Posts by Jonathan Ward5

aha 🙄 - "The Butcher and His Songbird"
I don't even know if that's actually the movie... I've never sat through anything with a title like that before...

So, they're showing Crimen Ferpecto at the AMC right now.

Man, this movie is absolutely wild. My favorite part has to be when he claims there aren't any ugly women out there driving Ferraris. Hahaha... or that moment when Gabor’s wife asks that young girl, "How are you going to survive on a teacher's salary? Living in a gymnasium?" Hahaha...

The opening sequence is pure genius... The film itself is great, though I felt like it lost its momentum a bit toward the end—specifically during that bit where he's trying to figure out how to get rid of her. Honestly, I think Neighbors was much better just because the pacing never drags, plus the whole thing feels a bit more bizarre overall.😍

All in all—Crimen Ferpecto gets an 8, even if the subtitles were idiotically translated as "Ševac and his singer."👍

Honestly, I thought that movie was actually great.

It’s not really a "movie" in the traditional sense, you know? It doesn't rely on some grand plot or deep character arcs... if I had to describe it, I'd say it's more of an experience. To me, it perfectly captures that specific headspace of someone just totally burnt out by their own mundane daily grind—that desperate, restless craving for actual action, for some kind of thrill or adventure...
And I think the film nails that perfectly. That’s really the whole point—it’s all about the feeling.

Watching The Beach was such a trip, especially with that soundtrack...🙏

neo noir

(plus it's one of those movies where the dialogue carries the whole damn weight 😁, basically Tarantino-style
)

mirrorball said:😲 ...A Ready-to-wear masterpiece? I’m assuming you just had a brain fart and forgot to put not before "masterpiece"?

🤔

...unless you're a supermodel or something?

Actually, I didn't get confused at all. Ready-to-wear isn't just Altman's best work in my eyes—it's easily one of my all-time favorites.

The casting in that movie is just unreal. Everyone in that lineup fits their role so perfectly, it’s like they were born to play those specific characters. I actually started a whole separate thread about Ready-to-wear where I went into much more detail about why the film works so well for me... so I won't bore everyone by repeating myself here. 😉 👋

I feel like I've been given too much of a rundown on this. To me, ready-to-wear still stands alone as Altman's absolute masterpiece.
Here’s how I see it: 1.ready-to-wear
2.player
3.and then Short Cuts

Really 👍
stylized, subtle, and just sharp...
I’m actually a fan of that specific sense of humor.
The whole movie is just so much fun and easy to digest—it honestly feels like reading a graphic novel.

@ redowl90 --yeah, honestly, an Oscar nomination is my cue to skip a movie. Whenever I see someone sweep a mountain of Oscars, my first thought is usually that there’s something fundamentally wrong with the film itself.

@Zachary Gomez9/">@@Zachary Gomez9 :
As for Ray---like I said, the movie was just meh. It was mediocre with a spectacularly underwhelming ending. There were moments where I was just bored out of my mind watching it. The lead actor was so incredibly grating—he could easily land in my top 10 most unlikable actors of all time. The relationships between the characters felt shallow and totally naive.
What really bugs me is how Jamie Foxx played Ray--he basically "stripped" Ray down to his public persona. Sure, he nailed the public face, but I just can't buy that this "public" Ray is the same guy as the "private" Ray. To me, it feels like everything Jamie did was just a surface-level performance. When you watch a biopic, I expect it to dig into those deeper, hidden layers of the protagonist's character that aren't immediately obvious...

The direction? A total disaster. It felt like they took one ridiculously long Ray concert, changed his outfit a couple of times, swapped locations, and sprinkled in some superficial, shallow snapshots from his life. And they call that an autobiographical film?🙄

The absolute peak of the film's naivety is the ending--the guy has been shooting up since he could walk, and suddenly, in a dream, he reconciles with his dead brother and mother, and they tell him: "Don't ever let us down, Ray," they all share a big hug, and then—poof—it's over: "...and Ray never used drugs again." Yeah, right.🙄 and they all lived happily ever after.

