I haven't seen A Serbian Film, no. Is it worth seeing?
I tend to recommend reading the Wikipedia entry on this particular film for the case-by-case litmus test of whether it's worth viewing. That'll let you know right away if you might want to pass on it.
The synopsis reads like someone watched Two Girls One Cup and thought, "You know, what this movie needs is more people being stabbed through the eyeball with erect penises."
I submitted an entry to Lego Ideas, and if 10,000 people support me, it'll be turned into an actual Lego set!If you'd like to see and support my submission, follow this link.
I haven't seen A Serbian Film, no. Is it worth seeing?
I tend to recommend reading the Wikipedia entry on this particular film for the case-by-case litmus test of whether it's worth viewing. That'll let you know right away if you might want to pass on it.
The synopsis reads like someone watched Two Girls One Cup and thought, "You know, what this movie needs is more people being stabbed through the eyeball with erect penises."
You didn't think you were the only one who thought that, did you Jeffe?
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ElJeffeNot actually a mod.Roaming the streets, waving his gun around.Moderator, ClubPAmod
Well, I'd kinda hoped.
Every time someone learns about the existence of Two Girls One Cup, God poops on a kitten.
I submitted an entry to Lego Ideas, and if 10,000 people support me, it'll be turned into an actual Lego set!If you'd like to see and support my submission, follow this link.
I don't remember the scene in Margin Call where an angry wife is like, "Why are you working so late? Why do you work so much? Your kids miss you!")
Because if there was, the gender politics of that scene would have been even worse.
I guess. I just think that the entire construction of the issue women in movies face in terms of making a difficult choice between their job and their families is a sexist false dichotomy that male characters are rarely tasked with navigating, especially when most of the movie is about their professional lives. (I can think of a few examples; JFK comes to mind, and it's just as shrill there.) Maybe it's just bad screenwriting, with the author using a nag character of either gender to try and get the protagonist to question the value of his or her plot pursuit. But since that plot pursuit is usually the point of the movie, we're never ever on the side of the nag, who is trying to stop the fun. (I don't think anybody wants a JFK conspiracy movie where Costner quits looking for the truth halfway through so he can raise his kids for the rest of the movie.)
I would actually argue that when it's about a female protagonist it's probably a better reflection of real life sexist structures "shaming" women for not thinking of their families first and foremost. Whereas men are given more leeway to choose their profession/quest over their family. It's the reason why you can make a cloying family film where the husband learns to value his family more than his job, and why if you were to gender-swap the protagonist, she would be considered a selfish wife/bad mother by some (large?) parts of the audience.
Yeah, this exactly.
Yes, it's sexist, but it's also real. Having the social expectation that she both be a good lawyer AND be constantly available to her kids is something that Erin Brockovich probably would have had to deal with.
Whether or not the movies addressing that is a positive thing or just reinforcement of existing gender roles depends more on the quality of the writing than anything else
A trap is for fish: when you've got the fish, you can forget the trap. A snare is for rabbits: when you've got the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words are for meaning: when you've got the meaning, you can forget the words.
I recall reading that the real life Erin Brockovich is kind of an asshole, and that the movie is really like a PR piece to make her out to be better than she was. Could be sour grapes, could be sarin gas.
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
I recall reading that the real life Erin Brockovich is kind of an asshole, and that the movie is really like a PR piece to make her out to be better than she was. Could be sour grapes, could be sarin gas.
Hollywood embellishing a true story to the point of fiction to make it's main character more sympathetic to the audience?
Good sir, I challenge you to pistols at dawn. This slanderous libel (or libelous slander) shall not stand.
I recall reading that the real life Erin Brockovich is kind of an asshole, and that the movie is really like a PR piece to make her out to be better than she was. Could be sour grapes, could be sarin gas.
Hollywood embellishing a true story to the point of fiction to make it's main character more sympathetic to the audience?
Good sir, I challenge you to pistols at dawn. This slanderous libel (or libelous slander) shall not stand.
