I’m pleasantly surprised to see District 9 in the Best Picture category. No way in hell that it will win, but it is nice to see nonetheless. I’m also very saddened to see nothing for Sam Rockwell in Moon.
I’m rooting for anything that isn’t Avatar, The Blind Side, or Sandra Bullock.
My mother and father like films, so they have no problem. They support it, and generally they will watch what I watch, or at least be interested. My sister goes through plenty of movies but our tastes don’t line up. She has pretty mainstream taste for a 22 year old woman, which is fine. She is usually open to watch stuff with me. My cat gets bored and sleeps in front of the speakers during most movies.
Hm. A couple of these are of the moment, but most are things I’ve been listening to for 3-4 years now, which is a long time for a teenager to listen to something.
Stars of the Lid
Tim Hecker
Isis
Biosphere
Boards of Canada
Fuck Buttons
Rosetta
Chris Herbert
Port Royal
Why?
I was born in August 1992. I have been watching films frequently since August 2009 or so.
I was watching at a breakneck pace from January to early March, but a few weeks ago I realized that watching a shit ton of films doesn’t matter if you have no time to process and reflect on what you watch, so I move at a more leisurely pace now.
I’m love videogames. I’m a big fan of Metal Gear Solid, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Stalker (the game that led me to Tarkovsky’s film), and Fallout right now. I’m currently playing through Silent Hill 2 on my PS2.
This reminds me I need to do some PC upgrading sometime soon. Or just buy a PS3.
Much worse than any other kind of film watcher is that one self-proclaimed “film expert” that watches Academy Award nominated/Critically acclaimed films almost exclusively and passes that off as some kind of informed taste. Those that don’t seem to have any real curiosity and strive for some kind of “safe” taste are by far the most cringe-worthy.
The Playlist confirmed the Amazon titles with Criterion:
http://theplaylistnation.blogspot.com/2010/05/criterion-confirms-thin-red-line.html
This is pretty fantastic, for sure I’ll be picking up Antichrist and The Darjeeling Limited (easily my favorite Wes Anderson film) and I’m getting The Thin Red Line from Netflix next, so I’m sure if I’ll enjoy it I’ll purchase that too. I’m not sure where the money to buy them will come from.
However, I’m not sure why these are so surprising. Aren’t Videodrome and Darjeeling the only ones we didn’t know about?
Ivan’s Childhood is a tremendously boring film by a great director. Managed to make 99 minutes feel like 15 hours of watching paint dry.
The Royal Tenenbaums put me to sleep, but The Darjeeling Limited is my favorite Wes Anderson, so maybe I’m just weird.
Syndromes and a Century – Interesting concept, but boring. I’m going to retry this later though, because depending on my mood, I’ll either love or hate these kinds of films.
Fight Club is an awful film. Just comes off as too boring and pseudo-intellectual/philosophical. Reminds me of (other) high school kids that read Palahniuk and praise him as some kind of visionary. Yawn. Just too juvenile and annoying for me to think its anything more than a silly bro movie.
Most movies by myself. Some taste overlap with my girlfriend, but I don’t see much with her. One of my friends will appreciate anything French or zombie/splatter, so we watch that kind of stuff together. Mostly when I go to a movie theater, it’s to see a big Hollywood movie, which I like to see with a few friends.
The Magician has lovely cover art. I’m looking forward to that, Darjeeling, and Seven Samurai. I hope Seven Samurai (and Breathless as well) have the really cool DVD packaging. Hausu and Paths of Glory I have to see first.
Surprised about the lack of Antichrist and Videodrome in time for Halloween.
The worth of Inception might be easier to gauge when I see it at home. The atmosphere when I saw it was fantastic. Huge screen, dead silent, everyone glued to the film. And so many groans at the ending! It added a lot to the already great experience of the film.
I came away very impressed, and I would even say energized. This is THE Hollywood film of the past few years. Managed to make me care about the people on screen (who had very good chemistry and there was not one weak link in the cast) and was one of the only films to literally amaze me with the set pieces (the hallway and stairs scenes with Joesph Gordon Levitt were fucking fantastic). Films for me are first and foremost entertainment, and this film delivers in that respect. I’ve seen people comparing this to films like Tarkovsky’s Solaris (seriously) and I can’t help but feel that they missed the point. Nolan set out to take us for a ride with this film and he most certainly did. In that respect, Inception is a massive success.
