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You are reviewing movies you saw 9 months ago, props to having that much memory.
But I do have notes for some and also short to medium length reviews for others to guide me. But if I watched a movie I found really bland and forgettable and then realize I have nothing on it... I'm f*cked.
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MovieMeditation's Cinema Reviews // Film Diary 2015 // Letterboxd Profile // MovieMeditation's Top 50 Horror
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MovieMeditation's Cinema Reviews // Film Diary 2015 // Letterboxd Profile // MovieMeditation's Top 50 Horror
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Sad you didn't like The Fox and the Hound more but good review. It is one of my favourite Disney films, i accept a lot of that is due to nostalgia.
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Sad you didn't like The Fox and the Hound more but good review. It is one of my favourite Disney films, i accept a lot of that is due to nostalgia.
Indeed, nostalgia can do a lot to a movie and after all it's still Disney, which can never be all bad (well, not until later on...).
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MovieMeditation presents...
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... viewing day count
244 .......................... 280
__________________________
October 7th
—— 1985 ——
THE
BLACK
CAULDRON
—— animation ——
DISNEY CLASSIC no.25
Hidden by darkness, guarded by witches...
Discovered by a boy, stolen by a king...
Whoever owns it will rule the world...
Or destroy it.
Probably the most infamous entry in the Disney Animated Classics series, being both a sensitive subject and a box office bomb for Disney, which are two things that might mingle more than what meets the mind at first thought. When looking at it, you could almost say, that the movie has a history more fascinating than the film itself, in which the studio lost everything from their money to their motivation to make more movies after this. Disney was betting big time on a thematically ambitious and artistically different project, which could make you wonder exactly why they did that. Actually, the answers come with an army all the while the explanations for these answers is a one-man band on the battlefield of bafflement. Disney danced with the devil on this one and almost sold off their soul in the panicky process too, which saw them falling deep into the cauldron of uncontrollable chaos…
While Disney was working on their animated adaptation of Lloyd Alexander’s iconic tales, the budget for the film doubled, the entire production dragged and lot animators left the scene, all the while new ones of the same caliber couldn't be collected in time – all of which, by the way, meant very little to the new chairmen of the company, who went into the production with money over matter. They took shortcuts where they could, including actually cutting the film itself shorter, resulting in choppy changes to the final product. The black cauldron in the movie might be magical, but the black cauldron in which this catastrophe is brewed inside, is a mess of many ingredients made with many changes of tools throughout. But the question is, whether 'The Black Cauldron' comes across as a beautiful mess or simply a tasteless plate of possibility, slothfully served both overcooked and underseasoned...
Put together with a big record-breaking budget of $44 million and a higher than usual PG-rating from the MPAA, this movie was doomed to be darker and more dominant in scale and scope than the smaller and calmer days of Disney that came before it. But what ends up envisioned on screen is a movie made with many different minds behind the controls, moving in many different directions throughout, resulting in a perplexed product topped with laziness and a side of serious senseless decision-making. 'The Black Cauldron' could very well have been Disney's most daring and deadly piece of animation, but the trimming of the total runtime makes the mature content less lethal and more limp, while the shifting focus makes the film feel equally confused and cautious at the same time. The hero is what you seemingly call an assistant pig-keeper, who is supposed to be this likable and unlikely hero that saves the world from pure evil. His character reminds me a lot of Arthur from Disney's own 'The Sword in the Stone'; a film that furthermore feels like a loose prequel to the characters from 'The Black Cauldron' when you think about it. If Arthur had stayed to assist Merlin, ‘The Black Cauldron’ could very well be the tired outcome of it. Anyways, the wizard of this movie, Dallben, sends our hero, Taran, into a pale plot-device of an atrocious adventure, which seems evenly impossible and irresponsible from the get-go, despite working perfectly as an inflation for our story, although being a direct deflation for our character(s) and their respective arcs.
I didn't care much for any of the characters in this movie, but the most interesting ones were oddly enough the poorly fleshed-out characters, who, admittedly being the literal alteration of the saying, have no flesh on their bones at all. The Horned King, who may be slightly monotonic as an antagonist, but nevertheless menacing enough in appearance to at least be a memorable master of unpleasant passiveness when measured by looks and lurking lunacy alone. He mostly sits completely silent in his chair, while occasionally calling out commands, yet he definitely still feels fatally dangerous despite of his passive presence. The sidekicks, both the good and the evil, are a mixed bag of mostly mediocre fabrications. There is Gurgi on the good side, who is the Gollum-sounding, Gepetto-looking dog of ever-growing frustrations – while on the evil side – there is the mandatory right hand man, who in this case is a mundane, loud-mouthed Goblin of equally ever-growing frustrations.
