[Weekly Update] November 8th, 2021

Don't let the thumbnail scares you. The real scary monster is daylight saving time. #AbolishDaylightSaving

CHANNEL UPDATE

• Shang-Chi is coming to Disney Plus in a few days. Would you want me to make another video on Shang-Chi? I can probably do a fight analysis, and point out to good and bad. However, it'll probably be a short, maybe 5 minute video. Since I didn't really plan ahead and allocate enough free time for it.
• Anyway, script for our next video is complete. I just finished recording it. The script will be uploaded tomorrow.
• Originally meant to be a shopping list of items you should buy if you want to start filmmaking, the entire concept has been reworked to talk about films that were produced with cheap cameras.
• I'm still interested in making the shopping list, however. But like the possible Shang-Chi video, it'll be a short 5 minute quickie.
• Plans for December and January remains unchanged. We'll talk about Doraemon, and Fatal Deviation, respectively.
• Finally, we are planning on starting a new series. We'll be taking a look at the most influential films coming out of various countries. Films that have since entered the cinematic canon. Films such as La Haine from France, City of Gods from Brazil, to Festen from Denmark.
• It will, hopefully, be more of an academic study than our usual videos. It may take more time to research than usual, so we'll see how viable it'll be.

MEDIA TALK

• So, Chris Pratt as Mario.
• Honestly, when they announced it, I didn't really care. I was just excited to see Jack Black as Bowser, and Seth Rogan as Donkey Kong. Something about the casting of those two feel just right.
• Pratt as Mario just feels like your typical Hollywood decision.
• Anyway, let's talk about video game movies. Mainly, what game series do you want to see on the big screen, preferably at a good quality?
• Well, I can tell you one that I DON'T want: Zelda.
• The Legend of Zelda remains one of my favourite franchise ever. And I remember back in film school, while on a film set, one guy was checking his phone and told me "Netflix is making a Zelda series". And I instinctively yelled "Nooooo!"
• Something about Zelda just feels utterly impossible to make, especially in live action.
• Just take a look at casting. Who would you cast as Link? There are so many Zelda fan films on YouTube, and Link consistently looks like a cosplayer in all of the films. This is legit the best one I've seen, and yet it still looks off...
• The only form of Zelda adaptation that can get me somewhat excited is a classic Ghibli style anime. But even then, the story style doesn't match.
• Onto one that I want: Mass Effect.
• Being a fan of Star Trek, I'm very picky about sci-fi worlds. And Mass Effect is one of the very few sci-fi game that actually captivated me (Although it's mostly just the first game).
• With its already cinematic storytelling taken directly from cinema, Mass Effect is perfect for an HBOMAX series. With many different story threads tied to different worlds and species, it should work remarkably well with an episodic format, where each episode explores an aspect of the world of Mass Effect.
• Here is another one I don't think should be made into a movie (but they did anyway): Uncharted.
• Uncharted is, by an large, a playable film. It's an homage to the old adventure films like Indiana Jones. It's a parody.
• In other words, it adapted film elements into a game. Readapting these elements back into a movie will undoubtedly produce the most generic (and likely outdated) piece of cinema. It barely worked for Tomb Raider, I highly doubt it'll work for Uncharted.
• That's why I'm not excited about the upcoming Uncharted movie at all.
• And finally, one more that I think deserves a series: Red Dead Redemption. Specifically, the original.
• Doesn't the thought of seeing RDR in live action sound exciting? I think so.
• Western is kinda a dead genre, and RDR would be a great name to revive it. Unlike Uncharted, which parodies movies we all know and love, RDR adapts classic westerns and updated it with a lot of modern story telling tropes and elements. It's a new genre of westerns we have not seen before, and the result should be new and exciting.
• While the genre is dead in the mainstream, it paradoxically can also be one of the more critically acclaimed genres. True Grit. 10 to Yuma. Westworld was pretty popular. And if you broaden the definition, Hell or High Water and even Logan are also amazing western films.
• With all that in mind, I think an RDR adaptation, either a series or a stand alone film, has a very good chance of working out.

Finally, a bit of a side note. I know this is kinda hypocritical, but one of my biggest life goal is to be a filmmaker and get to adapt a game into film. And currently the one I really wanted to adapt is actually an Indie game: FTL.

If you get to direct a game based movie, what would be your choice?

In any case, I'll see you in the next video, soon!