Posts by jadedrifter17

Benjamin Ruiz60 said:That movie is gonna age like a fine French wine, you know? 👍 I’m curious to see how much they actually lean into Emile Zola's involvement. Definitely checking this out soon... 🍿

Wine doesn't just get better with age. That's a total urban legend.

Wine has an expiration date.

Alright, let me throw some actual substance into this discussion by tossing out a few pieces of European cinema (no, not Western) that are rattling around my brain on this sunny morning
Los lunes al sol
Ham, ham (Luna)
El Lobo
The wind that shakes the barley (Loach)
The misfortunates
Reprise
Mar adentro
Cache (Michael Haneke)
Das leben der anderen
Force majeure
Naked (British drama)
All or nothing (Leigh)
Life is sweet (Leigh)
Short Sharp Shock (Jacques Audiard)
Head-On (Jacques Audiard)
Golden Balls (Luna)
Cria Cuervos
El orphanato
The Fool (Bykov)
Mayor (Bykov)

....

Morgan Brown4 said:Quote : The Great Duck

It’s "European," not "europska." Seriously.
Europe isn't some single country, so talking about "European cinema" as one big thing just doesn't make sense. It’s more like talking about various different film industries. You've got the giants—think the US, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, the UK—but even the smaller ones like Romania, Czechia, Sweden, or those old regional classics have their own specific vibes and themes. Honestly, I think this whole discussion is kind of redundant. If we really want to chat about this, maybe we should just start one dedicated thread for all those smaller film industries. There aren't that many posts about them anyway, and they usually die out pretty fast on their own.

That first point totally floored me, because clearly I haven't reached those intellectual heights yet where I can even attempt to argue at such a high level. We could probably hash out the second point, but given that it's Monday and I'm currently nursing a massive hangover and a splitting headache, I'm basically paralyzed.

The thread title isn't an eyesore; it’s actually spot on.

If you aren't looking to dive into the old-school classics like Luis Buñuel, Antonio Banderas, or Ingmar Bergman, but still want some modern European cinema to chew on, here’s a list of directors worth checking out: Bigas Luna, Amenábar, Michael Haneke, Fatih Akin, Lars von Trier, Joachim Trier, Lukas Moodysson, the Darden brothers, Giuseppe Tornatore, Roman Polanski, Ken Loach, or Mike Leigh. You could also look into Spanish films featuring Javier Bardem, Manuel Noriega, or Belén Rueda, or maybe some Danish stuff starring Mads Mikkelsen, Bodni, Lia Kaas, or Anneke Trondsen—and don't forget the movies with Isabelle Huppert.

Steven Newman50 said:Sure, Herzog shaped the story his way, digging into those themes where man meets nature, especially how modern people claim they want to reconnect with the wild but aren't actually ready for the raw brutality that comes with it.

Some religious perspectives argue that humanity was cursed to be a perpetual wanderer, a nomad without a home from the very beginning.

But even if you toss that theology aside, the reality is that modern man has become irreversibly alienated from nature—which, if you think about it, is really just an alienation from himself.
We’ve drifted away from the natural world, and let's face it, this civilization wasn't built to accommodate our actual human essence. So, there's no moving forward or backward here.

As for Timothy, honestly, he never convinced me he actually loved nature. If he did, he would have shown some basic respect for the sheer power and physical reality embodied by the bear. To me, he was just a lost exhibitionist dealing with what looked like psychosomatic issues. But hey, that's postmodernism for you—everything is diluted, distorted, and mostly just fake.

@Nidzo

I honestly couldn't care less about a director's background—whether they're a Jew, an Iranian, a German, an ISIS member, a Turkmen, a Georgian, a Mohawk, or even an Alien; that kind of commentary just doesn't land with me.

On the flip side, those movies you listed? To me, they’re nothing more than window dressing—pure surface level, mostly just Spielbergian pathos and propaganda. There was a time in my life when that stuff might have actually worked on me, but now it maybe only touches one tiny part of my persona, the superficial side, like watching a Red Star-Real Madrid match, but even that isn't really "it." Actually, I've already forgotten the score.

