rustyscout31 said:I’m reading through this whole thread and I honestly can't believe it. What exactly do you people in Washington, D.C. spend your time worrying about? Try coming down to San Francisco for a bit, then you'll understand what a genuine lack of movie theaters actually looks like—not to mention the pathetic selection we get. Honestly, I think Martha's Vineyard probably has more film options and better cinemas than we do here in San Francisco. If you haven't heard the news, those two existing theaters in San Francisco won't even be downtown anymore. Once they finish construction on the new World Trade Center over by the caves, which is pretty much a trek from the heart of the city, the entire movie-going crowd will be pushed way out there. 👎 So, my dear friends in the big metropolis, us San Franciscans aren't going to have A SINGLE CINEMA left in the city center!!! 😠
So you're telling me things are bad for you, so we should just feel sorry for ourselves too? 😁
redowl90 said:I’m asking for this thread to be shut down immediately, because the vast majority of people here clearly DON'T HAVE A GODDAMN CLUE what they're talking about...
I haven't seen such a massive pile of garbage written in one place for a long time...
It's pathetic...
Well, come on then, enlighten us. Why the attitude?
Brenda Lee50 said:When you walk into a theater like that, you can actually feel something our small-town mentality hasn't quite grasped yet: film is the seventh art. It doesn't matter how hard Hollywood tries to strip that away these days. In a venue like that, you aren't just hearing the local dialect; you're seeing people who were checking out a Frida Kahlo exhibit yesterday and might be heading to a world music concert or a Shakespeare play tomorrow, depending on the weather. They certainly aren't going to stay cooped up within their own (mental) four walls.
Yeah, that’s exactly what I was getting at earlier. 😁
Lala pun said:Who exactly is to blame here? Are you talking about the movie theaters and their management? Honestly, they aren't the villains. The management (and let's remember, we're talking about an investment fund from some exotic foreign country) never actually intended to turn a profit or build a loyal audience. What we're seeing right now is exactly what they planned—drive these theaters to the brink of bankruptcy, liquidate them, grab the cash, and bail. And who sold those theaters to them? We all know. Was it legal? No. But it's too late to go back and fix things from ten or fifteen years ago.
To be perfectly honest, I don't know the full story. In my head—since I'm working with limited info—the situation looked like this: the theaters used to be state-owned (or maybe municipal, more likely), but once Broadway and AMC opened up, they stopped being profitable. Some were repurposed for theater needs (and I actually liked the idea regarding the area near the dance center or whatever it was called), while others were just sold off to whoever had the cash. All that's left are these few struggling spots waiting to shut down.
I had no clue that Francek and his company sold them off back during the urban renewal era. Now I feel a bit foolish for not knowing the backstory, but hey, nobody's perfect. 😬
Let’s be honest, they have a good portion of this on their own heads. They completely missed the boat when it came to branding themselves or actually finding a way to hook an audience. In my opinion, they should have dropped ticket prices for early screenings and pivoted toward films that aren't just mindless blockbusters. Think international cinema—maybe some indie gems from Europe or Asia. They could have run themed weeks, like a showcase for Spanish or Czech films, and then marketed the hell out of it to draw people back in. And sure, they should have chased down municipal subsidies. That might have worked for a boutique spot like Europe or maybe somewhere in Old Town, but for the other theaters? They didn't stand a chance. Maybe Chicago could have pulled it off.
I really hope these final attempts actually spark something. 😢 Personally, I love the Europe theater. The vibe is great, the seats are comfortable, the sound system is solid... It feels like you’ve actually stepped into a cultural landmark, rather than some chaotic daycare center or a flashy show-off party at the Cab Club.
Finally caught it. I have to say, seeing a theater packed halfway full—and it wasn't even a weekend—was actually kind of a pleasant surprise. Plus, the best part? Zero distractions. No one was slurping snacks, rustling bags, or scrolling through their phones. It was pure bliss.
