hallmarkxmasmovie [he/him]

american films are so artistically lazy and engineered to appeal to boring ass people so they don't have the same kinda personality they used to. even needle drops are just the most general 'everybody heard this song 238403840348 times in their life" obvious bullshit when you used to get some curveballs.

and the 80s and 90s were loaded with good soundtracks and scores. the most bullshit B movies like killer workout put effort into their soundtracks!! check out the main theme of house on sorority row or anything by richard band which are some of the most blatant examples -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKCa9ln4Mik .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoXuQMILmUE

but that's kinda american culture in general. we love to build up phony narratives and megadramas and bask in scandal and whatever else. a million serial killer movies and documentaries and county jail shows. the trump saga. following dumb trials. nobody acts real on anything or says anything real. can't even go on a talent show without them giving people character arcs. then youtube is mostly the same shit.

american reality tv is very narrative/drama based and barely shows people doing shit. i had such a low opinion of reality TV until i watched stuff from asia like hyori's bed and breakfast.

americans are the dumbest audience in the world hands down and have a very limited range of sensibilities. if something isn't blunt and calculating it goes over peoples heads or they just can't connect with it. if something strays too far from how american entertainment is scripted/shot/etc then it's automatically bad. this also extends to the cinephile and critical sphere. but the insulting thing is that this disconnect is considered an issue of quality because there's a layer of american cultural exceptionalism over all discourse.

if americans like X foreign movie or band then it's quality, and if they don't like something then it has no value whatsoever, and it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. on letterboxd they actually changed the algorithm recently to favor american reviewers under the guise of fairness because a south american film that americans don't like made it into the top 100. it was like the most offensive thing to people that someone had different opinions on art.

lol @ the car thing. i don't know if my area is an anomaly but people want 3k for 20 year old cars with 200k+ miles, often with the check engine light on or other problems that means you can't even get the bullshit inspected. it makes more sense to go to a dealership and finance a 10-12k car with half the miles that's in good shape.

i started driving in 1999 and back then if you wanted a 10-15 year old car with that many miles people would basically give them away.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805185041354.html

go to the ER if you're concerned.

these things are very dose/time dependent and people blanket exaggerate based on the worst outcomes (someone who takes 1 mg of xanax a day isn't the same as someone taking 10 mg). but if you use benzos for anxiety and have no coping mechanisms the rebound anxiety can floor you no matter what.

adults weren't interested in things like NES or 80's toys back then so there's a genuine rarity to finding a pristine boxed GI JOE headquarters or NES games in their plastic packaging. we as kids were abusing the fuck out of that stuff and didn't save boxes.

if everyone is buying this shit now in the hope that it'll be valuable it'll likely end up like all those people who bought baseball cards as an investment which are now mostly worthless because everyone was doing the same.

i assume you answered your own question. you'll also witness this phenomena when white people show up in japanese movies/tv shows.

that one is not available on any trackers atm.

i sent him the movie itself.

sent.

festival movies can be like that, especially if it's content that nobody cares about. you wanna know the shitty thing tho? there are sites that only professional critics have access to that stream all that content! pirates have access too tho and rip them. i can hook you up.

It's American projection. I doubt anyone here can even name a real live Japanese actress who's popular in Japan because they only watch lolicon animes. Everything that's problematic that people complain about is one sliver of Japanese culture, but it's the only part of their culture America decided to latch onto, because it's the closest to our own.

i got a used 10 year old rg550 for like $150 in the late 90's. best guitar i ever owned. wish i hadn't left it at a friends house then stopped talking to him.

night of the creeps, return of the living dead, the blob (1988)

the wraith (1986) is a lot of fun.

nah. fin works. my hairline was receding at a fairly steady pace through my 20's/30's (both sides of my family have mpb) and it hasn't budged in the last few years. i wish i had started it sooner but i had your attitude + was scared off by all the internet complaining about side effects.

you may be interested in this interview with a japanese film director who made a movie about police corruption. he lays down some stuff about what goes on there from a japanese perspective (it sounds just like the US) http://www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk/2011/03/15/confessions-of-a-dog-interview-with-gen-takahashi/