Posts by Anthony Davis6

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Rebecca still holds up beautifully
I think The Wages of Fear might actually be even better (especially with Véra Clouzot... mmm)

It looks like redowl90 has his fingers in the pie when it comes to DVD releases (he's surprisingly well-informed, I guess), so he’s kind of salty that everyone isn't dropping enough cash on physical media. You're barking up the wrong tree if you're looking for sympathy there. :-)

Look, let’s not even get into high-end home theater setups with fancy projectors and screens. I’m talking about a solid projector paired with a decent Pioneer or similar DVD/DivX player hooked up right. Throw in some AC3 audio, and you're pretty much set. Honestly, anyone hating on this probably hasn't actually sat down and watched a well-encoded DivX file on a decent setup—and it doesn't even have to cost a fortune. You can grab a quality player for maybe $400 to $167, and while the screen quality depends on what you bought, even an average setup usually looks better than those crappy, pixelated DVDs we used to deal with. The sound is just as good. It’s honestly kind of funny seeing people call this stuff stupid. I don't know what to say to them.

Honestly, if it weren't for the DivX classic scene, I don't think I'd even be watching a tenth of the movies I've seen. A lot of these titles just aren't available in any other format unless you go out and buy them through Amazon or some other big retailer, and I just don't have that kind of money lying around. Not to mention, some of these flicks are impossible to find even there. So, I guess my bottom line is that DivX classic is a total lifesaver for me; it lets me dig up all these obscure, old, hard-to-find gems. I doubt I'm actually hurting the major studios much by doing this—most of these are either too old or just not commercial enough—which is a shame, really. I'd love to stick it to them more often, since I feel like they're the ones mostly responsible for the state of cinema today and why they keep churning out such mindless garbage in Hollywood.
There it is.
As for waiting for a movie to hit VideoDisc or getting all hyped up about a release, honestly, I don't miss that at all. I'd much rather spend my time waiting for those first crappy cam rips to pop up on torrent sites, hoping for a decent screener, or waiting for the mules to finally finish so I can grab a long-awaited treasure from DivX classic after four days of waiting. That's all.

I remember catching movies at the local independent cinema years ago. It was a great film, honestly, though I probably need to rewatch it since my memory of it is a bit blurry. About 15 years back, I’d grab a quick screening with a friend on Friday or Saturday nights before heading out for the evening, and man, I saw so many classic Hollywood gems. I really miss that vibe. It feels impossible to find movies like *The Apartment*, *Sunset Boulevard*, *Bad Day at Black Rock*, or *12 Angry Men* anywhere these days. It’s such a shame that the big multiplexes don't just dedicate one screen to those kinds of classics. You can occasionally find something interesting at an art house theater—I actually caught a late Sergei Eisenstein film recently, though it’s been over a year since I went—but it’s all so sporadic. There’s no consistency. One time, we messed up the dates and almost walked right into a queer film instead; even the security guards gave us weird looks from their car, though they were actually pretty helpful, making sure everyone stayed safe outside. We realized our mistake at the ticket booth just in time and didn't waste any cash. Seriously, someone give us a dedicated theater for old films. Maybe someone should start a petition or a protest or something...

My sinuses have been totally blocked. I’ve been rinsing them out three times a day and it finally cleared up. WHO knows, but I guess I already started panicking a little bit. Thanks for all the support :-)

So, I’ve been dealing with this weird pressure above my eyes and in my cheekbones for about ten days now. Whenever I lift my eyebrows, there's this pulling sensation around my eyes and forehead, and if I squint, I feel that same tightness right in my cheeks. My vision seems fine, though I guess it gets a little... I don't know, kind of sparkly or flickery at times. It just feels like constant pressure throughout my whole face and cheek area. I was feeling pretty exhausted when this first started, but that's mostly gone now. No fever, no sore throat, nothing—my nose and everything else seem totally fine. I'm honestly not sure what could be causing it. I'm definitely planning to head to the doctor in the next few days, but I figured I'd ask here just in case anyone has any idea what this might be.

Thanks

Why isn't the "search by keyword" function actually working? This started happening right after they rolled out that new interface design. No matter what term I type into the search bar, I get absolutely nothing back. I even tried searching for things I’ve found before using the old layout—basically just re-entering terms that definitely worked last week—but still, nothing. Huh? It’s like no matter what I type in, the results just come up empty.

