And obviously
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I did. It’s certainly significant. As you note, it’s the sorting deal granted to a precious few, and he should be blessing his agent. But what’s really interesting is the somewhat breathless coverage in the trades like it’s the ‘collapse of the new studio system’.
Imho it’s no worse or different than when the Hayes code finally died and gave ‘new Hollywood’ of the late 60’s and 70’s finally died. A few obscenely wealthy and powerfulmen became slightly less obscenely wealthy and powerful. Now, of course. It includes a few women, but mostly some major corporate board as a legal entity.
It means that in 25 years, Coogler starts getting the revenue checks, and not just residuals. And this might be a film that is good enough to still be a topic of conversation (thus generating at least some revenue). Honestly, if the studio can’t make a buck on the film given a 25 year window, it shouldn’t be in the business.
Which is exactly what a lot of folks have been saying since the complete corporatizing of the American market in the 2000’s
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I purposely didn’t repeat that collapse nonsense. More to do with the who than the what. (Didn’t collapse after the others, so why Coogler? What’s different about him I wonder 
?)
I think credit should go to him, not his agent, for knowing the value he has brought and will continue to bring. The agent will collect a nice fat check.
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Oh, for sure. I don’t mean to in any way diminish his achievements. He’s one of the most exciting filmmakers of the last decade, and the fact that he’s at the level he’s at in such a short time is astounding. He makes interesting, original films, and has proven he can establish franchises as well as function within them. The man has broad and reaching talent. 5 unquestionable hits. Almost one every other year. That’s not luck.
And the fact that there’s a rather distinct difference between him and Lucas or Tarantino, and the respective reactions to those deals is, unfortunately, unsurprising.
The workforce and artists, of course, have always been far more diverse than any of the executive suites.
It was waayyy better than episode 1 fur shur.
Agreed.
We watched it tonight. I found it rather derivative of familiar zombie tropes, e.g., the overwhelming masses overrunning a fort, and the violence inflicted on Joel by Abby over the top.
We’ll see what the third episode is like, but I thought the first season was better so far.
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I’m all about the over the top zombie violence, but I find Ellie even more irritating than last season.
Too early for me to make a final judgement though.
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I don’t mind the violence. It was all just so very unoriginal/familiar 
I do like the fact that horses are involved 
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Although I haven’t played the video game which this series is based on, I’m sure it’s true to form.
#allzombiesmustdie
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I don’t play any video games, but suspected it was based on one.
Hardcore gamer here 
Well, well. You learn something new about your fellow HOs every day 
Whoda thunk? 
Mind. Effin. Blown. 
Watched The Two Popes on Netflix last night. Not sure how truthful it is in details but a deep dive into the history of Pope Francis and especially his relationship with Pope Benedict. We saw Conclave a few months ago, so the next few weeks will be interesting to follow.
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RATS! (2024) - dir. Maxwell Nalevansky, Carl Fry
In the tiny town of Fresno,TX in 2007, emo teenager Rafael is arrested by an unhinged police officer for tagging, and is forced to live with Mateo, his pot dealer cousin, to inform on him. Meanwhile, there’s an epidemic of detached hands showing up around town and a cute goth girl, Bernadette, that Rafael meets doing his community service.
This absurdist black comedy is very much in the same vein as the early work of John Waters, with a touch of observational Richard Linklater (Dazed and Confused) or Greg Araki (Doom Generation). Apart from the three named roles above, everyone else in this universe is an outrageously outsized personality, deliberately as loud, broad, and committed to the bit as humanly possible. The humor is crude and gleefully offensive. The violence is more frequent than one might expect and cartoonishly gory. While there are ‘themes’ of a sort (harassment by police is bad!) it never gets in in the way of more jokes.
Like Dazed and Confused, this film aims to capture a particular time of teenhood, this time for millennials rather than GenX or Boomers. The early web humor and flip phones of the early 2000’s are expertly recreated, all with in a very camp, which is to say, mocking but affectionate, sensibility.
This won’t be for everyone. You have to be comfortable with some serious gross out humor and a LOT of yelling. Truthfully, if you find the early John Waters films (Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, Desperate Living) too low rent, too crude and just shocking for shock’s sake, you likely wouldn’t care for RATS!. But if those sorts of films are your thing (and they are very much MY thing), RATS! is a rare treat.
3.5/5 closeups of pooping. Yes, that’s what I said. You’ve been warned.
RATS! is currently in (a few, independent) theaters and can be purchased on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome.
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I hereby save everyone the trouble of watching Mid-Century Modern. Which is The Golden Girls, only with gay men. Some heavy hitters involved in the production, so the guest star quality is high. The scripts are right out of the early 90s, however, with a few bawdier jokes because Hulu.
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It is TERRIBLE
What a waste of a cast
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Same thoughts. Very disappointed in Mid-Century Modern. Could not even get through the first episode.
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