Posts by steelharbor9

brightpilot6 said:Gentlemen, perhaps it would be wise to actually study the rules of the game, because this whole situation reeks of the moderator breathing down everyone's necks. ☕

I didn't quite catch that little clip regarding Aupick, 🙏

Anyway, I think we're sticking with two units regardless. You pretty much nailed everything in your comment! 🤣

Great thread! And honestly, there's a solid foundation of young talent here too, so it's really not an either-or situation 👍

1990 (Kroos) - 1999 (Donnarumma) 2
1991 (De Bruyne) - 1998 (Mbappe) 1
1992 (Neymar) - 1997 (Dembele 🤦) 1
1993 (Kane) - 1996 (Rodri) 1
1994 (Sterling) - 1995 (Kimmich) 1

Nathan Murphy said:My bad, you're right, Parasite belongs to 2019. In that case, it’s my second favorite film of that year. My number one is this

It's weird as hell, but I love every single frame; honestly, it might be my favorite film of the last decade. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2762506/ It’s a shame so few people have seen it. It’s certainly not for everyone, but if you get the chance, give it a shot.

The Western covers it all. We could even call No Country for Old Men a modern Western, though I see your point regarding the specific type of Western you mean. Generally, I agree—it's one of the best genres and truly the only quintessential American genre. That's it; they don't have many others that define them quite like that. When I watch

, seeing that wide shot of Gregory Peck slowly descending the hill to face his adversary... it's just epic 🙏

So, I guess Bacurau has been on my shortlist for two years now and I still haven't watched it. I didn't expect it to pop up as a recommendation on Netflix, too! I really need to 🤣

Nathan Murphy said:The year 2020? Honestly, the only ones worth mentioning from that list are *Parasite*, maybe *Knives Out*—though it felt about 20 minutes too long—and *Marriage Story*. The rest aren't even worth bringing up, not because they’re bad movies, but simply because they don't define a "year" for me. In other words, a year defined by those films just doesn't hold much weight in my book.

For me, the true highlights of 2020 were: *Parasite*, *Never Rarely Sometimes Always*, *The Father*, *Minari*, *Persian Lessons*, *Mila* (easily one of the best debuts in recent memory), and *The Hater* (my favorite film from overseas that year—highly recommended).

In this century, now that the Oscars have become somewhat irrelevant, I rarely find myself including typical Oscar bait on my annual lists. Looking back, I think only *Parasite* and *The Father* made the cut. It’s usually a mix of European or Asian cinema alongside the occasional American standout, since we still manage to produce something great every once in a while, even if it's becoming less frequent.

Man, I think you kind of mashed 2019 and 2020 together there (I mean, it depends if we're talking about awards or the actual release dates, but Parasite was definitely the year before) 😁

But just for the sake of comparing, 2019 was way stronger for me. Some others I didn't mention were Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Pain and Glory, Booksmart, The Farewell, The Peanut Butter Falcon, Sound of Metal, The Lighthouse, Uncut Gems... and I probably forgot a few. Oh, and Avengers: Endgame was huge for me, even if the film snobs love to hate on it by default. ☕

Given everything going on back then, 2020 actually turned out okay, I guess. But out of everything I watched, my top pick was Hamilton, which technically isn't even a movie. As for the rest, The Father was miles ahead of everything else (it was criminally overlooked by the Academy, especially when Nomadland took home the prizes 😂 ). Nothing else from 2020 really touches the greatness of my 2019 list. 😁

Noah Roberts46 said:Huh? You think this beats 2020? We had *Parasite*, *Ford v Ferrari*, *1917*, *The Irishman*, *Jojo Rabbit*, *Joker*, *Marriage Story*, *Knives Out*, *Uncut Gems*... easily the strongest year in recent memory. Look, I get that taste is subjective, but to me, this year feels like pure mediocrity. *CODA* is fine, but we've seen plenty of those lately. PTA is highbrow stuff; I dig his new film, but it’s definitely not in his top five. As for *The Power of the Dog*, I don't get the massive hype. Still need to catch *Drive My Car*. Personally, *Nightmare Alley* was alright. All these movies are "okay," but none of them hit me as something special. 2020 had way more substance.

