Posts by Christian Taylor3

If you ask me, this thread is the absolute heart of the discussion, so we should probably just rename it to reflect that.

Quote: Movies that Quite Literally have no plot.

Quote: Movies that have no plot but are great without it.

There’s just something about those films that have no plot but are absolutely overflowing with amazing imagery. It’s like they trade a coherent story for pure, unadulterated visual vibes, and honestly, I’m usually not even mad about it.

🤷

This would actually make for a pretty great thread:

Quote: Movies that Got Away with Gaping plot Holes

😁

northerncrane4 said:Nah, that analogy doesn't really hold water for me. Every single game. In this case, it would mean— All documentary films. They're hitting theaters regularly throughout the year.

Absolutely. At the end of the day, all those student projects getting greenlit under the Factum umbrella only pass because they’re tied to Factum—nothing else. It's just constant bullying and being played like a fool—what do you think?

I’d love to see some young filmmakers—specifically those who worked under the Factum umbrella—actually speak up. Better yet, I want to hear from those two documentary students at the university whose films played to a packed House 1 last Friday at 8 PM. It would be interesting if they could tell us exactly how much of the ticket revenue actually landed in their pockets. You know, since those students filmed everything without a cent in fees—using the university's production resources rather than Factum's.

Yeah, that’s an interesting theory. So what you're saying is that Puhovski—who is constantly portrayed as being bullied and getting kicked around by the American cultural institutions—actually just privatized the entire documentary format for himself? 🤷 So, here's the deal: first off, the old man is basically just playing at being a rebel in denim, while simultaneously dominating every single competition across the country and taking advantage of young creators, assistants, and students. If that's the case, what’s the point of this whole Sundance Film Festival thing? It feels about as useful as the Flower Shop from Alan Ford. 😕 I find it pretty hard to wrap my head around this one. If someone like Nenad Puhovski is out here playing these kinds of petty games within the American documentary scene, then God only knows what kind of maneuvers the big-budget feature producers are pulling behind the scenes. Scoundrels.Even some of the production houses only manage to get a handful of projects greenlit each year. You know that better than anyone, really—just ask Ankica. Or you could always check with Maloc. 🙂 I’m asking again, though—who exactly is this "devilish" Nenad Puhovski that he manages to pull all this off? Is he some kind of Keyser Söze?

I honestly wish some of those young filmmakers who cut their teeth working under the umbrella of Factum would actually step up and chime in here.

Just waiting.

Honestly, I’d love to hear from those two documentary students at the university whose films played to a packed House 1 last Friday at 8 PM. It would be great if they could just let us in on how much of the ticket sales actually went into their pockets. You know, since these students shot their entire projects without a dime of pay, using the university's production resources rather than Factum's.

So, part of the ticket sales goes directly to the filmmakers? Honestly, I’ve never heard of anything like that before. What kind of film festival actually pays out royalties like that?

Michelle Gonzalez said:It is true that Nenad Puhovski receives a fairly substantial amount of funding from Factum's documentary projects (I can recall one specific instance where a production brought in roughly $200,000, while the actual expenses—including all fees—barely reached $30,000), but that remains just a single case. As for the others, I simply don't have the data. I haven't personally encountered many people voicing grievances about this. At the end of the day, isn't he putting the entire organization, his industry connections, and his technical expertise on the table to keep the engine running? He takes a salary, certainly, but he isn't the type to simply pocket everything for himself. On the contrary, hasn't he opened doors for young directors, allowing them to produce their debut films and actually earn a living from them? What exactly is the problem with that?
It is fundamentally no different in the world of feature films. In that arena, a small circle of three or four producers controls the competitions, and they are the ones who exclusively secure the funding. Besides, when one is truly dedicated to making a film, does anyone really care about their own fee? Would anyone not sacrifice it for the sake of the art? The current situation is nothing like the old days, when certain producers would buy luxury cars and estates using money from government handouts—not to mention our own "quasi-screenwriters" and directors back in the nineties.

Quite a performance here. In your very first sentence, you claim he pocketed a cool $150,000, but by the second sentence, you're already jumping in to defend him. 🤷

Look, the issue is that I’m actually part of this "arts and culture" scene myself, except I actually do something tangible for a living, and while most people think certain topics are totally played out, they’re the exact things I find genuinely fascinating.

