Tarantino is overrated. You have to watch a lot of movies to come to this realisation, because otherwise you don't realise his movies are often in large part a collage of other movies. Movies which did what he does better. That means that it doesn't actually matter that Tarantino is overrated for most movie goers. More generally, this is why critics' opinions don't actually matter that much. They've watched too many movies and likely know too much about movies, to tell the average audience goer if they'll enjoy a movie.
Once you've watched a few thousand movies, and especially if you've ever studied film or read a few books about it, you'll often find you enjoy interesting but shit movies more, than very well made but unoriginal movies. People who truly love film, invariably aren't snobs. They enjoy absolute trash, they enjoy arty farty stuff. If someone has a related degree or even a doctorate or works in the industry, the likelihood is high that they're also a fan of B-movies. They don't need to pretend to be knowledgeable, because they are. A film snob will bore you with the details of a Tarkovski movie. A cinephile is more likely to bang on about 80s horror movies, lesbian vampire sexploitation movies, Albert Pyun's Cyborg, or Troma's The Toxic Avenger.
Almost all art is influenced by other art. But Tarantino very closely copies some scenes. Think a literal collage, made up of photocopied bits of another work, rather than a painting inspired or influenced by another work. Tarantino is honest about this.
Is that a great painting? I quite like it, it's iconic, but it's not the Mona Lisa, and Warhol is not Da Vinci.
People who haven't watched a lot of movies, think Tarantino is Da Vinci. That he created an iconic scene, like Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa.
People who have watched a lot of movies, realise he's Warhol. There's an iconic scene, but it's based on an original work, like Warhol's Mona Lisa.
There's nothing wrong with Warhol. Hell, it's ok to think that Warhol is a better artist than Da Vinci, think that Warhol's Mona Lisa is a better painting than the original Mona Lisa, art is subjective after all.
But it's a mistake to think Warhol is a genius, because he painted the Mona Lisa. He didn't. That was Da Vinci. If you're going think Warhol is a genius, you should think he's a genius because he took an existing work and manipulated it in a way that is genius.
It's been a while, and he references dozens of movies, so much so that you're watching his movies and think "wait, I've seen this before" and then you're distracted by the next scene you've seen before. But off the top of my head Vanishing Point, Foxy Brown, Lady Snowblood, Bruce Lee movies, and the Dirty Dozen.
But don't watch those. I probably enjoyed Vanishing Point the most, Bruce Lee in Game of Death is also fun, but often they have a few good scenes, the ones that Tarantino copied (sometimes poorly), but the rest of the movie can be a bit meh. Instead watch Oldboy, Lady Vengeance, In the Mood for Love, Infernal Affairs, Unforgiven, and (why not) Enter the Void. Not that those are my favourite movies, but they're movies that shouldn't bore you.
This is how I’ve come to view anime. You can tell the age of an anime fan by whether they’re enamored by the latest hit series or they sigh and go “this is just a remake of [old series from the 90s/00s].” I don’t give a shit how well made a series is; if the premise is “been there done that” without an original take or twist, or a tired and worn trope gets trotted out (looking at you, every fucking series that includes a scene where a female character comments enviously on another female character’s large breasts, yes Frieren that means you), then I’m insta-jaded on the series. At a certain point you realize anime relies heavily on its perpetual fandom refresh, with new fans replacing the ones who “aged out.” For me, I knew it had gotten bad when I was struggling to enjoy Cyberpunk because I felt like I had heard all the voices before in previous series.
It occurred to me why The Wiggles have been making so much money for so long: they only need to have enough material to entertain kids for a few years, and the ages that they’re targeting are the ones who love repetition anyway! Most entertainers need to constantly improve and evolve, but kids entertainers just need to enthusiastically do the same thing over and over.
I think one of the differences (at least when I watched anime way back in the early 00s) is that anime relies on a whole different set of tropes from Western movies and cartoons, and those tropes are unfamiliar (or were, anyway) to Western audiences.
When I started watching anime, it was hugely refreshing to be caught by surprise by plot twists and dialogue, and to see characters & themes that felt totally original.