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
Hated high tension, any movie that specifically lies to you (and doesn't do so using an unreliable narrator like say Fight Club) the audience to hide its "SHOCKING TWIST!" is complete bullshit.
The movie doesn't actually lie to you.
It's simply told from the point of view of a mentally ill person. The movie's narrative isn't about what "really" happens, it's the story a crazy person tells herself. The point of view switches near the end to reveal what "reality" is, sure, but the movie didn't lie to you, it simply didn't mention that what you're seeing is a psychopaths fantasy, a tale of loss and heroism that will bond her and her loved one forever.
At no point in the film is there a hint the movie is from anyones perspective. And there are several instances in the film where its not just a simple perspective difference, there are instances where the movie shows you things that could not have happened.
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
At no point in the film is there a hint the movie is from anyones perspective. And there are several instances in the film where its not just a simple perspective difference, there are instances where the movie shows you things that could not have happened.
Oh come on thats a bullshit cop out. Unless a movie specifically tells you its from someones perspective I'm not going to assume that's whats going on. That's shitty writing.
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
Oh come on thats a bullshit cop out. Unless a movie specifically tells you its from someones perspective I'm not going to assume that's whats going on. That's shitty writing.
The movie does tell you. She's marked as the protagonist from the start.
That doesn't mean its from her perspective at all, like in Cobra the movie focus's on Cobra, but its not from his perspective. You will never convince me that High Tension was anything but a terrible movie, its not possible.
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
Die Hard is totally from McClane's perspective! Why he doesn't tell himself all the information he knows in the movie is anyones guess!
Well, that's different. The point of view in Die Hard is constantly switching. From John, to his wife, to Hans, to the cop outside. Whereas in High Tension
the movie goes to a lot of lengths to only show things from the protagonists and the murderer's perspectives, until the end when they do the whole "wait, that's not how it happened" thing.
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ElJeffeNot actually a mod.Roaming the streets, waving his gun around.Moderator, ClubPAmod
A movie can portray things that appear to be happening, but actually aren't, without explicitly telling you "this is from X's perspective," but it needs to be done well. For example, if the protagonist is present in every scene, it strongly implies a frame of reference centered on the protagonist. If things happen which are then revealed to be imaginary, that's cool as long as the movie was playing fair.
Now if the movie is using a more distant framing, particularly if it shows some scenes in which the protagonist is not present, that gets sketchy. And if something happens in a scene without the protagonist that we are later told didn't happen because the protagonist is a crazy person, it's going to be incredibly difficult, at best, to accept that as fair.
Not having seen the movie in question, I can't say if it was handled well or not.
I will say that in an alternate cut of Die Hard which removes all non-McClane scenes, then reveals at the end that he was imagining the whole thing? Totally fair.
Written fiction can do this too. Close third-person can indicate a personal perspective just as much as first person.
I submitted an entry to Lego Ideas, and if 10,000 people support me, it'll be turned into an actual Lego set!If you'd like to see and support my submission, follow this link.
For me in High Tension there are three separate scenes that do not work with the narrative we are given, I'll put them in spoiler, this is also from memory from like six years ago, such was the range of my outage. Spoilers for an awfully dumb movie.
In the killers initial scene he is scene from behind his murder truck pleasuring himself with a severed head while the main character and her foster family are inside.
Later when the killer kidnaps the foster families daughter, the protagonist hops in the back while the truck is driving, the victim visually reacts to the protagonist being in the truck.
When the killer stops at a convenience store, the protagonist gets out is greeted by the clerk at the store, as she goes and hides, the clerk still visually reacting to the presence of the girl verbally greets the killer as if he's stopped at that store before.
The twist in this movie is that the killer is the main character protagonist.
Also its a french movie not starring Jean Reno or Gerard Depardieu, clearly its terrible.
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
Erin Brockovich was disappointing, even though my expectations for it were pretty low. It's a good performance by Roberts, but none of the other actors (including Albert Finney and Aaron Eckhart) are given much to do. The script is overlong and underdramatized, except when it's melodramatically calling Erin out for neglecting her kids and boyfriend while she's busy saving the world. (I feel like this never happens to men in movies. I don't remember the scene in Margin Call where an angry wife is like, "Why are you working so late? Why do you work so much? Your kids miss you!")
