[Weekly Update] April 24, 2022 (Patreon)

A reminder that Accented Cinema is currently on break. We'll be back with a new video on May 12th! Of course, update and such will remain the same.

CHANNEL UPDATE

Hope you enjoy our video on Drive My Car. It's a bit more academic than our usual, for a film that's a lot more niche than usual. But sometimes, it is the change of pace we need.

Our upload schedule remains mostly the same: Malaysian Cinema, Gallant, Mothra Trilogy. I've added Lupin III onto the list, because it has been a while since we talk about animations. Other films in the waiting includes Poetry (2010), Still Human (2018), and Once Upon a Time in China (1991). We'll do more retrospectives once August arrives and my schedule frees up a bit more.

As for bonus video. I had a script half written about Rogue One. But I'm thinking of writing something a bit more... classic? Maybe Escape from New York? Or the OG Superman? Or Robocop.

MEDIA TALK

Oh, Netflix. Just when everyone is starting to think that movie theatres are about to die, Netflix reminds people why TV didn't kill the cinema.

In case you don't know, Netflix has reported major subscriber lost for the first time ever, and is projected to lose a lot more. The reason behind the failure is speculated to be a low quality content compounded by high subscription prices. In perhaps a desperate attempt to recoup, Netflix begins talk of cracking down on account sharing and adding ads to their service, basically making their already over-price subscription even harder to swallow. As a result, the Netflix name begin to stink.

Should Netflix fails, the streaming market will then be dominated by a few major Hollywood studios. And the landscape begins to look eerily familiar to those who know film history.

During what is called the "Golden Age of Hollywood", 5 major Hollywood studios dominated the American film market. These studios owns everything from pre-production to distribution. Even the movie chains are operated by them. It is called vertical integration. And it's... Actually I'm not entirely sure why it is called a "Golden Age" like it is a good thing.

During this time, major studios would sell their films in bundles. If you, as a theatre owner, want to buy their highly lucrative, big-budget movies, then you have to buy their low-budget B-movies that are bundled together. Even if you are an independent distributor, the studio still de facto owns you.

This system broken apart by the Supreme Court in 1947, forcing the studio to split into smaller entities that no longer vertically integrated. It took a bout a decade before the studio system is truly dismantled, but what follows is a lot of classic indie and art-house cinema. from Scorsese to Kubrick.

In today's corporate America, it is a bit unfathomable that the Supreme Court would ever do the same. But if it happened once, there is hope for it to happen again. In the best case scenario, we may see these studio and their streaming branch being forcefully divested. But other possibilities also exist.

They can make movies content neutral, meaning when a studio produces a film, it has to also be available on streaming services that the studio doesn't own. Or, streaming can literally become the next cable, with every studio races to the bottom, while people flock back to the theater or sail the high sea.

But anyway, that is the update for this week. A bit more business talk and film history, and not as much movie talk. But I hope the context is interesting either way. I'll see you in our next update, and with a bonus video in a few days!