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Clarice shrouded in mystery and intrigue with diverse cultural representations < Back Clarice shrouded in mystery and intrigue with diverse cultural representations Secret Hideout, 2021- 60 minutes Creator: Alex Kurtzman and Jenny Lumet Reading Time: 4 minutes 📷 : Licensed from Shutterstock Clarice Miles Away (CFUTYOYA5NRV01VN) 00:00 / 04:40 Ginseng Suspenseful and intense thrillers Matcha Mysteries or whodunnits Reba Chaisson 2021-07-25 A television series spinoff of the 1991 film, Silence of the Lambs , Clarice features very smart but green FBI agent, Clarice Starling. While the crimes are gruesome, the series does not present a likeness of Dr. Hannibal Lecter (at least not yet), so no need to prepare for the show with a glass of Chianti. In each week of season 1, the series unveils a piece of the evolving story, which contains multiple creepy antagonists steeped in a diabolical murder conspiracy. Despite the challenges of the case, Clarice continues to be haunted by her confrontation with Buffalo Bill, the pathological villain from the movie. Like her namesake in the film, played by Jodie Foster, Clarice has a naïve fearlessness about her that makes her very good at her job. Supporting her naivete is the character’s roots in Appalachia, which her mild southern drawl triggers with each line of her dialog. As the show reveals, this makes Clarice uniquely qualified for cases in rural geographies. And her naiveté helps her sustain a level of humility that keeps her engaged in investigations with a child-like curiosity. Played by Rebecca Breeds ( The Originals , Pretty Little Liars ), Agent Starling has a special ability in profiling offenders of gruesome crimes, and once they are pinpointed, tapping into her own instincts to solve them. Consistent with the types of crimes her team investigates, the aesthetics of the show are dark. In fact, the scenes often occur in the dimly lit halls of its east coast FBI headquarters, or at night in wet and sometimes muddy conditions. The homes and buildings they visit are designed of old architecture with dark-brown, spacious interiors and a bottom-up vantage point of long, straight staircases—all adding to the frightening nature of the show’s subject matter. Clarice’s roommate and best friend is Ardelia Mapp, a Black woman and FBI agent, played by Devyn A. Tyler ( The Underground Railroad , Antebellum ). Despite graduating from Quantico with top marks, she researches cold cases in isolation rather than investigating active cases with fieldwork, a prized part of the job. Mapp’s frustration with her job assignment is revealed during a conversation with Starling in which she excoriates the FBI for denying her opportunity while Starling’s gets dropped into her lap. Starling empathizes, even sympathizes with her friend but is at a loss for what to say or do. “The work,” Mapp responds in exasperation. The poignant exchange drives home statements about systemic racism and the complexity of friendship across race and region. The show continually revisits the salience of race in the FBI, which, in real-life, has been long‑rumored to be laden with discrimination. In Episode 4, for example, a Black male security guard, also an FBI agent, invites Mapp to a meeting of The Black Coalition, a support group for Black agents in the FBI that assists in obtaining opportunities in the Bureau. While she respectfully declines, asserting, “it’s not for me,” the frank exchange makes it clear that the show is not shying away from the hard realities of being Black in the Bureau. Lucca De Oliveira ( Seal Team , The Punisher ) plays Tomas, a young, military-trained sniper and Hispanic member of Clarice’s team. Showing strength in courage, he befriends and partners with Clarice when she is dismissed and admonished by her boss and deals with pranks by other FBI agents. Her no‑nonsense and reserved boss, played by Michael Cudlitz ( Southland , The Walking Dead ), surprises Clarice and the audience, though, at every turn. Initially resistant to her joining his team, his trust of her instincts, and her hope of his fair treatment, grows as the series moves on. For viewers who love crime mysteries shrouded in dark aesthetics, with smart, racially, ethnically, and regionally diverse characters and relationships, this is a series you might enjoy. Just don’t expect Hannibal Lecter to be lurking around. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

From prioritizes three-dimensional characters in its dystopian universe < Back From prioritizes three-dimensional characters in its dystopian universe Epix Studios, 2022- 52 minutes Creator: John Griffin Reading Time: 5 minutes 📷 : Licensed from Shutterstock From A Most Sinister Kind (DDEBPQXXMUPGG39Y) 00:00 / 04:55 Ginseng Suspenseful and intense thrillers Yarrow Movies and TV shows about illness or set in hospitals or similar medical institutions Chris Chaisson 2023-05-04 Sci-fi horror projects tend to be pretty cut and dry with their good guys, bad guys, and missions. The lead characters are bad mamma-jammas who know how to operate every weapon ever created. The villains are ugly, bloodthirsty and otherworldly. The mission boils down to fight or flight: defeat the bad guy or get away safely. But what if the bad guy cannot be defeated and the setting cannot be escaped? The story and character representation need to shift to other aspects, especially to maintain a several episodes-long TV show. The new horror series From masterfully manages its breakaway from these established archetypes. From takes place in a present-day dystopian universe, centering around a community of strangers trapped in a nowhere town surrounded by the forest. In addition to their inability to leave, they have to barricade themselves inside at sundown to stay safe from ravenous monsters in the form of ghostly humans protruding from the woods. The monsters can only enter through open doors or windows and retreat at sunrise, but when they get inside, they kill and devour the town residents in brutal fashion. The townspeople are led and protected by the town sheriff, Boyd, his deputy Kenny, Father Khatri, a paramedic named Kristi, and several others. Despite its sci-fi horror premise, this MGM+ original series picks its spots to be gory and violent. Rather than going the action route, From is much more character-driven than one might guess. It differs from many other post-apocalyptic works in that the characters still have some semblance of free will. In sci-fi shows like The Walking Dead or The Last of Us , the protagonists essentially have to keep fleeing the flesh-eating monsters to survive. In From , the citizens of this town live ordinary lives during the day and hole up inside at night, relying on trust and cooperation. This caveat creates interesting distinctions in the characters’ behavior. The mix of personalities reveal opposing mindsets about how to handle such a grim reality, allowing different audience members to identify with different characters. For instance, Jade spends all of his time trying to figure out a way to escape the town. As a bachelor with no family who’s lost his best friend, Jade’s focus is not on providing, protecting, or cultivating relationships. He simply wants to get back to his old life. In complete contrast to Jade’s attitude is Fatima, who makes it a point to celebrate life and community with her acts of generosity, even in such a bleak atmosphere. She even says to another character at one point that she does not know how she would return back to her old life if they were all to escape. Jim and Tabitha must factor their children, Julie and Ethan, into every decision they make, protecting them before all else. In context, all of these characters’ actions and behaviors feel justifiable, but the characters nonetheless clash simply over their contrary approaches to coping. The premise of From contributes to one of its biggest strengths—the diversity of its cast. Sci-fi projects tend to be predominantly White, often a reflection of their writer’s rooms. While there are plenty of White characters, Boyd, Kevin, and Kristi are all from underrepresented demographics (Black, Asian and Hispanic, respectively). All three characters have heavy speaking roles, positions of authority, and depth to their personalities. Though many projects are capable of incorporating this range of diversity into their cast, some fall back on the excuse of the time period or geographic region for not doing so. Having a premise in which the cast of characters randomly wind up in an undetermined dystopian setting, creates an opportunity for many people of color to appear on screen. Aside from their racial/ethnic backgrounds, the characters vary in age, gender and marital status as well. Since the citizens of From must cooperate with one another to gather resources and survive, their interactions (cordial or not) reveal their multi-dimensionality. Given the hallucinations and ominous threats that the seemingly trapped townspeople experience, From feels the most similar to a season of American Horror Story . In spite of its surrealism and occasional graphic scenes, much of the story revolves around the backgrounds of the lead characters and their differing philosophies on how to stay alive. While From is not for the queasy or faint-of-heart, it provides an array of personalities that appeal to various audience segments. For added fun, take a shot of rum every time you hear the word “talisman.” Cast Harold Perrineau as "Boyd" Ricky He as "Kenny " Shaun Majumder as "Father Khatri" Chloe Van Landschoot as "Kristi " David Alpay as "Jade" Pegah Ghafoori as "Fatima" Eion Bailey as "Jim" Catalina Sandino Moreno as "Tabitha" Hannah Cheramy as "Julie" Simon Webster as "Ethan" Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

Black Doves, a quirky spy thriller that avoids tokenism < Back Black Doves, a quirky spy thriller that avoids tokenism Noisy Bear, 2024 55 minutes Creator: Joe Barton Reading Time: 7 minutes 📷 : Used with permission, Netflix Black Doves Rebel (HLUU3PIJNIDKQNJ0) 00:00 / 08:47 Matcha Mysteries or whodunnits Ginseng Suspenseful and intense thrillers Reba Chaisson 2025-02-10 Black Doves is a quirky six-part series starring Keira Knightley and Sarah Lancashire. Knightley is Helen Webb, a British politician’s wife with young twins, who unbeknownst to her family, is a spy for an independent intelligence organization known as Black Doves. A clandestine “company,” Black Doves makes its services available to the highest international bidder. Lancashire is Reed, Helen’s no-nonsense boss at Black Doves, who rarely smiles, rarely changes her calm demeanor, and is always focused on results. When Reed pulls Helen away from her Christmas party, she informs Helen that her secret lover, Jason, has been murdered. Helen is momentarily perplexed how Reed knows about him at all since she thought she was being so careful. (Doesn’t everybody?). Emotionally overwhelmed by the news, Helen’s disbelief and hurt become evident, which along with flashbacks, make it clear how much Jason meant to her. Still quite upset, Helen presses Reed for the circumstances surrounding his death. Though Reed explains that Jason was shot, she continues to convey information to Helen about her next mission. To give her context, she states that Ambassador Chen, China’s ambassador to Britain, was found dead in his residence, and that his 19-year-old daughter Kai-Ming has disappeared. Flabbergasted by both the manner of Jason’s death and Reed’s insensitivity, Helen, still clearly upset, is adamant that she needs to find who killed Jason and to kill them. Reed, on the other hand, is less concerned about who murdered Jason than Helen’s next mission, which is to find Kai Ming. Later that night, while her husband is out and the kids are asleep, a man with a gun enters her home and accosts her in the kitchen. He asks for a recording, which she knows nothing about. When he threatens the life of her kids a second time, she states “I advise you not to do it a third.” When he does, she attacks him, completely catching the audience off guard. Her fast hands, swift