This and That (Where Great Conversations Are Happening)

[BreakBeatDJ]

16 hours ago, Gary K said:

 

Agreed re: Marty.  He is not an egotistical gatekeeper whatsoever.  

 

The thing with awards is that they are an opinion writ large frozen in time.  So the academy of 1990 didn't think goodfellas was best picture.  All that means is that those in the academy at that time (which is, obviously, very different than the academy today) didn't agree.  The Oscars always have been and always will be a reflection of the state of "Hollywood" at a given moment and NOT a statement on what might be objectively "best" if such a conclusion is even possible about art.

 

Personally, I find the oscars entertaining for what they are and worthless in terms of what I personally like or dislike.  I'm not in the academy.  I'm just one film lover who has never made a thing.

 

 

 

Perfectly said Gary.  I get annoyed with people always dissing on the academy awards, either because the movies they think are great don't win, or because it isn't representative of their cinema ideal.  This is an industry award show, it is not a fan award show, it is not a history of cinema award show, it is not any of those thing.  It is an industry telling others in their industry what they like, what they think is important, and what they want to award.

 

I am not in the academy, but have many friends who are (I love all those free screening, pre-release BluRay parties!) and most of them are voting based on industry considerations at the time of the awards.   Like Gary said, it's a snapshot of industry opinion at that moment.  And those opinions of the academy are based on all the insider industry considerations of their career experiences at that time (almost all of which the public have no idea of what is happening).  

 

Look at the Miramax years, and the lobbying, and the way Miramax was changing the industry, it is reflected in the way the academy voted during those times.   Did Gwenny "deserve" the best actress Oscar over Cate Blanchett that year?  From a performance stand point, no, but at that moment in time, the industry loved what Miramax was doing and wanted to award that.

 

The opinion that the academy awards is a joke because they don't reward the truly best film is just a lack of understanding and accepting what the academy awards are.

[nathan_s82]

Happy Tuesday All!!! Hope you have an amazing day!

5 Days Until St. Patrick's Day

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[Casiusco]

Good mornintg/afternoon everybody!!

 

This is now a reality:

 

 

Who would like to give us a collector's edition?

 

That would really brighten up the day!

 

Have a nice afternoon!  

 

 

 

 

[Casiusco]

7 hours ago, Fortis93 said:

 

I think the Oscars have become an outdated model.

 

I think people tune into them more for potential amusement than anything else, but even then that viewership is declining as it's hard to relate to the people in that industry.

 

While Oppenheimer was my favourite movie of last year and is one of the rare items I've agreed with the Academy (particularly in the last decade or so), I don't think it's Nolan's best film either. There were few issues that I think held it back from being really great.

 

The industry itself has devolved too much into an "art/cinema" vs. entertainment dichotomy, which I think ultimately hurts the quality of the movies we've been getting. I think it's really starting to show in the type and quality of movies we've been getting lately.

 

At this point, criticising superhero movies has become just as tired and worn-out as some of the movies themselves. It tries to paint these movies as the disease when they're actually a symptom of a much bigger issue with (mostly) studios and filmmakers.

 

And to be honest with you, many of these other "serious" or Indie films aren't really hitting the spot either in my opinion. I think many of them suffer from similar issues that superhero films get criticised for.

 

I think the best films emerge not through Oscar validation, but through passionate discussion on forums such as these with film fans still gushing about them, being inspired or influenced them, etc. many years after their release.

 

 

There are two problems here.

 

First, the cinema.

 

The current situation responds to changes in society and in the profile of consumers. Adapting the product to a generation that does not show a special interest in cinema is not very coherent, while the fact that the studios are now governed by financial delegates from other large corporations conditions everything.

 

Obviously, superhero cinema is not the problem, just a symptom of how the industry has focused on what it thought it could better tune in to the new generations. And even those new generations have specific characteristics. Because even there you can go further, and think of today's superhero films as something different from what, for example, Nolan did with his Batmans. And therein lies the core of the problem: not the films themselves, but the focus on an audience that only escapes to see a certain kind of cinema, and little else. 

 

And the redefinition of studios as financial machines, far removed from the concept of filmmakers, conditions everything. Even Michael Douglas has problems financing "cheap" films if they don't follow a certain canon. Not to mention the exaggerated - and sometimes unjustified - costs that certain types of films have reached.

 

As for indie or more serious films, I think we are not in a bad moment. I think of films like Zona de Interés, Anatomía de una caída, and others, and it wasn't a bad year.  I don't agree with you there. The problem is that resources are focused elsewhere right now, and it's harder to get a film off the ground. 

 

Second, the Oscars.

 

I think their credibility has sunk between ridiculous decisions, and then also trying to adapt to this new audience. Which makes no sense. It's more like the MTV awards than the Oscars.

