They went all Texas Chainsaw massacre with this one for a moment... and gritty! Was expecting a low-budget movie when they started - and maybe not a part of the official Death Race franchise at all, yet when Danny Glover and Danny Trejo came into the picture, and with the overconfident SWAT team intermezzo, with the fire and flame and carnage and Heavy Metal concert with topless bitches (just feels like proper terminology here - no offense intended) and initial showdown at the abandoned pool that looks a bit like the one in Chernobyl... I started getting convinced.

Ex-cheerleader?
Ex-pornstar?
Exactly.

This one is good.

They're back on track. They're hardcore. There's violence and nudity. Action for adults. There are certain imperfections, like the fake bridge gap, but you couldn't have expected them to catch that one could you?

Overall it's more Death Race than maybe any of the Death Race movies before it. Back to origins with a bad-ass main character to boot.

Though whatever happened to Bexi? I'm a little disappointed it ends the same way as all before it, and we never even knew who Frank was, he didn't seem like the one from the prequels...

There's also a a Lucy Aarden shower scene btw. Take note.

It's not perfect but I am satisfied with this movie - it's gritty like new few before it - Mad Max style! Hope there'll be more.

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle

I didn't realize I grew up in such a great era of film.

The flies a buzzing. The cars by the bridge. The glass and gruesomeness, the honorable yet unexpected death, and a Jay-Z feature to match the Denzel action acting. This was massive. Better than The Departed. Better than Heat. Better than any regular spy movie of today.

They do go overboard with shaky cam, saturated sunshine and close-up shots occasionally, but the acting's solid, and the action's solid, and everything just permeates professionalism, and desperation, both. Organized chaos. Charisma. Fearless resolve. Scrutiny and savagery. It's the CIA ey. It's not fancy - it's real.

Not sure if it's truly a top tier score movie but... yeah I think so.

And Ryan's been around a round huh. Didn't realize he'd tried so much more than the comedy we now know him for.

Great watch.

 rated 5/5: friggin awesome

I woke up late.

Late late late late.

Fading into a daydream I wasn't willing to fully whisk away - where everything fell into place. Where my future felt fulfilling, filled with fumes of passion and praise and plans and freedom and grace. I relaxed for a little bit longer; erased some of the wrinkles on my face.

I had weird dreams before that, as always. I was in a hotel bathroom for a while - reminiscent of one of those small ones they have on cruise ships. Though with a bathtub.

Come to think of it this one was probably inspired by the one I saw in Jack Reacher yesterday - where Jack is whacked in the back of the head with a baseball bat and falls into the tub, and two thugs come in and wreck havoc before he has a chance to react.

It's such a good scene.

I wasn't a huge fan of Jack compared to the contemporary John (Wick) when I saw the movie last time, but I think I've been turned now.
I appreciated this one so much more than I did then. For the intricacies; for the so flawlessly choreographed and necessary chaos to match his quick wit and professionalism. For the unorthodox and very cliché-combatting methods and mannerisms of combat and revenge. For the welcome minimalism in a world of action that's become all the more a mess.

In the dream I was just making a mess of that bathroom myself though.
It was a weird dream, like I said. And apart from the bathroom I was... somewhere else... wandering... not sure anymore. Fragments of subconscious thought flee me quick.

In real life I think I may have a tonsil infection or something. I'm chronically tired lately, the hearing in my left ear - adjacent to a paining tonsil - seems a little dull and obstructed. My teeth ache.

I hope I can rid myself of this shizzle before I take the train up to Duved next week, to celebrate my brother's girlfriend's 50th birthday. I have the presents ready, but not yet packed - hope to manage that and a quick watercolor card this weekend. Which is passing too fast for comfort.

Where does the time go. Row row row your boat... column.
(Say that like 'Gollum').

In more positive news that title track that's been on the backburner for all too long at this point that I believe I've mentioned in plentiful a previous post is nearing completion, finally! Hopefully it'll be up and out next week, and I can move on, and I'll be back to the gym with a vengeance after this upcoming trip.

Been playing it a bit safe lately. Instead of getting in shape lately.

On the one hand I still need to get in shape - I am working on it, and it'd be good with more routine exercise to fuel my focus; help me get more done... but on the other hand (or foot - why discriminate) I feel like I ought maybe as mentioned play it safe when I'm at this tier of tired.

Walks are a more moderate and sometimes suitable exercise option. The weather's rainy but I've been taking more of those...

And tonight I want to sleep! Already I just want to sleep. Just blackout for the night and

beep beep beep.

Speak more to y'all next week.

AKA Bond, A Bond, Ripples, Ripples of Time, REDUCE...

Reduce! Will they win? Will they lose? Will they once again be huuuge...

Human again! Who can stop them? This new league of friends! We're going going going... Who knows where it ends!

Can you reconcile? Being smaller than a child, just shrunk down
To a size where ants are on the hunt now!
Spiders crawling, grass straws a wall
Though together you stand strong, togetherness does falter!

How will our heroes kill their fear and all?
When the whole world is apparently a real assault?
It might've started in a lab, somehow it all went bad...
In armor now they're clad and... with despair default

And a tension! A focus on the goal at hand!
To get out of this land! Where no man follows the plan.
Some might lose an eye, some might even die,
The mind can only handle so much, it's suicide!

