[Weekly Update] December 19, 2021

The pandemic is flaring up again over where I am, which puts a bit of a damper on our short film production. Hopefully things will work out eventually. In the mean time, stay safe, everyone!

CHANNEL UPDATE

• Our next video is already completed, and it should be up by Thursday next week! There will also be complimentary videos releasing on our social media, so follow us on Twitter and Facebook!
• Patreon bonus video is currently in the work. For this month, we'll be talking about Home Alone, and why it was successful in Asia, when many other Christmas movies failed.
• The rest of the schedule remains the same.
• Finally, I need your opinion: Would you be interested in us doing a series on more film school stuff from around the world? We'll be talking about films like "Yojimbo" from Japan, "La Haine" from France, "City of God" from Brazil, etc. You know, films that has enter the classic film canon. It may be a bit drier than your usual videos, but I think I can explain why they are important to film as an art form.

MEDIA TALK

• With the year coming to an end, let do a year end review. Specifically, I have one thing I want to talk about.
• This year, it doesn't matter if a movie is good or bad, as long as it's coming from major Hollywood studios, the films nearly all have this corporate stench.
• You know the smell: Risk-averse films with minimal directorial inputs, sterile and monotone event movies, selling not the director and/or stars, but the intellectual properties of the mega-corps.
• Space Jam: A New Legacy is the pinnacle of this. It banks on our nostalgia for an intellectual property that used to meant something to us. And it is used, rather blatantly, as a vehicle to flex the IPs owned by Warner Bros.
• Similarly, Free Guy, a Fox film (now acquired by Disney), has an entire dedicated scene where it flexes multiple IPs owned by Disney.
• And both movies have a very specific tone that does not sit well with me. In both scenarios, these flexing are marketed as "the greatest cross-over in history". It expects us to be excited to see lightsaber fighting against Captain America's shield. And I just hate it so so much.
• Because, these are not real crossovers. They aren't Smash Ultimate, where other companies join in to make the impossible possible.
• They aren't Who Framed Roger Rabbit, where both Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse, two giant rivals share a stage because Zemeckis and Spielberg where influential filmmakers.
• These cross overs are about as interesting as my left hand clapping my right hand. They are both my hands. I own them both.
• And that is the thing that really encapsulated my feeling towards blockbusters this year, Shang-Chi is important because it's part of the MCU. Venom 2 is cool because it's entering the MCU canon. James Bond is fun again because it's a throw back to older movies. And then there's Home Sweet Home Alone.
• Not all of these movies are bad. But all of them reeks of the corporate stench. And an uncomfortable reminder that how much of our pop culture is controlled by just a few companies.
• Of course, there are still a lot of great movies with personalities. West Side Story is pretty good! A tad too long, but at least it feels like a movie with an artist behind it.
• Candyman is also a very different film, made by a black woman director, and penned by Jordan Peele, it offers a story that feels drastically different from what we're used to.
• I missed when films are cool because they are challenging, and original, and new.
• When I started filmmaking, there was speculation that the sudden drop in camera price, we'll be democratizing filmmaking. Everyone will be able to make movies. And that is still somewhat true.

I do wonder, is audience craving for these low to no budget films? Are we craving for new experiences, or are we really only want familiar comfort food movies? Part of me have hope that, we are just tired because of the pandemic. As soon as things get better, we'll want to experience new and exciting films again. What do you think?

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