8 MM or TESIS?

this statement is ridiculous. these boards really do start to wear after a time. how is a movie with no plot similarity whatsoever a "remake"?

the *only* common thread between the two movies is that they are about the idea of a snuff film. Why isnt Tesis a "remake" of Hardcore or Videodrome then?

The other really annoying thing is this sophomoric notion that, in order to seem "intelligent" about film, you must automatically repeat the mantra that "hollywood is garbage... hollywood is garbage".

Come on people - its ridiculous. all cinema has its moments of genius and moments of garbage and has produced both masterpieces and dogs. Hollywood has a FAR higher combination of volume, exposure, reach and native market than any other source so its product must be looked at in that context if you want to *actually* be an intelligent student of film.

As an experiment, ask the (always foreign) directors that are mindlessly, and reflexively, worshipped by the cliche waves of anti-hollywood drones who their inspiration is. I guarantee that there will be a hollywood director on the list every time. Conversely, ask any hollywood director who *their* inspiration is and I guarantee there will be foreign directors on the list.

The point is that film is a wonderful international medium that enables all people to exchange ideas and stimulate debate. The knee-jerk anti-Americanism (which is what the "anti-hollywood" crap is *really* about) is nauseating and ignorant.

Well. I admit that 8MM isn't bad at all but for me tesis is the real winner.

Although my opinion could be very biased ( I'm spanish and a comvinced amenabar fan) I try to explain my reasons

First of all: They seem the same, but they aren't.
.-Forgetting the obvious (the plot around snuf movies) 8MM shows the ubiquous power of money. The critical idea in film "why he do it" - "because he can" is totally diferent from tesis main idea
.-TESIS shows the disociation of what we "think" about violence and what we "feel" about it. Tesis shows how appparently common people gets more or less fascinated with violence. It's not an apology of violence, but a declaration about the fascination on violence on 20th culture (more or less the same ancient fascination on fire, that today psychiatrics sets on piromans, for example)

Second :
.- The characters on 8MM, except for the Nicholas Cage one, are totally unnecesary. They are only "hooks" to the plot.

.- In TESIS, you get at least 4 interesting characters, with their own psycological traits: Angela, Chema, Bosco and Jorge Castro. And none of them is totally free of the sin of violence fascination, although two of the are "Good" and two are "Evil".

Personally I think the best interpretation in TESIS goes to Fele Martinez ( Chema) followed by far by Eduardo Noriega (Bosco). Ana Torrent (Angela) and Jorge (Xabier Elorriaga) are correct, but nothing more

And finally.

8MM its only another Private Inavestigation type film (very well) decorated with
a specially crude type of crime

Tesis is a reflexion about how violence live inside us (god thanks, more in some people than in the rest) but we can't/dont want to accept it publically

All of the above, obviously, IMHO