Hello.
Next week is Halloween, the platforms all have a lot of suitable offer and properly boxed in silly blocks, and so it’s not worth remembering where you are Chuckywhich TV will skip a Poltergeist, nor that the last two episodes of It was always Agatha They debut on the night of the 31st, right? Because what scares Hollywood right now is something else.
Exactly one week ago, the Tribeca festival created a small happening in Lisbon’s Beato, bringing a handful of stars and, for those who managed to go see some of the films and series that were shown there, providing different conditions to see them. There are those who managed to do everything within the normality that is an “event” and not a film festival, and those who complain about absurd conditions for watching cinema, from the lighting to the camping chairs used to simulate a movie theater.
Now on Friday afternoon, inside a restaurant in the so-called Hub Criativo do Beato, there was another paradoxical situation. On one side, the restaurant was functioning. Same as: cutlery, crockery and steam from coffee machines giving that “what did you say?” atmosphere. On the other, a sign advertised Delicatessen and Cheese/Wine, but inadvertently the people underneath it were the directors Patty Jenkins and Jon Kilik, producer Diogo Brito and moderator Tony Gonçalves. It’s all a matter of perspective (and some sense of irony in the face of the food and drinks and folding chairs of “movie theaters”) and then accepting that the conversation was well audible and worth it.
Because it was a face to face between the woman who performed the last blockbuster of the year of the pandemic, Wonder Woman 1984 (2020), and the man who at the time held an executive position at the Warner Media group who decided that his entire cinema offering would debut directly or simultaneously in streaming and in the very few open rooms. Patty Jenkins had no say in the matter. “I wasn’t sure what we should do. When we found out we were going to be the first film to go [directamente para streaming]what was happening in the world made everything seem so insignificant… So my film and what happened to it seemed incredibly secondary. I’ve made peace with that,” said the director.
But he didn’t really do it. The decision, which mirrors that of a viewer waiting to see certain films at home because of coronavirus, “had a huge impact on the way those films were received,” said Jenkins. “I shot it in IMAX, we have a lot of practical effects and you can’t tell that on a home screen,” he said, citing the many middle-aged white men responsible for the film’s reviews who didn’t take it into consideration, nor the fact that they are not the target audience.
“Top Gun: Maverick decided to stick it out,” he recalls, “and now I so wish we had waited” for the pandemic to end, Jenkins sighs.
This conversation seems like a piece of archeology, but it was only two, three years ago. And since then, the change in spectator habits and the crisis in the exhibition sector have deepened. Jon Kilik, producer of the films The Hunger Games but also from features by Spike Lee or Jim Jarmusch, he remained optimistic. He clearly considers himself part of the independent cinema team and has put the brakes on the fear train: “The format, whether digital or streamingwill not stop artists from making films. I’ve seen this throughout my career, from VHS to DVD, and now the streamingand none of that stopped us.”
And then came the reality-check. Diogo Brito, architect and co-founder of the production company 313 with César Mourão, recalled that the cinema economy today cannot be created without the streamingespecially for small producers and peripheral markets. The equation is pre-acquisition of channels (potentially with your own video on demand) + distribution in the room = “this is the only way we can get a budget”.
Patty Jenkins, controversially, believes that the “streaming has not yet created cultural phenomena.” Stranger Things or Squid Game disagree. Netflix has the reach to create phenomena, but also, being essential for such peripheral markets when they enter their orbit of attention, they create “a paradox, a huge difference between a regional Netflix product and a production without Netflix” because of the budget, pay attention to Diogo Brito.
It was a brief x-ray of the state of things and how three very different agents see the influence of digital on cinema. Jenkins, who is clearly not a fan of Netflix, warned with a very clear example of the way the platforms now “order” or “note” the projects under their purview. “You streamers They say you have to show yourself flash of what happens in the first five minutes, Shakespeare would never show the high point of Hamlet in the first few minutes; What they fear is that people will switch off”, warns the director. What this does to the way stories are told, that’s scary.
Netflix
Friday, October 25th
The Extraordinary Life of Ibelin — The professional football player World of Warcraft Mats Steen died at age 25. He suffered from a degenerative muscle disease and his family attributed his death to loneliness and sadness. But the blog he left behind is a testament to the friendships he made virtually and the transcendence of the physical universe.