I typically will only buy a film if it has decent supplements. I always enjoy commentary and cast interviews and such. Typically, if one of those is decent, I can live without the other. For example, the lack of commentary for Hunger was lame at first, but the interviews with Fassbender and McQueen make up for it, as they cram a lot of information into their 15 or so minutes.
Like Hidden Behind the Screen said, I prefer more technical commentaries. That Paul Thomas Anderson one for Boogie Nights annoyed me with him meandering and talking about a lot of stuff I didn’t care about. I also find it funny that he starts it off by claiming how indebted he is to commentaries and yet, he has not done one since.
In the case of good commentaries, Fincher is spot on as far as a more technical oriented commentary goes. The commentary on the Zodiac disc is fantastic. He is very informative and surprisingly keeps going consistently for nearly 3 hours.
Red Desert – great visuals but very little else even held my attention.
Faces – I haven’t rated this because I got an hour in and got too bored and just turned it off. The comments on the film’s page seem to indicate that it is a masterpiece. Maybe I wasn’t in the right mood.
Ended up only with Che, Hunger, and By Brakhage all on Blu-Ray. All purchases I’m happy with (By Brakhage for $38.15 was a steal). Intended to get a lot more but decided against it as I need the money for other things.
“However, it is quite bad on my PS3 (it hardly ever produces proper aspect ratio, among other problems). I’m guessing most non-PC devices are substantially worse for viewing Netflix.”
What kinds of problems? The only problem I encounter with my PS3 is wrong aspect ratio, which only happened tonight with The Virgin Spring (stretched it to 1.78:1). But other than that I’d much rather sit down on my couch and watch something on my HDTV rather than sit here on my PC. Netflix instant view stuff in HD doesnt seem to compare to Blu-Ray, but it is acceptable and for the most part the SD content is watchable.
As far as streaming quality, I’m skeptical as to whether video cards make a difference. Most laptops in the last few years can easily handle HD video with no problems, so I don’t see why a Netflix SD stream would be restricted by the card.
I’m glad to say Netflix is very satisfying for me. A nice library of streaming content + a huge DVD selection at $10.99 a month is a great deal. I never have problems with scratches, but I usually get Blu-Ray from them, which have a protective layer to prevent scratches.
I don’t think artistically that games are nearly on the same level as films. Developers/publishers are getting more conservative and just banking on sequels, rather than doing anything innovative. No risks! It’s a bummer. Also, systems like the Wii have exposed the financial potential of casual motion control games (or rather, shovelware), drawing games even farther away from their artistic potential. Games are going backwards. I like to think I’m fairly hardcore as a gamer, I play games and watch films about the same amount. I do it for different reasons.
Like others have said, the real advantage is interaction with a game’s story. With a game like Mass Effect, we have a deeply detailed universe and a fairly generic sci-fi story. If it were a film, I would be bored. However, the fact that we can make choices with consequences and affect the story the way we want to makes it special. My Mass Effect 3 will start much differently than anyone else’s when I import my game save. Thats the beauty of a game.
I can easily say that i think action games can typically beat Hollywood Action movies. Call of Duty Modern Warfare was a ride for the ages, and I would easily play that single player campaign over watching 99% of the action films Hollywood throws at us. Mass Effect 2 was noticeably better written than Avatar. The interaction, the fact that these games can make you feel like an action hero, puts them over action films for me. However, theres no game I would play and expect the same sort of entertainment or emotional response as a Bergman or Malick film.
I admire The Science of Sleep, but for the most part I’m indifferent about Gondry. However, why does doing a big budget movie automatically = selling out? I’m glad to see something from Gondry that seems like it isn’t “typical” Gondry, and it’ll be interesting to see what he does in a new environment.
I also think its hilarious that people are considering this ‘selling out’ as Gondry is already a mainstream director. I wouldn’t turn down the opportunity to work outside of my usual environment with a ton of financial backing either, so I don’t blame him.
