Posts by Susan Hernandez

briskhound2 said:The legend himself, John Carpenter, is finally back with a new flick. After a bit of a hiatus—though he probably doesn't count those episodes he did for the Masters of Horror series—following some creative burnout and that rough patch with his last movie Ghosts of Mars, Carpenter is heading right back into the horror lane where he belongs.

SYNOPSIS:

In JOHN CARPENTER'S THE WARD, Kristen, a beautiful but troubled young woman, finds herself bruised, cut, drugged, and held against her will in a remote ward of a Psychiatric Hospital. She is completely disoriented, with no idea why she was brought to this place and no memory of her life before being admitted. All she knows is that she isn't safe.

The other patients in The ward , four equally disturbed Young Women , offer no answers, and Kristen quickly realizes things are not as they seem. The air is heavy with secrets, and at night, when the hospital is dark and foreboding, she hears strange and frightening sounds. It appears they are not alone.

One-by-one The other Girls Begin to disappear and Kristen must find a way out of this hellish place before she, too, becomes a victim. As she struggles to escape, she will uncover a truth far more dangerous and horrifying than anyone could have imagined.

Helpless girls, a creepy psychiatric facility, a bad vibe hanging in the air, and secrets buried deep within the walls... honestly, it's got all the ingredients for a decent horror movie, and if he brings a little of that classic Carpenter magic, this could actually be pretty interesting...

CAST:

Amber Heard (The Informers, Pineapple Express)
Daniella Panabaker (The Crazies, Friday the 13th)
Mamie Gummer (Taking Woodstock, Stop-Loss)

The Ward (2010)

The Ward - Before The Cameras roll - just a quick bit of info about the start of production.

First Footage - the first (and only) look we've got at the footage so far.



Some unofficial fan posters. Since the movie was just wrapped up, it shouldn't be long before the official stuff starts popping up...



A few shots from the set...



Kinda official stuff, I guess.

Reminds me of Pro-Life..

Douglas Gonzalez4 said:I am officially done taking movie recommendations from anyone who suggested this one. I’ve been completely let down.
Beyond the fact that this isn't your standard Robin Hood story—it feels more like a tedious prologue to some outlaw legend—the lack of logic is just staggering... 🤦
For instance, we have Marianne, a woman who has spent ten years farming potatoes, suddenly swinging a sword like a seasoned veteran in the middle of a battlefield. It actually reminded me of Eowyn with that "It's for you Walter!" moment. Now, I can wrap my head around a character in Lord of the Rings who has lived in a castle for twenty-five years surrounded by trained warriors deciding to fight; that makes sense. But who taught Marianne how to fight? Did she practice her footwork against crows to save the harvest? Seriously, what was that?
Then there's Robin, who spends thirty years nursing the trauma of an absent father, only to have his entire worldview shift instantly after hearing a single line like, "You were there!" 🙄

The film drags itself along for two agonizing hours, only to rush through seventy-eight different plot points in a frantic six minutes and forty-nine seconds, serving as little more than a glorified trailer for a potential sequel. Honestly, I truly hope there isn't a second part; otherwise, I’ll just be sitting there again, wondering why I ever wasted my time.

You're exaggerating. 🙂The flashbacks kicked in the second he touched that hilt.

I really hope there isn't a sequel.

There won't be a sequel because Ridley Scott doesn't do sequels. But I'll take it if it happens. 😂

Watched it today and here’s my take: very good movie. What I liked most was that different, prequel-style approach to the theme. The camerawork and production design are slightly less overwhelming than they were in Kingdom of Heaven, but still pretty impressive. The story holds together logically for the most part, though I have a few gripes to address.

The pacing drop after the opening war scenes is necessary; you have to slow down to adjust to life in the countryside. Actually, even that felt a bit rushed—Robin went from a ten-year-old soldier to a farmer 😁 practically overnight. I suspect if there’s ever a director's cut, they’ll add more footage there.

Someone mentioned the characters look too old! Give me a break, people live past 40. Warriors and peasants in the Middle Ages probably looked just as weathered and rugged. And as far as age goes, people over 40 have been shaping world history forever, with only a few exceptions like Alexander the Great.

Then there were complaints about how a village woman would handle a sword. Given that women were often left alone with children and the elderly, it makes perfect sense to me that they knew how to use a bow and arrow. As for the sword, Marianne was most successful when she caught enemies off guard at their sides or, more often, in the back when they weren't looking.