I think there was a little misunderstanding! I wasn't talking about the whole lineup, just one specific movie. For me, CODA actually beat out Parasite, which is totally subjective 😁 (and I loved CODA, I'm definitely not bashing the legendary Parasite!), but Parasite is still way better than that group of award-winners I'm thinking of. Anyway, everything you listed from that year is absolutely amazing—I honestly couldn't even pick a favorite.

I'm with you on PTA. People seem so hot and cold about this new one. I liked it at first glance, but then I spent two hours just enjoying how nonsensical it was.

As for Nightmare Alley, it felt like a trashy attempt at a blockbuster to me. It's fun, sure, but it lacks substance and uses these super cheap, obvious tricks to try and shock you when there isn't actually anything there. Maybe I'm just bitter because I've seen too many movies like this, or maybe it's because Del Toro already owns the title for the worst Best Picture winner I've ever sat through 🤣, but after an hour, I really wanted to just head home, and after the second hour, I was actually bummed I didn't.

driftingranger9 said:I honestly wonder if anyone even watches the Oscars anymore. Given that the films released this year have been absolute garbage, is it possible they're just rigging things to make the ceremony feel slightly less irrelevant?

Oh, come on, man. Out of the Best Picture nominees, I feel like only Don't Look Up and Nightmare Alley were total garbage. Everything else was actually pretty solid—well, except for King Richard, which I haven't seen yet, so I can't say for sure. What do you think, 😁? I mean, compared to some of the lineups from previous years, this group is actually pretty killer.

Any one of those heavy hitters like Dune, Licorice Pizza, CODA, The Power of the Dog, or Drive My Car would have deserved the win. They probably would've been the best Best Picture winner we've seen in five or six years, maybe since Spotlight.

With how things have been going lately, I kind of thought they’d pull a total curveball and give it to Don't Look Up just to crank up the hype. But I guess it worked out by pure luck that they still aren't ready to hand a Best Picture trophy to a Netflix production (because if they were, The Power of the Dog probably would've been the frontrunner).

By the way, it seems like only on some niche conspiracy forums is there a consensus that the whole thing is rigged. Classic conspiracy theories, I guess. 🙏 Everywhere else, everyone seems to agree that Will definitely pulled it off. 🤣

The most rigged machine out there has to be B92. Every single article about Vozd turns into a massive pile of top comments consisting of just a few words praising him, all from accounts with names like Mark, Maya, or John... They really do a terrible job with the anonymity, even on sites where they actually could hide it, let alone on a forum where you can spot the plants immediately 🤣

So, I just did a quick search on this thread using the keyword "midget," and man, there are like a million posts here, but it looks like there's only one author 🤣 🙏

Justice for the midget! 🙏

Kyle Campbell4 said:Across the globe, there are individuals who claim to despise the West while simultaneously glorifying dictatorial regimes. Yet, they feel absolutely no hesitation when it comes to enjoying the many luxuries and comforts provided by the very Western systems they criticize. Make no mistake: there is zero chance that these people will suddenly pack up and relocate to Russia, China, or Korea. All this posturing about hating the West and praising the "righteous" East exists purely in the realm of theory. They would change their tune incredibly fast if they ever had to experience firsthand what life actually looks like under those systems.

Exactly this. I mean, everyone who spends their time glorifying Putin would probably love nothing more than to pack up and move to Ireland or Germany. I've certainly never heard anyone mention wanting to relocate to Minsk. 🤣

Jonathan Barnes5 said:I suppose I’ll step into the role of Petrak here and pretend I’m an expert on a subject I clearly know nothing about, though I don't think that was actually what he was getting at. It seems his real curiosity lies in why the spread on one currency pair ends up being wider than another.