This is more or less me being pathetic and asking for some help, but anyway:
I need a source for reviews of American films from the 1910s or 1920s, with reviews that were written in that time period. I figured someone here would know an online spot for that sort of thing. Anyway, i just need something to supplement the small bits and pieces I have now, and also the things I’ll be finding at the university library tonight.
2010 Oscar Nominations over 2 years ago
I’m pleasantly surprised to see District 9 in the Best Picture category. No way in hell that it will win, but it is nice to see nonetheless. I’m also very saddened to see nothing for Sam Rockwell in Moon.
I’m rooting for anything that isn’t Avatar, The Blind Side, or Sandra Bullock.
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What Does Your Family Think Of Your Love of Cinema? over 2 years ago
My mother and father like films, so they have no problem. They support it, and generally they will watch what I watch, or at least be interested. My sister goes through plenty of movies but our tastes don’t line up. She has pretty mainstream taste for a 22 year old woman, which is fine. She is usually open to watch stuff with me. My cat gets bored and sleeps in front of the speakers during most movies.
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Do you love cinema and consider yourself an introvert? over 2 years ago
I watch a lot of films and I’m about as introverted as they come.
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What is in your Netflix "At Home" Queue right now (i.e., what the f are you renting)? over 2 years ago
Just returned the Seventh Seal, Revanche should be here on Saturday.
I am looking forward to being done with school so I can go up to 2 or 3 at a time, just don’t have the time for that at this point, sadly.
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Cinema for Beginners over 2 years ago
“But by all means start with something enjoyable and not something that feels like homework.”
Exactly. I say let him watch what he is interested in. If he really turns out to love film, I’m sure his curiosity will lead him to the good stuff.
But if I had to recommend something I wish I saw right when I started getting into film, I’d say The Seventh Seal.
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Off Topic - Ten favorite bands / music artists about 2 years ago
Hm. A couple of these are of the moment, but most are things I’ve been listening to for 3-4 years now, which is a long time for a teenager to listen to something.
Stars of the Lid
Tim Hecker
Isis
Biosphere
Boards of Canada
Fuck Buttons
Rosetta
Chris Herbert
Port Royal
Why?
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Age about 2 years ago
I was born in August 1992. I have been watching films frequently since August 2009 or so.
I was watching at a breakneck pace from January to early March, but a few weeks ago I realized that watching a shit ton of films doesn’t matter if you have no time to process and reflect on what you watch, so I move at a more leisurely pace now.
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What films do you always catch shit for for not liking? about 2 years ago
Chungking Express – The first half of the film features one of the whiniest, most annoying characters I have ever witnessed.
Also, I didn’t like much Disney animation as a kid and I still am not too fond of it.
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Do Any of You Nerds Play Video Games? (I Don't) about 2 years ago
I’m love videogames. I’m a big fan of Metal Gear Solid, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Stalker (the game that led me to Tarkovsky’s film), and Fallout right now. I’m currently playing through Silent Hill 2 on my PS2.
This reminds me I need to do some PC upgrading sometime soon. Or just buy a PS3.
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The Most beautiful scores in cinema about 2 years ago
For All Mankind and The Fountain.
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you cringe when someone tells you they love this film... about 2 years ago
Much worse than any other kind of film watcher is that one self-proclaimed “film expert” that watches Academy Award nominated/Critically acclaimed films almost exclusively and passes that off as some kind of informed taste. Those that don’t seem to have any real curiosity and strive for some kind of “safe” taste are by far the most cringe-worthy.
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Criterion Coming Soon and Discussion about 2 years ago
The Playlist confirmed the Amazon titles with Criterion:
http://theplaylistnation.blogspot.com/2010/05/criterion-confirms-thin-red-line.html
This is pretty fantastic, for sure I’ll be picking up Antichrist and The Darjeeling Limited (easily my favorite Wes Anderson film) and I’m getting The Thin Red Line from Netflix next, so I’m sure if I’ll enjoy it I’ll purchase that too. I’m not sure where the money to buy them will come from.
However, I’m not sure why these are so surprising. Aren’t Videodrome and Darjeeling the only ones we didn’t know about?
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What films do you always catch shit for for not liking? almost 2 years ago
Ivan’s Childhood is a tremendously boring film by a great director. Managed to make 99 minutes feel like 15 hours of watching paint dry.