 

This is also influenced by the fact that a generation of academics has been disappearing, and a new community of academics has been growing up that has nothing to do with them. I remember a statement by a veteran academic who said that academics used to get together and, for example, discuss Antonioni's films.

Now there are a lot of new academics, who became academics through successive nominations in this context of opening up to other kinds of audiences, without a higher level or requirement, and who not only don't know who Antonioni was, not so important, but who have succeeded and have become something working for a public that thinks that Spielberg is only the director of "Ready player one", and some other films that nobody is interested in.

 

That's the fact. IMO.

[Veum]

🤠 howdy one & all, I hope your Tuesday is nice enough! 🙋🏻‍♂️ 

 

 

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Edited March 12 by Veum

[LeadFarmer]

good morning guys. what's crackin

[Veum]

[Hollywood E Rock]

On 3/11/2024 at 12:46 PM, Hollywood E Rock said:

 

He is an old gatekeeping bastard who doesn’t need anymore awards to inflate his already large ego. His a$$ gets kissed enough, & him being nominated should be enough validation that he can still create some of the best films around.

 

 

23 hours ago, R1s1ngs0n said:

Scorsese an old gatekeeping bast*rd with a large ego? since when, exactly?

 

 

23 hours ago, Gary K said:

 

Agreed re: Marty.  He is not an egotistical gatekeeper whatsoever.  

 

Old gatekeeping bastard w/a large ego actually isn’t the right description. I was being spicy or provocative w/my words, & being sleepy didn’t do me any favors with expressing myself. What I should have said was he is an old out of touch bastard yelling at the clouds suffering from a mild case of elitist identity. I’ll unpack what I mean later, I have to take care of somethings in the real world 🙄. I appreciate both of your perspectives on topics so I look forward to further discussion. 

[Veum]

3 minutes ago, Hollywood E Rock said:

 

 

Old gatekeeping bastard w/a large ego actually isn’t the right description. I was being spicy or provocative w/my words, & being sleepy didn’t do me any favors with expressing myself. What I should have said was he is an old out of touch bas*turd yelling at the clouds suffering from a mild case of…. elitist identity. I’ll unpack what I mean later, I have to take care of somethings in the real world 🙄. I appreciate both of your perspectives on topics so I look forward to further discussion. 

 

 

[Veum]

Good night to you who need to 🛌 

 

[Veum]

Need a movie recommendation from y’all? 🤔 

Edited March 12 by Veum

[BreakBeatDJ]

3 hours ago, Hollywood E Rock said:

 

 

Old gatekeeping bastard w/a large ego actually isn’t the right description. I was being spicy or provocative w/my words, & being sleepy didn’t do me any favors with expressing myself. What I should have said was he is an old out of touch bastard yelling at the clouds suffering from a mild case of elitist identity. I’ll unpack what I mean later, I have to take care of somethings in the real world 🙄. I appreciate both of your perspectives on topics so I look forward to further discussion. 

 

Yeah, I'm with @R1s1ngs0n and @Gary K . . . but your provocateur gangster lean has me curious . . .

 

[Veum]

3 minutes ago, BreakBeatDJ said:

 

Yeah, I'm with @R1s1ngs0n and @Gary K . . . but your provocateur gangster lean has me curious . . .

 

 

[Heywoodmoutaw]

3 hours ago, Veum said:

Need a movie recommendation from y’all? 🤔 

I’m going to try to get better at recommending movies for you.  I’d already seen this, put it on to fall asleep last night, ended up watching the whole thing again.  It’s a combination of revenge movie and comedy about dorks:

 

[Veum]

38 minutes ago, Heywoodmoutaw said:

I’m going to try to get better at recommending movies for you.  I’d already seen this, put it on to fall asleep last night, ended up watching the whole thing again.  It’s a combination of revenge movie and comedy about dorks:

 

 

Thanks @Heywoodmoutaw, I really enjoy Mads and will have to obtain this sometime in the future. 😉

[Heywoodmoutaw]

31 minutes ago, Veum said:

 

Thanks @Heywoodmoutaw, I really enjoy Mads and will have to obtain this sometime in the future. 😉

Currently on Hulu, Kanopy and Hoopla!

 

Another FYI, for folks who don’t know, Kanopy and Hoopla are services that are free, you sign up with a library card.  I like Kanopy in particular, lots of Criterion movies.  Hoopla’s app can also be used to check out audiobooks for free, they also have a massive graphic novel collection, all free.

[Fortis93]

14 hours ago, Casiusco said:

First, the cinema.

 

The current situation responds to changes in society and in the profile of consumers. Adapting the product to a generation that does not show a special interest in cinema is not very coherent, while the fact that the studios are now governed by financial delegates from other large corporations conditions everything.

