Posts by Christian Taylor3

So, things finally kicked off yesterday over on Politics...

I can't say I'm exactly sure what you're getting at with that one, but if we're just throwing names around to see what sticks, I guess I'll just sit here and wait for a bit more context before I try to make sense of it. As if I hadn't heard enough already, because apparently, we all needed another reminder of how things are going.
Look, I genuinely appreciate you sharing your cinematic expertise on this forum, but honestly, you might want to dial it back just a notch.🙂 Reading through your posts on this forum, I’ve come to the realization that you’ve basically spent your entire time here trying to bury Hillary, NBC, the Republican Party, the whole damn country, the Democratic Party, and pretty much anything else that carries an American prefix. 🙂
So, you’re gay, and I bet that red, white, and blue flag stings just a little bit, especially since the Kansas City Chiefs are out there kicking your ass. You clearly have enough pull to keep from getting banned around here, though you still end up squealing like a rookie during the first blitz... Nye, Nye.🙂
Honestly, nobody’s out to get you; if they actually did anything to you, you wouldn't even have an inheritance left to worry about.😉
Nye...🙂

It’s happening all over again on the other media outlets today...

I honestly don't even know where to start with this one, but let's just say things are getting pretty ridiculous lately. Asks:
With all due respect, Christian Taylor3... I think you completely missed the mark on this one. 🙂
I know you guys get a massive kick out of talking about male ejaculation, but honestly... you can't really hide behind an anonymous username forever.😉

It’s not that I find it particularly entertaining, it’s just exhausting watching everyone else constantly quote them. If this is how things are going now, I can only imagine what kind of mess we'll be dealing with tomorrow. 😁 By the way, this whole stalking thing actually kicked off because I mentioned News Corp and Ninoslav Pavica. Just to be clear, this isn't some personal attack on hollowtrucker77—it’s more of a general observation. Honestly, guys, what am I supposed to say? Your boss is basically a gossip monger who goes around calling his own reporters (and let’s face it, the readers too) complete idiots. I know it can't be exactly a dream working there, so I really do feel for you. 😬

I honestly don't get this whole "bot" accusation; why on earth would I risk being so blatant about my issues with News Corp when I’m already doing exactly that—using my own actual name, for crying out loud. It's not like we're living in North Korea or something.

I’m honestly just asking the admins to please do something about this issue with certain users and their completely unacceptable behavior. I don't even know where to start with this one, but honestly, I'm just sitting here wondering how we even got to this point. It’s almost impressive, if you think about it—the sheer level of absurdity we have to deal with on a daily basis. It's like we're living in some kind of poorly written sitcom where nothing makes sense and the writers clearly gave up halfway through the season. I'll probably spend the rest of my afternoon just staring at a wall, trying to process it all, because that seems like a much more productive use of my time than actually engaging with this nonsense. Handle it properly.

Thanks.

Anthony Smith3 said:As far as I'm concerned... I'm down.👍

But I can't exactly speak on behalf of those bastards...

So... get ready starting Monday, haha.🙂😁

I think you misunderstood me; I'm just speaking for myself here regarding what I’d actually do with the prize if I managed to snag first place.

So... get ready starting Monday, haha.

Honestly, if this server would just start working properly, I might actually regain my sanity, because right now everything is an absolute disaster. Just so you guys know, the tech crew over at Reddit is working their tails off to get things back on track. 🤷

feralorca82 said:no offense 🤣
sounds good 👍

Awesome. 🙂

nimblecrane20 said:Honestly, I’m terrified to think about what we have in store for Christmas 🤣🙏

And yeah, I'm actually into this. 😉

😕

I have no idea what your plans look like for Christmas, but I figured I’d mention that the Special Edition Blu-ray from the giveaway has already been ordered—which, honestly, gives me even less of a reason to go out and buy anything else. No. So, what am I thinking about giving someone here—maybe even a little something for Zisk?

Just relax. Keep it chill.

Ladies and Gentlemen, place your bets - I'm in.

But with a tiny catch. Look, if I actually manage to win this giveaway, I’ll be handing over the Special Edition Blu-ray of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest to whoever comes in second place. Just a little heads-up though, if that runner-up happens to be feralorca82, then the prize goes to third place instead (nothing personal against him, he's a fantastic player and a great guy on Reddit, it's just that he's already snatched the top prizes twice now. Totally deserved, mind you).