The landing was also handled relatively correctly (if we ignore the fact that the French never launched an invasion like that against the United Kingdom). It’s perfectly logical that the landing boats sail ahead of the larger ships—since they obviously launch from them—to approach the shallows. I don't know why some people act like they rowed all the way across the English Channel.

And then there was the whining about the pathetic "I love you" moment. Look, a warrior like Robin isn't exactly eloquent enough to deliver a grand speech right before heading into battle. It’s realistic, just as it’s realistic that Marianne is awkward when talking about her experience with a husband she only knew for a couple of weeks.

Sure, those kids on ponies look ridiculous in a fight, but hey, being on a horse—even one that small—is still an advantage over infantry that just landed and is already exhausted from rowing.

I’ve never been a huge fan of Russell Crowe, but he’s actually quite likable in this film. Max von Sydow is legendary, and Mark Strong is striking as Godfrey. King John looks more like an Italian or a Spaniard, but at least Cate Blanchett is stunning, even without a trace of makeup. 😍

Still, I was a bit surprised by how much Ridley Scott pushed his own specific ideas. Quite a topical film, I'd say. 😉

Master Roshi from Dragon Ball. 🙂

A picture and likeness of Goku's martial arts mentor, Master Russia.😁

Tonight's bio... yesterday... 😁

The performance was measured but powerful; his vocals are still incredible. It went by fast—way too fast. I was hoping for a longer Severance, but yeah, Peter Murphy was the only one who extended that track. 🙂

BTW. What the hell was wrong with the crowd? All that constant pacing and whispering?

Michelle Gonzalez said:Look, I don't have a negative opinion of the SC audience at all. It just seemed to me that you were looking down from a certain "height" regarding the move to Movieplex, given certain connotations. I've heard stories like that before, so I let my frustration get the better of me (it was a bad day). Audiences are diverse everywhere.
But people in Ottawa act like snobs about the Sundance Film Festival! Every single day, they broadcast the red carpet in front of the National Theater live on the news! But regardless, it has become one of the top ten leading festivals in Europe and serves as a primary hub for film from this part of the world—which is a fantastic platform for promoting American cinema!

The part about Severina doesn't quite make sense to me... Well, I haven't seen the film, so I won't pass judgment. However, the film seems to be more of a mere observation rather than an interesting dissection of Severina or that general "phenomenon." From what I've heard, it doesn't seem to offer much of an auteur's commentary; instead, it presents the "phenomenon" in a warm, sympathetic, and affirmative way. Has anyone actually watched it?

I lost my cool too because I couldn't snag tickets for some of the Sundance Film Festival movies. Anyway, I'm wrapping this up and raising a beer (obviously 😁) to the hope that one day we actually get to see one of your films at a festival. 🙂

Michelle Gonzalez said:My friend, the issue here is that I, too, consider myself a part of this so-called "cultural and artistic" scene; however, I engage with tangible, concrete work, whereas you seem preoccupied with topics that have become utterly exhausted—things that everyone has already "seen" a thousand times before. Does it truly matter that I drink Coca-Cola simply because I enjoy the taste? Would you perhaps attempt to reproach me for its consumerist or imperialistic connotations? Even so, my choice of beverage does not mean I am incapable of discussing anything else; rather, I prefer to discuss the very same subjects that you likely find so vital. In fact, I believe if we actually sat down to talk, our conversation would be of remarkably high quality. 😉 I am certainly not attempting to underestimate anyone; rather, I simply refuse to turn a blind eye to certain realities—and that was truly the essence of my response.

And that brilliant city crowd... was anyone actually present for the Q&A following "Village Without Women"? I found myself feeling a profound sense of embarrassment just sitting there in the audience, being a local myself, given how utterly mindless and vacuous the questions truly were.

Shall we get straight to the point and dive into the hard-boiled? 😉 Have you ever had the privilege of attending festivals like Cannes, Berlin, or even Ottawa? If you have, then the necessity of relocating to a legitimate, professional cinema hall becomes painfully obvious. It is simply impossible to host a serious festival within a crumbling hole like the SC. Now, why exactly is the SC such a disaster? We all know the underlying reasons quite well—it isn’t that the City of Los Angeles is neglecting its investment to let the building collapse under its own weight; rather, it feels as though the decay is being facilitated so that the City might eventually clear the land for something else, perhaps a massive new corporate headquarters for a major firm like JPMorgan Chase. It is particularly frustrating because this neglect comes at the exact moment when some truly fascinating developments have been emerging there, driven by movements like the Culture of Change.
But, if we return to the core of the matter—a truly significant regional festival must be supported by a robust infrastructure. If the Sundance Film Festival serves as the equivalent for documentary film that Ottawa does for feature films, then one has to wonder what kind of foundational strength is required to sustain that level of prestige?
If those are indeed the ambitions held by the leadership of the Sundance Film Festival, then the festival will certainly require something far more substantial than SC. Whether Movieplex proves to be the right choice remains to be seen; only time will tell if such a decision holds weight.