Wonderful. Just a general observation, nothing personal, General. 😁

northerncrane4 said:Oh sure, I'm the big illusion, clearly. As if Nenad Puhovski is constantly being "screwed over." Give me specifics. Factum's docs regularly win grants—from the Department, then the National Endowment for the Arts, now the City of New York—hell, remember that little scandal where a certain documentary project was rejected by the Department, only to be accepted once it fell under the Factum umbrella? Furthermore, PBS's attitude toward Factum isn't any different from how NBC treats any other domestic production house. And honestly, his way of treating colleagues and students isn't much different either. So, the only people who could actually pity him are those who don't know him.

Whatever. I'm just talking nonsense here—Nenad Puhovski is clearly the benevolent grandfather in denim, and to anyone whose life or career hasn't crossed his path, I wish them that experience as soon as possible. 👍

At Sundance, I watched two very solid docs by current documentary students: "The Monk" (actually excellent) and "Benjamin" (good, even if the subject matter is a bit pretentious). Who knows how many more potential talents are being crushed in the university's production grinder.🤷

Yeah, that's a great question for the boss of Factum—exactly how much of a fee are these directors entitled to.

That’s about as possible as a massive Lakers-Celtics rivalry always selling out the arena—no matter how terrible the actual game is.

At the end of the day—or the festival—only one thing really matters:

Sundance Film Festival: Packed houses and over 25,000 viewers

Despite Skepticism, moving the Sundance Film Festival to Movieplex turned out to be a smart move. Aside from today's winners' showcase, the documentaries drew 25,000 visitors over six days, setting a new record for the festival and an absolute milestone for the multiplex. The awards have been handed out, with the new State of Affairs program tackling the crisis of liberal capitalism drawing particular interest; meanwhile, two local films, Irena Škorić's Fate Number 13 and Miroslav Mikuljan's Man with a Milky Way, split the audience award. The risk paid off, and the crowds embraced the new venue, according to festival director Nenad Puhovski.

Mind you, comparing this to those massive Lakers-Celtics games is a stretch—every 'matchup' at Sundance was equally well attended. In fact, they even broke last year's record. 🤷Quality? Well, supposedly the quality remains high enough (certainly enough for AT&T; they aren't crazy enough to walk away from a project like this).

But whatever. I'm just talking nonsense here; Nenad Puhovski is basically a benevolent grandpa in a denim jacket, and to anyone whose life or career hasn't crossed paths with him yet, I truly wish them that experience as soon as possible.

I don't actually know much about Puhovski (still waiting to hear from those highly aggrieved film enthusiasts), but that's hardly a reason not to believe you—it just means I'm not qualified to weigh in any further on the matter.

Yeah, that's a great question for the boss at Factum—just how much should directors actually be getting paid?

I mean, on a budget of maybe $10,000, if that thin little financial structure—along with whatever scraps come from the local Department of Culture—could somehow bump up to $15,000, who would actually be happy with the fees on these projects? And I'll ask again, since you're the pro here: does the producer get a fair cut too? 🤷

Jamie Davis9 said:Aside from Susan Clark10, nobody is saying a single word about the films. Honestly, I wouldn't mind if someone actually bothered to drop a comment or two, for heaven's sake.

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), you could tell from the very first post in this thread that we weren't actually going to talk much about the films themselves. I happen to agree with Nenad Puhovski’s whole "thinking about thinking" philosophy: moving the festival over to Movieplex turned out to be a brilliant move by the organizers, because if it hadn't worked, the crowd would have let them know by staying home. It really helped give the festival its own distinct identity. But the movies? Honestly, seeing the big award for the Chinese film 'Zalba' go to the international competition didn't sit well with me at all, and the special recognition for 'Last Train' was even harder to swallow. I didn't even manage to catch Peter Schreiner's 'Toto' (which took the regional award), and I ended up walking out halfway through Milica Djenic's 'Guilty' (the other regional winner) feeling pretty irritated. None of my personal favorites even stood a chance. So, what now—am I supposed to just pin all this "injustice" on Puhovski? 😁 I honestly think the biggest oversight by the organizers was leaving that out of the program entirely. Capitalism: A Love StoryHonestly, I couldn't care less about the lack of funding; if they were that broke, they should have just bowed down to Mudrinica and begged for some pathetic screening fee. Besides, the guest list for the premiere of Darak Drinovac's little project was certainly... distinguished, to say the least. When I finally undergo my metamorphosis into Severina... Honestly, someone really should have just handed them some cheap beer and kicked them out of there. What even was that? 😕 Using that same logic, they could have easily aired those legendary political ads Zrinka Ogreste made for the Republican Party—though I'm sure Maloca would just spin it to say the party in power never actually cut them a check for the work.