Fair enough? 🙂

Besides, the Blu-ray should be arriving in time for Christmas anyway. 😁

Let's roll! 🙂

Jose Barrett said:😂

I’m with driftingeagle27 on this one. You have my full moral support.

I'd call it pure sadomasochism.

And you, acting like the model citizen of this Reddit thread—instead of actually calling out how trash these servers are, you’re over here defending the entire system like you own the place. 🤷

I've given you these examples a thousand times already, but you're so obsessed with getting bogged down in the weeds that you just refuse to see what's right in front of you.

You're a total hardliner. 😁

And?

Just how much is our admin staff pulling in? ☕

I am protesting the shitty server; just read my previous posts in this thread. Twitter is a massive weapon, and that tweet regarding Anderlon was seen by thousands of people. I’m essentially risking Anderlon calling one of the admins and saying, "Hey, ban that little guy, he's giving me bad PR." Who else here would even dare to try something like that? The point is, I'm doing it decently, from the perspective of a user who is genuinely frustrated by this absolute lack of any decent customer service. That doesn't mean I'm protesting against the moderators. Apples and oranges, right?

You've given those examples a thousand times, but you're so obsessed with dragging people into drama that you can't see what's right in front of you.

You're a total party loyalist. 😁

You're basically acting like driftingeagle27. Meanwhile, we've found out (publicly) that you're a former moderator whose only goal is to play the martyr: being unconstructive and unjustified in how you trash everything related to Reddit. You're trashing fellow moderators who are just doing their jobs, the admins, the owner, the users... Every user has the right to criticize, but you do it in an unacceptable way. It's become your whole mission here. Don't do it, at least not like this.

As for dragging people into drama and being a dedicated party man, I can only paraphrase Frank Slade. And maybe learn how to communicate; you can't just straight-up insult people. There are a million ways to package an insult so it doesn't sound like one. I can only imagine what kind of moderator you were. Bad, obviously. 🙂

and?

How much are our admins getting paid? ☕

I was talking about the admins of the biggest global forums. As for the ones here, I don't know, nor do I care. Go ahead and ask them. Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if they aren't getting paid at all.

Grace Jones86 said:Oh... cursed fate. 😁

Get one thing straight: the moderators are just regular users. That's it.

Don't even say it! 😁
I used to moderate some forums back in the day myself. I know exactly what kind of low-quality garbage you're dealing with. 😁
Given this is only the third site in America, there should be more users on this mess, not fewer.

(Well, right off the bat, I'm going to start complaining about... This.Immediate sanctions are required. To be clear, I've only taken down Vanja Sutlic and Hloverka so far. Hloverka and the Republican Party are just waiting patiently for their turn.).

Look at the flame wars, like that guy attacking you. This happens on Reddit every single day. These posts just sit there for days. A troll can hijack an entire thread, and the mods won't react until the next day—or even three or four days later—unless you practically beg them or tag them. And I don't get how a post like that doesn't get a red card immediately. It’s not like the topic was "Christian Taylor3 and our thoughts on him." Any post using primitive ad hominem attacks should be deleted instantly, and those users should get an express permaban. They destroy the thread.
The moderation here is incredibly sluggish.
It’s funny how it works on Reddit. One regular user misses a rule by a hair, and suddenly they're getting hit with warnings and bans left and right. The mods are always right there, ready to pounce. 🤷

I’ll say it again: where exactly is this "poor moderation" you're whining about? Name the subreddits. Give me specific examples. Anything else is just empty rhetoric and beating around the bush. No insults needed.

Too many examples. 😁

There have always been users like this, and there always will be. Besides, stuff like this doesn't just hang around for days. It gets reported properly and sanctioned accordingly. Just use the report button. Expecting moderators to lurk in every single thread waiting for those little flame war "flyers" is ridiculous; these people have actual lives to lead. They’re also allowed to make mistakes—I'm not talking about admins here, just a one-time correction of a mod's error. To reiterate, they’re all volunteers here. And how do we show our appreciation? By starting threads like this and throwing everyone into the same bucket? 🤷

there are way too many examples. 😁

Making generalizations like that pretty much disqualifies you from any further discussion. Why don't you actually list those examples.

driftingeagle27 said:Hold up, so you're telling me this whole forum is taxpayer-funded by the US government just like News?