So yeah... I think it's just a mediocre, forgettable movie that doesn't deserve half the hype it got.

And regarding Ray vs. The Aviator, I still think The Aviator—which is easily Scorsese's worst film, even compared to stuff about New York gangs—is still a hundred times better than Ray, which is probably the best film that specific guy has ever had made about him, regardless of the director.

For me, the great musical biopic from '98 is "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?" That movie is fun, breezy, and actually engaging, unlike Ray--and frankly, I find it hard to believe that one-hit wonder Frankie Lymon had a more interesting life than the real Ray Charles.

p.s. As for the music in the film... well, obviously it's going to be great when it's the original Ray tracks. If this were a movie with a brilliantly curated soundtrack (like Pulp Fiction, for example), I'd say something else. But since this is a movie *about* Ray, it feels a bit silly to point out the music as a special "plus" of the film... if you know what I mean, because it's not like some specialized team was brought in to record a custom score for it.

I just finished watching it at the local indie theater downtown. Honestly, guys, there’s something so nostalgic about these spots. You’ve got this lady behind the counter—definitely from an older generation—selling you popcorn that’s way too sweet, and she practically dumps the whole bucket into your hands until it spills everywhere... then you get greeted by a half-toothless usher who looks like he’s wearing a vintage uniform from decades ago, saying, "Evening, ladies! How are we doing tonight?" God, those people are just so charming 😍 hehe, it was seriously cool, like I stepped back ten years in time. And don't even get me started on those purple plastic seats; talk about tacky 😍 ...but honestly, what a relief compared to those massive AMC multiplexes 🎉 ...it’s a real experience. Even the projector had this little hum to it, teehee, I was happy as a kid
.

As for the movie, it was fantastic. It has that raw, gritty edge you see in something like *American Dogs*, but unlike that, it isn't overblown. Instead, it focuses on conveying the characters' emotions and states of being so effectively that you actually get a knot in your stomach during that plane flight scene. It’s fascinating how the director creates this synergy between the audience and the characters; the film perfectly transfers their anxiety directly onto the viewer. That young Black lead actress is absolutely stunning. The soundtrack was spot on too, very minimalist. The whole thing feels realistic without falling into cheap melodrama—you have to know how to balance that 👍

Robert Cooper41 said:Alex de la Iglesia actually stepped out on stage with his screenwriter to address the crowd, though he didn't say a single word about his own movie... instead, he spent the time complaining about how much taller the women in New York are compared to the short, stout Spanish guys, while basically noting how great it is that everyone is just there to eat and drink 😁
He was rocking this massive "The Misfits" t-shirt the whole time.

Oh, and yeah, the guy is a total sucker for American comics, those cheesy 50s genre flicks, trash cinema... the whole works...

Interesting.

I guess I’ll have to check out Crimen Ferpecto if you're talking it up this much.

"Carmen Maura is phenomenal to me too, though her best role was definitely in Pepa, Luci, Bom and other girls from the pile. That was back around 1980, I think."

Exactly. Carmen Maura is just out of this world... ah... the greats all seem to agree on that one 🎉 👋 hehehe

"Abrilov, Maurov, sanchez'Gijonov, Forqueov...."
+Ana Lopez Mercado

But wait!!!!!!... I was looking at the IMDb trivia for "The Community" and found this: "Towards the last third of the film, when Julia is searching a way to exit the building, she skips through the dead rich man's diaries and several maps of the house can be seen. But one of the last ones, on the left page, is a drawing of the comic book "13, Rue del Percebe" by American comics artist Francisco Ibáñez".

And now... that Ibáñez guy is one of the most popular American comics creators... and that strip "13, Rue del Percebe" is all about neighbors!!!! (at least, that's what I gathered from my limited grasp of the language 😬 ) - "A collection of ridiculous stories from this community of neighbors where every floor guarantees a laugh."

