Markus Ponto @pontoponto.bsky.social

16 days ago

I watched this classic a few days ago and can't get it out of my head. A film from 1943 made for our times.

My ★★★★★ review of The Ox-Bow Incident on Letterboxd boxd.it/aWp6Dl

A ★★★★★ review of The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)

Holy fuck! Of course, I knew about the reputation of William Wellman's bleak film noir western "The Ox-Bow Incident", but I had no idea it went THAT grim. At a time when the Donald Trump administratio...

Markus Ponto @pontoponto.bsky.social

22 days ago

The "Be Black, Baby" sequence in Brian De Palma's "Hi, Mom!" was shorter, darker, had more bite, and satirized the highfalutin elite more effectively than The Menu ever hoped to do.

Markus Ponto @pontoponto.bsky.social

24 days ago

Off to see The Goonies on the big screen for its 40th anniversary.

Markus Ponto @pontoponto.bsky.social

2 months ago

My comments do not apply to all modern action movies. We still have filmmakers with the skill to do it right. However, the big studios need to give these people the space to do their job and stop meddling in everything with their committee-driven approach. That's the end of my uninformed TED Talk.

Markus Ponto @pontoponto.bsky.social

2 months ago

• Regarding Netflix: They don't require, or even want, your undivided attention. They just want your device to play their content. If there's a boring moment, you can scroll through your phone. If you're in a cinema and there's a boring action scene, you'll get increasingly restless and annoyed.

Markus Ponto @pontoponto.bsky.social

2 months ago

• Action bullshit: Empty spectacle not in service of the characters or the plot is BOOORING. These scenes also often tend to overstay their welcome. Exception: You want wall-to-wall action? Then you need a giant heap of style like in the John Wick series, where action becomes a cinematic ballet.

Markus Ponto @pontoponto.bsky.social

2 months ago

• The digital effects crisis: FX companies don't get enough time to deliver excellent work. Instead, the filmmakers or studios don't commit to a shot. Things often have to change at the last minute. It's not the fault of the digital artists. It's bad management.

Markus Ponto @pontoponto.bsky.social

2 months ago

• Post-postmodern irony. Good action needs tension, high stakes for the characters, and a commitment to the reality of the scene. With every badly placed quip or ironic statement by a character, that tension is gone. We need more emotional sincerity.

Markus Ponto @pontoponto.bsky.social

2 months ago

Crushed blacks have gone bye-bye. Instead, we've got HDR-captured brownish slush in night scenes.

• Directing action movies seems to be a lost art. Where's the spatial awareness? Filmmakers have forgotten how to properly block a scene.

Markus Ponto @pontoponto.bsky.social

2 months ago

Oh, I got opinions, man. When was the last golden age for action movies? I'd say the 1990s and early 2000s. What are the differences?

• Especially the '90s movies looked gorgeous. It was the last gasp of celluloid filmmaking. Nowadays, many filmmakers don't bother to properly light a set anymore.