0) Germany
1) If I'm not mistaken, 10/10. Maybe 9/10 and a japanese one.
2) Uhhh.. Tokio Hotel? I would call them typical American pop, only sung in German.
3) Rammstein
4) Currently it's Japanese, actually. Normally with English subs. Excluding Japanese, I think I follow dubbed/translated English works and original English works roughly the same.
5) I'd say 5 American, 4 British and 1 German book author. I think 8 of the 9 English language books were untranslated, but it might be 9/9. Unfortunately, I have no recommendation so far.
6) Christian, and I'd say moderate impact. This is coming from an agnostic/atheist, so keep that in mind.
7) I would say German moves are calmer, less over the top, you could say more boring. In my oppinion the protagonists are more like someone from your neighborhood, and less awesome action heroes. But it might just feel that way because I'm used to Germany. History movies about the country are almost exclusively about world war 2. Das Boot, Downfall, Die Brücke...
8) Without looking it up, I'm almost certain the budget is lower by far.
I have to add that because I'm fairly fluent with understanding written english, I often have trouble remembering the language of a text or book that I read.
Pour y voir clair, il suffit souvent de changer la direction de son regard www.xkcd.com/386/
One just might
- Malaysia
- All the last 10 are American made. Cinema or DVD. I prefer the original English.
- I'm currently out of the loop with the current one, because even my car radio is tuned to English language channel.
- Siti Nurhaliza
, Noraniza Idris and M, Nasir.
- I take most works in English.
- I read most book in English. Want to know our culture, I recommend "Kampung Boy" by Lat (Datuk Mohammad Nor Khalid). There should be an English version out there.
- My country is a Muslim majority country. The Islamic influence is there in our arts, culture and language.
- Basically we have the same basic plot. Currently the horror and comedy horror are the in thing. Don't know why. For the second part sure. For example Puteri Gunung Ledang (Princess of Ledang Mountain) and Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa (The Chronicles of Merong Mahawangsa). We have more from the 40s to 60s but can't remember the title.
- They have far lower budget.
edited 6th Dec '11 12:09:37 AM by Blurring
If a chicken crosses the road and nobody else is around to see it, does the road move beneath the chicken instead?
0) Indonesia
1) All of them from U.S, subtitled, in theater or in computer.
2) I think its Dewa, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dewa_19 http://www.stafaband.info/download-lagu-mp3-gratis.html
4) Japanese anime, subtitled in English.
5) probably all of them, I read mostly fantasy/sci-fi literature.
6) Islam, quite significant, but probably less than Hindu culture.
7) Indonesian movies usually either bad horror, comedy or islamic drama. I think you could compare them to direct-to-video horror or romantic comedy in America. Historical movie exist, mostly 1945 independence era, its quite rare.
8) lower budget, mostly horror or comedy. Indonesian movies is two-tiered. First is majority of cheap horror and comedy, they are very formulaic and usually not very good. Second is small minority of drama or islamic, which liked by critics and actor, but had difficulty gain producer, only some of this managed to be popular.
Lucha Libre goddess
- Mexico
- All of them were from USA.What the world would be without hollywood?.Some soubled some subtitled but none of them RAW
- I dunno I will investigate
- Jesse and Joy for sure!
- 90% of them are in english (I love hearing the english dub of Friendship Is Magic for instance)
- Counting school books all of them were mexican. But books I read for pleasure all of them (the 10)were byenglish or british author.Mmm a good mexican book that's hard. Tobe honest I not very interested in my own countrie's literature shame on mw. But we have had great auhors like Octavio Paz and Juan Rulfo
- Catholic for sure 90% of everyone everywehre is catholic seriously. It impacts a lot you can't watch a mexican tv show without a mention towards the guadalupe virgin. The catholic chucrh has a lot of power and influence here.
- They are different indeed. In the golden age (black and white) they had great plots with realistic themes and hardly any fantasy. Biut th fantastic stuff was So Bad Is Good category. Nowdays mexican movies are super realistic but depressing.
- In comparision to hollywood the budget is low just like the support for them
edited 5th Dec '11 11:48:25 PM by FallenLegend
Make your hearth shine through the darkest night; let it transform hate into kindness, evil into justice, and loneliness into love.
0) Which country do you reside in/are you going to be talking about?
Canada and Québec
1) How many of the last ten movies movies that you have seen were made in the U.S.? Were any from countries aside from your own or the U.S.? Of the ones made in the U.S., were they dubbed, subtitled, or in pure English? Did you see those in movie theaters, or through other means, e.g. the Internet or a DVD?
I don't watch that many movies so last 10 would bring me a few years back. If I had to guess, I'd say mostly american movies with maybe a few franco-canadian ones. Dubbed in the theatres (if they were not originally in french, in which case original french dub), but on the internet or DV Ds I usually go with the original dub (The last Harry Potter was an exception here: I'd have preferred to watch it in english, but the rest of my family couldn't follow the british accents)
2) What is the most popular band/musician in your country, from your country? In other words, who is your Justin Bieber? Are they influenced more by modern American pop music or by the traditional music of your homeland?
