[QuickTidal]

 worry, on 16 April 2025 - 01:46 PM, said:

Yeah...12 Rebels.

That's the sequel, and then the last one 13 Rebels will bring things back to the location of the first one and Al Pacino will be the bad guy.

[QuickTidal]

Watched THE RETURN, the retelling of the final section of the Odyssey with Ralph Fiennes, and Juliet Binoche as Odysseus and Penelope respectively.


It was NOT AT ALL what I expected. Slow, and yet inexorably paced, and largely quieter than you'd expect such a film to be. Intensely personal too with a narrow focus that feels relentless. Gone are any of the mythic trappings of the story, and instead it's just a general and soldier with HEFTY PTSD coming home to try to set things right in his homeland but reluctant to open himself back up to the violence that informed his years at Troy and after...like the whole Circe thing is heavily implied to have been Odysseus having an affair with a woman on an island (not a witch), and that the "men turning into pigs" thing was a turn of phrase to showcase how his men from the war had fallen into evil habits...it all feels exceptionally grounded. the last Uberto Pasolini film I saw was THE MISSION (he was only 3rd AD on that too), so this was fresh to me.

Will I re-watch it? No, probably never, but it's one of those films I'm glad to have watched as it was very deliberately made, acted and directed. I usually prefer my Greek myths to me Mythic, but I can't fault the grounded approach in thew film as it works for the story they were telling.


And I think my only visual complaint was that the palace was too much like a medieval castle than what would have been a mediterranean palace of the time which would have been, but it's a minor quibble. For reference the castle is in Corfu and is called Angelokastro and is from the Byzantine era, so about a thousand years beyond the Odyssey....BUT the film was made for a shoestring 20million $ budget so shooting at an intact practical castle in the region makes sense over CGI-ing what it would have looked like.

[QuickTidal]

Finally watched NOSFERATU (it's on Prime now, so free)...and I have thoughts.


I didn't like it I was pretty much repulsed by most of the back half of it actually. I'm a fan of Bram Stoker's DRACULA (FFC's film) and how it tells the Dracula story.

This? This was a mess on most levels, and disgusting on many others

Eggers has a problem is with saying his movies are about "x" of then the actual movie proves the opposite. This movie was apparently about women embracing lust? Apparently though it's bad to lust because then you'll draw a rotting vampire devil to you? In The Witch. It's bad to be a paranoid religious zealot? Well apparently not because she did indeed go with the devil and become a witch. Eggers says one thing then does another when it comes to the themes. It baffles me.

Cinematography-wise some of the outside shots were nice, but the vast majority of this movie was bleak greys and blue filters....inside the lighting is pitiful and dark, so there is no detail. It's like watching shadows act on a yellow screen.

The score was pedestrian. The acting was middle of the road at bEST for everyone barring Dafoe (who was good for what this was) and Skarsgaard (who was also good for what this was). The script is just super weak, the dialogue is simplistic, and the themes are as I said backwards AF.

Say what you will of the straightforward gothicness of Coppola's film, but at least it was gorgeous to look at, and the script was deft and constantly engaging, and the majority of it didn't go into how vile this one went...

This was long, boring, and strange and morally reprehensible.

Also, I take issue with the concept of Orlok being this rotting corpse of moustached ugly...the whole ass point of Dracula and vampires in general is that they lure you in with their sexuality and attractiveness...the "ugly" underlying nature of them is meant to be hidden so their human prey does not catch on. Having her fall for Orlok and under his spell without that feature just makes it such a lazy "Oh he got into her mind" shit. Just no.


I think that's my last Eggers film...he and I do NOT agree on what makes a good movie. Worse, it was fucking obscene in MANY instances. I'm not squeamish, but my gods....Just vile for vile's sake.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 30 April 2025 - 01:33 PM

[polishgenius]

Meanwhile, I went to see Sinners, which is really very good indeed.


Gonna have to figure out how to explain to my dad that the best blues film for decades is a vampire flick.

[QuickTidal]

polishgenius, on 30 April 2025 - 07:51 PM, said:

Meanwhile, I went to see Sinners, which is really very good indeed.


Gonna have to figure out how to explain to my dad that the best blues film for decades is a vampire flick.

Have heard nothing but great things. Can’t wait to see it!

