[Weekly Update] July 10th, 2022

How was your week? Mine is mostly made up of heat, soda, and a lot of Monster Hunter. It's so hot out, I don't even want to go out on my vacation.

CHANNEL UPDATE

Hope you enjoy our last video on Gallants, a criminally underrated and hard-to-find indie kung fu comedy.

A lot of viewers ask us where they can watch the film, and honestly the easiest way is physical media. Unless you know how to read Chinese, it's rather impossible to find it streaming anywhere.

In a way, Gallants just feels like another film within the same category as Kung Fu Hustle and Kung Fu Panda, love letter films to a bygone era loved by many. With today's society, it's rather difficult for anyone to have a similar upbringing as Sammo Hung/Jackie Chan. It takes a lifetime of training to be a great action star. No one is making classic kung fu films, because few actors are even capable of reaching that level.

In any case, I hope you are able to find the film and give it a watch. Our next video will be about Ringu. It'll be the last video published during my vacation.

As for bonus video, I think I'll talk about Tron Legacy. The film got a bit of attention online lately for some reason. I'm still salty that the OST wasn't nominated for an Oscar.

MEDIA TALK

Let's talk about the death of cinema, again!

Box office talks are back now that cinema is opening up again in North America, but the selection of films is... let's say limited. It's summer blockbuster season and my local theater is showing... 4 movies.

While I don't believe the theater experience will die in North America, let's just say it does die. Now what? Does that mean the end of cinema as an art form?

Of course not. Let's not forget how big Indian cinema was, is, and will be. The cinematic culture of India is huge and seems like it's getting bigger every year. With Hollywood sinks under, maybe Indian Cinema will be the next hub of cinematic culture.

Or, we may go back to a world market similar to 1970s-90s, when Hollywood was prominent but not dominating. Hollywood mostly produced action and sci-fi, while Hong Kong had kung fu, Japan had animation and art house, and European cinema continue experimenting with various avant-garde movements.

Or maybe we'll learn to love Nigerian cinema. It's honestly a treasure trope most of us have overlooked.

My point is, cinema is a global and mainstream culture, and will not go anywhere even if Hollywood falls. While it is certainly scary to think of what would happen if Hollywood no longer made movies and only does straight to streaming stuff, it may not end up being a bad thing at all. When a mighty tree falls, it stops blocking sunlight, and more flowers can bloom around it.

Anyway, that's the update for this week. A bit of a shorter one. I do have a question for you, though: How much does a movie ticket cost around your area? Here in Canada, a full price ticket costs around 12 dollars, or almost an hour worth of salary. No wonder people stop going to the cinemas.

Well, I'll see you in our next update!