guys. I also think that this must be what is the cherry on top for audiences who loved this. If there is something to get picky about they forgot once all their favorite superheroes interact or make cool moves in slow motion. Mostly this is fun popcorn entertainment with some great scenes between characters, but for me there was a whole lot missing if I were to ever love this. Let’s see what the sequel brings.
__________________________
April 17th
—— 1944 ——
The Three Caballeros
—— animation ——
DISNEY CLASSIC no.7
Disney is once again trying their luck
at this weird collection of various animated shorts
This must be Disney's third attempt at creating this weird mash-up of various storylines and so-called shorts, set to different types of music and having some weird mix of live-action in it as well. And it's awful that they do that, because this was actually one of the better attempts so far, but it really became bad towards the end, especially the element about Donald Duck having a truly horny persona throughout... Really weird, I must admit. This film was pretty much all over the place, and though it started out nice, it just became worse and worse as time passed by. A shame, because we had a little bit of potential here, actually.
__________________________
April 18th
—— 2006 ——
Rocky Balboa
—— drama ——
REWATCH
Finally we are at the last entry in the Rocky franchise in which Stallone comes back
to try and give his character a worthy send-off after the last disastrous attempt
It seems quite clear from the start, that this film didn't have the best of financial supports, and fairly often it feels very low budget and like a direct-to-dvd feature. I'm not referring to the last fight here, which I thought was a very interesting and worthy attempt at creating a new way of showing the boxing fights; by letting the fighting play out like a real match on television. It brought great realism to the film and if felt appropriate for the time-period as well. The overall atmosphere of the film is very close to the first one, and though Stallone sometimes plays it too safe, he generally succeeds with this approach. But still, this is a very slow movie that keeps on feeling like it is closing off throughout the entire film, and is playing out the very last round. Sometimes, it even feels like an epilogue to the franchise and not an actual stand-alone movie.
But I can't deny that it feels so great to revisit the characters again, and at this closing point in time, and it is hard to hate too much on a film that feels so respectful and honest about what it is doing. A perfectly acceptable send-off to the Rocky franchise indeed.
__________________________
April 19th
—— 1982 ——
First Blood
—— thriller ——
Now that we got the Rocky franchise out of the way
how about we go straight to another acclaimed Stallone franchise?
This is the first entry in a series of films, which maybe aren't the best, according to many, but still the first one seems to be getting a whole lot of praise coming from everywhere. And I can clearly understand why, though I'm not really a person who stands beside that opinion myself. I really wasn't that impressed with this film. Mostly it is just your typical 80’s cheese-fest, though definitely more down-toned in style and execution than many others from its time. Still, the fact that Rambo is supposed to be this smart war veteran, and know every trick in the book and outside of it, but still makes stupid decisions throughout the film. That really makes you question the character and the movie itself. First off, what sets the whole plot in motion is basically Rambo refusing to talk or say anything, and combined with a lot of coincidences and a whole lot of stupid characters that do stupid things; suddenly we have Rambo racing through the city on a motorbike and eventually having dogs, helicopters and soldiers on his tail… All that for a simple choice of silence and some bad cops making poor decisions… Seriously?
The movie is so unbelievable and often feels very stilted and empty. There are a few things I really like about the film, and it is fairly entertaining for the most part, but there are too many things I get distracted by throughout to fully enjoy it. I can’t really take it seriously, not when the film is so lazy at putting together a story and putting up a set of characters.
__________________________
April 20th
—— 2015 ——
Avengers: Age of Ultron
—— comic book ——
The long-awaited blockbuster sequel
to the biggest superhero movie ever!
Even though I don't know if I will ever find time for it, I still plan on delivering a full detailed review for this film, which should be up in my Cinema Review thread as soon as possible...
N/A
__________________________
April 21th
—— 2008 ——
The Ruins
—— horror ——
This film has been on my watchlist for the longest time ever, and did it live up to the long-awaited expectation of horror greatness?
Well no. It sucks... The idea of it is not bad, and I liked a few elements here and there, but man the characters? They were like the worst and most poorly written I have seen in a long time. Everything they did and said was rubbish and unintelligent. The movie had plot holes and preposterous crap scattered out all over the film like some kind of a reversed version of Hansel and Gretel where the breadcrumbs was those you wish not to find. You would simply laugh and shake your head each time another dumb thing happened. If I had to give it credit for something, it would be the overall idea of the film – which is based on a book so how much credit does it really hold? I’m glad I saw it though, now I don’t have to wonder about whether or not it sucks. Because it did.
