Entertainment

If you ever wondered why very few animated movies look as good as Across the Spider-Verse...

From the article:

According to people who worked on the sequel, Across the Spider-Verse, it’s because the working conditions required to produce such artistry are not sustainable. Multiple Across the Spider-Verse crew members — ranging from artists to production executives who have worked anywhere from five to a dozen years in the animation business — describe the process of making the the $150 million Sony project as uniquely arduous, involving a relentless kind of revisionism that compelled approximately 100 artists to flee the movie before its completion. Four of these crew members agreed to speak pseudonymously about the sprint to finish the movie three years into the sequel’s development and production, a period whose franticness they attribute to Lord’s management style — in particular, his seeming inability to conceptualize 3-D animation during the early planning stages and his preference to edit fully rendered work instead.

Personally, I don't really want to interact with the sweat of a giant Chris Hemsworth on a ground-level billboard, but perhaps I am just out of touch with the culture.

[Image description: Chris Hemsworth looking studly with a gun and a crashed small plane in the background]

Can't stop thinking about this cereal commercial from the 90s. For whatever reason it pops up in my head randomly and without warning.

Easily the best part of the film. This was one of my favorites growing up in the 90s.

Fantastic movie! I've been righting one of my cinema sins by finally viewing this trilogy of films by Rob Zombie. I'm planning on watching 3 From Hell tomorrow to cap it off, and judging by how good the first 2 were I'm excited.

#1 movie for June 23, 1981

Average Ticket Price: $2.78

#80sMovies

Movie: For Your Eyes Only

IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082398/

can someone please impeach Zaslav, holy FUCK what is he doing over there

This discussion and review contains spoilers for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 2, “Ad Astra Per Aspera,” on Paramount+.

They beat Rick & Morty to the punch with a creative solution to the Roiland problem. :p

Looking forward to the new adventures of Korvo and his family and what the Wallians will do next!

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/834298

As season two begins, the whole team is united in the ambitious project of retooling the grimy hole-in-the-wall that was The Beef into a sleek fine-dining establishment to be called The Bear. Just as not every dish survives a menu retooling, some elements get lost as the dramedy transitions from a series about working in a kitchen to one about launching a restaurant; the boiling tension of season one is now more of a rapid simmer. But the series doubles down on its deep affection for the characters and the relationship between them — and in doing so, delivers a second season that’s even more delectable than the first.

A ridiculous premise, outlandish over-the-top characters, blood & gore for the blood & gores sake of it, a lederhosen (?) clad heroin, and Casper Van Dien. I don’t know if I can think of a better set-up.

It was generally a fun & silly movie that captured the grindhouse film spirit. A quick caveat before I list a few criticisms, the movie could have been made this was purposefully and I just didn’t “like, get it, man.” So much like the grindhouse films they were trying to emulate, there were some sequences that dragged on a bit and some that were a bit oddly cut together. Which again, I can definitely see as being done on purpose. My last qualm would be I would’ve loved to see more action! I wanted to see that montage put to more use.

That said, the cheesy (wink) dialogue, action, and gore you do get is fantastic and everything a grindhouse film should be. Considering that it was crowd/self-funded movie I would give it a rating of 88% (reference from the movie). But really I’d give it a “recommend” if you enjoyed Planet Terror, Machete, or Kill Bill.

Did you see Mad Heidi (2022), what did you think?

I am excited after the first episode how secret invasion will turn out.
#secretinvasion @entertainment

#1 song for June 22, 1989

#80smusic

Song: Satisfied

Artist: Richard Marx

Music Video: https://youtu.be/7sOjdusDUzE

With Tuesday’s global business factored in, Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has swung past the half-billion mark worldwide, grossing $506.3M through yesterday.

The revelation is prompting some backlash from audiences on social media, given that using AI presumably eliminated the need for graphic designers and animators to craft the opening credits.

The argument is especially timely, since the WGA is currently on strike after failed negotiations with the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which included language about protecting writers against the use of AI in the writing process. Over the past eight weeks, the use of AI to replace laborers has come to the forefront of many discussions about the strike.

Some social media users have specifically mentioned the writers’ struggle, while others say they have simply decided not to continue watching the series.

The actress stars alongside Andrew Barth Feldman in Gene Stupnitsky's movie about a woman hired by an awkward teen's parents to boost his confidence by dating him.

It is alleged that a safety wire designed to stop Watts’s fall malfunctioned and he missed the safety mat because the stunt was performed differently to the initial rehearsal. Watts, who suffered a fractured skull, traumatic brain injury, psychiatric injury and damage to his shoulder, was in a coma for five days following the accident. According to his lawyers he has been left with “a series of cognitive and physical issues” requiring specialist support and therapies. They describe his injuries as “life changing.”