Most popular country-wise would technically be the Bieber (who is Canadian). In Québec, I'd say possibly Les Cowboys Fringants (Here's [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41L7tDkrPjE Toune d'Automne]], one of their most well-known songs)
Bieber's style is well known. Les Cowboys is something of a modern folk/country/traditional music
3) Same as above, but replace "popular" with "your favorite"?
Les Cowboys is somewhere up there, but I've recently fallen in love with Hey Ocean!, thanks to ponies.
Hey Ocean! is a Vancouver-based jazz/pop band, according to Wikipedia (I personally don't care to categorise music styles; I just go with my guts feeling)
4) I assume you know English, because you're on this forum and I don't think people are translating these pages (or maybe they are? I don't know. Someone answer this too?), but are most of the works of art you partake of in English or your native language?
I tend to enjoy works in their original language (unless it's a language I don't know)
5) Of the last ten books you have read, how many were written by American authors? How many were in English? Were the others written by natives of your country, or by people from other countries? Do you have any recommendations for a book I could read that has been translated from English, but was written by someone from your country, and is a good representative of your culture?
I've recently read all The Dresden Files, so that might skew the results in favour of America. I've also read a bunch of stuff by Neil Gaiman which should count as British.
As for a book recommendation, I don't really have anything for you. La Nuit des Perséïdes would fit the bill, but it doesn't seem to have been translated.
6) What is the majority religion in your country? How much of an impact does that religion have on your culture?
Massively catholic in Québec* , equally catholic and protestant in Ontario. The rest of the provinces are a bit more protestant as a rule. Given that Québec and Ontario have the two largest populations, catholicism wins 1.5 to 1 overall.
Religion is very private. Pushing for law on a religious basis would be very disapproved of (This might be changing with the Conservatives in power). Catholicism used to have a lot of power until the 1960s and the Révolution Tranquille* however.
7) If there are movies made by people in your country, are they usually roughly the same as American movies regarding basic plots/settings/etc., or do they differ in some way, and if so, in which? Are there fictionalized movies about your culture's history?
I can't really say. A number of Québec movies are about Hockey (In fact, Québec was one of place where Titanic didn't top the charts; Les Boys came out around the same time. Other than that, there's Bon Cop Bad Cop which is a bilingual* buddy cop comedy with hockey and the Québec/rest of Canada relationship as a backdrop. As for historic movies, there's Octobre about the october crisis*
8) If there are movies made by people in your country, do they generally have lower budgets than movies imported from Hollywood, or are they similar?
I'd guess much lower budget* We seem to have a bit more cultural subsidies, though
0. A country in the EU. Not really considered to be in The Western World. A middle-income country.
1. The three (live action) films that I've watched most recently were all Chinese wuxia films subtitled in English. I also remember watching two Indian films relatively recently, one Hindi and one Tamil, subtitled in English. I downloaded all those with torrents.
2. I have absolutely no idea, I'm completely out of touch from pop music. But one thing I noticed back when I was still in touch with it, is that all pop music is basically a slightly localized version of Russian pop.
3. I don't like any bands from my country.
4. Neither. I occasionally watch anime, I listen to music from all around the world.
5. I have read several English novels recently. Most of those were by British authors and one was by a Pakistani. I also think one was by an Indian-Canadian. I've also read Cider House Rules translated into my second language because the English copy was too expensive.
6. Catholicism. Negligible influence. Most people focus on ritual and are very confused about the doctrine, testified by the fact that there is a very widespread belief in reincarnation around here.
7. Movies made around here are utter crap. I don't watch them. From bits and pieces I have seem: the actors can't act, the cameramen can't shoot, the plot is... one can't even call it "plot".
8. I'm not sure if they have any budgets. The look like family affairs. Like somebody gave the camera to their cousin and cast their aunt as the heroine.
edited 6th Dec '11 3:43:24 AM by fanty
Professional Smartass
0) Finland
1) I think it's 7/10, I don't watch a lot of movies so some of them are from a long time ago. None of them were from my own country, so yes. Dubbed (when watching with people under 6 years old, otherwise, urgh no), usually subtitled (standard for foreign movies on Finnish TV), but I don't really read them. Exclusively from TV and DVD. Been more than two years since I was to a theatre.
2) Couldn't say, but most of the bands are some kind of Metal or Heavy.
3) Don't really have. Sorry.
4) Definetly English
5) 3/10. 3 American, an Australian and 5 British and 1 Dutch. 8/10 were in English. The Unknown Solider might be a good representative of Finnish literature, at least it's considered a classic. Haven't read it myself though.
6) Christianity (Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland). It has affected our culture, but I don't know how much.
7) In my experience there are 2 types of Finnish movies: the ones about the Winter War/Continuation War, and the ones about the day to day lives of some people. Plots/settings are a bit different from American movies. Might be because of the culture, might be because of the lower budgets.
