Films

Yes

watching pirated movies is an ethical activity

I'm fine with it. I'll support things where I can, ideally going to watch something more independent, some streaming platforms are getting my money but they can get fucked if I'm paying for all of them as they get gradually worse. They don't lose out by me watching a pirated copy, it's a copy, it'll be of something I wouldn't have bought any other way so I'd have just not watched it, or will be on one of the streaming services at some point so someone has got something off me indirectly then. I pirated Kneecap and then it was on prime a bit later, which my partner has in the household, I kinda prefer it that way round, Bezos ain't short of a few quid, the Kneecap lads would probably prefer people saw it somehow as they've likely already got their cut and anyone working on it has already been paid.
If everyone pirated everything there'd be an issue, but they don't, some people pay for the convenience to not do so and others will accept the inconvenience to do it if they can't afford otherwise.
I'm not saying pirating stuff is more moral or ethical, but it's not that bad if you think of paying for stuff as a progressive tax you means test yourself.

The Insider never gets much love on here when MM films come up but is up there with Manhunter and Collateral after Heat IMO. I wouldn't rush out to watch LA takedown but it's still worth watching.

Some interesting names put out there for Heat 2 if it happens. Adam Driver worked well with Mann on Ferrari and i could definitely see him as a younger Neil. Austin Butler as Chris (Kilmer) could also work if they sort out the massive detour his character makes in the book.

I remember someone getting a lol in the cinema when that came up and they shouted "i would if i could download it!".

Thief is very good. Banging Tangerine Dream soundtrack as well.

Yeah me too

I am fascinated by the arguments of “I don’t like the film industry model/its pricing structure/ distribution methods so I won’t pay”. Or as long as some people pay it’s ok for me not to etc.

Just wait a few years and the movie will be on terrestrial free to view services anyway. But entitled impatience means I need to watch it for free, now!

I don’t agree with the cost of bikes, the spec variations, confusing pricing etc, so I’ll just steal one instead.

Just wait a few years and the movie will be on terrestrial free to view services anyway. But entitled impatience means I need to watch it for free, now!

Awkwardly looks at the unpaid TV licence reminder letter 👀

Christmas film alert

Violent Night - such an antidote to the normal bs that is a Christmas film.

The Night Before later today.

Excellent. I think that may be our NYE movie 👍

Banger!

What channel?

Torrenting really dropped off a cliff when Netflix launched their streaming service, so you can look at pirating as something that appears when the official methods aren’t good enough to be a part of a healthy media distribution market.

It seems like pirating is coming back a bit now there are multiple platforms with limited selection, each increasing their monthly rent while providing less value than ever. To get back to something roughly equivalent to terrestrial TV, you’re talking £40/month with multiple services, rather than £10 with the TV license.

You can move the argument to the ethics of the consumer if you want, but the other side of this intellectual property racket doesn’t exactly have a clear conscience either.

(I’ll pay for things I really want to watch, generally moving around subscriptions between services, but I’ll never use Amazon, so download anything only shown on that)

(Slight edit for clarity)

Netflix

I only ever torrent stuff that I can't get officially. I have subscriptions for a few streaming services, if they were complete catalogues of everything I might ever wish to see then I'd never torrent but that's not the case. Anything I torrent I would never have been able to buy (in a way that benefits the industry) so where's the cost to the industry?

I remember reading a thing a while ago saying that people that use torrents are also more likely to be higher than average consumers of official music/films/TV

Thanks. A sub service we pay for 😎

I remember reading a thing a while ago saying that people that use torrents are also more likely to be higher than average consumers of official music/films/TV

Yeah, I pay something, but there's a personal limit and the thing is out there. If I download it tomorrow or wait 3 years, the makers get the same amount, I get to big it up on here slightly earlier and maybe you buy it before it's free everywhere. Personally it might feel a bit stealy but overall it's just market forces baby. I'm not morally superior about it but I don't care enough to not and I don't think it's the driving force behind anything else.

I thought torrents were for porn...

it's just market forces baby

That’s it right there!
This shit works both ways

Kneecap was quite entertaining

Never heard of pornhub?

The Keep was meant to be much longer, studio interference caused it to be the badly edited mess that it is.

Yeah, but didn't think anyone used torrents for 10 years

I actually rewatched it because of the recent conversation. It was the mess I remember, and very, very 80s, so badly edited that it felt more like an 80 minute trailer or music video. Your explanation makes sense, although there were plenty of films made at the time that were very similar and didn't have that excuse.

What's everyone's favourite films of 2024? I've got a couple of days with no plans between now and new year and want to catch up on good stuff I've not seen.

Whilst I'm here, Gladiator 2 is shit. Some decent performances but absolutely nothing going on with way too many on the nose nods to the original. Quite disappointing!