So, I caught this the other day, and I was wondering if anyone else has seen it or what your thoughts are.

The movie follows three different stories: Julia Child (Fruit Chan), Cut (Park Chan-wook), and Box (Takashi Miike).

Personally, I thought Julia Child was incredible, though I guess the other two weren't bad either.

Sophia Evans76 said:If you ask me, that’s probably his weakest work... personally, I think Hana-bi is his best. 😍 Man, that set design was just gorgeous... honestly, it felt like a pure stylistic exercise.

I don't think *Dolls* is just some stylistic exercise; it’s way too emotional than that. Of course, it's one of those movies where people will either love it or hate it, I guess. Regardless, I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who's a fan of Kitana, because they'll get to experience her in a completely different light.

I don't know, Sonatina wasn't really my thing. I guess those beach scenes and the dancing stuff just didn't do much for me.
Try to track down Dolls if you can. It’s a whole different side of Kitana; he never really made anything quite like it before, or even after... as far as I can tell.

What do you guys think of him as a Director, and just his work in general?

frozenfox13 said:I don't know who that is. Could you explain the term or tell me about this person? Thanks.

Oh, you mean our local "critic" and wannabe celebrity. He writes for the New York Post, and honestly, he just gets on my nerves. He’s such an arrogant blowhard. I mean, he's incredibly harsh when reviewing movies, acting like he knows everything and is basically the smartest guy in the room. Yeah, right.

I guess I generally think snobs are the types of people who look down on anyone actually getting into movies or daring to have an opinion. It feels like they think you have to watch their specific list of "essential" classics or whatever before you're allowed to speak. Instead of being happy that more people are watching and enjoying films, they act superior. Even if we're all talking about the same movies, why can't they just let us enjoy them?

frozenfox13 said:I just played them to see how you’d react. I’ve checked off my top five, but since there isn't an official list here, I guess this is it for now...

1)Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
2)Metropolis
3)Twilight Boulevard
5)Rashomon

But I know I'll end up arguing with myself about these choices... I'm going to keep working through my list. There are plenty of other things I've heard are amazing that I haven't gotten to yet, but I'll get there eventually. It'll happen.
So, what does being a film snob actually mean to you?

Arsen Oremovic

frozenfox13 says:

Great picks. I'm wondering why you didn't include Dr. Caligari somewhere, and I don't see Stalker or Alphaville on here either.

Those are just films that mean a lot to me, so they made my list. I guess we could argue about whether Stalker is better than Andrei Rublev or Ivanov's childhood... or this versus that, but it feels pointless. For me, Alphaville is just an okay movie... but that's just how I feel.
Of course, in most cases, I find the entire body of work from these directors to be pretty special.

Anyway, I'm certainly no critic or some kind of "film" snob, I guess.

Dersu Uzala (Akira Kurosawa)
Ivan the Terrible 1 & 2 (Sergei Eisenstein)
The 400 Blows (François Truffaut)
M (Fritz Lang)
Andrei Rublev (Andrei Tarkovsky)
12 Angry Men (Sidney Lumet)
The Virgin Spring (Ingmar Bergman)
Bad Day at Black Rock (John Sturges)
Luis Buñuel Dolls (Luis Buñuel)
Dolls (Takeshi Kitano)

errr ... something like that, I guess

Honestly, I’m just so done with all these self-proclaimed "animal lovers" and their activist groups. If we actually lived by their logic, people would probably be dropping dead from basic pneumonia or some other minor sickness because nobody would bother helping.

And don't even get me started on how they act. If you saw someone lying in the middle of the street with a broken leg or an arm... well, heaven forbid they happen to be someone "unpleasant" or look like someone they'd judge—they'd probably just walk right around them. It wouldn't affect them at all.

But sure, a sparrow getting stuck in traffic is a total martyr. It's honestly nauseating how hypocritical these people are... ugh.

My personal top ten list of booze

Applejack (but you have to go with Dole)
Tullamore Dew
Jim Beam
Jack Daniel's
Captain Morgan
Southern Comfort
Four roses
Wild Turkey
Bourbon
Bacardi (sending love from my younger days... haha)