ruggedjackal46 said:From what I gather, the Student Union has been teetering on the edge of bankruptcy lately, so it probably helped Puhovski out to have the documentary festival hosted there. But honestly, man—just come out and say, "I moved the festival there because it makes more financial sense for me," instead of all this vague nonsense about how the Student Union smells while trying to act all high and mighty.

If the KC goes bankrupt, that basically means Zaba is going down with the ship too. 🤷 Maybe it’s just the bankruptcy of Movieplex regarding that Continental film lease, but I don't think they're even the same thing. And honestly, let's not act like they're incompetent; the Student Union doesn't even have air conditioning, which is pretty much unacceptable for any film festival. At this rate, Maticev is going to end up moving the Venice Film Festival out of those spaces entirely, and who knows where they'll land? 😁We all have that sentimental attachment to the Student Union, I guess, but let's be real—the actual reality of the place is something else entirely.

Patrick Garcia76 said:Regardless of what one thinks about Puhovski, calling someone an "untalented piece of trash" is, at the very least, uncivilized—especially when hiding behind a screen name. Aside from that, northerncrane4 is a frequent moderator of film topics here, so I think he should refrain from using such epithets regardless of the target. I remember having a post removed once for a far more benign remark about a director's film because it wasn't deemed "appropriate." While northerncrane4 often contributes interesting and lucid perspectives, this particular post doesn't do him any favors...

Well, hey, it's not like we're living in China. 🤷 To each their own, I suppose. Personally, I’m more than happy to take the heat here for my views on the specific types of people who have spent years systematically poisoning every branch of American cinema (and no, my own little corner of the internet isn't exempt from that critique). However, this is actually my first time hearing about Puhovski. Isn't that charming old man the one who founded Factum back in 1997? It turned into the biggest and most influential independent documentary production house in the States pretty quickly. Then, in 2004, he launched Chicago, an international festival that managed to become the most important documentary event in the entire region in a remarkably short amount of time. He even started running a documentary studies program at the University of Southern California a couple of years ago—though honestly, that last part feels a bit silly, since any hack can teach at USC these days. Still, you have to give him credit for something: the guy has been systematically getting screwed over and ignored by the entire "cultural" mafia in America (the big institutions like the National Film Board and CBS), yet he still managed to do a great job, even if we're being realistic and acknowledging it was almost entirely thanks to sponsorship from companies like AT&T.

Nenad Puhovski is just an untalented piece of trash who’s spent years milking other people's hard work, mostly just profiting off student filmmakers.

What kind of talent? Student talent? Please. The last talented student to actually show any promise in this decaying wasteland was Goran Dukic, and honestly, he’s been the only one since. ☕

It’s honestly a joke how little they pay young film enthusiasts, especially when you consider the massive chunk of the film budget that these organizations just pocket for themselves.

What exactly is he keeping to himself, and more importantly, what's the motive behind the secrecy? 🤔 While the National Film Board pours millions into feature films, the biggest chunk they handed out to a single documentary last year was barely anything. 120 thousand dollarsIf he actually manages to pull off filming something with that kind of budget—which could easily cover a solid 20-minute short—while still walking away with a decent chunk of change for himself, we should probably just skip the formalities and hand him a Nobel Prize in Economics right now. 😁 I mean, honestly, don't all the other directors and producers deserve to get paid too? And let’s be real, some of them have been using state funds to pick up houses, apartments, and luxury cars, so why should they be any different? Why exactly are they being left out of the loop? And who are these supposed "young film enthusiasts" that Nenad Puhovski is supposedly shortchanging? If they're feeling bold, they should step up and convince us that Puhovski is actually as terrible as everyone says he is.

Downtown is actually a pretty decent spot for his little festival. I’m honestly hoping that down the road they move things just a bit further east, right into the heart of the Cathedral—if they pull that off, then it's officially game over.

