A geologist and archaeologist by training, a nerd by inclination - books, films, fossils, comics, rocks, games, folklore, and, generally, the rum and uncanny… Let’s have it!
Elsewhere:
It’s an incredibly complicated issue, even if you look at individual cases (like Caster Semenya) and there’s almost no easy way to define what you mean by a woman. Ultimately it’s down to the individual sporting organisations to decide how to call it based on expert advice and any decision is going to disadvantage some athletes. If they think the decision is wrong, then there should be a way to appeal decisions because it can come down to difficult analysis based on each individual’s life history.
A compelling argument I’ve heard is that the greatest performance enhancing drug is being exposed to testosterone during puberty and that seems to be the base line a lot of the sporting organisations use. However, even then it is difficult to call for individuals and would need expert testimony on each individual case.
He is Ezekiel Sims and the Wikipedia entry might give more background on the original character, although he has been chopped and changed so much he is almost unrecognisable.
The reason the character is so one dimensional is that they radically changed the story (why cast members have been so happy to throw it under the bus, as what we saw wasn’t what they signed up for) and we’d have got more of his motivation. As the character is key to some of the big storylines and lore upgrades, he might have also helped set up future films. Instead they still seem intent on killing the franchise, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, because a Spidey-less Spider-Man fictional universe is a stupid idea, badly implemented.
I thought it was a month to miss but I enjoyed Acción Mutante and the other two are on my watchlist, so I am in for Love, Death & Apocalypse.
Champions and Two Taoist Tales for me. Taoism Drunkard in particular is really out there, I’d have preferred if it had been teamed with Shaolin Drunkard (which must be in the pipeline) but I’m happy with the set.
Excellent analysis that torpedoes a lot of explanations for this slow year.
In 2024, the domestic box office will be in its 22nd year of sustained decline. And due to the pandemic, audiences are behaving as though they’re between 32 to 37 years into this decline. Fewer than two thirds of Americans still go to the movies, and on average, they will purchase just about 3 tickets annually (hence the average American buying about 2). The practically addressable number of tickets is even more modest as a handful of signature releases each year (e.g. an Avengers, Jurassic, Avatar, Despicable Me) will devour 5-10% each. These constraints mean that the box office – audiences – won’t support many films, or many great films. The misses will consistently surprise moviegoers, critics, stars, and reviewers. This is not a new challenge, per se, but it has never before been more brutal (note that while the modern dominance of comicbook movies is often likened to the heydays of Westerns, Westerns thrives at a time where Americans headed to the theater 20-35x a year!). This will have to change budgets, talent incentives, risk proclivities, franchise plans, and more.
This is key, I feel. If people are going only three times a year, they are going to the biggest most hyped films as it is less of a risk.
Still, changes are probably due. An independently operated MoviePass was always a dumb idea, but to renew frequent moviegoers, it’s clear that some form of AYCE subscription or subscription perk will be required. AMC A-List is a good start, but doesn’t Disney+ have an additional tier (perhaps Disney++) that provides free or discounted tickets to Disney films while they are in theaters? For that matter, distributors should sell premium movie tickets that include EST entitlements or discounts (this may not increase attendance, but it should increase total revenue per customers).
I have the Odeon’s pass and it pays for itself if you go twice a month - I go twice a week and 5 times last week.
Some recent changes should probably be unwound, too. While rapid PVOD windows have helped some money-losing films recover their investments, this model probably just trains audiences to skip uncertain releases because they might be available at home in three weeks anyway.
This seems like an important change - if the cinema is the only place to see a film for a while, then they will go back to the cinema.
I’ve enjoyed:
The Rock has always prided himself on being the hardest working guy in the room, which is fine but can lead to dickery (like pissing in bottles). Cena has a similar work ethic but puts it towards being a great guy. It’s notable that James Gunn has a tight team around him that contains people he knows work hard and work well with others and Cena is now part of that team. I don’t expect to see Black Adam in the Gunniverse, unless it’s a quick cameo.
But Deadpool and Wolverine will clean up at the box office, so there’ll be articles declaring superhero movies are back. The real story is that corporate-mandated superhero films that no-one asked for and are just another link in the franchise sausage being churned out are not getting people into cinemas, where they will turn out form something they want to see. The interesting test will be when the Gunniverse starts - if that’s a success while Marvel continue to flounder then it may give them the incentive to change course. They are already cutting back on their output and I hope that means telling quality stories the creators want to tell (that may interlink as a second thought), as that’s how the MCU started.
In fact, I’m now more confident than ever that 2025 is going to be a big year for 4K disc fans!
I think I just heard my wallet groan.
“The single perspective never changes, but everything around it does,” Zemeckis tells Vanity Fair in this exclusive first look. “It’s actually never been done before. There are similar scenes in very early silent movies, before the language of montage was invented. But other than that, yeah, it was a risky venture.”
I’m sure it’s been done before but quite where is eluding me.
He doesn’t exactly look his age also timey wimey business could handwave that away.
Seems perfect.
Careful, we don’t allow the N word on here.
Brilliant!
That’s the right wing media for you. I don’t have them blocked in my newsfeed so I can see what they are up to and it is a completely different world - pretty much anything green gets hammered.
They’re a strong choice - Timo Tjahjanto seems to have learnt all the right lessons from The Raid (he even worked with Gareth Evans on the best segment from VHS 2, possibly the best segment of the franchise) and he poised for a big breakout hit western cinema.
Definitely do, it’s a great film.
I can’t as Bobby Brewster and the Winkers’ Club is clearly the superior title.