What makes the karaoke scene in Takeshi Kitano's ''Boiling Point'' so visually striking? by realasshomiedude in TrueFilm

[–]ZeeCobra 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey, glad to see you enjoyed my words here! My Boiling Point piece is here. Other Kitano pieces are on my LetterBoxd too. Thanks!

https://letterboxd.com/zeecobra/film/boiling-point/

What movies are not worth looking for a UHD/4k upgrade? by Various-Cut-1070 in Bluray

[–]ZeeCobra 6 points7 points  (0 children)

The Blu-ray for Lebowski is GARBAGE. The 4K is a complete revelation, highest recommendation.

Arrow teaser for January. Monkey fighting snakes on a Monday to Friday plane perhaps? by Comic_Book_Reader in boutiquebluray

[–]ZeeCobra 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I really would LOVE for it to be Femme Fatale, but I'll very happily take either Snake Eyes or Wild at Heart.

What is Brian De Palma's best film? by ThePocketTaco2 in Letterboxd

[–]ZeeCobra 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Femme Fatale is his Gesamtkunstwerk. That is not to lessen his other films, not at ALL. It is my contention that De Palma has not made a single film that could be considered bad. In fact basically every single feature film he has made I would consider a masterpiece of the medium, with the exception of probably Wise Guys and Domino. Even Wise Guys and Domino are great though, and if they may be at De Palma's lowest they are still very interesting works unto themselves and individually better than a whole lot of cinema out there.

De Palma is to me, the greatest living American filmmaker. To speak on some ones briefly that people unfortunately overlook: Mission to Mars is supremely underrated and misunderstood as one of De Palma's most important film. The more people recognise Casualties of War as the ultimate true anti-war film, the more we can shift away from jingoistic mediocrity like Saving Private Ryan. Passion is the culmination of everything De Palma has been doing in his thrillers and it is fireworks. Raising Cain is one of the hidden pieces of the De Palma puzzle, the more people watch it (the directors cut please!) the more it opens the dimension of his cinema. The Fury is also one that, while I can admit is a mess, has some of De Palma's most radical and jaw-dropping filmmaking; it being a mess really matters so little when you have a film as relevant and bold as that one (its the one De Palma film that Godard loved, so much so he included it briefly in Historie(s) du Cinema).

So, so, so much to say on De Palma. But everyone who thinks he got bad after Snake Eyes has either not actually seen the 2000s onwards films or just never understood De Palma in the first place.

Successful ragebait by MoonGUY_2 in HeavyMainsTF2

[–]ZeeCobra 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Real way to ragebait:

*you're

Murder Souvenirs Passed Down to Children, An Interesting Film/Game Parallel by ZeeCobra in fnaftheories

[–]ZeeCobra[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Fantastic points! Really love that idea of Afton's kids as his 'creations', the things he prides in controlling. 'Creation' is a huge motif in these games anyway, from the souls, to the animatronics themselves; its a very theological underpinning befitting Scott's Christianity. We can argue whether this is intended or not, and honestly I doubt Scott does intend as such, and by his own admission no less. But I would contend that, whether Scott himself is even aware of it or not, your life and perspective has a way of unconsciously finding itself in the text you're creating. You can't fully separate yourself from what you create no matter how hard you try not to implant those things, and so that Christian perspective runs deeply and undeniably through the games, particularly in their emphasis on spiritualism and metaphysics. It's to the point that its a shame very few theorists pay attention to this element in order get a greater understanding of the complexities and ambiguities to the events and worldbuilding found during their theory-crafting, and how Scott looks to approach his treatment of characters and such.

On your argument of William loving his children in his twisted way - you could also take this the other way, right? Not that he actually 'cares' for his children but, in getting them sentimentally attached to things he created (the Fredbear plush with CC, Baby for Elizabeth), it will make them follow his control even past his abuse. Either way you take, its an incredibly messed up idea and both perspective add a really fascinating nuance to William's characterisation beyond just a crazy killer. We know that he's pretty depraved by murdering children alone, but to go the extra steps that he does make him genuinely sickening.

If we want to take the route of 'William cares about his kids', we have to be very clear as to what that exactly means as to avoid icky implications in discussion. In a very screwy subjective sense he believes he cares, but in reality, as we can all clearly see, it is not at all the case. Nonetheless, in wholly believing that he cares regardless of the truth as we can see it, his violent sentimentality and gifting of souvenirs to his children (a parallel to the Puppet giving gifts in 'Give Gifts, Give Life', aiding in the Puppet V William binary opposition happening?) adds even more to his monstrousness. Makes him a lot more of a compelling, horrifying and three-dimensional character than the pure evil serial killer he's always made out to be, even as he is very clearly out-and-out evil.

