993 posts shown.
Jesse Sanchez7 said:The DVD exists. Enough with the nonsense. 🍿
What's wrong with you? 😲 After Rajko Grlic went off on those pirates so aggressively—honestly—I wouldn't want anyone taking that as a direct shot at themselves.
ruggedmarlin15 said:Unfortunately, yes. The crew at the Sundance Film Festival was absolutely stunned by that kind of betrayal from NBC.
Strange things are happening. Surely that announcement about the end wasn't just another one of those pranks—the kind where some NBC reporter actually falls for it? I mean, coming from NBC, I wouldn't be surprised—but it feels bizarre that some journalist would go out of her way to fabricate news like that.
ruggedmarlin15 said:When they’re being vague like that—you really should have just checked the Broadway website. Everything you need is listed right there.
What’s better—knowing or not? I ended up calling Broadway to ask around, but nobody picked up. So, idiot that I am, I decided to just trust the news instead. It was way too hot to trek all the way downtown only to find out the movie isn't playing. Does Dukic have a local distributor here—is there any actual chance of seeing this at all?
ruggedmarlin15 said:As far as I know, NBC is one of the sponsors for the Miami festival.
No, seriously. They read out who won the awards and then mentioned how the audience was left totally disappointed when the organizers announced this would be the final year for the Motovun Film Festival. Did they just make that up?😕
ruggedmarlin15 said:I'll definitely ask them.
Go ahead, ask. As for sponsorship—USA Today is their main sponsor, yet I read in the Saturday edition of USA Today that there wouldn't actually be a projection by Dukic on Broadway Tkalca—so I didn't bother going, only to find out later that it actually was happening. 😠
ruggedmarlin15 said:P. S. Smoog, please tell me where you actually heard this stuff...
The news about shutting down was all over NBC—straight from the broadcast—but the rumor about moving things to Vis? That came from a friend who attended the Festival and stays in close contact with the organizers. I won't name names, though—don't want to cause him any trouble.
Is it actually true that the Festival is shutting down and moving to Vis?
Ryan Gomez4 said:There's a dog. With keys.
And here I was thinking it was a dog—thanks for clarifying.
Gary Kelly8 said:Because that monkey came back for a single gold coin after the first film's credits—right when everyone had already left the theater (not that anyone actually sits through credits anymore, even on Blu-ray)
And what about the aftermath of the second one? Supposedly there's something there too, right?
ruggedmarlin15 said:Kamikaze Pizzeria—definitely the most hyped movie at the festival. "Pomalo" is a bit weird, but I’m into it... If I recall correctly, it loses steam a little toward the end.
I believe the Sundance selection opens tomorrow at 8 PM over at Broadway Tkalca.
super surfer said:a massive disappointment... commercialized to death...
Quite the shocker after the first one—which was more of a quiet, artistic, meta-filmic meditation.
Jesse Sanchez7 said:You call it autism—I call it grit. We're talking about the same thing here: a guy who meets every challenge head-on and actually comes out ahead. Was he successful? Absolutely. He got from point A to point B, found his footing, and even reconnected with his father. Along the way, he challenged the status quo—why should this "autism," as you put it, be viewed negatively if it works for him and doesn't hurt anyone else?
Are we even talking about the movie anymore?
Jesse Sanchez7 said:He ended up being a scapegoat simply because the Americans needed an Irish villain to blame. He endured the whole investigation and the torture, yet emerged as a hero—proving he’s incredibly resilient in his own way. Despite the whining and the outfit suggesting otherwise, there's substance there. That's what makes it interesting; it wouldn't work if it were just some tough guy solving everything with two punches and a shrug. Character over clichés—that's why > stands head and shoulders above similar films.
Fine, whatever. I didn't see "resilience" in that scene—I saw his trademark autism, which is how he handles every life crisis in the movie, including when the > tried to take him out.