-
__________________________
I hope you like the new redesigned layout, and that you will still be checking in! I think the posters will be an on/off kind of thing, since it takes time to find them. But maybe I'll just do it for the bigger movies and let the unknown ones stand without a poster, as I did now.
Enjoy.
__________________
/watching movies for mark f/
MovieMeditation's Cinema Reviews // Film Diary 2015 // Letterboxd Profile // MovieMeditation's Top 50 Horror
/watching movies for mark f/
MovieMeditation's Cinema Reviews // Film Diary 2015 // Letterboxd Profile // MovieMeditation's Top 50 Horror
Last edited by MovieMeditation; 05-02-15 at 11:58 AM.
X
Favorite Movies
X
User Lists
MovieMeditation presents...
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... current day count
131 .......................... 121
__________________________
April 22th
—— 1967 ——
Wait Until Dark
—— thriller ——
I asked a while back in the 60s thread, to have three different films from three different members
recommended to me. This is the second film, which was recommended by the lovely gbgoodies!
This film appeared to play out as one that I would eventually end up enjoying by the end of it, especially because I love limited settings and interesting and complicated plotlines. Also, the fact that it was based on a play made me hopeful that it would have some very well written dialogue, which films of that particular category usually has. At least great films based on a play has to have great or interesting dialogue, because they are often very minimalistic in other areas… And thankfully, it did have some great dialogue indeed, at least most of the time, and it was always interesting to listen to. That said, it wasn't all that came out of the characters' mouths, which was all that clever though. The film had some decent tension, it had some good acting, and an interesting storyline – but my God did it have a lot of stupid scenes and plot holes. Sometimes the characters did things they would only do, if it meant that the plot could move forward, and even the whole plot itself is kind ridiculous when you look at it. The film did keep my interest though, and I was entertained for the most part, but a few things here and there were so obvious and tacky, that you couldn't help noticing throughout the film; especially towards the end of the it.
That said, it was mostly pretty enjoyable, though not as clever and intelligent as I wanted it to be. The plot was also dragged too far and too thin for its own good, but it didn't make my overall impression of it fall totally to the ground or anything. Thanks for the excellent recommendatory effort gbgoodies!
__________________________
April 23th
—— 2001 ——
Thir13en Ghosts
—— horror ——
A true guilty pleasure movie!
Review from my Top Horror Favorite List
Talking purely from the back of my mind, I remember this to be full of distinctive clichés and dumb stereotypical characters, all speaking the usual stilted dialogue you could expect from a film like this. But what it actually does have going for it, is the very impressive production value as well as the overall idea of the film. I think it is pretty much every horror lovers dream, especially if your are a kid at the time, to experience plenty of inventive ghostly beings, walking around killing people who are trapped in a highly technological and glass-dominated house. I mean seriously, the idea of this film is almost enough for it to be worthy of a place on this list! I didn't know, at the time, if the nostalgia would be strong enough with a potential rewatch, but thankfully it ended up being fairly enjoyable, though many of the flaws I remembered shines a bit brighter now...
This is a guilty pleasure in its truest sense, coming from the good old nostalgic days of my childhood, at a time where my peaking interest for the horror genre found this one to be the perfect mixed bag of frightful fun! I have caught it on television a few times since, and though only catching parts of it I was definitely brought back to some great movie memories. And thankfully, the self-awareness helps it from hitting total rock-bottom.
Screw the critics and screw the haters... This film is not as bad as they make it out to be, but I do wish they had put just half the effort of what they put into creating the amazing set-pieces, and thrown that effort into the characters and script as well...
-
__________________________
April 24th
—— 2014 ——
The Equalizer
—— thriller ——
Looks like the good Denzel Washington are heading for the same course as Liam Neeson,
travelling down the dark action-influenced alleyways of macho-mercenary-masculinity
I must admit that this film started out rather great for its genre, with a calm and interesting story that worked very well here... I liked the character played by Denzel Washington, and enjoyed watching all his little characteristic gestures throughout, which thanks to Denzel, seemed very credible and competent throughout. Unfortunately, once it turns into a movie about revenge and so-called justice it really went down hill. There are several different villains spread all over this film, and the main character's reason and methods for setting things straight seemed strange and off-putting for his type of character; especially because his ways of making things equal wasn't at all respectful to his character, and it was more a showcase of ridiculous violence. The film should be called ‘The Brutalizer’, not ‘The Equalizer’ if you ask me.