body movements, and deftness at turning kitchen appliances into weapons make for a shocking and entertaining fight scene. This is the most engaging sequence of the series because we are drawn into a significant moment of departure from Helen, the mother and politician’s wife who just hosted a large obligatory Christmas party, to this fighting machine. The physical altercation made for enjoyable action early in the series, portending a fun and dynamic story ahead. Black Doves ’ action, characters, and numerous twists and turns are reminiscent of spy thrillers, particularly those depicted in episodic series like Mr. and Mrs. Smith and The Night Agent . But rather than a dark quality like the latter, Black Doves has the quirkiness quality of Mr. and Mrs. Smith , that aspect of a show that conveys it is neither scary nor should it be taken too seriously. Indeed, Black Doves ’ quirkiness contains elements of comedic short films like Drone and Operation: Cavity , which are not satire but take humorous twists on serious topics not to make fun of them, but to have fun with them. When Helen tells Reed about the encounter in her kitchen and the man’s inquiry regarding a recording, Reed says she knows nothing about the latter nor what prompted the former. However, she decides to call in someone to protect Helen — despite Helen’s insistence that she always works alone. She gives in when Reed tells her that the person is Sam Young. The two are friends, even though they haven’t seen one another since they last worked together. Played by Ben Whishaw, Sam is an early 30-something independent contractor with killer/assassin qualifications. What is striking about Sam is he is small in frame and stature, so the idea that he can protect Helen is inconceivable. He appears quite unassuming as he frequently walks around with his hands in his jacket pockets and is always dressed too thin for the cool fall temperatures. When other people are donning thick sweaters and coats, he is still wearing the same short, spring jacket, appearing to be cold but never doing anything to address it. By far, Sam is the most intriguing character in Black Doves . When others around him are talkative, he is self-effacing and contemplative but a bit tense. He is, however, loyal, a man of action, and a person who loves sincerely and deeply. We learn a lot about Sam during a flashback where he is contracted to kill three brothers. Without hesitation, he creates a bloodbath killing two of them. But when he realizes the third is a child, he finds himself unable to finish the job, as if he himself has suddenly learned he has a red line. And now that Reed’s hiring has brought Sam to London years later, his former boss wants him to finish the job she hired him to do before he left – kill the third brother. Accomplishing this while protecting Helen will be a challenge for him. As Helen and Sam investigate Jason’s death and at a lower priority look for Kai-Ming, they begin to unravel a conspiracy at the highest levels of the British government as the cases converge. Complicating things, China’s Intelligence officers are in-country on a rogue mission, determined to find out who killed Ambassador Chen, and Helen and Sam are getting in the way. Their pursuit of the truth puts their lives and those of the people they care about at grave risk, despite being highly skilled assets themselves. Reed expresses her annoyance not because their lives are at risk, but because by deviating from their very narrow assignment of finding Kai-Ming, they have discovered a recording they shouldn’t have, thus jeopardizing Black Doves’ reliability and credibility with its mysterious client. Black Doves is a highly entertaining series and one of the most inclusive I have watched in recent decades. It contains a fusion of representation with characters from traditionally underrepresented race, gender, and LGBTQ+ groups. Michael, for example, is a mild-mannered and gay Black male who exhibits traditional feminine traits. During a shootout, he relies on his partner’s protection by hiding behind him and physically holding onto his waist with his eyes closed due to sheer fear. Sam is a quiet, self-effacing White male with a small frame who is a killer for hire and who is also gay. Helen, who in addition to being a mother and performing the traditional ceremonial obligations and emotional labor of being a political spouse, is also quite deft at hand-to-hand combat. In a scene exemplifying Helen's toughness, she casually slams her dislocated shoulder into a structure to force it back into place. This is reminiscent of an oft repeated technique used by Mel Gibson’s character in the Lethal Weapon franchise for fixing his bad shoulder. Such skills and traits tend to be much more associated with masculinity than femininity. So, by extension, the show displays the varying manifestations of gender in males and females, and particularly highlights the versatility and adaptability of the latter. All of this demonstrates that people of both sexes cannot simply be confined to the boxes they were assigned to at birth and the keys subsequently thrown away. They present themselves to the world in varied ways. Most interesting about Black Doves is that these characters in the series are not presented as tokens; each has an active role in the show, which lends itself to humanizing people of all types. Black Doves bears some similarities to Guy Ritchie's 2023 theatrical release, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare . Let by Henry Cavill from Man of Steel along with Alan Ritchson of Reacher fame, the show presents a racially and ethnically diverse cast, including a gay character who occasionally displays feminine traits. Both movies are spy thrillers with quirky characters and avoid taking on too much of a dark or ominous tone. Ginseng tea is much better suited for these productions than a tea that yields a heavier feel, like Rosemary or Dandelion. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

Swarm offers interesting social commentary on excessive fandom < Back Swarm offers interesting social commentary on excessive fandom Amazon Studios, 2023 30 minutes Creator: Janine Nabers and Donald Glover Reading Time: 5 minutes 📷 : Used with Permission, Izzy Aghahowa https://izzyaghahowa.co.uk/ Swarm My Sweet Lady (F9HC1NRUFKQHFVWE) 00:00 / 05:29 Rosemary Movies and TV shows with intense action Yarrow Movies and TV shows about illness or set in hospitals or similar medical institutions Chris Chaisson 2023-03-29 “Who’s your favorite artist?” For those that follow pop stars in the era of social media, we know the danger that comes with criticizing any of them. The biggest Top 40 artists all have their own armies (or in one case Navy ) who go to great lengths to bully critics into silence and obscurity. While it would be easy to tell those super-fans to get a life, their dedication speaks to an unbreakable bond we often feel with celebrities that have brought us so much joy. The stars’ personas and extravagant lifestyles provide fans with the same escapism that the art itself does. The cyberbullying and intimidation tactics reflect our desperation to hold onto that dopamine rush. The lengths to which anyone chooses to take their fandom is an individual choice, heavily influenced by the need to hide from real life circumstances. Such can be said for Dre in the new Amazon series Swarm . Played by the talented Dominique Fishback ( The Hate U Give ), Dre is a lonely teenager who idolizes world-famous pop singer Ni'Jah. Her fandom becomes so intense that she responds to any criticism, ill sentiments or even indifference of Ni'Jah with brutal violence. After losing a close friend, Dre goes on a killing spree across several different cities, with all of her victims having in common their disdain for Ni'Jah’s talent and fame. Outside of escaping culpability, Dre’s ultimate goal is to see Ni'Jah up close and personal. The series is very cleverly cast, as it consists of many actors who are adjacent to staggering pop star fame or are indeed pop stars themselves. The supporting characters include singers Billie Eilish and Chloe Bailey, Paris Jackson, and Rory Culkin. The latter two are the daughter of the late Michael Jackson and brother of Macaulay Culkin, respectively. This infusion of personalities and recognizable faces adds to the thematic elements of the show. Donald Glover’s name may be the draw of the series, specifically for fans of the Emmy-winning Atlanta , but the co-creator Janine Nabers deserves a shout-out as well. In addition to writing for Atlanta , she produced episodes for Watchmen , the hit HBO mini-series from 2019. Nabers is also an award-winning playwright and librettist (one who writes the words for an extended musical composition). We’ve seen successful crossovers from the stage to the screen before with writers like Aaron Sorkin, and Nabers’ contributions to Swarm certainly demonstrate her versatility. Beyoncé fans, affectionately known as the Beyhive, may watch Swarm and feel slighted. After all, there are numerous references to real-life events, anecdotes, and details that make it obvious who Ni'Jah is “supposed” to be modeled after. Taken at face value, the series is nothing more than the satirizing of how Beyoncé’s most loyal followers behave, online and occasionally in person. However, if you look closer, much of Dre’s language and behavior (outside of maybe the assaults and murders) applies to fans of several other larger-than-life pop culture figures: LeBron James, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, and the list goes on. Fans become so swept up in the emotions these figures conjure up that they no longer see a difference of opinion as a positive or even an option. As Dre hops from destination to destination, her experiences become more than just homicidal missions being carried out. Her adolescence and past trauma comes into view, expanding the scope of the series’ premise beyond a parody of excessive fandom and into an examination of mental health and the foster care system. Though these details humanize Dre, her transgressions still overshadow any sympathy the audience might feel. After all, her victims are human as well. Swarm ’s innovation is not in its satirical elements but in who its story focuses around. Many serial killer stories revolve around psychotic, cognitively dissonant White men. They are often well-educated, financially successful, and completely irredeemable. This series instead chooses a young, gender-fluid Black woman suffering the effects of childhood trauma. Despite her past, Dre’s actions remain reprehensible. While her string of homicides begins with people who have questionable moral compasses themselves, it becomes clear that Dre will harm anyone of any background, no matter how virtuous. We see these qualities in anti-heroes such as Dexter, Patrick Bateman or Joe Goldberg, all distinguished White men, in Dexter, American Psycho and You , respectively. However, we rarely see a Black female protagonist allowed to exhibit rage, immorality and violence that they get away with time and again. The connotation of the term satire may mislead you to think Swarm is light-hearted and playful in tone. On the contrary, there are several grim and sobering moments, in addition to the overall violence and raunchiness. Still, viewers can take and leave as much as they want from the show’s overall theme. The series exists as a deeper conversation piece, or something to chuckle about whenever Beyoncé fans get on your nerves. In any case, these 7 episodes convinced me to keep any critical opinions of pop music icons to myself [grits teeth]. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

