What's the latest movie you've seen?

[costa_oscura]

No, I'm in southern Norway 🙂

We get things here too. Eventually. Painfully slow, sometimes.

Ah, bummer.  I wonder how you Scandinavians feel about having some of your tv shows adapted for American audiences, though. I'm thinking specifically of stuff like The Killing and The Bridge.  They're not Norwegian, but Swedish/Danish.  But obviously, network tv producers in the U.S. felt like American audiences would respond to these shows enough to adapt them.  Always made me wonder if Scandinavian people felt like we were trying to steal a bit of their culture or something.

[costa_oscura]

I immediately had questions about the ending and went to look up youtube videos but I like my own conclusion.

Ok, so what's your conclusion?  If you don't want to post it publicly (no spoilers), send me a DM.  I'd be interested to hear others' opinions.

[DJChameleon]

Ok, so what's your conclusion?  If you don't want to post it publicly (no spoilers), send me a DM.  I'd be interested to hear others' opinions.

There is a spoiler tag but you can DM if you aren't sure how to use it to post your response to me.

Spoiler

So I think she died as well because a butterfly landed on her finger just like she said she wanted to do in her next life to her loved ones.

[close]

[costa_oscura]

There is a spoiler tag but you can DM if you aren't sure how to use it to post your response to me.

Spoiler

So I think she died as well because a butterfly landed on her finger just like she said she wanted to do in her next life to her loved ones.

[close]

I'll try and see how it works...

Spoiler

That's exactly what I thought, too.  I'm glad I'm not the only one who saw it that way.  I also thought that, perhaps if the director didn't intend the butterfly to represent her death, then it represents her friend who was killed.  But I generally think my first instinct was correct, since she was the one who identified with butterflies.

[close]

[Psy-Fi]

The Undercover Man (1949)

Crime film about a group of U.S. Treasury agents investigating the finances of a mob boss in order to bring a charge of tax evasion against him. Not the most exciting plot but I thought the movie was well done. I'm puzzled by the title of the flick, though, because nobody actually went undercover at any time during the story.

[Guybrush]

Ah, bummer.  I wonder how you Scandinavians feel about having some of your tv shows adapted for American audiences, though. I'm thinking specifically of stuff like The Killing and The Bridge.  They're not Norwegian, but Swedish/Danish.  But obviously, network tv producers in the U.S. felt like American audiences would respond to these shows enough to adapt them.  Always made me wonder if Scandinavian people felt like we were trying to steal a bit of their culture or something.

I do find it weird in general when the US remakes European movies like Let The Right One In, Force Majeure, Insomnia etc. Right now there's a US version of Speak No Evil and the original Danish/Dutch version is only 2-3 years old. At least I think it's from 2022. Me and wifey saw it at the cinema and it was such a gut punch. The unknown actors and somewhat grittier production makes it more believable and immersive. From what I can tell, the US version is described as tamer than the original. It also has James McAvoy and is probably a lot more polished, yet I cannot see the attraction myself.

I enjoy foreign language movies and think any sorta beningn exposure to other cultures and languages is healthy. But then I ofc also realize this is driven by pure capitalism and that these remakes make money so I guess they're not going away.

I don't exactly feel like our culture is stolen, but I do wish people would see the original productions instead of the remakes. There's a reason these movies and tv productions get remade after all (they're good) and I do want the original filmmakers to get the cred they deserve.

[costa_oscura]

I do find it weird in general when the US remakes European movies like Let The Right One In, Force Majeure, Insomnia etc. Right now there's a US version of Speak No Evil and the original Danish/Dutch version is only 2-3 years old. At least I think it's from 2022. Me and wifey saw it at the cinema and it was such a gut punch. The unknown actors and somewhat grittier production makes it more believable and immersive. From what I can tell, the US version is described as tamer than the original. It also has James McAvoy and is probably a lot more polished, yet I cannot see the attraction myself.

I had no idea Speak No Evil is a Dutch movie, but I haven't looked up any info about it online.  And so recent, too!  I wouldn't be too happy about that either if other countries remade some of our movies or tv shows... but honestly, I've never heard of that happening.