I noticed that the script might be the more solid one, while the director may be the person who messed up the atmosphere and core of the script, turning it into what it eventually became. But with all that said, it was mostly your typical revenge thriller with very few new and original ideas. I liked the last set piece in the warehouse, but everything else felt like your usual action-thriller. Not much more.
__________________________
April 25th
—— 1985 ——
Rambo: First Blood Part II
—— action ——
I wasn't all that pleased with the first film in the franchise
perhaps the sequel will leave me with more satisfied
Before watching this, I obviously knew this would be more action-packed than the first, and while this is still a movie of the 80s, it would evidently have all of what you have come to expect from that decade – both the decent or disastrous aspects… Well, it certainly had the cheese and the stilted dialogue that I was expecting, it definitely also had the overload of action you would expect – even to the point where the camera would just cut to people flying and explosions happening, without ever showing the audience what and why made that stuff happen. Other than… well… to look awesome you know, and cram in as much explosive deathly chaos into this film as possible... I can't wait for the third one, with Rambo riding a freaking horse to battle. A guaranteed success!
__________________________
April 26th
—— 1968 ——
Once Upon a Time in the West
—— western ——
REWATCH
A highly acclaimed western that unfortunately felt very stiff and annoying
to me during the first watch, let’s see what it can bring me this time around
The first time I ever watched this classic western, I thought it was a pretentious and strangely art-house-orientated western, with too much focus on the visuals and the inventive execution of them, as well as the overall approach of making something “revolutionary” while just being different. I guess I simply couldn’t appreciate any of it that much at time, and furthermore, I wasn't even paying full attention to the film during the first watch, which happened to be a great mistake, obviously. Because this time around, I completely fell into the film and its atmosphere, and got properly emotionally invested in the story and its characters. Even for all the ways that it clearly succeeded the second time around, I still think Leone tries too hard at times, to capture previous great triumphs and make a perfect western in every sense of the word. It is like he knows that he has three classic westerns under his belt, and thus there is no need to reach for the pistol anymore. But besides all that, I won’t even try to deny that this is an exceptionally well-made western, which is mostly entertaining and has a fantastic atmosphere!
__________________________
April 27th
—— 1997 ——
Starship Troopers
—— sci-fi ——
REWATCH
Kill the bugs! Aaaaargh!
As it is the case with several people, I experienced this film for the first time at a young age and therefore remembered it to be rather awesome, obviously, with all the bug killings and stuff. But as I grew older I began to learn about how this was a brilliant kind of satire film, apparently, and while I could certainly imagine such thing, I had to revisit it to really look deeper into this element – and what better way to do this, than the fact that it actually got nominated for a Hall of Fame? Now was the perfect time to see if the film still held up to me, whether on a satirical or just straight up guilty pleasurable kind of level…
But as it turned out, if it ever were to be one of those above-mentioned labels, it would be the former. Personally, I really don’t see all the fuss about brilliant satire here; it feels like a very reduced and unsuccessful element in the film, though looking at the entire film as one, you could definitely pull something forward. But it isn’t the idea of it that counts but it is the execution, and that was pretty damn lackluster to me. To me, good satire has to be thoughtful and clearly present throughout, whether it is in a direct or subtle form doesn’t matter. With ‘Starship Troopers’ though, I felt like it was either very direct at times, but mostly just muddled and coincidental. Except for those commercials and a few other things, it was mostly never clear enough that it wanted to be satire. Perhaps the director intended it to be, perhaps the writer did, perhaps everyone did, but in the end it is how the film appears that counts. I also think the film is simply too stupid and cheesy to use satirical elements as a cover up for how far it is from a brilliant piece of cinema from that particular category. I think all the B-movie elements are far too strong and are overpowering the potential satire, which by the way, I probably wouldn’t even have noticed to the same degree that I did, if it hadn’t been for the fact that I knew about it beforehand.
Really though, I don’t care whether or not this film is satire, I only care about the fact that from a personal point of view, this wasn’t good satire. But I don’t feel like discussing all that, especially because Yoda did an amazing write-up not too long ago on this particular subject, and I pretty much agree with him… Anyways, putting all that to the side and looking at the film itself, for how it is made, I must say that I have seen Verhoeven do better. I think it feels lazy and uninspiring, though I get what it is aiming for. Still, this doesn’t even work as a guilty pleasure for me. So apart from a few great and fun moments, this is just a dull and surfaced attempt at entertainment to me.
