Posts by ruggedridge22

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Christian Taylor3 said:Following that logic, I want to ask you all for one such gesture. Please, forgive Mel Gibson. We miss the little guy we used to know.

You can't just hand out forgiveness to Gibson like it's nothing. Art and personality are two entirely different things; anyone who can't make that distinction ends up losing much more than they gain.

Gibson is a fantastic actor, but he’s even more powerful behind the camera. I have no doubt this will be a great movie, but my hope is that it provides him with the momentum needed for his next directorial projects. He is a conservative, right-leaning individual with an incredibly difficult and prickly temperament, but look at guys like Ford or Milius—they had their issues too, yet they still produced absolute masterpieces.

The film is actually quite solid—certainly better than its Rotten Tomatoes or IMDb scores suggest. It honestly had even more potential if a more visionary director had taken the helm instead of Anthony Hopkins, who at his core is a reliable journeyman, despite having some real misses in his filmography over the years.

On a personal note, I was genuinely pleased last night to recognize the cinematography of Vittorio Storaro; I hadn't realized he was the one behind the lens before sitting down to watch. When you have someone of his caliber working behind the scenes, even less experienced directors can find themselves elevated significantly.

Interestingly, if you look closely at the narrative structure, the script is essentially a variation on the themes found in Steven Spielberg’s Jaws.

Anthony Smith3 said:The new trailer just dropped in HBO quality... you can finally see the massive scale this film is aiming for. It looks truly epic.

👍

This is an incredibly unexpected choice for a director. Brad Bird has consistently proven himself to be an intelligent and subtle filmmaker when handling commercial animation—Ratatouille is arguably the finest 3D animated film I’ve ever seen, and even his earlier work on The Iron Giant holds up remarkably well. That said, I honestly have no idea what his take on MI might look like.

On a broader note, I feel the entire franchise hasn't quite found its footing since dePalmin's brilliant original entry. Woo leaned far too heavily into stylization, which felt completely out of place for this kind of story, and Abrams simply isn't in the same league as a director; he is, first and foremost, a producer at heart...

Man, I still remember back in the mid-seventies when I was just a little six-year-old kid. I actually slipped out of the house and trekked all the way across town—just to get to the local AMC theater—so I could catch a screening of Way of the Dragon. My mom definitely gave me an earful when I finally made it back home, but looking back, that experience was worth every bit of the trouble. 🤣

I've been watching this trailer on loop all day—what an absolute epic. Those desert scenes really remind me of the scale we saw in Gallipoli...

Has anyone managed to track down an HD version yet?

I am genuinely looking forward to this. Weir is one of my all-time favorite directors, and it honestly feels like a missed opportunity that he doesn't put out films more frequently. With Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, he proved that his ability to craft a masterpiece remains as sharp as ever.

Samuel Scott54 said:Pasolini is a god, though he’s a deeply underrated director. "Salò" is something else entirely... but if you want to dive into his work, you really should check out Mamma Roma, Uccellacci e uccellini, the Gospel according to Saint Matthew, and The Decameron. Personally, my favorite is Teorema. That film is an absolute gem, yet it remains largely overlooked.

It is worth watching everything he made—truly everything. My personal favorites are The Decameron and Salò; those two films couldn't be more polar opposites, yet they both stand as pure masterpieces. I often find myself wondering what his "trilogy of death" might have looked like; had he managed to bring it to fruition, we would have been gifted even more incredible cinema.

As for him being underrated, I'm not so sure. Perhaps that feels true in today's landscape, but I belong to a generation where Pasolini's influence is permanently etched into our minds. Maybe it's the influence of Suvarica, or perhaps I just read too much leftist literature in my youth—who knows... ☕

Sean Nguyen4 said:I have to say, based on the description, it feels a bit overly tense to me. 🤣

Look, you can never truly predict when something like a plane crash might happen... ☕

Good grief, this thread... most of these are movies where that exact kind of thing happens.

But when you're actually on the hunt for a good film where... Nothing. It isn't happening, let me tell you:

If you haven't seen this one yet, you really need to add it to your watchlist. It’s an absolute standout from the nineties that stays with you long after the credits roll. The direction is masterful, and the way the story unfolds feels both spontaneous and deeply intentional. It captures a specific kind of atmosphere that few films manage to replicate—that feeling of being caught in a moment where everything is shifting under your feet. Even if you aren't typically drawn to this genre, there is a raw, cinematic honesty here that demands your attention. It is easily one of those films that defines an era of storytelling.

wiredbison82 said:To me, "Escape from L.A." is a tragic film, strictly in terms of its quality.

It isn't a problem that the marginalized subgenres which defined the golden era of Carpenter, De Palma, and Craven eventually integrated into the mainstream—becoming palatable to a broader audience while leaving their former grit at the margins.

The issue lies in the fact that Carpenter seems unable to deliver even a solid B-movie these days. There is a common misconception that the "B-movie" label serves as a free pass to disregard script logic or abandon any sense of systematic filmmaking, leading people to excuse mediocre efforts as mere genre fare.

While the cultural climate during Carpenter's peak was certainly more receptive to the specific brand of cinema he and his international peers offered, there is a painful truth we have to face: John Carpenter simply doesn't possess the same level of talent today, nor does he command a set with the same mastery he displayed during "Assault on Precinct 13" or "Halloween."

