I’m currently diving into One Hundred Years of Solitude, and I can already see some of you guys losing your minds if they ever made a movie out of it—not even because of the blasphemy, but just because the whole book is packed with surrealism disguised as everyday reality.
goldenhound32 said:Hmm, I had always assumed that caliber played a significant role in that equation. If you are insisting that the outcome remains the same regardless of the caliber used, do you happen to have any actual evidence or perhaps a link to back that up?
It depends on the caliber, distance, angle, the bullet itself, and even the victim. But regardless, if you blast someone point-blank against the skull, there’s gotta be a massive hole. Honestly, in those old Westerns, they never showed holes; everyone just shot for the heart or something. You'd see these tiny little nicks, and you could take a burst from three yards away right in the solar plexus without even staining a white shirt. Nowadays, some movies show wounds pretty realistically, but not always... That part always bugged me about war movies—only a few actually show what a gunshot wound looks like. Most of the time, people getting hit by machine gun nests would just bleed from these tiny little dots...
Of course they do. These kinds of movies don't try to mirror reality; they build their own. If you're chasing some fugitive, it’s totally logical that something goes sideways with your gun—if it didn't, it wouldn't feel like a movie. That last action flick might be a bit dumb, but it actually does a decent job explaining why movies are packed with so many clichés and logic gaps. Sometimes it bugs me, sometimes it doesn't—I don't mind it at all in action flicks, but in realistic dramas, it definitely hits differently.
By the way, I bet maybe 1% of gunshot wounds in movies are actually realistic. If someone shoots you in the head from six inches away, half your skull should be gone, but in movies, it’s usually just a tiny little hole. Remember the kid's head in In the Bedroom? Now *that* was a real wound.
"The 555 prefix convention started when phone companies began nudging TV and movie producers to use those specific numbers back in the day. You can see one of the earliest examples in Panic in Year Zero! (1962) with 555-2106. Back in the 50s and 60s, shows would use stuff like 'Klondike 5' because phone exchanges used letters and numbers. Modern media conventions still lean on this style too. For example, Dr. Emmett Brown's phone number in Back to the Future is 'Klondike 5-4385'." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/555_(telephone_number)
OK Computer, then Kid A, followed by Pablo Honey, The Bends, Amnesiac, Hail, and finally In Rainbows. My actual ranking would go: OK Computer, Amnesiac, Kid A, Hail, In Rainbows, The Bends, and then Pablo. 🤷
My musical journey is pretty much on the same track as Budjet's, except I wasn't busy counting radio hits or TV rotations. Instead, I was obsessed with tracking player stats for the Los Angeles Dodgers (back when we were glued to the TV watching legends like Jackie Robinson or Sandy Koufax). The moment that actually changed everything for me was discovering Radiohead. Back then, I was working at a fish cannery during the summer just to scrape together some cash to spend on original cassette tapes—I've still got about a hundred of them sitting at my place in Florida. One day, while visiting family in Miami, I saw this list in a high school newsletter written by some smart kid ranking the greatest albums of all time. At the top was Aphex Twin. I honestly thought it was some weird techno stuff, and I hated techno because I was strictly into Metallica, AC/DC, Queen, and Hendrix. Still, I decided to buy it just to see what the fuss was about. Once I listened to it, I realized I hadn't even truly heard any of the other seven tapes I'd bought that day... And that’s how it all kicked off. I started buying Discmen and hunting down lyrics for Mogwai or Belle & Sebastian—stuff you couldn't find in the local shops in Florida, let alone downtown Miami. But I did manage to pick up Primal Scream's *Exterminator*, which is what really pulled me toward electronic music. Then, once I started college, I met Marina and then Karl, who basically introduced me to everything I ever wanted to hear and then some. Before long, my playlist went from indie to metal, hip-hop, and experimental stuff. Then the internet hit the dorms, and suddenly I was downloading 40 albums a day via Napster, and well, that led me straight to the beautiful mess I'm in today.
Just a side note, from nirvana until I was 17, the only thing I ever heard from them was the MTV Unplugged session, which I thought was amazing. Then, on a school trip to Jersey, I met some really cool high school girls (who Victor eventually managed to drive away with his sheer stupidity), and they let me listen to "Smells Like Teen Spirit." I popped it into my Walkman and was just like, "What the hell is this?" It was way too noisy. But a few months later, it clicked, and I decided nirvana was the greatest band ever (right after Radiohead, obviously).
You're Ursula from The Little Mermaid! You’re an absolute pro at double-crossing everyone. You act all sweet and sympathetic at first, only to totally stab people in the back once they trust you. And seriously, just because someone kicked you out of the club doesn't mean you need to go after their lovesick teenage daughter. You spend way too much time living in the past and dwelling on the "good old days". It seems like you just can't deal with change.
That villain is freaking awesome! 🙄 I'm usually not a fan of how they localize names, but this one hits just right. Otherwise, Harry Potter would end up being something like Harry Potterson.
