[Weekly Updates] April 26, 2021

With out last video of April done, the main channel will enter a bit of a hiatus. I have been working non-stop since late February. I'll take this extra week off to regroup myself and plan for new videos ahead.

Don't worry, updates and bonus videos will still be done. But the next video will be at the 13th of May. Let's get into the update for a bit more detail.

ABOU THE CHANNEL

• Hope you enjoyed our snarky video on Earwig and the Witch. Originally I wasn't planned on making this video. But the viewing experience was so poor, I can't helped it.
• This is a bit of an experiment, making video with slightly more humor and pop culture references. As you can see, I'm not very good at it, managed to simultaneously angers Ryan Gosling fans and Anime fans (and also Ryan Reynold fans who misread).
• It seem the humor side of things is generally well received, however. So I'll keep going at it. Hopefully I get a hang of it soon. And don't worry, I won't force myself to swear just for humor.
• For our next patch of videos, patron A+J recommends doing a retrospective on Tony Leung, since he is in Shang-Chi. Thank you for the suggestions! It's definitely a possibility.
• Another idea is the depiction of Kung Fu (and Eastern Martial Arts in general) in Hollywood, and how it has changed because of Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, The Matrix, and where it is today.
• Finally, originally I have a three parter series highlighting some of the less than glamorous side of cinema in Asia. I'll be talking about the crappy movies produced by S.Korea, Hong Kong, and Japan. However, I decided to cut it down to a two parter, removing Japan from the list. Main reason being, bad Japanese movies are either intentionally made that way, or just uninteresting failed movies. I couldn't find a larger narrative at play for the Japanese film industry.
• Some may say the Japanese industry is just about to head into "bad" territory. Maybe the story has yet to be told.

ABOUT MEDIA

• Apparently I made a controversial take. No, no on Ryan Gosling. That was a jab I made following Every Frame A Painting's example.
• I was referring to my high recommendations on the new Mortal Kombat movie on Twitter. For me, it was a perfect fun time, reminiscent of the 90s video rental experience. It is exactly what I expect from a video about a game where you get to punch a four arm monster in the nuts.
• I thought the fights are well choreographed (for Hollywood standard), capturing the fighting game feel. The editing is horrendous, which is one major weakness for me. The dialogue is also really bad, but that one is almost so bad it is good. At least they are smart enough to get all the expositions out of the way quickly.
• Anyway, many viewers expressed disagreement with my assessment. Many people can't stand the editing, and the dialogue, and was not impressed with the action. It took me a bit, but it seems to me that those who did not enjoy it, viewed it more as a proper blockbuster production. Which, I think, is the fair way to see it.
• Yeah, I was being very generous with that movie, because I watched it at home. It was fun, but it was not good.
• But it also makes me think that, maybe, not a lot of people enjoy those 90s rental shlock movies. If you are fans of Good Bad Flicks, or Brandon Tenold, you know what I mean.
• These are B movies made on the cheap, with one idea, and nothing else. Watching these movies require you to forget about the overall quality of a film, and learn to find a gem inside a turd.
• One of my favourite 90s movie was Soldier (1998). It's no doubt director Paul W.S. Anderson has fallen to the dark side. But on some level, I can't blame him. If I made Event Horizon and then Soldier, and critics ripped both apart, I'd give up any hope, too.
• Soldier is about a genetically engineer soldier, born and raised as a warrior, rediscovering his humanity, after trapped in a trash planet along with other poor villagers. It has exactly one concept, and it is a cliche one.
• But this cliche concept is excited very well, through the acting of the excellent Kurt Russell. It may not be an original movie, or a well done movie, it it is a satisfying experience.
• Other famous rental movie includes Puppet Master (1989), a movie in which you get to watch a bunch of uniquely designed puppets killing people. It's a sleazy movie, and you get exactly what it advertised.
• Some of Arnold's movie are also like that. The Sixth Day (2000), a movie about a cloned character, trying to fight a conspiracy and also find his place in the world, has the exact same simply and cliche hook, but done satisfyingly.
• To me, Mortal Kombat is the same, it's about a group of fighters joining an inter-dimensional tournament, to decide the fate of the Earth. It is cheesy by default.
• Throughout the movie's trouble development, it seems that at one point, the movie was supposed to be more serious. And some viewers may have picked that up, and thus feel the film fails to live up to that standard.
• Ultimately, Mortal Kombat is a very divisive movie, because it is a very mixed movie. If you enjoy exploitation cinema and view this as such, you'll love it. If you want a more straight, serious, blockbuster production, then this feels really cheap and poorly made.
• Expectation really is half the experience.

And that wraps up our update! Bonus video will be out in a couple of days. I'll see you then!