[Antagon]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

yeah, i'm okay with that--blurting out my opinion in this dino forum is exactly how i deal with the territory. and so it goes

anyway just like consumption of media needs to be conscious, so it is with media commentary. commentary is not above commentary, right? commentary goes on and on

so anyway, the reason i felt moved to comment was to warn against certain unconscious reflexes bred by social trends. they are no longer a form of consciousness, but a kind of required checklist. trends, like media, also change with time

and digging for worms was a hot trend for a while, yes. it was initially practiced by americans, who due to their puritanical tendencies generally prefer moralizing to art. this is why america needed john waters. and still does!

but the moralizing disease spread everywhere, carried by modern academic practices and the internet. and in the end it did nothing except create a circular firing squad. and now we're here, where the trend has exhausted and the intent backfired. the culture has moved on from the worm digging

and yet! go to the (stereogum?) instagram page showing the thurston-lee-steve reunion. a glorious noise! but what do some people comment? kim this, kim that, i read kim's book, team. sure sure, i love kim and what she's doing, im team kim too, but a lot of people commenting there are not listening with their ears. they just want to dig for worms and show everyone their moral stance about someone else's life (not their own)

it's like nietzsche said, long after god was dead his shadow would continue (or something like that)

am i conflating those behaviors with yours? no, i am conscious enough to know the difference. i know the two of you, you're gifted, well read, aesthetically inclined, and good writers. but do i see your commentaries lured by the habit of that tired trend? yes, that i definitely do. i'm sorry! i believe my lying eyes

so anyway i'm hoping i don't lose your good aesthetic instincts to that particular variety of the holy inquisition. i don't say this to impinge on your freedom. it's just commentary for people i like and respect. maybe it's useful, and if not just discard

anyway, i like this here link, and i hope you do too, as my offering. happy holidays!

https://youtu.be/iCurxt0ULzk

Ain't nothing required about that. You're disregarding agency here (Both Claire's and mine). Is there a trend towards putting older productions into focus regarding current developments in society? Yeah. Can it from time to time go way too far? Also, yeah. But is every mention of how the view of a piece of media can change over time instantly blindly coloured and dictated by this? Not necessarily. An influx of new knowledge can certainly change the way one views a certain production. That's nothing new. How would people regard The Terminator for instance, if it wasn't Arnie but OJ Simpson - who was one of the initial contenders? That goes many ways. John Carpenter's The Thing didn't fare too well back in 1982 when the other popular depiction of Aliens was either very friendly (E.T.) or part of a beloved franchise (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) - time, social developments ALWAYS have a large impact on how people view things. The Thing went on to become a cult classic later on.



I watched Lost Highway in my late teens - back then I was a lot more apathetic towards such things. I enjoyed it then and I can still appreciate it for a lot of its aspects. However, I can see how new eyes - knowing more than I did back then - can be put off by some of it. The whole "separating the art from the artist"-thing is a very subjective and a deeply personal thing. Having been someone who listened to Manson in his teens and who's bought into the whole "Oh, he's just being very theatrical, it's just an act"-spiel - and who just couldn't anymore after a lot of the revelations (the lyrical content is awfully close to the terrible bullshit he "allegedly" did), I also have my own thoughts on this. That's how we consume media - with our own experiences and opinions.


I've seen and read many thoughtful pieces on (ugh, hate that term, but here we go...) "Cancel Culture" - some of the more critical pieces of course pointing out that if you dig far enough, there's dirt on everyone and that merely pointing fingers leaves no room for redemption or betterment. All valid - and, mostly coming from people who still advocate for a more conscious treatment of media. Cause you know what? It's fucking nuanced. You can enjoy - or even LOVE something and still acknowledge the faults. These trends - as you refer to them - if taken in healthy doses, can inform nuanced takes on pieces of media. There's no indoctrination and no crusade. Wouldn't subscribe to any of this.


This, however, is a band fan forum and I wasn't expecting to write a thesis today. Here we are though. For levity's sake, I'll end on something shorter and more befitting of the format:



What I wanted to say is: Fuck Rammstein. They've always sucked.

[Antagon]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

so anyway i'm hoping i don't lose your good aesthetic instincts to that particular variety of the holy inquisition. i don't say this to impinge on your freedom. it's just commentary for people i like and respect. maybe it's useful, and if not just discard

anyway, i like this here link, and i hope you do too, as my offering. happy holidays!

https://youtu.be/iCurxt0ULzk

The compliments have not eluded me, of course. Many thanks.



I don't see how putting a bit more thought into how certain things are made and what the social implications are would threaten my aesthetic instincts. I know no one is perfect and I am aware many eggs had to be cracked to create an omelette. No excuse for it, just knowledge - and context. And I still ferociously love what I love. Warts and all, most of the time. I just adress the warts a bit more these days. That's all.


Of course I do. John Waters is always appreciated. And though I'm an atheistic grump: Lovely holidays to you too

[Antagon]

And to not let the tangents win:


Maybe not the last movies I've watched, but the last two I've watched at a theater.


The Crow (1994)


Attended a 30th anniversary screening with my girlfriend this Summer. She hadn't seen it up until that point and I was like "Sure, I'll give it another go". There's still a lot of homemade charm to it, great atmosphere considering the budget and the chemistry between Brandon Lee and Ernie Hudson was legitimately splendid. Let's also not forget about the iconic soundtrack. I did think it was a bit too cartoonish for its own good though - especially considering the heavy-handed romantic beats it also wanted to push. And the flashback-narrative seemed rushed. It was hard to fully develop a feeling for who Eric Draven was before he turned into the Crow.