The Royal Tenenbaums put me to sleep, but The Darjeeling Limited is my favorite Wes Anderson, so maybe I’m just weird.
Syndromes and a Century – Interesting concept, but boring. I’m going to retry this later though, because depending on my mood, I’ll either love or hate these kinds of films.
Fight Club is an awful film. Just comes off as too boring and pseudo-intellectual/philosophical. Reminds me of (other) high school kids that read Palahniuk and praise him as some kind of visionary. Yawn. Just too juvenile and annoying for me to think its anything more than a silly bro movie.
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Do you prefer to watch films alone or with friends? almost 2 years ago
Most movies by myself. Some taste overlap with my girlfriend, but I don’t see much with her. One of my friends will appreciate anything French or zombie/splatter, so we watch that kind of stuff together. Mostly when I go to a movie theater, it’s to see a big Hollywood movie, which I like to see with a few friends.
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Criterion Coming Soon and Discussion almost 2 years ago
The Magician has lovely cover art. I’m looking forward to that, Darjeeling, and Seven Samurai. I hope Seven Samurai (and Breathless as well) have the really cool DVD packaging. Hausu and Paths of Glory I have to see first.
Surprised about the lack of Antichrist and Videodrome in time for Halloween.
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Tarkovsky Movies Streaming for Free almost 2 years ago
None of the movies besides The Sacrifice are still there, unless I’m missing something
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SO, WHEN THAT CRITERION B&N SALE ROLLS AROUND.... almost 2 years ago
I picked up Che and Hunger on Blu the other day. Love those films.
Going for the Brakhage set and Revanche today, and maybe I’ll splurge on M and Days of Heaven as well. Again, all Blu.
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GREAT MOVIES WHERE THE ENDING (ALMOST) RUINS EVERYTHING almost 2 years ago
Shutter Island – talk about a fantastic film that is totally raped by the last 30 minutes. The plot twist is just plain stupid.
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Inception: a truly great film? almost 2 years ago
The worth of Inception might be easier to gauge when I see it at home. The atmosphere when I saw it was fantastic. Huge screen, dead silent, everyone glued to the film. And so many groans at the ending! It added a lot to the already great experience of the film.
I came away very impressed, and I would even say energized. This is THE Hollywood film of the past few years. Managed to make me care about the people on screen (who had very good chemistry and there was not one weak link in the cast) and was one of the only films to literally amaze me with the set pieces (the hallway and stairs scenes with Joesph Gordon Levitt were fucking fantastic). Films for me are first and foremost entertainment, and this film delivers in that respect. I’ve seen people comparing this to films like Tarkovsky’s Solaris (seriously) and I can’t help but feel that they missed the point. Nolan set out to take us for a ride with this film and he most certainly did. In that respect, Inception is a massive success.
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Inception: a truly great film? almost 2 years ago
“Film, first and foremost, isn’t entertainment. It only became entertainment in the second half of the century that it existed in.”
I said that they were entertainment for myself, I wasn’t speaking for anyone else.
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COMMENTARY, AND HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO YOU almost 2 years ago
I typically will only buy a film if it has decent supplements. I always enjoy commentary and cast interviews and such. Typically, if one of those is decent, I can live without the other. For example, the lack of commentary for Hunger was lame at first, but the interviews with Fassbender and McQueen make up for it, as they cram a lot of information into their 15 or so minutes.
Like Hidden Behind the Screen said, I prefer more technical commentaries. That Paul Thomas Anderson one for Boogie Nights annoyed me with him meandering and talking about a lot of stuff I didn’t care about. I also find it funny that he starts it off by claiming how indebted he is to commentaries and yet, he has not done one since.
In the case of good commentaries, Fincher is spot on as far as a more technical oriented commentary goes. The commentary on the Zodiac disc is fantastic. He is very informative and surprisingly keeps going consistently for nearly 3 hours.
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Movies you hated that everyone else loves almost 2 years ago
Red Desert – great visuals but very little else even held my attention.
Faces – I haven’t rated this because I got an hour in and got too bored and just turned it off. The comments on the film’s page seem to indicate that it is a masterpiece. Maybe I wasn’t in the right mood.