Drone uses lifelike graphics for a funny, yet ominous glimpse into AI < Back Drone uses lifelike graphics for a funny, yet ominous glimpse into AI E.D. Films, 2023 15 minutes Director/Writer: Sean Buckelew Reading Time: 3 minutes 📷 : Used with permission, B&B Pictures Drone Solatium Mysterium (KKCUB6QA8KN9QZSR) 00:00 / 03:09 Ginger Thought-provoking movies and TV shows Saffron Movies and TV shows with great visual effects Reba Chaisson 2023-07-26 Drone is an animated short film by Sean Buckelew about a drone that grows a conscience. With the use of artificial intelligence (AI), a drone, dubbed “Newton,” is presented at a CIA press briefing to announce AI-enhanced drones as new military hardware. Demonstrating its capabilities during a livestream in front of the audience, the press secretary engages in a pleasant conversation with Newton, indicating the drone is ready to show what it can do. Things go awry when the drone fires a missile into an empty building, but then verbally acknowledges it committed a grave error when it detects that a person was killed in the explosion. Feeling guilty, the drone vows to “never inflict pain and suffering on anyone again,” and people around the country embrace him for it. Buckelew does such an exquisite job of presenting the drone as self-aware, that you are likely to find yourself referring to it by its name or pronoun. The drone is presented not as an “it,” but as an object personified with human emotions of happiness, sadness, and even guilt. It makes me wonder to what degree AI will eventually make us feel emotionally close to inanimate objects, beyond the guitars we play or the cars we keep in our garage. Drone is both a funny and important film with astounding graphics that presents racially and ethnically diverse, lifelike characters, who smoke and use social media on their smartphones. It is not only a joy to watch, but it imparts lessons about our social and political realities in the age of livestreaming and government arrogance. The political fallout for the drone’s mishap provides a glimpse into what happens behind the scenes when things do not go as planned, and agencies and leaders are embarrassed by what transpires in full view of the public. Drone also helps us understand how an outcome, even a tragic one, can be twisted into a pretzel to justify staying the course. The rationalizations make it clear that handshakes and signed contracts occur long before Newton and his cousins get their first bolt. We are a long way from the days when robots looked like painted cardboard boxes with eyes, or even when they were made of stiff metal, like “C3PO” and “R2D2” of Star Wars fame. They now resemble objects we have been in awe of, such as cars, mobile phones, and yes, airplanes. This is the first step to feeling a kinship or connection to robots, as they gradually begin to fit into our world. Giving them names and adding AI to put them in conversation with us normalizes them as belonging in our space. And who knows? Maybe, eventually, we will feel as if we need them there. Available on Film Shortage Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

< Back Why and How Short Films are Made An Examination of Short Films and How They Serve Aspiring Filmmakers Chris Chaisson 11/12/22 Reading Time: 9 minutes 📸: Photo from Pixabay In 2011, a short web series called The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl premiered on YouTube. Its premise related to much of its viewership, centering around a young Black woman navigating uncomfortable situations in the professional, social and dating worlds. The exposure it received from YouTube helped Awkward Black Girl to spin off into a very successful HBO series known as Insecure . The creator of both, Issa Rae, has now forged her path into mainstream Hollywood, and it all started with a simple short showcasing her creative chops. Given the high demand for content across all platforms, there is always a chance that a modest project can morph into something big. Many cinephiles are familiar with some of the big-screen to small screen spinoffs, such as The American President becoming The West Wing , or A Few Good Men setting the table for JAG . However, many talented filmmakers lack the resources to produce expansive projects that gain the attention of influential representatives or studios. Creating a television series or a feature length movie requires budgets in at least the seven-to-eight figure range, usually valuated by professionals known as line producers. So what’s the best use of the underdog’s modest means? Many go the route of what’s known as a short film. With running times typically ranging anywhere from a few minutes to a half hour, shorts offer filmmakers a chance to showcase their storytelling and directing abilities. The small-scale project often serves as a foot in the door for their future endeavors. Short films can have any one of several purposes. Many filmmakers make a short for what’s called a proof-of-concept, whether for a feature-length flick or television pilot. As there are countless scripts waiting to be looked at, a project that has gone from the page to the screen is more likely to garner attention from studio executives. “Proof of concept is great,” says Alex Morsanutto , director of Operation: Cavity . “Because if you have a bigger idea, you could show a producer, or an agent, maybe your manager, ‘Hey, this is what I'm thinking of, something that I'd like to do as my next project. I already have this visual example of what it's going to be like. This is the proof of concept. All you need to do is get me the money and we're in business.’” Furthermore, a story may come off as too difficult or expensive to produce, or not capable of captivating an audience for the allotted time. In these instances, even filmmakers who have some notoriety produce proof-of-concept shorts. There are several interesting examples to choose from, perhaps most notably Robert Rodriguez’s The Customer is Always Right , Zack Snyder’s Die Free , and Neill Blomkamp’s Alive in Joburg. These projects paved the way for Sin City , 300 , and District 9 , respectively. None of these three award-winning blockbusters would likely have been made without their proof-of-concept shorts preceding them. Such was also the case for the creators of the Saw horror franchise. Leigh Whannell and James Wan struggled to find the funding necessary for their script, so they instead made a short film, moved to Los Angeles, and screened it for producer Gregg Hoffman . It made a strong enough impression for them to secure funding of what is now a very popular horror series that earned far more than it spent. The most common purpose in a proof-of-concept is to attract investors with a visual representation of what the filmmaker hopes to create. Directors aim to establish the look and feel of the movie more so than the specifics of the narrative. Whannell and Wan’s short consisted of a gruesome torture scene, consistent with what each feature ended up containing. Similarly, Die Free , the aforementioned short for 300 , runs only a minute and a half, but it provides a glimpse into the stylized violence and cinematography that 300 fans know very well. Conversely, some such projects are based entirely around a character. Similar to Issa Rae’s Awkward Black Girl series, Mike Judge produced a series of animated shorts surrounding Milton, a character frequently bullied by his office co-workers. The shorts became mainstays on MTV and Saturday Night Live in the ‘90s. Later, Judge incorporated Milton into his second feature in 1999 that would become a cult classic known as Office Space , with Milton playing an ancillary character. Some filmmakers go another route, opting to enter their shorts into a short film festival. Many in-person festivals serve as a hub for both creators and investors. A filmmaker can find not only financiers to fund future projects but also like-minded peers for future collaborations. With enough exposure and accolades from events, short films have the potential to climb their way into Oscars consideration. Over 90 short film festivals are considered Oscar qualifiers , and the entries to these festivals all have a chance to be recognized by the Academy. Along these lines, filmmakers can take their completed short and screen it in theaters for seven straight days in one of six major U.S. cities: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco, or Miami. Matthew A. Cherry’s very popular short film Hair Love won the 2020 Oscar for Best Animated Short after first airing in theaters alongside The Angry Birds Movie 2 , Jumanji: The Next Level , and Little Women . Hair Love was later adapted to a 12-episode animated series by HBO Max. An option for filmmakers still in school is to compete in the Student Academy Awards, put on by the Academy every year. The award ceremony offers a Gold, Silver and Bronze medal, any of which can be nominated for its corresponding Academy Award category (Best Live Action Short, Best Documentary Short, or Best Animated Short). According to the Oscars official website, 63 medalists from the Student Academy Award have been nominated for an Oscar and 11 have won. So what does a short film cost to make? The most honest and least popular answer is of course, “depends.” While budgets for past short films are harder to unearth than blockbusters, SAG (Screen Actors Guild) defines a short project on a low budget scale as being entirely shot in the United States for a maximum budget of $50,000, running no longer than 40 minutes. A list of expenses would normally include location rentals, cast and crew wages, craft services, and equipment, along with other minor costs. Given the prorated nature of some of these expenses, the more concise your shooting schedule, the cheaper your shoot. For short films, many directors use their circle of friends to fulfill roles on both the cast and crew. If possible, many use that same network to acquire the camera, lights and possibly even location needed at a discount. They often supplement that with on-screen talent looking to develop what is known as an actor reel to showcase their work. In this instance, actors are usually willing to accept less pay in exchange for the opportunity to bolster their acting resumes. Raising the money to produce a short could prove challenging. The easiest, and most commonly recommended, way, is to have rich, generous friends and family. Aside from that, filmmakers often have to cultivate relationships and operate on a quid pro quo basis with the people or businesses that can help them. If you’ve ever seen the “Special Thanks To” section closing out the end credits, that tip of the cap is usually to the people or places that provided food, a location, or some other helpful service for little or no cost to the filmmaker. Aside from individual investors to pitch to, many firms specialize in financing films. For creators, the best way to approach such investors is to have a clear and concise description of the film you wish to make, how much money you need and detailed explanations on how the money will be used.. Some people have locations locked down but need help paying the crew. Others have enough money for labor but need help renting equipment. In any case, the needs should be explicitly stated and possibly even itemized. The most important aspect of a filmmaker’s pitch is transparency, as any investor will be wary of the potential that they are being taken advantage of. There are good lessons to be learned in the stories of past short films made. While the aforementioned examples make the short-to-feature pipeline seem chock full of success stories, far more go unnoticed or receive negative reception. In a famous example, a young USC student named George Lucas produced his short entitled Electronic Labyrinth: THX-1138 4EB . It was later adapted into a feature shortened to just THX-1138 , thanks to his good friend Francis Ford Coppola’s production company, American Zoetrope. However, the Warner Brothers executives that Coppola received funding from despised THX-1138 and demanded a refund on their investment. This anecdote gives insight into the potential setbacks an aspiring filmmaker can suffer, even when receiving the funding he or she needs. Nonetheless, perseverance allowed Francis Ford Coppola to create The Godfather and recoup his losses. I just hope that George Lucas kid turned out alright. For more on short films, listen to Season 1, Episode 3 of the Cup of Tea Critiques Podcast . Tune in on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, and more. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

