Ethan Howard45 said:I finally caught *The Five Obstructions* in Utah a few days ago—man, what a stroke of genius! I honestly can't wrap my head around why there wasn't more hype surrounding this thing. It’s wild. It’s basically *The Perfect Human*—just everything that made *Five Obstructions* work.
Have you seen *Five Obstructions* yet?
There was actually a decent amount of promo for it here last year when it was playing...
I think I need to shake up my original picks a little bit...
Since it’s the end of the year, I have this total mental block where I completely forget everything I watched back in January—it honestly feels like I saw those movies two years ago, not months... plus, a few titles on my old list were just festival circuit stuff that won't even hit theaters here in the States until next year...
1. Far from Heaven 2. Mystic River 3. The Pianist 4. Crimson Gold 5. Spider, Adaptation, Etre et Avoir, The Belvaux Trilogy, All the Real Girls...
Sandra Moore said:I’ve been rewatching Modern Times and 2001: A Space Odyssey lately. Honestly? I'm blown away. Every single time, I find myself totally captivated by George Lucas—even though, let's be real, he wasn't exactly my favorite back in the day. Sure, he can be cold as ice, but the man definitely knows his craft. Those shots? Pure, unadulterated perfection.
...as if you haven't been messing around just a little bit yourself... 🙄
Patrick Mendoza3 said:I wanted to throw out a few movies that I absolutely love—the kind of stuff you can mostly only find on DivX these days for one reason or another: Nine Queens from Argentina, Dirty Pretty Things from the United Kingdom, Mediterraneo, and Los Amantes del Círculo Polar (The Lovers of the Arctic Circle)... there’s plenty more where those came from...
Honestly, I have all those except for that sugary little thing "Mediterraneo" on DVD... I just never figured out how to rip them over to DivX myself.😁
Oh, and if you're looking at the list from Coppov, you definitely need to check out American Splendor and All the Real Girls.
Whale Rider is a total sentimental crowd-pleaser... basically a movie for kids...
Raising Victor Vargas was a bit of a letdown for me, though...
I’d actually suggest adding another category—separate from the usual "best forum user" stuff—for those members who have genuinely leveled up the quality of this place just by being here and sharing what they know... Beyond the usual suspects like Miki, Tor, Cop, and NC... I've gotta give a shout-out to Le Coq Sportiva, rabbit, Ramona, Zhabotinsky, Richard Hernandez13, Duderin, Mirrorball, Karl Marx, and Carl Bennett78...
2. Newcomer's post about The Matrix Reloaded—can't find it right now, but I know I liked it... as well as his post on Memento
3.Citizen Kane by Liberatore
People who actually know how to recommend good movies: Miki, Tor, Newcomer, Cop, Le Coq Sportiva, Ramona, Zelezec
And I’d also like to suggest a category for....
the most boring Forum user in a movie, or the one who acts like a total expert but is actually just some pretentious windbag who doesn't have a clue...
1. Django 2. Icepick 3. Flemming
Vajt somehow managed to dodge being included in this tight selection 😁
I caught this flick at a film festival a while back... honestly, pretty intriguing stuff—aside from the whole Derrida and structuralist influence, it actually weaves in some Biblical themes too... you know, the story of Lot...
But my friend sitting right next to me in the theater wouldn't stop whispering about how mind-numbingly boring it was, calling it nothing more than pseudo-intellectual garbage... 😁
I did the exact same thing to her when we went to see that one Japanese "Vibrator" movie. 😁
Douglas Robinson12 said:I still think he managed to catch a screening of Lean's Brief Encounter—which is a superior film, if we're being honest—before he went and adapted the Chekhov stuff.
Since we’re already talking about Bresson, I might as well bring him up as an example—I recently rewatched one of his films, and honestly? It’s still a total Classic !!!
I picked up a DVD not too long ago and finally sat down to watch it. Honestly? Celia Johnson was absolutely phenomenal—she really carried the thing. Trevor, on the other hand, felt a bit stiff... and I don't mean that as a slight to his acting chops, he’s fine, just didn't quite hit the mark for me in this one.
Honestly, if you put James Coburn up against guys like Belmondo, W. Dafoe, Sam Shepard, or Keith Carradine, he’s hands down the sexiest, coolest actor to ever grace the screen. Period. 😎
Justin Patel said:Three movies from my list date back to 2003, and I’ve already checked off two others just this year. I mean, a ton of these come later, and some actually predate their US theatrical releases—it's all a bit weird regardless.
Most of the movies you guys listed are actually from last year—well, except for Gary Sanchez, who seems to be digging up relics from the turn of the millennium... In the States, we usually deal with a massive lag where hits don't even hit our theaters until a year after they've already been everywhere else.😕
Richard Hernandez13 said:I don't want to start any drama with anyone. But honestly? I couldn't care less about her.
I have to side with you on this one... 😉To me, she’s giving off total Penélope Cruz vibes... which, let’s be real, isn't exactly a compliment coming from me... though I will admit she looks way better on screen than in her headshots...
Actually, I think I preferred the babysitter... or maybe not... they both kind of have that same energy...
It's a really sexy movie, though—it's got that cyclical structure where it feels like a book within a film... kind of like how you can jump into any chapter of Cortázar's "Hopscotch"... maybe it's a bit over the top on the metaphors (but hey, that's just Medem 🙂)) symbols, symbols, symbols 🙂)) )
...but I still think "Lovers of the Arctic Circle" is the superior film...
I can’t even wrap my head around what I’ve watched since the ball dropped on New Year's—my brain is basically mush at this point—so here’s a quick rundown of what’s actually made it onto my screen over the last few months...
Mystic River – directed by Clint Eastwood Zatoichi – the Kitano version 29 Palms – B. Dumont Trilogy – Lucas Belvaux The Client List – Sayles
Honestly, the biggest letdown was definitely Bertolucci's "The Dreamers."
lonescout2 said:Yeah, that list is a bit sketchy if you consider the Wachowski brothers are on there, yet Orson Welles, Steven Spielberg, and Quentin Tarantino are nowhere to be found....
I mean, those Wachowski siblings put out one decent flick—okay, fine, revolutionary to some, definitely revolutionary to many 😁—and then two pieces of garbage (or, if you're being generous, "solid attempts"), whereas you have directors out there who have delivered way more, and way better, movies than they ever could.
But look, this is a list of contemporary directors—people who might not have massive filmographies yet (like the Wachowski brothers) but possess actual potential, which is why Orson Welles doesn't belong here.
If you ask me, we're missing more Iranian talent, like the legendary Mahmalbaf, and I'd love to see names like Imamura, Bruno Dumont, or Lucas Belvaux on here too...
Your dad must be incredibly uneducated—probably barely scraped through middle school—and just totally out of touch if he’s actually equating vegetarianism with terrorism... 🙄 I mean, what kind of bubble is he living in to conflate two concepts that are polar opposites?
My own dad associates religion with terrorism... which, honestly, I think puts him way closer to the truth than your old man does...
When I decided to quit meat when I was sixteen... my dad was actually my biggest supporter... 👍
Whenever the rest of the family or my friends would act all shocked... my dad would just shut them down and tell them they didn't get it. He'd be like, "My daughter is ahead of her time; she's progressive," 👍 🙂
Dad still eats meat, obviously... 😁 though he isn't quite the carnivore my mom is... 😲 Mom could practically live on nothing but steak... 😲 but even she loved whipping up veggie meals and soy burgers for me... and she never once tried to talk me out of being a vegetarian...