I totally got what he was asking, which is why I mentioned I haven't dug into the specifics. Honestly, I have no clue what the exact sanctions look like regarding the Dollar on the American financial market, or how those volumes stack up against the Euro. What I wrote there was just a sort of plug&play answer for situations like this—you know, if anyone wants a starting point, there it is. But in all of this, nothing feels truly normal, I guess. 😁 If there’s some massive, hidden reason why the difference is that huge, I wouldn't know; I pretty much left the whole Forex game behind a long time ago. 🕺

Or, as William Gomez5 would say, I'm just acting smart about something I don't understand at all! ☕

Larry Fox5 said:I don't really get this spread on Forex between the Euro and the Dollar against the Ruble.

USD/RUB 103.73 - 107.27
EUR/RUB 112.74 - 138.94

Why is there such a massive gap with the Euro compared to the Dollar? There’s zero logic here... right?

A huge bid-ask spread on FX usually means there's massive volatility happening or just a serious lack of liquidity in the market. I haven't really dug into the history of this specific situation, but those European banking and financial sanctions definitely had to have a major impact on liquidity. Whether that's the one and only reason for such an anomaly... I guess I don't know.

mellowotter36 said:The spread is huge. That tells me there isn't much trading happening—low liquidity and high volatility.

He beat me to it, 😬

edit: I think I used the word "huge" three times in my first post, kind of sounding like Petrak over at Podcast Incubator 🙏

The patient has basically made it illegal to call this thing a war, but I guess some TV networks are finally starting to lock in the truth 🙏

Paul Sanders5 said:I honestly live for the break because I always end up needing a bathroom run right after finishing a .7 Coke, so you're basically sprinting to make sure you don't miss anything, or just sitting there trying to guess which part of the movie is gonna be the biggest snooze fest 😳 😁

That's exactly what I tell this little badger who wants to de-Nazi AMC Theatres just because some of us actually want an intermission!☕

driftingranger9 said:High-quality reading material. ☕

🤣

It honestly fascinates me, I guess, how some people—just like those folks obsessed with all that astrology nonsense—actually believe in all of this stuff. 🙏 And yet, their opinion carries just as much weight 🙏

vivideagle7 said:I stumbled upon some absolutely horrific videos on Reddit showing dead civilians lying in the streets of Kharkiv. It’s the kind of thing that just leaves you feeling sick to your stomach for the rest of your life.

It’s actually startling how many people I know seem to be backing Putin, claiming that the Americans are the ones who completely triggered this whole mess. Honestly, I don't know... what am I even supposed to say to people at this point?

A lot of people are just clueless, it's as simple as that.

boldfox88 said:A Russian tank column stretching 40 miles, recently captured on satellite imagery, has reportedly "stalled" just north of Kyiv, according to a high-ranking U.S. defense official. There are several potential explanations for this standstill, and it’s entirely possible that multiple factors are at play simultaneously.

@danlamothe

🤣

brightpilot6 said:The one who's messing with you.☕

🤣

brightpilot6 said:Anything would be an improvement over that tedious Space Odyssey,

but that’s why Interstellar wins out. 🙏

Man, you really triggered me there just now like I'm some guy getting kicked out of a club because you mentioned ZDS isn't some old-school American greeting.☕

I guess Interstellar is pretty great too, though.

urbanhawk17 said:What about gravity?

Way overrated. I guess it might have worked better in China, but as it stands, it's just ninety minutes of Sandra Bullock pretending to be Buzz Aldrin wrapped in pretty visuals.

And don't even get me started on the whole human space farce 😂

Jesse Sullivan5 said:The disc stays put, while the heavens spin around us!

Do your own research.

Christ is born, then rises from the dead.

That’s probably the only logical sequel.

urbanhawk17 said:Rotation?

Give me a break, you can't just spin a flat plate like that.