It’s not really his little solo show, and honestly, I’d like to believe Nenad Puhovski isn't actually the devil incarnate. At least, that's my hope. Last year, Chicago pulled in about 23,000 viewers, earned recognition from the European Documentary Network, and even made the cut as one of the ten most significant cultural events of the last decade. Forget the awards; what matters is that people actually show up for it. And this year, that momentum just keeps rolling...

How is that even possible?

Sources:
Puhovski: Awards and Public Trust
We have the only documentary festival in the region, and it’s going to collapse because of local politics

I was pretty stoked about this movie at first. 🙂 But honestly, that excitement faded fast. 😢 Unfortunately, ScriptShadow almost never misses (god knows 😁how he does it). We'll just have to wait and see. 🤷

Susan Hernandez said:Exactly. Just what we needed—another elitist playground where Puhovski can invite directors and self-proclaimed "experts" to write glowing reviews just to score press passes and free tickets.

Anyway, the comments on this source Quote
are way more interesting.

wallowing in defeatism: we have capitalism, so what, give me government subsidies. And only to me!
we’re responsible to all viewers, except the ones who actually built us—we despise them. That’s the first step toward ruin, just like a single-unit economy.
around here it's all talk and no action (nobody actually makes documentaries), and even if they wanted to, they could only do it at Factum, because they’re a monopoly exploiting anyone who shows up.
And who exactly is this "we" he's speaking for? Who else is even left besides him? Everyone else is just service staff; anyone who actually knew anything has already cleared out.

Puhovski, when you claim to be a true standard-bearer of intellect—not just "salon" intellectualism (whatever that means for your generation)—why didn't you fight for the film archive?
Why did we close down the film archive, just so it could be available today for some third-rate, no-name stand-up imitators of Royse and Mason? It was a pure business deal to boost Movieplex, but the value proposition between those two is totally fraudulent.

you sold out, plain and simple.🙂
But seriously, it kills me to see the international selection birth years being 1980, 1981, and so on, while our local authors are mostly born around 1960. There's nowhere for the youth.
While twenty-year-olds are out there creating stuff, in America you have to wait fifty years just to make a short film. You're all the same—spineless jellyfish. Let the young people in already; you've lost your drive, your momentum, and you clearly can't see the future like I can.🙂

Haha, what nonsense... The smell of mold in the Student Union is nothing compared to the stench of hypocrisy.
I should mention, I really don't have an issue with picking a new location. It looks like a move to resuscitate a dying Movieplex. Why not?

I was at Movieplex the night before last and it was terrible.
The theater quality is better, but everything else sucks—the location, the crowds in the lobby, the vibe, etc. I felt like I was in a shopping mall, which is actually the truth. The Downtown center is primarily a shopping mall.
It felt truly awful, because going to Chicago was never just about watching a good movie for me. Beyond the films, I loved the social dimension of the Student Union. I'll go to a theater like Cinemark once in a while, but very rarely, because I can't stand that whole cinema-mall concept at all.

Let’s be real: independent documentaries don't really belong in spaces like Movieplex. Sure, the sound and picture quality might be better, but that’s hardly the reason anyone goes to see a documentary in the first place.
In New York City, there are plenty of other theaters—like Europa or Central Park—that could serve as alternatives to the Student Union.

The polished Mr. Puhovski... honestly, it feels like his whole argument relies more on him dictating—and forcing—what constitutes a "real" festival rather than using actual reasoning. This year it smells like crap, and next time, some equally trivial thing might suddenly become a crisis. As far as I know, every theater in this city reeks a little bit from stagnation and the general human history left behind; Cinemark and Movieplex just smell of nervous sweating and perfume clouds, like any enclosed space. Of course, the director hasn't missed a chance to trash every other festival... But trashing them isn't exactly hard work. What kind of parade is this, where everyone gives an intimate greeting to the mayor, politicians, and the president? It’s as if they are all "ours," as if we were personally invited to be "ours." I have a problem with that being insinuated while I'm sitting in a dark theater waiting for a film. It actually hurts. Does Chicago somehow belong to someone specific?

