John, your point about Marvel movies brings to mind Martin Scorsese comparing the MCU to theme parks back in 2019. I think fears of superhero movies taking over cinema are a bit exaggerated. The MCU typically releases 2-3 movies a year. I checked and in 2019, the year before the pandemic broke out, there were apparently 792 movies released in the US and Canada. There were 3 Marvel movies and one DC movie released that year. 99.5% of movies being non-Marvel/non-DC isn’t bad.
Granted, these movies certainly punch above their weight at the box office. I remember there being only around 5 screenings during open day for Dr. Strange 2 at my local theater not for that movie. 5 screenings, not 5 theaters. That was kind of nuts and definitely speaks to the phenomenon that John’s alluding to.
I can’t speak for the specific Chinese American student John’s describing, but I definitely feel like many immigrants have a sense of connection to their country of origin, even if they consider themselves to be American first and foremost. I immigrated from China when I was about 6 and a half. My parents made me take Chinese school on Saturdays for a number of years. Granted I didn’t absorb much of that long term given that it’s hard to learn a language without being fully immersed in the culture and once one’s past a certain age. But there was always at least a sense of connection to that cultural inheritance.
Authors like Martin Jacques and Kishore Mahbubani stress the fact that China isn’t merely a nation-state, but rather a civilization state spanning 5,000 years. Akin to the Jewish people, I believe that the Chinese diaspora feels a similar sense of cultural belonging rooted in historical continuity. In some ways this cultural heritage is sui generis. Most Americans see themselves as part of a universal melting pot in a way that most Chinese don’t. American ideals of universalism are anathema to the Chinese mindset. Americans believe that the entire world can and should be like us. Chinese believe that only they can be Chinese. I believe that this difference explains much of the geopolitical tension inherent in the 21st century.
In my opinion, The Clash of Civilizations won out over The End of History. People aren’t homogenous atomic units untethered to any larger cultural or civilizational agglomeration. Kmele’s abolitionism seems to me inadequate for grappling with the geopolitical forces governing the 21st century.
Briefly on the Marvel point. People in the industry have pointed out that it's not so much that there are ONLY superhero movies but that a certain kind of serious, mid-budget film that characterized so much cinema in the '80s and '90s doesn't get made anymore. Bullworth is a great example of this kind of movie.
The argument being that lots of relatively low-budget films get released every year (often on streaming platforms, where almost no one sees them) and a handful of massive-budget franchise films get made, but there's virtually no room left for, say, courtroom dramas with a mix of big movie stars and up-and-comers. And when those movies do get made, they disappear from theaters almost instantly. See Glass Onion ($40 million budget), which was in theaters for I think a week before Netflix pulled it and held it. If you missed it in that week (like I did), you'll have to wait until December 23 to watch it on Netflix. Which is a bummer, because it's much more fun to see a comedy in a crowded theater than alone or with one or two other people in your living room.
Obviously this is not the most important issue discussed in this episode, but it does drive me nuts!
*Cough* Confess, Fletch *cough* This movie did not have a particularly large budget but in the 20th century it would have shown in a lot more than 500 theaters, and it's a movie for adults. (Director and co-screenwriter Greg Mottola admitted that they tried very hard to get something that Chevy Chase could do in this movie but they could not do it and be faithful to the original book.)
I’m not much of a movie expert or cultural critic and haven't seen Bullworth, so I’ll defer to you and John here. I think I agree with you guys at a high level that there’s been a shift in the kinds of movies that gain traction these days versus 20-30 years ago, certainly in terms box office exposure if not as much in terms of what movies do or don’t get released. As I noted above, I was taken aback by the fact that only 5 showings that weren’t Dr. Strange 2 played at one of my local theaters during opening day for the movie.
The first Knives Out movie had a wide theatrical release and ended up grossing over $300 million. It was both a critical and commercial success which I’m sure resulted in the sequels being greenlit and bought by Netflix for $469 million. Had Netflix not paid for Glass Onion in order to bolster its streaming platform, I assume the movie would’ve had the same theatrical release that Knives Out did. But to your point, it certainly wouldn’t have gotten the number of showings that Black Panther 2 did during its theatrical run.
I was able to catch Glass Onion when it was out in theaters. It was a good movie, but I definitely enjoyed the first one more. I remember being blown away by Knives Out and left Glass Onion feeling like it was adequately good.