Then again, perhaps I am being overly subjective. As a massive devotee of his early work, my standards have become so high that nothing else quite measures up.🤷

P.S. I have always held a deep respect for Carpenter's unwavering consistency and his devotion to genre filmmaking.

Here’s the paradox: I have to admit that I’m being subjective here, simply because I’ve always been a massive fan of his early work. 😁

wiredbison82 said:During the nineties, he directed five films, and honestly, only in The Mouth of Madness does anything feel remotely coherent. Vampires is, to put it mildly, a total disaster—it doesn't even manage to pass for decent trash cinema.

I gave up on Carpenter a long time ago. That man isn't ever going to sign his name to a true masterpiece again. Not him, and frankly, not Hill, Bogdanovich, Friedkin, or Cimino either...

And at this rate, it won't be Scorsese either.☕

I would argue that "in The Mouth of Madness" is actually his weakest film of the nineties.😁

"Vampires" isn't bad at all, "Escape from L.A." is quite solid (even if it falls short of the original), and "MEMOIRS of an INVISIBLE man" is a charming and fun foray into mainstream production.

However, the standout Carpenter film of the nineties is definitely "Village of the Damned"; it truly hits the level of his best work from the eighties Carpenter's era.

wiredbison82 said:During the nineties, he directed five films, and honestly, only in The Mouth of Madness does anything feel remotely coherent. Vampires is, to put it mildly, a total disaster—it doesn't even manage to pass for decent trash cinema.

I gave up on Carpenter a long time ago. That man isn't ever going to sign his name to a true masterpiece again. Not him, and frankly, not Hill, Bogdanovich, Friedkin, or Cimino either...

And at this rate, it won't be Scorsese either.☕

The issue with Carpenter is that he is undeniably an auteur, but one who chose the populist form of the B-movie for his expression. While those tropes were part of the mainstream in the late seventies and early eighties, that concept worked perfectly. But the climate changed, and at a certain point, Carpenter essentially sank into pure B-movie territory. However, it is no longer about the same singular vision that Carpenter has remained faithful to since the very beginning.

I completely understand why his newer films are so dismissed, but that says less about Carpenter himself—who is perhaps one of the most consistent filmmakers in American cinema—and much more about how much times have changed.

I've been a die-hard Carpenter fan since the seventies; I literally grew up on movies like "Assault on Precinct 13," "Halloween," or "The Fog."

wiredbison82 said:During the nineties, he directed five films, and honestly, only in The Mouth of Madness does anything feel remotely coherent. Vampires is, to put it mildly, a total disaster—it doesn't even manage to pass for decent trash cinema.

I gave up on Carpenter a long time ago. That man isn't ever going to sign his name to a true masterpiece again. Not him, and frankly, not Hill, Bogdanovich, Friedkin, or Cimino either...

And at this rate, it won't be Scorsese either.☕

As for Carpenter, probably not in the sense that his early films were masterpieces, but I still expect good, low-profile genre films.

Regarding the others, most of them aren't particularly active anymore. Except for Scorsese, but he's a whole different conversation for another post...

wiredbison82 said:The eighties weren't really Carpenter's golden era; if anything, his peak was during the seventies.

I mean, aside from "The Thing" and perhaps that cool cult classic "They Live," the list of Carpenter titles from the eighties isn't exactly representative of his best work.

And don't even get me started on the nineties...

Carpenter is still quite good in the nineties; he just isn't given the credit he deserves. And "They Live" is easily one of his best—it's trashy, sure, but it's that genuine, old-fashioned Marxist-flavored trash reminiscent of the late sixties. It's invaluable. 😁

Benjamin Thompson66 said:The scenes are fantastic.
However, I believe Pier Paolo went further than anyone else... he was a truly great Italian filmmaker. Hats off to Pier Paolo Pasolini. 🙏🙏🙏

Pier Paolo Pasolini is brilliant. The finale of Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom, is easily one of the most powerful sequences ever filmed, though for obvious reasons, you won't find it on YouTube. 😁

mrak



That's just repulsive.

hiddenhound3 said:And this part too... though honestly, that entire movie maintains that exact same tone. 🙏🙏🙏

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rj57-Do-O1Q

But Matthew Anderson4, my absolute favorite scenes are actually the ones where the little girl is tormenting the cat. 😢

I see, I haven't watched this one yet. I'll definitely be downloading it soon; thanks for the recommendation. 👍

Too intense.

We shouldn't forget Stalker either; there are two scenes in particular that are absolutely exceptional:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk1PxpZ-hfE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ShUA885VjI

Benjamin Thompson66 said:I’ll admit he doesn't quite reach the level of Spielberg or Kubrick for me, but even this Antonioni isn't bad at all.

Antonioni is actually great. One of my personal favorites is this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3EO6...eature=related

Jerry Martinez6 said:If I had to pick one to start with, this one hits different... there is just something about it, an incredibly powerful sequence.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rswYl7RLRNE

You're coming out swinging with that first post. Honestly, it’s hard to find a more intense psychedelic sequence than the one from Phoenix.

But, if we're being fair, there is one that is at least just as good:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCb0I...x=0&playnext=1

😁