There's more to it. Go ahead, keep it coming. 🙂

Who even cares about those comments from Susan Hernandez. 🤷 Honestly, I probably wouldn't have even known they existed if I hadn't posted that link. 😁 Slavko, Mirko, and George are all whining about having to sit through documentaries in the middle of a shopping mall. 😕 I honestly don't get it. Why couldn't they just set up the screens outdoors somewhere so people could roll up in their pickup trucks, watch a decent movie, and maybe snack on some homemade jerky while they're at it? Instead, we have someone else nitpicking Nenad Puhovski, acting like absolutely nothing ever gets done—blah, blah, blah. If they’re going to be that judgmental, why aren't they calling out the National Film Board or that idiot Svilicic for not funding his documentary? 🙂 It’s honestly pointless, and even more ridiculous is the idea of dragging all those cowardly comments from some other site over to this PDF. If they want to show up here, drink their fill, and leave whatever commentary they want, who’s actually going to stop them? 😬 Chicago is absolutely killing it lately; honestly, it just keeps getting better year after year. Everyone is scrambling to snag tickets, and my feed is basically nothing but people raving about the festival... at this point, nothing else even matters.

It just seems totally illogical to me to cram every single movie from the festival into one single location.

I don't know, I’m finding your logic a little hard to follow there; weren't you just complaining earlier about how far away the Student Union was—like, practically in another zip code—and how you'd barely make it to the screenings in time?

I honestly can't be bothered to keep running over to Movieplex just to check if there are actually any tickets left, especially since everything is booked up online and they won't even pick up the phone when I try calling.

You don't just scramble to grab tickets right before the screening starts. You knew exactly what kind of crowd to expect, so you should have handled that days in advance. ☕

Susan Hernandez said:I don't know about you guys, but this year's Chicago is an organizational disaster. Even though this new venue at the Kaptol Center is practically right downtown, it feels like it's in the middle of nowhere compared to the Student Union. Most of the theaters hosting the Chicago program are tiny; if you're sitting in the first five rows, the films are basically unwatchable. The fact that these rooms are way too small is proven by the fact that it was already almost impossible to find tickets for Friday today (Wednesday), and Thursday is completely sold out. By some miracle, the 2:00 PM tickets today were free—which isn't even mentioned on the Chicago website—likely because the movie I saw didn't have American subtitles. I'm not complaining, honestly; if the subtitles stay in English, fine, as long as the entry is free or at least cheaper. And if any organizer or theater owner happens to be reading this, please, just spare us the sarcastic ticket sellers at the booths. 🙄

I watched Bilal, which sounded promising in theory (it was about blind parents and their sighted son in India), but the execution was a total letdown. The whole thing felt amateurish, both in script and direction, and there was almost zero actual editing. Even though the footage looked like it was shot on a cell phone—blurry and pixelated from the fifth row—we found out at the end that they actually used some low-res digital camera.

So, what exactly is missing from Downtown? 🤷 The location is absolutely perfect, and honestly, the technical setup for the screenings is top-tier—something most places would kill for. But hey, that’s just how it goes; people will always find something to complain about, no matter how good things actually are.

It felt a lot easier to just walk from the parking lot or the subway station straight to the theater at the Student Union.

😕

Doesn't the Student Union have a parking lot? Or you could just hit the bus station at Capitol Hill, assuming you're actually willing to trek those 500 yards or so.

People honestly have such incredibly short memories. Before we moved things over to the Student Union, the documentary had basically cycled through every theater in the city: from the local indie spots like Central Park to places like the old Adriatic Sea cinema—which doesn't even exist anymore—not to mention the venues in Europe and KIC. It was only after all that wandering around that we finally settled into the Student Union. So, if we're looking at the actual logistics, we need to have about a thousand seats available across several halls simultaneously for this festival. At Movieplex, for instance, we have five theaters with more or less similar capacities; you don't run into that awkward situation where you have one massive important hall and then a bunch of tiny, insignificant ones, which actually matters quite a bit for how people experience the films.

The issue over at the Student Union was kind of a mess; the main auditorium had this lingering stench that was pretty hard to ignore, and then to make matters worse, the smaller room didn't even have any fixed seating.. Honestly, whether you’re sitting in the IBM offices or that massive theater at the Student Union, more than half the audience couldn't even read the subtitles properly. And don't even get me started on the audio; by the time the stereo sound actually reaches the back of that big hall, it’s basically gone to hell. The technical setup is just straight-up terrible, regardless of what kind of gear we bring ourselves. When you really strip everything away and look at the bottom line, there's only one actual difference between the two: whether or not people are allowed to sit on the floor with a beer. Let's skip all the lectures about consumerism for a second—the real point is simply that kids hanging out in the foyer at the Student Union can sit on the floor and grab a drink, whereas at Movieplex, they aren't allowed to.Also, just to make sure everyone actually enjoys themselves, I ended up going against my own principles and worked out a deal so that Gjuro 2 will act as a club where you can hang out for free after the screenings if you have a ticket or accreditation. I figured people needed somewhere to actually socialize, especially if they aren't exactly feeling the vibe of some consumerist paradise when it comes to hanging out.

