359 posts shown.
Great -> nothing special (sensationalist) -> genius
Mozda might not be the right spot or timing for this, but I haven't actually sat down to watch that movie yet. So, just curious... could someone give me a paragraph or two explaining what makes it "genius" in the context of that specific film?
Too bad, honey, besides the popcorn situation.
Movie theaters make a 600% profit margin on popcorn alone.
People here are saying they might actually shut down because they aren't making enough money, claiming folks have stopped buying the snacks—popcorn, candy, sodas... I mean, a bottle of water is $2.50 here, but in downtown Manhattan you'll pay $4.90 for 24 of those same bottles. That's over 12 times the price. If people stop hitting the concession stands, the whole business model falls apart.
"Rabbit-Proof Fence" directed by Philip Noyce—absolutely gut-wrenching film.
"Truth about Charlie"—I actually ended up tossing the tape out around the 20-minute mark.
"The Last of the Mohicans" by Michael Mann—a total masterpiece.
I mean, it’s a news outlet for actual facts.
Is there any other that actually is?
If you’re going to address me directly... 😉
When I mentioned the movie, I was talking about how those Irish immigrants were basically shoved straight from the ships into the front lines of the Civil War. That’s all I meant. It’s just interesting to me because you see the exact same pattern happening today with Latino immigrants, and we all know how they're treated here in the USA.
Look, movies are art, not history textbooks. A director is an artist; they give you their specific take on the world. If you want raw, dry facts, go grab a book and leave it at that.
Hey everyone, movies aren't a medium for the absolute truth!
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Stumbled upon this on CNN.com:
Lance Cpl. Jose Gutierrez: A street orphan from Guatemala who immigrated to Southern California and was a Southern California soldier.
CNN.com Article
The issue with Scorsese is that he’s always trying to lecture Americans on something. Like, telling us history is just going to repeat itself. I think I finally get why he hasn't picked up an Oscar. Someone mentioned his work is subversive, and honestly, I don't have much else to say to that.
Quote : Pearl Harbor, U-123, Independence Day
Are you actually sure these movies fit under the political film category?
Is it just me, or is this thread starting to look more and more like the National Enquirer? 😁
Yeah, I’d argue that’s just a generalization. Not really accurate.
My point stands, though—most Americans just aren't looking for movies that demand heavy lifting. It’s standard practice in the industry, even among serious cinephiles here in the States, and the executives at major studios like Disney or Warner Bros. know it all too well. That’s why everything gets split into two camps: the massive blockbusters and the "European-style" indies. Might be worth doing a little reading on the subject if you're interested; the info is out there for anyone willing to look.
And look, New York City certainly doesn't fit that mold, but then again, only a tiny fraction of NYC does. We don't have exact statistics, obviously, but judging by the sheer scale of marketing blitzes and how much cash is being dumped into theater registers, my argument holds water.
Wait, whose movie is this? Is it Swedish?
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Regarding what I said earlier—are you suggesting I'm wrong? 😉
Do enlighten me...
p.s. This is a political film, by the way.
I haven't really dug into the "Movie Answer Man" column before, and honestly—my take on it is pretty scathing. Mostly because if you actually bother to read the review, what seems to bother Ebert most is just the fact that the movie takes place in Texas. He spends half his word count spinning purely political reasons why the film should have been shot in some other state instead. Realistically, that has zero bearing on the film itself or its actual plot, let alone how it ends, yet he devotes massive chunks of text to it. Personally, I think deciding whether a movie is good or bad based solely on its setting is just... well, it's beneath any kind of serious film criticism. You don't even see that kind of logic here on this Forum 😉. On top of that, after reading the follow-up response in "Movie Answer Man," I realized he isn't even giving an accurate picture of the main plot, which feels a bit dishonest.
See, relatively early on, there's a pivotal scene where David Gale gets the chance to face off one-on-one with the Governor of Texas during a televised debate. It quickly becomes clear that Gale's humanist arguments aren't met without some very solid pushback. Gale argues that capital punishment is inhumane and demonstrates how such a heavy sentence fails to serve a positive function in the justice system; however, the film shows that we're dealing with a gray area regarding the moral foundations of American society. Even the Governor makes a few decent counterpoints. In the end, the whole discussion concludes without a resolution, but with one crucial point: the Governor says there's no proof the system is broken, and if Gale can provide the name of even one innocent person executed, he’ll personally fight to abolish the death penalty. Of course, Gale doesn't have that name, and that’s where the seed of the dramatic plot is planted—it's the insurmountable obstacle for the anti-death penalty activist. Given that context, the ending works perfectly; it's the only way it could have gone.