(uzgred, I have no idea what kind of "disrespect" you're whining about or why you think I don't respect your country; honestly, your post reeks of chauvinism which is totally unacceptable, so I'm reporting it properly.)

@Jamie Davis9 There you go, proving you lie.

Luckily, it's a clear enough day over here—even with the rain coming down—for me to see that you're clearly just trying to stir the pot. Don't bother.

Go ahead and dig up all those controversial posts from other media and take them upstairs. You aren't going to achieve anything; the bans are completely justified.

Everything else you say is just a weak excuse. Honestly, pretty pathetic.

Grace Jones86 said:God, I seriously can't wrap my head around these "jokes"... 😕😂
Too obvious.

Fine, let's try this. I think I also accidentally noticed that Anderlon mentioned his readership spiked and that the Reddit became profitable (or whatever).
I hope he wasn't joking too, otherwise I've "fallen for it" again. 🤣
Is there a single sentence I don't have to walk on eggshells around to avoid getting played? 🤣What a joke of a group. 🤣

So I connected those two facts (facts?) thinking the boss Joza started paying the crew a little something...
But looking at the level of moderation here, it’s clearly just bullshit.
All five. ☕

And btw... from what I hear, moderation on the big (serious) and specialized forums actually pays.
Whatever, doesn't matter.

Look, people are naturally nosy, and that’s just how they respond to things. Honestly, I can't blame them; it’s probably exhausting for everyone involved. Being a moderator really feels like its own special kind of curse. 🙂

For instance, Reddit was basically stuck in limbo all day the day before yesterday. Then yesterday was more of the same—just constant 503 errors popping up every ten minutes. Honestly, you might as well light a candle and pray to God for a handful of decent ratings just to get a single post to actually go through. How are they even supposed to moderate anything like this? If you try asking the admins, it’s like talking to a brick wall; they don't have a clue what's going on with the site. You end up having to reach out to Anderlon instead.Twitter:

@Anderlon There is a massive, glaring lack of actual customer service happening here. Between the 503 errors, the 502s, and constant database failures, Reddit has basically been stuck in a total blackout all day. Is it really that much to ask to see a simple announcement on the Monitor homepage? Honestly, most people aren't even hitting the main landing page to begin with, so they aren't seeing those little "Sorry, we're doing some quick maintenance" pop-ups anyway; all they’re getting is a blunt "Database error" staring them in the face. A real notification would have actually gone a long way.

Yeah, that doesn't sit right with me at all. Now they're actually trying to act like they're the moderator or something.

You know, if you really stop to think about it, the moderators are just regular users too—nothing more than just people hanging out on the boards like everyone else.

Grace Jones86 said:God, I seriously can't wrap my head around these "jokes"... 😕😂
Too obvious.

Fine, let's try this. I think I also accidentally noticed that Anderlon mentioned his readership spiked and that the Reddit became profitable (or whatever).
I hope he wasn't joking too, otherwise I've "fallen for it" again. 🤣
Is there a single sentence I don't have to walk on eggshells around to avoid getting played? 🤣What a joke of a group. 🤣

So I connected those two facts (facts?) thinking the boss Joza started paying the crew a little something...
But looking at the level of moderation here, it’s clearly just bullshit.
All five. ☕

And btw... from what I hear, moderation on the big (serious) and specialized forums actually pays.
Whatever, doesn't matter.

Honestly, you really don't have any reason to be pissed off at the team. I honestly can't tell where you're getting this from, because everywhere I hang out—and I mean all over the movie, television, literature, other media, and politics subreddits—the moderation is actually top-notch.Well, I guess I’ll just start by complaining about... This is it.Someone needs to step in and issue some sanctions immediately. Honestly, I’ve only managed to bury Vanja Sutlic and Hloverka so far, but the Republican Party is just sitting there, patiently waiting for their turn in line.).

A forum... back to 2009. The bio hasn't turned a dime in profit. Since 2009, they've just been trying to break even.).

Grace Jones86 said:God, I seriously can't wrap my head around these "jokes"... 😕😂
Too obvious.

Fine, let's try this. I think I also accidentally noticed that Anderlon mentioned his readership spiked and that the Reddit became profitable (or whatever).
I hope he wasn't joking too, otherwise I've "fallen for it" again. 🤣
Is there a single sentence I don't have to walk on eggshells around to avoid getting played? 🤣What a joke of a group. 🤣

So I connected those two facts (facts?) thinking the boss Joza started paying the crew a little something...
But looking at the level of moderation here, it’s clearly just bullshit.
All five. ☕

And btw... from what I hear, moderation on the big (serious) and specialized forums actually pays.
Whatever, doesn't matter.

