Posts by Steven Ruiz

My number one rule for any relationship is pretty straightforward: I need to know that when things get intimate, there’s actually something substantial waiting for me down there instead of just a whole lot of nothing...
The second requirement is that the waist stays perfectly snatched, while still making sure there's enough room for the curves to actually fit...

It is honestly such a struggle trying to hit both those marks at the same time when you have my kind of body type... So far, I’ve only ever found Jennifer Lopez’s style or those Juicy Couture jeans that actually manage to fit my waist while still making my curves look good...
I can't help but just sit back and watch it all unfold...

Donna Hughes80, have you had a chance to look over those last three posts about the movie yet?
Because if you did, you’d see that the whole thing is being viewed through a pretty critical lens, which is probably why they didn't bother with a massive ad campaign or anything like that...

Personally, I still find Saving Private Ryan to be the superior film, if only because it feels so much more cohesive as a complete cinematic experience... though I have to admit that Flags of Our Fathers is arguably more interesting when you look at its themes and the way it critiques both society and the reality of war.
I completely agree that the opening is incredibly intense and difficult to watch, and yeah, there are definitely moments where the pacing feels a bit dragged out, I'll give you that.
Even so, I still think it stands head and shoulders above so many other movies we've seen throughout this year...

And I hear you on that point too... 😬

So, technically these are two separate movies, but they really belong together as a pair. 😬
It was directed by Clint Eastwood.
Both stories revolve around the intense combat during WWII on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima, though one film takes an American perspective (Flags of Our Fathers), while the other looks at things through a Japanese lens (Letters from Iwo Jima).

The first one just opened up in theaters here recently.
http://www.flagsofourfathers.com/
Personally, I thought it was absolutely wonderful...
The plot is actually inspired by that iconic photograph and the events surrounding those six American soldiers raising the American flag on Iwo Jima.
Time-wise, the story jumps from the heat of battle on the island—which was filmed with that same handheld, shaky camera style you see in the combat scenes of Saving Private Ryan, only even grittier—to post-war America and how people viewed those soldiers and heroes after the fighting stopped.
It’s a really sharp observation by society, regardless.

I honestly can't wait to catch the Japanese side of the story once it hits theaters!
My only little gripe is that for the first 15 minutes or so, it wasn't entirely clear who was footing the bill and who was paying, mostly because the narrative is so fragmented and jumps so quickly from one location to another and from one time period to the next...

I also found it quite strange that such a massive, high-quality production backed by such a big name like Clint Eastwood hasn't received almost any advertising at all. If I hadn't happened to stumble upon a review in a film magazine, I wouldn't have even known the movie was playing! There was absolutely zero promotion for it. During the opening weekend, there were maybe six people in the whole theater, including me and my boyfriend.
Maybe it's because Americans don't want a film like this to negatively impact the national mood regarding the war in Iraq and everything else going on.
Then again, the movie doesn't exactly paint a rosy picture of war or the aftermath; if anything, it's quite critical, even if it does so in a very subtle way...

In any case, I highly recommend that you go see the film (or films)!

I'd give it 🍿 🍿 🍿 🍿 out of five buckets of popcorn. 😬

Since quite a few of us are living abroad, I was thinking it would be really helpful if movie titles were listed using both their original English names and the American versions...
I know most people already follow this practice, but it would be just wonderful if everything was stored that way consistently.
It would make things so much easier for those of us living overseas, and honestly, it would probably help out everyone back home in the States too!
What do you all think about that idea?

I only ended up watching the American version, and honestly, I was just bored out of my mind... It was such a total letdown, truly a waste of time!
It doesn't even come close to The Ring.

I’m honestly not sure if or when this one will hit the screens at the American Film Institute, but I just had to drop by and tell you all that I highly recommend it... it was easily one of my absolute favorite films of the year!
The cast is mostly made up of kids, but don't let that fool you because this is definitely not some kid's movie.
As for the story, it deals with bullying, how to handle it, and how revenge can spiral out of control... it touches on those themes in a way that feels simple on the surface, but the actual film is so much more layered and complex than that.
The character development is incredibly well done, too... you won't find any of those typical Hollywood tropes where characters are just split into obvious good guys and bad guys.
And the young actors? They were just fantastic.
You should definitely give it a watch. 👍

Not at all! I usually just grab some Fiji Water or Evian and polish off about two or three liters every single day...
Living in New York City, the tap water here just tastes so strange to me.

