Bears & BeerFollow

Say what you want about their eating habits, those Serbian bears sure are clever.

Speaking of the Belgrade Zoo, I saw Underground recently, the 95 Kusturica movie about Yougoslavia and the war. The first scene in the movie is the bombing of the Belgrade Zoo by the *****.

If you're looking for something surreal and twisted, and yet historical and clever, you can't go wrong with this.

Absolutely awesome movie.

So... it looks like there were several drunken friends who got inside the bear cage to play with the bears. They dared one guy to get undressed and do something stupid, probably so they could take pictures. But why drop their mobile phones when the bears attacked the naked guy, and they couldn't get him back from the bears?

Ah, maybe they dropped the phones while they tried to help rescue the guy, and when the bears killed him, they freaked out and ran for it, without picking their phones up. It all makes sense to me now.

*shaking head smiley*

I once saw a photo of a 20 meter (65 ft 7inch) boa constricter or python, that had swallowed a man (Somewhere in South America). The man's body was clearly visible as a 2 meter (6 ft 6 inch) long large lump halfway down the snake's body. This photo was the most awe inspiring snake I'd ever seen.

And no it wasn't photo-shopped! This was from a very old newspaper report. Anyway, what pissed me off was that after that photo was taken, they killed the snake and cut it open and retrieved the body.

Really, it was like destroying Mount Rushmore because someone fell off it, or something.

Edited, Aug 20th 2007 10:39:26am by Aripyanfar

I think the zoo director pretty much summed it up, "Only an idiot would jump into the bear cage."

I mean seriously, how drunk would you have to be to jump into a bear cage. His friends are going to wake up the next and be like, "Dude, where's my cell phone?" only to find out it is in a bear cage next to his half eaten friend. "Damn, musta been a good night"

Seriously though, the bricks, cans, and cell phones were probably being thrown at the bear to try to get it to stop eating someone. Of course, that probably just pissed it off more.

I got called an intellektual crumpet!

I'm so thrilled!
http://groups.msn.com/TheMrsTenchiMasakiShrine/sasamigallery.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=251

PS. Am tracking down Underground. I presume you mean the European movie. .... Oh! Is this the movie where a couple convince their friends in a WWII underground bunker that the war is still going, and they stay down there for decades? And there is all this amazing Eastern European brass music playing the whole way through, and the band is like a cast member, accompanying people wherever they go, and whatever they are doing? And it all ends up on an island in the river, with all these dead people? I love that movie!

Edited, Aug 22nd 2007 3:53:34am by Aripyanfar

Ah, I got some of the symbolism, but not such exact/detailed symbolism, out of it.

It was obvious it was all a thinly veiled reference to the politics and dictator of an Eastern European country, but not being aware of what language they were talking, or indeed, any of the production details, I let it all slide, and just enjoyed my memories of a truely memorable film.

It's a bit of a favourite on SBS, the publicly funded overseas language TV channel in Australia. It pops up every so often late at night. The first time I got to see it all, I watched it with my jaw slightly dropped and my eyes slightly glazed.

The second time I caught it from the beginning, the film turned out to be extremely short in comparison to my first memory of it: probably a sign that it was so weird that my brain was paying extremely close attention to it that first time. Subsequently, I have only caught bits and pieces of it, but I've always left it on, so I can listen to the music again.

Anyway, thanks for explaining things to me :)

P.S. Watch City Of Lost Children.

Edited, Aug 22nd 2007 5:13:24am by Aripyanfar

Edited, Aug 22nd 2007 5:15:21am by Aripyanfar

For the two years I was with my first boyfriend we went to an Art-House cinema about once a week. Delicatessen was one of the most memorable and favourites that I saw back then.

Given how much I enjoy Dexter (http://www.sho.com/site/dexter/home.do), I look forward to having a look at Man Bites Dog, which I haven't seen. I also haven't seen Black Cat White Cat, so I'm making a note.

Edit for linkie, which I am not so elegant at, yet.

Edited, Aug 22nd 2007 5:44:58am by Aripyanfar

A very understated movie that I enjoyed very much: Noise (http://www.infilm.com.au/features/makingnoise.htm)

Nothing much happens... but there are little ripples of understated humour that remind me of French comedy, little ripples of tension, of poignancy, of mystery.


Romulus, My Father: (http://www.romulusmyfather.com.au)

Country Australia in the 50s... and the type of family that half the audience will recognise, and smile with bittersweetness, and half the audience will not recognise, and be full of horror and pity. Poverty and dysfunction have rarely looked so visually beautiful. This is another slow movie, that literary minded audiences will find compelling.

The character of the little boy in the movie grew up into a Professor, that I had a series of lectures with on the Philosophy of Morality. I had a huge long in-class arguement with him over what I reguarded as a category mistake of his in one of his theories, and we both enjoyed it very much, so I have a sentimental connection with this film.


The Castle: http://www.infilm.com.au/reviews/thecastle.htm

Australian movie comedy at it's best. You have to see this one, if you see any. It's probably the Australian film that Australians would say they love the most, followed closely by Muriel's Wedding. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muriel's_Wedding)

The closest any Australian film gets to a "Delicatessen" type character is in Malcolm (http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=3593), which is probably where Australian films cemented their reputation for being "quirky" and "charming". My partner says I should have put Malcolm at the top of this list of Aussie films.

Edited, Aug 22nd 2007 7:48:26am by Aripyanfar

What! No "Strictly Ballroom"?

No Pricilla, Queen of the Desert, either.

From one pedant to another, the bears were Serbs!!

On their birth certificate

Hey, you started it, Mr. Pedant Pedantificater.