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people on autuers are good critic but film makers no

Mike Spence

over 2 years ago

“Don’t say “flush twice” to men going to the bathroom in a bar.”

And never talk inside the restroom. A lot of folks are breaking this rule lately. When I am doing my business I don’t want some joker going “hey, what’s goin on?”

Silence in the men’s restroom. No sarcasm meant.

Black Irish

over 2 years ago

Mike: ‘Silence in the men’s restroom.’

While I’ve never seen/heard this happen, that should be posted on a sign.

Nohea

over 2 years ago

Josh: have you had success installing the font?

Brad S.

over 2 years ago

Amen to Mike Spence on bathroom etiquette. Also, don’t be yapping away on the cell phone while you’re doing your business. Disturbing both for those in neighboring stalls and whoever’s on the other line.

Black Irish

over 2 years ago

Nohea: I didn’t bother, too much trouble for saracam’s sake, I say. ;)

EDIT: Oh you meant the other Josh. :(

House of Leaves

-moderator-
over 2 years ago

No: Yes.

Ben.

over 2 years ago

This thread needs to die. It really does.

Black Irish

over 2 years ago

J.R.: That’s really clever.

Nohea

over 2 years ago

Josh: I think it will turn out to be a useful tool one day – send it on to admin.

Mike Spence

over 2 years ago

“This thread needs to die. It really does.”

It’s close Ben, it’s close.

Nohea

over 2 years ago

sorry…my comments were meant for Josh Ryan…sigh

Black Irish

over 2 years ago

Nohea: Why are you sighing? I’m the one who feels a right fool. o_0

Drew Gregory

over 2 years ago

I love checking in on these types of threads a day later and seeing the good guys fully taking control and turning it into a joke.

Nohea

over 2 years ago

haha I wasn’t differentiating Joshiness….ok I’m done…dip in the pacific here I come.

Black Irish

over 2 years ago

Nohea: If it helps, Ryan’s usually known as J.R. and I’m called S. ;)

Nohea

over 2 years ago

Thanks S. I’ll try to remember that.

Mike Spence

over 2 years ago

“Also, don’t be yapping away on the cell phone while you’re doing your business.”

Yes. Call them back after you’re done and wash your damn hands!

Robert W Peabody III

over 2 years ago

@Fraser-​Orr

each one has been proven wrong

You mean they are no longer dominant. Okay I can agree with that – Western culture may not be dominate in the future.

guns and money to enforce
As far as I know, no one was forced to watch Titanic.

insight into reality than a Buddhist monk or an American Indian shaman

Those would be part of a culture (pars pro toto). We aren’t exporting religion per se, we are exporting dreams of a better life. Not all cultures believe that life can be made better – they don’t have at their core, progress.

That is what makes Western culture so alluring to others and why it dominates now: progress is an insight into the structure of reality that other cultures don’t offer.

Ryan Estabro​oks

over 2 years ago

I understand what he’s trying to say, even if he put it in a not-so-elegant way. He’s basically saying that there is an art to making commercially viable films and that many people on this site do not give credit for. Although I don’t agree 100% with this, I will say this: I give more credit to a filmmaker who can make a film with their vision and have it be commercially successful than a filmmaker who can make a film in their vision and have it tank or hardly get noticed. I’m not saying the former is better than the latter but simply that it’s harder to create a film your way and have it be successfully too than just simply making it your way and having nobody but a select few care about it.

Mike Spence

over 2 years ago

@Ryan

Actually, i think it’s pretty simple to “make a film with their vision and have it be commercially successful.” All you have to do is make sure your “vision,” at it’s core, is exactly like other commercially successful projects. I’m not talking about settings, or even effects. For instance, the Wachowski’s “vision” of the Matrix shouldn’t impress anyone by being commercially successful as the essence of the story is basically the same as Star Wars or, basically another Jesus myth. Why should they get “credit” for using a formula that has been around for ages?

gino

over 2 years ago

My only reaction to this is to laugh…ha.

Fraser-​Orr

over 2 years ago

“As far as I know, no one was forced to watch Titanic.”

No, the guns and money caused other countries to assimilate their cultures, the media followed afterward. Simply speaking, if the Russians won the Cold War, no one would be giving James Cameron two hundred million dollars to make a boat sink.

“That is what makes Western culture so alluring to others and why it dominates now: progress is an insight into the structure of reality that other cultures don’t offer.”

Hmm. They certainly offer the idea of materialistic progress, but I don’t really know how you could associate that with the true nature of reality. I’d say it goes in the opposite direction. People in non-Western countries want to go to America to become rich, not to learn truths about reality.

I feel weird having an intelligent discussion in a troll thread :D

Nathan M.

over 2 years ago

Fraser – Isn’t the desire to benefit ones self – with riches and material possessions – a cornerstone of humanity? It may be right and it may be wrong, but the West, and America in particular, has always been about holding out the promise of a better life. This is why America has had, and still has, an incredible history of immigration. In turn, that dream of a better life is expressed through cultural exports that speak to the desire for betterment. You can argue to an extent that our ability to export our culture is a direct result of war practices, but that idea just doesn’t account for everything. America hasn’t invaded every country or region that accepts our exports.

Sparrow​hispere​r

over 2 years ago

Simply speaking, if the Russians won the Cold War, no one would be giving James Cameron two hundred million dollars to make a boat sink.

Well, if the Soviet Union had won the Cold War, in order to commemorate its most glorious victory it would have promptly collapsed under the immense burden to finance films that look like this (yeah, so “Russia” gets that pretty right).

deckard croix

over 2 years ago

It’s a two-edged sword though, Nathan. You’re right the U.S. hasn’t prospered entirely by invading other countries, but in it’s never-ending quest for progress, because of the human element involved, this inevitably descends into a form of materialism merely because the very essence of prosperity relies on some form of materialistic worship.

Robert W Peabody III

over 2 years ago

Betterment would include security of all kinds

Ryan Estabro​oks

over 2 years ago

@ Mike Spence

I was referring to more of an auteur-driven vision where the director wants to do something that is not your typical Hollywood filth and yet it is still commercially successful.

Although what you said about “The Matrix” is true (regarding it’s core fundamentals) I still believe the Wachowski’s vision was bigger than it’s fundamentals.

Toddity

over 2 years ago

Whoever started this thread clearly had no concept of the English language.

Ben.

over 2 years ago

He is from India so I am guessing that English is not his first language Todd.

Fredo

over 2 years ago

Ben Kingsley spoke pretty good English in Gandhi.