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Trump on Truth Social:

Quote

The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death. Other Countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States. Hollywood, and many other areas within the U.S.A., are being devastated. This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat. It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda! Therefore, I am authorizing the Department of Commerce, and the United States Trade Representative, to immediately begin the process of instituting a 100% Tariff on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands. WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!

Truth Details | Truth Social

Quote

Many American movies and shows are shot on location outside the United States. In addition to tax breaks, many foreign staff demand cheaper pay, making some movies more economically viable to produce.Trump has lambasted non-tariff trade barriers that other countries place on the United States, but he has so far limited America's retaliation to traditional tariffs on goods. [...] But none of those tariffs are on services. The tariffs on film production — if they come to pass — could be the first.

Trump orders a 100% tariff on foreign movies | CNN Business

As usual, the optimistic take is that Trump just wants another way to extort money (or $Trumpcoin...). But I suspect he really does want to try to force films to be shot and produced in the United States. And if it applies to streaming, why stop at films? TV would probably be next... or he might do both at once. At least, if the studios and streaming services don't pay up pronto...

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 05 May 2025 - 10:15 AM

[QuickTidal]

Azath Vitr (D, on 05 May 2025 - 09:57 AM, said:

Trump on Truth Social:

Quote

The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death. Other Countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States. Hollywood, and many other areas within the U.S.A., are being devastated. This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat. It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda! Therefore, I am authorizing the Department of Commerce, and the United States Trade Representative, to immediately begin the process of instituting a 100% Tariff on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands. WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!

The bolded bit. As someone who knows more than a few people in the film industry, most of whom are involved in productions being handled here....this is such BS. Studios come to Canada because it's cheaper to shoot in Toronto or Vancouver than it is to shoot in the States...whole ass series (Stargate SG1 for example) shot in BC during the 90's/2000's and it was fine.

Make no mistake, such an effort to tariff movies and shows is going to hinder the US studios ability to make films and shows...and foreign made films and shows will just begin to outclass US ones. Hell, Hong Kong was once the BIGGEST producer of film on the planet, dwarfing Hollywood in the 60's and 70's by a long stretch. They can do so again.

Example: Every single Trek show that has been produced in the last decade or currently in production are shot in Toronto...the Disco set, the Enterprise set, and the new Academy sets? ALL in Toronto down near the Beaches studios. Moving those productions is a start from scratch situation...rebuilding all the sets ect. So those productions won't move, but tariffing them will just means CBS just chooses to shut it down, everyone loses their jobs, and Trek leaves TV again for the indefinite future.

Let's also not forget that this orange Chud has Gibson, Stallone, and Voight as his McCarthyist Hollywood insiders who are going to "weed out shit he doesn't like"...

Well Mr. Trump: "The more you tighten your grip, the more star systems will slip through your fingers."

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 05 May 2025 - 12:09 PM

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

QuickTidal, on 05 May 2025 - 11:59 AM, said:

As someone who knows more than a few people in the film industry, most of whom are involved in productions being handled here....this is such BS. Studios come to Canada because it's cheaper to shoot in Toronto or Vancouver than it is to shoot in the States...whole ass series (Stargate SG1 for example) shot in BC during the 90's/2000's and it was fine.

Make no mistake, such an effort to tariff movies and shows is going to hinder the US studios ability to make films and shows...and foreign made films and shows will just begin to outclass US ones. Hell, Hong Kong was once the BIGGEST producer of film on the planet, dwarfing Hollywood in the 60's and 70's by a long stretch. They can do so again.

Example: Every single Trek show that has been produced in the last decade or currently in production are shot in Toronto...the Disco set, the Enterprise set, and the new Academy sets? ALL in Toronto down near the Beaches studios. Moving those productions is a start from scratch situation...rebuilding all the sets ect. So those productions won't move, but tariffing them will just means CBS just chooses to shut it down, everyone loses their jobs, and Trek leaves TV again for the indefinite future.

Let's also not forget that this orange Chud has Gibson, Stallone, and Voight as his McCarthyist Hollywood insiders who are going to "weed out shit he doesn't like"...

Well Mr. Trump: "The more you tighten your grip, the more star systems will slip through your fingers."

But Star Trek is clearly anti-American propaganda... no wonder Canadians are behind it!

Seriously though, Trump might try to use tariffs as leverage against anti-Trump/MAGA content and in favor of pro-Trump/MAGA content. Trump preemptively accuses his "opponents" of doing what he plans to do... so calling films made outside the US "propaganda" may be a prelude to trying to force them to become propaganda on his behalf.