Back to the festival—at long last! While certain awards left me feeling somewhat underwhelmed, nothing quite hit as low as the screening of "Videocracy". I truly expected far more from that particular piece. It felt as though the director was incessantly shoving a half-baked thesis directly into the viewer's face; he was far too opinionated, which is a fatal flaw in filmmaking. It ultimately ruined the experience. The themes are repeated incessantly, and his voice-over work is nothing short of grating. The core truths were evident enough on their own; the absurdity should have emerged naturally from the story's setting and its characters, making any overt commentary entirely superfluous. Of course, we all know how Berlusconi's influence has impacted the state of affairs in Italy, but isn't that true of politics everywhere? There is no need to hammer that point home in every single scene through a voice-over. For me, this was a profound disappointment.
Did anyone else catch it?

"Village Without Women" was the last thing I watched (this past Saturday), and I found myself quite taken with it. The direction is masterful, though there were moments where it felt perhaps a bit too meticulously staged or overly fragmented... and even that final scene felt somewhat unnecessary.

I assumed you worked in film somehow, but that shouldn't be your excuse for claiming 90% of people came to Sundance for reasons other than the movies. I never saw myself as some "alternative" type just because I watched documentaries at the festival—and I bet way more than your estimated 10% of viewers felt the same way. Honestly, I never cared which filmmaker won which category in which year. Some films interested me, others didn't. It wasn't about watching as many movies as possible.

Let's get straight to the point, hard boiled. 😉 Have you ever actually been to Cannes, Berlin, or even Ottawa? If you have, then moving into a decent cinema might finally make sense to you.

I assume you’ve lived abroad at some point—maybe even worked internationally—building a profile at those global festivals you keep mentioning. That's probably why you have such a low opinion of the crowd that used to watch films at SC. My issue isn't really about moving the festival to a decent cinema hall; my real problem is the growing elitism surrounding the whole thing. Aside from my own annoyance at having to deal with peak traffic just to get downtown, it's this sense of pretension that gets to me. Sure, maybe President Josipović, Mayor Bandić, or even Severina actually show up because they genuinely care about documentaries, but there's an endless swarm of parasites circling them. These people ride the coattails of the famous, scoring dozens of free passes just to serve their own agendas.

Is Movieplex actually the right move? Only time will tell.

Look, a lot of us here have been complaining about how disorganized this was. By "disorganized," I mean the sheer absurdity of trying to cram five different screenings into four rooms every two hours. It’s ridiculous. Movieplex was clearly designed to be this tiny little multiplex—you can tell just by looking at how the ticket booths are practically shoved right against the theater entrances. Honestly, if they want to fix this, they should split the festival across multiple locations. If nothing else, it would actually solve the crowding issues.

This thread has honestly convinced me that cultural-artistic mafias and cliques actually exist. I’ve learned quite a bit about why they're constantly clashing and how they sabotage one another. If our economy, politics, and society are all corrupt, it looks like our culture is just as crooked.

Events at the Student Union are often the peak of alt snobbery.

There’s nothing more snobby than your claim that the Student Union is the poser capital of the world, where fake alt-hipsters sip beer and drone on about Chomsky. Give me a break—who's forcing you to hang out there? Go grab a Coke with your own crowd and talk about something else.

A documentary isn't mainstream; it's the alternative to feature films. There's this illusion that moving to "elite" theaters will attract middle-aged or older crowds. Very few people have a sudden epiphany in their 40s or 50s—some mental switch flips—and they suddenly start hitting up documentaries just because the festival moved to a trendy location. Instead, you'll just get those other types: the 'red carpet' posers.

At Chicago at the Student Union, the alt scene just showed up to show off. Who actually cares about the films? Maybe 10% of the people.

Oh, wonderful. So according to you, 90% of the people at the Student Union came to Chicago just to be seen. You're looking down on them. This elitism and snobbery is just a modern way of looking down on the alternative scene where Chicago actually grew from. Surely those 20,000 annual viewers provided some kind of incentive—if not material, then at least spiritual—to keep the festival going.

Watched today

The Worst Company in the World

Three middle-aged guys work together at a small, struggling insurance firm until the director's son (who also happens to be the filmmaker) starts pitching ways to save the business. It’s told in a fun, lighthearted way with genuinely touching characters. After the film, the director did a Q&A with the audience. Very low-key and quite charming.