 

Obviously, superhero cinema is not the problem, just a symptom of how the industry has focused on what it thought it could better tune in to the new generations. And even those new generations have specific characteristics. Because even there you can go further, and think of today's superhero films as something different from what, for example, Nolan did with his Batmans. And therein lies the core of the problem: not the films themselves, but the focus on an audience that only escapes to see a certain kind of cinema, and little else. 

 

And the redefinition of studios as financial machines, far removed from the concept of filmmakers, conditions everything. Even Michael Douglas has problems financing "cheap" films if they don't follow a certain canon. Not to mention the exaggerated - and sometimes unjustified - costs that certain types of films have reached.

 

I 100% agree that studios should be backing other types of films.

 

I don't so much think there is as much of an issue with the audience as there is with the studios throwing stupid amounts of money at only one type of film. I know COVID didn't make things easier in this regard, but I don't think that type of model is sustainable in the future.

 

If the "Barbenheimer" phenomenon last year taught us anything, it's that there is an appetite for other kinds of films (regardless of how you may feel about either film). Hopefully, this will start to turn the tide on the kinds of films that get funded in the future.

 

Quote

As for indie or more serious films, I think we are not in a bad moment. I think of films like Zona de Interés, Anatomía de una caída, and others, and it wasn't a bad year.  I don't agree with you there. The problem is that resources are focused elsewhere right now, and it's harder to get a film off the ground. 

 

I know I'm in the minority here and I do respect that this is your opinion.

 

Keep in mind, some of my favourite movies of last year were "They Cloned Tyrone" and "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial"; smaller or more serious films that didn't get a lot of fanfare last year, so what I said earlier doesn't apply to all of them.

 

And granted, I've yet to see those two films you have mentioned, but I just feel some of these more serious or smaller films have the problem of being too stylised, abstract, self-aware and indulgent to resonate with me personally. They don't feel grounded in some way, which is also a problem many of these recent superhero movies have.

 

I think we're in a bit of an age where directors can become the stars of their own movies. On one hand, it's nice that they get to share the spotlight that was usually reserved for actors, but on the other hand, you also get directors wanting to show themselves off in some way through the movies they make; whether it be some cinematic trick or technique or some subversion that I often find to be distracting rather than immersing.

 

It's like watching a puppet show where you can see the strings and the puppeteer rather than being drawn into the story being told. 

 

Edited March 13 by Fortis93

[Casiusco]

Good morning everyone!

 

Yes, the world is getting smaller and better communicated. 

 

My hometown soccer team, of which I am a big fan, and which has never won anything important, is having a birthday, this season it turns 100, and it has a centennial anthem. 

 

It's very original, and has been very successful here. 

 

But the most curious thing is that, an anthem of a celebration of a small team that has never won anything in a lost corner of Spain, sung in galician language,.... ends up being the music of a spinning session of a successful fitness instructor/influencer in the USA.

 

It's the butterfly effect!

 

Edited March 13 by Casiusco

[nathan_s82]

Happy Wednesday All! @Veum, if you get a chance, give The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari a watch. It is on Amazon Prime and Tubi.

4 Days Until St. Patrick's Day

18 Days Until Easter

66 Days Until Texas Frightmare Weekend

86 Days Until Fan Expo - Dallas

122 Days Until Retro Expo

227 Days Until Cowtown Comic Con

232 Days Until Halloween

260 Days Until Thanksgiving

287 Days Until Christmas

294 Days Until New Year

338 Days Until Valentine's Day!

[Veum]

11 hours ago, Heywoodmoutaw said:

Currently on Hulu, Kanopy and Hoopla!

 

Another FYI, for folks who don’t know, Kanopy and Hoopla are services that are free, you sign up with a library card.  I like Kanopy in particular, lots of Criterion movies.  Hoopla’s app can also be used to check out audiobooks for free, they also have a massive graphic novel collection, all free.

 

Thank You @Heywoodmoutaw my wife has introduced me to Hoopla w/our library and I would have never thought to look for it on there if you had not mentioned it, again thanks! 

 

If you find any other titles available on there that might be of interest give me a holler, BTW it is kinda hard for me to know and find these titles, that why I appreciate you and others for helping us out!! 😉

 

44 minutes ago, nathan_s82 said:

Happy Wednesday All! @Veum, if you get a chance, give The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari a watch. It is on Amazon Prime and Tubi.

