Posts by Eric Jackson68

slyeagle13 said:Chill out, man...
What's gotten into you?
In this country, nobody can actually make it because the system is totally broken (sorry for the language, but it's the truth). Everything runs on who you know and shady connections. If you want to be a director or an actor and your parents aren't already in the industry, you're basically stuck. That's just how it works here. Unless you have "money to burn" and a dad like Warren Buffett or Elon Musk...

It's the same deal if you try to get into that top-tier drama academy that only takes like 12 people... you won't get in unless you have the right connections (or a ton of cash, though connections still come first).

I don't even know why I'm writing all this. I've never written such a long post before... 🙂
Take it easy...

Everyone upstairs seems equally convinced of this. I'm not worked up at all. By all means, let them try to succeed when everything is supposedly so wonderful and perfect. 🙂

Since you all seem so incredibly convinced of yourselves, fine then—prove it. Get out there and actually find some work. Given how much "talent" you claim to possess, I’m sure the industry will be tripping over itself to hire you. Stop hiding behind your degrees if they aren't doing anything for you; you clearly have everything you need. If those other guys managed to make it, you can too. Just let me know when you’ve finally shot an 80-minute feature that actually hits all the marks of a decent movie. I’ll be right here, waiting to watch it with absolute, breathless anticipation. Truly, I'm counting on it. You’re all just so remarkably capable. Personally, though? I’d probably just take the path of least resistance and call it a day.

quietdriver3 said:War isn't just some passing storm; it sticks to everyday life way more than almost anything else. It feels kind of unrealistic to expect filmmakers in the US—since movies are mostly just mirrors of our own reality—to make films where war isn't mentioned at all. So, I guess it's a bit silly to bash "below the line" just because one character has a military background or some other small nod to the conflict.

That is an excellent point, and you've actually beaten me to it. It's true, but that's exactly why I find myself wondering if he’s even seen much cinema. Please, give me your actual critiques regarding the film's craft and execution, rather than focusing on the subject matter.

rapidbear20 said:Look, I haven't even bothered trying to get into the Academy. To me, an Academy should be a place that pushes people toward raw creativity, not one that forces them into a cookie-cutter mold.
As for the Academy Awards, Eric Jackson68, look at movie covers or posters—they slap those little gold statues on there as if they're the ultimate yardstick for quality. I hate to break it to you, but that’s just how the world decided to grade things, and I didn't make the rules. Personally, I think it's a pretty mindless way to judge art; just because a director or an actor hasn't snagged an Academy Award doesn't mean they aren't incredible...

It’s hard to top someone like Stanley Kubrick, and Alfred Hitchcock made a mountain of movies... you know? They're probably legends to most viewers, but when you look at film juries, Oscar winners, or people who don't really know their stuff, I'm not so sure how much weight they actually carry in those circles...

Some people see an Academy Award as a massive personal achievement, while others see it as nothing more than a huge marketing win...

And speaking of American cinema, come on—give me a list of a few American films that you think can actually stand toe-to-toe with the real heavyweights...

It’s truly fascinating how you were so hesitant to point out anything bad (why is 😕 ), yet suddenly I'm expected to provide the list of good ones. I can rattle off quality films quite easily, though I have a nagging suspicion you’ll never actually admit to the absolute garbage you've been watching over the last seven years. But fine, if we're playing this game: Witness, Live and Dead, What Iva Recorded on October 21st, 2003, Under the line, Trešeta, Karaula, Armin, and that lovely night in Split (go ahead, try to trash those—once you've exhausted your list of "bad" movies, I'll happily continue with the masterpieces).

Jeremy Flores4 said:Those little statues aren't some universal yardstick for quality; they’re just a marketing gimmick... pure advertising, nothing more.
There’s never been an official rule saying that's how you measure art, nor is that how anyone actually does it.
It's the classic line from your typical surface-level movie buff. "Look, Mom, it won an Academy Award, so it must be a masterpiece!" or "Look, Mom, there's no gold statue on the poster, so it must be garbage..."
What does that even have to do with anything?