Fight Club – just plain annoying.
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Heads up!!!! 50% off Criterions almost 2 years ago
Ended up only with Che, Hunger, and By Brakhage all on Blu-Ray. All purchases I’m happy with (By Brakhage for $38.15 was a steal). Intended to get a lot more but decided against it as I need the money for other things.
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netflix makes me mad almost 2 years ago
“However, it is quite bad on my PS3 (it hardly ever produces proper aspect ratio, among other problems). I’m guessing most non-PC devices are substantially worse for viewing Netflix.”
What kinds of problems? The only problem I encounter with my PS3 is wrong aspect ratio, which only happened tonight with The Virgin Spring (stretched it to 1.78:1). But other than that I’d much rather sit down on my couch and watch something on my HDTV rather than sit here on my PC. Netflix instant view stuff in HD doesnt seem to compare to Blu-Ray, but it is acceptable and for the most part the SD content is watchable.
As far as streaming quality, I’m skeptical as to whether video cards make a difference. Most laptops in the last few years can easily handle HD video with no problems, so I don’t see why a Netflix SD stream would be restricted by the card.
I’m glad to say Netflix is very satisfying for me. A nice library of streaming content + a huge DVD selection at $10.99 a month is a great deal. I never have problems with scratches, but I usually get Blu-Ray from them, which have a protective layer to prevent scratches.
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How much do friend ratings mean to you? almost 2 years ago
Not much. I mean, its interesting to see how the people I follow rate certain things, but I never really care too much about it.
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Ok, admit you dozed off or slept while watching.... almost 2 years ago
I’ve fallen asleep during 8 1/2 and Faces. Gomorrah also put me to sleep about an hour into it as well.
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Are videogmes becomin as, if not more, important than film? almost 2 years ago
I don’t think artistically that games are nearly on the same level as films. Developers/publishers are getting more conservative and just banking on sequels, rather than doing anything innovative. No risks! It’s a bummer. Also, systems like the Wii have exposed the financial potential of casual motion control games (or rather, shovelware), drawing games even farther away from their artistic potential. Games are going backwards. I like to think I’m fairly hardcore as a gamer, I play games and watch films about the same amount. I do it for different reasons.
Like others have said, the real advantage is interaction with a game’s story. With a game like Mass Effect, we have a deeply detailed universe and a fairly generic sci-fi story. If it were a film, I would be bored. However, the fact that we can make choices with consequences and affect the story the way we want to makes it special. My Mass Effect 3 will start much differently than anyone else’s when I import my game save. Thats the beauty of a game.
I can easily say that i think action games can typically beat Hollywood Action movies. Call of Duty Modern Warfare was a ride for the ages, and I would easily play that single player campaign over watching 99% of the action films Hollywood throws at us. Mass Effect 2 was noticeably better written than Avatar. The interaction, the fact that these games can make you feel like an action hero, puts them over action films for me. However, theres no game I would play and expect the same sort of entertainment or emotional response as a Bergman or Malick film.
I’m veryyyy tired so I hope that makes sense.
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Michel Gondry Selling out with "The Green Hornet" almost 2 years ago
I admire The Science of Sleep, but for the most part I’m indifferent about Gondry. However, why does doing a big budget movie automatically = selling out? I’m glad to see something from Gondry that seems like it isn’t “typical” Gondry, and it’ll be interesting to see what he does in a new environment.
I also think its hilarious that people are considering this ‘selling out’ as Gondry is already a mainstream director. I wouldn’t turn down the opportunity to work outside of my usual environment with a ton of financial backing either, so I don’t blame him.
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BEST DEAL YOU EVER GOT ON A DVD? almost 2 years ago
$12.99 for the Blade Runner 5 Disc Blu-Ray set is the best deal I can think of.
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Film Reviews from the 20s over 1 year ago
This is more or less me being pathetic and asking for some help, but anyway:
I need a source for reviews of American films from the 1910s or 1920s, with reviews that were written in that time period. I figured someone here would know an online spot for that sort of thing. Anyway, i just need something to supplement the small bits and pieces I have now, and also the things I’ll be finding at the university library tonight.
To anyone that can help, thanks.
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