Ehm, regarding 🙂 : I’m not sure how you can claim there’s no emotion in it, milk (😬). Maybe we just approached the story from a different angle or experienced it through a different lens altogether. That said, I really loved the rest of your breakdown 🙂 . And this one...
neonhound32 said:I’d ban this post immediately. This is just awful. Who even wrote this review? Half of the information is factually wrong, not to mention the massive spoilers.. Honestly, a moderator should probably pull this down or at least censor it.. 👎
...but what exactly was "wrong" about the write-up above? 😕 Aside from a few spoilers, I suppose. Luckily, I only skimmed the text I copied and pasted, so none of it was stuck in my head by the time I sat down in the theater.
The new Pedro Almodóvar film is hitting theaters, so I’m thinking about catching a showing next week.
SPOILER ALERT !! :-)
According to the plot summary on Broadway: "Three generations of women navigate life's storms and superstitions, madness and even death, all thanks to their resilient spirits, a few white lies, and sheer endurance. Raimund is married to an unemployed laborer, and they have a rebellious teenage daughter. Her sister, Soli, works as a hairstylist, and the mother... well, she's dead... or maybe she isn't. As the mystery unravels through a series of hilarious mishaps, this small family finds the answers they need and manages to rediscover the warmth of their bonds..."
The reviews over on IMDb are actually looking pretty solid— http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0441909/
I have this incredibly weird relationship with musicals. I generally can't stand them—half of them drive me absolutely insane—but then there are certain ones that are just pure magic. For instance, I was obsessed with My Song My Dream when I was a kid, or classics like Cabaret. 🙂
Well, Moulin Rouge falls right into that special category for me too. 😍 First off, that chaotic, impossible musical mashup—you've got Sting, Marc Bolan & T-Rex, Elton John, David Bowie, and then that Elephant Love Medley that somehow manages to include everything under the sun. Even the way they play around with the melodies from My Song My Dream... it’s just brilliant. 🙂
Visually, the thing is stunning if you catch it on the big screen in a theater; watching it on TV, it felt a little bit over-the-top to me. But only slightly. 😁
Oh, and I loved the whole concept of weaving Toulouse-Lautrec into the story. 👍 He was such a wonderful painter, and honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if his actual worldview was just as wild as how he's portrayed here.
I just find myself getting completely swept away whenever I watch this film...
Look, I can probably resist the urge to run out and grab some greasy junk food, but what a few people just mentioned—it absolutely kills the vibe. A film like this is an artistic medium—fine, I know, we all know what the typical Hollywood blockbusters look like these days, but still...—it’s meant to be experienced in one continuous flow. It's like looking at a painting. Imagine you walk into a museum in San Francisco and see only half of Guernica in one room, then you have to step out to grab a Coke at the concession stand before walking into the next room to see the other half. It's just ridiculous. 🙄
Is anyone actually paying attention here? It looks like I’ll have to resort to cheap gimmicks just to get some eyes on this, maybe by name-dropping someone like...Jackie Ida
I noticed nobody has started a thread about this yet, even though the movie has been out in theaters for quite some time now, so...
Anyway, I saw it about two weeks ago and it’s still swirling around in my head. Actually, "swirling" is an understatement—it’s practically haunting me... Watching it, I realized I’ve never seen a film that tackles the collision of those two specific cultures so directly (Europe vs. African tribes). Every other film I've watched either takes place in some sprawling African metropolis or centers on Westerners as the main protagonists—maybe not all by birth, but certainly by worldview. In those cases, the internal lives of tribal members were either treated superficially or used merely as a bit of exotic folklore—basically just serving as colorful background scenery.
Well, this story plays by different rules. I'll try to keep this brief. A Swiss woman goes on a trip to Kenya with her boyfriend, falls in love with a Maasai man, and ends up staying to live with him and his tribe. Short enough? 😁
Since the story is autobiographical, watching her walk away from a Western lifestyle to live alongside him was absolutely staggering. And I don't mean she's moving to somewhere like Cape Town; we're talking about a remote African village. It’s essentially nothing but desert, a few scraps of firewood, a water source, some goats, and basic earthen dwellings. That’s the whole setup. And then there's the two of them—two entirely different worlds. At the start, there isn't much connecting them besides pure chemistry. And her chemistry is portrayed so vividly (through two specific scenes—one on a boat and one during a dance) that you can practically feel it.
