Since I didn't have the time—or frankly, the interest—to look up who actually directed this when the thread was first active, I finally managed to dig up some info on him on the Network.
Apparently, the guy studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts, and after graduation, he pivoted toward lithography and designing movie posters—work that actually earned him an award back in 1953. He’s been living in Paris since 1959.
He even landed a Golden Palm nomination once for the film Talking about sin, which is based on a classic American literary work by Stefan of Mexico. Following that, he released films like The Beast (1955), Behind monastery walls (1977), and Love ritual (1988). These are definitely controversial—some people rave about his surrealist visions, while others just dismiss them as nothing more than "crass pornography."
A lot of his work has historical roots, too—take The Art of Love from 1983, for instance, which is set during the era of Ovid and even features the poet himself as a character. Then you've got Blanche, which takes us back to the Middle Ages, and three out of the four installments of Immoral story, set in the 19th century, the 16th century, and the era of the Borgia popes. Oh, and Pipe film is actually a cinematic adaptation of a play by Frank Wedekind.
So, I haven’t been getting any notifications for new posts or private messages for about a month now. Does anyone have a clue what might be causing this, or how I can get things back to normal? 😕
I really doubt it’s an issue with my ISP—I mean, I’ve double-checked all my forum settings and everything is set up exactly how I want it to alert me to new activity.
The movie is, as you all probably noticed, brutally bloody and honestly pretty naive. The whole story plays out in a simulacrum—a place that looks like 21st-century America, but just isn't. It’s this hyper-stylized martial arts world where the usual rules of economics, politics, police work, physiology, or even gravity don't seem to apply. It’s a universe built entirely out of nods and references ranging from spaghetti westerns to Asian cinema, all layered under a very heavy directorial hand.
To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of Tarantino's movies. The constant profanity and that specific kind of bluntness in every single line of dialogue really grinds my gears—I truly believe you can craft a high-quality film (or a novel, or a drama) without relying on that stuff. Plus, I’ve got an issue with this whole "alchemy" thing people do. I mean, can anyone actually create something truly original these days? (Let's face it, total originality is basically impossible.) But does everything *have* to be mashed together? Must there be a reference to something else existing in every single frame?
One thing is for sure—if you want to absolutely love this movie, you have to be just as obsessed with the films that influenced Bill as Tarantino is. For me? I didn't walk out of the theater feeling some massive, burning urge to rush out and see a sequel.
Surprisingly enough, there is one Brechtian—well, modern-day—allusion here: the way each chapter title is presented, combined with Richardson's photography full of those intense, bright colors and that expertly stylized scene that owes so much to Yohei Taneda.
And frankly, I've had just about enough of these critics who try to sell us nonsense as if it were profound. So, I figured it was time to take matters into my own hands and write a review the way it ought to be done. Who knows? Maybe I'll have a bit of luck with this one.
There’s no doubt about it—this is a quintessential Tarantino creation, whether you love it or hate it. Personally, I have to point out that incredible anime sequence produced by the legendary Production I.G. It’s exactly what they’re famous for—that unmatched imagination paired with top-tier technical polish.
But let's be real: without Roger Avary, the movie loses a lot of its bite in terms of sharp dialogue and narrative depth. I mean, just playing around with the order in which the young girl takes out her enemies isn't exactly groundbreaking, right?
Honestly, you’d probably need to be as much of a total cinephile idiot as Tarantino himself just to list every single movie that influenced him. You can spot Hitchcock in there with his influence on Marnie—it’s got that same vibe with the nurse walking down the hallway—and even traces of the Japanese horror Goke, specifically that orange sky backdrop behind the plane.
There's plenty more where that came from, too. I'll get back to you.
Originally conceived as a segment of Polish writer / director Walerian Borowczyk's better-known Immoral Tales , this bizarre feature straddles The Lin between European art Cinema and straight-up pornography. The plot follows this hairy, beastly guy who basically just spends the whole movie aggressively hunting down a beautiful young woman through the forest—presumably looking to impale her on his massive, very obvious erection. Now, if you were thinking that actually sounds erotic... trust me, it really doesn't.
At times, the movie feels like it’s just endless stretches of heavy-handed exposition mixed with long, grueling chase scenes. And although The explicit content May border on exploitation, the script is surprisingly deep, diving into lofty themes like the crumbling of the old-money elite and the loss of sexual innocence. Banned in many countries and largely unseen until The DVD revolution, the beta is a fascinating little oddity, even if it leans more toward being pretentious than actually fun to watch.
In case anyone was wondering, Joksimović actually did a track with Eminem! You can grab a copy over at Vienna. I think the URL is something like vienna.com or whatever.
Even though I love seeing us sitting pretty in third place in the betting odds, I can't help but wonder if those numbers actually tell the whole story. Honestly, who knows how many people are voting or what their real intentions are? 😁
It’s not actually turbo-folk—it’s more like Turkish pop. Basically, they take a motif from a Turkish track (usually just one bar!) and then rework it until you can't even tell where it came from. For instance, with my Ian, he actually remixed a song by that Azerbaijani artist Alikhan Samedov we talked about earlier.
That song Leontina wrote for him, (Side by Side), is also really solid. 😁
I’m putting my money on our entry, (my Ian), even though—let's be honest—Eurovision is easily one of the silliest festivals out there, and I usually think Eurovision songs are total junk. This one actually sounds a lot like Alikhan Samedov's work; honestly, there’s a measure in there that is identical. And they even start off in different keys!
Ethan Martinez11 said:I’ve been taking Advil for the last few days. They’re the effervescent tablets, and honestly? They're great. I’ve heard about aspirin C and even gave it a shot myself. But man, I just couldn't get past that sour taste you get in the water once it dissolves. Yuck... Quote:
I didn't have a fever or anything, but the headaches were definitely there—especially once evening rolled around. It seems like symptoms always tend to flare up in the afternoon. Why is that? Who knows! I’m definitely getting my shot next year. One hundred percent. 😁