But then you watch more anime, and realize…oh, they weren’t unique, they were totally stereotypical. You just didn’t know the stereotypes they were based on.
And before long you can see plot twists a mile away, the characters are predictable, and you can describe a new series as “basically X, but with some Y and monsters instead of robots”.
It’s the false promise of that initial discovery that makes the eventual realization that much more disappointing.
Agreed, the novelty of anime was a huge draw for me as well (especially since at the time there weren’t any anime-influenced Western cartoons). There are of course still standouts in anime that were revolutionary at the time and have since aged well (such as NGE and Cowboy Bebop, both of which are now over two decades old). There are also a few series that maybe weren’t masterpieces but still feel unique, as well as a handful that are cultural behemoths in and of themselves (like Gundam). But as with all media, the more you consume the more patterns emerge until the whole medium starts to feel tired.
I enjoy Tarantino movies. It all boils down to: are they solid fun entertainment or not, and to me the answer is yes.
Someone else did it better elsewhere? Sure, and he is very forthcoming about his influences. So if you’re a fan, you’ll likely find his sources and enjoy those too. Win win.
I would love to spend a night with him, sitting together at a kitchen table, him constantly ranting about movies and giving anecdotes, me pouring more wine…
I’m not sure I get your point, but I agree with your premise. Tarantino has made some ok movies but more often than not I find them boring, with poor acting and absurdly uninteresting story lines.
The easiest route to learning about movies, is to watch a lot of movies, and reading about the movie you've just watched. Wikipedia, a more in depth review, interviews with people who made the movie (not just the actors).
Google a top 100 list. Work your way through a few of them. Eg.
Yes, he has a PhD and is a member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, the UK equivalent of the Academy of Motion Pictures. No, he's not a snob. Texas Chainsaw Massacre's in the top 10. So are some older classics, which are still good.
Wow, thank you so much for all the recommendations! I sometimes feel like I don’t know how to watch certain kinds of movies (e.g., older movies, or more artsy movies). I hope reading up a bit will help me appreciate them more
Not self humor. This girl was a meme, as in her photo was taken and then text out on top of it to portray a crazy ex-/girlfriend. The real person is not actually like that.
And I doubt very much that people were posting those memes in reference to themselves. I posted them, but because they were funny, not because I related to them. In fact, imo they are so over the top that I doubt any person that would relate to them would think they were funny.
Do men create them out of humor and then the women use them as like battle cards? So if your caught looking or laughing at them your automatically in trouble? I’m getting the hint that they make women mad
Why are you so focused on men vs. women? That kind of subtle (and often not so subtle) sexism that you frequently post isn’t really appreciated, or funny, it’s just shitty and boring. Just treat us like people…
I posted them because it was funny to imagine and make fun of someone who is so blatantly obsessed with someone as to do and think the things in the memes. Also, part of the humor is that the things she “says” and “does” are usually not so forwardly put - as in they are usually thought by the obsessed person or are done in secret.
As for making women angry, well I’ve never experienced that or gotten that impression.
Id say that they arent exactly picturesque but they provide clean energy. So like sure… maybe dont put them everywhere, lets leave out the Unesco world heritage sites and National parks but theres an awful lot of otherwise unremarkable land that Id rather see a bunch of windmills on than the currently existing “fuckall”
Exactly this. You maybe don’t want them in the middle of Yellowstone (although if you put it near a visitor centre or something to power it instead of putting in miles of pylons, it might even make sense there). But people that complain about random fields suddenly being a ruined view because of a turbine are just entitled.
The following comment is NSFW and n=1 and also I wouldn’t post it if I wasn’t anonymous so here goes. Don’t keep reading if you’re easily grossed out. Content warning; urine.
Knowing that I had lost my sense of taste from covid, I reviewed the things I could do that not having a sense of taste might benefit from, and I asked my boyfriend (who I’m aware has a mild watersports fetish) if he’d like to take advantage of my lack of sense of taste…
And he did.
