Category Archives: The Mediascape

Gaming twice as lucrative as movies

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Matt Grobar reports on Deadline that LaKeith Stanfield is Circling ‘El Paso, Elsewhere’ Video Game Adaptation.

He writes:

“Academy Award nominee LaKeith Stanfield (The Book of Clarence) is in talks to star in and produce a feature adaptation of the hit neo-noir video game El Paso, Elsewhere, Deadline has learned. The film will center on James Savage (Stanfield), who while recovering from a toxic relationship, confronts both his inner demons and enigmatic ex-girlfriend, Janet, before she executes a world-ending ritual. James navigates her reality-bending universe of ethereal monsters while facing the truth of his own addictions and skewed sense of self-worth, learning that the only route to love is through healing.”

The Numbers ranks All Time Worldwide Box Office for Based on Game Movies and crowns 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie the king with over $1.3 Billion.

Video game movie adaptation crosses over two entertainment segments: gaming and movies. Guess what. Gaming is twice as lucrative.

According to PwC, “Total gaming revenue is expected to rise from US$227 billion in 2023 to US$312 billion in 2027, representing a 7.9% CAGR (compound annual growth rate.)” Meanwhile, “Global Movies and Entertainment Market size is poised to grow from USD 104.49 billion in 2023 to USD 182.23 Billion by 2031, at a CAGR of 7.2%,” according to SkyQuest.

My take: Apparently it was over 40 years ago when gaming first bested films and music: “In 1982, the arcade video game industry reached its peak, generating $8 billion in quarters, surpassing the annual gross revenue of both pop music ($4 billion) and Hollywood films ($3 billion) combined.” Now, gaming is by far the winner. btw, Minecraft (the movie) is coming in April 2025.

Jerry Seinfeld: “The Movie Business is over!”

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Brett Martin writing in GQ reports that “Jerry Seinfeld Says Movies Are Over.”

While promoting his new Netflix movie “Unfrosted,” the billionaire comedian talks about his directing debut.

“These movie people are unbelievable. They’re insane…. They’re so dead serious! They don’t have any idea that the movie business is over. They have no idea…. Film doesn’t occupy the pinnacle in the social, cultural hierarchy that it did for most of our lives. When a movie came out, if it was good, we all went to see it. We all discussed it. We quoted lines and scenes we liked. Now we’re walking through a fire hose of water, just trying to see.”

Brett asks, “What do you think has replaced film?”

“Depression? Malaise? I would say confusion. Disorientation replaced the movie business. Everyone I know in show business, every day, is going, What’s going on? How do you do this? What are we supposed to do now?”

Jerry Seinfeld closes by reveiling his philosophy:

“There’s nothing I revile quite as much as a dilettante. I don’t like doing something to a mediocre level. It’s great to be 70, because you really get to preach with some authority: Get good at something. That’s it. Everything else is bullshit.”

My take: Great advice. To me, Seinfeld remains one of the best TV sitcoms of all time.

Apple Log on iPhone

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Apple Log on iPhone is Not a Gimmick according to ZY Cheng of Malaysia.

In a fast-paced 10 minutes he covers:

  • the difference between conventional filming and filming in log
  • how exposure changes in log (1:12)
  • using the iPhone Camera App to film in log (5:06)
  • using the Blackmagic Camera App to film in log (5:47)
  • the log profile and black and white levels (6:31)
  • log exposure tips for day and night filming (7:53)

Apple Log is available on the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. Note that Apple will most likely be upgrading these come September 2024.

My take: I want this. I need this!

Canadian Box Office over 20%!

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A curious thing happened at the Canadian theatrical box office during the week of April 5-11, 2024: over 20% of the screenings were Canadian movies. This number is usually between three to ten percent of screenings.

In BC, Monkey Man had over 55% of the Canadian screenings, with Dune: Part Two pulling in over 40%. In other words, those two movies represented over 95% of the Canadian screenings in BC for the week of April 5-11, 2024.

Canadian movies, eh?

Monkey Man was produced by Canadian motion picture company Bron Studios. Netflix declined and shopped it, and Jordan Peele picked it up. Unfortunately, Bron may be having financial difficulties.

Dune: Part Two was co-written and directed by Canadian Denis Villeneuve. It probably earns its maple leaf because the special effects were done by three Canadian companies:

  • DNEG has offices in both Toronto and Montreal.
  • Wylie Co. has offices in Montreal.
  • Rodeo FX has studios in Montreal, Quebec City, and Toronto.

Yes, these are Canadian films in the sense that Canadians had a big hand in making them. Not sure they reflect the Canadian identity and experience though.

My take: I always watch the credits to the very end. It’s always worth the chuckle when a Canadian government logo scrolls by on a patently non-Canadian film. Canadian tax dollars at work!