The Last Night at Tremore Beach — Spanish series about a musician and composer who moves to a coastal village to finish a job, but after an accident, he begins to be haunted by frightening visions of his neighbors.
Don’t Move — Film by Sam Raimi. A heartbroken woman isolates herself in a forest but is attacked by a stranger who injects her with a paralyzing drug that could slowly kill her. All he can do is try to escape, hide and fight for his life.
Tuesday, October 29th
Olivia Rodrigo: GUTS World Tour — Recording of the show at the Intuit Dome, in Los Angeles based on their albums GUTS and SOUR.
Wednesday, October 30th
The Manhattan Alien Abduction — Series about a case that fascinates the extraterrestrial life research community and the revelation that a filmmaker was involved in the so-called “Manhattan kidnapping case.” Netflix says that “these are the Secret Files of reality.”
Martha — Documentary by RJ Cutler about Martha Stewart, the former model and eternal influencer of domestic life who was arrested for tax evasion, left and returned to her career as a multimillionaire.
The Law of Lydia Poet — Second season of the series about Lidia, whose gender does not legally allow her to be a lawyer. Her demand is to change the law as part of her fight for women’s rights. Six new episodes. Italian series.
Thursday, October 31st
The Diplomat — Second season of the series starring Keri Russell, which resumes after the explosion that put the life of US Ambassador Kate Wyler’s husband at risk. Intrigue thickens within the British government and help comes from her husband Hal Wyler (Rufus Sewell) and tension increases with a threatening visit from US Vice President Grace Penn, played by Allison Janney.
of the movie
Tuesday, October 29th
Shatter Belt — Series by James Ward Byrkit, director of Coherence (2013), and which follows the anthology model, that is, each of the four episodes belongs to the world of science fiction and has no major connections between them. Includes quantum physics, metaphysics and pulp.
Amazon Prime Video
Monday, October 28th
Strawberries with Sugar — Season number four of the return to Colégio da Barra on TVI and Prime, now with a new director after the departure of “Crómio” and with a performing arts course, coordinated by Zé Milho, who displeases the school’s financial director. They look like the prequels to Star Wars that make the Force and the Jedi mere pawns in a war of trade and bureaucrats? Of course, students will bring the love stories, teen themes, and color to the series.
Globoplay
Thursday, October 31st
The Life I Wanted — Sports series with Bruno Pesca and Marcelo Trekinho, surfer friends about their travels, exploring new destinations for surfing, such as Madeira Island and the wave pool in São Paulo.
Max
Friday, October 25th
Trap — M. Night Shyamalan film about a father Cooper (Josh Hartnett) and his teenage daughter at a pop star concert who suddenly have surveillance cameras everywhere, lots of police and tension.
Saturday, October 26th
Hometown Horror – First season of a series about stories of the undead, spirit and monsters that have long run through generations in small North American communities.
Monday, October 28th
Somebody Somewhere – It’s time to say goodbye to Sam and his small, diverse community of wonderfully unusual people.
Tuesday, October 29th
Selena + Restaurant – First season of the program that puts Selena Gomez to work in the most renowned restaurants in Los Angeles, as an apprentice with limited time to create a dish that matches the menu of the restaurant in question.
Disney+
Friday, October 25th
Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band — Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band documented closely, covering the way they create their concerts, giving access to rehearsals, intimate behind-the-scenes moments and precious archive footage.
SkyShowtime
Friday, October 25th
If — A girl who discovers she can see everyone’s imaginary friends, their IFs (imaginary friends). Written and directed by John Krasinski and starring Ryan Reynolds.
Read to see
PUBLIC: Em BeforeBilly Crystal delivers series of scares
PUBLIC: Whoopi Goldberg for RAP: “You don’t look like a comedian. You should be running a company”
Observer: What We Do In The Shadows it will end. Have we given it all the attention it deserves?
The Guardian: ‘It’s going to be much darker’: inside the deadly return of TV masterpiece Wolf Hall
The New York Times: Seth Meyers Isn’t as Nice as You Think He Is
Until the Next Episode.
