AccentedCinema

[Weekly Update] March 1st, 2020

Added 2020-03-02 03:09:25 +0000 UTC

Long time no see, everybody. Let's get back into our regular routine, shall we?

New episode is currently being written as we speak. The material is a bit bigger than I expected, so I might ended up splitting it into a two parter. It's a fun subject, something martial arts related. Shall we say, it may be a subject you don't know you are interested in.
New episode will be out before the 15th.
Stay tuned to Patreon. We'll be holding a poll later this week, to decide what our April episode will be. I have a few long frequently requested topics in mind. But if you have any suggestions, feel free to leave them below.
Despite a month long absence, the channel continues grow. Parasite winning big in the Oscar definitely boosted the channel's popularity. Thank you all for requesting that video topic!
Also, we have our first million view video! That'd be the one about why Chinese swords aren't as famous. A million! Ottawa doesn't have a million people in it. That's nuts!

Over the past month, I've seen 1917, Jumanji 2, Birds of Prey, Sonic, Color Out of Space and probably some more that I don't remember. I have plans to talk about some of them, while others... I'll just keep them as a short Twitter rant.

Instead, let's talk about the Oscars! After the "Oscar So White" controversy a few years ago, the Academy awards suddenly gets a lot more diverse. And so does The Hollywood industry in general.
Added with the fact that Joker was considered a serious contender for best picture, shows that Hollywood is entering a new phase. Or at least, I hope.
Lindsay Ellis did a great video on the topic of Oscar Bait. In short, Oscar best picture used to line up pretty well with mainstream box office successes. That held truth all the way to the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Sometime after that, however, Oscar went hipster and started focusing much more on a very specific style of... social commentary films. I personally think it peaked when Crash won best picture over Brokeback Mountain. I'm still salty about that.

But with Black Panther or all things gotten a best picture nomination, Moonlight winning against the usual Hollywood ego stroke that is La La Land, and now, Parasite, the Academy Awards feels like they have ascended to the next level of hipster spirit.
I'm guessing from now on, the Oscar will be looking out for more... unconventional, avant-garde stuff. Which isn't a bad thing. Wether said thing is a mainstream success or a art house darling, will gradually matters less and less.
I hope that means the line between the two will be blurred. Maybe, we can get some more stuff like Logan, Joker and The Dark Knight, entertaining mainstream films that are also challenging art pieces.

My original plan of traveling to Asia has been cancelled for obvious reasons. And the epidemic is spreading around the world now. Stay safe, everyone!
It is also a really bad time to be a Chinese immigrant. Being a responsible adult, I now go out with a face mask, but that only makes me stands out even more. If seasonal allergy hits, oh... oh boy.

So this is the update. Hope you enjoyed our bonus video on Jojo Rabbit, and had a great February. I'll see you next week!