 

“air head” is the first AI generated short film

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Sora has received one of the first AI generated short films from Canada’s shykids_:

OpenAI says on their blog:

“Based in Toronto, shy kids are a multimedia production company who utilized Sora for their short film about a balloon man. ‘We now have the ability to expand on stories we once thought impossible,’ shares the trio made up of Walter Woodman, Sidney Leeder and Patrick Cederberg. Walter, who directed Air Head, remarks that ‘as great as Sora is at generating things that appear real, what excites us is its ability to make things that are totally surreal. A new era of abstract expressionism.’ Speaking to the wider industry, ‘people from all over the world with stories ready to burst out of their chests finally have the opportunity to show the world what’s inside.'”

The BTS video is quite illustrative, as it does look like some post work was done on at least one clip:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by shy kids (@shykids_)

I love this quote: “Sora is very much a slot machine as to what you get back.”

By the way, these are the folks behind 2013’s brilliant, genre-launching Noah (nsfw):

My take: sure, it’s not prime time yet, but Sora will only get better. Check out these other “text to video” tools on Future Tools. Oh, and I think the contrast in “air head” is too flat.

The FCC complaints regarding John Cena presenting at the Oscars

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Kory Grow reveals in Rolling Stone what the Three People [who] Did Not Enjoy John Cena’s Physical Perfection at [the] Oscars wrote.

He begins with the admission that “Rolling Stone was able to review the irate messages via a Freedom of Information Act request.”

One wrote:

“Indecent Prime Time TV: There is no reason why a grown man will come to national television like a streaker and molest and abuse all the children who will hear and see this in TV and in the various media the following day. There is need for Cena and the Oscar organizers to be cancelled for promoting gratuitous and inappropriate nudity in such horrific levels that they deserve boycott in the first order.”

Another wrote:

“What more can I say….other than an undresses [sic] man coming out on stage with only and piece of paper covering his private parts! Do your job! Get this filth off our TVs!”

A third wrote:

“Double standards with nudity: John Cena’s almost-complete nudity during the Oscars on March 12th, 2024, was abhorrent. If that had been a woman, the world would have ended.”

Riley Utley reports on Cinemablend that the Academy specified that “a bulge cannot be showing, and you can’t show crack.”

No crack proof.

Watch the costume change.

My take: lol! The world did not end. In fact, it was one of the high points of the broadcast. Perhaps those three were just jealous?

Distribution rules and streaming steadily impacting small theatres

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Kevin Maimann writes on CBC that Canada’s indie movie theatres say industry is in crisis.

He begins by stating: “Canada’s independent cinema industry is in crisis, its owners say, as they face mounting challenges from streaming services and restrictive Hollywood studio rules.”

It turns out that “rules imposed by major studios like Disney determine when and for how long they are able to screen certain big-ticket films.”

These are called “‘clean runs,’ when studios require an independent theatre to dedicate a screen to just one film for up to four weeks, even if the film stops drawing crowds after the first week. This can be especially frustrating for small-town theatres that only have one screen.”

And they can’t rent their theatre out during that time.

“They said if your door’s open, you’re showing our product.“

Another studio constraint is “zone provisions, which keep exhibitors from playing films that are screening at bigger nearby theatres.

By the time they’re allowed to screen some films, they could be streaming.

See the Network of Independent Canadian Exhibitors report.

My take: could the studios and their distributors be actively trying to kill off independent cinemas? I doubt it. But small town cinemas are so much more than just Hollywood outposts; they are often the only local in-person cultural and artistic hub available to citizens.

Warner Bros. shelves “Coyote vs. Acme”

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Joe Hernandez reports on NPR: Here’s why some finished films are mothballed.

He begins, “Back in November [2023,] Warner Bros. Discovery announced it was not planning to release “Coyote vs. Acme,” a hybrid animated and live-action comedy starring John Cena and Will Forte that had wrapped filming a year earlier.”

And then adds that the studio shelved both “Batgirl” and “Scoob!: Holiday Haunt” in 2022.

He explores the reasons behind spending $70M, $90M and $40M and then shelving movies rather than releasing them to the public:

  • Money: “Hollywood financial experts say that when studios scrap finished projects the decision usually comes down to money.”
  • New Directions: “Abandoning a project may also reflect the shifting priorities of a studio.”

He concludes, “Though it may make financial sense for a studio to abandon a film, that argument may prove little comfort to the movie’s cast and crew or the fans eagerly awaiting its release.”

My take: Here’s his description of the cancelled movie: “Based on a satirical New Yorker piece, the movie followed Wile E. Coyote as he sued the Acme company after its products again and again fail to help him catch the elusive Road Runner.” That sounds hilarious! I’d watch that. And it seems cruel to green light a movie, get folks to spend years of time and effort working on it and then pull the rug out from under everything. Beep! Beep!

ScriptReader.ai offers script analysis for $9.99

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Jason Hellerman reports on No Film School that AI Says My Screenplay is Better Than ‘Silence of the Lambs’ and ‘Schindler’s List’.

He begins, “This morning, a really lovely NFS reader reached out to me and wanted my opinion on a program called ScriptReader.AI, which charges $10 for a complete screenplay breakdown.”

