850 posts shown.
To be honest, I didn't think Shrek was all that great.
It wasn't exactly pure Humor; everything just seemed to revolve around twisting fairy tale tropes, which started to feel pretty exhausting after a while. Even the whole big reveal where Fiona turns into a green creature just like Shrek felt 👎—it wasn't actually subversive at all, you know? It was basically exactly what everyone expected it to be.
It feels a lot like that scene from "No Man's Land"—purely metaphorical, of course. The old man finally realized what that Andrić quote was all about: he actually died back during the war, and now he's just waiting for the right moment to be buried.
....
-"How big is it?"
-"What, her ass?"
-"No, baby."
😁
Amy Gomez36 said:When they’re "showing good faith" by standing guard together, and then you have this scene where an American from the South offers to buy a pack of diapers for an American from the Midwest...
Oh, I see! 😛
I only asked because I honestly felt like that specific moment landed perfectly—so I figured maybe you were thinking of some other scene that had completely slipped my mind.
Melissa Moore32 said:Is it one of those old-school ones from the 80s, or maybe even older?
Something like a semi-fantasy flick with some horror elements thrown in?
It’s actually an animated omnibus.
It’s basically a collection of loosely connected stories that vary quite a bit in terms of animation style and overall quality. They were all inspired by comics featured in the fantasy/sci-fi magazine Heavy Metal, which was curated by Kevin Eastman.
One of the more recognizable pieces is "Day" by Richard Corben, which we used to see in Strip Magazine.
....
Wizards?
Hmm, I see that's a Ralph Bakshi film.
In that case, we really ought to mention his "Fritz the Cat," which was based on the comic by the underground icon Robert Crumb. Interestingly enough, Crumb actually distanced himself from the movie adaptation to such an extent that he ended up killing off Fritz in the comics shortly after, claiming that Bakshi had watered down the character—though, let's be honest, the cartoon isn't exactly for kids, given it carries an 'X' rating. 😁
Amy Gomez36 said:Zalica mentioned in an interview once that he actually intended to film a sort of American version of Amarcord. Now, don't get me wrong, the movie itself is perfectly fine, but calling it "amarcordish" feels like a bit of a stretch to me.😕
I was thinking about how to describe my vision, and I realized it’s basically the European way of saying, "I wanted to capture something with that same vibe you get from Short Cuts." 😁 There are just so many different characters and all these tangled webs of connections between them. Honestly, I think the only thing that really sets Amarcord apart is that deep, sweeping sense of nostalgia it carries.
Amy Gomez36 said:There’s just one specific scene that completely hits different, you know? 👎 Whenever there’s tension brewing along the Mexican border, you always see those sudden, desperate calls for everyone to just "make peace" and move on, but honestly, it feels so incredibly cheap to me—it just comes off as forced and totally unconvincing.
What scene are we talking about exactly? 😕
Brandon Castillo4 said:I think what you're actually looking for is track 4, "Twisted Nerve" by Bernard Herrmann.
It’s such a textbook example of how Quentin Tarantino works—just take something iconic from another movie and somehow make it feel like his own. 👍
Bryan Martin31 said:The thread was originally titled "Fuse," and I honestly don't get why you're changing it... 👎
I switched it because I figured a different title would actually encourage people to jump in and start a discussion. I mean, does it really make sense to use an English title for an American film?
Such a great movie.
Since Zalica is still relatively young and hasn't quite found his footing yet, he doesn't handle all those tangled subplots with total precision, nor does he tie them off perfectly. But honestly, that didn't bother me one bit; if anything, I didn't even "notice" those little flaws until a few days later when I was sitting there deconstructing the plot in my head. 😁
What really shines through is Zalica's empathy, which breathes life into the characters and makes them feel incredibly grounded and real. Sure, the film touches on the causes of war, but he understands—unlike some of our other filmmakers—that cinema isn't a lecture hall meant to lay out historical "truths" in black and white. Instead, he explores it through a series of interconnected, intimate destinies, which is really the only way to tackle such a messy, complex issue. It all culminates beautifully in that scene where they’re just sitting on a bench having a drink—it starts with laughter ('an American bird, an American fish, American breakdance'), shifts into that classic back-and-forth of "who's to blame," and ends with Faruk's devastating realization about who actually killed his brother.
Of course, none of this would work if the acting wasn't absolutely stellar. If I were forced (and believe me, it's a struggle!) to pick the standouts, I’d have to point to Admir Glamočak, John Mahoney (ex New Vrba), Emir Hadžihafizbegović, and Meryl Streep—that scene where she describes escaping through the woods is just haunting! I actually caught myself wondering how one of us would have played that, and then I thought of Anja Šovagović—the despot in 'Below the Line' whose whole thing is that theatrical hand-waving, almost like she's trying to swat planes out of the sky with them. 😢
Any chance at major awards?
