By George Robbins
Christopher Nolan is a director that is now known for the incredible films that he is responsible for creating and how those films are executed. Regardless of what film it is that he works on, he puts as much effort into the films as possible which results in films that are seen as masterpieces. If the story of any of his films is lackluster, this is made up for by the directing and the visuals being displayed on the screen. For many of his films, he has to use CGI just for the sake of creating an immersive universe, but what many people may not realize is that he tries to use as many practical effects as he can. This gives his movies the realism you would expect to find in movies that are trying to make you think what you see on screen is a possibility.
Nolan is responsible for some incredible films like ‘Interstellar,’ ‘Inception,’ ‘The Dark Knight Trilogy‘ and more which are widely regarded as incredible films in their own rights. They are all visually stunning and many of the films have plots that can be somewhat complicated, but simultaneously interesting. It is for this reason that Nolan is so well regarded by the movie making community and has a lot of say as to what happens with his films. Lately, there has been much discussion around his newest film, ‘Tenet‘ and what should be done with it because of everything going on with the pandemic. Nolan has wanted his film to be the first blockbuster film to release in theaters since the start of the pandemic, but the likelihood of this has pretty much disappeared.
Warner Bros. originally had the film set to release in the middle of July and had to move the date to the middle of August to accommodate for the surge in coronavirus cases. They just recently announced that this would not be the case either and the movie will be delayed in the United States indefinitely. In the meantime they mentioned that they might just end up releasing the film internationally in countries that are containing the virus better first. This would be a first for the studio, but given the choices they have available to them, this is the only one that makes sense. In the end, there is nothing we can do but wait and see if people can work on containing the virus better, otherwise the film will not be shown in the U.S. for a very long time.
Although we may not get to see the film anytime soon, this hasn’t stopped information for the film from releasing, even if it is a statements by the actors. Actor Himesh Patel, who stars in ‘Tenet,’ has said recently that the practical effects for the movie are a sight to behold. He said that the lack of CGI and the practical effects work on the film makes it something that people should look forward to seeing. There is no word yet on when the movie will release anywhere, but given how important this release is for WB, I can’t imagine that they will wait long to come up with a new date. With that being said, it will most likely be a long while before we see the U.S. release for the film.
By George Robbins
Theaters have been a source of controversy since the beginning of the pandemic due to the actions of networks, studios, and even the theater owners themselves. The biggest factor behind any of the controversy surrounding theaters is the fact that many don’t believe theaters should even try to open up. The problem is that theaters are a business, however, they are a type of business that are very high risk when it comes to the world’s current climate. The coronavirus spreads similarly to the flu so it can spread fairly easily and having people in an enclosed room crowded near one another makes it kind of difficult for people to avoid getting sick. Among the complaints by theaters are questions like why other businesses such as malls can remain open but they cannot. As of now the only thing I can think of is the fact that malls are more wide open spaces than theaters are.
Networks and studios have decided that certain movies should not have to wait for theatrical releases and so they released them digitally right from the get-go. This is what caused AMC and other theater chains to say that they would no longer show their films in their theaters and Universal had to issue a response saying that they would still be showing movies in theaters in the future. What would follow from that point is a series of issues with studios releasing any films whatsoever because it was becoming too dangerous. Summer titles were supposed to have started releasing by now in the U.S., but due to a resurgence in the coronavirus, those plans were scrapped. It now appears that alternative plans are going to be made and, for Warner Brothers at least, they might just release their movies oversea first.
Theaters have had no new movies to show, thus it has been pointless to even try opening their doors again, and even if they do, then they will likely have to close back up again not too long afterwards. Apparently the constant delays of movies are making the head of the National Association of Theater Owners, or NATO, annoyed. He said recently that movies should just be shown in theaters already so that they can open their doors to the public. Even in the midst of a pandemic, he wants studios to take the risk and release their movies to theaters which most of them will never do because it is too much of a liability. The head of NATO believes that theaters will simply have to function at “limited capacity” until a cure for the virus is found, but that they should remain open. This being something that doesn’t actually work this way has fueled a fire of controversy that will be debated going forward.