And later that night, shortly after our experiment, my sense of taste came back! I don’t know if it’s a revolutionary treatment for Covid, but if you’re desperate…
Just a reminder that not only is covid not over, but in many places infections are on the rise again and people are still dying, while vaccines become less and less accessible, no other official measures taken (like recommending masks on public transport), and more and more long term effects of infection come to light.
As a vulnerable person, the fact that people talk about it like it's in the past scares the shit out of me.
Same. I don’t even know how to respond to questions like this. It’s such a failure of our governments that people think loss of taste and smell from an infection years ago is the only lasting impact they’re experiencing. It’s a vascular disease that can damage every organ in the body and we’re being forced to experience repeat infections. Unfortunately most won’t realize what is happening until after it does, and there’s very few treatments and even little care for prevention.
I’m a disabled organizer focused on covid issues, and every day I hear constantly from people about the barriers covid has to their lives. Some are new barriers like new health conditions, increased precarity, and rising debt. Others are finding existing issues that were already hard to navigate become near insurmountable. Many of us haven’t had regular healthcare in years due to lack of covid safety or the system’s complete overwhelm. So many of us are fighting to just see a dentist without getting covid, and it’s nearly impossible.
And this is just from the folks who are aware of why covid should be avoided and what the current situation is, every day I talk to people who have long therm health issues from covid that now have to navigate a world they thought wouldn’t affect the. Covid has and will continue to impact every aspect of everyone’s life and it sucks seeing so many ignore it.
Edit to add- and yea, at least 7 million people died worldwide with over a million of that just in the US. The amount of people forever missing loved ones is hard to grapple with. A quarter of a million kids lost one or both parents, it’s had profound impact to their life trajectories that we’ll see for decades, and that’s not even accounting for the health implications they’ll endure along with the rest of society as we have continued repeat infections.
Others are finding existing issues that were already hard to navigate become near insurmountable. Many of us haven’t had regular healthcare in years due to lack of covid safety or the system’s complete overwhelm
I am part of this group, I was already struggling to get the kind of in-home care I actually need (because social services are direly and deliberately underfunded), now I won't even risk it because I know people won't/can't avoid bringing that shit in to my space. And that's just to name one of so many impacts it has had...
Otherwise I agree with everything else you've said, except that the government is failing, but only because I think they're doing exactly as they want and expect to do, we're (we being not only those already most vulnerable in society and to covid, but by extension the rest of the working class) just an after thought and acceptable collateral damage.
I've been meaning to share this on its own, but it definitely belongs here too:
Thanks for the link, it’s a good piece. And I definitely agree on it being an intentional path by our government not a failing per se. It’s not just the disabled that are and always have been afterthoughts, it’s everyone. Covid’s lasting damage is well-known, but that’s your problem not theirs, they have mitigations in place for themselves and the best care available if needed.
It’s very little but if you’re US based and want to remind your state officials that they’re killing people with their negligence, a group I organize with has a letter to send them about masking in healthcare. I really hope that this year we see actual progress on addressing covid instead of just ignoring it. We’re in the second highest ever surge currently, a lot of people are going to be sicker by November.
It’s not just the disabled that are and always have been afterthoughts, it’s everyone. Covid’s lasting damage is well-known, but that’s your problem not theirs, they have mitigations in place for themselves and the best care available if needed.
Well said. Accessibility and inclusion of disabled and vulnerable people has always benefitted society at large, but people are put under such pressure to "win", never mind just survive, that they've completely lost sight of that (like you say - to their own detriment).
Thank you too for the link, the fact that wearing masks in the healthcare sector is even up for debate, never mind something that needs to essentially be begged for, is enraging, though you'd be relieved? to know that here in the UK they aren't mandatory either.. And the infection and deaths numbers show it. We're also expecting potentially the largest wave yet https://donotpanic.substack.com/p/four-years-later-two-million-infections?publication.
There honestly are no words to express the frustration..
In the US Covid vaccines are available at any pharmacy for free. Accessibility isn’t the problem. People have just stopped getting revaccinated. The ant vac propaganda has been effective.
