MovieMeditation’s Diary Reviews // “Come and meditate with me!”

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MovieMeditation presents...
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... current day count
225 .......................... 241

__________________________


June 16th

—— 1995 ——
————— THE —————
USUAL SUSPECTS

—— crime ——
REWATCH


The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled
was convincing the world he didn’t exist…


There will be spoilers within this review
My initial viewing of this was anything but usual, since I think the hype around the movie clouded my mind to a certain point, where it would confuse my ability to focus on what I was currently watching. I would like to think that I was suspect to the classic phenomenon of expecting something more or something else entirely. I guess the hype made me expect a twist so extraordinary, that the rest of the film appeared less than ordinary. I kept thinking about the oncoming ending so much, that I kind of forgot to focus on the actual story, which made the twist come off as confusing and extremely convoluted. I didn’t feel like it was breathtaking at all, though I was definitely running out of breath when trying to follow an investigation I wasn't properly invested in from the start; putting my focus in all the wrong places along the way. Because, in reality, this story isn’t about what happened or what is about to happen – it is a story about what is happening and what hasn't even happened at all.

Many people will probably label this as a one-time experience that doesn’t need further solving, usually before even watching the film, only knowing that it is one of those with a twist ending. But despite the story having a twist the film is actually best viewed as an old case, which has been dug up again, dusted off and closely re-examined. Because with a second viewing, you actually know what is really going on and what will eventually be revealed in the end of the film. This makes you pay attention to every little visual portrayal of every tiny verbal detail, which is being told by Verbal himself throughout. You could almost say that the pay-off doesn't really pay off if you are watching it all from the perspective of the police officers. As long as you are not in the shoes of Kevin Spacey’s character, following every imaginative footstep of Verbal’s genius mind, you simply won’t be able to spot the brilliance within a story that is so complex about said brilliance. It is kind of like this complicated math problem that you have been sitting with for far too long, where you are hardly even paying attention anymore to what you are doing, until all of a sudden, you arrive to the correct calculation. But you won’t actually understand anything about it, not until you go back and look at every little step you made towards the correct result. What I’m trying to say here, is that the brilliance and admiration of the work lies beyond the conclusion – within all of what came before it and lead up to it.

I won’t deny that it is very amusing and at times mindboggling to follow every little breadcrumb laid out by Verbal at the police office, and it is most certainly fun to see him take a dump on every cop and every agent on duty, derailing their lead several times throughout. But that doesn’t mean that the made-up story created by Verbal is boring or uninteresting at all. Even though I feel like wanting to critique the story for feeling messy and nonlinear, kind of like it was made up as it went along, that would be kind of ironic wouldn’t it? If you ask me about the story centered on the so-called “usual suspects”, I wouldn’t call it great because of the story that plays out, but because of the characters themselves and how they move this mindless mindf*ck forward. These characters are definitely what excites me the most about that aspect of the story, since they are so diverse and different from… well… your usual suspects.

These carefully written characters are once again evidence of the elegantly executed screenplay by Christopher McQuarrie, capturing a cool line-up of unique distinctive caricatures, who are not only physically interesting but also have some killer-quotes chained together with their individual identities. Kevin Spacey is definitely captivating as the mind behind it all, Verbal, while the character of Benicio Del Toro is the person who have me totally and utterly hooked! He might be one of my favorite characters ever created, actually. Every time that guy says something or does something I can’t contain myself and usually burst out in laughter. Anyways, I really wish Bryan Singer would do more work like this, because he did a great job directing something that looked to be almost inadaptable at first sight. But you will have to pay close attention, if you are to catch it all and not get caught up in the mystery yourself. Because if you look away just for one second, or even blink for less than a second, you will miss it. And like that… it’s gone.





__________________________



This is it ladies and gentlemen,

This is where my one movie per day habit sadly had to be put to rest... I had so much fun doing it up until the days where I had too much going on and it became more of something I had to than something I wanted to. But thankfully I'm back watching movies and have been for quite some time. I had to take a break though and also only watch movies when I felt like it. I will continue to review and post my watching habits in here though, I only quit watching a movie per day not watching or reviewing entirely.