8) Several orders of magnitude lower budgets.
That's all I have for now. I would love your answers, and if anyone else has a question they want to ask foreign tropers (or American tropers, if they are foreign themselves), feel free to chime in.
edited 6th Dec '11 3:36:43 AM by Qeise
Laws are made to be broken. You're next, thermodynamics.
KVLFON
0) Which country do you reside in/are you going to be talking about? Heh heh, the Kansas of Europe (name courtesy of some dude on Nationstates forums) 
1) How many of the last ten movies
◊ that you have seen were made in the U.S.? Were any from countries aside from your own or the U.S.? Of the ones made in the U.S., were they dubbed, subtitled, or in pure English? Did you see those in movie theaters, or through other means, e.g. the Internet or a DVD? Most, I guess? Anyway, the last two films I saw were Conan the Barbarian and Conan the Barbarian (yep, twice, why do you ask?), and the last time I was in a cinema I watched... no, not Momoa's Conan the Barbarian (that was the penultimate), the last one was a local production. Except for Conan, it's mostly TV, where there's neither dubbing nor subbing, nor pure English. Here's the riddle for ya.
2) What is the most popular band/musician in your country, from your country? In other words, who is your Justin Bieber? Are they influenced more by modern American pop music or by the traditional music of your homeland? The most famous is so-called Doda, who is a local Madonna clone. (The most infamous is Nergal from Behemoth, incidentally Doda's former boyfriend.)
3) Same as above, but replace "popular" with "your favorite"? It's getting personal, ain't it? Let's say it varies, but *horns*
4) are most of the works of art you partake of in English or your native language? They are translated if published here.
5) Of the last ten books you have read, how many were written by American authors? How many were in English? Were the others written by natives of your country, or by people from other countries? You want SF&F? Try the Witcher saga, Lem's novels, or wait till Dukaj gets translated, somebody has to finally notice him. Those I got from the 'Net were in English, by Americans (let's say three). The rest variously, but translated.
6) What is the majority religion in your country? How much of an impact does that religion have on your culture? Duuude... It's Roman Catholicism. As for the culture, I'll give a nonstandard answer: it's been the inspiration for many a SF story.
7) If there are movies made by people in your country, are they usually roughly the same as American movies regarding basic plots/settings/etc., or do they differ in some way, and if so, in which? Are there fictionalized movies about your culture's history? After the "cinema of moral unrest" died (FUCK YEAH!), mostly yes. Second part: yes, there's been plenty, in recent times modern history, while before it's mostly been historical settings. We've had a big film on Polish Soviet War recently, kinda cheesy in places, but finally we get a cheesy film in which we don't get American heroes like Mel Gibson's Patriot to identify with.
8) If there are movies made by people in your country, do they generally have lower budgets than movies imported from Hollywood, or are they similar? Duuude, The Witcher 2 had bigger budget than the priciest film made here.
edited 6th Dec '11 9:23:29 AM by lordGacek
"Atheism is the religion whose followers are easiest to troll"
0) Finland.
1) Seven or eight. Depends also do you count movies I didn't watch in full (today is Independence Day in Finland and I watched 15 minutes of Tuntematon Sotilas, the annually broadcast war movie). Aside from US movies, I've seen quite a few Spanish movies recently, but that's because my boyfriend is Latino and likes watching Spanish language movies. Aside from that, Swdish and Danish movies are kinda prevelatn in Nordic countries. I also watch a modest amount of Asian movies, Japanese, Korean, Hong Kong...
All movies, except animated kids movies, are subtitled in Finland. Most kids movies have a subtitled version in circulation too.
2) The most popular artist this year is probably Jenni Vartiainen. She's somewhere betwenn Adele and Lady Gaga's more sombre songs (Speechless, Yoü and I). I would say she also takes a lot of traditional influence in her music.
Other popular acts right now include Jare & VilleGalle, who Rap (the Finnish Rap scene is a rather unique beast I could write an essay on). Then we have a bunch of other female singer/songwriters. Old rock bands, heavy metal (Amorphis is high in the charts again).
3) I listen to a lot of Finnish rap. As said, it differs somewhat from the international trends. modesty is a bit of a virtue. My favorites include Asa, Steen1, Julma-Henri, Jontti & Shaka. Asa is a bit of a hippie, and has a lot of shamanistic type of content. Steen1 hials from a punk background. Julma-Henri raps about the life on the margins of society, the addicts and homeless people etc. Jontti & Shaka mostly rap about themselves and their friends experiences as drunks in Helsinki, and occasionally about political issues.
4) I read/watch/listen to a lot of English language content. Probably too much. I'm not nationalistic by any stretch of the word, but I want to preserve my language identity.
5) I mostly read British authors. As for Finnish literature. IDK, maybe you could read some Sofi oksanen, though I haven't read her works.
