Great piece. In addition to Chung, I suspect Powell’s involvement was also key to toning down potential culture wars. He’s very interesting- in an interview with the NY Times he talks about how he knows a big part of a Hollywood actor’s job is to make other people money and he takes that part of the job at least as seriously as the artistic parts: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/07/movies/glen-powell-hit-man-twisters.html
I’ve made a vow to start locking my phone in my desk drawer when I go back to the office next week. PowerPoint isn’t glamorous or even interesting, but it beats doomscrolling at work just because you’re bored.
I feel taken aback! I was expecting something else when I saw this still from Twister! >:3
Even though I love the original, I thought this movie was inexplicably boring. The only emotional response I had was to this new trope of murdering Black men so their white girlfriends can have an emotional arc. Fodder to show how humane this white woman is.
But, as always, I appreciate your perspective!! How is the writing going? I thought you were writing a novel...
Do you like horror movies? I would love to see your write ups on how awful so many of them are 🙃 the only good one I've seen this year is Longlegs.
I don't know! I was so confused, so I clicked to discover the truth!
The film that immediately comes to mind is Underwater featuring Kristen Stewart. In this film, I think she has a both a dead Black boyfriend AND a very alive Black man dies early on to save her as they try to escape the collapse of their underwater station.
I liked the movie except those parts...
There are a ton of horror films! I think it's the only genre being innovated upon. And it's the only genre where a new film comes out every month, unlike science fiction (and no one makes fantasy films that arent about superheroes).
I love that your list of things that right-wingers could get mad at in "Twisters" includes "Glen Powell is nice to women." The horror!!! :P
I liked the film a lot, personally. But a lot of that was because of where I was when I saw the film - going to the movies shortly after a milestone birthday, unsure about my future, I ended up watching the movie and its love triangle as my own personal allegory. I think Javi is supposed to be from Miami but Anthony Ramos himself is very much a New York Latino (and, as it happens, my high school classmate!?), whereas Glen Powell is everything cool about the South rolled up into one person.
"So we all seem to be caught in the middle of eternally aggrieved and talentless theatre kids on both sides of the culture war, fought between those who’ve just made it into Hollywood and those who haven’t. A select few screenwriters and Youtubers will continue to feast and fatten on this bacterial anger in symbiosis while the rest of us have to suffer through their dreck."
A-fucking-MEN.
I keep getting bummed out as I look around my favorite genres and see submission calls that are more about politics than story. For a couple examples that crossed my screen this week,...
"In the past few years, there have been things like She-Hulk and Velma and much of the new Star Wars cultural products that absolutely must’ve been made with the overriding goal of screaming “Eat it!” at their enemies, whether perceived or real. It’s hard for me to believe that the creative teams on those works prioritized artistic, or even just entertainment, goals above this burning desire."
A very astute observation, and one that applies not only to movies or artistic products in general, but also to things like Bud Light or the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.
"So we all seem to be caught in the middle of eternally aggrieved and talentless theatre kids on both sides of the culture war, fought between those who’ve just made it into Hollywood and those who haven’t."
To be fair, I have yet to meet a theater kid, talented or talentless, on the "right" side of the culture war.
So here's a take but not from a prog direction: they did Oklahoma dirty. They made Oklahoma look like an entire planet of tornadoes only someone suicidal would choose to live in.
I haven't seen the remake of "Twister" yet. Now that I know that they changed the story, I don't want to see it. It was my oldest son's favorite movie for the longest time.
The original movie was great, and it had DTS surround sound -- on DVD, long before most movies did. 😉👉 There was no good reason to remake it. It was captivating, and all of the characters were believable.
Whenever a producer says, "We wanted to put a modern spin on it..." It really means, we have to "decolonize it." No white guys doing things of importance. Women and minorities, that's OK.
It wasn't bad enough making the most forgettable milquetoast Asian American film in recent years, but now director Lee Isaac Chung seems to be forgetting and brushing aside the token Asianness that got him to Twisters. Would've been nice to see the token Asian guy actually have a good role. But no, Lee's made it so now he can just tow the line, That's Hollywood Baby!
Great piece. In addition to Chung, I suspect Powell’s involvement was also key to toning down potential culture wars. He’s very interesting- in an interview with the NY Times he talks about how he knows a big part of a Hollywood actor’s job is to make other people money and he takes that part of the job at least as seriously as the artistic parts: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/07/movies/glen-powell-hit-man-twisters.html
I’ve made a vow to start locking my phone in my desk drawer when I go back to the office next week. PowerPoint isn’t glamorous or even interesting, but it beats doomscrolling at work just because you’re bored.
