Logging

TV: Jack Ryan S1 E1 and E2, Justified City Primeval, S1 E1 

Something about John Krasinski is a bit hard to buy as Jack Ryan. There's just no comparison in screen presence between him and a younger Ford. The show also feels a bit cheap, even though they globetrot and have pretty serious action sequences. Everything sort of looks like shows of similar character like 24. Part of the Jack Ryan appeal was the verisimilitude of the movies/books. This network TV treatment diminishes the brand. 

In contrast, Justified is perfect TV. The humor plays and balances nicely against the medium-high stakes of the situations. To sustain tension and interest, they jump around to numerous POVs and introduce layers of dramatic irony. Also, the great achievement are the side characters, each given some sort of morsel to play with in the story. Strong casting compliments the writing. And Olyphant holds it all together. As Milch says in the Deadwood commentary, "He is one handsome man."

A Sign Of A Good Day

Computer reads zero screen time from the day before.

Our Elites

Researchers faked data about honesty. 

We raised a generation of folks who cheat to get ahead by meritocratic standards and are now reaping the whirlwind. My "optimism" revolves around the fact that elites in hostile countries like China and Russia are considerably more corrupt than our own.

Question

I wonder if Bulworth holds up. 

Oh No

I don't like death posts on the internet in general, but this one really bums me out: Sinead O'Connor.

Logging

Film: Oppenheimer

To contextualize the experience: seeing with a group of friends at the Mann's Chinese (one of the greatest theaters in the city - if not world) in 70MM Imax with a packed audience - before the credits rolled, the night was already a win. The film didn't disappoint by any stretch and the first 1.5 (?) or 2 hours about the creation of the bomb were gripping, if not spectacular. The 3rd act didn't totally land for me. I was going with it but kept thinking to myself: is this really just going to be about the appointment of a cabinet secretary? 

So...a tad mixed feelings about the overall film...I was yearning so much to be blown away. I think part of me was expecting to feel what movie lovers of a prior generation felt about Citizen Kane...which I suppose means I went in with too high expectations. A few other notes/thoughts:

-Cillian Murphy was terrific, but didn't he do something similar with Tommy Shelby (and maybe even better?)

-Josh Harnett should model the next phase of his career on Alec Baldwin and just make sure the weapons masters he works with aren't drunk and high on cocaine.

-I've read criticisms of the dialog. Was it so bad? Have I lost my ear?

-Valid criticisms: there are at least 2 movies in here, maybe 3? The best one was about the team of nerds building the bomb.

-If I rewatch, it will be in the theater and I will most be paying attention to the first sequence.

Film: Ash is the Purest White

A masterpiece and a must watch for serious movie lovers and those curious about China. A Touch of Sin and this are two of the top 5 Chinese films I've seen (same director). Asian-American actors should take lessons from Asian-Asian actors. This one will live with me.

Film: Cutter's Way

Is this the 2nd or 3rd time I've watched this film? I like it better each time. The performances are astonishing. John Hurt is beyond...and I imagine it will be (or already is) fashionable to mention Lisa Eichhorn and even Jeff Bridges...and don't get me wrong, they are terrific. But sometimes it's okay to just take the non-contrarian position and say: yeah, I think Lebron James is the best player on the court. John Hurt reaches a different and rare level in this film.

Visiting Death

We should all plan a 2nd or 4th career starting around age 60. Maybe I'll become a film director. Or a soccer coach. Or a financial planner. Or an academic. Or a deli owner. Or a car salesman. Or a writer of detective fiction. I have no idea.

Filmmaker

What would happen if a studio hired a filmmaker to run it? Soderburgh in change of WB. Spielberg in charge of Universal...

Barbieheimer

Imagine how much money studios could make if instead of spending all their resources on cinematic universes, streaming, ripping off the talent (aka Business Affairs), they instead spent resources making movies?

Alien Thought

If aliens visited earth whether would they find it puzzling that we have homeless humans meandering about DTLA in 90 degree heat while air conditioned office buildings were empty of workers.

A Step In the Right Direction

Barry Diller suggests top execs and stars take a 25% pay cut as a good faith measure toward resolution of the strike. 

Or shoot, maybe that money trickles down and the strike gets resolved.

It would work.