I admit that the princess kind of speaks to me with her masculine manner and brave battle-heart, all the while the magical pig is a cute and cuddly little creature that I enjoy watching on screen. But even though the character of the princess points in the direct opposite direction of the often duplicated and dubious storyline of such sweet and innocent individual, she still doesn't stand as strong as she could have if the movie itself had been better. She might be the best character here, but that isn't saying much when being buried in a mess of boring and basic characters, who all go from best to worst within a very tiny scale, while having the main hero of the movie in the lower end of that scale… a place where he probably shouldn't be.
'The Black Cauldron' is ambitious alright, but fails to find a clear path to walk and a proper battle to win. The movie seems messy because of several edits and ever-changing ideas, which leaves the movie in the middle of two opposing worlds – being the death and life, respectively, of a good Disney production. I like the initial idea of it all, I just don't like the eventual outcome. John Hurt as The Horned King is beautifully satanic and surely something to behold, but the movie just doesn't go much beyond individual moments and ideas build around a storyline that just isn't all that interesting to begin with…
__________________________
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... viewing day count
244 .......................... 280
__________________________
October 7th
—— 1985 ——
THE
BLACK
CAULDRON
—— animation ——
DISNEY CLASSIC no.25
Hidden by darkness, guarded by witches...
Discovered by a boy, stolen by a king...
Whoever owns it will rule the world...
Or destroy it.
Probably the most infamous entry in the Disney Animated Classics series, being both a sensitive subject and a box office bomb for Disney, which are two things that might mingle more than what meets the mind at first thought. When looking at it, you could almost say, that the movie has a history more fascinating than the film itself, in which the studio lost everything from their money to their motivation to make more movies after this. Disney was betting big time on a thematically ambitious and artistically different project, which could make you wonder exactly why they did that. Actually, the answers come with an army all the while the explanations for these answers is a one-man band on the battlefield of bafflement. Disney danced with the devil on this one and almost sold off their soul in the panicky process too, which saw them falling deep into the cauldron of uncontrollable chaos…
While Disney was working on their animated adaptation of Lloyd Alexander’s iconic tales, the budget for the film doubled, the entire production dragged and lot animators left the scene, all the while new ones of the same caliber couldn't be collected in time – all of which, by the way, meant very little to the new chairmen of the company, who went into the production with money over matter. They took shortcuts where they could, including actually cutting the film itself shorter, resulting in choppy changes to the final product. The black cauldron in the movie might be magical, but the black cauldron in which this catastrophe is brewed inside, is a mess of many ingredients made with many changes of tools throughout. But the question is, whether 'The Black Cauldron' comes across as a beautiful mess or simply a tasteless plate of possibility, slothfully served both overcooked and underseasoned...
Put together with a big record-breaking budget of $44 million and a higher than usual PG-rating from the MPAA, this movie was doomed to be darker and more dominant in scale and scope than the smaller and calmer days of Disney that came before it. But what ends up envisioned on screen is a movie made with many different minds behind the controls, moving in many different directions throughout, resulting in a perplexed product topped with laziness and a side of serious senseless decision-making. 'The Black Cauldron' could very well have been Disney's most daring and deadly piece of animation, but the trimming of the total runtime makes the mature content less lethal and more limp, while the shifting focus makes the film feel equally confused and cautious at the same time. The hero is what you seemingly call an assistant pig-keeper, who is supposed to be this likable and unlikely hero that saves the world from pure evil. His character reminds me a lot of Arthur from Disney's own 'The Sword in the Stone'; a film that furthermore feels like a loose prequel to the characters from 'The Black Cauldron' when you think about it. If Arthur had stayed to assist Merlin, ‘The Black Cauldron’ could very well be the tired outcome of it. Anyways, the wizard of this movie, Dallben, sends our hero, Taran, into a pale plot-device of an atrocious adventure, which seems evenly impossible and irresponsible from the get-go, despite working perfectly as an inflation for our story, although being a direct deflation for our character(s) and their respective arcs.
I didn't care much for any of the characters in this movie, but the most interesting ones were oddly enough the poorly fleshed-out characters, who, admittedly being the literal alteration of the saying, have no flesh on their bones at all. The Horned King, who may be slightly monotonic as an antagonist, but nevertheless menacing enough in appearance to at least be a memorable master of unpleasant passiveness when measured by looks and lurking lunacy alone. He mostly sits completely silent in his chair, while occasionally calling out commands, yet he definitely still feels fatally dangerous despite of his passive presence. The sidekicks, both the good and the evil, are a mixed bag of mostly mediocre fabrications. There is Gurgi on the good side, who is the Gollum-sounding, Gepetto-looking dog of ever-growing frustrations – while on the evil side – there is the mandatory right hand man, who in this case is a mundane, loud-mouthed Goblin of equally ever-growing frustrations.