6) Lutheran Christian. It's not that big of a part, it's the evangelical christians that make a big deal about religion in politics, and the mainline church is a bit embarassed by them, like last year when comments made by the Christian Democrat party leader Päivi Räsänen in a public debate about homosexuality caused thousands to leave the Lutheran Church in protest.
7) Finland doesn't produce that many movies. Most of the films made here these days are relationship dramas or comedies, less genre works or anything that requires a high budget. There are some historical epics, the latest being Where We Went Once about the early 20th century in Swedish speaking areas of Helsinki. The massive movie about general Carl Gustav Emil Mannerheim is, as we say an Iisakinkirkko or ikuisuusprojekti, ie. in Developement Hell.
8) See above. There's a small box office, small home sales, little international interest. So yeah, not much money is available, or spent with Finnish movies.
Sneering Imperialist
- 0) The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, specifically England.
- 1) Probably most of them. I recently saw The Machinist, which I was surprised to learn is actually a Spanish film despite being set in the United States. Obviously, being British means that language is usually not a problem.
- 2) Probably Adele, who is a pop singer. Other than that I don't know much about her.
- 3) Porcupine Tree. Wiki
- 4) English is my native language, being English.
- 5) I haven't had much time for reading lately, so I can't really remember what the last ten things I read were. Mostly British SF, I suppose.
- 6) Christianity is Britain's state and majority religion. It has a moderate influence, but nowhere near to the extent that it does in the United States. Atheism and agnosticism is very common.
- 7) Hmmm...I suppose British films tend to either have a more generally serious or satirical tone than American ones. Unless they're rom-coms.
- 8) Definitely lower budget. I think the higher budget ones tend to be collaborations with Hollywood.
edited 6th Dec '11 10:06:05 AM by pagad
With cannon shot and gun blast smash the alien. With laser beam and searing plasma scatter the alien to the stars.
Scotland. I'm really not qualified to talk about the remainder of the United Kingdom so I'm going to just stick with what I'm most familiar with.
All of the last ten movies I've seen were made in the United States. All were English language and I saw them on DVD.
I definatley wouldn't say any of them are "our Justin Bieber", but...
A lot of Scottish singers and groups come from a fairly strong Alt Rock/Indie Rock/Indie Pop culture that has been around Glasgow and the West for a few decades now, with a number of groups getting their start in our fairly famous clubs.
In 2005, Glasgow band Belle and Sebastian were voted the greatest Scottish band of all time (despite fairly limited commercial success, oddly) but I would say that Paolo Nutini might be the might most popular one right now.
Then you've got The Fratellis, Biffy Clyro, The View, Amy Macdonald, KT Tunstall (from Fife), Travis, Glasvegas and Franz Ferdinand.
Then if you go way back you get the likes of the Bay City Rollers from Edinburgh, Simple Minds, The Proclaimers, Primal Scream, and of course Bon Scott and Malcolm and Angus Young of AC/DC were born in this area, too.
I also have to take a paragraph just to mention the late, great genius of Gerry Rafferty. Aside from being absolutely brilliant (you should all know Baker Street and his work with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stealers_Wheel Stealers Wheel) he was also a friend of my father in their youths!
There is also the market for Scottish folk music, of which The Corries are king. Not my thing, though.
Again, Gerry Rafferty.
All English, yeah. I don't speak Gaelic (pronounced Gah-Lick when you're talking about the Scots) and there isn't even a consensus on what the Scots language is, nevermind their being works in it.
The last things I've read have all been by English authors - JK Rowling, George Orwell, Charles Dickens, Ian Fleming - and an Irishman (James Joyce). However since I do come from a very Irish background, and given the way things work in Scotland, I'd say that Joyce could be representative of my culture, if not a Scottish one.
As for Scottish authors, Robert Louis Stevenson, J.M. Barrie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle require no introduction.
Going even further back, you could try out the works of Sir Walter Scott, such as Ivanhoe, Rob Roy, Waverley, The Heart of Midlothian and The Bride of Lammermoor.
Other recommended reading would include Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh, How Late It Was, How Late by James Kelman, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark. Getting your hands on a copy of the play Men Should Weep by Ena Lamont Stewart might be good. Getting a DVD copy of Singin' I'm No A Billy He's A Tim might be good, too.
Or, if you're so inclined, you can turn your hand to our poetry. The obvious would be the works of Robert Burns (a man far ahead of his time whose message I admire greatly) and also Walter Scott's The Lady of the Lake (which inspired a lot of weird things including the KKK's cross burning, Frederik Douglass's last name and Hail to the Chief).
Presbyterian Christianity is the largest religion in Scotland. This is followed by Roman Catholicism. Islam, Buddhism, Sikhism, Judaism and Hinduism all have minor numbers.
The national (not State) church is the Church of Scotland, known as the Kirk. In certain parts of Scotland - particularly the Central Belt areas - there is a general feel of social divide between Catholics and Protestants, but this has less to do with religion itself than it does the fact that Catholicism was an immigrant faith (mostly Irish) in the 19th century while Protestantism was more British. The history of Northern Ireland has a lot to do with it.
