Posts by Sandra Brown10

William Fichtner



His performance in > (1997) was absolutely top-tier—honestly, he was also the only consistently solid element in >. It’s such a shame he doesn't land more major roles.

Song Kang-ho



He's a massive star in the East, yet relatively under the radar here in the States. In my opinion? Probably the best actor I've ever watched. He nails every single role he touches, but I think he’s at his absolute peak when they let him sprinkle in that subtle sense of humor through his characterization and body language.

Ethan Jones98 said:

Sandra Brown10 I guess—if you could even call it that—it seems like... maybe?
Is dealing with AI essentially just a matter of copying—I guess maybe?

Not really, though—if you look at how many movies there are following this exact same pattern—it’s quite a few, I guess.

• People just happen to accidentally create a conscious AI—I guess that's always how it starts.
• I suppose people aren't always kind to AI—it seems like there's a bit of a lack of respect there, maybe?
• Maybe AI might rebel—I guess.
• Maybe the hero saves the AI—or perhaps the AI turns out to be the villain, leaving the hero to fight against it. I guess it really depends on how you look at things.

🤷 I suppose Oblivion is one of those rare exceptions—though I guess the first three points don't really apply here.

It’s just the typical tropes of Western cinema wrapped up in a sci-fi skin. That’s why I don't think we're looking at "copying" here—it's just your run-of-the-mill American movie logic. 🤷

Is dealing with artificial intelligence just a fancy way of saying we're obsessed with copying?

Karen Smith9 said:Exactly... and which one is that? Berlin Alexanderplatz is a 13-episode series—Fassbinder's vision of Döblin's novel. It's a masterpiece with no real TV equivalent. And Dekalog was this massive screenwriting undertaking by two writers, Kieslowski and Piesieiwicz. Honestly, American TV is just laughable when you look at it through that lens. Even our local wild boar productions are better than The Wire.

Take Fargo, for instance; it has a complete, self-contained plot wrapped up in 10 episodes. True Detective does the same in 8. Even if both shows eventually get second seasons, they’ll likely pivot to entirely different stories and characters.

I'll get to Alexanderplatz as soon as I can. ^^

Karen Smith9 said:It’s not forced; the author just has a very specific intention... besides, multi-season shows are written by entire teams, not just that one person whose name pops up under "created by." Surely you get that.

Look, the author has to have a clear intent because you simply can't afford to treat a movie like it's a TV series. And honestly, aren't you just comparing a great film to a mediocre show again? A talented director can accomplish an incredible amount in ninety minutes, but it's the same logic for a good series—it shouldn't be stretched out over fifteen seasons just to say what could have been perfectly handled in ten episodes.

Karen Smith9 said:You know, there are certain movies out there—just ninety minutes long—that manage to say more than nine entire seasons of television ever could. Honestly, looking back, the absolute best series I’ve ever encountered have to be Dekalog and Berlin Alexanderplatz. It’s pretty clear why, too.

A movie is always "forced" to convey just as much, if not more, than a series within a fraction of the runtime. So, let’s be real: if a nine-season series achieves less than a ninety-minute film, then you’re probably looking at a low-quality show. Honestly, what is the point of judging movies or series based on their absolute worst examples? It makes zero sense.

Karen Smith9 said:It’s not that I’m dismissing the whole medium—it's just that I don't see any real reason to sit through a series, regardless of what it is. I much prefer documentaries. 😁
And yeah, they are an inexhaustible source of originality. There is just so much out there to discover...

Character development, snappy dialogue, actual storytelling... honestly, a series just gives you so much more breathing room to actually get all that in than a movie ever could. Don't get me wrong, I usually lean toward movies over series, but when something truly top-tier comes along—I'm talking stuff like True Detective or Fargo—well, why on earth wouldn't I sit down and watch it?