I admit that the princess kind of speaks to me with her masculine manner and brave battle-heart, all the while the magical pig is a cute and cuddly little creature that I enjoy watching on screen. But even though the character of the princess points in the direct opposite direction of the often duplicated and dubious storyline of such sweet and innocent individual, she still doesn't stand as strong as she could have if the movie itself had been better. She might be the best character here, but that isn't saying much when being buried in a mess of boring and basic characters, who all go from best to worst within a very tiny scale, while having the main hero of the movie in the lower end of that scale… a place where he probably shouldn't be.
'The Black Cauldron' is ambitious alright, but fails to find a clear path to walk and a proper battle to win. The movie seems messy because of several edits and ever-changing ideas, which leaves the movie in the middle of two opposing worlds – being the death and life, respectively, of a good Disney production. I like the initial idea of it all, I just don't like the eventual outcome. John Hurt as The Horned King is beautifully satanic and surely something to behold, but the movie just doesn't go much beyond individual moments and ideas build around a storyline that just isn't all that interesting to begin with…
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Good review. I give it , but I often disagree with your Disney animation ratings.
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It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
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It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page
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MovieMeditation presents...
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... viewing day count
245 .......................... 282
__________________________
October 9th
—— 2015 ——
BLACK MASS
—— crime ——
CINEMA REVIEWS
Based on the true story of one of the most
notorious gangsters in U.S. history
__________________________
__________________________
POINT AND SHOOT FOR PAST REVIEW
__________________________
-
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... viewing day count
245 .......................... 282
__________________________
October 9th
—— 2015 ——
BLACK MASS
—— crime ——
CINEMA REVIEWS
Based on the true story of one of the most
notorious gangsters in U.S. history
__________________________
__________________________
POINT AND SHOOT FOR PAST REVIEW
__________________________
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Good review. I give it , but I often disagree with your Disney animation ratings.
Yeah, we do seem to disagree on that particular area. Hopefully there will be a future film review of an animated classic that will be both a good and mutually agreeable review.
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I'm currently playing around with some ideas in regards to my reviews, but I don't know how much interest they would gather.
- Also, I kind of like to surprise people with whatever I choose to come up with, but since it's not a thing I'm dying to make I would just discuss it here. In some ways you could call it self-masturbation, but I guess the two ideas lean a little bit up against that of making personal lists and such. I'm currently messing around with the idea of two different threads...
One would be a list/ranking of sorts (probably not numbered though) where I would go back in time and recollect some of my personal favorite reviews/paragraphs/other fun or interesting stuff from past write-ups. I thought of it as some sort of trip down memory lane, which would also make me post more regularly since I have little time for my actual review threads. I thought about calling it something along the lines of "MM's Meditative Mindtrip" or perhaps "MM's Reviews & Recollections"... or maybe I would just go all the way and call it "MM in all of his Glory!"
Uh, anyways, the other idea was "MM's Lost Reviews", which would feature rewrites of a selection of earlier untagged and underworked reviews that I would then edit and expand upon. I thought about making this "themed" as well, meaning that I would maybe post reviews of a film franchise in a row or do a director's theme, actor's theme, whatever...
I don't know if this has any interest, but it's simply some ideas I've been messing around with... perhaps they'll never become anything in the end, but now I at least put them out there...
- Also, I kind of like to surprise people with whatever I choose to come up with, but since it's not a thing I'm dying to make I would just discuss it here. In some ways you could call it self-masturbation, but I guess the two ideas lean a little bit up against that of making personal lists and such. I'm currently messing around with the idea of two different threads...
One would be a list/ranking of sorts (probably not numbered though) where I would go back in time and recollect some of my personal favorite reviews/paragraphs/other fun or interesting stuff from past write-ups. I thought of it as some sort of trip down memory lane, which would also make me post more regularly since I have little time for my actual review threads. I thought about calling it something along the lines of "MM's Meditative Mindtrip" or perhaps "MM's Reviews & Recollections"... or maybe I would just go all the way and call it "MM in all of his Glory!"
Uh, anyways, the other idea was "MM's Lost Reviews", which would feature rewrites of a selection of earlier untagged and underworked reviews that I would then edit and expand upon. I thought about making this "themed" as well, meaning that I would maybe post reviews of a film franchise in a row or do a director's theme, actor's theme, whatever...
I don't know if this has any interest, but it's simply some ideas I've been messing around with... perhaps they'll never become anything in the end, but now I at least put them out there...