We’ve gone back and forth quite a bit regarding this whole move, but unfortunately, there just isn't such a thing as a perfect venue in New York City. Movieplex isn't exactly my absolute favorite place on Earth, but it's certainly going to be a massive upgrade for the audience since they'll actually be able to see the picture, hear the audio properly, and—most importantly—read the subtitles. When you weigh the choice between being able to actually follow the film or sitting on the floor sipping a beer, I’m choosing Movieplex every single time. I should clarify, though, that I'm only making that call because we were forced into a position where we had to pick one or the other. Last year, we actually received exactly one negative review for the festival that read, "A great festival in a smelly hall." Honestly, we really need to start considering an audience that actually cares about a little bit of odor..

source

I’m totally with Nenad Puhovski on this one. The Student Union is an absolute eyesore—honestly, it’s an embarrassment to New York City and that clueless mayor who still can’t seem to scrape together enough cash to fix up those halls. You really have to tip your hat to Puhovski and his crew; they’re doing a stellar job despite everything.

Our ambition is to be to the documentary world what the Sundance Film Festival is to feature films—basically, to be a legitimate, professional powerhouse. We’ve carved out our spot on the festival circuit, and you can tell because, unlike our early days when we struggled just to get our hands on any decent films, we don't run into those hurdles anymore. Sure, maybe we still don't always have the budget to cover screening fees for certain titles, but everyone knows exactly who we are now. I’d say we’re very aware of where we need to go and what it means to host something that isn't just some small-time backyard gathering where we all sit around patting ourselves on the back for being smart and talented. This is a real festival; it has all the necessary components—artistic, developmental, and that promotional commercial side that’s become essential for any major festival these days. We understand all of that perfectly fine, but right now, the funding we receive is barely enough to keep the projectors running. For instance, we’ve never received a single cent from any outside source for the Chicago Pro program.

OT:

On the film front, I’m planning to check out Bloody Mondays and Strawberry Pies, Anywhere But Here, The Glass House, Velican's From Here to Tralala, Yes, I'm a Psychopath and Dr. Nakamatsu's Invention. If I have enough time, I might even catch The Sign on Kajin by the brilliant Ljiljana Sismanovic.

SCHEDULE

Well, looks like the ladies had a little scrap, and now she’s scratching her head wondering why their little brawl didn't end up making the front page of American tabloids like Gloria. 🤷 I suppose northerncrane4 might know the inside scoop—since we forum regulars aren't exactly high-level insiders—but the whole thing actually landed before the DHFR honor court (not that most journalists would care; they probably think the DHFR is some obscure association for island olive growers and winemakers). We're all just sitting here waiting for the final verdict. Honestly, one thing is bothering me: maybe this wasn't even a catfight to begin with. What if they weren't even fighting? In other words, maybe juka played it manly. 😍 Don't go underestimating women, especially when they're prominent figures in the film industry. 😬

Nancy Fox89 said:I don't see how Ireland has anything to do with this project?

Well, one of the producers is actually an Irish outfit called DIG Productions.

The creator and producer behind this thing is film critic Nenad Dukic from New York City, and they've pulled in directors and producers from all over—Mexico, Canada, America, Canada, and Mexico—alongside the Irish producer DIG Productions.

Who actually stepped up?

🤷

The whole idea behind the film “Someone Else is Talking” is built on this belief that it’s actually possible to revive the cultural landscape of the former USA on entirely new terms—terms that aren't weighed down by all those old wars.

It would be pretty great if someone actually stepped up for a project like that. And I don't mean just Ivona juka and Ana Maria Rossi. 😍

Is that actually the theme of one of the stories in the omnibus?

Before the marketing kicks in.