It's pretty much a common trope in detective stories though isn't it, a sign of when they've reached rock bottom or that the case has gotten to them too much that their wife leaves with the kids. I can't think of a version where this is portrayed as a positive, though admittedly I'm pretty sure there's a few where winning their family back is entwined with defeating the bad guy who's subsequently taken them prisoner - so I guess the problems are really just punted down to a later part of the movie.
McClane does this with the Die Hard movies, and Channing Tatum in White House Down. They're exceptions, though.
For me in High Tension there are three separate scenes that do not work with the narrative we are given, I'll put them in spoiler, this is also from memory from like six years ago, such was the range of my outage. Spoilers for an awfully dumb movie.
In the killers initial scene he is scene from behind his murder truck pleasuring himself with a severed head while the main character and her foster family are inside.
Later when the killer kidnaps the foster families daughter, the protagonist hops in the back while the truck is driving, the victim visually reacts to the protagonist being in the truck.
When the killer stops at a convenience store, the protagonist gets out is greeted by the clerk at the store, as she goes and hides, the clerk still visually reacting to the presence of the girl verbally greets the killer as if he's stopped at that store before.
The twist in this movie is that the killer is the main character protagonist.
Also its a french movie not starring Jean Reno or Gerard Depardieu, clearly its terrible.
That sounds potentially cheat-y, but I'd have to watch it to form a distinct opinion.
I submitted an entry to Lego Ideas, and if 10,000 people support me, it'll be turned into an actual Lego set!If you'd like to see and support my submission, follow this link.
For me in High Tension there are three separate scenes that do not work with the narrative we are given, I'll put them in spoiler, this is also from memory from like six years ago, such was the range of my outage. Spoilers for an awfully dumb movie.
In the killers initial scene he is scene from behind his murder truck pleasuring himself with a severed head while the main character and her foster family are inside.
Later when the killer kidnaps the foster families daughter, the protagonist hops in the back while the truck is driving, the victim visually reacts to the protagonist being in the truck.
When the killer stops at a convenience store, the protagonist gets out is greeted by the clerk at the store, as she goes and hides, the clerk still visually reacting to the presence of the girl verbally greets the killer as if he's stopped at that store before.
The twist in this movie is that the killer is the main character protagonist.
Also its a french movie not starring Jean Reno or Gerard Depardieu, clearly its terrible.
That sounds potentially cheat-y, but I'd have to watch it to form a distinct opinion.
I've seen a few movies where the Person Behind it All is shown being stumped by whatever the overly complicated plot is. Nobody else around to fool except the audience.
I hate that crap.
Fuck you "Now You See Me" and your inevitable sequel.
For me in High Tension there are three separate scenes that do not work with the narrative we are given, I'll put them in spoiler, this is also from memory from like six years ago, such was the range of my outage. Spoilers for an awfully dumb movie.
In the killers initial scene he is scene from behind his murder truck pleasuring himself with a severed head while the main character and her foster family are inside.
Later when the killer kidnaps the foster families daughter, the protagonist hops in the back while the truck is driving, the victim visually reacts to the protagonist being in the truck.
When the killer stops at a convenience store, the protagonist gets out is greeted by the clerk at the store, as she goes and hides, the clerk still visually reacting to the presence of the girl verbally greets the killer as if he's stopped at that store before.
The twist in this movie is that the killer is the main character protagonist.
Also its a french movie not starring Jean Reno or Gerard Depardieu, clearly its terrible.
That sounds potentially cheat-y, but I'd have to watch it to form a distinct opinion.
I've seen a few movies where the Person Behind it All is shown being stumped by whatever the overly complicated plot is. Nobody else around to fool except the audience.
I hate that crap.
Fuck you "Now You See Me" and your inevitable sequel.