And I completely forgot about Let the Right One In, which is probably my favorite horror movie.  I'm not a big horror fan because I have a hard time NOT letting my imagination get the better of me, so I have to carefully choose the ones I watch.  I was nervous about Let the Right One In and saw the American version (Let Me In) first.  I liked it a lot, was pleasantly surprised that it was more suspenseful than gory horror, so I decided to watch the original Swedish film and it was so much better!  I get that the American director wanted to pay homage to a movie he loved, but once I saw the original, all I could think was, he should have left it alone.

[DJChameleon]

When US remakes are done what happens is people watch the remake they find out there was an original and the original gets watched to compare the two. So while you might be grumpy about remakes being done it creates a whole new audience for the original works to be seen by.

[Guybrush]

When US remakes are done what happens is people watch the remake they find out there was an original and the original gets watched to compare the two. So while you might be grumpy about remakes being done it creates a whole new audience for the original works to be seen by.

That is possible. It's still valid, I think, to wish that Americans were more interested in foreign movies in general and that the American market was friendlier and more available to non-US movie makers as a result.

Of course many European countries also have an aversion to foreign languages and while they may not have an industry that can remake foreign movies, they can at least dub them. To my ears, the results are generally ridiculous. People should just learn to read subtitles.

I'm happy that movie culture in Norway is so that foreign movies are shown in their original language with subtitles. No dubbing. The only exception is popular kids movies.

[Lexi Darling]

The Substance (2024)

This was great. I love how uncomfortably stylized and exaggerated everything is in the cinematography, it really works to stress the statement the movie is making via being so relatably offputting. I will say I didn't expect the level of body horror it goes into, some very nightmarish shit in here. Also I'm guessing Dennis Quaid's character is supposed to be a reference to Weinstein, but the group of friends I was watching with kept referring to him as Vince McMahon, which is terrifyingly accurate imo lol. Good movie.

[Guybrush]

The Substance (2024)

This was great. I love how uncomfortably stylized and exaggerated everything is in the cinematography, it really works to stress the statement the movie is making via being so relatably offputting. I will say I didn't expect the level of body horror it goes into, some very nightmarish shit in here. Also I'm guessing Dennis Quaid's character is supposed to be a reference to Weinstein, but the group of friends I was watching with kept referring to him as Vince McMahon, which is terrifyingly accurate imo lol. Good movie.

Yes! He does remind me of Vince McMahon.

I've seen it twice now and it's my favorite horror movie from 2024, if you can call it that. I guess it might be more of a dark comedy.

It's got layers, like Sunset Boulevard meets The Fly and Meet the Feebles. And if that doesn't grab ya, there's TnA 😲

I saw an interview with the director. Very cool lady and seemed to be very involved with various parts of the production, like the practical effects. She is the stunt person for getting her arm poked with a syringe.

I'm always fascinated when kinda offbeat things get funding and then succeed and then get a large audience and reach. I love that someone had this crazy idea, fought for it, got people and investors on board and actually managed to make it.. and it turned out like this. Impressive! Really looking forward to her next movie 🙂

[costa_oscura]

If you guys liked The Substance, you might enjoy this one, which is actually based on a true story.  The movie, of course, fictionalizes some of the plot points, but what happens in the movie did actually happen IRL.  Truth.  I enjoyed the flick a lot. 

[Trollheart]

I'm not a horror fan (though I do write horror, go figure!) but I do love my vampire movies, and I would put Let the Right One In (original version) right up there with the best of them. The scene from underwater near the end is a masterclass on how to do horror that's subtle but still terrifying. Absolute classic.

[SGR]

I'm not a horror fan (though I do write horror, go figure!) but I do love my vampire movies, and I would put Let the Right One In (original version) right up there with the best of them. The scene from underwater near the end is a masterclass on how to do horror that's subtle but still terrifying. Absolute classic.

What about Ginger Snaps?

[Trollheart]

Ain't seen it.