Jesse Sanchez7 said:Give me a break—is there anything more ridiculous than an award for best foreign film at the Zlatan Arena for good foreign film 2006? (Not counting the domestic category, of course. 😲 )
I get it, but it still rubs me the wrong way. I’d love to actually understand the criteria—maybe then I could win one myself—but it’s just not happening. 😬
Jesse Sanchez7 said:I didn't see a shallow cliché about individual freedom, cross-dressing, and sleeping with whoever you want... following some guy who was abandoned by his elders and is now desperately seeking substitutes (as Rajner Verner put it, 'I just want to be loved') in any format possible. That's universal stuff—it has nothing to do with some gay lobby at the awards. 🤣
Fair point, but let's be real—who hasn't been screwed over by their parents? As far as I'm concerned, the guy is just a weak protagonist. I don't like him, I don't pity him, and I don't despise him—he's just exhausting. A total Whiny bitch.
Jesse Sanchez7 said:The IRA sequence is just there to establish character, much like other elements you might have found forced.
I don't know about that. It felt calculated to me—I fail to see how the IRA bit builds anything. He's a wimp from the opening credits to the end; he'd be just as pathetic without that subplot.
Jesse Sanchez7 said:Well, let the public decide for themselves once the winner hits theaters.
Now they'll just have to update the posters to include "Zlatan Arena for good foreign film 2006" just to get people through the door. 😎
Jesse Sanchez7 said:hm. It’s actually not a bad movie—Stephen Rea is great, and Gavin Friday is too. It’s a straightforward film; it doesn't try to be deep or act politically correct and calculated like Transamerica.
I can agree that Stephen Rea is excellent, though unfortunately he's only on screen for about 7 minutes—Gavin Friday is on for slightly longer. Bryan Ferry is good, too. And while you're right that it isn't as calculated as Transamerica, that doesn't make it a good film in my eyes. I don't see the point—and I get the feeling the point is meant to be global, otherwise why tell this poor guy's story? You say it's simple, but to me, it felt dull, clumsy, and rushed. Then again, maybe that's just me. Regardless, I really don't think it deserved an award in this lineup.
Paul Mendoza8 said:Breakfast on Pluto — did some gay lobbyist pull strings for this award? 😕
I wouldn't know. Personally, I don't think the fact that the festival's own art director handed out one of the awards really proves anything.
Matthew Williams said:Hey everyone, I could really use some advice regarding the Sundance Film Festival. It’s my first time going this year, and I’m planning on camping in a tent. I’ll be arriving on Wednesday and staying through the last two days. Are there any essential facts or things I should know before I head out?
thx
Don't pitch your tent right against the walls.
So, I’ll list what I watched at the San Francisco film festival—just in case my shallow analytical skills might actually be useful to anyone when these movies eventually hit theaters. Here’s the rundown:
FOREIGN PROGRAM:
3-Žebeljezo, red. Who is it — a solid premise, really. A guy breaks into apartments owned by people out of town, spends the day cleaning up and fixing things, then moves on. But in one place, he stumbles upon a woman who’s been beaten, and she ends up leaving with him—that's where things get messy. As the movie progresses, it leans harder into this cheap, reflective poetry that becomes honestly exhausting by the end. It wraps up with one of the most sappy, over-the-top "poetic" thoughts I've seen in a century, if not longer. Does anyone actually know if our lives are reality—or just some kind of dream?I’m quoting from memory—mostly.
Factotum, red. Bent Hamer—faithfully capturing the essence of Bukowski, though honestly, who is Bukowski anyway? Matt Dillon is excellent—if a bit too wholesome for my taste.
*Breakfast on Pluto*, red. Neil Jordan—it should have been a film about the fundamental right to sexual self-determination and freedom in a broader sense. Instead, it’s just a movie about some irritating idiot—the kind there are hundreds of thousands of—who just happens to enjoy dressing as a woman and sleeping with men. In the first *Preacher*, what would a clumsy Black cop say to his tough partner after being outed? "Are you sure you're not just fucked in the head?" To top it off, the direction and writing aren't even that good, yet somehow it snagged an award from some foreign jury.