John, your point about Marvel movies brings to mind Martin Scorsese comparing the MCU to theme parks back in 2019. I think fears of superhero movies taking over cinema are a bit exaggerated. The MCU typically releases 2-3 movies a year. I checked and in 2019, the year before the pandemic broke out, there were apparently 792 movies released in the US and Canada. There were 3 Marvel movies and one DC movie released that year. 99.5% of movies being non-Marvel/non-DC isn’t bad.
Granted, these movies certainly punch above their weight at the box office. I remember there being only around 5 screenings during open day for Dr. Strange 2 at my local theater not for that movie. 5 screenings, not 5 theaters. That was kind of nuts and definitely speaks to the phenomenon that John’s alluding to.
I can’t speak for the specific Chinese American student John’s describing, but I definitely feel like many immigrants have a sense of connection to their country of origin, even if they consider themselves to be American first and foremost. I immigrated from China when I was about 6 and a half. My parents made me take Chinese school on Saturdays for a number of years. Granted I didn’t absorb much of that long term given that it’s hard to learn a language without being fully immersed in the culture and once one’s past a certain age. But there was always at least a sense of connection to that cultural inheritance.
Authors like Martin Jacques and Kishore Mahbubani stress the fact that China isn’t merely a nation-state, but rather a civilization state spanning 5,000 years. Akin to the Jewish people, I believe that the Chinese diaspora feels a similar sense of cultural belonging rooted in historical continuity. In some ways this cultural heritage is sui generis. Most Americans see themselves as part of a universal melting pot in a way that most Chinese don’t. American ideals of universalism are anathema to the Chinese mindset. Americans believe that the entire world can and should be like us. Chinese believe that only they can be Chinese. I believe that this difference explains much of the geopolitical tension inherent in the 21st century.
In my opinion, The Clash of Civilizations won out over The End of History. People aren’t homogenous atomic units untethered to any larger cultural or civilizational agglomeration. Kmele’s abolitionism seems to me inadequate for grappling with the geopolitical forces governing the 21st century.
Briefly on the Marvel point. People in the industry have pointed out that it's not so much that there are ONLY superhero movies but that a certain kind of serious, mid-budget film that characterized so much cinema in the '80s and '90s doesn't get made anymore. Bullworth is a great example of this kind of movie.
The argument being that lots of relatively low-budget films get released every year (often on streaming platforms, where almost no one sees them) and a handful of massive-budget franchise films get made, but there's virtually no room left for, say, courtroom dramas with a mix of big movie stars and up-and-comers. And when those movies do get made, they disappear from theaters almost instantly. See Glass Onion ($40 million budget), which was in theaters for I think a week before Netflix pulled it and held it. If you missed it in that week (like I did), you'll have to wait until December 23 to watch it on Netflix. Which is a bummer, because it's much more fun to see a comedy in a crowded theater than alone or with one or two other people in your living room.
Obviously this is not the most important issue discussed in this episode, but it does drive me nuts!
*Cough* Confess, Fletch *cough* This movie did not have a particularly large budget but in the 20th century it would have shown in a lot more than 500 theaters, and it's a movie for adults. (Director and co-screenwriter Greg Mottola admitted that they tried very hard to get something that Chevy Chase could do in this movie but they could not do it and be faithful to the original book.)
I’m not much of a movie expert or cultural critic and haven't seen Bullworth, so I’ll defer to you and John here. I think I agree with you guys at a high level that there’s been a shift in the kinds of movies that gain traction these days versus 20-30 years ago, certainly in terms box office exposure if not as much in terms of what movies do or don’t get released. As I noted above, I was taken aback by the fact that only 5 showings that weren’t Dr. Strange 2 played at one of my local theaters during opening day for the movie.
The first Knives Out movie had a wide theatrical release and ended up grossing over $300 million. It was both a critical and commercial success which I’m sure resulted in the sequels being greenlit and bought by Netflix for $469 million. Had Netflix not paid for Glass Onion in order to bolster its streaming platform, I assume the movie would’ve had the same theatrical release that Knives Out did. But to your point, it certainly wouldn’t have gotten the number of showings that Black Panther 2 did during its theatrical run.
I was able to catch Glass Onion when it was out in theaters. It was a good movie, but I definitely enjoyed the first one more. I remember being blown away by Knives Out and left Glass Onion feeling like it was adequately good.
I think of Groundhog Day. How could that ever get made today?
Yeah, it probably wouldn't. Although it does keep getting remade, and maybe it will continue to be remade for the rest of eternity.
Or until Bill Murray has another spiritual epiphany...
Of course, the music industry has followed the same arc, with A&R and the erosion of professional songwriting in particular. I know John would agree.
How much longer can we remake pop music?