New Genres

Some new genre observations based upon stuff I've watched recently

1) Middle Aged Woman Wanders Around - Nomadland, The Lost Daughter

2) Action Hero Fights a Circle and There Are Lots of Other Characters, Too - MI7, Across the Spiderverse

3) We All Crazy As Shit - Yellowjackets, The Idol 

4) White People Are Dumb and Imma Get in Touch with My Roots Now - Joy Ride, You People

Goddamn

Freaking Fran Drescher on Bog Iger.

I wouldn't mind if every CEO of the studios and their entire teams were replaced.

Men and Women

I understand women find fighting, pseudo-intellectualizing, and farting tiresome and boring. But do they realize men find relationship talk, sisterhood, and nesting topics similarly tiresome?

Logging

Film: Joy Ride (2023) 

I'm not the audience for this film. Easy enough to watch. Some charm in the cast. Points off for repetitive jokes.

Question for a Humorist

Is rolling your eyes and saying "white people" now what passes for a joke in movie comedies?

Theory

The moment AI can create written "movies" either by writing, directing, or acting - the AI movie becomes irrelevant and boring because it will feel immediately cliched. The best argument for AI is that human made films are already cliched. Hardly an endorsement.  

Recently, I started playing Risk a bit on the iPad. Playing against the hardest level AI is quite easy to defeat already. I suspect they don't make the AI too good otherwise people wouldn't play at all. But you know who is good? Actual other players...the games are much more challenging playing against real folks. The downside to "real" games is they take too long whereas the AI games are fast. But after awhile the AI game becomes pointless. 

Questions 

1) Isn't AI more likely to replace studios executives than writers? 

2) Looking at Soderburgh dropping a tv show on his own website: why can't Hollywood retain underlying rights and sell content to Youtube, Vimeo, or frankly any streaming service just as easily as Netflix?

Studios Execs Own Houses Too, Don't They...

Unbelievable leak to Deadline from an anonymous studio exec about letting writers go broke. 

Question: how long do corporations keep printing paychecks for executives making tv and movies if they aren't making television and movies?

Logging

Film: Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1

A thing the studios ought to consider is not making the same creative choices across similar films. From an audience perspective, it's pretty boring to watch a big train action sequence from Indiana Jones on Monday followed by a big train action sequence in Mission Impossible on Wednesday. Although to be fair, the last sequence in MI7 is the best part of the movie. The other best part are the random faces cast (particularly the femmes). But pairing old action star with young femme (both Indy and MI7), ending on a part 1 (Spiderverse and MI7), and having a bad guy that is basically a picture of a moving circle with spooky music (Spiderverse and MI7) feel awfully similar.

And did "The Entity" do a script pass? Because man those information dump dialog scenes...

Logging

TV: Yellowjackets S1 E2

The cuckolded husband wore a shirt that I own, which I take as an indictment against my wardrobe. 

This episode is largely about Missy...and thinking a bit deeper about the show and why ultimately it feels "less" than Lord of the Flies...this show is about female psychopaths. They missed the point of Lord of the Flies, which is this is about us. So much of prestige tv has this same/similar uber message of: we humans suck. But what they really mean is: all the people around me and you (audience) suck, huh? And I'm a bit sick of it, but worse than that - I don't think it's true. 

Prank Calls

The cell phone has deprived a generation of children the great pleasure of the prank call. 

Logging

Film: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Lifeless. At moments Phoebe Waller Bridge had some charm, but Harrison Ford didn't seem into it. Around the third act I realized: holy shit they stole my idea from years ago called Time Traveling Nazis...and I can tell they had put about as much thought into it as I had. Which is to say very little. 

Too much time spent on de-aging technology and DEI participation in casting and too little time spent figuring out whether there was any point to making this movie. 

TV: Pilot for Yellowjackets S1 E1

I hope the pitch for this show was Lord of the Flies meets Dazed and Confused.

Logging

Book: Lord of the Flies 

Holy shit what an amazing end sequence...

Logging

Film: No Hard Feelings

An okay night out, but I prefer my sex comedies with sex. 

TV: The Bear S2 E2

Something rubs me wrong about this show. Like the show Girls before it, fans seems to relish in the "authenticity." What an awful word, "authenticity" especially as applied to a TV show. Freaking TV! Imagine wanting to sit on a couch eating potato chips and watch "authenticity." If one wants "authenticity" wouldn't the smarter move to go get paid minimum wage to work in a shitty kitchen? At least you'd be making some extra money. No, what this audience wants is "real life" porn - the illusion they are living when in fact they are lonely and sad. Get off the couch, you bums!