Religion itself may be more "relevant" in the Highlands and Islands. For example, there was a lot of controversey up that way when a ferry began sailing on the Sabbath.
There are Scottish films, and they tend to differ from American style. Rather than being big budget and... well, all the same, they tend to be more downbeat, grounded and based on characters and their surroundings.
The great Peter Mullan (Yaxley to some of you) is a famous filmmaker (and someone I'd like to emulate one day - he even went to the same secondary school as me! Oddly enough, so did David O'Hara (Runcorn)). He directed Neds, which is relevant to the question.
There is also Trainspotting and the memetic and, for followers of Scottish football, utterly fucking bizzare A Shot at Glory. Gregory's Girl is pretty well known. Ratcatcher is a goodie if you want to learn about Glasgow. Local Hero is a goodie, too.
Much, much lower budget, yeah. With a few exception (Peter Mullan, for example) most of our lot are just kind of starting out before making the leap to London or America.
And let us pray that come it may (As come it will for a' that)
We're Having All The Fun
0) Australia
1) 8 and the two that were not US made were English language films to begin with. (Both of them were from the UK/Ireland)
2) No idea, I don't listen to popular radio.
3) The Resignators (A Ska band from Melbourne)
4) English language country
5) Most of them, though I read a few Ian. M. Banks novels recently, so those would still be English language to begin with. Also, on the subject of Australian books, don't bother with Tim Winton. He is terrible.
6) Christianity, I believe. Though I don't know much about religion in Australia. Most of Australian culture is just a jumble of US and UK culture, though there is some Asian influence of late.
7) All Australian movies are about Aboriginals or criminals. No idea why.
8) Far lower.
edited 6th Dec '11 11:45:26 PM by YeahBro
All I do, is sit down at the computer, and start hittin' the keys. Getting them in the right order, that's the trick.
'80s TV Action Hero
Scotland. The other coast.
1) About half. The others were British or, in one case, Norwegian. It was subtitled.
2) I honestly have no bloody idea. Who pays attention to that any more? This is the age of free downloads, man.
3) Yikes. Currently... Iron Maiden. Occassionaly other bands or singers edge ahead, but 'Maiden are most consistently at the top.
4) In English. Few of us write in Scots these days; the market isn't big enough.
5) Of the last ten books...oooh. Um. About four were American, I think. One was by a Norwegian, one by a long-dead Norseman or Norsemen, two by Englishmen, one by a Scot and one by a Canadian (I think). Read The Private Memoirs And Confessions Of A Justified Sinner by James Hogg. It's contemporaneous with Jekyll and Hyde, but gives the reader an insight into the weirdness that was Scottish religion in the not-too-distant past.
6) In theory? Protestant Christianity. In practice (on the East coast, anyway)? Agnosticism/atheism. The effect is that we don't celebrate Saints' days and most our churches have been converted into nightclubs. Taking religion seriously is seen as either a rural or a 'West Coast' thing.
7) You'll have seen Shallow Grave and Trainspotting? Yeah, that.
8) There are only 5.5 million of us. Our film industry is a couple of students in Edinburgh with a handicam.
edited 7th Dec '11 1:35:29 AM by InverurieJones
'All he needs is for somebody to throw handgrenades at him for the rest of his life...'
0. United Kingdom (specifically, England)
1. 9. Cinemas, and DVD. Language is not really a problem.
2. Hmmm... I would say Adele. I don't know why, but she's really popular.
4. English is my native language!
5. Hmmm, I can't remember the last few books I've read, but they're were all in English, for sure. A few were from Britan.
6. Christianity. Not much, however. The influence is a moderate one.
7. Not very dissimilar. UK films are bit more serious.
8. Similar budgets, but most are generally lower-budget.
0, Hungary
1, Based on IMDB: US: 6.5, UK: 1.5, France: 1, Hungary: 1. They were subbed with original language. I've seen most at cinemas, some downloaded or on DVD.
2, This is difficult question as don't really follow Hungarian pop music. They are influenced by American music of course. Some on our bigest names are Ákos (rock, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81kos_Kov%C3%A1cs), Tankcsapda (metal, hard rock, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tankcsapda) and however wins the current year's talent show. I couldn't name a single dominating pop artist here. Our Bieber is clearly SP (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kriszti%C3%A1n_%C3%89der), the hype is exactly the same.
3. My current favourites are Veronika Harcsa (really good jazz, http://harcsaveronika.hu/), Péterfy Bori and Love Band (hmm, alternative poprock?, http://www.myspace.com/peterfybori/) and Hangmás (alter rock http://hangmas.hu/).
4, I read mostly English books these days.
5, I can't really remember. I'd say 1 or two Swedish, otherwise English (UK or US). I guess you could read Nobel-prize winning Fateless from Imre Kertész, but it is really not indicative of our culture (but still good).
6, Mainly catholic or protestant officially, but most people don't really care any more. It has a huge impact on our culture like all Europe. It's actual direct influence is very low though.