< Back Alain Fleury A Conversation with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Assistant Editor Alain Fleury Alain Fleury joined COTC to discuss the ins and outs of assistant editing for big-budget Marvel movies Chris Chaisson 2023-10-04 Reading time: 16 minutes It’s no secret that editing can be intense, time-consuming, and pivotal to the reception of the finished product in filmmaking. What may be less common knowledge is how much teamwork and communication editors must exhibit to make a large-scale project run smoothly (or at all). Cup of Tea Critiques caught up with Alain Fleury, a VFX editor on Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and assistant editor on Transformers: Rise of the Beasts and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever . Alain shared his insights on the importance of knowing the structure of every department, having editors on set, and learning as much as possible from an intensive college program. Alain shared with us what his first Marvel project taught him about working on editing staffs for big-budget, effects-driven films. Dr. Strange was my first Marvel studio gig. And that was probably the biggest budget film that I was working on at the time. It really shed a light on different workflows, and how that works. When you're on something as big as a Marvel film or at a studio, you can't just do your workflow, and then you move on. There's a lot of different departments, a lot of different people, that need to also be involved. When I do something, it affects everybody else down the line, whether it’s the send out to the vendor or send out to music, or whatever I do, everybody needs to be in the know. When you're in the VFX Department, your job is [to go] between the editor and the VFX vendors. We're not VFX artists, we are VFX editors. Basically, what that means is that we take what the VFX artists do, and bring that into the edit. And we keep track of every shot throughout the whole film; where they're at, and the different phases. ‘Oh, we're at the animatic phase here. Oh, now we're getting a color pass.’ We're just keeping track of everything, the different versions that come in, we show that to the editor and the director. If they like it or if they have notes, then we do a temp mockup of that note in the Avid system, and we send that out to the VFX vendors. They kind of go ‘Oh, okay, this is what they're trying to do; this is what they're trying to accomplish.’ So that everybody can get a clearer picture. That's your main job as a VFX editor. You bring the shots you edited into the timeline. And sometimes you have to do some temp comp work, a lot of the blue screen or green screen. Just put something in the background so that they can really visualize and see, but this is not going to be the final CGI or anything like that. I've learned a lot as far as working with a team of that magnitude, and how to communicate throughout that. Which you take on to the Black Panthers , which you take on to the Transformers . When you get to those kinds of levels of film, it is different, communicating with people and making sure you get the right things. You’ve got to know how to do office politics and who to talk to. You're talking to so many different personalities, so many different people that have different jobs. Knowing the hierarchy of every department is very important. And that definitely taught me that to take on to do other films. The perception of editing is that it can be an isolating, solitary job, with professionals confined to a room for hours staring at cuts. Alain enlightened us on the collaboration necessary for editors. On an independent project, or when you're at home, and you're editing your own short or your own independent feature, there's not a lot of resources and you tend to do a lot of things yourself. There is the editor and there's a VFX editor. If I was on that [independent] project, I’d probably be doing both jobs. But [on a larger project] I'll be like editing and then later on, I have to turn over all these different VFX shots to my VFX vendor. Occasionally, directors and even actors wield influence over the final edits of a film. Alain informed us as to when this is the case. As far as the actors, it's not a typical thing where you see the actor in the editing room, not at all. The times that you see actors have actual input in what is going on in the editing room is when they're also a producer on the film. That's why, sometimes you watch movies and you see the name of the actor, as an executive producer, or as a producer, that means that's what they negotiated. That's what they have in their deal. ‘Hey, I'll do this film, but I need input.’ Depending on how big you are, like if you're a Tom Cruise producing Mission Impossible , he has a lot of say in how things run. I don't really get to interact a lot with actors on a daily basis. Except for if I am on set, then I will see them and talk to them, have a casual conversation. For Wakanda Forever, I was on set. I was in Atlanta, so I got to be on set and see the actors, have lunch with them, and talk to them. It's not really part of my job to do that, but that happens if we're all there. What happens on these [big-budget] movies is that they are edited as they go along. The editing starts on these big projects even before the actors are on set, because they edit the animatics. They try to get the big picture, because there's a lot of planning that goes into these films. You got to make sure that you're getting the right shots. Everything is pretty much edited without actors before we even hit the set so that they know exactly, ‘Okay, this is what we have to do on set.’ Since we're editing as we go along, I had an office there on set close by. Whenever the footage was done, I would be bringing it in and prepping it and getting it ready for the editors because I was an assistant editor there. [My job was] making sure the footage was right and everything was good. I was in Atlanta, and the editors were here in California. When I got in over there at 9 a.m., it is 6 a.m. their time [in California]. We already got a head start on them. I've seen the footage first, and I already know what's good, what's not, and where to still have marked everything up for them. ‘Oh, this is the good stuff. Here's a string of all the takes that they did today.’ You could choose how you want to cut it. Then, if I have to do other things to the footage, I do all of that before they even get in there. By the time they reached the studio [in California] at 9 a.m., it’s 12 p.m. my time [in Atlanta], and they already have stuff to start cutting and watching. Alain offered some advice to indie filmmakers about how editors can help your entire production run more smoothly. I try to take that knowledge into my independent work that I do. When I work with independent artists, or independent directors, I tell them it's beneficial for you. I know a lot of people don't have the budget to have an editor from the beginning to the end, but do it if you can manage it. If you can make a deal with your editor, it's best to have them involved. Even when you're writing the script. If you already know your editor, you could be asking them, ‘How do you think this would cut? Or could we do something cool with this?’ That's how you get the best out of your time. I feel for independent projects, you'll go and shoot things. Afterwards, when you're in the editing room, you figure out, ‘Oh well, we didn't think about that. We didn't get this shot.’ And you don't have the budget to go back and film things. Now you're stuck with what you have, and you just gotta make it work. If you were planning already, and if you had your editor on set with you, they can already call out things. ‘Hey, you didn't get a reaction shot from this other actor; that's not going to cut well.’ When you get into the editing, you're already there. Alain dished on what skill can make any aspiring editor better at his craft. As much as people think that editors are supposed to be a little recluse and stay in their little Batcave, it's okay to have people skills. It is something that really helps you in the editing room. Being able to communicate with people, out and about, that's a skill that you learn by just doing in real life. Going out to events, being able to interact with people and hold the conversation. I would say that skillset really translates well in the editing room, where you're dealing with different personalities, different types of directors, different types of producers. The producer might want one thing, ‘No, you have to cut this in,’ and yet the director is telling you [another thing]. So now you’ve got to manage this situation. I have to give the producer what they want, but also give the director what they want. That's definitely a skill that [aspiring editors] should practice more. Filmmaking can be a long process where unforeseen problems arise. With a big enough team where everyone has input, someone will come up with the solution. Alain shared a story about how his Haitian roots allowed him to be that someone on the set of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever . Every day is a challenge, to be honest. You always think you're going into work, and going to have such a great day. And then next thing you know, the world is on fire. Especially in these [Marvel] films, there's a lot of moving parts. Anything can go wrong at any time. That's why it's great to have problem solving skills, on the spot. There's always going to be something that comes up and you just got to be able to adapt to whatever the situation is. For example, for Wakanda Forever, when we're looking for the Haiti shots. We're like, ‘Oh, we need to get aerials of Haiti.’ Everybody was brainstorming how to get the shots and all of that, and my background is Haitian. I'm like, ‘Well, I know people that can get your shots in Haiti.’ Even though I'm assistant editing on this project, I was able to have my input in there and say, ‘Listen, I can fix this problem for you.’ One big thing that definitely saved the day. Eventually, I recommended the shots there and they're in the film. I read and write in French and Creole, so it was great for me to get that different perspective on life and how people live. Also, [I got] to reconnect with my culture, my heritage and where I come from, where my family comes from. I've had some great summers in Haiti. Alain pinpointed exactly when he knew he wanted to go into filmmaking as a career. As a kid, I watched Ninja Turtles so many times, the original. I was the biggest Ninja Turtles fan; I still am the biggest Ninja Turtles fan. Seeing that in the theaters just opened up everything for me in my mind. Batman, Darkman, Ghostbusters . All those movies had a little bit of influence. I knew that I loved this type of storytelling. I also loved a lot of martial arts films; all the Jackie Chan stuff, all the Van Damme and Steven Seagal. I always knew I wanted to do this. I used to watch the movies when they would premiere on HBO on Saturday. Right after, it would have the “making of,” so I would stay to watch the whole “making of.” I was always intrigued by that. I can really say like the main film that got me to go ‘I have to be a part of this magic too’ is Jurassic Park . In theaters, seeing the dinosaurs on the big screen, my mind was just blown away. That film holds up so well, because it’s so well done. That movie made me go, ‘Okay, I definitely want to do this.’ When I was in high school, I discovered Robert Rodriguez. I already knew, ‘I want to do film’ from watching these big blockbusters, but how many people from my neighborhood or from my walk of life actually do these big blockbusters? I didn't know anybody. And then I saw Robert Rodriguez as El Mariachi . I read his book and found out, ‘Oh, here's this guy in college that had done some experiments, sold a part of his body to science to get $7,000 and made a whole film with his friends.’ That made it more tangible for me. And I thought, ‘Okay, even if I can't do the Spielberg stuff, this guy actually went out and shot a movie.’ So just grab the camera and let's just go do it. Alain shared details on his educational background and how it prepared him for the industry. I was [at Full Sail University] for a year and I got my bachelor's degree in that time. It was an accelerated program. Every month was a semester. You start the month, and you're in English and camera. They always have an academic class and a film class at the same time. So you're in English and also camera class. So that starts in the month. You only have those two classes for the whole month, and you have to go Monday through Friday. Four hours of lecture, and then four hours of lab right after it. It's a full-time job. And they were open. They had classes at all kinds of times. We’d have classes at 2am. It's all around the clock. There's classes on Saturdays and Sundays; it all depends on where you land on the schedule. I think what they were really preparing you for is how the real world works, as far as how films are made and how schedules are. You could be working on a Sunday, or a Saturday, and it could be all these weird hours and all these long hours. It's preparing you for that. I started with a lot of people in my initial class, but not everybody made it through the end, because it is grueling. If you miss a couple classes, then you're already way behind, and it’s hard to catch up again. Some artists choose to stick to the genre they specialize in while others seek to branch out and experiment. Alain shared which approach he takes. For me, I'm a filmmaker. I'm a storyteller. I like to tell stories; it doesn't matter if it's a romantic comedy, or if it’s a drama, or this crazy epic movie. They're all stories to me. They all have characters. They all have characters that need to change throughout the course of the story. It doesn't matter if it's a small indie project, or even if it's a Disney Channel film. As silly as they may be, they still have a structured story that they need to follow. I'll do whichever story that I find interesting. I love horror. I'm a big horror film fan, too. That’s why when I got on to Dr. Strange , I was like, ‘Oh this is great,’ because I'm combining my two loves of superhero and horror. Lastly, Alain gave us a heads-up on the personal projects he has in the pipeline. Right now, I'm currently editing a short film with one of my really good friends from college. We decided we wanted to do a really different type of short film for superheroes. We’re doing a dark superhero drama called Vigilante . Basically, it's in a world where superheroes exist, kind of like My Hero Academia or The Boys or something like that, where a lot of them fly over the underprivileged cities. They don't really patrol those neighborhoods, they don't really stop the crime. They focus on the big global threats. There's still crime, there’s still gangs and all kinds of things happening within those communities. So these four guys in this neighborhood have superpowers; each of them have a different set of powers. They decide for themselves, ‘You know what, nobody's coming here to save us. So we got to save our community.’ It's a dark, gritty superhero drama, and it stars Cleo Thomas from Holes and Maestro Harrell from The Wire ; he played Randy. That's a really good one that I'm looking forward to. We pretty much have a full cut of that already. We're in the process of doing the visual effects right now, and the scoring is happening also. We have a really great team on this project. I'm excited to show to people what we can do. Alain is currently editing a short film titled Rear and a feature film titled Restaveks. You can follow Alain’s projects, articles and other updates on Instagram at @alain_inthecut Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

Dope Thief shares important lessons about family < Back Dope Thief shares important lessons about family Apple Studios, 2025 50 minutes Creator: Peter Craig Reading Time: 6 minutes 📷 : Apple Studios Dope Thief Survive (PNTD034EZSCMMHXD) 00:00 / 08:12 Coca Movies and TV shows about drugs or with disorienting presentations Rosemary Movies and TV shows with intense action Reba Chaisson 2025-09-04 Many years ago, I read a book called All Our Kin , penned by Carol Stack and based on her research in The Flats, a working-class neighborhood in a major city in the Midwest. In the book, she reveals how she used participant observation to gain entrée into the community and get to know her new neighbors. Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed is similar, as it is based on her time living in several poor communities and working in nearby diners and hotels, so she could experience life and living as her neighbors did. Participant observation allows for researchers to gain a deep appreciation for residents’ hardships, triumphs, and everyday survival strategies. One of the big takeaways from both studies is how people in the communities rely on kinship networks, that is, support from people who are not related by blood but are considered family nonetheless. I mention all of this because the limited series, Dope Thief , stirred these themes in my head once again. Apple TV+’s limited series is about two best friends who front as federal agents to steal money and drugs from dope dealers in Philadelphia. Donning shell jackets with bright yellow DEA lettering and phony badges around their necks, the duo look legitimate as they invade dealers’ homes, intimidate the occupants, and help themselves to money and drugs. The scenario is reminiscent of the character Omar in the HBO series, The Wire . Omar (Michael Kenneth Williams), with the help of a shotgun hanging from his shoulder and tucked under his long coat, made his living robbing dope dealers—without the use of a DEA jacket! In one episode, Omar simply stood under the window of an apartment and the dealer just dropped the drugs down to him. Brian Tyree Henry ( Class of ’09 , Atlanta ) leads the cast of Dope Thief as Raymond Driscoll, an early 30-something who has never left home but tells his mother, Theresa Bowers (Kate Mulgrew), that he works all day as a painter. Theresa, who is not Ray’s biological mother, is not as gullible as Ray seems to believe, as she casually queries him about such things as his odd hours and how he is able to paint houses in the cold weather. Still, she surprises him with a birthday treat with a candle on top. “You thought I forgot. Happy Birthday you piece of sh**,” she says with a smile. He looks at her with much appreciation. Wagner Moura ( Civil War , Shining Girl ) is Ray’s best friend, Manny Carvalho, and the two are quite literally thick as thieves. Ray’s and Manny’s business continues as usual until they learn that they can get a big haul in a rural area on the outskirts of Philly. On a rundown piece of property, according to their source, the owners manufacture and sell large quantities of dope. Excited about their potential take, the two rush their usual surveillance and planning. The heist goes awry, and the cartel-linked, biker-gang-affiliated property owners inform them through an anonymous, raspy voice on a walkie talkie that they know they are the perpetrators, adding “You think you’ll be tough to find in your Scooby Doo van?” The call puts Ray and Manny in fear for their own and their loved ones’ lives, forcing them to leave their homes to evade the cartel, the biker gang, and the real DEA that is now investigating the crime. Ray has quite a contentious relationship with his dad Bart, played by Ving Rhames. We realize this when he confronts his dad for convincing Theresa to fund his release from prison on a medical discharge. “Ain’t one part of my life that you didn’t [mess] up,” says Ray. This is a chilling exchange. That Ray’s words spew with such clarity and vile in the moment, as if oblivious to his existing cartel/DEA problems, indicates he still carries raw emotional scars from his childhood experiences. From this scene, we get a strong sense of why Ray seems determined to rely only on himself to protect his mother and Manny. The days are always overcast, cool, and seemingly wet in Dope Thief . Perhaps this is why Ray and Manny’s situation seems perpetually hopeless throughout much of the series, suggesting that the weather plays just as much a role in the show as the human characters. Theresa, however, brings levity to this intense story by acting independent of Ray’s demand to not pay for Bart’s lawyer, for instance, and challenging Ray in ways that come across as humorous, as she did with his claims about being a painter. She is undeterred and unflustered by Ray’s obvious untruths, self-imposed hardships, and even his efforts to dictate certain demands. When he is fiercely adamant, for instance, that he is not to be taken to the hospital for a serious injury, Theresa ignores his protests and implores the group to stop letting “this lunatic” run the show and get him to the hospital. Unable to go to the police given the crime they were committing at the time, Ray and Manny have to duck and cover on their own and ultimately fend for themselves. Sometimes, however, help comes from the most unexpected places. We see this when Bart’s lawyer, Michelle Taylor (Nesta Cooper), meets a reluctant Ray in a bar outside of Bart’s prison. Ray, using verbal cues and body language, signals to her that the people after him are in the bar waiting to follow him outside. Suspecting all along that he was in some kind of trouble, she helps him out of the situation rather than leaving him at the mercy of his would-be killers. The old saying that blood is thicker than water means there is nothing like the bonds of blood relations, but Dope Thief challenges this. The series has an ethnically diverse cast, with characters similar in social class and not related by blood. Yet, they are all connected to one another in ways traditionally conceived as a family unit. Manny and Ray have been best friends since high school, and while they butt heads like friends (and even biological brothers) do on occasion, each repeatedly risks his life for the other. Theresa, though not Ray’s biological mother, is loyal and strong-willed, both of which serve her well in protecting her son from himself and others. Michelle, albeit a lawyer and not a part of the social network, bonds with Ray and his family, despite the risks to her career and life in doing so. Hence, family is more than blood relations; it is a mutually supportive kinship. And as Stack and Ehrenreich showed in their studies, shared biology is not a prerequisite for gaining entrée to it. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