Here's the comic panel:



So he REALLY took inspiration from the comic!!! That's actually pretty cool, you can really see the connection if you look closely 👍

And what exactly is a FEST? Like a festival or an awards ceremony?.. and what was Alex de la Iglesia even messing around with? 😁

@Robert Cooper41: Hmm, I just realized what a total nonsense thing I wrote there... yeah, I see now that she's "the left one" type 😁 , but it doesn't matter. I don't look like either of them. Unfortunately... 😁

Robert Cooper41 said:They’d probably get by with those kinds of "acting" skills... 😁
Though, even for the last "Crimen Ferpecto," the requirements were a little different:

Oh man, wow. That girl on the left looks almost exactly like me. 😁 aaahahaha

[The film is great, maybe even better than "The Community"... which I really need to go back and double-check regardless.

Give me a break, Robert Cooper41... suddenly everything American or Mexican is better than "The Community" in your eyes? /so tragic/ *sighs* /while painting my nails* 😢

[A lucky real estate agent... A decomposing corpse... A community of greedy neighbors... 300 million hidden under a floor tile... Something smells rotten in this house. 😁 😁 [/B]

...money is the strongest drug there is... 😈 😉

Holy hell, what a MOVIE... this Community is a pure adrenaline rush!!! 👍 👍 I seriously can't believe I'm watching this for the second time and it's still pumping me up like it's the first run...

The visuals alone look better than any Madonna music video ever made. Forget Vogue—that scene where Carmen Maura tosses that suitcase at the witches and basically "uninstalls" her from the building, only for her to snag a sheet on the way down and land right on top of it while blood just starts spreading everywhere 👍 ...yeah, Vogue wouldn't stand a chance against that 😁

There’s something intensely comic-bookish about this thing—it's like colorful, kitschy graphic novel stuff. Honestly, it might have even worked better as a black-and-white comic; there's this heavy Pop Art vibe that hits you right from the opening credits!!! Pure Pop-Art!!

It’s dark, man, how it plays with the concept of TV within the movie itself. That commercial suggesting money is the ultimate drug? And then when it cuts to that documentary about those "servants"—aka the neighbors... absolute mastery! This film is freaking INSANE!!! 🙏

Carmen Maura was absolutely legendary, man. She just crushed it. Seriously, she might just be the greatest actress to ever do it. Period.

Absolute masterpiece.

It’s one of those rare flicks that actually leaves you walking out of the theater feeling totally spellbound, rather than just... half-disappointed.

Honestly, it was like a dark fairy tale for adults. Just incredible. I truly loved every second of it...

Robert Cooper41 said:[off] Alex de la Iglesia is coming to New York in about ten days for the film festival! 🙏

Oh, for crying out loud!!! Why on earth didn't I see this post when it actually mattered? 🙄 ...instead of seeing it now... that festival is definitely over and done with. And honestly, I should have told you to ask Alex de la Iglesia if he needs me for a role in his next film. I've got all the right qualities: I can scream hysterically in Spanish—"Deja me John!!"... and if it comes down to it, I'm more than willing to wear a wet t-shirt. I figure that should be enough to get me an audition... 😁 AAah... there goes my chance at stardom...

BUT ANYWAY... The Community is airing on Thursday, March 31st on ABC at 11:55 PM. If anyone happens to be watching, feel free to jump into this incredibly deep and meaningful discussion... 😁

P. S. Yeah, I know they're Mexican, but I've heard people lump them all together under "Spanish cinema" plenty of times... and honestly, it's just easier for me to think of it that way.

I didn't notice any microphones at all (not that I was looking for them in the theater)

The movie was just... meh.

Honestly, nothing about his performance as Ray really stood out to me. What actually blew me away was the actress playing Ray's mother. She was absolutely incredible—just top-tier talent.
As far as the soundtrack goes, "Ray" doesn't even become listenable for me until "Georgia on My Mind" kicks in.