Anyways, I thought this would be the right time to post an update of ALL the movies I have been watching up until this point. You can click the titles for reviews you might have missed or you can just scroll through them to see what I watched. Here they are:


click links for reviews // * indicates rewatch

JANUARY

1. The Party (1968)*
1. Beauty and the Beast (1991)*
1. Predestination (2014)
2. Area 407 (2012)
3. Hellraiser (1987)
3. Rocky III (1982)
4. You’re Next (2011)*
5. Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)
6. Whiplash (2014)
7. Garden of Words (2013)
8. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)*
9. Whiplash (2014)*
10. Suspiria (1977)*
11. Pale Rider (1985)
12. Fury (2014)
13. Nightwatch (1994)
14. Birdman (2014)
14. Possession (1981)
15. The Night Stalker (1972)
16. Birdman (2014)*
17. A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)
18. The General (1926)
19. Boyhood (2014)*
20. Foxcatcher (2014)
21. Toy Story (1995)*
22. Toy Story 2 (1999)*
23. American Sniper (2014)
24. Toy Story 3 (2010)*
25. Zero Day (2003)
26. Audition (1999)
27. WALL·E (2008)*
28. Bad Boys (1995)*
29. Up (2009)*
29. Bad Boys II (2003)*
30. Nightcrawler (2014)*
31. The Haunting (1963)


____________________________________

FEBRUARY

1. Sherlock Jr. (1924)
2. Cars (2006)*
3. Adam's Apples (2005)*
4. Klown (2010)*
5. Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928)
6. Taken 3 (2014)
7. The Theory of Everything (2014)
8. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)*
9. Inherent Vice (2014)
10. Dances with Wolves (1990)
11. Crank (2006)*
12. Cars 2 (2011)
12. The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)
13. Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
14. A Few Good Men (1992)
15. The Tree of Life (2011)*
16. Alyce Kills (2011)
17. Jackass: The Movie (2002)*
18. Jackass Number Two (2006)*
19. Jackass 3D (2010)*
20. Crank 2: High Voltage (2009)*
20. The Fast and the Furious (2001)*
21. Fargo (1996)*
22. Big Hero 6 (2014)
23. 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)*
24. Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)*
25. Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)
26. The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)*
27. John Wick (2014)
28. Ivan's Childhood (1962)


____________________________________

MARCH

1. Fast & Furious (2009)*
2. The Apartment (1960)
3. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
4. Fast Five (2011)*
5. Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011)
5. Thank You for Smoking (2005)
6. Fast & Furious 6 (2013)*
7. The Graduate (1967)
8. Primer (2004)
9. The Imitation Game (2014)
10. Inherent Vice (2014)*
11. Batman Returns (1992)
12. The Kid with a Bike (2011)
13. Top Five (2014)
14. The Dark Knight (2008)*
15. Escape from L.A. (1996)
16. I Origins (2014)
16. Interstellar (2014)*
17. Bambi (1942)*
18. Superbad (2007)*
19. Winter Sleep (2014)
20. Alien (1979)*
20. The New World (2005)*
21. Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed (2004)
22. Aliens (1986)*
23. Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)
24. Spirited Away (2001)*
25. Notorious (1946)
26. The Absent One (2014)
27. Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
28. Paradise Lost 2: Revelations (2000)
29. Penguins of Madagascar (2014)
30. Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory (2011)
31. The Shining (1980)*


____________________________________

APRIL

1. The Virgin Spring (1960)
2. Furious 7 (2015)
3. Running Scared (2006)*
4. High and Low (1963)
5. Oculus (2013)*
6. Fantasia (1940)
7. Triangle (2009)*
8. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)*
9. The Crow(1994)
10. Pinocchio (1940)*
11. Rocky IV (1985)
12. Dumbo (1941)*
13. Rocky V (1990)
14. Saludos Amigos (1942)
15. It Follows (2014)
16. The Avengers (2012)*
17. The Three Caballeros (1944)
18. Rocky Balboa (2006)*
19. First Blood (1982)
20. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
21. The Ruins (2008)
22. Wait Until Dark (1967)
23. Thir13en Ghosts (2001)*
24. The Equalizer (2014)
25. Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)
26. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)*
27. Starship Troopers (1997)*
28. Make Mine Music (1946)
29. The Darjeeling Limited (2007)
30. Planet of the Apes (1968)