7, They are either artsy stuff or cheap copies of American clichés. We do have historical films but they tend to suck during the last 20 years.
8, Much smaller. You could buy around 100 Hungarian ones for the price of a Hollywood one.
edited 7th Dec '11 4:36:30 PM by Luxa
Statistical Unlikeliness
0) France
1) I'd say, 8 or 9, probably (right now, I'm rather watching some series). I watch them in English, subbed in English (a choice rather than an obligation, as 99% of the movies are dubbed here).
2) No freaking idea, I'm not into pop music.
3) I don't really listen to songs, maybe film and game soundtracks (Uematsu, Zimmer, Gregson-Williams, Kajiura, etc.). Is Mylene Farmer french?
4) In French at 95%. I once wrote a short story in English, but other than that, I'm working on a very large fanfiction which is in French.
5) A good 5 to 7 U.S., all read in English. I don't like translations. Er... some good French book? Depends, what do you like reading?
6) Catholicism. Some influence, but religion is rather a private matter in France.
7) A lot the time, French movies are more personnal, centered on relations between individuals. It can be a problem, because a lot of directors try to do the "intellectual movie" which will continue to be discussed 50 years after. Often, they just fail and do some pretentious movie easily forgotten. Some of those movies can also be great successes. There's often cooperation with other countries (think about the movies done by Luc Besson). War movies will rather be "War is Hell" and almost never about the greatness of the fight (Jean-Jacque Annaud's "Enemy at the Gates", for example). Comedies are of two kinds: great ones, with pure wit, and heavy, stupid ones... but that's the same everywhere, I'd say. Lastly, we've been onto animation, with movies like "Renaissance" and "The Prodigies" (well, not entirely French, it was done with Canada and some other countries). I hope they'll lead to a French/European animation style to compare to the American and Japanese ones.
If you want some really good series about French history, look for "Les Rois Maudits". There were two series, one in the 70s, one in the 90/2000, and the old one is the really great one, with Jean Piat and others. It deals with the fall of the Templars until the beginning of the Hundred Years War. How we got into this mess...
8) Often smaller budgets, but sometimes (really rarely, though), there are heavies.
edited 7th Dec '11 10:40:51 PM by RufusShinra
As the size of an explosion increases, the number of social situations it is incapable of solving approaches zero.
O wow this looks like an interesting test. Ill answer it.
COLOMBIAN:
1). Its hard to remember. Last 1 was Megamind So that is American. And I really cant remember any movie Ive seen complete in a long time.
2) Shakira...At least internationally she by far the most famous one... But Colombia is very rich in music. My Guitar teacher said it was the country that had spouted the biggest amount of music genres (vallenatos, pasillos, guavinas, cumbia, mapale, carrileras, besides spanish punk, rock, salsa...)There are too many genres so there is not someone who dominates.
3) Ummm... probably Aterciopelados (if you want youtube "aterciopelados el album").
4) Ummm. Everything I do on the internet is on english, as well as the 70% of the music I listen and sing. But with literature is mostly spanish. History books I usually rather have english. And of course... lots of Anime in Japanese.
5) Lest see. Last one (current) is by Thomas mann. Then a book about constitutional law written by a colombian author. Critical Legal Studies written by Anthony Kennedy who is American. Constitutional rights by Robert Alexy who is German...Pillars of the Earth which is by a british author...Memories of a Geisha which is by an American. Condors are not buried everydays which is by a Colombian. Gone With the Wind...a book of Short stories by Borges who is Argentinian... A book of short stories by Gabriel Garzia Marquez who is Colombian. El Olvido Que Seremos (the forgotten thing we will be) which is also Colombian.
I highly recommend you read Oblivion: A memoir [1]
There is also One Hundred years of solitude but to someone who is not aware of the Colombian context, the book might not let through its full meaning, do still being an awefully good book whihc won its author the Nobel Price.
6) Catholicism. I would say alot... People dont take it very seriously but yet they sort of beleive in it.
7) No they are very different. They are almost all about the Colombian Internal conflict (drugs, paramilitaries, poverty, guerilla, hookers), or about music. They tend to be either a lot better than you average American movie or a lot cheesier. In all of them there is certain fatalism. I remember one, which was a comedy, about a couple of brothers who bet their life savings on the Colombian soccer team beating the Argentinian soccer team. Near the end of the game the Argentinians are awarded a penalty and win. Then the other one which is the most aclaimed movie, called "The Strategy of the Snail" is about a group of people who will be evicted and thus decide to secretly steal the building in which they are living, sinks, tiles, wiring, everything, and leave only the facade. I highly recomend it to anyone. There is also Rodrigo no futuro:
I think the film above is an excellent example of how American (or should I say British?) culture have an impact in an enviorment that is completely diffent from the one said culture originated. And how such material is shaped to fit the molds of the reciving culture creating something almost new.