-
__________________________
April 28th
—— 1946 ——
Make Mine Music
—— animaton ——
DISNEY CLASSIC no.8
Perhaps Disney's finest effort at creating a feature film full of animated shorts
where it actually works reasonably well
This so-called “package film” was definitely a lot more solid than the rest of them, and the specially selected combination of shorts seemed considerately better and more thoughtful this time around; even the concepts and characters were more aimed at adults – which was obviously a great thing. I really enjoyed the shorts ‘All the Cats Join In’ and ‘Two Silhouettes’, which were definitely the most creative and visually striking. ‘After You’ve Gone’ was pretty good too, and the rest was pretty mediocre but still acceptable. But the best of it all was, that there really weren’t any actual stinkers this time around, and I wasn’t bored out of my mind during any of them. I also liked that the music selection was much more jazzed and modern in its style, though still keeping things classical at times.
__________________________
April 29th
—— 2007 ——
The Darjeeling Limited
—— comedy ——
Wes Anderson is a weird cinema phenomenon,
but I just love his strange otherworldly creations!
This one is no exception, though it does feel like a lesser version of his typical signature style. I love the three main characters in the film, which are both well written and very odd to follow, and of course, they are played by excellent actors as well. As the title so elegantly suggest, this is a smaller film, but Wes Anderson knows how to put forward the little things, and make them appear bigger and more important. The movie is also about this inner spiritual journey, which Anderson does a great job at showing. Still, I feel like the film needed a little more edge and definitely some more filling, because it was going in circles at times and the story wasn't always clear and consistent. I loved the montages set to appropriate pieces of music, and with the added slow motion as well.
I loved all Andersons visual finger prints scattered throughout the film, and the characters were very fun to follow, but still I see this to be a lesser Anderson film overall. This journey was a bit too bumpy to be truly great, but fun and entertaining it definitely was.
__________________________
Okay, so I have done two huge film dairy updates to catch up to today's date, and one three-set horror list update, ALL written and posted today... I think that's enough for now, I badly need sleep now lol
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... current day count
131 .......................... 121
__________________________
April 22th
—— 1967 ——
Wait Until Dark
—— thriller ——
I asked a while back in the 60s thread, to have three different films from three different members
recommended to me. This is the second film, which was recommended by the lovely gbgoodies!
This film appeared to play out as one that I would eventually end up enjoying by the end of it, especially because I love limited settings and interesting and complicated plotlines. Also, the fact that it was based on a play made me hopeful that it would have some very well written dialogue, which films of that particular category usually has. At least great films based on a play has to have great or interesting dialogue, because they are often very minimalistic in other areas… And thankfully, it did have some great dialogue indeed, at least most of the time, and it was always interesting to listen to. That said, it wasn't all that came out of the characters' mouths, which was all that clever though. The film had some decent tension, it had some good acting, and an interesting storyline – but my God did it have a lot of stupid scenes and plot holes. Sometimes the characters did things they would only do, if it meant that the plot could move forward, and even the whole plot itself is kind ridiculous when you look at it. The film did keep my interest though, and I was entertained for the most part, but a few things here and there were so obvious and tacky, that you couldn't help noticing throughout the film; especially towards the end of the it.
That said, it was mostly pretty enjoyable, though not as clever and intelligent as I wanted it to be. The plot was also dragged too far and too thin for its own good, but it didn't make my overall impression of it fall totally to the ground or anything. Thanks for the excellent recommendatory effort gbgoodies!
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April 23th
—— 2001 ——
Thir13en Ghosts
—— horror ——
A true guilty pleasure movie!
Review from my Top Horror Favorite List
Talking purely from the back of my mind, I remember this to be full of distinctive clichés and dumb stereotypical characters, all speaking the usual stilted dialogue you could expect from a film like this. But what it actually does have going for it, is the very impressive production value as well as the overall idea of the film. I think it is pretty much every horror lovers dream, especially if your are a kid at the time, to experience plenty of inventive ghostly beings, walking around killing people who are trapped in a highly technological and glass-dominated house. I mean seriously, the idea of this film is almost enough for it to be worthy of a place on this list! I didn't know, at the time, if the nostalgia would be strong enough with a potential rewatch, but thankfully it ended up being fairly enjoyable, though many of the flaws I remembered shines a bit brighter now...