____________________________________

MAY

1. The Last of the Mohicans (1992)
2. Fun and Fancy Free (1947)
3. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)*
4. Rambo III (1988)
5. Time After Time (1979)
6. Children of Men (2006)*
7. Blade Runner (1982)*
8. Rambo (2008)*
9. Persona (1966)
10. Melody Time (1948)
11. The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)
12. Cinderella (1950)*
13. Death Proof (2007)*
14. Seven Chances (1925)
15. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
16. Monster (2003)
17. Paddington (2014)
18. Kill Bill vol. 1 (2003)*
19. Harakiri (1962)
20. Kill vol. 2 (2004)*
21. Basic (2003)
22. Alice in Wonderland (1951)
23. The Caller (2011)*
24. The Tree of Life (2011)*
25. The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie (1979)
25. Sinister (2012)*
26. Paths of Glory (1957)
27. Brazil (1985)
28. Peter Pan (1953)*
29. Shaun the Sheep Movie (2015)
30. Jacob's Ladder (1990)*
31. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)*


____________________________________

JUNE

1. Snowpiercer (2013)*
2. Ashes and Snow (2005)
3. In Bruges (2008)
4. The Face of Another (1966)
5. Le Samouraï (1967)
6. Lady and the Tramp (1955)*
7. Still Alice (2014)
8. 1408 (2007)*
9. Paprika (2006)*
10. Jurassic World (2015)
11. Sleeping Beauty (1959)*
12. Gunbuster (1988)
13. One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961)*
14. Hugo (2011)*
15. The Sword in the Stone (1963)*
16. The Usual Suspects (1995)*

— END OF ONE MOVIE PER DAY —

And to everybody who has stuck with me to this point,






MovieMeditation presents...
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... current day count
225 .......................... 241

__________________________


July 5th

—— 2015 ——
MAD MAX
FURY ROAD

—— action ——
REWATCH


"My name is Max...
my world is fire... and blood."


From my original review
"... Surprisingly enough, George Miller pretty much brings this movie home in almost perfect condition, after it has been soaked in gasoline and subsequently motor-mutilated for two total hours of complete cinematic lunacy. The characters, costumes and set designs are soaring with distinctive personality, and the adrenaline-fueled action scenes are done with old school mentality but adapted to new school standards. It works extraordinarily well for most of the time, but cutting it just by half an hour or so, this would have been a much tighter and more intensely constructed film ...."

I did actually up my rating by half a popcorn, but my thought on the film are mostly the same.
Click here to read my full original review!


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__________________________




MovieMeditation presents...
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... current day count
225 .......................... 241

__________________________


July 8th

—— 2015 ——
K i n g s m a n
THE___SECRET___SERVICE
—— action ——



The joker of this year’s cinema, Kingsman, came out of nowhere and surprised everyone
with its unknown unusual source material and stylistic violent approach!


Not many people had even heard of the comic book that it is based on, so obviously it was missing the sequel slash prequel type of hype, which many movies have today. Therefore, it didn't generate the biggest of audiences before its release, but after it was released to the world people went completely nuts! It kind of became one of those movies that you would call an undercover hit by a true hitman, Matthew Vaughn, who made his name known by adapting novels and later comic books – spawning the bad-ass superhero movie, ‘Kick-Ass’. People definitely didn’t rush into this film right away, but as they saw the effect it had on people it quickly came under investigation of many more movie goers, who all wanted so solve the question by themselves – is it really as good as the hype implies?

First off, I can clearly see why this movie became so popular and I wouldn't call people wrong for loving this film. But with that said, it wasn't a movie made in my taste, unfortunately. This film is an overly stylistic and statically silly computer-generated catastrophe, in my opinion, which fails to bring any proper weight or substance to the spy genre. It kind of seems like it wants to spoof the genre but ends up spoofing itself, which, intentionally or not, doesn’t come off as smart or sophisticated at all. It seems like the director wanted to cram as much crap into his film as possible, while not thinking if it would work or not, just if it would look cool. ‘Kingsman’ fails to play its cards correctly and gets lost in its own self-aware stupidity. Am I not able to have fun with a film like this? Most certainly, but I think it either tries too hard or doesn't try at all, I’m not too sure which one it is. When thinking about it, for a movie about a secret intelligence agency, it is overwhelmingly obvious how unintelligent it really is, cramming the jokes down our throat until we puke the amusement back up again. I hate being spoon-fed when it comes to comedy, and this one desperately wants us to either laugh at it or with it – I’m not sure if the director cares which one it is to be honest.