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"MM's Lost Reviews", which would feature rewrites of a selection of earlier untagged and underworked reviews that I would then edit and expand upon.
I understand the desire to organize, so maybe you could order franchise reviews in the OP?
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Top 100 Action Movie Countdown (2015): List | Thread
"Well, at least your intentions behind the UTTERLY DEVASTATING FAULTS IN YOUR LOGIC are good." - Captain Steel
Movie Reviews | Anime Reviews
Top 100 Action Movie Countdown (2015): List | Thread
"Well, at least your intentions behind the UTTERLY DEVASTATING FAULTS IN YOUR LOGIC are good." - Captain Steel
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I would just bring those over here rather than start a new thread.
I understand the desire to organize, so maybe you could order franchise reviews in the OP?
I understand the desire to organize, so maybe you could order franchise reviews in the OP?
That said, I could take on the lost reviews thing when I'm done with the entirety of 2015, and do those reviews as pick-ups/epilogues to the thread of some sort. If I end up doing those in here that's probably the best solution...
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MovieMeditation presents...
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... viewing day count
246 .......................... 282
__________________________
October 9th
—— 1986 ——
THE
GREAT
MOUSE
DETECTIVE
—— animation ——
DISNEY CLASSIC no.26
REWATCH
London's crime-fighting ace
on his most baffling case!
Somewhere in the midst of the 00s, Disney seemed to slowly crumble in quality, thereby leaving cracks in their otherwise legendary legacy, while laying out way too many crumbs behind them to be able to pull off one complete and perfect production after another into the endlessness of eternity... When examined under the looking glass, the studio had already begun to show slightly more crooked curves than sharp edges earlier on, which might make some loose a little interest or appear less invested as a viewer. Disney never actually scraped the lowest surface of awfulness, at least not in the 80s, but I was destined to dig deeper into what was dragging them down. A lot of answers came with 'The Black Cauldron', which saw a change in chairmen, production team, studio location as well as animation technology. The studio seemed to be searching for clues on how to continue making movies and this “animated investigation” was less imaginative than earlier works. Thankfully, the phase proved to be nothing but a minor misstep towards the trophy that awaited them, commonly known as, The Disney Renaissance...
Anyways, the films helping with the foundation of this coming period were never that bad to me, personally, despite being dragged down by some. In fact, I rather enjoyed the experimental adventures of pure nostalgia merged with a few new and enthusing ideas, which, thankfully, 'The Great Mouse Detective' is an excellent example of – or at least in my own investigative eyes. But what truly separates the mice from the rats here – or however the saying goes – is the amount of trust in their audience and belief in themselves and their talents, which Disney drives delicately forward with this film. The movie honestly holds one of the best collections of characters ever in an animated film aimed at children - well, at least among the many Disney classics, in my opinion. The best of the bunch is perhaps a strong wording, but I was seriously surprised with the great character development and the depth they all had within them.
At first glance, Basil seems to be just another simple and generic character, but as the movie moves forward, the small details slowly begin to derail the clichés and presents instead a much more fragile character; someone who shows clear motivations, after a deliberatively blurry set-up, and someone who shows some weaknesses despite of acting as the winning personality. Basil is an unlikely hero, who is not forcefully likeable either, nor does he have the usual love interest to make him loose track on the way through his character arc. He is a well-rounded character, who goes through personal phases throughout, which then changes him and his surroundings gradually. All this may make you think that this little mouse might amount to more than merely a great detective, which indeed does mean that you are coming closer to solving this case than before.
The same can be said about the rest of the main characters, who all evolve elegantly and efficiently throughout, while showing a very human side that is easily relatable as well. This is especially true with the nervous right hand mouse, Dr. Dawson, the brave young girl, Olivia, or her sympathetic and caring father, who is also the one who got kidnapped. The villain who kidnapped him, Professor Ratigan, voiced wonderfully by the great Vincent Price, has a superb yet simple set-up, which is beautifully realized with a great introduction piece that points to his huge hunger for power and greatness – something that gradually gains momentum throughout with his many mannerisms and the main focus on his humongous ego and eternal hatred of who he really is on the inside and outside... especially the outside. Anyways, this rat is quite simply rad, even if the side-kick bat is somewhat bad and bland beside him, though never awful and admittedly better than many character-clichés before it.
The actual story is really refreshing, truly riveting and a lot more mature and meaningful than other familiar and family-friendly films. There is a build-up, a middle and an end, which all feel more measured, calculated and clearly made as a mystery with a little bit of Sherlock in mind. The soundtrack is great as well, while the visuals are wonderful and imaginative all the way into a tense and titanic third act finale, which clocks in at a rodent-sized runtime of seventy-four fast-paced minutes of Disney in their (almost) finest hour of the decade.
