Motion Pictures

Welcome to the latest episode of the MOTION PICTURES podcast.

Your regular hosts, Tony Black & Carl Sweeney, are back to discuss director Martin Scorsese and his new film THE IRISHMAN, and ask a key question...

What exactly *is* cinema?

In the last few months, Scorsese and Marvel have, via Film Twitter, been at war, after Scorsese described the Marvel cinematic juggernaut as “not cinema”.

Is he right? Is he wrong? Does it matter? Is the answer less important than people’s reaction to it?

It seems to have triggered a debate over the direction of modern cinema. Blockbuster franchises vs smaller fare. Distribution models with Netflix bankrolling The Irishman when major studios wouldn’t.

Are we facing cinematic hegemony? Or is the market simply evolving & adapting?

And crucially, is there art or craft in Black Panther to the same degree as The Irishman or Goodfellas? Worlds apart in tone and texture, do they all apply as pure cinema?

Plus! In our 'What We've Watched' section, we pick through some recommendations of cinema new and old, including KNIVES OUT & DUCK, YOU SUCKER!, plus one to avoid in 60's screwball comedy WHAT'S NEW, PUSSYCAT?...

You can find us on social media so please join in the conversation:

FACEBOOK: Motion Pictures Podcast
TWITTER: @MotionPicsPod

Martin Scorsese on Marvel to Empire Magazine: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/oct/04/martin-scorsese-says-marvel-movies-are-not-cinema

Scorsese clarifying comments in the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/04/opinion/martin-scorsese-marvel.html

You can also find a Letterboxd list of Scorsese & Marvel films discussed in the podcast here - have you seen them all? https://letterboxd.com/blackster/list/motion-pictures-podcast-6-scorsese-marvel/

Welcome to the latest episode of the MOTION PICTURES podcast.

Your regular hosts, Carl Sweeney & Tony Black, are back to discuss the biggest cinematic release of 2019 - STAR WARS EPISODE IX: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER.

With the recent release of the concluding chapter, George Lucas’ original story of the Skywalker family comes to an end after 42 years of twists and turns, prequels and sequels, and a complete transformation of Hollywood and cinema around it.

We talk about the saga, our own experiences with it growing up in the wake of the original trilogy, and how The Rise of Skywalker brings it all to an end, but we’re also going to look at the myth-making behind Star Wars as a whole and how much the Campbellian ‘heroes journey’ has influenced fiction as a whole.

Plus! In our 'What We've Watched' section, we pick through some recommendations of cinema new and old, including MARRIAGE STORY & IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK &, plus a couple to avoid along the way...

You can find us on social media so please join in the conversation:

FACEBOOK: Motion Pictures Podcast
TWITTER: @MotionPicsPod

Pre-order Myth-Building in Modern Media: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Myth-Building-Modern-Media-Black-author/dp/1476675635/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=myth-building+in+modern+media&qid=1577184704&sr=8-1

Tony on The Rise of Skywalker: https://ajblackwriter.com/2019/12/21/star-wars-episode-ix-the-rise-of-skywalker-the-expected-soulless-capstone-of-a-four-decade-saga/

Tony on Rey's heroes journey: https://ajblackwriter.com/2019/12/22/the-importance-of-being-rey-star-wars-exceptionalism-problem/

Tim Kreider on experiencing Star Wars: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/20/opinion/star-wars-movie.html

Welcome to the latest episode of the MOTION PICTURES podcast.

Your regular hosts, Carl Sweeney & Tony Black, join forces to discuss the monolith that is Disney in the wake of the release of FROZEN II...

After decades producing some of cinema’s most beloved and well known animation, the House of Mouse have over the last decade under CEO Bob Iger expanded their dominant reach across Hollywood - Pixar, LucasFilm, Marvel Studios and most recently 20th Century Fox all now fall under the Disney umbrella.