High-octane cities: Mumbai - interrupted

Through three intertwined stories, we meet three people from different social strata on the front lines of an infrastructure battle in Mumbai. At times it's comical, at others almost tragic, depicting Indians caught up in road construction problems to the point where they can't find solutions that serve the common good.

Christian Taylor3 said: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. ☕

Who cares? You’ve got Nenad Puhovski's opinion, and then you’ve got your opinion on Nenad Puhovski's opinion. Is it all pointless? Fine, then I can say it's just as pointless that you even quoted him. Why don't we just have Nenad Puhovski show up here himself and join the conversation?

Everyone’s suddenly an expert on this festival...

Drop some more links in there, they're actually pretty interesting.

You knew how crowded it was going to be. You plan for stuff like that days in advance. ☕

Last year, you could just buy a ticket for any show like a normal person. You didn't need to buy it days in advance.This year, you have no clue if there are actually any tickets left until you physically show up at the box office. I’m really not in the mood to trek over to the KC every two hours just to check if someone finally bailed on their reservation.

You've got a point there. Next time, I'll just show up on day one and grab tickets for everything I want to see. In years past, people actually went to Chicago because they loved movies, but now? It’s just any random person looking to be seen because showing up to an event like this is "in."

Roger Allen3 said:Just finished watching Letters from Iwo Jima.

That whole "Japanese perspective on the events" (which was supposedly sentimental too!) just doesn't work at all. Honestly, it bothered me so much that I can't even bring myself to think about this movie anymore; I just felt the need to share my frustration with the world. 😁

It works well enough 😁 especially since it was also filmed by Eastwood.

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. 🙂

The documentary festival wasn't just stuck in the Student Union; they used spaces in Central Park and even over in Europe too. I never once noticed any smell in the Student Union halls, and the only issue was that the room at the Movieplex didn't have fixed seating (but hey, entry was always free there). As for the technical setup, go watch a film from the fifth row in that famous Hall 2 at the Kaptol Center before you start giving me your opinion. It makes zero sense to cram every single film into one single location when neither Central Park nor Europe has any issues. Having everything concentrated at the Student Union is going to be even worse because, let's face it, nobody is going to lift a finger for them anymore.

I can't even wrap my head around driving downtown on a weekday afternoon (even if I use the KCa garage), and I'm certainly not interested in constantly running over to Movieplex just to check if tickets are available, especially since everything is booked online and they don't even pick up the phone.

brightcyclist10 said:I honestly don't see how you can compare Downtown, right in the heart of everything, to the Student Union. Unless, of course, you're just deciding based on what's more convenient for you personally?

The tickets were free, and everything is listed clearly on the documentary website, so it's definitely not true that the info isn't there. Did you miss something?

It's nice that this thread finally popped up! And thanks for sharing those thoughts on the documentary Bilal.

I'm planning on catching some shows in the Theatrical District, like Znak na Kajin, Village without women, 1428, and crude oil.
Has anyone else watched or planned to watch anything?

I'll let you know my impressions soon. 😁

The walk from the parking lot or the subway station to the theater at the Student Union felt shorter to me.

Tickets were free, and it’s all listed on the Chicago website; it's not true that it isn't mentioned. You just weren't looking closely enough.

Well, it says it now. 😉 Even in the CBS coverage of the opening, there was no mention of free screenings in Hall 2. Usually, with previous Chicago festivals, you knew way more ahead of time.
But like I said, I'm not complaining about the free screenings—it's more about the fact that you can't even get tickets two days in advance.

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.

Historically speaking New York City, dating back to the living LEGACY.

Jesse Sanchez60 said:The sound quality was garbage🤷

The last few shows I went to sounded great, so why wouldn't this one be the same?...

It definitely wasn't great at Marduk + Vader..

People are asking the same kinds of questions they did about Peter Murphy. My only real worry is that we might lose some of that atmosphere if the sound system ends up being garbage... do artists like this even bring their own gear?

What a depressing way to wake up. 🙂

Just look outside, it’s snowing. 👋

slyorca62 said:Check out this archive from March 2010 over at newsound. It’s a deep dive into the rock scene from back then. Useful stuff if you're looking to revisit some old coverage.

So, who’s playing this Saturday at 4:30 PM?? Some tea party group? 🙂

Does it say the bus leaves Cleveland at 3 PM? The only way I'm catching the start of the show is if Brendan is actually on that bus. 😂