[Weekly Update] February 13, 2022

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone. If you have a significant other, I hope you have a fun night together. If you don't, we can still enjoy some discounted chocolate!

CHANNEL UPDATE

• Due to difficulty in acquiring Malaysian films, we have to postpone the video to a later date. So the video will probably be in March or late April.
• In the meantime, we'll take about what makes some films problematic. Why we love Kill Bill but dislike Raya and the Last Dragon, when both films use a lot of Asian cultural elements? The script preview was uploaded yesterday, feel free to take a look!
• Since we are in the middle of a big (literally international) project, we may take the rest of February off. We'll come back with a big video in April, I promise.
• But in the case of me finding more free time to make a video, let's talk about LGBT movies in Hong Kong, and how superstar Leslie Cheung shaped LGBT depictions in the industry.
• Finally, Turning Red is coming out next month. If it's an interesting film, we may do a video on it. I don't have a lot of high hopes for it, though.
• We have a lot planned for this Spring. Hopefully things will be fun for you!

MEDIA TALK

• What do you think big movie trend will be?
• Now that superhero movie hypes are dying down, and becoming an endemic part of the industry, Hollywood is once again looking for a new lucrative trend for the next 20 years. What do you think that trend would be?
• The most obvious one is retro revival. Nostalgia is a huge gold mine these days. Times are difficult, and people look to the past for comfort. Ghostbusters, Independence Day, Space Jam, The Matrix, Top Gun. All of these films are suddenly getting (unnecessary) sequels.
• However, the trend doesn't seem to work very well. Turns out most audience have high expectations for them, while the filmmakers have little to no passion for these projects. Lana Wachowski basically roasted everyone in Matrix 4 for wanting a sequel. Hopefully, she killed off this trend with that.
• Personally, I dislike this trend with a passion, and I don't think I even need to explain why. I think the worst part is, with today's Hollywood, where Disney controls like 70% of the familiar IPs, this trend will undoubtedly benefits Disney's eventual monopoly. And no one wants a Disney monopoly.
• The IP crossover trend is also getting pretty popular. Ready Player One, King Kong vs. Godzilla, Spider-Man No Way Home. These are movies that break their fourth walls, and summons in characters from series that weren't even intended to be in the same timeline. The multiverse is the future, at least in the eye of Disney.
• This trend, however, seems a lot more successful and lucrative. Spider-Man is a massive success. The trailer for Doctor Strange 2 seems to feature Patrick Steward as Professor X. Venom now joins the MCU. People are tired of sequels to old movies, but still want to see new takes on older characters.
• However, this is also the future I fear the most. Once again, Disney controls so many IPs, it is essentially a game that only Disney can play. The one upside is that these crossover are only special because they are rare. So there's a chance for the trend to die down rather quickly.
• There's always the death of cinema. With series and streaming became so popular, cinema may end up as nothing more than amusement rides for special events, and the true lineage of cinema continues with Netflix, HBOMAX and Amazing.
• The most optimistic possibility, however, is for cinema to go international. It's pretty clear no other film company can compete with Disney. But internationally, Disney is still not yet domineering.
• In recent years, South Korean movies are getting really popular in North America amongst both critics and casual film goers. It's crazy but I actually saw young people making fun of their piers for not watching foreign films. What used to be a "weirdo/nerdy" activity could become the hot things to do. And it may lead to a new phase of cinema, where movies compete for the world.
• Of course, this is all anecdotal experience. But a dude can dream.

And that is the update! What do you think the future of cinema holds? It's pretty clear I don't like the Disney monopoly very much. And I don't think most people like it either. But is there any way for other Hollywood studios to compete? With something as volatile as the film industry, everything is possible. Too bad Disney is not exclusively a film company.

In any case, I'll see you in a few days with a new video.