He uploads one of his scripts and in two hours gets extensive coverage. It appears the AI’s method is to rate each scene and then average the scores. His script gets a “Recommend.”

However, Jason is not impressed. He concludes:

“Computers cannot think and feel. They have zero sense of nuance. And you cannot take their coverage seriously. No matter how nice it is. AI coverage is worthless!”

My take: the ScriptReader.ai website woefully undersells its capabilities. It certainly looks sketchy. But you can test out three scenes for free.

And then there’s a link in the top right corner of the website labelled “SHALL WE PLAY A GAME?_” I recognized this as a reference to WarGames in which Matthew Broderick unwittingly provokes WWIII.

With some trepidation, I clicked on the link.

This brought me to a page titled “SceneProv_” with two modes, Fun and Training.

I decided to have some fun and generate a scene for a RomCom. The AI, suddenly my writing partner, set the scene and populated it with two characters. My interactions are bolded.

“Genre selected: romance

INT. COFFEE SHOP – DAY

JEN sits at a table with a book, sipping on her latte. She notices AIDEN walk in and their eyes meet.

JEN:
(smiling)
Hey!

AIDEN:
(nervously)
Hi! Can I sit here?

JEN:
(surprised)
Uh, sure!

AIDEN sits across from Jen and they strike up a conversation.

AIDEN:
I noticed you’re reading “Do Androids Dream of Sheep?”.

JEN:
Yup. It’s my favourite book.

Her eyes glitch.

AIDEN:
Do you want to go back to my place?

JEN:
(surprised)
Excuse me?

AIDEN:
(smiling)
Not like that. I have a first edition copy of that book. I’d love to show it to you.

JEN:
(relieved)
Oh, sure. That sounds great.

INT. AIDEN’S PLACE – NIGHT

Aiden and Jen are sitting on the couch, looking at the first edition. Her eyes glitch again.

AIDEN
Jen, why do your eyes “glitch?”

JEN
What do you mean?

AIDEN
Well, every once in a while they kinda spark.
Are you hiding something from me?

Jen looks at Aiden angrily and stands up quickly.

JEN:
(angrily)
No, I’m not hiding anything! It’s just a glitch in my synthetic retinas. I’m an android.

AIDEN:
(surprised)
An android? I had no idea.

JEN:
(sadly)
I know, it’s not exactly a desirable trait in the dating world.

AIDEN:
(smiling)
Well, I’m not like most guys. I think it’s pretty cool, to be honest.

Jen’s eyes glitch again, this time in surprise.

JEN:
(surprised)
Really?

AIDEN:
(nodding)
Really. Plus, I always thought I’d make a great cyborg myself.

Jen smiles and takes Aiden’s hand, feeling grateful for the first time to have found someone who accepts her for who she really is.

They continue to look at the book, their fingers touching.

Aiden turns to Jen, looking into her eyes.

AIDEN:
(softly)
You know, I may not be able to dream like you do, but
I have a feeling this is the beginning of something special.

JEN:
(smiling)
I have that feeling, too.

They lean in and share a kiss, the start of their unconventional love story.”

And then it rated “our” scene a B+. This AI passes the Turing Test for sure.

Hollywood A-Listers Buy Westwood Village Theatre

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According to Pat Saperstein of Variety, Jason Reitman Acquires Fox Village Westwood Theater With Filmmakers Including Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan, JJ Abrams, Chloé Zhao.

“Jason Reitman has gathered more than two dozen filmmakers to help acquire Westwood’s historic Village Theater, which will program first-run and repertory programming.”

The 36 investors include:

  1. JJ Abrams
  2. Judd Apatow
  3. Damien Chazelle
  4. Chris Columbus
  5. Ryan Coogler
  6. Bradley Cooper
  7. Alfonso Cuarón
  8. Jonathan Dayton
  9. Guillermo del Toro
  10. Valerie Faris
  11. Hannah Fidell
  12. Alejandro González Iñárritu
  13. James Gunn
  14. Sian Heder
  15. Rian Johnson
  16. Gil Kenan
  17. Karyn Kusama
  18. Justin Lin
  19. Phil Lord
  20. David Lowery
  21. Christopher McQuarrie
  22. Chris Miller
  23. Christopher Nolan
  24. Alexander Payne
  25. Todd Phillips
  26. Gina Prince-Bythewood
  27. Jason Reitman
  28. Jay Roach
  29. Seth Rogen
  30. Emma Seligman
  31. Brad Silberling
  32. Steven Spielberg
  33. Emma Thomas
  34. Denis Villeneuve
  35. Lulu Wang
  36. Chloé Zhao

“The Fox Village, built in 1930, has hosted hundreds of premieres over the past 90 years, including Reitman’s own “Juno,” “Licorice Pizza” and many others…. The distinctive Spanish mission revival-style building is topped by a 170-foot neon-lit tower, making it a beacon for filmgoers on the Westside of Los Angeles.”

My take: interestingly, at least four on this list are Canadians: Jason Reitman, Seth Rogen, Emma Seligman and Denis Villeneuve. I’m glad this historic cinema is being saved.