Of course it is if people don't know about it being available. or about the importance of having it (never mind the time and mental energy to get another task done when you're working 3 jobs and have kids to feed). Accessibility isn't just ramps. And the US isn't the only country in the world.
Yes, ant-vaxx propaganda is partly to blame, but this is a much bigger problem that is being deliberately neglected if not actively made worse by those in power for their own benefit.
And also, no they aren’t available at any pharmacy for free. They’re available at some pharmacies, if covered by insurance or you’ve applied through the bridge program, but still unlikely to be administered in a covid safe setting. If the vaccine is nearby and covered but I’ll get covid while there, that is not accessible. The existence of the vaccines is barely anything towards actually controlling covid and reducing its impact on society and the ability of people who don’t want to get it to access society.
And let’s remember, the vaccines help prevent the worst case scenario of hospitalization and death. They do not prevent infection, stop you from spreading the virus, or nullify the damage covid does to your body.
no they aren’t available at any pharmacy for free. They’re available at some pharmacies, if covered by insurance
"available at any pharmacy for free" definitely sounded too good to be true, especially considering it's the US we're talking about, thanks for confirming.
What do you mean by a Covid safe setting? Just wear a mask, you’re in and out in minutes. All the pharmacists wear masks too so just keep your distance from anyone else, or go when they aren’t busy, etc.
Thanks for asking. A covid safe setting is one where mitigations are in place to contain the spread of covid. This includes but is not limited to: universal masking in n95/kn95 masks, sufficient ventilation and filtration of the air to reduce the virus floating around, limited time indoors to reduce exposure, workers staying home when ill. So, pretty simple things that have together reduce ones chances of getting covid.
Most places have not achieved this, or stopped doing so if they did. I’m glad you and you’re pharmacists mask, but that is bare minimum and sadly not a universal experience. Many people live in places where there is no masking from others and any requests for it are denied, even though that’s illegal under ADA. Masks are also just one tool that can be used to stop spread and should not be the primary method used.
It also seems like most people think that if they are vaccinated they can ignore it entirely.
Vaccinated individuals still experience the first stages of infection and still develope a high enough viral load to be contagious. The vaccines are effective at decreasing the duration and severity of infection, but they can’t prevent it entirely.
People who know they were exposed should still isolate for a few days even if they are vaccinated.
Thanks for reminding me I need to start wearing masks again.
Yup, covid really did ramp up the ableism in society to a whole new level..
It's not only that people think that because they didn't feel that bad or have long term side-effects, covid simply isn't that bad or have serious long term side effects, so in their own minds they not only don't need to make any effort to protect themselves, never mind others (mostly already marginalised people they prefer to ignore in everyday life, so why not now), they also have a new (and constantly growing) group of people to scapegoat and gaslight and tell it isn't really that bad because it wasn't that bad for them, and that they should just "suck it up".
I won't even start on the part capitalism and the governments and media who uphold and serve it have played in making it this way, and how a desperate and divided population benefits them, which is why they're never going to do anything about it..
Anecdotal, I’ve not actually had a lot of instances (if any) of Spotify having something but Tidal not, usually find albums that I’m interested in from band camp no problem and if it’s missing its missing on both. Sound quality is noticeably higher which is the reason I tend to prefer, the app has gotten better in my experience
I have all my digital copies on my NAS with jellyfin to stream them as well, sometimes it’s just easier to stream off tidal or Spotify though
I just got a new work PC and they finally have PC’s with a SSD . My old PC was so infuriating to use . Would have to turn it on 30 minutes before my shift to be able to login on time .
Density keeps going up on magnetic platters while prices keep dropping on a $:TB comparison. I see no reason to wish for HDD to ever go away so long as they are cheaper and better for mass storage.
Yeah, but that depends on the use cases. I have a home video and picture library on my NAS. I’d much rather have more storage on an HDD rather than SSD. For the same price, and with RAID 5, I get to store more. I don’t need the SSD speeds to load old pictures and videos.
Now for a boot OS drive, where ky games are, pr my CM images? SSD all the way.