The movie is also totally unbalanced throughout, switching between trying and not trying at all. For a movie that obviously doesn’t have the best CGI – actually it kind of sucks – it still chooses to rely so damn much on it – using it when it is completely unnecessary as well. I mean seriously, they computer-generated a freaking cat into the film during the beginning, which wasn’t even there for more than a split second, and I can only ask “why”? And just when you are about to give up, it finally shows flair and style during the infamous church scene, as well as in the end when people are going worldwide crazy – pretty much acting the same as when a new Pitbull-song receives worldwide airplay. But anyways, it kind of feels like the movie wants to tell me something, but when I try to put my attention to the screen and listen, I just don’t get captured or even care for what it is telling me. It is like I said, it seems stupid for the sake of stupidity in the hopes of making us laugh – and most of the time it is only stuff that sounded fun on paper. Look, for example, when watching the bad motherf*cker himself, Samuel L. Jackson, wearing wangster clothes and talking with a lisp; you may laugh at the idea of seeing it come true, but it is only mildly entertaining for the first few lines of dialogue – then it is just pathetic. A lot of the movie feels like that; like if ideas were just thrown around a room and then slammed into the script without further thoughts; most of it seems to be in the category of "fun but never functional", unfortunately… a girl with blades on her feet? Well, cool idea, but I don't care and I don’t really want to see it executed either...

With all that said, I would actually say that the church scene alone is worth the watch. It is the ultimate and extreme version of the film, where all of which the movie originally set out to do is upped with a 110 percent, finally colliding with coolness, and it makes for a perfect middle piece within an otherwise painfully pathetic flick. Harsh, perhaps, but hardly too far off... Okay, maybe a bit too harsh, but I do think it is a bit pathetic and pondering to experience, kind of like a beating to the head with a giant purple dildo. You laugh for a short while, but then the silliness and stupidity of the scenario just begin to hurt your brain a lot and you wonder what the hell you are doing with your life… kind of like I am now, when making purple dildo references. I’m sorry for that. But honestly, I'm not in a rush to run out afterwards and tell all my friends about my experience. It did seem like a fun idea at first, but it didn't really work in real life and now I just want to forget about it. So if ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service’ could just remain secret that would be a great service to me personally.


-
__________________________



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
I didn't read your review for Kingsman yet, but I looked at the rating and I was disappointed. When I read the synopsis for this movie, (before it was released), I thought it sounded really good, and I wanted to see it, (when it comes out on DVD), but I keep seeing low reviews for it and I'm not sure what to think about it anymore.



MovieMeditation presents...
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... current day count
225 .......................... 241

__________________________


July 9th

—— 1995 ——
B E F O R E
S U N R I S E

—— drama ——
CINEMA REVIEWS

REWATCH

READ REVIEW

-

Be sure to check out my full reviews for the other two in the trilogy, 'Before Sunset' and 'Before Midnight',
which I also reviewed in my Cinema Reviews thread!

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B E F O R E
S U N S E T


READ REVIEW

-
___________________________

B E F O R E
M I D N I G H T


READ REVIEW

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MovieMeditation presents...
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... current day count
225 .......................... 242

__________________________


July 10th

—— 2015 ——
HOME
—— animation ——



"Can I come into
the out now?"


From the studio that brought you universally acclaimed features like ‘Shrek’ and ‘How to Train Your Dragon’, comes a movie that was flying against the wind from the very start and was basically bound to fail – it’s ‘Home’! Honestly though, when I saw the mixed reception and mildly entertaining movie clips, I really wasn’t too excited about it either. My expectations were very low and I was basically prepared for a piece of animated assembly line garbage. But to my surprise this film was actually totally passable entertainment, though it may not be a perfect home run by DreamWorks Animation Studios, that’s for sure…

What I really liked about this film was the clever humor, which was both delivered as silly remarks and jokes of substance, and I also enjoyed the depiction of a weirdly wonderful world that kind of left you homesick when the movie ended. Because these little creatures who live there, called Boovs, are both cute and cuddly and there is no way you can hate on them or their inability to speak grammatically correct. The main character of Oh, voiced by the great Jim Parsons, is a joy to watch and it makes the movie truly worth it for me. The character of Tip, voiced by Rihanna, is a strong female character in her own way, but I don’t know if I like her when voiced by a pop singer who has her own songs plastered all over the soundscape of the film – honestly, I just wanted to escape every time a new song came on. It felt so forced and frankly quite annoying as well.