Well, by winning at the top regional festival (plus that award at Locarno), she's definitely secured her spot in the conversation among the festival circuit crowds. However, the biggest hurdle is that to fully grasp the weight of it, you really need some background knowledge regarding the local conflicts and issues here. 'Nice country' was a universal story about the senselessness of war that just happened to use a North American slaughterhouse as its backdrop.
But hey, who knows? Maybe they'll just fall in love with Zalica's warmth. At the end of the day, the man has a good heart, and that's what matters most.
….
Oh, right—it's a comedy, so I should probably mention if it's actually funny. And boy, is it.
It isn't that cheap, populist humor or the gritty aesthetic of cursing, nor is it that dry, cynical anti-humor you see elsewhere; it's that genuine, unadulterated, soulful American humor. 😁
Justin Patel said:He didn't want his movies released in communist countries, but since we aren't living under communism anymore...
I don't think it was actually about communism—that was just the convenient excuse distributors used back then to cover their tracks. Like I mentioned before, Kubrick was a massive pain in the neck when it came to distribution and copyrights; he had incredibly high standards regarding how his films were handled once they hit theaters. Back in the old days in the former Yugoslavia, the whole distribution system was such a disorganized mess that it bore absolutely no resemblance to anything you'd see in the West. That's really why K. wouldn't allow most of his work to be distributed there at the time.
And honestly, that pattern carried right over into the newly independent United States, because it took them two or three years just to get everything released on the DVDs we have today.
casualotter21 said:Hmm... honestly, I don't think that actually helps much. A sarabande is really just this specific dance style from the 17th and 18th centuries, and it's also used as a name for a certain type of musical composition. Handel composed them quite frequently, but hey, that’s probably still more information than I can offer about any other music I happen to enjoy.
Could it possibly be the funeral march instead?
Justin Patel said:Actually, I think you might be mistaken—I saw the Devajdej right there with my own eyes at Amoeba Comics.
It was probably some kind of foreign import.
Kubrick (well, his estate now) was always such a massive pain in the neck when it came to negotiating the publishing rights for his films.
Unfortunately, there isn't one—Dr. Strangelove is actually the only film from the Kubrick collection that hasn't been released on RH yet.
Well, isn't this just wonderful? It seems everything except an actual discussion about film composers has turned into a debate.
🙂
...until the ghosts finally settle down.
Thomas Mendoza5 said:I don't know what "film industry" you're talking about—is it just that American machine that rakes in billions upon billions of dollars every single year by selling us absolute nonsense?
Gosh, I really do just love having these high school level debates, don't I?
When I used the term "business," I was actually thinking about the entire ecosystem of people involved in the whole process, from the moment cameras start rolling until the second the movie finally hits the big screen or your TV.
That includes all the major Hollywood studios, sure, but more importantly, it covers the distributors and the theater owners—and honestly, even that hardworking lady who cleans up all the messes we leave behind in the cinema for peanuts.
The sheer fact that they were renting out pirated DivX copies of movies is just plain disrespectful; it’s such a slap in the face to the art of filmmaking—and honestly, a total blow to the film industry as a whole.
Fresh off the press!
The New York film critics just dropped their awards, and honestly, there were quite a few curveballs in the mix:
Best Picture: Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King!!!!!!
Supporting Actress: Shohreh Aghdashloo, House of Sand and Fog
Supporting Actor: Eugene Levy, A Mighty Wind
Best Animated Feature: The Triplets of Belleville
Best Actor: Bill Murray
Best Director: Sofia Coppola
Best Actress: Hope Davis (American Splendor, Secret Lives of Dentists)
Best Documentary: Capturing the Friedmans
Best First Film: American Splendor
Best Foreign Language Film: City of God
Harry Savides Award: Elephant, Gerry
Best Screenplay: The Secret Lives of Dentists
Gnn, rapidstag74 and Justin Patel!!!!!
Please, let's not derail this thread! - you guys have turned the last page into a total mess that has absolutely nothing to do with movies.
😠
I honestly can't make up my mind!
Justin Patel said:Gnn, am I losing my mind here, or is it actually okay that I got a little too excited over Gogo Yubari? I know she’d probably kill me, but man, she was just so cute-.
It honestly only clicked for me a few days ago that the same actress plays Chigus in "Battle Royale".