1. There Will Be Blood - the backbone of the American West was built on the shoulders of this madman. Absolute masterpiece. 2. The Assassination of Jesse James - such a cold, poetic tale of betrayal and finding purpose. Casey Affleck really blew me away here. 3. No Country for Old Men - some people just want to watch the world burn. Honestly, feels more like Bardem than Heath Ledger to me. 4. Happy Go Lucky - "always look on the bright side of life" isn't the vibe you usually expect from Mike Leigh, but he makes it feel so real. 5. Juno - maybe it's because I'm a softie, or maybe it's the Moldy Peaches, or just how adorable Ellen Page is... either way, laughing is better than crying. 6. The Wrestler - Rourke has a heart as big as his muscles, he just uses it at the wrong time in all the wrong ways. Tragedy? Who knows, I'm still processing. 7. Milk - Harvey was a tough guy—calculating, a total politician, and he didn't care who he stepped on to get things done. But he did it for an oppressed community, not himself. That's probably why I had butterflies in my stomach by the end. 8. Let the Right One In - the most beautiful love story of the year came from Sweden, and honestly, vampires haven't felt this tragic since Lugosi. 9. Cloverfield - a killer postmodern horror that flips the whole monster movie genre on its head. You're genuinely terrified for these characters until the very last second. 10. Be Kind Rewind - a fantastic comedy that every movie lover needs to check out. Gondry, you genius!
(I haven't caught Synecdoche, Choke, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, the new Woody, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, Doubt, Changeling, or Gran Torino yet, but they all look like they belong on this list. I know some are from 2007, but we didn't get them here in the States until 2008, so... yeah...)
I know a woman just like this. She was always such a ray of sunshine; nothing could ever shake her at work. Even when her husband passed away, she was back on the clock within two days, still smiling. She was so incredibly upbeat that it actually used to get on everyone's nerves (myself included). But I never once felt like she was faking it. I’d catch her alone in her office and see her crying, 🤷but honestly, that happy vibe really suited her.
Yeah, Brilliant Sean Penn mumbles almost as much as Stalin, so I had to watch the movie with subtitles. Since there weren't any English ones available, I ended up using Mexican subtitles, which kind of ruined the whole vibe for me 🤣
redowl90 said:I just finished watching the new Gus Van Sant film, and it definitely deserves its own dedicated thread. First off, I have to mention the surprise that was James Franco. Up until now, I’ve mostly seen him in roles where he was pretty much consistently mediocre. Here, it feels like a different person—like he’s actually inhabiting a real character. For some reason, I couldn't stop thinking about how much he reminded me of Heath Ledger. Not sure why, though.
On the other hand, Sean Penn and Josh Brolin will likely be picking up Academy Award nominations this year, each in their respective categories. Both are excellent—though if I’m being honest, I think Josh edges out Sean slightly, but hey... I already mentioned over in the Nixon/Kennedy thread that I'm not really a fan of heavy imitation acting.
While I haven't seen a huge amount of Gus Van Sant's work, this is the first one of his where I can't immediately label it as either a masterpiece or a disaster. His previous films have always been either phenomenal (like "Good Will Hunting" or "Elephant") or totally misses for me ("My Own Private Idaho," "Finding Forrester," "To Die For," or "Psycho"). This one is perfectly fine, but it doesn't quite have that "extra something" that makes it stand out from the sea of similar movies. That’s probably my biggest gripe. Also, that ending with the candles... well, I guess it was expected given the story.
That said, this is definitely the kind of movie that should touch anyone with even a shred of emotion left in them. It's worth a watch.
Maybe it's because he's gay? 😉 Also, speaking of Franco, did you catch Freaks & Geeks? He was amazing in that... too bad it only lasted one season.
I thought the movie was alright, but it would've been great if it didn't have such a pathetic ending. For me, his death during that opera scene felt way more forced than the actual procession; I just don't get why they try to force the melodrama when the event itself is already so heavy and powerful. The best part for me was how much it hit me in the gut—you really get emotionally invested in the characters, which is awesome. But that ending was a letdown; they didn't need all that extra stuff... Anyway, both Harvey Milk and Nixon/Kennedy are solid films, but I think Harvey Milk hits a bit harder. I'd give it a 7/10.
redowl90 said:Not much to debate here: definitely one of the top 10 of the year. Plus, the lead actress is a total lock for a Golden Globe and an Oscar.
Totally agree. Honestly, Leigh is easily in my top five directors of all time—even Topsy-Turvy was just genius. It’s not an absolute masterpiece, but it’s still a fantastic, fantastic movie.
Such a great topic! Honestly, I have a love-hate relationship with this whole revolution. What kills me is that I’m just a total nerd about it. An obsessive nerd who feels like he absolutely *has* to download and listen to everything—live experimental drone bands, death metal from Kenya, cheesy pop hits, lo-fi punk albums, you name it. A friend told me maybe we don't need to listen to everything, we just need to own it all. The tragic part is that it doesn't even give me much satisfaction anymore, but hey, that's just how I am. Once I get hooked on something, there's no turning back. Thank God I don't drink or do drugs, though I do wish my mom hadn't given me that chocolate once 😢
Anyway, I really miss the old days of dubbing tapes on that double-deck player I bought with money from my job at the local fish cannery (my family didn't care about music, so we didn't even own a record player). I miss being able to listen to every single album—and I mean *every* single one—at least ten times over. I miss when people actually lent you music. Now, when a friend recommends something, I just say, "Sure, I'll download it," while rolling my eyes because I have 25 gigs of music on my hard drive that I haven't even touched yet... Basically, I'm starting to understand why Matt decided to split up his vinyl collection. To be honest, I wouldn't share my CDs; I'd rather just right-click a folder and hit delete. But I can't bring myself to do it. Dammit.
On the flip side, I love that there is so much out there to discover. You can explore everything on your own without anyone forcing their taste on you (there was a phase where I only listened to bands with ridiculous names), and you have total freedom. It's not like I practice that much lately since I don't have as much time for music anymore, which makes me feel pretty pathetic. Now you guys have me feeling depressed. This thread is wrecking me.