Sam Watson said:Well, they just shot down a plane over Turkey, so things are moving along nicely. 😁

What's your problem with Spielberg?

When it comes to Spielberg, all I see is a technician—just math, budgets, and calculations. I don't see any soul, no raw spirit, none of that uncompromising art that actually provokes you, hits you in the gut, or stirs up genuine empathy.

p.s. Oh, and about that plane... yeah, doesn't smell right, my Nidzo. Njegoš once wrote:
A merchant lies to you with a smile
a woman lies by weeping tears
but no one lies to a Turk on a major matter.😁

Sam Watson said:How could a Spielberg film even be bad? 🤷

It’s the kind of thing you just sit through and watch. ☕

Yo, where you at, Nidzo, you legend? How's the war against those Russian propagandists going?

Man, I’m seriously itching to see how Tom stood his ground against the Soviets and just pulled off those high-stakes moves during the negotiations.

And honestly, who else could possibly capture that kind of intensity better than the legend himself, Steven Spielberg?

vivideagle7 said:I feel you. Honestly, most shows lately are just overhyped garbage that isn't even worth the runtime, so I was actually feeling good about TD until they went and nuked everything at the end. 🤦

Look, I’ve tried a few times, but I always end up quitting the second it hits me that this show was clearly written for little Kevin from Iowa.

Luther was decent enough until it completely fell apart, and Game of Thrones? Sure, the first season held its own, but I had to bail during the second one. The Wire was killer for most of the first season—Mekonahi was brilliant—but that ending just shredded the whole thing into pieces. Even that Danish show Bridge bored me to death by the second season, despite how solid the first one felt.

That's why I stick to movies. I don't have the patience to be treated like an idiot😁, constantly dealing with cliffhangers, sudden exits, or endless pauses. You know the drill—they leave room for next season, then the season after that, blah blah blah. It’s like a factory assembly line.

Lawrence Edwards58 said:Honestly, back then he was even better than Clinton, though I bet his final project before he meets his maker will be nothing short of legendary. 🙏

Yeah, look, I won't call it communist, but all that Bolshevik, Stalinist, old-school propaganda is honestly laughable. Only problem is, that stuff got lost in the archives somewhere, so now we’re stuck with the President’s delusional spin job taking center stage globally.

By the way, I’d totally rewrite the end of the first season of True Detective, because that finale? It wasn't even worth discussing. It completely ignored everything they built up previously. Man, I’m losing my faith in TV shows altogether.

Lawrence Edwards58 said:Look, what you wrote is honestly pretty great, but let’s be real—it’s pure fantasy.
I mean, if you look at Russian cinema, they actually have these heavy-hitting movies where I don't even have to step in and interpret anything. I can't recall the specific title or the director right now—it's not like some obscure indie flick, but it isn't mainstream either—but the plot goes something like this:

A farmer is plowing his field, the tractor breaks down, he's cursing and pulling his hair out, and then some random drifter wanders by. He asks what happened, "Hey there, kind sir," and the guy just replies, "Some traveler just ruined my day; this damn tractor quit on me."
But here's the twist: it wasn't some drifter, it was the greatest leader our people ever had, Comrade Stalin. With just one look from him, that tractor roars back to life while Isaac Dunayevsky plays in the background. The farmer starts swearing up and down that he'll celebrate this benefactor like a saint, asking him for his name, and Stalin just gives this sly little smirk and says, "Doesn't matter, as long as that tractor works so you can march toward new victories!"

It’s decent, sure, but it still doesn't hit quite as hard as when Clinton falls in that manner of Jesus Christ, saving a bunch of squinting immigrants...😁

Lawrence Edwards58 said:jadedrifter17, you definitely missed the point here (can't even remember the title).

It's about this terminally ill kid who refuses to kick the bucket until the President shows up—maybe Carter or Clinton, one of those two. Then you've got all these different NGOs stepping in to pull strings and get the President down to the hospital. Once the kid finally sees Carter or Clinton, she just closes her eyes and slips away.