At the other end of the spectrum: My wife and I made a minimal gifts pact. We each got each other minor crap we needed for around the house. It was perfect. No waste. No extravagance. Just stuff we were going to get anyway.
this is how my family has it set up too, everyone writes a list of some reasonable stuff they’d quite like to get anyways and we just pick a thing from each list while coordinating with each other to not duplicate anything.
Just don’t gift anything and enjoy a peaceful evening? Why does one need a special day to gift anyway?
My family did it and it was honestly amazing (obviously kids should get something if possible).
As I mentioned elsewhere in this thread, in Iceland they buy each other books and on Christmas Eve they open the books and everyone sits around reading them.
We always get stuff for the kids and the nieces/nephews, and our moms. But we haven’t gotten a gift for each other in years now. We both buy something if we want it bad enough throughout the year, and it’s both of our money anyway, so what’s the point? We will some years get a “household gift” that’s something we need or everyone can benefit from, that shouldn’t go to just one kid or "you two share this and try not to fight over it, or that they will care less about. Nice air fryer one year, Nintendo switch another, etc. But nothing really needed or wanted this year so we’ll probably just take a pass.
Actually they are all the same, and none of them are, that’s why they are all the same. The plan was made before fire codes required updated sprinkler systems or something and since they keep reusing the same plans they all are fire hazards.
A fire fighter buddy of mine was ranting one night and I caught the tail end of the discussion.
Oh ok, that makes sense. Thought he might have meant that at first but second guessed because I only see them in strip malls or other buildings they didn’t build themselves these days but thinking about the aisles does make me think fire hazard now. At least they usually keep the lighters by the cash, though I wonder if someone learned that one the hard way.
The things [REDACTED] did to [REDACTED] while [REDACTED] directed them in front of an audience consisting of [REDACTED] and Prince [REDACTED] is utterly repugnant.
A couple days ago I was swapping out my GPU. As I was carefully removing the glass side cover, it basically exploded in my hands. I don’t even know how.
There’s glass all over the room and I’m bleeding from the little shards that hit my hands and arms. Every time I think I got all the glass I find another piece. I finally get it all, replace the GPU and fire up the PC.
I hear crunching sounds that seem like they’re coming from the fans on the front. I shut down so I can vacuum out the remaining shards. As I’m taking off the glass front cover, that shit slips out of my fingers and fucking shatters on the floor.
I couldn’t do anything but laugh at that point. I cleaned up again and decided I’m not going anywhere today because it’s one of those fucking days.
Man I’m so glad my glass side panel has a steel frame around it. At work I’ve had to repair a couple PCs like that and man they make me so anxious. It’s best to bite the bullet, unplug everything and lay the PC on it’s side.
Had that happen to my case a few months back and haven’t bothered to replace it. Tempered glass is super strong on the face of it, but if you get the slightest scratch on the edges the internal stresses in the glass will literally blow it up. I know it will mar, but I’d rather have an acrylic window any day of the week, or better yet, a sleek solid side panel.
I had the same thing happen to me but I was luckier. When I was 15-16, my parents had a big ass glass shower door sitting around so they asked me and my cousin to bring it downstairs so we could sell it. As we were trying to move it so we could pick it up, the thing exploded into a million shards flying everywhere on the floor. My cousin and I were basically unharmed but the floor was littered with tiny tiny glass shards that was a pain in the ass to clean up.
This is why i dont have any interest in glass side panels.
I dont even like clear side panels, but if i have it i’ll take acrylic… sure, it supposedly scratches easier, but wtf are you doing to get it scratched in the first place? probably the same kinda stuff that breaks tempered glass, lol.
Same here. Call me old-fashioned, but the only part of my computer I have any interest in looking at is whatever is being rendered on the monitor.
I don’t need any LEDs in my PC because the case is a black metal box with no side panels. Any time/effort/money spent on making a PC “look cool” is time/effort/money that should have been spent making it perform better.
Yes they only really get scratches when mishandled. They’re lighter and they don’t break.
I still have a lot of older cases with the acrylic (called plexiglass over here) and they’re fine. I’m not planning on buying anything new, but when I do I din’t want anything with a glass panel.
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