Would you folks be willing to throw out suggestions, basing them off of the grudge, the ring and insidious? That kind of creepy but not slasher horror movie.
Those are some of my absolute favorites. And the sequels to every one failed to live up.
For me in High Tension there are three separate scenes that do not work with the narrative we are given, I'll put them in spoiler, this is also from memory from like six years ago, such was the range of my outage. Spoilers for an awfully dumb movie.
In the killers initial scene he is scene from behind his murder truck pleasuring himself with a severed head while the main character and her foster family are inside.
Later when the killer kidnaps the foster families daughter, the protagonist hops in the back while the truck is driving, the victim visually reacts to the protagonist being in the truck.
When the killer stops at a convenience store, the protagonist gets out is greeted by the clerk at the store, as she goes and hides, the clerk still visually reacting to the presence of the girl verbally greets the killer as if he's stopped at that store before.
The twist in this movie is that the killer is the main character protagonist.
Also its a french movie not starring Jean Reno or Gerard Depardieu, clearly its terrible.
That sounds potentially cheat-y, but I'd have to watch it to form a distinct opinion.
I've seen a few movies where the Person Behind it All is shown being stumped by whatever the overly complicated plot is. Nobody else around to fool except the audience.
I hate that crap.
Fuck you "Now You See Me" and your inevitable sequel.
Irrespective of anything else, Elephant did a really, really good job with perspective. I have a soft spot for Gus Van Sant though. I should probably analyze that a bit more thoroughly at some point.
Would you folks be willing to throw out suggestions, basing them off of the grudge, the ring and insidious? That kind of creepy but not slasher horror movie.
Those are some of my absolute favorites. And the sequels to every one failed to live up.
The Ring movies are awesome. The first Grudge is good, too.
Would you folks be willing to throw out suggestions, basing them off of the grudge, the ring and insidious? That kind of creepy but not slasher horror movie.
Those are some of my absolute favorites. And the sequels to every one failed to live up.
The Ring movies are awesome. The first Grudge is good, too.
For me in High Tension there are three separate scenes that do not work with the narrative we are given, I'll put them in spoiler, this is also from memory from like six years ago, such was the range of my outage. Spoilers for an awfully dumb movie.
In the killers initial scene he is scene from behind his murder truck pleasuring himself with a severed head while the main character and her foster family are inside.
Later when the killer kidnaps the foster families daughter, the protagonist hops in the back while the truck is driving, the victim visually reacts to the protagonist being in the truck.
When the killer stops at a convenience store, the protagonist gets out is greeted by the clerk at the store, as she goes and hides, the clerk still visually reacting to the presence of the girl verbally greets the killer as if he's stopped at that store before.
The twist in this movie is that the killer is the main character protagonist.
Also its a french movie not starring Jean Reno or Gerard Depardieu, clearly its terrible.
That sounds potentially cheat-y, but I'd have to watch it to form a distinct opinion.
I've seen a few movies where the Person Behind it All is shown being stumped by whatever the overly complicated plot is. Nobody else around to fool except the audience.
I hate that crap.
Fuck you "Now You See Me" and your inevitable sequel.
Would you folks be willing to throw out suggestions, basing them off of the grudge, the ring and insidious? That kind of creepy but not slasher horror movie.
Those are some of my absolute favorites. And the sequels to every one failed to live up.
I really rather enjoy Identity, the John Cusack/Amanda Peet movie about people dying at a roadside motel. 1408, another John Cusack horror film, is also rather gloriously creepy at points.
Mark Ruffalo needs roles guys, I mean he's got bills to pay, razors to ignore.
Hey Mark Ruffalo buys razors
Then he stares at them like Yuri Gagarin looking at a spoon, and they bend and crumple under the weight of his fuzz
Kana on
A trap is for fish: when you've got the fish, you can forget the trap. A snare is for rabbits: when you've got the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words are for meaning: when you've got the meaning, you can forget the words.
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ElJeffeNot actually a mod.Roaming the streets, waving his gun around.Moderator, ClubPAmod
Would you folks be willing to throw out suggestions, basing them off of the grudge, the ring and insidious? That kind of creepy but not slasher horror movie.