Honestly, this was easily one of the absolute best movies I’ve seen in quite some time...
Jamie Foxx definitely earned that Oscar, he really did. 🙂
And those microphones... well, let's just say I was watching the screen in the theater and didn't catch a single one of them...

I sure do!
If you’re curious about the details, feel free to ask over on the Health forum or just shoot me a private message so we don't clutter up this specific thread...

Around the same time, I found myself watching two massive blockbusters back-to-back, Ray and Aviator.
While Ray absolutely blew me away and totally lived up to all the hype—not to mention how thrilled I am that Jamie Foxx snagged his Oscar—Aviator just left me feeling completely indifferent.
It’s not like the movie is a total disaster, but it definitely feels way too long and overhyped for what it actually is.
Certain parts of Hughes' life fly by at lightning speed, while other segments just drag on forever like an endless stretch of highway...
I honestly found myself nodding off in a few spots, and looking around the theater, it seemed like plenty of other people were struggling to stay awake too.
Leonardo was truly spectacular, though, and he was easily the only bright spot in the entire production, especially with how brilliantly he portrayed those moments involving OCD (which I can personally relate to since I deal with mild OCD myself).
On the other hand, I thought Cate was just terrible, and even though I know she won an Oscar for it, I just couldn't get past it.
Her accent felt so forced and labored, which made it incredibly distracting for me.
I just couldn't shake that feeling, and it eventually reached a point where every single scene featuring her started to feel totally irritating...

dustyscout53 said:I honestly don't get why you even bothered going in the first place! 😕

Well, I already told you, my roommate basically forced my hand!
We were planning on hitting up the movie theater together.
He was dead set on seeing The Phantom of the Opera, while I was really pulling for House of Flying Daggers... so we ended up bickering and eventually just flipped a coin to settle it. He won the toss, so we went to see his choice, and honestly, we both walked out thinking the whole thing was a total waste of time... 😁

Here’s my honest prediction: anyone who sits through this movie is going to absolutely die of boredom...
The only way you might actually survive such a total disaster is if you happen to be a massive fan of 80s synth music...😁

It just keeps coming non-stop!!!! It's enough to drive anyone absolutely crazy...

Yeah... plus they really messed up with that mask situation and everything else... because once you finally see him without it, you realize his face is actually quite scarred, and those areas the mask wasn't covering—which they just moments ago were shown as being absolutely flawless—are actually quite different...

Just one word.
A total DIS-AS-TER!!!!
Good grief, I can't believe I let myself be talked into seeing that movie, but my roommate just kept insisting and wouldn't take no for an answer...
By the end of it, neither of us actually enjoyed it at all. Okay, look, I knew it was a musical, so I wasn't expecting a five-star masterpiece, but still...
Some musicals do a pretty great job transitioning from a stage production to the big screen—take Chicago, for example—but with The Phantom of the Opera, I felt like I was just watching a filmed stage show the entire time.
The "acting" was honestly awful... just completely over the top and totally hammed up.
And Minnie Driver was especially terrible. I mean, sure, her role was supposed to be this over-the-top Italian primadonna, but still...
The movie is way too long and... well... just boring.
The only thing I actually liked was the cinematography.
On top of that, the theater was so freezing that I felt like I was sitting in a walk-in freezer! I guess they were trying to save money on the heating bill or something...🙄
And the popcorn was bone dry. Ugh. 👎

For those exact same reasons, I’m a hard pass on this. I honestly think it would just end up causing massive friction between the other members of the European Union...
Not to mention the systematic violations of human rights, issues regarding women's rights, and all those religious fanatics who are still running around despite the country being officially secular, and so on...
Plus, Istanbul and those coastal cities are really in a league of their own, but the heartland of Turkey is like a completely different world altogether—it feels like you've stepped back several centuries in time...

Yeah, but if we're looking at this hypothetically, since the European Union is constantly pushing for deeper integration—things like a single currency and having uniform laws across the whole union—don't you think Turkey should be stepping up to be a bit more flexible too? I mean, shouldn't they be trying to align themselves more closely with the rest of the European Union instead of just veering off in a different direction on basically everything...

Mark Hall3 said:We’re just going to lay everything out on the table, call it like it is, and tear it all apart!😁

That’s exactly why I started this thread, just to get us all talking and liven things up a bit... 😁
So, come on... who wants to be the first one to jump in? 😁