This is a guilty pleasure in its truest sense, coming from the good old nostalgic days of my childhood, at a time where my peaking interest for the horror genre found this one to be the perfect mixed bag of frightful fun! I have caught it on television a few times since, and though only catching parts of it I was definitely brought back to some great movie memories. And thankfully, the self-awareness helps it from hitting total rock-bottom.
Screw the critics and screw the haters... This film is not as bad as they make it out to be, but I do wish they had put just half the effort of what they put into creating the amazing set-pieces, and thrown that effort into the characters and script as well...
-
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April 24th
—— 2014 ——
The Equalizer
—— thriller ——
Looks like the good Denzel Washington are heading for the same course as Liam Neeson,
travelling down the dark action-influenced alleyways of macho-mercenary-masculinity
I must admit that this film started out rather great for its genre, with a calm and interesting story that worked very well here... I liked the character played by Denzel Washington, and enjoyed watching all his little characteristic gestures throughout, which thanks to Denzel, seemed very credible and competent throughout. Unfortunately, once it turns into a movie about revenge and so-called justice it really went down hill. There are several different villains spread all over this film, and the main character's reason and methods for setting things straight seemed strange and off-putting for his type of character; especially because his ways of making things equal wasn't at all respectful to his character, and it was more a showcase of ridiculous violence. The film should be called ‘The Brutalizer’, not ‘The Equalizer’ if you ask me.
I noticed that the script might be the more solid one, while the director may be the person who messed up the atmosphere and core of the script, turning it into what it eventually became. But with all that said, it was mostly your typical revenge thriller with very few new and original ideas. I liked the last set piece in the warehouse, but everything else felt like your usual action-thriller. Not much more.
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April 25th
—— 1985 ——
Rambo: First Blood Part II
—— action ——
I wasn't all that pleased with the first film in the franchise
perhaps the sequel will leave me with more satisfied
Before watching this, I obviously knew this would be more action-packed than the first, and while this is still a movie of the 80s, it would evidently have all of what you have come to expect from that decade – both the decent or disastrous aspects… Well, it certainly had the cheese and the stilted dialogue that I was expecting, it definitely also had the overload of action you would expect – even to the point where the camera would just cut to people flying and explosions happening, without ever showing the audience what and why made that stuff happen. Other than… well… to look awesome you know, and cram in as much explosive deathly chaos into this film as possible... I can't wait for the third one, with Rambo riding a freaking horse to battle. A guaranteed success!
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April 26th
—— 1968 ——
Once Upon a Time in the West
—— western ——
REWATCH
A highly acclaimed western that unfortunately felt very stiff and annoying
to me during the first watch, let’s see what it can bring me this time around
The first time I ever watched this classic western, I thought it was a pretentious and strangely art-house-orientated western, with too much focus on the visuals and the inventive execution of them, as well as the overall approach of making something “revolutionary” while just being different. I guess I simply couldn’t appreciate any of it that much at time, and furthermore, I wasn't even paying full attention to the film during the first watch, which happened to be a great mistake, obviously. Because this time around, I completely fell into the film and its atmosphere, and got properly emotionally invested in the story and its characters. Even for all the ways that it clearly succeeded the second time around, I still think Leone tries too hard at times, to capture previous great triumphs and make a perfect western in every sense of the word. It is like he knows that he has three classic westerns under his belt, and thus there is no need to reach for the pistol anymore. But besides all that, I won’t even try to deny that this is an exceptionally well-made western, which is mostly entertaining and has a fantastic atmosphere!
__________________________
April 27th
—— 1997 ——
Starship Troopers
—— sci-fi ——
REWATCH
Kill the bugs! Aaaaargh!