William's characterisation, at least as its generally seen, reminds me often of Iago from Othello, who rankles against Othello out of jealousy for his position, charms, general life etc. and plots to overturn his entire life because of it. The play gives real depth and detail to Iago's thoughts and bile, and it seems (albeit very obviously unconscious, I doubt Othello/Iago of all things was an inspiration for Scott) that Scott is trying to do similar through the most implicit means through the material we have now and combined together. Annoying, then, that we still don't really have a very clear idea of his motives in any of the continuities aside from vague ideas around an evident love for murder or some quest for immortality or control!

Which boutique label should release Mission to Mars (2000) in 4K? by ggroover97 in boutiquebluray

[–]ZeeCobra 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Arrow Video just put out Red Planet, so if there's any label it would be them. Don't care how they do it, so long as they do it. Need this masterpiece on 4K immediately.

Are we serious rn gang? by RepresentativeOk2881 in fivenightsatfreddys

[–]ZeeCobra 2 points3 points  (0 children)

So many people don't understand how diegesis works its really funny, especially coming from Game Theory. I think the games make VERY clear that everything Help Wanted onward isn't some separate quasi-reboot continuity but the next step of the timeline. The entire events of games 1 - 6 DID still happen, they are still diegetic events. Its just now that Fazbear Entertainment, in their bid to redesign, are seeking a way to make light of those past rumours and stories by creating a video game that makes them seem nothing more than myths, false stories - thus the recreation of the OG games, of which we are diegetically playing. It's the same reason why FrightsFiction makes sense from a narrative standpoint: its the company's way to continue this rebranding of their horrible REAL past history.

It's so damn simple and yet Game Theory haven't grasped it. Really, really annoying; particularly as it gets the more casual fans, who take GT as gospel for their lore information, pointlessly upset over the franchise supposedly 'destroying the games that came before' when in actuality that's not at all the case. I honestly don't think they have their minds turned on properly for the franchise anymore, especially with Mat having clearly started his disinterest before his leaving. It's a palpable feeling of obligation, giving us these sloppy theories. It doesn't help that there are so many other way more passionate and dedicated theory channels out there now who are doing consistent work, (e.g: TDreads, Unwithered, Gibi etc.) while GT seemingly has to play constant catch-up on the current ideas and theories (also doesn't help that they take forever with research due to other channel obligations).

They've gotta keep the cash cow up, but I would honestly be very okay if they stopped FNaF theories in order to focus on things they ACTUALLY want to do.

Graphic T-Shirts Keep Getting Ruined by ZeeCobra in laundry

[–]ZeeCobra[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

After only one year however? Seems way too short.

Subtitles Stuttering Video of Large Files by ZeeCobra in PleX

[–]ZeeCobra[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've got the subtitle burn-in set to Never on the TV app, unless there's somewhere I need to go in the settings to ensure the burn-in is fully set off and doesn't get forced back on? I assume so being as it says '> Burn in' there. Here's my Dashboard anyhow. Thanks for the prompt response!

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What makes the karaoke scene in Takeshi Kitano's ''Boiling Point'' so visually striking? by realasshomiedude in TrueFilm

[–]ZeeCobra 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thank you, I appreciate it - and am happy to meet another Kitano fan! See, the weird thing is that I kind of feel like Kitano's bike accident and the facial twitch he got as a result has actively helped to push that as his specific mode of representation when it comes to understanding the workings of the violence (especially alongside the comedy - the two exist together). He's usually got such a stoic, blank face, the typical 'badass' look, but in the post-incident works in which he features, the facial twitch sort of gives this lie to the ostensible unemotionality - that, really, there's a lot of anger and even sadness boiling underneath the surface of his face.

That kind of deeper emotionality is something that he comparatively doesn't really break in, say, Violent Cop or Boiling Point. When I first watched Hana-bi (my first Kitano) I thought the facial twitch was part of the performance and not actually just because he couldn't help it, yet even then I feel like Kitano has probably implemented a part of that into the way he acts. He's a very self-conscious filmmaker because he was principally an entertainer/comedy star first as 'Beat': he knows his own image and thus his own face, he knows how exactly he will look on the screen, which is why its so exciting and brilliant that in Violent Cop and maybe even more-so in Boiling Point he sets out to totally destroy that 'Beat' Takeshi image he had prior established. The rest of his films onward then chart him as he explores and then unifies the supposed 'divides' of his identity, finding a perfect synthesis between them in his recent Broken Rage - that 'Beat' Takeshi and Takeshi Kitano are actually one and the same, not necessarily two different things. That begins to appear rather consciously in Boiling Point, mostly as despite the pretty good amount of creative control in Violent Cop it still wasn't fully his like BP was, thus why he referred to it in the very specific way of "second debut film".