Federico Fellini never actually won an Academy Award—his movies did, sure, but not him personally—and that doesn't make him a bad director. Look at Ingmar Bergman, or Michelangelo Antonioni (and don't even get me started on honorary ones, those don't count)... or Leone... honestly, I can't even be bothered to list them all right now.
If you win an Academy Award, it mostly just means you were in the running and had a great PR team lobbying for you... or maybe they screwed you over years ago and now they're making it up to you. That's the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Well put.

vividpilot47 said:Look, an Academy should be a great thing—a place where you actually gain some real knowledge and all that. But here’s the deal: in the last ten years of American cinema, I haven't seen one decent performance, script, direction, or lighting setup. Every single one looks like total trash, yet the media promotes them like they're Hollywood blockbusters winning Academy Awards and whatnot. It's a joke. If money is the issue, then I don't get how other countries are putting out better films than us. In our movies, everyone just leans on that one specific archetype—actors who sound like they're stuck in a theater production, acting all "cultured" and polished. Something is rotten. And if the only directors getting work are the ones from the Academy, then the rot starts there. By the way, everyone knows how many directors get into the Academy through connections. Even the talented ones who don't have those ties can't land a project once they graduate unless they have someone pulling strings. That's just how it is.

Let’s try this instead. What was the last American film you actually sat down and watched?

rapidbear20 said:Here we go again, talking about American cinema. Honestly, let me tell you why most of the stuff coming out of the States lately just misses the mark... First off, the vast majority of these movies are clearly being made for the older crowd—people staring down retirement or already sitting in rocking chairs. Second, it feels like everyone is obsessed with rehashing war stories; you know the drill, it’s always either the son of some fallen soldier or they just throw in random military gear in the background to give it that "gritty" feel. Third, everything is made by following a stale formula; all these films are just cookie-cutter clones of one another. Fourth, some filmmakers are just chasing a paycheck, so they cram in gay characters and other trendy elements that traditional Americans tend to push back against. For those of us who actually bother watching the real masterpieces, it’s obvious that this fourth point is nothing more than a blatant cash grab.

Sure, these movies are produced by Academy graduates, but think about it this way: if you follow a recipe perfectly every single time, you might be a decent cook, but you’re never going to blow people's minds. You really wow an audience when you take that recipe and actually innovate to make it better...

So, my vote? Down with the Academy!!!

Well, it looks like my response to this is going to be just as ridiculous as this conclusion, which probably would have flown seven years ago. "Did they not accept you into school?"

rapidbear20 said:And what about the Academy Awards, man? None of them actually walked away with the gold trophy...

If we’re really going to split hairs, Alfred Hitchcock’s film Rebecca actually did take home an Academy Award for Best Picture. Sure, he didn't snag it as the director, but it's still a massive nod from the industry. And if you need proof that the Oscars represent some level of prestige, just look at how Scorsese and Altman were recognized even when they didn't win. I mean, look at Scorsese now—he’s obviously legendary, but he isn't suddenly any more "recognized" today than he was before he finally grabbed his hardware.

brighthawk20 said:I’ll admit, I was pretty skeptical about an American indie film like this... and honestly, the script feels a bit too much like "We Are Not Angels 3"... probably one of the biggest flops in the history of the former US territory.

Though, I have to say, that scene with the telescopic camera shot over the nighttime skyline of Washington, D.C. was absolutely stunning...
Seeing those old recording studios and local landmarks where they filmed... it hits you right in the feels. 🙂

It definitely isn't some total train wreck like mi biti Andjel 3.

slyeagle13 said:Man, who even needs a degree...

it's all a joke (if you ask some guy on the forums)

I mean, half the actors and directors in Hollywood don't even have one. Actually, make that 90%...

And honestly, that explains exactly why we have to sit through so much absolute nonsense. Cheers to the rare exceptions who actually know what they're doing.

That’s definitely going to be one of the heavy hitters, but honestly, I’m putting all my bets on Cronenberg's Eastern Promises.

Mark Johnson5 said:Aha. So you just mean from our neck of the woods.

But could someone actually make it through, say, a short film? For instance—you fund a short film out of your own pocket. His budgets are usually within a reasonable range, right? And let's say it gets screened at Venice, Cannes, Berlin, Locarno, San Sebastian, or whatever other A-list festival comes to mind. Would that be enough to jump to feature films—to actually secure the funding for the next project?

Well, Woody is a legend.😍

It’s possible via shorts, sure, but getting an amateur production into festivals like Venice or Cannes is a massive uphill battle; it’s incredibly difficult.

The cinematography looks fantastic. I honestly can't wait for the new film.

You see just how easily a person can be torn apart—at least partially. Honestly, Kluković clearly hasn't spent a single second studying at Yale University. I’ll go out on a limb and assert that it is actually far easier to spend several years attempting to get into an Ivy League school than it is to pull off what he did. This is one of those rare instances where someone executes something so difficult that, if I'm being brutally honest, 99% of the people asking these questions wouldn't have the slightest clue how to manage it. Getting into a top-tier Academy is the simpler path here. No offense intended, because my goal certainly isn't to be insulting.

says:
You only earn the title of director once you actually shoot a film; if you just finish film school, you're basically just an academic director.