As it is the case with several people, I experienced this film for the first time at a young age and therefore remembered it to be rather awesome, obviously, with all the bug killings and stuff. But as I grew older I began to learn about how this was a brilliant kind of satire film, apparently, and while I could certainly imagine such thing, I had to revisit it to really look deeper into this element – and what better way to do this, than the fact that it actually got nominated for a Hall of Fame? Now was the perfect time to see if the film still held up to me, whether on a satirical or just straight up guilty pleasurable kind of level…
But as it turned out, if it ever were to be one of those above-mentioned labels, it would be the former. Personally, I really don’t see all the fuss about brilliant satire here; it feels like a very reduced and unsuccessful element in the film, though looking at the entire film as one, you could definitely pull something forward. But it isn’t the idea of it that counts but it is the execution, and that was pretty damn lackluster to me. To me, good satire has to be thoughtful and clearly present throughout, whether it is in a direct or subtle form doesn’t matter. With ‘Starship Troopers’ though, I felt like it was either very direct at times, but mostly just muddled and coincidental. Except for those commercials and a few other things, it was mostly never clear enough that it wanted to be satire. Perhaps the director intended it to be, perhaps the writer did, perhaps everyone did, but in the end it is how the film appears that counts. I also think the film is simply too stupid and cheesy to use satirical elements as a cover up for how far it is from a brilliant piece of cinema from that particular category. I think all the B-movie elements are far too strong and are overpowering the potential satire, which by the way, I probably wouldn’t even have noticed to the same degree that I did, if it hadn’t been for the fact that I knew about it beforehand.
Really though, I don’t care whether or not this film is satire, I only care about the fact that from a personal point of view, this wasn’t good satire. But I don’t feel like discussing all that, especially because Yoda did an amazing write-up not too long ago on this particular subject, and I pretty much agree with him… Anyways, putting all that to the side and looking at the film itself, for how it is made, I must say that I have seen Verhoeven do better. I think it feels lazy and uninspiring, though I get what it is aiming for. Still, this doesn’t even work as a guilty pleasure for me. So apart from a few great and fun moments, this is just a dull and surfaced attempt at entertainment to me.
-
__________________________
April 28th
—— 1946 ——
Make Mine Music
—— animaton ——
DISNEY CLASSIC no.8
Perhaps Disney's finest effort at creating a feature film full of animated shorts
where it actually works reasonably well
This so-called “package film” was definitely a lot more solid than the rest of them, and the specially selected combination of shorts seemed considerately better and more thoughtful this time around; even the concepts and characters were more aimed at adults – which was obviously a great thing. I really enjoyed the shorts ‘All the Cats Join In’ and ‘Two Silhouettes’, which were definitely the most creative and visually striking. ‘After You’ve Gone’ was pretty good too, and the rest was pretty mediocre but still acceptable. But the best of it all was, that there really weren’t any actual stinkers this time around, and I wasn’t bored out of my mind during any of them. I also liked that the music selection was much more jazzed and modern in its style, though still keeping things classical at times.
__________________________
April 29th
—— 2007 ——
The Darjeeling Limited
—— comedy ——
Wes Anderson is a weird cinema phenomenon,
but I just love his strange otherworldly creations!
This one is no exception, though it does feel like a lesser version of his typical signature style. I love the three main characters in the film, which are both well written and very odd to follow, and of course, they are played by excellent actors as well. As the title so elegantly suggest, this is a smaller film, but Wes Anderson knows how to put forward the little things, and make them appear bigger and more important. The movie is also about this inner spiritual journey, which Anderson does a great job at showing. Still, I feel like the film needed a little more edge and definitely some more filling, because it was going in circles at times and the story wasn't always clear and consistent. I loved the montages set to appropriate pieces of music, and with the added slow motion as well.
I loved all Andersons visual finger prints scattered throughout the film, and the characters were very fun to follow, but still I see this to be a lesser Anderson film overall. This journey was a bit too bumpy to be truly great, but fun and entertaining it definitely was.
__________________________
Okay, so I have done two huge film dairy updates to catch up to today's date, and one three-set horror list update, ALL written and posted today... I think that's enough for now, I badly need sleep now lol
Last edited by MovieMeditation; 05-02-15 at 12:04 PM.
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I think it's kind of weird you gave one of your top 100 horror films a -. Care to explain? All I can think of is you're giving it an honest technical rating, rather than an enjoyment rating.
I'm glad you gave Wait Until Dark a chance, even if you didn't love it as much as I do.
But at least you rated it higher than Starship Troopers.
But at least you rated it higher than Starship Troopers.
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I think it's kind of weird you gave one of your top 100 horror films a -. Care to explain? All I can think of is you're giving it an honest technical rating, rather than an enjoyment rating.