4 Days Until St. Patrick's Day

18 Days Until Easter

66 Days Until Texas Frightmare Weekend

86 Days Until Fan Expo - Dallas

122 Days Until Retro Expo

227 Days Until Cowtown Comic Con

232 Days Until Halloween

260 Days Until Thanksgiving

287 Days Until Christmas

294 Days Until New Year

338 Days Until Valentine's Day!

 

Thank You @nathan_s82 for this recommendation and I will check this film out on either Tubi or Prime, , and another shoutout to you and others for helping some of us out (me lol 😝) because we may not be as knowledgeable or as swift to find these that are readily available to us for free viewing! 

[Veum]

🤠 hi you all my good friends, I hope you will have a pleasant Wednesday… got to go to the dentist today for my quarterly cleaning (not my fav cup of tea mind you 😝 🤓)! 🪥 🙋🏻‍♂️ 

 

 

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[Casiusco]

On 3/12/2024 at 2:31 AM, Heywoodmoutaw said:

One thing the Oscars have been good for is occasionally alerting me to a good documentary or foreign language film that I wouldn’t have seen otherwise.  Though when it comes to foreign languages nominees, I’m usually reading enough critics to pick up on the best of them.

 

This is a very interesting concept, because nowadays, with so many movies to watch, it is necessary to prioritize, to select, and these categories always bring something interesting.

[Casiusco]

13 hours ago, Heywoodmoutaw said:

I’m going to try to get better at recommending movies for you.  I’d already seen this, put it on to fall asleep last night, ended up watching the whole thing again.  It’s a combination of revenge movie and comedy about dorks:

 

 

It is an entertaining movie. I liked that mix of revenge and comedy. Good recommendation.

[Casiusco]

9 hours ago, Fortis93 said:

 

I 100% agree that studios should be backing other types of films.

 

I don't so much think there is as much of an issue with the audience as there is with the studios throwing stupid amounts of money at only one type of film. I know COVID didn't make things easier in this regard, but I don't think that type of model is sustainable in the future.

 

If the "Barbenheimer" phenomenon last year taught us anything, it's that there is an appetite for other kinds of films (regardless of how you may feel about either film). Hopefully, this will start to turn the tide on the kinds of films that get funded in the future.

 

 

I know I'm in the minority here and I do respect that this is your opinion.

 

Keep in mind, some of my favourite movies of last year were "They Cloned Tyrone" and "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial"; smaller or more serious films that didn't get a lot of fanfare last year, so what I said earlier doesn't apply to all of them.

 

And granted, I've yet to see those two films you have mentioned, but I just feel some of these more serious or smaller films have the problem of being too stylised, abstract, self-aware and indulgent to resonate with me personally. They don't feel grounded in some way, which is also a problem many of these recent superhero movies have.

 

I think we're in a bit of an age where directors can become the stars of their own movies. On one hand, it's nice that they get to share the spotlight that was usually reserved for actors, but on the other hand, you also get directors wanting to show themselves off in some way through the movies they make; whether it be some cinematic trick or technique or some subversion that I often find to be distracting rather than immersing.

 

It's like watching a puppet show where you can see the strings and the puppeteer rather than being drawn into the story being told. 

 

 

I understand what you mean.

 

Nowadays there is a lot of talk about Marvel type cinema, but there is also a smug and pedantic cinema of people trying to look cool; empty cinema, like those musicians more concerned about breaking guitars than having their own sound.

 

However, for some reason that I don't know, we are entering a good era of auteur cinema, maybe because whenever there is a strong trend, its opposite also appears. But, obviously, this also has to be prioritized, selected. 

 

And this coincides precisely after the success of Barbie/Oppeneimer, which points the way to different films that can also be successful. A path that must be recovered.

 

However, I believe that the industry, led by financiers, must understand that not everything can be billion-dollar blockbusters. That demanding that is reckless, even for blockbusters.

 

As for star-directors, it doesn't bother me. In fact, I've always been a big fan of the director policy, that Hollywood that was lost in the late '70s. 

 

But it is true that if you put together a star-director, and that artifical attempt to look cool, you can generate a good disaster.

 

[Heywoodmoutaw]

1 hour ago, nathan_s82 said:

Happy Wednesday All! @Veum, if you get a chance, give The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari a watch. It is on Amazon Prime and Tubi.

4 Days Until St. Patrick's Day

18 Days Until Easter

66 Days Until Texas Frightmare Weekend

86 Days Until Fan Expo - Dallas

122 Days Until Retro Expo

227 Days Until Cowtown Comic Con

232 Days Until Halloween

260 Days Until Thanksgiving

287 Days Until Christmas

294 Days Until New Year

338 Days Until Valentine's Day!

I assume you mean the original, 1920 Caligari?

 

There was a time when I wouldn’t give silent films a chance, but I’ve really liked several in the last few years.  

The Passion of Joan of Arc might have the best acting performance I’ve ever seen, no speaking necessary.  I love Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler as well, set me off on a Fritz Lang kick that is still ongoing.