#1 movie for June 21, 1986

Average Ticket Price: $3.71

#80sMovies

Movie: The Karate Kid, Part II

IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091326/

Moving some of my higher quality posts over from Reddit. Originally wrote this for /r/Arcane

⚠️⚠️ FULL SERIES SPOILERS AHEAD ⚠️⚠️

Original Post

One of Arcane's achievements is it's ability to not reach for cheap drama, which I find especially refreshing in a fantasy context. There were a lot of moments where Arcane geared itself up to do The Dramatic Thing™ and then subverted it, not by doing The Dark Thing™, or the Out of Left Field Thing™, but by doing the human thing instead.

Examples:

• Mel not being a Femme Fatale. She genuinely wanted what was best for the people and respected Jayce. I thought for sure she was just using him, and I'm sure it started that way, but they really developed their relationship in a beautifully natural way so there's no Moment™ where she either sees him for the first time and totally changes or betrays him.
• Powder overhearing Mylo vent to Vi about her and leaving before Vi takes her side. They talk it out later that night and reach an understanding.
• Powder and Vi's reunion. They just hug and share a genuine moment before their differences begin to manifest.
• Vander's tough but supportive reaction to the failed job. He uses it as a teachable moment for Vi, and Vi takes the feedback rather than it being a well you're not my real dad moment. We get to learn a lot about the trust and care these characters have for each other.
• Vi and Caitlyn cooperating with each other right out of the gate, resolving differences as they come up in good faith (even when heated) rather than constantly being at each other's throats the way most shows would do.
  Storytelling, as a craft, has an obsession with conflict. Almost all works on how to tell stories focus on how to craft good conflict. And yes, every story needs good a central tension (which Arcane has in spades), but Arcane shows that moments of cooperation can be just as dramatic as conflict, and isn't afraid to let it's characters find ways to come together as a way to mine drama.

I can't think of a single contrived dramatic beat. There's no forced misunderstandings or characters overreacting. It lets the drama flow from the characters and their choices, rather than a contrived situation they are being put into. It forces the show to dig deep and find the things the characters truly care about so it can push those buttons.

Silco's genuine care for Jinx and his people underneath how abusive and shitty he is for both is another great example. Most villains -- even when given a good motivation and philosophy -- feel Evil™, like the philosophy they are espousing is more an excuse to be cruel, or is a purposefully twisted misreading of a moral precept to justify and deflect their actions; the fiction needs to prove to you that they deserve their demise. Arcane manages to give it's villain an actually noble goal of freedom for his people and lets him genuinely believe in it while he paves his way to hell.

No moment of tragic redemption, either, where he repents his choices and accepts the moral of the story into his heart. Arcane mines it's characters for additional depth instead of changing who they are. Character arcs, while strongly present, are just as often a study in revelation as change. Silco's moment of crisis when he is asked to give up Jinx is used to reveal another layer, rather than change what we've already seen. The show isn't afraid of making us feel for it's villain without changing him. His evil is able to be the best he is capable of for who and what he cares about.

Silco is such a great villain: A man forged by the cycle of violence who can only love and care in toxic ways. He's both awful and tragic. A choice that genuinely surprised me: In act 2 I thought for sure he was going to betray Jinx and reveal she was just a tool to him, only to be changed in some moment of connection. Instead -- again -- there is no Moment™ where he either gives into his evil completely or repents to the light. He is a consistent, contradictory human to the end: genuinely ruthless, genuinely caring, genuinely idealistic, and genuinely cynical to his last breath. The scene of him agonizing over his situation at Vander's statue isn't one of a crisis of choice, but a crisis of acceptance. He is lamenting what's important to him. We get to see a beautiful moment of self reflection and sorrow because Arcane echews the normal cheap conflict many shows would grasp for: drawing out the suspense of what Silco will do to mine for drama. Instead, Arcane mines the acceptance of his inability to choose anything else.

Even between adversaries there is often a deep respect and/or complex history that isn't just boiled down to a single feeling. Silco vs Vander. Ekko vs. Jynx, Jayce vs Victor, Mel vs her mother, Marcus vs Grayson. All these relationships have a rich interpersonal interaction that never makes it feel like they are completely at odds, even when they are in each other's way.

Sevika, who is set up to be super jealous of and frustrated with Powder has that "She'll come to you when she's ready" moment with Silco; we learn SO MUCH about her character in such a small interaction. We get to see her in a redeeming moment of reassurance, where many shows might twist the knife a bit with a catty line because well, she doesn't like Jynx.

Instead, Arcane chooses to let us see over and over that while there might be an overriding top layer to a character or relationship, moments of deeper layers peeking through are where the real story lies.