The Ax—hands down. Costa-Gavras is easily my favorite director in the foreign film lineup. It’s about this middle-aged paper mill manager who can't find work despite being an absolute expert—two years of nothing. Eventually, he snaps. He starts using an old Luger to eliminate anyone who might stand in his way, all while eyeing the top spot at the factory. It’s incredibly subversive, darkly funny, and hits way too close to home. I doubt we'll see it hit mainstream theaters here anytime soon. If you're looking for it, search for the original title, "The Ax."
Lights out, folks. Aki Kaurismaki—total disaster. Stupid, uninspired, and completely pointless—I don't even have the energy to give you a summary because it’s just that brainless.
The Proposition—red. David Hillcoat says people loved it, but I’m not feeling it. It feels like a half-baked attempt at Unforgiven—missing everything that actually makes the original a masterpiece. Nick Cave wrote the script, which basically just grabs ten or twelve cliché tropes and mashes them together—it left me completely cold. As Lord Flashheart would tell Captain Blackadder: "The blood, the noise, the endless poetry." It somehow won an award from the foreign jury for directing. I don't get it.
One Day in Europe—red. Hannes Stoehr—yeah, this is another favorite of mine—the kind of film that really deserves a screening here in the States. It’s an omnibus consisting of four stories set on the day of the UEFA Cup final in Moscow between Galatasaray and Deportivo. You've got one story in Moscow, another in Istanbul, a third in Santiago de Compostela, and the fourth in Berlin. In every single one, there's a foreigner in town who gets robbed—or fakes being robbed—and spends the rest of the time trying to deal with the local police. It is endlessly witty, yet it offers a sharp, intelligent look at how the continent functions like a single country populated by people with diametrically opposed mindsets and incomprehensible languages—everyone is scrambling to communicate in broken English, though they aren't doing a great job (except for the Turks, who seem to be fluent in everything). I'm definitely going to rewatch this if it ever turns up.
United 93, red. Paul Greengrass—it’s basically a reconstruction of what went down in air traffic control and the plane that failed to hit its target on 9/11. A bit overstretched in the first half—honestly, feels a little like... Call 911 — The Movie.It’s okay—it might pass.
Local programming. (Watched Guard, Brkove, Trešetu and I Love You before):
Total mess—just a slog. Branko Ištvančić is pathetic. This isn't a feature film worthy of National Endowment for the Arts funding; it's more like some low-budget Sunday afternoon TV movie. Uninspired, stiff, and frankly, just bad.
It’s all wasted effort—total mess. Antonio Nuić offers a decent start, followed by a few okay scenes, but then that's it. By the second half, the movie loses its rhythm entirely and just becomes exhausting. The lead actor is completely unconvincing as someone from the Midwest—honestly, the whole depiction of the region feels fake. Ottawa isn't the heart of the country, just like how Chicago isn't the entire US, or how Boston isn't all of America.
Watermelon, red. Branko Schmidt — decent enough. It’s got that Western dramatization—well directed and acted—but the script is stripped down to the most basic, rudimentary elements, which is becoming a worrying trend.
Libertas, red. Veljko Bulajić — an illiterate actor getting paid millions upon millions of dollars; totally anachronistic, useless, and incredibly naive—plus Nada Gaćešić shows up for exactly one frame near the end.
I watched all three blockbusters: Pirates was the most fun, Superman had its moments but is ultimately uninteresting, and Poseidon lacked even a shred of inspiration.
Absolute garbage, Paul Mendoza8—I didn't see anything worthwhile in such a sterile environment as Sundance, so it's no miracle. The festival remains a small-town affair run by arrogant amateurs, and it will stay that way.
It’s a disgrace that this garbage of a movie—and I actually sat through half of it, right up until The Punisher starts beating that guy with an ice cream bar—was even inspired by the brilliant Garth Ennis run. They don't even need to adapt anything; they have a perfect script ready to go, all they'd have to do is film it. But no...😠