The story and universe of the film feels extremely underdeveloped and rushed at times, like they had tons of ideas and concepts that just never made it passed drawing boards – I saw another critic comment on this and I can only say it is true. This is what mainly pulls the movie down for me, since it feels like a jumbled and jiggered attempt at something that just never succeeds. It keeps trying to build itself up, but ends up alienating itself from its own premise. The climatic finale feels out of place and rushed, where we finally see the villains who were merely referenced throughout and I wished for better structure in the plot. It does come off as an unfulfilled experience, but the atmosphere and emotion hits home at least to some degree, and overall this film was definitely better than expected. Solid entertainment, but as a movie it had plenty of problems and a lot of space for improvement.


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__________________________




MovieMeditation presents...
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... current day count
225 .......................... 242

__________________________


July 11th

—— 1973 ——
LIVE AND LET DIE
—— adventure ——



"He always did have
an inflated opinion of himself..."


This film is the first to star Roger Moore as the iconic character with a flair for female seduction and lethal execution, but unfortunately it is far from his best turn in the suit and tie titular role as the MI6 agent with the three-digit license to kill – 007 is double o’ dreading to retire early after this one. But thankfully, Mr. Moore found his footing later in the franchise and made a name for himself and fame for a film series that looked to be shelved, after Sean Connery left the guns and girls behind. Anyways, let us talk about the film and whether we want the franchise to live or let die after this one…

The James Bond franchise is a long-running series of movies and obviously there is going to be a need to continuously create something new and refreshing so that the films can stay lethal at the box office. So when you are surrounded with the popularity of different types of genres, it can be hard not to try and cash in where the money are. But just because we live in the wake of a certain genre’s popularity, that doesn’t mean it will work in a Bond-movie. When science fiction was on its rise in the 70s, with movies like ‘Star Wars’, that doesn’t mean we need to throw Bond into space, right? Unfortunately, it did, and science fiction wasn’t the only riveting genre on the rise in the 70s – Blaxploitation films was a rather popular phenomenon too – so naturally, we received a black Bond in colorful clothes and a straw hat, running around shooting white people to funky tunes and a fancy soulful soundtrack. Oh wait a minute… we didn’t get that one?

Anyways, we didn’t get a black Bond but we basically got a full-blown Blaxploitation feature with Bond blended into the mix of a movie way too eccentric and exotic for a cream-on-cream cracker in a tuxedo tugging his plain white shirt into high waisted pants. The atmosphere of the film doesn’t really feel like a Bond movie; neither does the story. Everything is just really weird, especially with all that voodoo-stuff, which isn’t even used to any type of proper potential. The plot is so uneven and makes for a very messy movie, where the tone in particular is painfully patchy and campy; what’s up with the black blow-up doll people, seriously? Honestly, I don’t know what to say, we got Bond running on crocodiles and a creepy voodoo dude appearing and disappearing throughout the film. Actually, not even the big boat chase is worth the time, in my opinion. This is mild entertainment at best, but at least it isn’t Bond at his worst; though it definitely isn’t good either... the title song is really good though, but you can safely leave after the credits…



huge props to that stuntman though!



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Survivor 5s #2 Bitch
I agree, I'd much rather watch Coffy it's probably the best film in that sub-genre. I agree about Roger Moore, too, because he's probably just as remembered for playing the role as Connery was in the end, and I think he was one of the better Bonds once he found his way.



I like Live And Let Die. I like Blaxploitation and I like Moore as Bond, but it's certainly not up there with The Spy Who Loved Me or The Man With The Golden Gun.
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5-time MoFo Award winner.



I like Live And Let Die. I like Blaxploitation and I like Moore as Bond, but it's certainly not up there with The Spy Who Loved Me or The Man With The Golden Gun.
I remembered you to be one of those who also like TMWTGG! one of my favorite Bonds, despite its reputation.