By George Robbins
The upcoming movie ‘Godzilla vs. Kong‘ is one that has been highly anticipated ever since the announcement that the film was going to be made. This match-up is one that has been hyped up by the Legendary studio and fans alike over the past few years and it is getting closer to the date of release for the film. This is setting up a lot of excitement for the film, especially since they release new content here and there as time goes on. However, the studio has yet to put out a trailer for the film which is working to make people even more excited about the upcoming match-up. Even though the studio hasn’t put out any official new content yet, the toy lines for the movie seem to show some new details about the upcoming film.
Specifically, the art on the toy boxes and the tools for the figures inside said boxes leads us to now believe in some new details for the film. From what can be seen on the box art, Kong has grown to be about the same size as Godzilla and he has even managed to grow something akin to a beard. Also, included in the box with Kong is a stone ax, so it is within the realm of possibility that he will use tools in the movie to match Godzilla in combat. One of the biggest issues originally presented was how would Kong, who was noticeably weaker and smaller than Godzilla, be able to fight him on even ground. It now seems that we have the answer to how he can make up for his apparent weakness in comparison. The question many people might still have is how did he make up for the size difference?
As stated, we have seen on the box art that the two titans are now about the same size, whereas in Kong’s introduction movie ‘Kong: Skull Island‘ he only stood at about 1/3 of Godzilla’s height. If people were paying attention during the movie, however, it was mentioned that Kong was still only really considered to be a child and he was still in the midst of growing. After 45 years, it wouldn’t really be all that much of a surprise that Kong would grow to epic proportions and after so many years of fighting Skull Crawlers on his home island, he knows how to fight better. This means that he probably had to improvise many different tools in order to fight against his enemy in the most efficient way possible. Kong’s intelligence vs. Godzilla’s brute strength will be a sight to behold when the movie releases in May of 2021.
By George Robbins
Within the past couple of months it appeared as though the movie industry was starting to get back on track after essentially completely shutting down. Movie and TV productions are still moving forward now that the production side of the industry is back up and running again. Even so, it appears as though many production teams are going to have a rough time getting back to work especially with the new tiered coronavirus testing that has been put in place. This system makes it so that only those who are in the worst condition will get tested first to see if they have the virus while those who are symptomatic or have only come into contact with an infected individual will be last to be tested. In order to get back to work, production crews must be tested to make sure no one has the virus.
Without the knowledge of whether members of the crew are good to resume production or not, there are going to be nothing but delays for those productions. Beyond productions are the films and shows that are already finished and are waiting to be shown to the public. Shows have no problem because TV and streaming services have been available this entire time, but movies are a whole other story. There are plenty of movies that have been ready to release that cannot simply due to the fact theaters cannot open their doors to the public. The reason as to why they can’t open their doors is a bit more complicated however because of the second wave of Covid-19 that hit many states in the United States. It is now starting to seem like an everlasting cycle that theater companies and studios are going through to see releases hit the big screen.
Studios will not release their films to theaters because it is too dangerous given how many people have contracted the virus recently in the United States. Theaters cannot open at all due to this fact so they are stuck chasing after release dates hoping they will be allowed to reopen as soon as possible. Things have gotten to the point where Warner Bros. is thinking of just releasing films like ‘Tenet’ overseas before a domestic release until things settle down. Even though everything sounds terrible right now, it really isn’t all terrible because some new movie news is coming out as of late. Things like the ‘Uncharted’ film having actually started production and now, things like finding out that the ‘Grease‘ prequel, titled ‘Summer Lovin” now has a director.
The hit musical movie from the 70’s saw the blossoming love of a “greaser” and a prim and proper school girl in their senior year of high school in the late 1950’s. The film was based on the 1971 musical of the same name and the movie went on to have a sequel simply titled ‘Grease 2.’ One of the plot points in the original film is that the two main characters met while on summer vacation and went on to meet each other again when the school year began. It is during this summer vacation that they fell in love in the first place and the prequel will focus on this period in time. Director Brett Haley will be taking the helm with the project so that whenever they are able to actually start working on the film, they can start without issue.