I’m struggling to find the right way to describe this flick—maybe the best word would be naive.

This version of Ray just spends the whole time being charming, playing piano, singing, and that's basically it. I found the whole thing pretty uninteresting.

The Aviator was much better, though even that wasn't exactly a masterpiece. Nowhere near it.

Yeah, Hugo and I both feel like Tim Roth would have been a way better pick for that role. 👍

I was totally fine with the movie at first, but once they go over to the Hepburn family for lunch? Man, everything after that just turns into a complete disaster. It’s honestly kind of stupid—way too many crowd scenes, way too many extras, and the dialogue is just painfully dumb... ugh, seriously. BUT, that lunch scene is actually interesting, and it was that specific moment that really got under my skin and made me stick around to finish it. Bottom line: it’s not bad. Not at all.

And Cate... I don't know, she just seems so desperate. Her accent feels so forced, and I just couldn't connect with her at all. Honestly, there's something about her that I found physically off-putting, especially looking at Leonardo, who looks like some awkward 13-year-old kid playing his mom.
There’s this one shot where her back is in close-up (right after they fly on the plane and then grab each other on the couch—yeah, that scene), and her back has these little red spots, and her skin just looks old. I swear, it actually made me feel nauseous.
Now, I’m not usually a squeamish person. But seriously.

Alan A. is absolutely stellar though. 👍

As for Scorsese—to me, The Departed was a total miss, and this isn't exactly brilliant either. I have no idea why he latched onto Leonardo like he's some magic solution to a shaky plot... the guy just doesn't make movies like he used to. As things stand now, he's definitely on the decline...

Hey there!

Man, this film is absolutely brilliant. The pacing? Insane. That dark humor? Top-tier. It’s major league stuff—feels like you're watching it on speed. There isn't a single moment where you lose interest in the plot; you just end up powering through the whole thing in one sitting with your jaw hitting the floor. Pure, unadulterated madness. A total masterpiece... 👍

If this movie were a drink, it would be straight tequila. Just slams you right in the face.

Seriously, go watch it. For me, it’s easily the second best film ever made (right after Pulp Fiction, obviously, and Amorres perros).

I caught it in theaters back in the day—it’s from 2000, after all—directed by Alex de la Iglesia, the same guy who gave us that gritty "Perdit Durango."😉

When it comes to modern American cinema, I'd say Alfonso Cuarón (Y tu mamma also), Alex de la Iglesia, and Alejandro González Iñárritu (though I have no idea what the hell he was thinking trying to embarrass himself with that piece of junk "21 Grams") are basically the absolute gold standard.👍
It’s honestly some of the best stuff in global cinema right now.

Look, the movie is just meh. It’s not like it’s an absolute disaster or anything, but you’ll forget it exists the second you walk out of the theater.

Plus, Snipes was totally underwhelming, man. He acts like his paycheck was enough to buy a small island in the Caribbean or something.

And then there's Jessica—she’s just so... Godless. Between those bangs and that naive look, she’s giving off major Felicity vibes. She spent half the movie looking washed out, even when she was supposed to be wielding guns.😁 I mean, why couldn't they cast someone with an actual ounce of personality? Someone like Michelle Rodriguez, for instance, instead of this total wet blanket. Though, I guess I'll give her credit for having toned arms; at least she looks somewhat convincing doing the action stuff.

Then you've got the main vampire—man, he looked more like David Beckham than a monster. They styled him way too well, all high-end Tom Ford style, to the point where I couldn't even focus on the acting. Hehe.

But honestly, what really kills me is the dialogue. It's so cliché it feels like it was written for toddlers. Seriously, I have to wonder if they actually write scripts for these American action trash flicks, or if there's just one single template floating around being reused over and over again?😁 Just ridiculous.

Oh, yeah—the soundtrack was actually pretty good.👍