Fool Me Once unveils the continuing spiral of interdependence < Back Fool Me Once unveils the continuing spiral of interdependence Quay Street Productions, 2024 50 minutes Creator: Harlan Coben Reading Time: 6 minutes 📷 : Used with permission, Netflix Fool Me Once Storm Before the Calm (N6J42VARUMKBN5UC) 00:00 / 06:19 Ginseng Suspenseful and intense thrillers Matcha Mysteries or whodunnits Reba Chaisson 2024-02-05 I find a lot of similarities in British television series. For example, each episode tends to end on a crescendo so you’re anxious to come back for the next. The crescendo in Anatomy of a Scandal is in the form of sharp and sudden slow motion special effects that gives us the sense of being hit in the stomach and getting the wind knocked out of us. While weird and over the top, it is effective at sending us into an anticipatory state – impatiently awaiting the next episode. Fool Me Once is similar, but thankfully it executes without such dramatic special effects. I need no reminders of sci-fi. (Sorry folks. With the exception of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back , I am just not feeling the genre. I do love some Yoda though!) Michelle Kegan plays Maya Stern in this 8-episode series about a recently widowed 30-something year-old determined to find out who is behind the murders of her husband, Joe Burkett, and her sister, Claire Walker. Complicating this is a covert effort underfoot to challenge her sanity. Although Joe is shot dead in front of her during a stroll in the park, she sees him playing with her 2-year-old daughter, Lily, on the child’s nanny cam several weeks later. Maya, a former Air Force captain already haunted by events that occurred during her service, suspects her wealthy and powerful mother-in-law, Judith Burkett, who heads the family’s long-established pharmaceutical company in Britain. Feeling her daughter-in-law was never good enough for her son, Judith neither likes nor trusts Maya. Their mutual disdain constitutes the main source of tension in the series. During her investigation, Maya must deal with the intrusions of the 50-something year-old Detective Sami Kierce, played by Adeel Akhtar ( Utopia , Sweet Tooth ). Detective Kierce’s idiosyncrasies bring “Lieutenant Columbo” to mind. Played by Peter Falk, Columbo is a smart, shrewd, yet quirky police detective in the popular 1970s series of the same name that ran for nine seasons. My parents loved this show because Columbo, in his iconic beige trench coat, always got his guy or girl because they dismissed him due to his unpolished appearance and quirky behaviors. Detective Kierce’s quirks and occasional clumsy appearance are like that of Columbo’s. He wears a trench coat in the beginning of the series, and at an upscale gathering, he is told, in a disrespectful manner, that his shoes are untied. Maya underestimates Kierce and often treats him like an annoyance, which, as we learned from the Columbo series more than 50 years ago, is never good practice. Fool Me Once is missing elements we take for granted in a murder mystery/police story. People brought in for questioning are neither harassed nor tricked by the police (yeah, right). In fact, doing so is frowned upon. When Detective Kierce reluctantly partners with the younger and impressionable Detective Marty McGreggor (Dino Fetscher), he confronts McGreggor about a story he told during their “interview” of a suspect. He asks McGreggor about the veracity of his story, and McGreggor laughs and admits it was a lie to get the suspect to talk. “It’s good policing,” he adds proudly. Kierce responds with seriousness, “Lying is never good policing.” McGreggor’s smile slowly fades. The exchange conveys the age divide in the detectives’ ideas of what constitutes good policing: Kierce’s sense of old-school ethics versus the young McGreggor’s belief in doing what is necessary to get information. The twenty or so years between them and their difference in perspectives convey the sense that adherence to traditional police behaviors in Britain is fading with each generation and will likely disintegrate altogether over the next 20 years if the generations before them do not put them in check. In murder mystery/police stories, we usually observe a lot of shooting or other forms of violence, but other than Joe and Claire’s murders, we don’t see this across the eight episodes of Fool Me Once . One reason for this is the absence of guns in Britain, as British police officers carry police batons. I am reminded of this when McGreggor happily gives Kierce a hug because of a compliment he paid him for an action he took. Kierce, clearly not wanting to be hugged, quips, “This is the real reason we don’t carry firearms.” The funny moment is presented as if series creator, Harlan Coben, wants us to know this “guns-free” tradition in the UK, hoping we ponder for ourselves the reasoning behind the superabundance of firearms in the U.S., particularly amid the high incidents of gun violence. Fool Me Once is an aesthetically pleasing production that takes us into Britain’s posh countryside and expansive estates to unravel a murder mystery. Having the threads pulled from an upper-class insider like Claire and an outsider like Detective Kierce gives a sense of balance to the show as she works from the top down and he from the bottom up. It helps us see how people across social classes are not as disconnected as they seem, that there is a strong web of interdependence among them. The degree to which wealthy families rely on their employees to commit wrongdoings for them is one example, and the impossible situations the workers find themselves in and so do what is asked is another. The degree to which people, out of greed, sell their souls for money and favors, or to remain in the good graces of their benefactors, are even more examples of these interdependent relationships. So, unlike the crescendo in Anatomy of a Scandal , we are not shocked or flabbergasted when we get a hint that makes us question, what could this person over here possibly have to do with this matter over there? We are, however, frequently blindsided, which makes each episode so tough to just stop there. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

The Law According to Lidia Poët makes for strong entertainment and raises ponderings about barriers < Back The Law According to Lidia Poët makes for strong entertainment and raises ponderings about barriers Groenlandia, 2023 42 minutes Creator: Guido Iuculano and Davide Orsini Reading Time: 5 minutes 📷 : Used with permission, Netflix The Law According to Lidia Poët Knowledge & Power 00:00 / 06:34 Barley Movies and TV shows with a lot of dialog Matcha Mysteries or whodunnits Reba Chaisson 2023-03-02 Years ago – yes, I refuse to be specific for fear of dating myself – my husband and I fell in love with a movie called Dangerous Liaisons . It was a period piece starring Glenn Close, John Malkovich, and Michelle Pfeiffer centering around a torrid love affair. Other than the film Amadeus , I didn’t fancy period pieces, but only because I didn’t give them a try. Most were dramas set in Europe that focused on privileged people, and yes, I mean the past and present definitions of the term. They were not just high earners, but to use a Marxist phrase, they owned the means of production. In other words, they were elites. Some of the actors were from the U.S., but most of the characters they played spoke with an accent of one of the European countries – back then and I suppose even now, often viewed as a cue of high social class. Think Titanic . For the films I did watch, which included all of the above and then some, I enjoyed them thoroughly, and I learned that they had something to offer in teaching us how people of this stature live, socialize, celebrate, control, and even handle adversity. And The Law According to Lidia Poët is equally valuable and honestly, a lot more fun than its predecessors. Set in Northern Italy in about 1883, the Netflix miniseries starring Matilda De Angelis ( Rose Island , The Undoing ) is about a young single woman who recently graduated from law school and despite passing the Bar, will not be admitted to it because – anybody? anybody? – she’s a woman. Based on a true story, the six-episode series is not preoccupied with the sexism of the day, but rather a demonstration of Lidia’s perseverance, guile, and legal talent. The mention of Northern Italy is pertinent here as until about 1860, Italy was divided into northern and southern states. Predominantly poor families, many of whom were farmers, resided in the South while upper-class elites inhabited the North. Little changed after reunification, so many people in the southern part of the country began immigrating to the United States for economic opportunity and political freedom, as the country was run by elites in the North. While we don’t get a sense of the politics in the series, the context is nonetheless important. Despite Lidia being from the North and born into wealth, she has little means, at one point even asking her brother for money. Yet her dress, make-up, and speech emanate upper-class status, which together speaks to the degree we are socialized to class and how hard some must work to maintain it, even if it means conspicuously consuming the clothing and accouterments of class to do so. After being evicted from her place for non-payment, Lydia is forced to move in with her well-to-do brother, Enrico Poët, who is also a solicitor. There is still some resentment between Lidia and Enrico because – anybody? anybody? – yes, she went to law school instead of getting married as women should do. To be fair, this would all be funny if not for the fact that the story is based on actual events and that still today, more than a century later across oceans and into other lands, such beliefs are still strongly held, especially in upper-class elite families . Even though she has not been admitted to the Bar, Lidia is approached with cases. In little time, she drags the reluctant Enrico, played by Pier Luigi Pasino ( Sargno farfalle quantiche ), into them since she is not allowed to argue in court. What comes through strongly as the series progresses, though, is that Enrico loves his sister, making even their spats and strong disagreements not virulent but more a test of wills. At many points during their debates, Enrico gives up on cases, insisting that they cannot be won or the accused person is guilty. Lidia keeps going with “That’s not possible if …” or “Not if we can prove …” These interactions add a level of warmth to the series and an important element for ensuring the audience does not generalize the Bar association’s stance regarding a “woman’s place” as reflective of the views of all men even at that time. Soon, Enrico recognizes Lidia’s talents, realizes her value, and offers to help in handling her appeal to the Bar. It is in Lidia’s investigation and research of cases, along with advice to Enrico on ways to present them, that we get the opportunity to see her kick some a**. This aspect of the series reminds me of the times when Black athletes were not allowed to compete in sports at many major colleges in the U.S. I’m thinking of the 2006 film, Glory Road set in 1966, where it was revealed that schools such as the University of Kentucky and others, did not allow Blacks on their basketball teams. Certainly, the college landscape has changed now, but I remember thinking as I watched that film: Why? What were they afraid of? I had these same questions as I watched The Law According to Lidia Poët . My thoughts are that barriers like these can only be erected out of tradition and/or the fear of losing identity and status. If I’m right, it makes you wonder about the capitalist tenet of competition and the class value of meritocracy. Where do they fit given the intentional construction of barriers like these? In addition to observing Lidia’s investigative and legal prowess, we get to voyeuristically enjoy her romantic exploits, which allow us to see her as fun, fun-loving and three-dimensional. It helps that her lovers are smart, engaging, and witty. Together, the vestiges of upper-class status, occupational prestige, and staunch independence are worn well by Lidia Poët, making the series informative and entertaining. If you want to dip your toe into a 6-episode period piece that is more upbeat than down, you might want to give this one a try. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