By George Robbins
As we are going into August, there are a number of films that are originally supposed to have released. Unfortunately, as we get closer to these films’ release dates many have changed their release dates due to a second wave of the coronavirus. Those that have not moved their release dates already will more than likely end up moving those dates around as even the hold-outs are now forced to do so. Although there are still films with August releases, many films that are supposed to release over the next few months have moved their dates into some time next year. There are a number of films that were finished and ready to drop into theaters at some point by the end of the year, but the situation with the new Covid-19 cases has left many of those films no choice but to release in a hopefully calmer climate next year.
Theaters aren’t really considered a safe place right now considering the fact that states are once again being forced to shut down many public places. Without the ability to properly open their doors to the public again, theaters don’t even have an incentive to open their doors up again even if they could. For instance, many states were allowing the reopening of theaters again before the second wave hit and the chain theaters decided against opening. They said that they only want to open up again if and only if they can open up all of their theaters again nationwide to make sure their is coordination between all of their theaters. On top of that, they also don’t want to open unless they have new content to show the public because this is the reason theaters exist in the first place.
There is no telling when theaters will end up opening their doors again, but it would appear that it will not be any time in the near future. One of the movies that theater reopening dates have been chasing down is the movie ‘Tenet‘ which was directed by Christopher Nolan. Nolan himself has been advocating that his film should not have its date pushed back so much and should be the first film that is available in theaters. He believes that by having the film be among the first new films available in theaters, the theater economy can be revitalized. However, it is easy to see why the studio would be hesitant to release the film in the current climate. They originally only pushed the film’s release by two weeks, but eventually had to relent and push it another two weeks to the middle of August.
Considering how much money they would apparently need to make on the film to break even due to production and marketing costs, it is not a surprise that they want to find a proper release window for the film. It would seem that with everything currently “going south” so to speak, WB will be pushing off the release date of the film indefinitely moving forward. Due to the United States not having a good handle on the virus compared to many other countries worldwide, Warner Bros. will more than likely upend the current release model by releasing the film abroad first. They will then release the film in the U.S. when the virus has been controlled better and theaters can open up their doors properly. Everything that happens in the movie industry from this point forward will more than likely be handled the same way if the containment of the virus ends up like this again.
By George Robbins
It has been over a week since Disney World reopened their gates to the public and a limited amount of people have been able to re-enter the parks. Before the parks had reopened their gates, there was a lot of concern as to how the park would handle the enforcement of social distancing rules and keeping people from doing dangerous things. For instance, how well would they be able to enforce the rule of people having to wear masks while they are in the park. Before the parks reopened to the public, many employees were also worried about what would happen and it was a valid concern considering the massive spike in coronavirus cases in Florida recently. Despite the growing concerns in regards to what was happening, the parks reopened on July 11th to the public.
Now, it appears that the idea of having people keep their masks on during their visits to the park has become something of an issue. As of late, there have been way too many people complaining about having to wear masks when they go out. The point of having them in the first place is to control the spread of the virus and keep the number of unnecessarily infected people down as much as possible. This is something that the Disney Parks division realizes they must adhere to in order to remain open to the public. Therefore they have started taking some interesting steps to keep people from taking off their masks while they are in the parks. One way that they decided to do this was by forcing people to keep masks on while on rides or else they can’t buy the souvenir photo.
Now it would seem that some people are trying to get around having to wear their masks everywhere that they go in the park. The only time that people are not required to wear their masks within the confines of the parks is when they are eating or drinking something. This loophole allowed people to walk around with food or drink without wearing their masks, but it is a loophole that has now been closed. The parks will no longer allow guests to be moving while eating or drinking and they must remain stationary in order to do so. As of now guests over 2 years of age must have face coverings that fully cover the face and mouth, and must be secured in a manner that allows guests to remain hands-free. Hopefully with this loophole closed, these rules will be followed properly and they will not have to update their guidelines again in the near future.
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