Hacker Cinema
Pig
2021 · Film · 92 min
Directed by Michael Sarnoski
A truffle hunter who lives alone in the Oregon wilderness must visit Portland to find the mysterious person who stole his beloved foraging pig.
9 positive5 neutralfrom 14 commenters
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15 comments on Hacker News
I believe Cage had a massive tax bill to pay at some point which led to him appearing in basically anything he was offered, including what is without doubt the worst film I have ever watched, Left Behind [1]. One review I read said something along the lines of "phoning it in would be too kind a description, Cage is so devoid of effort or emotion in this film he regularly appears to have been photoshopped in afterwards" which really summed it up perfectly.
Having said that, both before and after the money trouble, he made some superb movie choices and put in some outstanding performances - think Wild at Heart, Pig, Unbearable Weight etc. Hats off to you Nick.
[1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2467046/
Ha ha, you should see what Google returns when you ask it for the recent movie with a pig on the movie poster.
(Hint: it is a film from 2021 starring Nicolas Cage.)
I have tried the same, and had ChatGPT utterly fail.
> me: what's the relatively recent movie with a pig on the movie poster
> gpt: The movie you're referring to is likely "Pig," a 2021 American drama film. It stars Nicolas Cage as a truffle hunter who lives alone in the Oregon wilderness. He embarks on a quest to find his beloved foraging pig after she is kidnapped. The film was directed by Michael Sarnoski .
> me: no, that movie does not have a pig on the poster
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig_(2021_film)#/media/File:Pig_poster.jpeg
> gpt: My mistake, let's correct that. Given your description, another film that fits the criteria of having a pig on its movie poster and is relatively recent is "The Menu" (2022). This film features a darkly comedic and thrilling story set against the backdrop of an exclusive restaurant on a remote island, where a young couple experiences a very unusual dining experience. The pig on the poster is part of the film's intriguing promotional material, hinting at the film's critique of culinary culture and excess.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Menu_(2022_film)#/media/File:The_Menu_(2022_film).jpg
> me: No, that move does not have a pig poster
> gpt: It seems I misunderstood your initial request. After a more detailed search, I couldn't find a recent movie specifically featuring a pig prominently on its movie poster beyond the titles we've discussed. Could there be any other details about the movie you're thinking of that might help narrow it down? For instance, any specific elements of the plot, actors involved, or even the genre might provide more clues to identify the correct film.
movie I was looking for was "The Hunt": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunt_%282020_film%29#/media/File:The_Hunt_2020_poster.png
I loved Dune and haven't seen Pig, so I think that says more about Pig probably being an amazing movie than Dune is milquetoast.
Not all American movies but most:
Have you watch Pig (2021)? It wasn't even nominated to the Oscars. Also IMHO Tar (2022) is an excellent movie. J'Accuse (An Office and a Spy...) (2019), The Father (2020), Also liked The Northman (2022). IMHO The House of Gucci (2021) is the best acting of Adam Driver that made me forget he acted in Star Wars.
Sorry but I need to continue with Boiling Point (2021), Dune (2021), Riders of Justice (2020), The Mauritanian (2021).
They touched on such ideas in Nic Cage's movie 'Pig'.
It was a surprisingly decent flick.
The slurred dialog is obnoxious and a sign of laziness on everyone's part. The miking, the post processing, the overdubbing (if there's any at all - recent film makers don't seem to know that this is a thing). The actor's speech pattern, where they direct their speech while acting, even how they stand and where. The choice of location and additional preparation of the stage so the speech can be picked up clearly.
It's not your hearing, it's the mix. Source: I'm a mastering engineer with a monitoring setup worth six figures and I use closed captions too.
Speakers in TVs used to be tailored to making speech intelligible. Nowadays it's... well whatever it is, it's not really meant to do anything. Not even the more high-end popular speaker systems are meant to do anything at all, really. They all just kinda sorta make whatever is coming out of them sound flashy and whooshy. That's another reason why movies are even more difficult to understand.
And let's be honest - a lot of it nowadays is just not _worth_ hearing... Staple tv shows form the 70s that fell into obscurity for being extremely pedestrian had better writing than nearly all big-budget movies nowadays. I remember when Pig came out recently, it was the only good movie during a span of maybe 3 months. That's how dire it is nowadays.
Edit: oh, and I forgot about the ubiquitous 5.1-to-stereo downmixing bug: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32883588
Not: Pig is not a documentary; it’s a fictional drama starring Nic Cage.
This is definitely my second favourite truffle documentary after 2021's Pig.
>Any movie that does well with critics or at a film festival has “a strong message” or “teaches us something”.
If you find that every time you watch a film festival movie you are being lectured too, I think it has more to do with your wife's film choices, not the indie circuit. Nicolas Cage's Pig was a very well received movie at plenty of film festivals last year, and it's just about a chef searching for a pig.
The Nick Cage movie "Pig" involves the same idea. It's quite good.
Sidenote: I think Pig from 2021[1] is the best movie of the COVID era.
[1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11003218/
Dont' watch modern media. Dive into old films that stand the test of time. Anything by Godard, Kurosawa, Fellini, etc.
I have awful attention spans, but I find that if I challenge myself by watching stuff out my comfort zone, I'm able to pay attention to it so well. If I know it's a great work of art, I find myself paying attention to just about every single shot, the composition of the frame, etc. It's incredibly rewarding, and it definitely makes watching most modern content impossible now
(That being said, I absolutely loved Pig and The Green Knight from this year)
Honestly not the worst idea but I wouldn't be shocked if studios are heavily influencing prices. Disney recently started demanding 60% cut of tickets. Those ticket sales are probably somewhat of a backbone to the theater chains, but the real money that keeps the ship afloat is the concessions, which Disney does not demand a 60% cut of (yet).
I love, love, love going to the movies and do it as often as I can. That said I spend 75% of my mental energy anxious about shitty theater behavior. When my kid is old enough to drag along $20-30 for the latest Marvel movie at home is going to become an increasingly good deal.
We've got a great art-house/rep theater in my town that plays an astonishing variety of films, but even that is often filled up with idiot frat boys laughing at the serious parts and occasionally yelling things at the screen. I'm seeing the new Nic Cage movie, Pig, tonight and because he's in a lot of schlocky movies (apparently this one isn't) I'm dreading the crowd response.
That is the point .. the tor people said we are the USA and we will play the PIG movie World Police style. Just as with them working with the FBI, NSA and NRO.