But what does that mean for cinema itself? Disney now control a significant proportion of the global box office for 2019. They have just launched their streaming service in the States, Disney+, releasing original movies such as their life-action remake of The Lady and the Tramp as an exclusive for the service. They are actively curtailing screenings of certain classic pictures they now own by independent cinema chains as control over lucrative IP tightens.

Is their corporate hegemony likely to finance bigger and better franchises, providing exciting and varied entertainment to the masses? Or is it part of a creeping cinematic dystopia? A corporate subsuming of original ideas, vibrant talent, and cinematic revolutions which led to some of the greatest film movement of the last 100 years?

Plus! In our 'What We've Watched' section, we pick through some recommendations of cinema new and old, including LE MANS '66 & DER GOLEM, plus one to avoid in the recent ROBIN HOOD...

You can find us on social media so please join in the conversation:

FACEBOOK: Motion Pictures Podcast
TWITTER: @MotionPicsPod

Matt Zoller Seitz for Vulture: https://www.vulture.com/2019/10/disney-is-quietly-placing-classic-fox-movies-into-its-vault.html

You can also find a Letterboxd list of Disney films mentioned in the podcast here - have you seen them all? https://letterboxd.com/blackster/list/motion-pictures-podcast-5-the-disney-paradox/

Welcome to the latest episode of the MOTION PICTURES podcast.
Your hosts, Tony Black & Carl Sweeney, in this episode look at the recent Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma, as part of a broader discussion about social media in our lives.
The film is an expose on the practices of Facebook, Twitter, Google and Big Tech in general which has raised some eyebrows amongst audiences.
But the question we’re wondering is whether or not what the documentary espouses, about the power of algorithms on our lives and the attempts to transform humans into economic output for multi billion dollar conglomerates, is anything new. Has cinema been warning us about this ever since David Fincher’s The Social Network, a decade old as of recording, told the story of Facebook’s creation?
Do we all have blinkers on about the online world?
Host / Editor:
Tony Black
Co-Host
Carl Sweeney
You can find us on social media so please join in the conversation:
FACEBOOK: Motion Pictures Film Club: https://www.facebook.com/groups/motionpicturesfilmclub
TWITTER: @MotionPicsPod
Tony on The Social Dilemma: https://ajblackwriter.com/2020/09/17/the-social-dilemma-is-everyones-dilemma-whether-we-know-it-or-not/
We Made This on Twitter: @wemadethispod
wemadethispod.com

Welcome to the latest episode of the MOTION PICTURES podcast.
Your regular hosts, Carl Sweeney & Tony Black, are back to discuss the biggest cinematic release of 2019 - STAR WARS EPISODE IX: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER.
With the recent release of the concluding chapter, George Lucas’ original story of the Skywalker family comes to an end after 42 years of twists and turns, prequels and sequels, and a complete transformation of Hollywood and cinema around it.
We talk about the saga, our own experiences with it growing up in the wake of the original trilogy, and how The Rise of Skywalker brings it all to an end, but we’re also going to look at the myth-making behind Star Wars as a whole and how much the Campbellian ‘heroes journey’ has influenced fiction as a whole.
Plus! In our 'What We've Watched' section, we pick through some recommendations of cinema new and old, including MARRIAGE STORY & IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK &, plus a couple to avoid along the way...
You can find us on social media so please join in the conversation:
FACEBOOK: Motion Pictures Podcast
TWITTER: @MotionPicsPod
Pre-order Myth-Building in Modern Media: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Myth-Building-Modern-Media-Black-author/dp/1476675635/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=myth-building+in+modern+media&qid=1577184704&sr=8-1
Tony on The Rise of Skywalker: https://ajblackwriter.com/2019/12/21/star-wars-episode-ix-the-rise-of-skywalker-the-expected-soulless-capstone-of-a-four-decade-saga/
Tony on Rey's heroes journey: https://ajblackwriter.com/2019/12/22/the-importance-of-being-rey-star-wars-exceptionalism-problem/
Tim Kreider on experiencing Star Wars: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/20/opinion/star-wars-movie.html