Yeah but you have that computer in front of you too
I feel taken aback! I was expecting something else when I saw this still from Twister! >:3
Even though I love the original, I thought this movie was inexplicably boring. The only emotional response I had was to this new trope of murdering Black men so their white girlfriends can have an emotional arc. Fodder to show how humane this white woman is.
But, as always, I appreciate your perspective!! How is the writing going? I thought you were writing a novel...
Do you like horror movies? I would love to see your write ups on how awful so many of them are 🙃 the only good one I've seen this year is Longlegs.
Wait, what were you expecting from the cover photo, haha?
What are some other examples of that dead-black-b/f trope? I'm sure there are others but I can't think of any off the top of my head.
Still working on the novel! And I kind of like horror movies. Never was a big fan, but lately, some of the most interesting movies are in that genre.
I don't know! I was so confused, so I clicked to discover the truth!
The film that immediately comes to mind is Underwater featuring Kristen Stewart. In this film, I think she has a both a dead Black boyfriend AND a very alive Black man dies early on to save her as they try to escape the collapse of their underwater station.
I liked the movie except those parts...
There are a ton of horror films! I think it's the only genre being innovated upon. And it's the only genre where a new film comes out every month, unlike science fiction (and no one makes fantasy films that arent about superheroes).
I love that your list of things that right-wingers could get mad at in "Twisters" includes "Glen Powell is nice to women." The horror!!! :P
I liked the film a lot, personally. But a lot of that was because of where I was when I saw the film - going to the movies shortly after a milestone birthday, unsure about my future, I ended up watching the movie and its love triangle as my own personal allegory. I think Javi is supposed to be from Miami but Anthony Ramos himself is very much a New York Latino (and, as it happens, my high school classmate!?), whereas Glen Powell is everything cool about the South rolled up into one person.
"So we all seem to be caught in the middle of eternally aggrieved and talentless theatre kids on both sides of the culture war, fought between those who’ve just made it into Hollywood and those who haven’t. A select few screenwriters and Youtubers will continue to feast and fatten on this bacterial anger in symbiosis while the rest of us have to suffer through their dreck."
A-fucking-MEN.
I keep getting bummed out as I look around my favorite genres and see submission calls that are more about politics than story. For a couple examples that crossed my screen this week,...
https://www.stopcopaganda.org/
https://pressesrenaissancepress.ca/2024/08/29/submissions-call-for-choices-an-anthology-of-reproductive-horror/
"In the past few years, there have been things like She-Hulk and Velma and much of the new Star Wars cultural products that absolutely must’ve been made with the overriding goal of screaming “Eat it!” at their enemies, whether perceived or real. It’s hard for me to believe that the creative teams on those works prioritized artistic, or even just entertainment, goals above this burning desire."
A very astute observation, and one that applies not only to movies or artistic products in general, but also to things like Bud Light or the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.
"So we all seem to be caught in the middle of eternally aggrieved and talentless theatre kids on both sides of the culture war, fought between those who’ve just made it into Hollywood and those who haven’t."
To be fair, I have yet to meet a theater kid, talented or talentless, on the "right" side of the culture war.
Many of the big right-wing culture warrior figures like Shapiro and Rufo once had Hollywood (or other entertainment-related) aspirations.
No lie?
Conservative theater kids are legion! They're called "lawyers" :P
So here's a take but not from a prog direction: they did Oklahoma dirty. They made Oklahoma look like an entire planet of tornadoes only someone suicidal would choose to live in.
I haven't seen the remake of "Twister" yet. Now that I know that they changed the story, I don't want to see it. It was my oldest son's favorite movie for the longest time.
The original movie was great, and it had DTS surround sound -- on DVD, long before most movies did. 😉👉 There was no good reason to remake it. It was captivating, and all of the characters were believable.
Whenever a producer says, "We wanted to put a modern spin on it..." It really means, we have to "decolonize it." No white guys doing things of importance. Women and minorities, that's OK.
It's just lame and second rate. 😑
It wasn't bad enough making the most forgettable milquetoast Asian American film in recent years, but now director Lee Isaac Chung seems to be forgetting and brushing aside the token Asianness that got him to Twisters. Would've been nice to see the token Asian guy actually have a good role. But no, Lee's made it so now he can just tow the line, That's Hollywood Baby!