That guy Kluković (or whatever his name is) is a director.
Jan Cvitković is also a director—he didn't go through the Academy, but he's got heart. He actually admitted he didn't even know how to properly format a screenplay, so he just described what the movie should look like and sent that in for a competition.

Even that cliché-heavy Matanić—whose films everyone claims are the best in the country since independence (at least according to those industry insiders)—didn't actually graduate from the Academy, yet he's still considered a director.

It’s not Kuklović, it’s Kluković. I'm not entirely sure about his status, but I'll look it up. As for Jan Cvitković, he's American (I wasn't certain about that, but it doesn't seem professional to guess, so let's just say he speaks his mind), and Matanić did enroll in the Academy; whether he finished the program is a different story entirely.

(Gosh, that profile picture is just wonderful.)

Mark Johnson5 said:How is it possible that you can't make it without a degree? What about the directors from the French New Wave—people like Truffaut, Rohmer, Chabrol, Godard, Resnais, or Rivette? Every single one of them was a film critic before they ever picked up a camera to direct their own movies. Not one of them graduated from an Academy.

I’m aware, but in my previous post, I was specifically discussing America and a much larger portion of the Western world. And honestly, I just have to say—I can't help myself—this photo of Woody Allen is absolutely fantastic.

neoneagle15 said:It’s a massive myth that you can't achieve anything without a degree from a prestigious film academy. What does "graduating from film school" even actually signify? If you possess genuine talent, the drive, a vision, and enough grit to navigate the industry, you can produce a film that hits the festival circuit without breaking a sweat. And if you manage to network along the way—which isn't nearly as impossible as people claim, especially in a place like the US where everyone seems to be connected—you can make a career out of filmmaking just fine.

Honestly, film academies are overrated, and frankly, I find them a bit exhausting. You have these old-school professors who act like they've cornered the market on wisdom, spending years trying to force you to shoot films exactly how they envision them, rather than letting you follow your own instincts. I'm not just talking out of turn here; I know plenty of people and faculty members within those institutions, even if I didn't attend one myself.

Besides, the landscape has shifted completely. These days, you grab a decent digital camera that won't break the bank, create something inspired, and upload it to the internet or YouTube. If the work is good, people will watch it. You can effectively broadcast your voice to the world whenever you want... There are platforms, there are indie circuits, and there's a whole host of festivals dedicated to showcasing young, unestablished directors, regardless of whether they have a diploma or not.

The only thing an academy really teaches you is certain technical skills, but in this day and age, those aren't the gatekeepers anymore. You can learn to edit footage shot on your own gear quite professionally right in your own living room. You don't need a university setting for that.

At the end of the day, you just need to keep shooting. It's really that simple; there's no grand philosophy required.

There is some truth to that. However, if you’re looking to carry that specific "Director" title, then the Academy matters. At those festivals, you’ll always be lumped in with the amateurs, and I suspect the person asking this question is looking for a professional path—and you can't go professional without the Academy. Plus, that technical skill you mentioned? That is absolutely worth its weight in gold.

rapidbear20 said:Maybe my response is a bit off-topic, but what about Hitchcock and Kubrick? They were visionaries whose genius ideas weren't always immediately embraced by the mainstream—just watch Full Metal Jacket and everything will click for you.

Unrecognized auteurs? Give me a break. Maybe Kubrick was flying under the radar during his early stuff, but Hitchcock wasn't even in the same ballpark. He was widely celebrated, period.

In America, you can actually make it without a formal film academy degree, which is a massive outlier compared to almost every other country in the Western world. It’s the exception to the rule. Either pack your bags and head stateside, or just try your luck here and see if you can hack it on grit alone. There isn't really a third option.

Harold Mendoza59 said:No😉 , I just have a weird vibe about the movie😎 , feels like some genre inconsistencies👍 .

In case it isn't obvious: 🙂

Based on what's above, looks like I watched it. What do you think?

Well, you kept insisting that you hadn't seen it, which is why you kept mentioning when your last post was.

Hold on a second. First off, I’ve never had much patience for people who bail at the first sign of trouble, so don't you dare give up on me just yet. How old are you actually, and how many times have you thrown yourself at this wall already? Second, let's be realistic here: you aren't going to make it without a degree from a top-tier film academy.