I'll say it again, if you're going to claim the moderation is bad, give me some subforums or actual examples. Otherwise, it's just beating around the bush, no offense intended.

BTW, I post on several of the biggest forums out there, and even there, they don't pay for moderation. I know this for a fact. The administrators get paid, though.

Grace Jones86 said:I guess I totally misread the situation then. I must have tripped up somewhere, because in a recent post, the moderator Endimion17 explicitly stated that they had started paying the mods. 🤷
Something like that...

It doesn't even matter if they're paid or not. You still see massive amateurism when it comes to moderation. A site this size can't just sit unmoderated for days on end. ☕

"Govnar" is part of a username. It is strictly forbidden to mock, distort, or misspell anyone's handle on this forum. For example, I am "el Más Loco," from the notorious Familia. MichoacanAre you allowed to call me the craziest person alive? NO. That's insulting the users. Are you allowed to say my Familia deals drugs all over Mexico? Again, NO. What part of that don't you understand? 🙂

So you're telling me being a total govnar is just part of his stage persona? 😁
So, driftingeagle27 failed to hold the fourth wall.
The guy realized this was a total govnar on a personal level with Smoogj. 😁 Dammit. It wasn't "realizing the performance."

Endimion was just joking around, so don't take it so personally. They aren't actually on the payroll; they're all just volunteers. Being a moderator is honestly just like being a school hall monitor—you spend all your time cleaning up messes, hauling around heavy gear, and having to call out your own colleagues when they start cutting corners. It’s this awkward volunteer gig that feels way more like a list of chores than an actual honor.

Grace Jones86 said:I guess I totally misread the situation then. I must have tripped up somewhere, because in a recent post, the moderator Endimion17 explicitly stated that they had started paying the mods. 🤷
Something like that...

It doesn't even matter if they're paid or not. You still see massive amateurism when it comes to moderation. A site this size can't just sit unmoderated for days on end. ☕

"Govnar" is part of a username. It is strictly forbidden to mock, distort, or misspell anyone's handle on this forum. For example, I am "el Más Loco," from the notorious Familia. MichoacanAre you allowed to call me the craziest person alive? NO. That's insulting the users. Are you allowed to say my Familia deals drugs all over Mexico? Again, NO. What part of that don't you understand? 🙂

So you're telling me being a total govnar is just part of his stage persona? 😁
So, driftingeagle27 failed to hold the fourth wall.
The guy realized this was a total govnar on a personal level with Smoogj. 😁 Dammit. It wasn't "realizing the performance."

Look, you absolutely cannot do that.

It might also have some connection to the word 'bróg,' which is just an old Irish term for a shoe or a boot..

And just imagine having someone relentlessly hunt you down on Reddit, popping up across 505 different threads just to provoke you.

🙂 Grace Jones86, you absolute stinky old shoe... Just an old, stinky shoe...

😕

No, absolutely not. It's just unacceptable. And that’s exactly what driftingeagle27 keeps doing, over and over again. Then, somehow, they act all surprised when things start falling apart. Honestly, it feels like the entire world is conspiring against him at this point, for God's sake. 🙂 He starts diving into an argument, then suddenly just cuts you off mid-sentence to say—or write—something like this:

What’s even the point in me trying to argue with you? You’re just a total govnar, and honestly, we both know it.

Honestly, if driftingeagle27 didn't exist, we’d probably have to invent him just to fill the void. He’s actually a pretty decent guy around here.

😬

driftingeagle27 said:Honestly, I wouldn't even be surprised. 🤷

The negative selection on this Reddit has become absolutely disastrous. If it turns out to be true that they're paying people like the Music mods, or those Smoogj types and ruggedjackal46... if they're actually making stupid decisions here at the expense of everyone else, I'm definitely out. I'm done with this Reddit.

The moderators don't get paid. And besides, nobody is forcing you to stay; it's not like you're chained to your desk. 🤷 Also, why is Sudden Sid suddenly the villain in your eyes? You aren't the only one, either—a few of us got handed red cards on the other media sites yesterday. It was completely deserved, though; I wouldn't dream of trying to argue them.

driftingeagle27 said:Given how things are going, the most likely scenario is that "someone important" rolls in, drops a few toxic comments to stir the pot, and then shuts the whole thread down. Then you try to complain to the admin... Oops! Too bad he is the admin.