Right now they are traying to revive the Colombian film industry after a brif golden age. Here is a newer more commercial movie.
edited 8th Dec '11 12:13:29 AM by Baff
I will always cherish the chance of a new beggining.
There is also this one, of which an American big budget version is being made.
0) Am Danish and will be talking about Denmark, though temporarily (for about 5 months now, and 8 more months from now on) residing in Kyushuu Japan.
1)Not really sure, about 4 or so I'd guess. Been watching quite a few Japanese movies as of late. But to answer the implication of the question, the majority of the movies I watch are indeed American. After that probably British or Japanese. Only at third place do we find Danish movies. After that I guess German, French or Sweedish and finally at the end (in numbers worth mentioning) Korean and Chinese. I generally watch English movies without subtitles, though if it's hard to hear, I'll put on English subtitles. Nothing aside from kid's movies ever gets dubbed in Denmark, movies are always shown in their original language with Danish subtitles, no matter where they are from. No one over the age of 9 or 10 watches movies dubbed (live-action of course, animation is another subject). Which can create a bit of a culture shock when visiting bigger countries like Germany or France, what with them dubbing everything.
2) I honestly have no idea, never really cared much for music. Though most pop is "influenced" by american pop-music, though I would say that it's more that popular music simply has developed in American and much of Western Europe at the same time, not that one is necessarily the influence on the other, or at least that it's kind of a mutual thing. I might be wrong though.
3) Once again, I have no favorite pop music, of any nationality.
4)Most of the works I partake in are in English. After that again Japanese and Danish comes in at third place.
5) I'd guess 3-4 were by American authors, but all of them were in English (the other ones being by British authors). I do read quite a few Danish books also though, just not as many as in English. When I read translated works from non-English foreign countries (like say Russia or Germany, especially the latter of which I've also read quite a few) I tend to read them in Danish. In the case of German you also get a much more precise translation, as opposed to from German to English. Of course, if a foreign book I want to read is translated into English, but not into Danish, I don't mind reading it in English either. Not sure what Danish books are translated into English, besides most of the ones I like are probably not representative of our culture.
6) Protestant Christian. It has obviously had a huge historical impact in the sense that it has formed a lot of the basic ideals of our society etc. but nowadays the church has a very minimal influence. While most Danish people are members of the national church, the vast majority really don't care much about religion one way or the other. Mainstream Christianity tends to be pretty mellow too, mostly being about the whole "love your neighbors like yourself" (well talking about it anyways...) etc. part, not so much about "homosexuals should burn in hell" or that kind of thing. Not to say that we don't have some more fundamentalist groups of various kinds, just that they are generally not mainstream at all and not what you think of when thinking Christian.
7) Kind of hard to say. A lot of different kind of American movies exist and a lot of different kinds of Danish movies exist. So, some movies are alike I guess, some are not.
8) Obviously Danish movies have a lower budget than Hollywood movies, for starters only 5,5 million people live here and about the same amount speak our language.
On a side-note, the demographic here is probably naturally skewed somewhat towards American/British (and Japanese, what with all the anime examples) media, since that is generally what is used as examples on this wiki and since it's mostly an English-language project and a lot of geeky interests, from people outside the US/UK still often have their origin within the English-speaking world. If you'd asked a more general public, the answers might be different, though one thing would most likely be universally true for most Danish people at least, American (Hollywood) movies are properly watched more than Danish movies, at least in terms of new movies in cinemas, though I guess the old feel-good Danish movies get quite a good run on television. Still, even they are outnumbered by american movies.
edited 8th Dec '11 4:05:38 AM by Mathias
A lil' bentô ?
That test sounds interesting. Here's my entry!
0) France.
1) Honestly, I'm not a movie buff. The last ones I remember having seen were The Dark Knight (on TV) and the new Tintin film (at cinema). Both are U.S. films, and were aired dubbed in French.
2) I'm even less a music buff than a movie one. ^^" It's not a Bieber equivalent, but Johnny Halliday is insanely popular there. Doesn't mean he's good: personally, I seriously dislike his voice and songs, and won't recommend him to you.
3) Now here's a question I can answer without a single hesitation. DANIEL BALAVOINE. That 80' French singer was pure awesome:
- He had a powerful and extremely moving voice, has very intelligent and engaged songs and lyrics (I recommend you getting a hear at Pour La Femme Veuve Qui S'Eveille, Petit Homme Mort Au Combat, Mon Fils Ma Bataille - I made a fan translation of that one in English a few years ago here -, Sauver L'Amour, S.O.S. d'un Terrien En Détresse, Le Blues Est Blanc, and La Vie Ne M'Apprend Rien, among others) ;
- and in Real Life, the guy was never at a loss for words, and never hesitated pointing out the troubles French people were enduring; he's legendary for having mouthed-off François Mitterrand, who would become President. He also was generous towards people of Africa; alas, this is what caused him to die young, as during a Paris/Dakar he participated in to give power water pumps, he died in an helicopter crash.