< Back Game of Thrones Audience Appeal The Enduringness of Story Reba Chaisson 7/22/22 Reading Time: 18 minutes 📸: Licensed from Shutterstock About 20 years ago, I sat down separately with several film and television development executives in Los Angeles to talk about their aesthetic priorities and what influenced their decisions to greenlight a project. I wrote the findings of the interviews in my book, For Entertainment Purposes Only? (Lexington Books, 2000). Each person gave me permission to disclose his or her company’s names because it was essential to lend credence to the views of such influential leaders in the business. Among the people I spoke with were development executives from HBO and October Films, the latter company went defunct in 1999 and now exists as Focus Features. I flew out to Los Angeles to join them for lunch after each kindly responded to my letter (sent via regular mail) to interview them about their work. It was an engaging hour with each. They helped me understand the elements they look for in a film and their rationale for them, as well as some of the challenges they face in the review and selection process. The business priorities of both people were consistent with respect to the goal for a film project, mainly that is is profitable as measured by premium channel subscribers and modest ticket sales, respectively. They also noted that generating "buzz" was important, Hollywood’s term for ‘talk’ and media attention about a project. This helped the project's popularity and increased its chances of critical acclaim in the form of awards and positive reviews. A strong consistency in my talks with all of the people I spoke with, including Smoke Signals (1998) writer/director Chris Eyre, was remaining true to the values of what was then considered independent film. Also described as artsy works with budgets under $20 million, independent film carries the tacit mandate of telling intimate stories with deep characters portrayed with strong acting. These projects differ from major (or mainstream) studio productions in several respects. Mainstream studios typically incur high production costs, emphasize splash over story substance, use high‑profile actors to carry the film, and are motivated to maximize ticket sales at the box office or rake in advertising revenue on television. In short, the focus of major studios is on the commercialization of the films they produce and distribute, measuring a project’s success in dollars more so than accolades. Of course, there are exceptions in that many mainstream films are simply great, with strong stories and acting such as Paramount and Twentieth Century Fox’s Titanic (1997) and New Line Cinema’s Lord of the Rings (2001), both high‑grossing and award‑winning films. But exceptions notwithstanding, mainstream film contrasts sharply with independent film, which endeavors to stay true to the art form by consistently telling compelling stories with high-quality cinematic presentations. Examples of 'indie' films in the '90s were Miramax’s Smoke Signals (1998), October Films’ The Apostle (1997) and Fox Searchlight’s Boys Don’t Cry (1999), all of which won multiple independent film awards and the last even won an Oscar for best acting. Recently, films such as Annapurna Pictures’ If Beale Street Could Talk (2018) garnered Oscar and Golden Globe wins for acting in 2019, and A24’s Moonlight (2016) won the Oscar for best film in 2017. All of these films fit the mold of indie as defined years ago, but there is a spirited debate occurring in the industry today over what indie is. The indie debate concerns what constitutes independent film and whether budget should factor into a project’s classification as indie or mainstream. Admitting my bias here, I agree that budget should not be a factor in making this determination, and instead the emphasis remain on the story and the quality of its presentation. I will save these arguments for another day. But it is worth mentioning that none of the arguments considers where the original programming of premium and streaming channels fits, whether in the form of movies or television series. At this point, even this doesn't matter, though. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, any arguments that assert where these platforms belong in the schema would be moot, now that the channels have become vessels for distributing theatrical releases of films of all types. It will be interesting to see if this changes as the public's sensitivity to news reports on COVID-19 diminishes. Years ago, HBO’s original programming was considered independent because it adhered to the indies' tacit mandates which required: that the film be produced independently of major ones; and that besides profit, the measures for success must lie heavily in the project's critical acclaim. Today, like HBO, companies like Netflix and AMC not only develop award winning movies, but also television series. Their success is measured in the indie tradition of awards and of course, channel subscribers rather than commercial advertising dollars. Because of this differentiation, we consider original programming to be of the indie mold. So, in addition to assessing just how well independent studios have remained true to the sector’s values, I wondered if the aesthetic priorities of the industry 20 years ago reflect the aesthetic tastes of the audiences they seek to attract today. If audience preferences align with studio priorities, it would suggest that it is the appeal of a story that endures, and audiences simply thirst for a good cinematic presentation of it. Given this, the story’s underlying elements could offer insights into what can potentially predict the success of a film or television project. Back in the Day Twenty years ago, DVRs had not yet arrived; VCRs were the recording devices of the day. Cable TV was limited, with just a handful of premium movie channels like HBO and TMC. The worldwide web was on the cusp of exploding into homes and moving into mainstream prominence. Mobile phones were quite literally just a phone, not the handheld microcomputers that we use today to manage our everyday lives and stay in constant touch with friends and family through texts, emojis, social media posts, and instant photos. So, with the technological revolution we have experienced since the turn of the century, have audiences’ cinematic preferences for independent works changed too? This is the question I wanted to explore, and I designed a survey on the HBO series, Game of Thrones (2011) to help me with some answers on this. About GoT Described in part as a fantasy drama, Game of Thrones (GoT) is a television series set in medieval times about a battle over seven kingdoms. The first seven seasons depicted battles among the various factions leading up to the showdown in the final season, which premiered April 14, 2019. In addition to war, the show integrates elements of politics, gender, race, class, and age. GoT’s U.S. viewership quadrupled over its seven seasons, growing from about 2.5 to more than 10 million on average per episode. By comparison, The Sopranos (HBO, 1999-2007) series finale drew 11.9 million and The West Wing (NBC, 1999-2006) pulled approximately 8 million viewers on average. GoT generated a lot of buzz over its first seven years, making it arguably the most talked about series, with cultural critics, pundits, psychologists, and marketers weighing in on its value and offering explanations for its appeal. With these achievements, it can be argued that GoT is an outlier because of its wild popularity. I can counter that it is because of its reach that the show warrants a teasing out of the elements that appealed to so many people. In short, GoT seemed to exemplify viewers’ aesthetic tastes, making it a very appropriate choice for the study. Viewer Demographics The online survey was administered over two days, March 27-28, 2019, prior to the release of season 8. It consisted of 11 questions posed to 540 individuals across the country who were 18 or older, asking about their level of interest in the season 8 premiere of GoT. With a response rate of 89%, the survey contained 482 responses and a completion rate of 86%. The sample yielded a margin of error of +/-4.6% at a 95% confidence level. Sixty-two percent of respondents indicated they were somewhat to very likely to watch the season 8 premiere. Of these, 53% were women. People ages 45-54 made up the largest segment at 28%. Each segment of 18-24 and 25-34 year-olds comprised 19%, for a total of 38%. The respondents’ ages are consistent with those noted by Variety , which identified the key demographic for GoT as 18 to 49 years old. Together, they make up more than 70% of the sample. I was unable to find a mainstream television series that matches GoT’s ratings and breadth of appeal across age groups. Most have a younger or older audience, not both. The series boasts an IMDB rating of 9.5 on a 10‑point scale! ABC’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013-2020) comes to mind when considering a mainstream show that rates high among 21-34 year-olds in particular. The action packed, science fiction series had a rating of 7.5 as it approached its eighth season, with approximately 2.3 million viewers. It was twice nominated for an Emmy in the visual effects category only, suggesting that story and depth of characters do not explain the show’s appeal. Instead, its staying power is its ability to draw advertising revenue and its syndication potential. On the older side of the age band is ABC’s Castle (2009-2016). The underrated show is about a writer who partners with a female detective to develop material for his novels, but he falls in love with her along the way. The series ran for eight seasons, and won Emmys for music, People’s Choice awards for Favorite TV Drama, and TV Guide awards for acting. A high quality show with an IMDB rating of 8.5, it pulled strongly among 45-64 year olds . Despite being canceled more than five years ago, the show still enjoys syndication and is quite popular. But in short, nothing comes close to the broad appeal of the Game of Thrones series. More than 3/4th of survey respondents indicated they had at least some college education. Interestingly, Game of Thrones is often described as one of the smartest shows on television, with Walton, a writer for Forbes's , commenting that it was: “[So] smart, in fact, that it can be hard to follow. ” While the educational attainment of the largest audience segment in the sample has some college level education, a fifth of viewers indicated they have attained something less. This suggests that the show’s audience is not monolithic and has something for everyone. The show's appeal is further indicated across income groups. Just under 40% earn $35,000-$74,999. One quarter earn $75,000-$149,999. Thus, the audience is diverse even across income. Together, the sample’s demographics point to Game of Thrones as having a very broad appeal, spanning age bands, education segments, income, and in grabbing the interest of both men and women. Critical Acclaim The critical acclaim of cinematic work is one standard of measure for assessing a film or television production. It manifests in awards and positive reviews that essentially validate several elements: the quality of the story being told; depth of the characters; and strength of the acting. It stands to reason then that a successful production is one that garners a lot of prestigious awards. Awards are the film and television industry’s nod to the strength of a show or movie’s critical elements. GoT won numerous prestigious awards over its first seven seasons: a Golden Globe for acting and multiple Emmy awards for Outstanding TV Drama Series, acting, production design, music composition, and visual effects just to name a few. The show’s accolades are reminiscent of drama series like AMC’s Breaking Bad (2008-2013), Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale (2017- ), and ABC’s Scandal (2012-2018). Like GoT, Breaking Bad and The Handmaid’s Tale won multiple Golden Globes for Best TV Series and best acting performances. These along with Scandal , won Emmys in all or some categories, including Outstanding Drama Series, writing, acting, cinematography, production design, and others. Baffling is a notable series like HBO’s The Wire (2002-2008), which was only twice‑nominated for Emmys in writing and received no Golden Globe and Emmy nominations for acting. The show’s IMDB rating is 9.3 out of 10, second in the aforementioned only to GoT which has a 9.5. One journalist described it as “ the greatest television [program] ever made. ” The explanations for this absence of tangible critical acclaim for The Wire is still being debated more than a decade after the show’s series finale. Nonetheless, accolades such as these attest to the critical acclaim of these shows. But still, do the tastes of viewers support the industry’s notions about GoT? Audience Appeal The most interesting and poignant finding from the survey is how respondents described GoT’s appeal for them. Based on the frequency in their responses to the question regarding what they find appealing in the Game of Thrones , the single, most prominent element that grabs their interest is 'characters.' Blake, a writer with CNN noted that critics often laud the complexity of the characters in