I guess I’d step in if the President was too busy playing hero with humanitarian missions overseas to make it, just to give the kid a few more moments of life...

Personally, I’d give the President the power to heal the girl just by looking at her. Then you cut to a close-up of the overjoyed father, the mother, the doctors, and finally the President, who just gives a little smirk and goes, "Sorry, I'm in a rush. There are still so many kids out there waiting to be saved." Then, cue the Star-Spangled Banner, the flag waving in the wind, and a long shot of the President walking off into the distance...

Mark Cruz15 said:You might want to check out the Saprunica series set in Miami Beach. It’s your standard procedural all the way until it flips the script and turns into a straight-up slasher horror.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118484/

Nah, I'm not really looking for horror; I'd rather have some actual culture—something quick, sharp, and clean.😁

I’ve got an idea for how to spice up those endless American soap operas. Imagine this: you have a mysterious sniper lurking in the shadows, waiting for the absolute final episode just to take out the young lovers we’ve been forced to watch for a thousand episodes while waiting for their wedding. Picture the scene—upbeat music, everyone smiling, pure bliss everywhere, and then suddenly, some jerk pulls the trigger and takes them both out? One shot, two bodies, and boom—cut to black.

Die like a man.

Rick Deckard, look, I usually love tearing apart some overrated flick, but this one actually holds water from the get-go. It’s got this cinematic quality—if you’ll excuse my being so damn blunt since I can't find a better word for it. Sure, the ending could've been more impactful or even logical, like having him kick the bucket too, but hey, it’s Hollywood. We aren't exactly expecting a legend like Robert De Niro to die on screen.

Just look at how they wrapped up True Detective. For God's sake... screw it, that's just Hollywood for you.

p.s. Honestly, Rocky should've died from all those beatings he took. 🙂 Even Maminjo wouldn't have survived that.

bluenomad2 said:Yeah, sure, whatever 🤣

Yo Adrian, Yo Adrian, Yo Adrian, Yo Adrian....😁

Walter Lopez84 said:It’s an interesting story, and honestly, I actually believe it's true. The guy is a legend.

http://news.us/stars/never-forget-traffic-swap

Back when I was just some kid, seeing headlines packed with words like, the saddest, ever, greatest, most, most, most, in history—all that bombastic, over-the-top garbage modern media uses just to bait the average consumer—it used to make me feel physically sick, almost nauseous. Now that I've actually grown up, I find myself reading this stuff with intense focus just so I can laugh out loud at how ridiculous it is. The story itself, assuming it isn't total fiction, isn't the issue; it's the way they package it. When they dump something this pretentious and spectacular into the public discourse, they aren't informing you, they're weaponizing it. The only way I know how to defend myself against it is by laughing...

All these articles follow the exact same blueprint, deeply embedded in those "idealistic" delusions that serve as the truth upon which this fake, pseudo-positivist society is built. To put it in a Paraphraser-friendly way: just dream big and everything will fall into place; just keep dreaming, don't let go, and you'll become a seamless part of the machine. You'll be happy, powerful, wealthy, and the system will embrace you, welcome you, and nurture you. That whole matrix reminds me of one of those movies that apologizes for a broken system so hard it almost made me gag while watching. I can't recall the title right now, but it stars that amateur Will Smith, playing some guy who ends up on the street like a lost child before everything clicks and he becomes filthy rich. It presents wealth and materialism as the ultimate ideals used to justify every single flaw in human nature and society. And the worst part? The masses absolutely eat that crap up. In reality, all these motivational sagas that present the system as perfect and the ultimate goal for every protagonist—without a single shred of critical thought—are nothing more than politically correct pamphlets. God, it's just so lovely to dream about entering the castle.

Man, this article is pure nonsense. It's exactly the kind of trash I'm talking about. 😁

And regarding that upcoming movie, why on earth would they even include data about ISIS? 😁

Man, he actually had to sell his dog.

And he broke down crying over it...

But hey, he kept on dreaming...

What an absolute legend.