Honestly I hated Home. Opinions are opinions, but I don't see what makes you consider Jim Parsons great. He has one character. He plays it well on Big Bang Theory, he played it poorly on SNL, and he plays it mediocrely in this. Rihanna did the Die Antwood in Chappie things of acting, scoring, and self promoting with the movie. A lot of it felt like a commercial for her next album. The aliens spend the entire time speaking in LOLcat, which gets really grating really fast, and unlike you I did hate them for it. For me, the only joke that made me laugh wasn't even a joke, it was having Jennifer Lopez in the cast (in the book this was based on, Jim Parson's character was named Jay Low. Meta humor.) As a frequent supporter of Dreamworks' animation, this was a weak effort. The character art is so basic and corporate. It feels like the aliens were designed to be easily recreated in plush form. The colors are bright but simple. I would rather watch an ambitious failure than something that doesn't even try to appeal to anyone over 6 (and "it's for kids" is a ridiculous argument, because Inside Out is for kids and that appealed to everyone)



As I said, I knew about its reputation and I'm not even gonna try to argue about any of the negativity around it. Most of what you say is true, but I still had a fun time nevertheless. A weak effort in terms of Dreamwork's usual offerings, but I still had fun. Dumb fun perhaps, but I was able to look past most of it.

I have never watched The Big Bang Theory, so I'm not even a fan to be honest. I thought he did a great job in this one though and for that he earns 'the great' before his name. It wasn't meant to be taken totally serious or anything... kind of like this movie.



As I said, I knew about its reputation and I'm not even gonna try to argue about any of the negativity around it. Most of what you say is true, but I still had a fun time nevertheless. A weak effort in terms of Dreamwork's usual offerings, but I still had fun. Dumb fun perhaps, but I was able to look past most of it.

I have never watched The Big Bang Theory, so I'm not even a fan to be honest. I thought he did a great job in this one though and for that he earns 'the great' before his name. It wasn't meant to be taken totally serious or anything... kind of like this movie.
That's great that you had fun with it. He does play the character well, but I can't think of a single thing that I've ever seen him in where he doesn't play the socially awkward quirky dork that starts with no friends but acquires them over time because darn it he's so lovable and quirky.



That's great that you had fun with it. He does play the character well, but I can't think of a single thing that I've ever seen him in where he doesn't play the socially awkward quirky dork that starts with no friends but acquires them over time because darn it he's so lovable and quirky.
Can't argue with that either.



MovieMeditation presents...
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... current day count
225 .......................... 242

__________________________


July 12th

—— 1996 ——
THE
ROCK

—— action ——
REWATCH


I love pressure,
I eat it for breakfast...


Like many others, I kind of have this love-hate relationship with director, Michael Bay, and his bombastic filmography of explicit explosions and implicit expositions of crude humor and cool attitudes. You can say all you want about his latest lackluster offerings, but there are many who agree that Bay hit the bonanza with his rock-solid subsequent action adventure, following an admirable debut with the first ‘Bad Boys’ film. It may be a little early to hit his high point, but Bay offered what is arguably the best film of his entire career, with this one. His latest nauseating abominations against humanity are nothing but an action-fraction of what he used to deliver. ‘The Rock’ is a perfect example of Bay at his best…

I don’t think I can even count the countless amounts of times I have seen this film, and I totally love every single revisit to the rock of Alcatraz and the alpha-trash entertainment that it brings! Seriously, this movie is boosting with bad-assery and I’m pretty sure it is the most fun you will ever have inside a prison. Sean Connery was having his pension at a prison and the energetic effort he brings to his charismatic character is just the bomb! Who knew that a man of his age could be so full of life and everlasting appeal? I wouldn’t say Connery dominated the 90s, but he definitely dominated this film. But there was someone who was at his prime in this period and that is Nicolas Cage himself! Cage unleashes the beast for this film and finds the perfect balance between dumb dork and goofy scientist, with a cool combo of dramatic and comedic acting persona. Ed Harris doesn’t do anything out of the usual here, but his character is interesting and he ups the replay value for this film even further.

The story does deliver a proper main course of action attractiveness with a booming Bayside of explosive extravaganza and high saturated sequences of lively action scenes! I mean come on, the story may not be the best, but it does set up the action in a great way, which is what I mostly look for in an action flick – especially those that just wants to be free from fancy artsy fartsy finesses and just have some fun instead! This is one of the best action films out there, hands down. It is fun and full of one-liners delivered with flair for presence, it has action and excitement to enjoy for hours on end, it has Cage in his prime and Connery in a beautiful closing and the overall entertainment of it all is through the roof! Welcome to The Rock people, and it freaking rocks… can’t say it better than that.


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