[amphibian]

I'm pretty sure this talk of movie tariffs comes after Jon Voight tried to talk to Trump about film tax credits to revive a very ailing Hollywood film industry. Trump took the misunderstanding and ran with it.

The tax credit wouldn't fix the major pay/residual inequality issues that have been killing the film industry. Production, writing, make-up, actors, stunts etc - they're all getting shafted by the big business folks and that's something Zaslav etc will just go to the reality TV hole over and over to dodge until the unions go bust.

[QuickTidal]

amphibian, on 05 May 2025 - 12:49 PM, said:

I'm pretty sure this talk of movie tariffs comes after Jon Voight tried to talk to Trump about film tax credits to revive a very ailing Hollywood film industry. Trump took the misunderstanding and ran with it.

The tax credit wouldn't fix the major pay/residual inequality issues that have been killing the film industry. Production, writing, make-up, actors, stunts etc - they're all getting shafted by the big business folks and that's something Zaslav etc will just go to the reality TV hole over and over to dodge until the unions go bust.

Yeah, that's a great point. His rich ass corporate buddies will be fine, but everyone else in that industry will nominally get screwed over more than they Currently are. It's a recipe for a waning industry for the US film/TV.


That said, like everything else in this isolationist American nonsense Trump is building...everyone else is going to get more of a chance to shine on that front than they did before.


I'm not kidding about Hong Kong. China could ABSOLUTELY find some capitalist backer like Run Run Shaw to re-establish the industry there (be it by helping out Media Asia or Golden Harvest; who are the defacto studios there now) or by creating something new...I mean they'd have to avoid some of the shit the CCP doesn't like (ghosts? LOL) and would probably have some propagandist nonsense too....but they could still make a very viable industry flourish where it once did. Hell, they just recently made and released TWILIGHT OF THE WARRIORS: WALLED IN to critical acclaim and it has slowly become the 2nd highest grossing domestically made movie in Hong Kong's history (it's a great flick if you've not seen it. Truly Great). so the interest is definitely there to start being a powerhouse again.


The same is true of so many other countries that could step up and fill that void.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 05 May 2025 - 01:41 PM

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Quote

In 2023, about half of the spending by U.S. producers on movie and TV projects with budgets of more than $40 million went outside the U.S. [...] The January wildfires accelerated concerns that producers may look outside Los Angeles, and that camera operators, costume designers, sound technicians and other behind-the-scenes workers may move out of town rather than try to rebuild in their neighborhoods.

A ProdPro survey of executives found California was the sixth most preferred place to film in the next two years, behind Toronto, Britain, Vancouver, Central Europe and Australia.

[...] retaliation against Trump's film tariffs would be devastating.

"The retaliation will kill our industry. We have a lot more to lose than to gain,"

Trump orders 100% tariff on foreign-made movies to save 'dying' Hollywood - Reuters via Yahoo Finance

Of course MAGA has been attacking Hollywood (etc.) for a long time...

Targeted exemptions for "MAGA-friendly" projects wouldn't stop retaliatory tariffs---which could even be applied to and increased for exempted "MAGA-friendly" content (granted, such content might not be very popular in those countries anyway...).

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 05 May 2025 - 01:57 PM

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 05 May 2025 - 01:39 PM, said:

amphibian, on 05 May 2025 - 12:49 PM, said:

I'm pretty sure this talk of movie tariffs comes after Jon Voight tried to talk to Trump about film tax credits to revive a very ailing Hollywood film industry. Trump took the misunderstanding and ran with it.

The tax credit wouldn't fix the major pay/residual inequality issues that have been killing the film industry. Production, writing, make-up, actors, stunts etc - they're all getting shafted by the big business folks and that's something Zaslav etc will just go to the reality TV hole over and over to dodge until the unions go bust.

Yeah, that's a great point. His rich ass corporate buddies will be fine, but everyone else in that industry will nominally get screwed over more than they Currently are. It's a recipe for a waning industry for the US film/TV.


That said, like everything else in this isolationist American nonsense Trump is building...everyone else is going to get more of a chance to shine on that front than they did before.


