Last movie you watched......

I do find the expansion into China interesting. I'm sure there is money involved (to dub and distribute at least), but also to just get a film into China these days probably requires a Chinese exec. producer. Surprised to find out Crazy Rich Asians bombed in China.

 

Started to watch Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot and made it only about an hour before falling asleep.

 

It's the world's biggest market and it has a burgeoning middle class with newly expendable income -- Hollywood studios would be foolish not to chase Chinese money. They have to make certain allowances for Chinese sensibilities (sensitivities?), but as the examples of Top Gun 2 and Dr. Strange show, Hollywood is happy to make a few strategically cosmetic changes when it suits the bottom line. Plus, there's always the saga of Warcraft. A $160m film bombed in the US and made back just a quarter of its budget domestically, but it did gangbusters in China and pulled in almost $400m internationally. That's a powerful incentive for filmmakers and studios -- especially those with potentially marginal films -- to keep the Chinese market in mind 'just in case'.

As for Crazy Rich Asians, what would the allure be for Chinese viewers? CRA was a fresh take with new faces in an exotic locale for US audiences, and there was the novelty of having an all-Asian cast in a Hollywood movie for the first time in 25 years (Joy Luck Club). Chinese viewers see themselves in domestic media all the time, though, and they see billionaires who look like them up and down the country. Plus, there's the not-insignificant fact that CRA came out in China three months after its US release, leaving plenty of time for online piracy to eat away at ticket sales.

 

The Only Living Boy in New York.

Terrific clean crisp.

 

That Time Godfather Cast A Real Mafia Enforcer To Play Luca Brasi

 

I rewatched it tonight as a result of your posting (and finding it on Amazon Prime).

Really good and holds up well. I just wish Reitman and company could have fought off the sentimentality virus that prevents it from being great.

 

Katie Says Goodbye. It got 42% on Rotten Tomatoes and it's not all that special.

But Olivia Cooke, who I hadn't seen before this, is intensely good.

 

You haven't seen Ready Player One? She was also really good in Me and Earl and the Dying Girl.

 

Ready Player One was a fun movie. Very enjoyable.

 

"Christine" ... the 2016 movie about a 1970s TV journalist, not the one about the killer car.

Anyway, a very good film despite 90 percent of its viewers knowing how it will end. The details about small-town journalism — such as bosses calling reporters by their last names, old-school police scanners and a never-ending struggle with technology updates — were spot-on.

The lead actress (Rebecca Hall) does a great job portraying a the title character ... and you'd never guess she was British!

 

Finally caught Parasite today. Wow, that movie deserved every bit of accolades that it got. Fantastic show.

 

Meh. It ain't no Gone With The Wind.