lol, there’s a new The Crow movie? I’m scared to watch the trailer.
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I just checked the director. It’s the guy who did Snow White and the Huntsman and Ghost in the Shell. I feel like he’s all about flash, with zero substance.
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I watched Okja* again a couple days ago, and while Okja is not visually without flaw, I do think Okja looks much better from a special effects standpoint than most modern CGI showcases. It is hard to detangle my nostalgia from some older special effects showcases, but I do feel that the industry is in a season of contraction as Hollywood execs refuse to pay CGI artists what they deserve, push them to finish their work on unmanageable schedules, and squash their efforts to unionize. This isn’t sustainable, and I hope that we see a sea change within the industry. I could trash the movies that I think are unacceptably ugly, but my guess is a lot of video games enthusiasts who experienced console sales pitches which included conversations about convincing your naked eye that the “graphics look real” care about visual consistency in any media they consume and know what movies lack visual finesse.
*One of my favorite films. Bong Joon Ho just knows how to make a film engaging as he masterfully jumps from genre to genre. And while that trick is on display in other films of his, never is it better utilized than in the international epic that is Okja
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I definitely think we saw a pretty steady incline well into the teens, and then a decline in the last 5-6 years due to poor labour practices. It’s not 100% represented across all films but I do think the trend is identifiable.
That’s said I’d argue that Okja is difficult to fit in that trend because much of the discourse and labour affected is specifically in North America. We’d need to look at the discourse and labour practices in Korea to see how similarly they are affected, if at all.
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Great point. Bad labor practices can still create subjectively good art which is why we gotta examine the artist. I do draw a correlation between the bad labor practices in the Hollywood system and the subjectively worsened art.
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Whenever anyone brings up how “bad” special effects are now I am reminded of a Peter Davidson-era episode of Doctor Who in which the monster was clearly bubble wrap painted green, and it was absolutely brilliant! Like with games, I don’t think all SFX need to be 100% realistic for the film to still be enjoyable.
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I think it’s less about wanting 100% realistic effects and more about seeing a trend where poor labour standards in Hollywood are having a negative impact on the ability for artists to put out their most polished work.
I love practical effects, which don’t always look realistic. But when artists are given a chance to produce work under circumstances that are not rushed and that come with proper funding, the work, whether practical or CG, tends to reflect their abilities. When effects houses have to crunch to get work done, it gets reflected in the work. And it’s not just from an audience perspective, VFX workers have been pretty vocal that the labour conditions in Hollywood have been pretty poor.
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I wasn’t saying how they were treated is fine, but I don’t follow Hollywood goings on above what films are coming out so I’m not knowledgeable about all this, thus didn’t feel I could really comment on it. Of course I believe they should be paid fairly and not put under stress, but I really don’t know the ins and outs of the situation.
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That’s fair. I agree with you that vfx don’t need to be 100% real looking for it to be enjoyable, for what it’s worth. I think I just wanted to establish that some companies have seen a decline in general quality between projects in the last few year, even though the style of vfx remains the same, which is being attributed to increasing labour strains as studios make a larger number of vfx heavy movies with the same smallish pool of vfx animators working overtime. And no worries, I knew you weren’t saying anything about the fairness of the labour practices.
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I definitely agree with sfx not needing to be realistic to be enjoyable. People who argue they should are essentially arguing the same “gud grafix” convo us video game enthusiasts have been having since the Genesis/SNES days. Graphics/competent CGI can never replace style IMO. Miniatures are much less technologically savvy than CGI, but I think they often produce better results.
I also like the Muppets. I believe Kermit is real.
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Of course he is.
This must at least be 20 characters long, like Kermit’s legs.
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Kermit is a better realized character than the characters on Game of Thrones
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Muppets are real beings and I won’t take arguments to the contrary!
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I think that’s because he was just an extension of Jim Henson. Kermit was Jim and Jim was Kermit, and I miss that man so much!
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Wrong.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kT5yvSe4Ig
The epitome of ‘deep’ is making shitty animations depicting humanity as universally awful and incapable of basic goodness and get art teachers to show it to their students.
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Oh, I got to see Ghostbusters: Tropical Freeze on Saturday ! That was pretty COOL
– The Ghostbusters were in it, and they engaged in busting some Ghosts
– I probably should’ve re-watched Afterlife; I’d only seen that one once. But it wasn’t too hard to follow
– You could say Phoebe is a Junior Ghostbuster–the most beloved characters in the franchise! Though she’s always getting arrested, like many Ghostbusters before her. Poor Phoebe!
– I wondered if Melody would be a Betrayer…a Catalyst of what’s to come
– A large, bipedal Demon with horns, makes me think of Doom. And he’s imprisoned in an ancient Poke Ball! And then it’s Ice vs. Fire at the end, which could parallel Groudon vs. Kyogre almost
– Janine in colorful glasses and Busting Ghosts, just like the cartoon! But thank Goodness they didn’t give her pointy glasses, that would’ve been a little too scary
– But if it’s like the cartoon, are the OG Ghostbusters friends with Slimer? An uneasy ally, like in Ghostbusters 2? Slimer, the class traitor of GHOSTS
– Speaking of which, I thought…I wondered if Phoebe and Melody’s friendship would raise ethical questions re: Ghostbusting. Imagine a Ghostbusters/ Shaman King crossover
– Walter Peck and Russ Cargill–two evil EPA agents. They should start a gang! A gang of evil EPA agents
– The “s-x dungeon” NICE <3. Though, a less haunted one might be preferable, for some people
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I watched The Truth vs. Alex Jones, and it is a fairly matter-of-fact detailing of Jones’ lies about Sandy Hook and the subsequent lawsuits. It is fairly grim subject matter (not even thirty minutes in and you are listening to descriptions of how real life children were killed), but I do think it gets to something important about truth as a concept and America’s failure concerning disinformation. Well shot and respectful to its audience, it is worth your time if you can stomach the subject matter.
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@JoeyPajamas, I don’t know if this film will be your type of thing, but it’s a new eco-horror film from Japan, and I recall discussing eco-horror with you a few months ago. Thought you might want to check out the trailer to see if you’d be interested.
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The director’s previous movie, Drive My Car, is one of my favorite films of all time, so I’ve been looking forward to Evil Does Not Exist for a good while now. The trailer looks beautiful.
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I watched Elvira: Mistress of the Dark [free on the YouTube] ! I wasn’t really familiar with her, other than references, but it was pretty cool and funny I thought
– At first, her goals seemed to align with the villains’ [she wanted to leave, she didn’t mind selling the book] so it was like, Dude ! Where’s the conflict ?
– Did she k-ll that gas station guy at the beginning?! Sheesh! I know, God forbid women do anything…
– Some of those guys weren’t very nice to Elvira : [
– Is that what she does; talk over movies? I’d have mixed feelings about that ! Well, I guess it’d be like listening to a DVD commentary. Maybe I should give it a try sometime
– I figured she’d get those h-rny teens to help [come to the theatre]. The way she did it was a little manipulative though
– A fun, hot, spooky gentlewomen in a town full of SQUARES…brought the Addams Family to mind! I suppose everyone has their own ideas, of the ideal community
– I thought she would influence that one girl to be more herself, in some way
– Elvira tied up! <3 But, not in a fun way. : [ How will she get out of this one?!
– I thought she was gonna end up falling in love with the town and staying there in the end. Not sure why the townsfolk kinda did a 180 in the end, in their perception of her? She didn’t really save THEM from Grunkle Vincent…did she…? Well I guess she must’ve turned them back from Pigs
– I feel like some of the lines were meant as innuendo. About Boobs, etc.
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