-
__________________________
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... viewing day count
246 .......................... 282
__________________________
October 9th
—— 1986 ——
THE
GREAT
MOUSE
DETECTIVE
—— animation ——
DISNEY CLASSIC no.26
REWATCH
London's crime-fighting ace
on his most baffling case!
Somewhere in the midst of the 00s, Disney seemed to slowly crumble in quality, thereby leaving cracks in their otherwise legendary legacy, while laying out way too many crumbs behind them to be able to pull off one complete and perfect production after another into the endlessness of eternity... When examined under the looking glass, the studio had already begun to show slightly more crooked curves than sharp edges earlier on, which might make some loose a little interest or appear less invested as a viewer. Disney never actually scraped the lowest surface of awfulness, at least not in the 80s, but I was destined to dig deeper into what was dragging them down. A lot of answers came with 'The Black Cauldron', which saw a change in chairmen, production team, studio location as well as animation technology. The studio seemed to be searching for clues on how to continue making movies and this “animated investigation” was less imaginative than earlier works. Thankfully, the phase proved to be nothing but a minor misstep towards the trophy that awaited them, commonly known as, The Disney Renaissance...
Anyways, the films helping with the foundation of this coming period were never that bad to me, personally, despite being dragged down by some. In fact, I rather enjoyed the experimental adventures of pure nostalgia merged with a few new and enthusing ideas, which, thankfully, 'The Great Mouse Detective' is an excellent example of – or at least in my own investigative eyes. But what truly separates the mice from the rats here – or however the saying goes – is the amount of trust in their audience and belief in themselves and their talents, which Disney drives delicately forward with this film. The movie honestly holds one of the best collections of characters ever in an animated film aimed at children - well, at least among the many Disney classics, in my opinion. The best of the bunch is perhaps a strong wording, but I was seriously surprised with the great character development and the depth they all had within them.
At first glance, Basil seems to be just another simple and generic character, but as the movie moves forward, the small details slowly begin to derail the clichés and presents instead a much more fragile character; someone who shows clear motivations, after a deliberatively blurry set-up, and someone who shows some weaknesses despite of acting as the winning personality. Basil is an unlikely hero, who is not forcefully likeable either, nor does he have the usual love interest to make him loose track on the way through his character arc. He is a well-rounded character, who goes through personal phases throughout, which then changes him and his surroundings gradually. All this may make you think that this little mouse might amount to more than merely a great detective, which indeed does mean that you are coming closer to solving this case than before.
The same can be said about the rest of the main characters, who all evolve elegantly and efficiently throughout, while showing a very human side that is easily relatable as well. This is especially true with the nervous right hand mouse, Dr. Dawson, the brave young girl, Olivia, or her sympathetic and caring father, who is also the one who got kidnapped. The villain who kidnapped him, Professor Ratigan, voiced wonderfully by the great Vincent Price, has a superb yet simple set-up, which is beautifully realized with a great introduction piece that points to his huge hunger for power and greatness – something that gradually gains momentum throughout with his many mannerisms and the main focus on his humongous ego and eternal hatred of who he really is on the inside and outside... especially the outside. Anyways, this rat is quite simply rad, even if the side-kick bat is somewhat bad and bland beside him, though never awful and admittedly better than many character-clichés before it.
The actual story is really refreshing, truly riveting and a lot more mature and meaningful than other familiar and family-friendly films. There is a build-up, a middle and an end, which all feel more measured, calculated and clearly made as a mystery with a little bit of Sherlock in mind. The soundtrack is great as well, while the visuals are wonderful and imaginative all the way into a tense and titanic third act finale, which clocks in at a rodent-sized runtime of seventy-four fast-paced minutes of Disney in their (almost) finest hour of the decade.
-
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Me and the wife have started watching the Disney classics again. This will certainly be one we get to. We've gotten to Rescuers, Ichabod and Mr. toad, and Aristocats so far.
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That sounds awesome, raul, the classics are always nice and cozy fun! How did you like those three?
Last edited by MovieMeditation; 07-16-16 at 04:41 PM.
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Aristocats was much better than I remembered. Rescuers was good too. I wasn't a huge fan of Ichabod and Mr. Toad though
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Aristocats was much better than I remembered. Rescuers was good too. I wasn't a huge fan of Ichabod and Mr. Toad though
I also liked AristoCats more than I remembered and I love The Rescuers, as you could read earlier in the thread. And yeah, that Ichabod and Mr. Toad movie... not my cup of tea
*edit: why did I think you were cricket lol
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