2 Yes, it's a guilty pleasure fun kind of movie, but it was also just a tad less than I remembered it to be, so my rating has lowed by half a popcorn since way back when. But 3/5 is not a bad rating at all in my book, that's 'fairly good', especially for a guilty pleasure movie.
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MM, maybe you could use slightly larger movie pics? I go by the pic as to what movie it is and they're too small to read. I suppose I could get that new 46 inch monitor
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MM, maybe you could use slightly larger movie pics? I go by the pic as to what movie it is and they're too small to read. I suppose I could get that new 46 inch monitor
I just zoomed out quite a bit on my 15" and I can still read the posters - and you can do the opposite, don't you know the zoom function!? heheAfter all it's just a miniture picture to quickly ignite your memory or give you a quick glance of it. After all, if you can't remember a movie by its title it's your own fault!
Last edited by MovieMeditation; 05-01-15 at 09:39 PM.
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Completely agree with you on The Ruins, Wait Until Dark, and Once Upon a Time in the West.
I'm one of the First Blood fans
I'm one of the First Blood fans
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Completely agree with you on The Ruins, Wait Until Dark, and Once Upon a Time in the West.
I'm one of the First Blood fans
I'm one of the First Blood fans
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Should probably see the Equalizer sometime, others seem to like it. I'm sad you aren't a First Blood fan though.
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I'm glad your opinion of Once Upon a Time in the West improved after the 2nd watching! It's my favourite spaghetti-western, and I'm a huge fan of the genre!
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I'm glad your opinion of Once Upon a Time in the West improved after the 2nd watching! It's my favourite spaghetti-western, and I'm a huge fan of the genre!
Thanks for checking in, neiba and Cole!
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MovieMeditation presents...
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... current day count
133 .......................... 123
__________________________
April 30th
—— 1968 ——
Planet of the Apes
—— sci-fi ——
EXTENDED REVIEW
Beware the beast Man, for he is the Devil's pawn.
Alone among God's primates, he kills for sport or lust or greed.
The first film I ever saw from this franchise was in fact not truly a genuine part of it, but instead a poor and bizarre struggle at a pretended reimagining, done by no other than the shadowy and shady director, Tim Burton. Luckily though, the franchise was successfully revived in 2011, and a sequel followed soon after on top of that. Both of these films I had a great time with, and I have always wanted to see where all this originated from. But I must admit though, that the questionable make-up and cheesy appearance have thrown me off for some years, even considering the fact that I really haven’t made that judgment from anything more than some photos and short video clips... Shame on me indeed, because this film was spectacular.
When the film started out, my impulsive uncertainties was already beginning to weigh in over my head, mainly because it looked just as cheap and cheesy as I had thought beforehand. The “green screen technology” of yesterday is far from impressive to look at, and the design of the spaceship in the opening looked boring and characterless from the inside, at first glance. And when the ship began to fall towards the ground, the somewhat perplexed perspective psychosis was turned up on high volume, and the director’s strange and lazy attempt at creating excitement and a feeling of dropping, was almost laughable. When our trio of characters finally became earthbound, there were some beautiful landscape shots to feast the eyes with, and you could certainly feel the mysterious atmosphere among the eternal deserted backdrop. A few interesting things happened following this, but it isn’t until half an hour in that this film makes its (titular) entrance! When the apes came racing furiously and dominantly into the picture, that is when the film became really interesting for me. This chase scene felt intense and existing and happened to be rather well shot, even despite previous complains of direction, and from there, the film pretty much got better by every minute.
At first the audience is gently introduced to this new upside down phenomenon of apes above the human race, which makes for some interesting and occasionally funny remarks and visual amusements. There are sections of dialogue touching upon hierarchy and the very purpose of a given species, which is all quite fascinating. But when the film goes all in, debating the very rights of a living creature, as well as their ideologies, viewpoints and beliefs – whether religiously or scientifically – that is when the film moves to a whole other level of genius and thought provoking filmmaking! The multi-subjected discussions of politics, and the sharp comparisons to the every day society, as well as the worrying future of it, are all brilliantly executed, and show a lot of control and confidence throughout. And still, the film isn’t shy of delivering a fun sentence here and there, or throw in some inventive visual references…
Overall this is a fantastic and groundbreaking film that equally entertains and provokes its audiences, without ever loosing sight of subject or story. This is also one of those films that – despite the admirable but rather dated special and practical effects – still stands as a timeless piece of essential cinema, that will continue to impress audiences for centuries to come. Maybe not for its visual look but undeniably for its infinite themes and generally thought provoking approach. And despite its fair share of “thematic heaviness”, this is still a fun and entertaining film on the outside, and you never feel like suffocating from any kind of forced attitude or plain point of view – every thought and every theme is elegantly wrapped in a fine package of intellectual entertainment. But I will say that it isn’t truly mandatory to dive headlong into this film to have a great time. You can also just let your eyes and ears do most of the talking, and still leave fairly satisfied. With that said though, it is arguably the finely balanced approach that makes this film work as well as it does. Hit Girl, you hit the spot with this nomination, and I’m thankful and glad to finally be apel (spelling mistake intended) to experience this glorious masterpiece for myself.
