Oh! I also meant to say that I can't wait to see this movie, and I'm really really jealous that you got to see it on the big screen. It almost feels like there's no point in seeing it until I can see it on a screen like that! I absolutely love that the filmmaker was so audacious in his vision that he did all of this on such a low budget, in spite of the fact that I'm sure everyone was saying it was an insane thing to do. Talk about hope being a thing with feathers!
Hahaha. My hope is that there’s room enough for both those 15 second TikTok videos you mention AND new voices & experimentations! Love your optimism, Brent. And yes, totally - Corbet stuck to his guns. I think this quote is especially telling, in terms of how the system is(n’t) working: “The truth is that Hollywood just usually waits for everyone else to tell them what to think. It was only when the film started getting a reaction... that it was perceived as being potentially commercially viable.”
Also I’m curious, what do you mean by “a kind of sensibility” with relation to public financing of the arts? Like what do you perceive to be that sensibility?
Honestly, I think it can be a kind virtue-signaling, art by good intentions. Basically, a lot of self-indulgent pretentious stuff. People writing art FOR committees, not for audiences. But I think I have a lower tolerance for pure "arthouse" movies than you do. In my mind, there is no distinction: movies either "work" or they don't. Some arthouse movies do, obviously, just as some popcorn movies do too (or did, back when they made more than sequels and superhero movies). At this point in life, I'm not sure strictly "film commission" type movies are any likely to be any better than "commercial" movies. Basically, I've had to sit through too much crap! 😂
Emelia Perez is a really good example of what I'm talking about. That feels like a movie that was 1000% created to win awards and also the kind of movie that would get a TON of public financing because it ticks all the right cultural boxes. And it doesn't work on literally ANY level, IMHO. Just a terrible movie that somehow ends up with a near-record number of Oscar nominations.
I hear ya, Brent! Agreed, movies that don’t work exist in both directions. Although a part of me feels that even movies that don’t work are some form of miracle, since they got made! 😆
Also agreed, Emilia Pérez feels overhyped at best. Controversy aside, I wish it’d gone deeper with its character exploration at the very least…
Great write up! Especially comparing your own personal experience to the experience of the filmmaker. I have extremely mixed feelings about the age in which we live, art and movie-wise, and yet I still think I'm more optimistic than I am pessimistic. I don't think public financing of the arts was ever a really good option, and I think it pointed to a particular kind of art, a kind of sensibility. But of course the existing commercial system is even more ridiculous and nonsensical. I guess part of me, in spite of all of the crazy things we're learning about AI and technology, is still encouraged by the fact that these new technologies are allowing truly different and unique voices access to the world, and audiences is really do have power in a way that they've never had before. That scares me a bit, because part of me thinks audiences will ultimately choose stupidity and dreck. But at least the possibility exists for something truly creative and different. Please, God, let these new possibilities and new technologies end up in more than just 15 second tik tok videos.
Corbert isn't the only one going after big fish, Mr. Koehler!
Haha. Here’s hoping more and more start casting their lines into the depths! 🐟
Oh! I also meant to say that I can't wait to see this movie, and I'm really really jealous that you got to see it on the big screen. It almost feels like there's no point in seeing it until I can see it on a screen like that! I absolutely love that the filmmaker was so audacious in his vision that he did all of this on such a low budget, in spite of the fact that I'm sure everyone was saying it was an insane thing to do. Talk about hope being a thing with feathers!
Hahaha. My hope is that there’s room enough for both those 15 second TikTok videos you mention AND new voices & experimentations! Love your optimism, Brent. And yes, totally - Corbet stuck to his guns. I think this quote is especially telling, in terms of how the system is(n’t) working: “The truth is that Hollywood just usually waits for everyone else to tell them what to think. It was only when the film started getting a reaction... that it was perceived as being potentially commercially viable.”
Also I’m curious, what do you mean by “a kind of sensibility” with relation to public financing of the arts? Like what do you perceive to be that sensibility?
Honestly, I think it can be a kind virtue-signaling, art by good intentions. Basically, a lot of self-indulgent pretentious stuff. People writing art FOR committees, not for audiences. But I think I have a lower tolerance for pure "arthouse" movies than you do. In my mind, there is no distinction: movies either "work" or they don't. Some arthouse movies do, obviously, just as some popcorn movies do too (or did, back when they made more than sequels and superhero movies). At this point in life, I'm not sure strictly "film commission" type movies are any likely to be any better than "commercial" movies. Basically, I've had to sit through too much crap! 😂
Emelia Perez is a really good example of what I'm talking about. That feels like a movie that was 1000% created to win awards and also the kind of movie that would get a TON of public financing because it ticks all the right cultural boxes. And it doesn't work on literally ANY level, IMHO. Just a terrible movie that somehow ends up with a near-record number of Oscar nominations.
I hear ya, Brent! Agreed, movies that don’t work exist in both directions. Although a part of me feels that even movies that don’t work are some form of miracle, since they got made! 😆
Also agreed, Emilia Pérez feels overhyped at best. Controversy aside, I wish it’d gone deeper with its character exploration at the very least…
Great write up! Especially comparing your own personal experience to the experience of the filmmaker. I have extremely mixed feelings about the age in which we live, art and movie-wise, and yet I still think I'm more optimistic than I am pessimistic. I don't think public financing of the arts was ever a really good option, and I think it pointed to a particular kind of art, a kind of sensibility. But of course the existing commercial system is even more ridiculous and nonsensical. I guess part of me, in spite of all of the crazy things we're learning about AI and technology, is still encouraged by the fact that these new technologies are allowing truly different and unique voices access to the world, and audiences is really do have power in a way that they've never had before. That scares me a bit, because part of me thinks audiences will ultimately choose stupidity and dreck. But at least the possibility exists for something truly creative and different. Please, God, let these new possibilities and new technologies end up in more than just 15 second tik tok videos.