I'd post more on here, but reading past comments about movies makes me feel like a number of posters are overly critical, overly analytical, and are expecting way too much from movies. If so many movies are so crappy and elicit such negative responses I don't understand why you'd waste your hours watching them.
There are many things in this world for which such negativity is appropriate. Movies aren't one of them.
^ i agree it makes my blood boil when people can honestly think they can justify giving a classic film 2/10, just because its too 'artsy', or some other bull shit reason
These are my thoughts regarding the IMDB discussion boards. In almost every single movie, especially those with a high amount of critical praise, there's always some idiot who says "this movie is so dumb!! its so slow and didnt make any sense!! people who say they like it are pretentious posers!!" - and then, of course, there are the people who consider themselves cinephiles who respond with shit like "you just didn't
understand it, you brainless plebeian". I love discussing films, but for some ridiculous reason, some people feel the need to turn their taste into a competition. In just about every movie I've ever seen, there's good and bad - I don't think there's ever been a true 10/10 film, just like there's never been a true 0/10 film.
Honestly though Carl, and maybe I'm just too used to the IMDB boards, but such mindless negativity is relatively uncommon here in F&T. Most of our regulars are pretty film-literate and give legitimate reasons for disliking a movie rather than spouting generic negative bullshit. What's more common, imo, is people who aren't critical/analytical
enough - the people who watch a movie with a big dumb grin on their face and say "I loved it!". There's nothing wrong with that, of course, but I think you're doing the filmmaker a disservice by not actively engaging in some sort of intellectual exercise while watching the film - identifying themes, symbolism, clever camera work, subtleties in the score, and trying to figure out how they relate to the overall message is an important part of truly appreciating a film. Obviously if film isn't especially interesting for you, such analysis is unimportant, but if you're someone who claims to actually like it you should be doing these things automatically (it bugs me when people call themselves film buffs then list a bunch of modern blockbusters as examples of excellent filmmaking). I agree there is such a thing as being
too analytical/critical, but I almost think it's better to be too critical than not critical enough as long as you have decent examples to back it up.
getting a film to screen deserves at least 3/10 i mean come on
I disagree. For me, every film starts at 0/10. Just because a production company paid millions of dollars to produce some half-assed remake or generic romantic comedy doesn't mean it has an artistic advantage over an independently-produced film that never made it to theaters.
BTW Mysterie, there's a really cool
Youtube channel hosted by the Korean Film Archive which has dozens of classic Korean films (from the 50s/60s/70s) free to stream, including The Aimless Bullet, which is widely-considered to be the greatest Korean film ever made. Check it out sometime!
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A Woman Under the Influence - An emotionally-disturbed housewife is committed to a mental hospital after her increasingly erratic behavior causes concern for her family.
This is the first John Cassavetes film I've seen after first hearing about him here on BL. In a word, A Woman Under the Influence is 'stunning'. Gena Rowlands gives an unbelievably powerful performance as the fragile, disturbed Mabel and is complimented well by her authoritarian husband, Nick, played by Peter Falk. This isn't an easy movie to watch, often times I found myself wanting to close my eyes to help preserve some of Mabel's dignity- other times, I wanted to punch Nick in the face for his unsympathetic, helpless ignorance of his wife's condition. The camera work is solid (often quite excellent), the score is mostly improvised piano music which fits perfectly into the tone of the film, and the script itself is as devastating as it is beautiful. Despite all that wonderful stuff, the acting is what really seals the deal, with each of the main characters delivering a mesmerizing performance. I do have a few complaints, but nothing that affected my overall enjoyment of this fantastic film.