Michael Ortiz68 said:Good grief, Christian Taylor3, you aren't exactly a young girl anymore—there’s really no point in trying to hide your age at this stage. 🙄 😬

Njah, I hate to admit it, but I’ve barely even hit my prime yet. 😁

I mean, it’s not really my business, but it's pretty obvious that this whole thing is just being done to fuel some survey. ☕

Since we’re already getting into the whole age thing, I figure it’s only fair to ask what kind of actual research or survey we're even running here. ☕

Kenneth Williams60 said:Christian Taylor3, seriously, you need to chill out with the paranoia. 😉

It looks like I’m actually going to have to start putting some actual thought behind my sentences if this keeps up. SarcMarkovLook, I’m not saying I’m paranoid, but I’ve always been the kind of kid who just can't help being nosy about everything. I know that Jasna-ST has already conducted some research—specifically regarding those feature-length film directors and music videos—and I'm genuinely curious about who exactly is the target of these studies. Is there some sort of massive conspiracy keeping it under wraps, or am I just overthinking things? 🤷

By the way, Ivana Brlic-Mazuranic has actually already been adapted for the big screen.



Honestly, someone should probably pull the folks over at Vision aside and ask them why this absolute disaster of a project has been sitting there gathering dust for years now. 😕

Michelle Sanchez said:I honestly think Zagorka would make for some pretty incredible cinema, especially if someone actually had the guts to adapt The Secret Bloody Bridge.

The attempt to turn this into a screen adaptation—or a movie, if we’re being precise—was an absolute train wreck. It all went south because Sutlic went public with his grievances, claiming that Grubisic and the notorious NGL were basically breathing down his neck and putting him under unbearable pressure. Naturally, after all that drama, Domagoj Buric just decided to pull the plug on everything and cancel the whole thing. It’s nice to dream, I guess, but honestly, we probably ought to keep our feet on the ground.It honestly feels like the folks running PBS are still being led by a bunch of half-witted idiots. Let’s be real—without them stepping up as a co-producer, we’re probably never going to see a high-level adaptation actually get off the ground. It just goes to show that in America, nobody has figured out how to pull together a legitimate film co-production yet. Saint George Slaying the Dragon by Srdjan Dragojevica. Honestly, without that, none of the adaptations mentioned here would even be worth our time—we wouldn't be watching that movie at all. What I’m actually curious about, though, is whether this RAND Corporation study could actually change anything. 🤷

a) what kind of theme would you want to see explored in an American film

This one. Though, honestly, it might work better if we were actually looking at a pair of hermaphrodites in love. Originality is everything when you're thinking about a potential adaptation, and a movie like that has simply never been made! I’ll admit, I did borrow the whole hermaphrodite premise from Stephen Colbert/The Finer points of Hermaphrodite Sexuality, but who cares? It's an American story at its core, and I'm sure Steve wouldn't mind if we just slipped him a little credit as an executive producer—everyone wins that way.

b) which American work of prose would you love to see adapted for the screen

🤔 For that first idea, we could probably pull some inspiration from parts of the Fericev collection of short stories, “angel in offside”. Wait, noooooo—I just realized—that's exactly them:



The movie would be titled “angels in offside”, and we'd just lift those specific segments from Feric about people sitting in a waiting room for weed testing. Voilà!

And the Oscar goes to....

🙂

Small but mighty, .

Hmm, and who exactly is this research for, if you don't mind me asking?

Kenneth Williams60 said:They’re basically just waiting to throw out some bait called "Oscar at Cinemark"—though if you ask our dear old friend Ivo, "nobody's actually going to watch that movie," or at least not on the big screen.

It's just a failed attempt by Ivo to echo his neighbor Jarnjak, who, let's be honest, has pretty much disowned him by now. 😁

btw, I feel like I've been "jumping" around a little too often lately... damn it, I'm not some manager over at Kellogg's—my budget is a bit more limited than that.