The internet is massive, but honestly, it sucks because this Reddit used to be such a solid place. There were always issues, sure, but I don't think it's ever hit rock bottom quite like this—not even close. Now, with Smoogj and all that...

I mean, imagine a moderator who everyone openly calls a govnar. And if you try to give him the benefit of the doubt, like maybe the guy just has a terrible sense of humor, you look at his posts and how he handles things and realize he was actually being honest about himself.

And that's the kind of guy running half the site. Meanwhile, all the best people are just leaving...

"Govnar" is literally part of his handle. It's against the rules to mock, twist, or misspell users' nicknames. For instance, I go by "The Craziest One," coming from the infamous Michoacan family. Are you allowed to call me the craziest one? NO. That would be insulting a user. Are you allowed to say my family deals drugs all across Mexico? Again, NO. Which part of that is confusing you? 🙂

hollowtrucker77 isn't a govnar; he's just on his last warning regarding those red cards. In other words, if any of those warnings had actually been unfair, you would have appealed them in the proper place. But you didn't. And why didn't you? Probably because there wasn't a single leg to stand on.

And just a quick reminder, you didn't seem to have anything to say when Anderlon showed up to hand out a red card over at the Movie section, did you?

dustypuma5 said:That’s just not true. Maria Barnes started a whole new thread after this one went up, and I told her she should probably check the rules first because Tyndall and Unknown would probably ban her. 😬

Then someone eventually merged the two threads together.

Oh, and Jack could at least try quoting Christian Taylor3 and saying something back. I mean, wouldn't he want to frame a message from The Family and hang it right above his bed? 😂

That’s pretty hilarious. ☕

That whole quoting thing? It’s just criticism, honestly. ovo (April 13th). Seriously, where is that vBTwitter link for Reddit supposed to be? Anyway, if this turns out to be true:

Right now, we’re pulling in over 6 million visits every month, which is wild when you consider the sheer scale of what we've built—we're looking at 349,307 individual threads and a massive 25,203,883 posts in total.

... and how does that stack up against this: The 10 most Valuable Blogs in America Blogs, subreddits—it’s all basically the same thing in the end, isn't it? At the bottom of the day, if you aren't pulling traffic, you don't exist. Plus, we have your stellar track record of documenting every single brainless move made by the marketing department—you know, those "drunk banner" specialists—all tied together with that recent massive milestone of Reddit finally appearing on the global map of online communities. So, looking at the whole mess... who's actually the crazy one here?

RedditSo, what’s the deal with Reddit? I’m guessing it was much easier to manage back in the day because they probably didn't have to shoulder massive overhead—since the users are basically the ones building the site themselves.

I honestly don't even know where to start with this one, but here we go.Until recently, Reddit was basically a money pit with zero chance of turning a profit...

RedditWait, so you're telling me the costs weren't actually that high?

I don't even know where to start with this one, but I suppose I'll give it a shot.Running servers isn't exactly cheap, especially when you're dealing with a site that actually gets some decent traffic.

RedditSo, what exactly was it that finally lured all those advertisers over to Reddit?

I honestly don't even know where to start with this one, but I suppose I should probably say something just to keep the gears turning.Ever since that Nielsen traffic report dropped showing Reddit sitting at number three on the list of most visited sites in America, advertisers have finally stopped pretending we don't exist.

Is he crazy, or just incompetent? Look, I honestly couldn't care less about Jack Anderlon’s business strategy—it’s not my place to meddle in his corporate affairs anyway—but I do give a damn about whether Reddit actually works. It seems like all those annoying server issues have finally been ironed out, since nobody else seems to be complaining anymore, but I really hope someone eventually realizes how much sense this investment actually makes. $175.

By the way, Jack never actually gets back to anyone. I'm open to some constructive criticism, if you guys have any.. ☕

Andrew Taylor13 said:I'm using Chrome too... how does it actually get rid of it?

Adblock for Chrome 2.2.5

Just install it and your problems should pretty much vanish.

Jose Barrett said:Karen Rodriguez4 a Reddit user from 2002 with only 20 posts, lol...