But you and I! We're both focused on the same task!
We all went this way and never came back!
The one motivation that keeps us going
Is the hope that one day we'll be back out in the open

And be big again! Fiends: Keep picking them!
We've gone from guns and bows to sticks again!
In the sticks it's a wild world and it gets wilder,
With the fate of your friends all falling behind ya

( This life, this life... is not what it seems!
The struggles, the fights...
This life, this life... sometimes seems like a dream!
You just wake in the night...

Roaming, running, going with the wind!
Climbing over cliffs to see your homies again!
Some are born warriors, some are born to build!
Some don't seem to know they have a sword in their hilt!

Some are on the hunt, some are just standing!
By while the sky turns black and the band thins!
Life as a very little man is demanding!
But it don't matter when your heart is strong! )

We will get it on!
We'll make those bombs!
We'll slay our demons!
We'll keep on breathing!

We'll carry on!
For those we lost!
They may keep on killing!
But we keep on building!

Time after time the good guys fall behind!
It's too much, never much good stuff in our minds
Can you survive? Living in this bush
Extreme times, maybe even harder than in Yakutsk

We set fires! Lighting up the dark to guide us
Reflecting fangs and tarsal parts that bind us
We're always on guard, always on the edge
Mejson on point, if he... clears his head

MarioGD the loyal follower and brother
Mazurek medic and maker like no other
There's Bott, there's Rash, Zip, Mate and Delsin
Candy and Keni all walking the edge thin

Conrad, Rowny and God-DL got hurt!
Steve, Jimmy and Jason are deep down in the dirt!
We're lost, lonely and damning this bitter Earth
But still we stand strong and put in work!

( This life, this life... is not what it seems!
The struggles, the fights...
This life, this life... sometimes seems like a dream!
You just wake in the night...

Roaming, running, going with the wind!
Climbing over cliffs to see your homies again!
Some are born warriors, some are born to build!
Some don't seem to know they have a sword in their hilt!

Some are on the hunt, some are just standing!
By while the sky turns black and the band thins!
Life as a very little man is demanding!
But it don't matter when your heart is strong! )

We will get it on!
We'll make those bombs!
We'll slay our demons!
We'll keep on breathing!

We'll carry on!
For those we lost!
They may keep on killing!
But we keep on building!

A bond...

That lasts! Lasts long...

We're going we're going we're right at the edge!
Spears in our hands and a fire in our heads!
We're riding the lightning no fear for the dead!
We're eyeing horizons so fiery and red!

But we keep on building! A bond!!!

Reduce...

Reduce...

Ahh where are we going in this life...
We've been down this road once or twice...
The ground is red just like the skies
The battlefield it never dries
We cannot leave it without fight

Some days may the night show us that we stand strong here like a vice though
Not on a tightrope
Who knows what titans we'll face but we'll set them ablaze, we slice foes
Just like a mango

Tango with death like a brush with a Van Gogh, in boots or sandals,
We're no longer choosey
Adventures we face as we chase the exit to this place, we do lose sleep,
Loosely

But we'll never quieten
Even at our ends, we're doing this with friends,
We're united we're lifelong, strong like the bison,
We go through the hurdles and maneuver every day it's bloody murder
The turmoil cannot be understated, we live day to day by the play that fate gives,
And maybe someday we will maybe make it, back to the highlands here adjacent

REDUCE!

Yeah!

It starts as a party movie, Wolf of Wall Street-like, a blitz of glamour and beauty. The great event. Then the romance. Then the comedy. Then the killer twist. I didn't expect it... and yet I did expect it.

You both do and don't. You both know, and loath the ending; wish to turn away from what you know will be there... and yet you don't.

It's an entrancing exploration of the old age NY with black music in back and a not too great set of ideologies and mustaches that might give you a hint at who the good guys are and who aren't early on, and yet...

Well just watch the movie. You'll see. Let's keep spoilers marginal.

Tobey Maguire was unexpectedly great as the main lead, and apparently he and Leonardo (DiCaprio) have been real-life friends since childhood!!! Who knew. Maybe it makes this all the better. All the more real. Maybe it breaks the fourth wall a bit. Is this good acting or is it just how they are...

The rest of the cast's killer as well, starring the likes of Carey Mulligan, Jason Clarke, Joel Edgerton, Lisa Adam and Isla Fisher. Among others.

The movie's art, and I loved it. From the intro to the credits, and everything in-between. It's magical. It's old. It's new. It's sad. It's unreal. It's everything. If you like the unorthodox - or the finesse of the old days, or the imaginative and authorly... give it a shot won't you. If you won't terribly mind.

I haven't read the book though, which apparently may be even better.
The viewers who critique this seem to hold than in almost unrealistically high regard.

But personally; without prior reference of comparison? This was a definite...

 rated 5/5: friggin awesome

It's a little cheesy yes, sometimes. The kids all look like adults. The story's cliché - but it plays with cliché too, and the ending is still one of most memorable ones in scary movie history. Not to forget the garage door scene! Props Rose McGowan, who looks a bit like Lindsay Lohan. And Billy like that guy from... who does he remind me of? Not sure.

Coincidentally ran into a podcast with Neve Campbell just after I'd watched this, and she spoke a bit about this movie on it: It took a look at the genre itself. It was self-referential. It was fresh and new and had humor as well. Neve Campbell, on Literally with Rob Lowe.

The sights were better than I remembered too. The sunrises.... it had some moments. Maybe it's the only scary movie parody that managed to be more than a parody, and actually received an actual parody based upon it too... maybe? (Scary Movie.)

Either way it still is great. Classic. Iconic. Praise. Straight A's.

 rated 5/5: friggin awesome