GoT. Arya’s character, for example, defies her expected role to marry royalty and instead becomes a fighter determined to avenge her family. And Daenerys, who began as a victim and over time built an army and nurtured dragons, now wields undeniable power. The depth of the characters and their transformation over the series resonate with the experiences and aspirations of many everyday people who strive for strength and courage. There are also other character elements that we recognize in ourselves, such as: the cunningness of Littlefinger; the immaturity of Joffrey; sadly, the brutality of Ramsay; and even the gentility, loyalty, and empathy displayed by Tyrion and Jorah. Viewers relate to these in terms of what they see, hear and in some cases experience every day. Thus, the characters in the series display both broad and deep ranges of humanity, reinforcing the idea that the show has something that appeals to everyone. Second in text frequency are ‘storyline’ and ‘story,’ indicating their high importance for respondents. GoT is a story of race, gender, politics, and the wielding of political and military power to conquer. Examples of these are: the ruthlessness practiced by those in power to keep it and gain more; dark skinned people being brought out of bondage by a blond, white woman; young and older women occupying seats of power like Sansa and Cersei, respectively. Viewers can connect with these elements in large part because they are relevant to present-day issues and events. As I wrote in my book , cinema has historically been tied to the events of the day so it can resonate with people’s lives during that period. For example, a flood of war and comedy productions are released during times of military conflict, the former to reflect reality and the latter to provide an escape from its horror. Recently, Aaron Sorkin, a writer of The West Wing , noted that the series almost did not air because the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke soon after the show was penned. Said Sorkin, “[We knew] we simply can’t do this right now. People will giggle.” Today, strong political divisions and race and gender issues are playing out on television news programs and in social media, making the GoT storyline especially palpable. We found no major differences in the show’s appeal for men and women. Both emphasize characters and story as appealing elements, highlighting drama, action, acting, fantasy, and intrigue as important but relatively minor. The notable difference between the two is the appearance of ‘nudity’ for men and ‘love’ for women. But even these do not come close to the two primary draws of characters and story. Escapism and Anticipation ‘Action,’ ‘plot,’ ‘dragons,’ ‘fantasy’ are also highlighted by respondents, so it is evident that the level of escapism provided by GoT is quite high. Forty‑one percent planned to decorate their homes and/or wear GoT‑themed costumes for the viewing, which exemplifies the degree to which entertainment in general provides for escape from everyday routines. With sports, some fans wear jerseys, guzzle hats and paint the team’s colors on their faces to immerse themselves into the event. With cinema, some viewers carry props and don period clothing and costumes imitating those worn in a film or show. Star Wars and GoT are just two examples of this. More than half of respondents who indicated they were likely to watch the premiere planned to watch it with friends and/or family, and many were preparing for its airing much like football fans do for the Big Game. They shared plans to prepare meals, and 4 out of 10 indicated they were somewhat likely to very likely to purchase a big screen television for the event – a fairly common phenomenon for the Big Game . A handful indicated they would binge on the previous episodes to build excitement for what’s to come in the season 8 premiere. In addition to show loyalty, the constant media buzz about GoT spurs its anticipation even before trailers of the premieres are released. For example, a simple search of Game of Thrones articles yielded more than 209 million results. Even if half of these were duplicates, the sheer number demonstrates the wild popularity and interest in the show by journalists, scholars and viewers. By comparison, a search of The West Wing yielded 126 million and AMC’s Mad Men (8 seasons) 150 million. GoT‑related publications were exceeded only by the AMC series, Breaking Bad (5 seasons), which had 241 million hits, ABC’s Scandal (7 seasons) 336 million and HBO’s The Wire (5 seasons) with a whopping 389 million. College courses have been developed to explore the cultural success of GoT as well as The Wire , and many academics have commented on the appeal of Scandal . Conclusion The findings here suggest that the tastes of today’s audience do indeed align with those of Hollywood’s independent sector of yesterday, and that story is the point of intersection. The multigenerational appeal reinforces this along with the use of terms like ‘characters,’ ‘story,’ ‘storyline,’, ‘action,’ and ‘plot,’ to pinpoint the elements of the show that account for their interest and enjoyment. Viewers simply have a strong affinity for the characters depicted in the show and the quality of the story unfolding on the screen, which is consistent with the aesthetic priorities articulated by the development executives I spoke with 20 years ago. We can say then that these qualities are enduring aspects of a cinematic work in that they stand the test of time. Then, now and very likely in the future of cinema, these elements will be the factors by which the potential viewership and critical acclaim of an independent film or television series are predicted. The fact that many viewers can enjoy these original programs (at times commercial‑free) and in the comfort of their own homes with family and friends is a bonus. Indie contrasts sharply with mainstream works that pull in audiences with the implied promise of adrenaline rush through action, splash, quick cuts, brief interactions among characters, popular music genres, often cartoonish characters, and recognizable actors with fantastic bodies who appear in the presentation. This strategy has worked for the majors over the past 60 years or so, and particularly since the advent of home computers, mobile phones, DVRs, and DVD players. These technologies have made movie tickets easy to buy and shows easy to record, rent, and even purchase. While many of these works are truly enjoyable, indie film and television series offer a different cup of tea. And it is clear from this analysis that its appeal exists across multiple segments of people—and that story and characters are the threads that connect them. (Originally published April 2019) Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

< Back How Do We Measure Box Office Success Considering the Value of a Movie Chris Chaisson 12/18/21 Reading Time: 5 minutes 📸: Photo from Pixabay In recent years, pandemic notwithstanding, the box office has seen record numbers from blockbusters. Despite the prevalence of pirating, many of the highest grossing movies in film history have been fairly modern. The year 2019 set a record for global box office earnings with $42.3 billion. Though this number clearly dipped in 2020, the film industry had seen increased profits despite a plethora of other increasingly popular options for entertainment. Many factors contributed to these unprecedented turnouts. For one, the advancements in visual effects and sound quality make the movie-going experience more appealing, specifically for the biggest action movie franchises ( The Fast and the Furious , Transformers , Marvel , etc.). Additionally, the largest movie theater chains have opened new branches over the years and scaled up their venues to attract customers. Not only are the marquees and glass windows bigger and fancier, but the concessions have become more diversified. Some theaters have even carved out space for restaurants near the entrance and acquired liquor licenses to entice those of age. All these tidbits lead to the biggest contributor to increased box office numbers: movie tickets cost more now . A trip to the movies used to be a fun activity for a group of teenage friends or a young couple that didn’t have money to make more expensive plans. Enthusiastic cinephiles would hang out at the movies all day, maybe taking in two or three flicks and just hanging out with their buddies. What the box office represented culturally has since changed. Now, between the tickets and the concessions, going to see The Avengers cost about as much as going to see the Yankees. The year I was born, 1989, the average price of a movie ticket was $3.99**. While my hands weren’t big enough to hold four dollars at the time, that price provides evidence of a time when attending the movies was a less grandiose experience. Today, the average movie ticket price is $9.16**, and the most popular theater chains are all charging much more. Likewise, many venues have increased the number of private screenings and Q&As in recent years, which are primarily attended by members of the industry or patrons who spend the most money there. Research shows that 11% of the U.S./Canada population accounts for nearly half of all tickets sold, and frequent moviegoers tend to have more key technology products. Both findings reflect a possible class distinction on who attends the movie theater most frequently. As the future of cinema holds more rewards programs, QR codes and email confirmations, movie theaters likely won’t return to the minimally staffed, dollar-matinee feel that they had in the past. Many of them have simply embraced more upscale branding efforts. Whether good or bad, the modern and lavish atmosphere of the Cineplex makes box office sales difficult to compare to the era of more simplistic, communal venues. Returning to the discussion of the highest grossing movies, can we judge a movie’s popularity solely by what it grosses now? Once we account for the change in the cinematic experience as well as ramped up marketing efforts through T-shirts and theme park rides, Orson Welles seems to have been at a competitive disadvantage. What if we judged movies less by the dollar amount and instead checked the ticket stubs? How many tickets were actually sold for any specific motion picture? This re-examination of a movie’s earnings could highlight films that achieved extreme popularity when cost of living was low and other films that simply benefited more from inflation. Though not a perfect equation, I would suggest taking the dollar amount a movie grossed and divide it by the average ticket price of that year. Click the charts below to see what the Highest Grossing Movies vs. Movies with the Most Ticket Sales looks like. Chart by Gross Sales .pdf Download PDF • 133KB Chart by Tickets Sold .pdf Download PDF • 132KB There are very few surprises in these two tables as a whole. The most popular movies are the highest budgeted and most well-marketed, regardless of what measure you use. Nonetheless, contrasting dollar amounts against the number of tickets sold illustrates that some of the most popular movies would be even higher on our list if they had premiered after the industry-wide renovation of modern cinema. For instance, despite an exorbitant dollar amount for American Sniper , the film benefited significantly from an increase in ticket prices. Conversely, the original Star Wars was incredibly popular but premiered at a time when movie tickets were less than $3. Had Titanic been released after theaters introduced their expanded menus and 4K screens, it may have set attendance records never to be broken. Cultural shifts never stop happening, so the future remains to be seen. Maybe movie theaters will scale back down as everyone retreats to their HBO Max accounts. Or maybe they’ll continue their upward trajectory and offer lobster dinners with Courvoisier to wash it down. Either way, it’s always worthwhile to think critically about the record-breaking statistics being thrown in your face. But right now, time for a matinee. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!