Blade Runner (1982)


Attended a Summer open air retro-screening with my girlfriend. What can I say? It's Blade Runner. Still one of my favorite Sci-Fi movies. The sound system at the place we saw it at really pushed it to another level. We were able to hear details that I may not have been aware of before. Wonderful experience.

[Rob Instigator]

Have you read the Crow comic the film was based on? Imagine all the sappy, melodramatic, overwrought aspects of the film converted into a comic book.

[Antagon]

Originally Posted by Rob Instigator

Have you read the Crow comic the film was based on? Imagine all the sappy, melodramatic, overwrought aspects of the film converted into a comic book.

Gotta admit, I haven't read the OG graphic novel. I've bought some later addition that came out in the late 90s, a couple of years after the first movie was released. I thought it was rather unremarkable. It did depict a different Crow and different circumstances though.

[Diesel]

The Crow is the worst snuff movie I have ever seen.

[_tunic_]

 

The movie is a bit dated, the plot, especially their relationship is a bit weird (perhaps also dated, I just didn't understand what it was supposed to mean).
Also, both Gene Hackman and Gene Wilder co-star, but are a bit miscast.

But the final scene is epic, and a big inspiration for the Tarantino's et all of today.

 

very nice movie, both suspenseful and funny at times. Great cast as well
and not so dated as the above.
imdb quotes it as "the best Hitchcock film Hitchcock never made."

[Antagon]

 

Mixed bag. Jackman acts the shit out of this and his arc is genuinely moving. I just can't with the constant self-congratulatory meta-humor. A few jokes here and there landed with me, though. And it was nice to see it pay tribute to some of protagonists of yore. The problem with the abundance of 4th wall breaking is at some point it becomes exhausting and it seems less like its own story and more a pitch from Marvel/Disney to its potential fans. "This is what you really want to see, isn't it? Isn't it awesome how ironic and self-deprecating we are?". Feels very circle-jerky at times. I don't know, Deadpool never really did it for me. This third installment has its perks though. And it certainly looks much better than the first one - a bump in the budget section will do that for you.

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by Antagon

This, however, is a band fan forum and I wasn't expecting to write a thesis today. Here we are though. For levity's sake, I'll end on something shorter and more befitting of the format:



What I wanted to say is: Fuck Rammstein. They've always sucked.

hahaha! that's a form of expression i can understand clearly

anyway right now i'm just passing by, so i wanted to say quickly, without getting back into thesis mode: so you don't buy žižek's argument here?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kHN8_Zbf3g

[Antagon]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

hahaha! that's a form of expression i can understand clearly

anyway right now i'm just passing by, so i wanted to say quickly, without getting back into thesis mode: so you don't buy žižek's argument here?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kHN8_Zbf3g

I think he is way up his own ass-essment here (Hey, even the big ones get it wrong from time to time). They've been flirting with cheap controversy for the big bucks for decades now. Not worth waxing poetically over. Also just passing-by, so I'm not gonna go into the many other reasons they suck, but there are plenty and some quite severe.

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by Antagon

I think he is way up his own ass-essment here (Hey, even the big ones get it wrong from time to time). They've been flirting with cheap controversy for the big bucks for decades now. Not worth waxing poetically over. Also just passing-by, so I'm not gonna go into the many other reasons they suck, but there are plenty and some quite severe.

haaaahaaahaaa! chomsky hates him and says he just plays word games basically. i find the word games entertaining though. just yeah not super relevant. it does put a certain kind of cosplay under a better light though

ive never cared much about rammstein but the comedy aspect of it is okay. the only thing i know is "du hast" which is um funny?

[!@#$%!]

A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE (JOHN CASSAVETES, 1974)

 

i love this movie so much. it's only the second or third time i've seen it. actually third. gena rowlands is so amazing in it! and the story gets better with every rewatch

i love you criterion

 

[Skuj]

The Ladykillers (1955)

[tw2113]

Go (1999)

[_tunic_]

 

[choc e-Claire]

Today I learned that I wasn't getting a job that I'd interviewed a couple times for and feel like I could have been great at. So I cooed by getting drunk and watching Kill Bill - I love that Tarantino operates purely on wish fulfilment for his teenage self, he's an obnoxious little freak and it's so great.

[Antagon]

Originally Posted by choc e-Claire

I love that Tarantino operates purely on wish fulfilment for his teenage self, he's an obnoxious little freak and it's so great.

That he certainly is. A bit too obnoxious for my liking, but that's a tangent. Hey, whatever helps you cope - movies do it for me too. It's nice to just get lost in a piece of entertainment that has nothing to do with the bullshit out there. I'd wager Tarantino really scratches that escapist wish-fulfillment itch for a lot of people. I can see that.


PS: They often don't necessarily take people who'd be great at the job. It's all a connection/appearance/circumstantial thing. It's on how well you can bullshit your way through a couple of bullshit questions. Many places are looking for someone who can be as dishonest as it gets whilst giving off the appearance of being perfectly honest. Wanting to say: Don't take it too personal/too hard.

[tw2113]

Deck the Halls from 2006, purely for a movie podcast I subscribe to.

[_tunic_]

 

unreal footage of volcano eruptions and flowing streams of lava. Shot by the French couple Krafft, that lived a life as volcano hunters, until they passed away because they stood too close to a huge eruption of steam.
the voice-over (huge German accent) and the music are sometimes distracting. But the images are incredible, watch the trailer here.

[tw2113]

A Christmas Carol 1938