[Weekly Update] October 4, 2021

It's October! Which means we are entering festival season, at least in North America, with Halloween, Thanks Giving, and eventually Christmas.

How about you? What does your culture celebrate in the winter?

CHANNEL UPDATE

• Due to an unexpected appearance of Halloween, which I can in no way predict or prepared for, I have to shift the schedule around to include a horror episode. But this is not just any old horror episode, it'll be one about Mainland Chinese horror movies. And if you know anything about Mainland horror, you know they all suck.
• So I guess the real horror is me having to watch them.
• Do you have other horror movies you want me to talk about? House (1977)? Rigor Mortis (2013)?
• I really want to talk about Malaysian horror, but it's so hard to find them anywhere online.
• Silenced (2011) is on the docket.
• I'm also thinking of doing a Cynthia Rothrock retrospective this winter. Still have to start tracking down some old DVDs.
• And hope you enjoy our videos on Gun-Fu!

MEDIA TALK

• I don't know if it's still common, but I remember this question being asked frequently in film school: "Does becoming a filmmaker / going to film school ruins your ability to enjoy a movie?"
• The short answer is yes.
• The long answer is a lot more complicated than that. Simply put, it's kinda a trade-off.
• The first thing is, it definitely makes watching movie a lot more daunting, at least for me. I used to be able to watch multiple movies a day without much of a thought. Back then, I experienced movies passively, subconsciously. I didn't delve into hidden meanings or the crafts of it, nor did I have the ability to.
• Going to film school made that passive enjoyment into an active one. It's almost a compulsive behaviour: I have to actively analyze the film for it's strength and weaknesses. And if I have to make a video on it, I have to also examine my inherent bias.
• For example, when watching Shang-Chi, I noticed the fight scenes aren't edited the same way Hong Kong did, or it doesn't feel exactly like a Jackie Chan movie. But then I'll have to ask myself if that is inherently a bad thing? It is then I came to the realization that a moving camera being part of the choreography has potential.
• In other words, it makes watching movies a draining process. It requires my active participation. It feels like a chore, at times.
• However, that also means I get more out of a film in a single viewing this way. When I first saw The Thing, I was just a casual film goer. I knew it is a good movie. I can feel that. But Because I didn't know why it is good, the details of the film didn't stay with me. I eventually have to rewatch the film to refresh my memory.
• Compare that to The Farewell, a movie I adore. Watching it with an analytical mindset, I was able to tell why it is so good, deconstruct the film on the go, and digest the film afterward.
• And of course, it makes Accented Cinema a possibility. That, alone, is a huge benefit
• So, does going to film school ruin my enjoyment of films? For me, it certainly has a heavy effect. I miss the days I can just sit back and enjoy the movies. But it also makes good movies just that much better.

And that is the update! A bit of a shorter one this week. Although I think most updates on this page are way too long anyway. Production on our next video will begin soon. Time will tell if I need to swear like a sailor.