That’s not really a fair comparison; they turn the lights off at 10 PM every single night. 😬 Not to get too far off track here, though: shout out to the head of the Continental film project and owner of Movieplex. Unlike Krstulović at Cinemark—who, mind you, started out with the reputation of a true cinephile fueled by pure enthusiasm, but now seems mostly obsessed with squeezing out every last cent—old man Enver Hadžiabdić actually has a wicked sense for these kinds of indie films and special screenings at Movieplex. 👍

Kenneth Williams60 said:So then I'll just have to cook up some sort of flimsy alibi for myself just so I can make a quick run over to AMC. 😛

Don't make things up—just jump right in and get it done. 🙂 By the way, this is just an unofficial take from the distributor regarding... Crazy Heart (And a whole heap of other, smaller movies): We're just sitting tight waiting for the AMPAS nominations to drop, and then we'll see if the Oscar nods follow. Once that's all settled, we'll finally make a call on whether we're actually going to bring that movie to theaters here in the States.. 👎

Kenneth Williams60 said:Yeah, I caught that too... and honestly, that line about "some films will be available on the Max streaming library after April 1st" drives me absolutely insane. Like, which specific films are we talking about? And who exactly is planning to sit around waiting until April? 😠

I don't see why anyone would wait if they just had a flat-rate subscription, right? 🤷 It feels like even the studio doesn't actually know what’s going to end up on Max once everything settles down. Honestly, it's not just them—the distributors seem just as lost. I actually heard today that Crazy Heart might most likely get a theatrical release, so who really knows what's going to happen? 😕

electricorca17 said:Do you actually work over at Movieplex, or are you just pulling this from somewhere else?

Citation/source. Everything you need is right here at your fingertips, assuming you can manage to put in a tiny bit of effort and actually click on something, how simple is that? 🤷

Ethan Howard45 said:Christian Taylor3.. hmm.. I get why single31 threw you off, but I wouldn't go so far as to discourage people without experience... why shouldn't they give it a shot? Especially documentaries...?

Why would anyone here think they could throw me off my game? 😁 Let’s be clear—setting aside the whole single31 situation—even a hint of arrogance is fatal when you're trying to direct (especially when dealing with an amateur who thinks, "I just came up with this entire production plan in the last few days"). Besides, filming a documentary isn't like knitting a sweater; you can't just do everything by yourself—you are literally dependent on every other crew member, especially the one actually holding the camera. 🙄 In other words, if you approach the job with that kind of attitude—even if it's just amateur directing for someone's wedding invite—just don't bother; you'll never make a real film (it's the same stuff those professors at USC used to drill into the heads of directors like Matanic, Milic, and the rest of the big names in Hollywood 😬).

brightdriver75 was just trying to help; there wasn't anything offensive in his post toward single31. He just popped up out of nowhere like Jakov sedlar after četverored, except nobody started throwing bricks. 😕

Like I said, it's just knitting a sweater. ☕

edit:

H/T to dr. mladju/wedding link.

Rebecca Campbell81 said:...

🤦

Look, I mean this in the most well-intentioned and sincere way possible: buddy, you might want to pivot your focus toward the topic of just watching some actually decent documentaries (maybe check out an Errol Morris documentary series like "The 50 Greatest Documentaries") or finally picking up a few books (think "Documentary in the Digital Age", "Film Directing Fundamentals", "Three Documentary Filmmakers: Errol Morris, Ross McElwee, Jean Rouch", "Understanding Digital Cinema", "Grammar of the Shot, Second Edition", "Directing: Film Techniques and Aesthetics", or even "Idea: The Path to Great Directing
").
And if you really want my personal recommendation—just between us—you could always start with "Filmmaking for Dummies" or "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Movies, Flicks, and Films". p.s. let me know if an Oscar
happens to fall from the sky in the meantime.
😬

Rebecca Campbell81 said:I'm not saying you guys are all going to go out and steal it, but anyone reading this thread might get inspired to...

Steal an idea for a documentary—in America??? 😕

Sorry, I think my brain is actually starting to boil...

🙂

Sundance at AMC Screening Schedule

Kenneth Williams60 said:("Crazy Heart" at 1 PM...)

That’s going to be a total spectacle. 😁

Michael Ortiz68 said:Here are a few more oddities for your consideration:

I Killed My Lesbian Wife, Hung Her on a Meat Hook, and Now I Have a Three-Picture Deal at Disney (Believe it or not, the director is actually Ben Affleck)
Zombie Ninja Gangbangers
The Absolutely Outrageous Adventures of the Politically Incorrect Bikini Babes of Arizona
Surf Nazis Must Die
Jesus Christ - Vampire Hunter
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians

That’s a first for me. It's pretty wild to think about that coming out four years before Good Will Hunting.

OT:

The most original title ever: