[Weekly Update] December 1st, 2019

Oh my god, the year is almost over. I feel old. Remember when the year 2020 sounded so futuristic?

ABOUT THE CHANNEL

• Hope you enjoyed the Joker bonus video. The video was meant to be longer, but I find myself too invested in analyzing every detail, and it practically became a 20 minute episode. I ended up having to scale back so I can make it and the next episode in time.
• New episode is coming up, this is a fun one and been in the work for a while. Although progress is a bit slow, since I'm also distracted by other projects currently. There may be some minor delays, but it'll be worth it, I promise.
• The YouTube algorithm continues to bless this channel, and it's growing pretty quick, even thought we didn't really do much. Turns out Parasite and The Eye are just two very popular films, which surprises me.

ABOUT MEDIA

• Finally got around to watch Germini Man
• I didn't bother with the 120fps non-sense. I'm fairly neutral in this. Maybe it is the future, I imagine people being apprehensive when cinemascope came out, or when colour came out, or when sound came out.
• But it certainly doesn't affect me in the immediate future. Audience don't find it charming, I don't think it's worth it to increase my file size by 5 times. 

• Anyway, what I really talk about is how impressive this film is, in that a bad story can ruin everything for you.
• The film is technically fairly well produced. While the cinematography looks to be rushed (come deep focus + wide angle portrait shots look very amateurish), it has some inventive angles. The editing is deliberate and well paced, action scenes are clean and snappy.
• The standout point is definitely Will Smith's performance. Damn, he tried. He definitely give it his all. Seeing him act like a 20 year old young adult and pulling it off is mesmerizing and impressive.
• Sadly, the terrible story makes this film near unwatchable. First of all, the premise feels... old. Usually, in the middle of the film, the main character encounters the mid-twist, and changes the story dynamic. In Die Hard, John goes from finding help to saving his wife and eliminating all terrorist. In Terminator 2, John (again) goes from escaping the T-1000 to stopping Judgement Day.
• In Gemini Man, the mid twist is... well, Will find out the younger clone of himself is... a clone. That's it. It may be shocking back in 1995. This script is a harsh reminder that, scripts have expiration dates.
• And that's how the film feels, old and uninteresting. It feels like it was meant to starred Arnold or Stallone. But instead, it lack the charm of the 90s cheese, and has far behind the quality of modern action films like Mission Impossible.
• Damn shame, really.

ABOUT LIFE

• So I think I'm ending Season One of this channel in January. That means we have 2 more videos. And then I'll take some time off during Chinese New Year. Don't worry, I'll be back.
• I'll see if I can make a few smaller episodes for you during my time offs. If not, I'll suspense Patreon for a month. I guess we'll see in the near future.

So, that's the update and thank you for reading my review. I hope you have a great holiday season, and I'll see you in a few days with a brand new episode!