So, regardless of your own political stance on the death penalty, the ending makes sense. That way, you have an answer for yourself when deciding whether you're judging the film based on its underlying political idea or its actual storytelling.
BTW—for the sake of any real discussion about the movie, it’s probably useful to actually watch it. 🙂
Hands down, one of the best films ever made about how the political machine actually operates here in the USA.
Bob Roberts
Nah, if you look at the current wave of patriotism sweeping the USA, combined with how pessimistic and brutally critical the movie is regarding the way laws and social systems are built here in New York City, it’s honestly no surprise how it fared at the Oscars.
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I think a lot of people—especially Americans—felt this slight sense of unease because of how much the film mirrors what's actually happening right now. Scorsese is basically a school of realism (and I don't just mean his obsession with details, sets, or costumes), which isn't really the standard American mainstream style. Scorsese IS subversive simply because he operates within the USA—a country built on fantasy. Anywhere else, he'd be celebrated. In Europe, for instance, a film is judged by its critical merit (maybe an elitist view, sure) rather than just how much it pulls in at the box office.
I feel like the only time things actually felt sexy was in an Oliver Stone film. Everything else just feels too sterile to even bother discussing 😉
Robert De Niro style
De Niro passed on this role. It’s kind of like how DD Lewis once passed on a part in Pulp Fiction.
Quote : Platoon (tough watch, though... Tom Cruise is in it.)
😁 And Julia Roberts plays an Indian Girl in that same movie. 🙄
The mod could probably step up here too.
I suppose they could, if this Forum actually stayed focused on just one topic. Though, I doubt any mules would bother showing up for the Derby if all the horses vanished from the face of the Country. It just wouldn't be the same. 😁
I’d personally ban showing the American flag, period. No matter the context, I don't want to see it.
Perspective is everything—that's the old NewsWorld tagline, right?
Honestly, I don't see much difference between > and > if you look at them through the lens of the target audience—you know, the people they were clearly made for to satisfy certain populist tastes. The only real distinction is the technical skill involved, just how masterfully they edit the footage to trigger a specific emotional response. It sounds a bit harsh, I guess, but... just think about it.
A pretty solid debut for a first feature. I think it actually snagged an Academy Award for Best International Feature Film nomination. For those of us from the North America, though, it didn't really offer much in the way of surprises. It just hits on what we already know too well—that horrific, circular logic where ethnic violence and pure human stupidity feed into one another. A tragedy, through and through. I suspect the Mexican man didn't have to strain too hard acting, given that his character is mostly just living on scraps of intuition and hope.
As far as the direction goes, it’s flawless—clean, precise, and avoids any unnecessary showing off. It’s interesting how Milcho followed that classic American career path: start out as a top-tier music video director (like doing work for Arrested Development) and then transition into a "feature film" director.
I'm not really sure what his deal is now. He made another movie, Dust, which I haven't sat down to watch yet, and I suppose that's that.
I think Gerald Barrett25 is just getting worked up over PBE, so he's trying to charm his way through this.
Am I really that transparent? 😳
copperdriver15, try staying on topic instead of playing the role of some obnoxious parapsychologist. It’s pointless and honestly pretty rude.
Personally, I love American cinema. In my eyes, it's easily the best national film industry in the world. Because the scale of production is so massive, the ratio of actual good movies to the rest is maybe one in a hundred annually. The American cinematic consciousness is basically built on star power, trailers, and aggressive marketing campaigns. It isn't really about the art of the film itself; it's about consumerism. And I’m not much of a consumer—believe it or not, I don't have a ton of free time to sit around watching movies, so before I commit to something, I usually do a little digging first. The suggestion that avoiding mainstream stuff is a way to be "different" is just a dull argument. By that logic, someone who doesn't listen to Britney Spears, J-Lo, or various boy bands and instead hunts for obscure indie groups is just posing to seem unique. What a load of crap.