__________________________
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... current day count
133 .......................... 123
__________________________
April 30th
—— 1968 ——
Planet of the Apes
—— sci-fi ——
EXTENDED REVIEW
Beware the beast Man, for he is the Devil's pawn.
Alone among God's primates, he kills for sport or lust or greed.
The first film I ever saw from this franchise was in fact not truly a genuine part of it, but instead a poor and bizarre struggle at a pretended reimagining, done by no other than the shadowy and shady director, Tim Burton. Luckily though, the franchise was successfully revived in 2011, and a sequel followed soon after on top of that. Both of these films I had a great time with, and I have always wanted to see where all this originated from. But I must admit though, that the questionable make-up and cheesy appearance have thrown me off for some years, even considering the fact that I really haven’t made that judgment from anything more than some photos and short video clips... Shame on me indeed, because this film was spectacular.
When the film started out, my impulsive uncertainties was already beginning to weigh in over my head, mainly because it looked just as cheap and cheesy as I had thought beforehand. The “green screen technology” of yesterday is far from impressive to look at, and the design of the spaceship in the opening looked boring and characterless from the inside, at first glance. And when the ship began to fall towards the ground, the somewhat perplexed perspective psychosis was turned up on high volume, and the director’s strange and lazy attempt at creating excitement and a feeling of dropping, was almost laughable. When our trio of characters finally became earthbound, there were some beautiful landscape shots to feast the eyes with, and you could certainly feel the mysterious atmosphere among the eternal deserted backdrop. A few interesting things happened following this, but it isn’t until half an hour in that this film makes its (titular) entrance! When the apes came racing furiously and dominantly into the picture, that is when the film became really interesting for me. This chase scene felt intense and existing and happened to be rather well shot, even despite previous complains of direction, and from there, the film pretty much got better by every minute.
At first the audience is gently introduced to this new upside down phenomenon of apes above the human race, which makes for some interesting and occasionally funny remarks and visual amusements. There are sections of dialogue touching upon hierarchy and the very purpose of a given species, which is all quite fascinating. But when the film goes all in, debating the very rights of a living creature, as well as their ideologies, viewpoints and beliefs – whether religiously or scientifically – that is when the film moves to a whole other level of genius and thought provoking filmmaking! The multi-subjected discussions of politics, and the sharp comparisons to the every day society, as well as the worrying future of it, are all brilliantly executed, and show a lot of control and confidence throughout. And still, the film isn’t shy of delivering a fun sentence here and there, or throw in some inventive visual references…
Overall this is a fantastic and groundbreaking film that equally entertains and provokes its audiences, without ever loosing sight of subject or story. This is also one of those films that – despite the admirable but rather dated special and practical effects – still stands as a timeless piece of essential cinema, that will continue to impress audiences for centuries to come. Maybe not for its visual look but undeniably for its infinite themes and generally thought provoking approach. And despite its fair share of “thematic heaviness”, this is still a fun and entertaining film on the outside, and you never feel like suffocating from any kind of forced attitude or plain point of view – every thought and every theme is elegantly wrapped in a fine package of intellectual entertainment. But I will say that it isn’t truly mandatory to dive headlong into this film to have a great time. You can also just let your eyes and ears do most of the talking, and still leave fairly satisfied. With that said though, it is arguably the finely balanced approach that makes this film work as well as it does. Hit Girl, you hit the spot with this nomination, and I’m thankful and glad to finally be apel (spelling mistake intended) to experience this glorious masterpiece for myself.
__________________________
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Planet of the Apes is brilliant. Great example of sci-fi needing to be based on ideas, storytelling, and twists, not effects, because effects have nothing to contribute to the genre. Good review.
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