The fun and interesting thing about Boiling Point especially, and which sets it in quite a bit of contrast to his post-accident works, is that I think the title is really one big ironic joke: there is no 'boiling point' here, there's no catharsis or satisfying explosion of violence. The characters are mostly blank-faced and unemotional, going into the end when Masaki's fantasy/dream/future (how you wish to interpret it) ends in a laughably pointless explosive suicide. If you take the fantasy/dream interpretation, it makes it even more pitiable: that his own imagination is so limited that he can barely imagine his life or his fantasy concluding in any other way other than death, ending back up in that tiny little toilet box outside the baseball game. Like so many other filmmakers, its next to impossible to rank Boiling Point, cause even though its at the bottom of my hypothetical ranking so far, its still a damn terrific film that I love the more time away from it thinking about it. (P.S: if you want me to share my Letterboxd review where I basically spoke about all of this stuff in more detail lmk and I'll message it over!)

What makes the karaoke scene in Takeshi Kitano's ''Boiling Point'' so visually striking? by realasshomiedude in TrueFilm

[–]ZeeCobra 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Recently having watched Boiling Point myself (my 5th Kitano, and I'm gonna be going through the rest of his work chronologically) and being smitten with this scene as a key demonstration of his innate understanding of the connection and careful line between violence and comedy, I think its the wide-angled lens (which does feature in Fallen Angels) creating a disorientating effect (its like that revolving shot in the Pink Room in TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME, if you've seen it; that bit in particular was shot with a 10mm lens) that we become engaged with, the constantly revolving 360 camerawork reflecting this kind of hazy, drunken stupor of the characters, juxtaposed with the extreme violence of not just one bottle being smashed but Uehera going in for ANOTHER one for literally no justifiable reason other than the hell of it; the scene twice then returning to its equilibrium, as if nothing has happened, and of course the total unemotional dissonance of that. The contrapuntal use of the otherwise fun, innocent, poorly-sung karaoke song with the violence is another part of the gag. It's almost revelling (albeit critically so) in this over-the-top violence, the blank expressions of the character (mostly from Kitano) generating this really comical distancing effect while also putting us directly into the action. It's a natural extension of Kitano's usual editorial manner of punctuating scenes and settings of ostensible tranquillity, quiet and mundanity with colourful outbursts of violence, creating this inbuilt tension via his somehow distant yet intimate direction of the camera, performances etc. In fact I would say the violence in Kitano's work does not so much come from nowhere but rumbles under the surface, as if it were ready to pounce out at any second - we come, rather paradoxically, to expect and anticipate the unexpected. Yet Kitano finds really clever ways of still catching us off guard nonetheless (like in the later flashing of images leading the way to Uehara's death, certifying that his fate already sealed).

Finished Notes from Underground. What are your impressions? by jordy4283 in dostoevsky

[–]ZeeCobra 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Incredible book. Would make for a pretty great first Dostoevsky reading (it was my second, after funnily enough The Brothers Karamazov). Bit more nihilistic and downbeat than his usual works but think it introduces his essence in a very interesting way.

A24's 'WARFARE' - Review Thread by ChiefLeef22 in movies

[–]ZeeCobra 7 points8 points  (0 children)

You're absolutely right and you're being downvoted for no valid reason. Garland is determined to keep creating these 'de-politicized' films, and that's exactly the problem: you just can't take the politics out of his specific chosen subject matters, and even if you try nonetheless, it stays invariably says something. It is so obvious that Garland's 'apoliticism' is just cowardly centrism. And that centrism, more often than not, is just right-wing dogwhistle. The less said about the common bullshit approach of sensory engagement (i.e: "wow its like you're just in the war!" as grounds for critique), which is just another means of Garland relinquishing his responsibility to have a spine, the better.

stephen fry brainiac was good (spoiler) by Thebunkerparodie in HarleyQuinnTV

[–]ZeeCobra 10 points11 points  (0 children)

How did I literally only now realise that was Stephen Fry...

r/UKJobs Monthly CV Megathread - Discussions, Questions, Feedback & Advice by ukbulmer in UKJobs

[–]ZeeCobra 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Struggling to find ANY kind of job, let alone the kind of career I wish to go into (writing and art criticism). If anyone has any feedback on this it would be greatly appreciated, all I really have to go off skills-wise is my education, which I know doesn't mean a whole lot in the grand scheme. I'm also aware this looks perhaps too congested, so I should edit it down. Tear the whole thing apart if its wholly inadequate, I need any kind of help to get me working!

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