Maria Barnes opens a clone thread just to "accidentally" pop up in the discussion 😂

Anyway, congrats to Jack on his little achievement; he knows exactly what I mean 🙂

What's the deal, you trolls?

You have Jack's contact info right there, so just go chat privately.

Just keep us updated on all those epic "battles" you're having with Maria Barnes. ☕

Dennis Hayes39 said:🤦 Wait, did someone actually claim this was the latest District 9 movie? I mean, was it written on the poster? Was it in the trailer? Did the critics even compare it to that? Honestly, I'm seeing it everywhere.

Personally, I think it's a much better film than District 9. Across the board.

Brenda Cook4 said:...and naturally, the Reddit users...since they really are the heart and soul of this community😬

Honestly, I have to give credit where it's due—the folks over on Reddit are pretty much the ones who deserve all the glory for that. 🙂

Well, it’s officially a moment for celebration—the price of our little Reddit shares is absolutely skyrocketing, so I suppose we should probably find a way to cash in while we're ahead.

Just testing out how the Facebook and Twitter integrations work for Reddit..

@@Anderlon

I really hope that trial actually went through. 😁

vBulletin 4.0 forum Screenshots

vBulletin 4.0 forum Screenshots



I guess I picked the wrong emoji...

🙂

Reddit, which consistently ranks as one of the most visited American web portals according to local stats, actually started out as just a little sub-section of the Politico portal. Since its launch back in 1999, it’s basically grown into the most popular online community in the US. It currently pulls in over 6 million visits every month, boasting a massive archive of 349,307 threads and over 25,203,883 individual posts.

On a global scale, you could say Reddit is just one small island in a vast archipelago of internet forums, sitting northeast of the major heavyweights like Twitter, Skype, and YouTube. Those giants all sit just off the coast of the massive Facebook continent, where you'll find smaller territories like FarmVille, Happy Farm, MySpace, and Amazon...

Huge congrats to Uncle @Anderlon and the whole crew over at Politico (and, of course, everyone working behind the scenes to keep this Reddit running smoothly). 👍

What a thread, what a response. 🙏

Honestly, it might be better if we just posted titles when starting new threads and didn't bother with an intro post at all. We could probably just communicate in code, or maybe just reply with "yes," "no," or "great." ☕

Well, look at the saintly Christian Taylor3—I guess even I can get down in the gutter once in a while. 😁

Can the mods please move this? Thanks.

Matthew Anderson4 said:Might hit up the theater for this one. Wondering if it can actually pull numbers anywhere near Paranormal Activity.

PS. Pretty sure there's already a thread about it 🙂

They put it on TV while the movie is just barely starting its theatrical run. Not exactly the brightest strategy, is it? 🤷

IMDb
So, they finally dropped the official trailer.
Official website.

Surprisingly good. Like, seriously, damn good—it was actually fantastic. It’s got this fascinating geopolitical subplot running through it that’s cleverly disguised, but if you look closer, it’s basically a full-blown, rapid-fire critique of the USA. This is definitely one of those movies that hits much harder than you’d expect. anti-American It’s honestly one of those films that defines a decade, really. At its core, you have this slow-burn love story unfolding between Samantha and Andrew—a gradual, subtle connection that builds over time. It’s interesting because, despite what some people might argue in their deep dives, the relationship actually develops quite naturally here. Cloverfield I mean, it actually works. I don't know what to tell you, but I'm just not feeling it.It’s basically this destructive process capable of paralyzing everything in its path—we’re talking massive entities reaching heights of over 300 feet—wrapped up in a survival sci-fi drama told from a third-person perspective. Honestly, the movie works on so many different levels at once. As for the ending, it hits exactly the way it needs to; in my opinion, it was absolutely perfect (I mean, screw the walls, the perimeter was breached anyway).

I happened to stumble upon a review earlier. HorrorHRI’m in total agreement here—I'm passing this along exactly as it was said:

Six years ago NASA discovered the possibility of alien life within our solar system. The USA sent out a probe to grab some samples, but the thing ended up crashing right in the middle of the Mexican desert on its way home. Things went south pretty quickly after that when the alien life started spreading, forcing the government to set up a massive quarantine zone spanning the territory between Mexico and the safety of the US border. The movie follows two young Americans just trying to find their way back home through the mess. Monsters is the debut feature from director Gareth Edwards. Gareth EdwardsSo, I’ve finally sat down to watch the film that critics have been hyping up as the next big thing, and honestly, I get it. The Monsters has been tearing up the festival circuit lately, racking up quite the collection of awards, and after seeing it myself, I can totally see why the buzz around this movie is so massive. It’s actually a damn good film.