Those are some of my absolute favorites. And the sequels to every one failed to live up.
The Ring movies are awesome. The first Grudge is good, too.
Yes, I agree
After those, I'd recommend The Grudge. Maybe The Ring, too?
Absentia is great at establishing dread, highly recommend it. Paranormal Activity is also adept at the gradual-dread thing, though if you're not into found-footage horror, it won't convert you.
Oh, and check out Insidious.
I submitted an entry to Lego Ideas, and if 10,000 people support me, it'll be turned into an actual Lego set!If you'd like to see and support my submission, follow this link.
A great perspective movie that does it right is American Psycho. You have no reason to doubt anything until you have every reason to doubt it all, and the change feels genuine and imaginative, rather than forced and played for shock value.
Would you folks be willing to throw out suggestions, basing them off of the grudge, the ring and insidious? That kind of creepy but not slasher horror movie.
Those are some of my absolute favorites. And the sequels to every one failed to live up.
Are you talking the American Grudge and Ring or the originals?
Lake Mungo is really good. Sinister has problems but it feels very similar to Insidious (which I also didn't like, but if you did you might like Sinister) and has some genuinely super creepy parts.
You might try some Cronenberg (in particular Videodrome and Dead Ringers) for a different brand of surreal dread. Dark Water isn't as good as The Ring but hits some of the same places. (I've only seen the remake, though; the original is apparently better.) Let the Right One In is sort of on the outer fringes of the area you defined but it's still a great movie. The Orphanage and its spiritual ancestor The Devil's Backbone are probably worth checking out too. Jacob's Ladder, just watch it.
I would be utterly remiss if I didn't point you to the grandfather of dread, Don't Look Now. The look of the film has dated somewhat, but the virtuoso filmmaking itself has not, and it consistently builds mounting dread right up until the phenomenal ending. The Vanishing (the original, not the remake). The Changeling (with George C. Scott, not the Eastwood movie) has a great, creepy first half, although I think the second half gets a little too far from the set-up. The Haunting (1963) is a great, bloodless ghost story, as is The Innocents (1961).
I'm sure I could come up with more but that's a good start. I'd especially encourage you to check out more Asian horror, like Hideo Nakata's other films.
Posts
It also has Colonel Badass McFinalboss. So, there is that.
The synopsis reads like someone watched Two Girls One Cup and thought, "You know, what this movie needs is more people being stabbed through the eyeball with erect penises."
pleasepaypreacher.net
You didn't think you were the only one who thought that, did you Jeffe?
Every time someone learns about the existence of Two Girls One Cup, God poops on a kitten.
Yeah, this exactly.
Yes, it's sexist, but it's also real. Having the social expectation that she both be a good lawyer AND be constantly available to her kids is something that Erin Brockovich probably would have had to deal with.
Whether or not the movies addressing that is a positive thing or just reinforcement of existing gender roles depends more on the quality of the writing than anything else
pleasepaypreacher.net
Hollywood embellishing a true story to the point of fiction to make it's main character more sympathetic to the audience?
Good sir, I challenge you to pistols at dawn. This slanderous libel (or libelous slander) shall not stand.
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!
pleasepaypreacher.net
The movie doesn't actually lie to you.
pleasepaypreacher.net
Everything is always from someone's perspective.
pleasepaypreacher.net
The movie does tell you. She's marked as the protagonist from the start.
pleasepaypreacher.net
pleasepaypreacher.net
Well, that's different. The point of view in Die Hard is constantly switching. From John, to his wife, to Hans, to the cop outside. Whereas in High Tension
Now if the movie is using a more distant framing, particularly if it shows some scenes in which the protagonist is not present, that gets sketchy. And if something happens in a scene without the protagonist that we are later told didn't happen because the protagonist is a crazy person, it's going to be incredibly difficult, at best, to accept that as fair.
Not having seen the movie in question, I can't say if it was handled well or not.
