Many happy returns

As the unsettling feeling that summer is ending creeps in, some promise of new media comes with it. Although there haven’t been many good choices at the theater, television and streaming has been picking up the slack.

Late bloomers

We hit the pinnacle of culture in 2023, it would seem. The double feature media event has landed and still going strong in theaters. What else is there to look for forward to? As the actors and writers strike, studios keep threatening to pull titles off the fall and winter slate. I hope this is just conjecture in the tabloids, not an actual possibility; finally when things are looking up.

Don’t make ‘em like they used to

Two months down for the summer and we are finally getting some real blockbusters. As I write this, the actors guild SAG-AFTRA is on strike. Halting any future film plans, next year may not fare better than this one. A lot of crashing and burning has been going on. Low returns and attendance have CEOs scrambling. A warning was already on its way before the pandemic that a sea change was coming. Streaming can host more content than multiplexes can ever match. If the theatrical experience has any hope of thriving, it needs to bend to the will of the public and make some drastic changes. Let’s look at two such examples recently.

Art is in the house

Hope you all had a wonderful Fourth of July. Now that the summer is in full swing, the multiplex has been finding it hard keeping interest up. Recent blockbusters have gone bust from the Fast franchise to Marvel. Studios seem hellbent on hurtling down this well-worn road, with little heed to what audiences are saying with their dollars. But can theaters continue on this trajectory as well? Hopefully managers will see that counter-programing might be the only thing keeping them afloat. Here are some recent examples that might hold your attention on those silver screens.

Over on Disney+, the best Marvel output in a while has just dropped. Werewolf by Night comes to us from an unlikely source. Film composer Michael Ciacchino takes the helm with panache.

Have a Disney Plus day

Earlier this month, The Walt Disney Company had their annual shareholders meeting D23. This was three days of events and reveals. Among the announcements, we got a look at the new Willow television series. There were also some previews of upcoming Marvel projects such as Blade, Secret Wars, and the new Captain America movie. One big drop that made quite a stir was a teaser for the live-action The Little Mermaid. Controversy aside, I hope it fairs better than some. That’s all well and good, but what about now?

Miller’s Magic Carpet Ride

Hope you had a good Labor Day weekend; I sure had. And thanks to Tom for allowing me a week off to recharge myself. Honestly HBO Max dropped Elvis that weekend and it was very good, one of the most exhilarating films I saw all summer. This season saw the biggest dearth, a desert wasteland in terms of good content. Which makes this sad to see a release in August with as much complete originality get treated like dirt. It is not; more like an oasis. Love it or hate it, Three Thousand Years of Longing is clearly the work of a singular filmmaker creating what they want.

Matters of intent

Working with CNN Films and on HBO Max, Navalny follows Russia’s most notorious political dissident.

Filmmaker Daniel Roher and crew follow Alexei and his family after he is poisoned and almost lost his life. As it begins, we are set with a static medium shot of Navalny talking to Daniel and essentially to us. Errol Morris this is not however.

Death and rebirth in cinema

When it was announced that HBO and A24 was working with Olivier Assayas on a series of his meta-remake Irma Vep, my skepticism ran high. Back in college a friend sat me down to watch his original, saying it was the most amazing thing he has seen. Afterword, I remained mostly mum. The film, despite having some interesting ideas, left me cold. A segment of critics still love this movie for its commentary on art and commerce in the film industry. Although I do concede that, couldn’t it be filled with more defined characters?

After about twenty-five years later, it would seem that the director is remaking his remake. What sounds like a celluloid ouroboros is made surprisingly whole, primarily from its length. Instead of a crammed ninety-nine minutes, eight episodes allow Assayas to make subplots and character arcs more substantial.