AccentedCinema

[Weekly Update] June 20, 2021

Added 2021-06-20 23:40:55 +0000 UTC

Phew, this is a productive month. Two videos and there is still one more coming in a few days.

ABOUT THE CHANNEL

Hope you all enjoy our unscheduled, extra video on Future Cops. Being a bit of a prankster, it was a neat experience to just turn Xiran Jay Zhao's joke into a full video. Hopefully we'll have a proper collaboration in the future.
Anyway, some viewers may have noticed a slight increase in animation in our Kung Fu Panda video, with motion tracking and 3D text. I'm hoping to turn that into a stable part of our video's aesthetic. Let me know what you think!
I'll also return to our older narration style, calmer, lower energy, more ASMR. It's easier on the throat, and I think some of our viewers find that a bit more appealing.
That said, I won't hold back if a movie pisses me off too much.
Our next video is currently being edited. While spoiler is mild, I do suggest watching the film first. New Gods: Nezha Reborn is available on Netflix, and it is a pretty decent watch. Not deep by any mean, but has some pretty solid action.

ABOUT MEDIA

I miss genre films. Mainly genre B-movies.
With our viewers age range, I think most of us are at least aware of the rise in home media (before killed off by streaming). That was a golden age for genre flicks. If you aren't satisfied with just watching Star Wars, there is also Battle Beyond the Stars, Laser Blast, Galaxy of Terror, and a whole bunch more.
These are genre b-movies, movies that follows conventional genre tropes, but are otherwise much lower budget than a typical Hollywood productions.
There is a certain charm with these films. All of the above mentioned films have a good deal of craftsmanship. Back then, movies have amazing sets and silly but complicated costumes. Everything is grand.
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Today, with online streaming, indie productions are on the rise again (I think, I hope).
But none of the modern indie films I watched have that genre abiding charm. A lot of these indie films are high concept: Triangle (2009), Primer (2004), and even Looper (2012) are all time travel movies that aims for a specific subset of niche filmgoers.
It all comes down to the fact that, with gaming being so readily available, and mega big budget movies cornering the market, indie productions just don't have access to to mainstream audience like they used to.
In other words, 80s b-movie has great set and amazing effects, because it's aiming for audience expecting those qualities. Modern indie flicks has to attract hardcore cinephiles with style and complex lore, stories.
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So, let's talk about some of these genre b-movies.
Deathstalker is... I have no idea why this movie is popular among b-movie fans. This is your classic Corman "idea over execution" movie. It sells you the idea of sword, sex, and magic, but then delivers none of it. I guess the main character can be kinda charming, in an anti-hero sort of way.
It's kinda crazy how good Conan the Barbarian is, and how no other sword and sorcery movies ever came close.
Sure, there is The Beastmaster, but that's really about it. There's also Yor, the Hunter from the Future. But let's don't go too crazy about it here.
At least Carnosaur has a dinosaur in it... Can't really see much of it, though, since the movie is almost pitch black half the time. But that's another thing about these movies, even when it's cheap and lame, it's still exciting to see a dinosaur puppet.
If it's done today, it would have been all CGI, and the excitement is just not there. I have no idea why, but CG Dino just doesn't have the same appeal, even if it looks better.
Death Race 2000, on the other hand, is a classic. It came out a decade before Robocop, but the satire is just as on point. It's raunchy and cheap. But in a way, it feels almost intentional. This might actually be a good movie.
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I can gush about b-movies for the rest of the day, but you get the point. I like these movies. In film school, most of my mates make modern indie flicks. You know, movies about racism, LGBT rights, cancer, things like that. I make dumb comedies and genre movies.
Unlike most other art forms, film was made as an entertainment. The first screening in Grand Cafe is an entertainment show. While I know some snobby people don't consider entertainment films "cinema"...
To me, cinema is entertainment, before it was cinema.