The movie follows this photographer and the daughter of his publisher, both of whom end up scrambling to catch the very last ferry from Mexico to the US just before all the ports shut down for six months. Their only real option left is to pay some pretty shady characters for an incredibly expensive and high-stakes trek through a quarantine zone. Looking at how the plot unfolds and certain choices made by the characters, the whole thing feels like a modernized reflection of the mess currently happening along the southern US border. I’m talking about those massive immigration issues—things have escalated so much that states like Arizona have implemented these repressive laws that actually sparked a huge media backlash in America just about a month ago. There’s all this talk about a wall on the southern border, and you can see a similar barrier represented in Monsters. You can pick out a few other subtle jabs at America throughout the film, but we don't need to get into that right now; let's just stick to the movie itself.

To be honest, calling Monsters a classic horror movie is a massive stretch; aside from the creatures themselves, which aren't even the main focus of the narrative, there isn't much horror to be found here at all. It’s more of an incredibly well-crafted survival sci-fi drama where you find yourself completely rooting for the leads, feeling every bit of their desperate struggle to make it back home and watching their bond slowly deepen along the way. The casting is spot on, too, because the chemistry between the two leads is just undeniable—which actually makes sense, considering the director confirmed after the premiere that they’re a real-life couple who recently tied the knot.

The cinematography in Monsters is honestly pretty incredible, especially when you consider they weren't exactly rolling in cash during production. You really have to tip your hat to Gareth Edwards; the guy didn't just write and direct the whole thing, he actually handled a huge chunk of the special effects himself. Visually speaking, you could easily mistake this for a massive Hollywood blockbuster if you didn't know better. I honestly had a blast from start to finish; watching this "modern warfare" nightmare unfold alongside its underlying love story made Monsters a total standout for me, so I'd definitely give it a warm recommendation..

Seriously, highly recommended.

total disaster
lose
passable
solid
very good
excellent [x]
masterpiece

How Gareth Edwards Shot ‘Monsters’ On An Incredibly Low Budget

After we broke the news that the film was produced on a meager budget of just $15,000 while somehow looking 700 times more expensive, the comment sections absolutely lost their minds. People were shouting things like, “There is no way you can pull off a monster movie for fifteen grand! The crew alone costs more than that! A single camera rental would blow the whole budget!” Well, Best Buy actually dropped a behind-the-scenes featurette that breaks down exactly how Gareth Edwards pulled off such a feat on such a shoestring budget. You can check it out right here, tucked under the fold.

Good grief, fifteen thousand dollars?!

🙏🙏🙏

brighttiger41 said:for god's sake, give me a break

🤣🤣🤣

I'm pretty sure they aren't just deleting threads and posts for the fun of it.

Jacob Chavez6 said:As someone who actually respects the whole Gordon Gekko legacy, I’m completely lost on why this movie doesn't hit US theaters until September 30th. It's basically late 2010 at this point... unless I'm missing something huge. The film already played at the Cannes Film Festival, and they've been advertising it everywhere like it's some big deal (I swear, twice in the last three weeks I've seen it listed in theater schedules), so why the wait until the end of September? By then, I'll probably have downloaded it 792 times and totally ruined the experience for myself. Let me just find a few emojis that capture my mood seeing this news 🙂 🙂 🙂 🤦 :2up: 🙂 😠

It seems like there's a lot you're misunderstanding here:

Release dates..

So, we aren't actually lagging behind on the release by much—just a few days.

It's already playing at Cannes? Well, yeah, because that was the world premiere—a festival screening. 🤣 Besides, you won't be able to just download it and ruin the vibe; if you try to find something in the next few days, you'll likely just end up with some low-quality bootleg version with terrible dubbing.😉

'Movie Trailer

SPOILER!

For Your Consideration (script):

Money Never Sleeps.pdf

Not really, unless they manage to snag an Oscar nomination—and even then, the turnout would be pathetic, since basically nobody in the States actually sat down to watch that Tanovich movie. But hey, if you want to grab everyone's attention instantly, just spit right in their faces. In other words, this remake's subject matter hits home for Americans big time.