I will say that in an alternate cut of Die Hard which removes all non-McClane scenes, then reveals at the end that he was imagining the whole thing? Totally fair.
Written fiction can do this too. Close third-person can indicate a personal perspective just as much as first person.
In the killers initial scene he is scene from behind his murder truck pleasuring himself with a severed head while the main character and her foster family are inside.
Later when the killer kidnaps the foster families daughter, the protagonist hops in the back while the truck is driving, the victim visually reacts to the protagonist being in the truck.
When the killer stops at a convenience store, the protagonist gets out is greeted by the clerk at the store, as she goes and hides, the clerk still visually reacting to the presence of the girl verbally greets the killer as if he's stopped at that store before.
The twist in this movie is that the killer is the main character protagonist.
Also its a french movie not starring Jean Reno or Gerard Depardieu, clearly its terrible.
pleasepaypreacher.net
McClane does this with the Die Hard movies, and Channing Tatum in White House Down. They're exceptions, though.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
That sounds potentially cheat-y, but I'd have to watch it to form a distinct opinion.
I've seen a few movies where the Person Behind it All is shown being stumped by whatever the overly complicated plot is. Nobody else around to fool except the audience.
I hate that crap.
Fuck you "Now You See Me" and your inevitable sequel.
twitch.tv/Taramoor
@TaramoorPlays
Taramoor on Youtube
Its like people saw the Usual suspects and loved it, but thought all that set up shit was unnecessary, just the twist.
pleasepaypreacher.net
I wonder how many people realize what
What? Noooooo
Those are some of my absolute favorites. And the sequels to every one failed to live up.
http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/now-you-see-me/26857/now-you-see-me-gets-a-sequel
http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=108269
http://collider.com/jesse-eisenberg-the-double-now-you-see-me-2-interview/
twitch.tv/Taramoor
@TaramoorPlays
Taramoor on Youtube
pleasepaypreacher.net
The Ring movies are awesome. The first Grudge is good, too.
Yes, I agree
pleasepaypreacher.net
I really rather enjoy Identity, the John Cusack/Amanda Peet movie about people dying at a roadside motel. 1408, another John Cusack horror film, is also rather gloriously creepy at points.
twitch.tv/Taramoor
@TaramoorPlays
Taramoor on Youtube
Hey Mark Ruffalo buys razors
Then he stares at them like Yuri Gagarin looking at a spoon, and they bend and crumple under the weight of his fuzz
After those, I'd recommend The Grudge. Maybe The Ring, too?
Absentia is great at establishing dread, highly recommend it. Paranormal Activity is also adept at the gradual-dread thing, though if you're not into found-footage horror, it won't convert you.
Oh, and check out Insidious.
Wake In Fright is also creepy and more headscrewy
Are you talking the American Grudge and Ring or the originals?
Lake Mungo is really good.
Sinister has problems but it feels very similar to Insidious (which I also didn't like, but if you did you might like Sinister) and has some genuinely super creepy parts.
You might try some Cronenberg (in particular Videodrome and Dead Ringers) for a different brand of surreal dread.
Dark Water isn't as good as The Ring but hits some of the same places. (I've only seen the remake, though; the original is apparently better.)
Let the Right One In is sort of on the outer fringes of the area you defined but it's still a great movie.
The Orphanage and its spiritual ancestor The Devil's Backbone are probably worth checking out too.
Jacob's Ladder, just watch it.
I would be utterly remiss if I didn't point you to the grandfather of dread, Don't Look Now. The look of the film has dated somewhat, but the virtuoso filmmaking itself has not, and it consistently builds mounting dread right up until the phenomenal ending.
The Vanishing (the original, not the remake).
The Changeling (with George C. Scott, not the Eastwood movie) has a great, creepy first half, although I think the second half gets a little too far from the set-up.
The Haunting (1963) is a great, bloodless ghost story, as is The Innocents (1961).
I'm sure I could come up with more but that's a good start. I'd especially encourage you to check out more Asian horror, like Hideo Nakata's other films.