![[Weekly Update] August 23rd, 2020](https://img5.samsuka.com/storage/12/eg/rv/c6f9d9-019e86f1-f0db-7613-b572-51ba63de6ae3.jpg)
[Weekly Update] August 23rd, 2020
Added 2020-08-24 00:39:22 +0000 UTCJust a quick reminder than you can now pledge in British Pounds and Euros. If you would like to switch currency to avoid exchange fees, simply unpledge before the end of the month, and come by next month.
Otherwise, this is going to be a shorter update, since I'm kinda under the weather today, and there isn't much going on.
ABOUT THE CHANNEL
- Originally I was going to do another poll to let everyone here decide a future topic, but unbelievably, I already have topics lined up all the way to November. We do have a Godzilla episode I'm not certain if I'll go through. Maybe I'll swap that one out with a community vote. More update in the future.
- After a bit of a dip, the channel's view is trending back up again, and subscribers growth is almost back to channel average. It has been a while since we did an episode on more "marketable" topics, and I think that's the main reason why the growth is slow. Thanks to your direct support, this channel is slowly moving away from algorithm baiting and can actually highlight more underrated films.
- Do you enjoy the videos on more obscure films? Or do you prefer my more mainstream videos on martial arts cinema?
- Otherwise, we are still scripting for our next video. The deadline for Thursday is a bit tight, but we should be able to make it. We'll see you then with a video on Train to Busan.
ABOUT MEDIA
- Tons of trailers are coming out. The Batman, The Snyder Cut, The New Mutant, and of course, Tenet. It seems like the industry is finally restarting, for better or worse.
- So, let's talk about them.
- The Batman: I'm actually impressed with the art direction a lot. Even though I don't enjoy the execution of the armour suit, I still enjoy the idea behind it, with its collar, and a masquerade style masks, this is gonna be a retro, gothic, operatic, which I'm all for.
- What impresses me more, however, is Robert Pattinson. Dude really put in the work. There is this one shot in the trailer, where Batman walks into the crime scene. The way he walks feels appropriately operatic. Even when he stands in plain sight, he seems mysterious.. There is certain body language that makes him feel on guard yet mysterious. As far as I can remember, no other live action Batman manages to achieve. I'm actually looking forward to this.
- The Snyder Cut: DC fans are all over this, so many comments are hoping this will mark the continuation of Zack Snyder's vision. It's crazy to me that all of a sudden, Snyder is like the saviour of the DCEU.
- Anyway, I did not like the trailer, especially not after seeing The Batman. I doubt the source materials will be good. Knowing Snyder, it'll go into each character's backstory, but not a lot of emotions will be felt. But beyond the source material, it's just a really boring trailer anyway. It makes it look like an Amazon original show. Beyond the new footage, it kinda fails to convince me what the selling point is.
- The New Mutant: Oh boy, do we still know what this film is about? If Geostorm told me anything, films that delayed like this are not going to be good.
- The trailer itself is okay, it sells the idea that this is a horror film format for an X-Men movie, which is still a fresh and unexplored idea. But the editing and the music is fairly cookie cutter. The problem is the source materials. All the shots they included are... flat. The sets lack depth, the colours lacks cohesiveness, The framing lacks punch... Yeah it feels like something I can do, which is not a good sign.
- Tenet: I'm actually avoiding watching the trailers, because I know I'll see this movie, and it'll be best experienced with no prior knowledge. Not that the trailer shows much as far as I know.
- I did saw its 20 second teasers, the one where John David Washington fires a gun to catch the already lunched bullet. So I guess it's a film about reverse causation. It's a great teaser, to the point, and instantly hooks you, much like most of the Nolan films. Will it be good? Most likely. Not sure if it'll blow me away, though. We'll see.
And that's the update... BREAKING NEWS
Someone just uploaded the pre-vis footage for Sonic the Hedgehog. I mean the one before the redesign...
I'm going to traumatize myself now. Feel free to join me! See you next episode.
Comments
I'm cautiously optimistic about The Batman. The Telltale Batman games also has the Wayne family related to organized crime, and it was fairly well received twist on the Batman mythos. The 1989 Batman swapped out Joe Chill with The Joker as the one who killed Batman's parents, certainly a bad change, but didn't diminished the film as one of the greats. I'm just glad to see Batman fighting organized crime again, something that most Batman movies and games put on the sideline because it's not exciting enough. Taking today's political climate into consideration, I bet this Batman is will be fairly anti-rich and anti-police. My guess: Theme One: The Wayne family cannot legitimately en masse such wealth without exploiting their workers and dabble in shady dealings. That's how the Riddler came to be, exploited by the Wayne family. Theme Two: Crimes are rampant in Gotham because of police corruption. I have a feeling they will butcher all these messages. But we'll see.
Accented Cinema
2020-08-24 08:19:25 +0000 UTCThe Batman has me worried. Here's a quote off of /Slash: "This is Batman in his second year of crimefighting, as he’s taking part in a “criminological experiment” to figure out how to change Gotham.” And that’s when a murder mystery arises that blows the lid off of how deep the corruption in Gotham really goes – and how it connects to the Wayne family." In many people's opinion the worst part of the Daniel Craig Bond films is the interconnected nature that they forced into it. Blofeld saying crap like "It was me James. The author of all your pain." It feels like Craig's Bond films were build off of lessons learned by Christian Bale's Batman trilogy, and Quantum, most of Skyfall and Spectre showed us they might not have been the best lessons. What is the possibility that Robert Pattinson's Batman trilogy is going to be built off of the the worst lessons learned from Craig's Bond films? It sure feels possible, especially with that trailer that had a Riddler who wore a mask of duck tape and a Catwoman who's mask was just absurd. The tone was interesting, especially with the 70s noir grime mixed with modern sensibilities, but ending the whole thing by saying "You're connected to all of this / How am I? / You'll see." feels like a huge red flag. There's still a long time before it comes out, so maybe the next trailer will leave a better impression, but these are potential design choices, all seeming to say that instead of the mob sending the Joker after Batman this film is going to be The Penguin sending The Riddler after Batman, with the possibility he's going after Wayne as well. I'm betting that Batman is going to end up removing the tape from a victim to find out it's someone close to him at least once. The Snyder Cut's trailer wasn't really a trailer, but more like a celebration. Not sure what to think of it so far. Here's to hoping three years of re-evaluating his decisions constantly pays off with something closer to Batman v Superman's Ultimate Edition than the theatrical one. But as for your question: I'd prefer a mix of them. Ideally there would be some mainstream things that you feel you have an interesting or unique perspective on, along with some obscure things, and maybe occasional dives into TV shows. I'd love to hear what you thought about Warrior or Into The Badlands, for example, or any shows that catch your fancy one way or another, like the just cancelled Penny Dreadful: City of Angels.
Michael Everett
2020-08-24 01:00:04 +0000 UTC