I'm not kidding about Hong Kong. China could ABSOLUTELY find some capitalist backer like Run Run Shaw to re-establish the industry there (be it by helping out Media Asia or Golden Harvest; who are the defacto studios there now) or by creating something new...I mean they'd have to avoid some of the shit the CCP doesn't like (ghosts? LOL) and would probably have some propagandist nonsense too....but they could still make a very viable industry flourish where it once did. Hell, they just recently made and released TWILIGHT OF THE WARRIORS: WALLED IN to critical acclaim and it has slowly become the 2nd highest grossing domestically made movie in Hong Kong's history (it's a great flick if you've not seen it. Truly Great). so the interest is definitely there to start being a powerhouse again.


The same is true of so many other countries that could step up and fill that void.

Isn't this fundamentally an attack on Disney & co for outsourcing virtually everything they can and working hard at getting Chinese audiences?

[amphibian]

I'd be super wary of viewing anything Disney does as anti Trump. The corporate leadership of Disney are much, much more aligned with Trump, Project 2025, and other random efforts than the rank and file LGBTQ support suggests.

If anything, Florida and Trump want to shake Disney down and get money coming their way rather than change anything major about Disney, which is already doing things they like.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

amphibian, on 05 May 2025 - 02:39 PM, said:

I'd be super wary of viewing anything Disney does as anti Trump. The corporate leadership of Disney are much, much more aligned with Trump, Project 2025, and other random efforts than the rank and file LGBTQ support suggests.

If anything, Florida and Trump want to shake Disney down and get money coming their way rather than change anything major about Disney, which is already doing things they like.

Well one positive thing I can say about Andor is that it pretty clearly opposes aspects of MAGA---at least in season two (though I've been trying to mostly avoid spoilers).

And sprinkle on MAGA outrage over Latina Snow White, Black Little Mermaid, etc...

[amphibian]

There's elements of certain products that are absolutely fitting into this, yet these are not coming from the corporate leadership. They are works of art done by hired professionals. Disney is not a full monolith, yet the ease with which they separate people from their money and keep the visitors flowing into their parks means the leadership is pulled only a little by those hired professionals.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Tariff exemptions coming up for MAGA Little Mermaid, Neo-Nazi Snow White... Al Laddin set in Texas with white Christian cowboy hero and Trump as the genie (but villain is still dark-skinned and instead of simply being gay-coded she's a trans Islamist Democrat)...

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 05 May 2025 - 03:37 PM

[QuickTidal]

amphibian, on 05 May 2025 - 02:39 PM, said:

I'd be super wary of viewing anything Disney does as anti Trump. The corporate leadership of Disney are much, much more aligned with Trump, Project 2025, and other random efforts than the rank and file LGBTQ support suggests.

If anything, Florida and Trump want to shake Disney down and get money coming their way rather than change anything major about Disney, which is already doing things they like.

This. People like Bob Iger, Alan Horn, ect. may be advocates of their product (not really the art), but they are still 100% billionaires and align a LOT with what Trump is doing as it fills their pockets.

[QuickTidal]

Kore-Eda's SHOPLIFTERS finally came out in Region 1 BluRay. Been waiting SO long for it. I love that movie.

[QuickTidal]

For people who are into the Hong Kong stuff like me, some solid news!

Shout Studios announces New label spotlighting a treasure trove of Hong Kong’s most captivating masterpieces


The lineup of releases is some next level classic stuff, much of which I don't own (I had a few of them on VHS, but that's it):

Digital:

June 24, 2025

HARD BOILED
CITY ON FIRE

July 8, 2025

A BETTER TOMORROW
A BETTER TOMORROW II
A BETTER TOMORROW III

July 22, 2025

PEKING OPERA BLUES
THE KILLER

August 5, 2025

A CHINESE GHOST STORY 
A CHINESE GHOST STORY II
A CHINESE GHOST STORY III
 
August 19, 2025

BULLET IN THE HEAD


Physical:

July 29, 2025

JET LI COLLECTION (4K UHD + Blu-ray), which will include FIST OF LEGEND, TAI CHI MASTER, FONG SAI YUK, FONG SAI YUK II, and THE BODYGUARD FROM BEIJING (HKCC #1-5)
August 26, 2025

CITY ON FIRE 4K UHD+ Blu-ray (HKCC # 6)
September 23, 2025

PEKING OPERA BLUES 4K UHD+ Blu-ray (HKCC #7)

[QuickTidal]

I liked the first one a lot, so looking fwd to this.