The film touches on several heavy issues facing Africa (borderless corruption, female genital mutilation, etc.), but the core remains their relationship, the clash of perspectives, and the sheer difficulty of adaptation.
I really appreciated this film. It forced me to sit back and reflect on a lot of things.
Given the current lineup of blockbusters in theaters, I definitely recommend giving this one a watch. 🙂
This whole situation has always rubbed me the wrong way, and honestly, I’m really digging this proposal. To my mind, it’s nothing more than pure ego at play. Even the standard stuff—the usage instructions, the indications, the contraindications, all that fine print on medication inserts—is written in such dense jargon that most people practically need a PhD just to figure out what they're looking at (though, let's be real, almost nobody actually reads them anyway). I get that you can't just write medical info like it's a lifestyle blog, but we could certainly simplify the vocabulary to make things accessible for folks who didn't spend their lives in an Ivy League lecture hall.
ruggedmarlin15 said:I’m not going to write up formal reviews because my viewing experience was pretty fragmented—just catching bits and pieces here and there—so I’ll just give you the rundown of how they fared at the Sundance Film Festival: Kamikaze Pizzeria - definitely the buzziest movie at the festival. It’s a bit strange, but honestly, that’s my kind of thing... If I recall correctly, it loses a little steam toward the end. Chronicle of a Flight - decent enough for me. It’s based on a true story and drew quite a crowd. Gonic - this one felt incredibly slow and forgettable to me—basically a Vietnamese contender for an Oscar. Something Like Happiness - last night, the screening at the Barbican was a total washout. Zaledje - it's playing today, so I haven't seen it yet, but it looks mediocre to me—it tries to tackle women's rights issues in Iran, but handles them in this "that's just the way it is" sort of dismissive way. Looking Left Looking Right - the festival opener; people are saying it's alright.
ruggedmarlin15
P.S. Sorry if this isn't more in-depth or detailed; all these movies have kind of blurred together for me. 😉
Thanks anyway 🙂 I watched Kamikaze Pizzeria and I actually 😍 loved it, but Chronicle of a Flight played right after and it didn't really land for me. Still, I don't regret seeing it, if only because of the subject matter.
Alright, you guys below (or those like Sophia Evans76 who have probably already sat through half these movies anyway 🙂), give me some solid recommendations. For those of us left with nothing but the Sundance selections playing at Broadway, we're looking for something good http://82.193.218.18/index.php?optio...d=38&Itemid=53
I mean, look, there are plenty of lunatics out there who will go out of their way to act like an idiot, but the real issue here is that he’s Muslim. Now, he becomes the face of what people think Muslims are in general.🙄
Flicks don't really subscribe to some universal faith or nationality—something you can see pretty clearly if you spend any time hanging out on forums like this.
rustyotter61 said:I’m heading to Dr. Sarah Gršić Buric. She has her own private practice over on Vinogradska Street. Honestly, the office is great—the nurse is incredibly kind and efficient, and the doctor actually takes the time to answer every single question you have. She managed my pregnancy, and I couldn't have been happier with the experience. The check-ups are as comfortable as they can possibly be, and there isn't any of that mindless, rude commentary you sometimes run into. The standard exam, including the pap smear and ultrasound, was all bundled together $150, assuming she hasn't hiked up her rates since then .
On the flip side, two of my close friends went there and had a pretty lousy experience. They mentioned she could be a bit standoffish and made some rather ignorant comments. That said, I’ve also heard from a third source that her medical expertise is top-tier.
So, where does that leave someone like Spielberg if we’re talking about actually good directors? 🤣 Look, look, I know they say there's no accounting for taste, but still... 😉
I'll check back in once I've actually sat through the movie; I'm genuinely curious to see what it's all about...