4) To answer the sub-question: yes, I know English. Been studying and maintaining it since 18 years, so I can read and understand it as if I was reading French (sometimes I even forget I'm reading things in English, since English is so natural to me!)
As for the main question: I'm currently more into Japanese works. I actually can read and understand the language, as I'm studying it since 7 years ago (with one of those years spent in Japan as a foreign student). So most of the Japanese works I partake are JPN-only with no Fan Translation or subbing, with Visual Novels being the ones I follow the most at the time being: for example, Policenauts, the Tokimeki Memorial series, Mitsumete Knight, Kisetsu o Dakishimete, Sampaguita. For the interesting note, I'm the one who wrote and launched the TV Tropes articles for the last three of those games.
5) Can't exactly remember with books I've read recently. But I remember:
- having re-read:
- The Count Of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (my all-time fave book),
- Meu Pé de Laranja Lima (My Sweet Orange Tree) by José Mauro de Vasconcellos,
- The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie;
- having read
- La Soeur de Gribouille by the Comtesse de Ségur (an author I like a lot despite the copious "good christian" sermonizing Values Dissonance; but this book in particular is one of her weakest works by far, unfortunately. If you want to read her better books, go have a try at L'Auberge de l'Ange Gardien and its sequel Le Général Dourakine, as well as Le Mauvais Génie, Quel Amour d'Enfant!, Un Bon Petit Diable - if you like Charles Dickens-type stories, you'll like this one -, and Mémoires d'un Ane),
- the Tokimeki Memorial 2 Light Novels Kimi no Ushiro Sugata and Anata o Shinjiteru.
So make it 2 French books, 2 Japanese books, 1 Brazilian book, and 1 UK Book (all written or translated in French, save for the Japanese ones which I read in Japanese).
6) Like Rufus Shinra said.
7) As I said earlier, I'm not a movie buff, so it would be hard for me to explain with my own words. But what Rufus Shinra said is accurate, so please refer to his answer.
8) Again, like Rufus Shinra said.
edited 10th Dec '11 6:56:55 AM by AceNoctali
"Your kindness gives me the presentiment I can be reborn. Now, I want to believe at least in you." - Kaori Yae
Christmas Sheep
So, to those who answered for relevant countries, what is your opinion of bands that originated in your country, but are famous here? For example, Flogging Molly from Ireland or Daft Punk from France. Are those as popular in their home countries as they are in the U.S., more, or less?
Still Sheepin'
Tell me of a famous Hungarian band and I will gladly tell my opinion on them. ;)
KVLFON
Omega.
"Atheism is the religion whose followers are easiest to troll"
You are cheating you are from Poland if I am correct. :)
But still, you won. :)
So Omega is nowadays considered one of the big classics here and listening to it is considered a very retro thing to do. Which means that a moderate amount of the younger generation still do and practically everyone heard their most famous song, Gyöngyhajú lány. (Girl with the Hair of Pearl, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGt-rTDkMcM ). Still, they are clearly a thing fro the past while nominally active and touring.
Note: By "foreign", I mean anywhere but 'Murca. Europe is OK, I guess, and I am still interested in European response to these questions, just to a lesser extent. I also want to hear the responses from people who aren't themselves foreign, but know a great deal (preferably a firsthand account) about the country they're talking about.
Anyway, the questions:
0) Which country do you reside in/are you going to be talking about?
1) How many of the last ten movies movies that you have seen were made in the U.S.? Were any from countries aside from your own or the U.S.? Of the ones made in the U.S., were they dubbed, subtitled, or in pure English? Did you see those in movie theaters, or through other means, e.g. the Internet or a DVD?
2) What is the most popular band/musician in your country, from your country? In other words, who is your Justin Bieber? Are they influenced more by modern American pop music or by the traditional music of your homeland? A link to their website/Wikipedia article would be cool, so I could find some of their music myself.
3) Same as above, but replace "popular" with "your favorite"?
4) I assume you know English, because you're on this forum and I don't think people are translating these pages (or maybe they are? I don't know. Someone answer this too?), but are most of the works of art you partake of in English or your native language?
5) Of the last ten books you have read, how many were written by American authors? How many were in English? Were the others written by natives of your country, or by people from other countries? Do you have any recommendations for a book I could read that has been translated from English, but was written by someone from your country, and is a good representative of your culture?
6) What is the majority religion in your country? How much of an impact does that religion have on your culture?
7) If there are movies made by people in your country, are they usually roughly the same as American movies regarding basic plots/settings/etc., or do they differ in some way, and if so, in which? Are there fictionalized movies about your culture's history, like that one movie with Denzel Washington in the Civil War or something (I want to say it's called "Glory" or something, but I forget)?
8) If there are movies made by people in your country, do they generally have lower budgets than movies imported from Hollywood, or are they similar?
That's all I have for now. I would love your answers, and if anyone else has a question they want to ask foreign tropers (or American tropers, if they are foreign themselves), feel free to chime in.
Still Sheepin'