Dont Tell NetflixDont Tell Netflix

by Emily Nagle

[usr 4]

For the past few weeks, I’ve been seeing Pixar’s newest film “Luca” all over social media. On TikTok, Gen Z kids are making memes about it, and even documenting their trips to McDonald’s to get Happy Meal toys based on the film. As an animation fan myself, I knew I had to watch the movie, because what’s cooler than sea monsters (who live in ITALY, out of all the places in the world)?

Set in the fictional Italian Riviera town of Portorosso, “Luca” is about the eponymous character (voiced by Jacob Tremblay), a sea monster who lives a simple life herding goatfish on his family’s underwater farm. Luca’s parents (Jim Gaffigan, Maya Rudolph) have warned him his whole life to stay away from the surface, fearing for his safety, but he remains curious about what it’s like up there. Then one day he meets Alberto (Jack Dylan Grazer), another sea monster who literally yanks Luca out of the ocean. That’s when Luca discovers that he transforms into a human when out of water! Along with their new friend Giulia (Emma Berman), Alberto and Luca explore Portorosso while staying dry, keeping their secret from the sea monster-fearing town.

What’s unique about “Luca” compared to Disney’s other pandemic-era releases is that it’s exclusive to Disney+, where it’s free for all subscribers! Other 2021 releases from the company such as “Raya and the Last Dragon” and “Cruella” were only available via Premier Access, so customers would have to pay extra if they preferred to view the film at home. On the other hand, “Luca” can be viewed on the streamer at no additional cost, and is unavailable in theaters (except in countries that do not have Disney+).

My favorite thing about “Luca” was the visuals. The scenes showing ocean were so vibrant. I particularly liked the way they depicted the boys transitioning between sea monster and human. It wasn’t this big, elaborate sequence, it was more like whatever area got water on it would change. Like if Luca got splashed a little, then there’d be specks of blue on his face, and he’d vigorously rub them off so nobody would notice them. Something else that looked pretty were Luca’s imagination sequences. Having spent his whole life underwater, Luca is a kid with big dreams, and the aesthetic of those scenes really gives you an idea of how he sees the world above the surface. Like when Alberto is explaining to Luca that the stars in the sky are giant fish, and Luca imagines the duo traveling to space and seeing the fish up close. It shows how excited Luca is to explore this new world, and how he perceives it – it’s shiny and new, and seems like the stuff of dreams.

Even though the movie looked beautiful, I had issues with some aspects of the story. Some parts felt kind of unfinished, because new details would be introduced but not explained. For example, I would have liked to see more of Luca’s grandmother (Sandy Martin), who created an alibi for him when his parents asked where he had been all day. Why does she have Luca’s back? I spent the whole movie waiting to hear her backstory, because it sounded like she possessed some kind of knowledge about surface life that Luca’s parents lacked. Why Portorosso so afraid of sea monsters that they have fountains depicting people destroying them? What’s their history with them? These details being left out didn’t ruin the movie, but it would’ve been nice to get some explanations.

Although the relationships between the characters felt a little bit unfinished, I really liked seeing the character development of the kids. At the beginning of the movie, Luca is a shy, tentative kid, while Alberto is more confident, jumping off cliffs into the ocean. An adventurer, Alberto wants to get off the island and see the world. As they grow closer, Luca comes out of his shell a little more, taking a train to Genova at the end of the film to attend school with Giulia, while Alberto decides at the end that he wants to stick around Portorosso.

It’s the perfect movie for the summer, and not just because that’s when it takes place. The story is so sweet, and the Pixar team did an amazing job bringing it to life, especially considering it was created almost completely remotely. As in, the animation team took their computers home from Pixar’s Emeryville headquarters and worked on the film from their homes. While watching “Luca”, I was able to forget about all the craziness of the past year or so. I’d recommend this tale of friendship to people of all ages who enjoy feel-good movies!

by Emily Nagle

Known for his work on “Justice League” and “Watchmen“, director, producer, and writer Zack Snyder’s next project is set in outer space. The sci-fi epic titled “Rebel Moon” will premiere exclusively on Netflix.

Snyder originally pitched “Rebel Moon” to Lucasfilm ten years ago, originally intending for it to be a “Star Wars” film. However, after Disney acquired the company in 2012, Snyder’s concept didn’t develop beyond being just that: a concept. The story follows a quiet colony on the edge of the galaxy that is attacked by totalitarian leader Balisarius’ armies. In response, they send a young woman with a mysterious past to nearby planets to recruit a team of warriors who will help them fight back.

Although it didn’t get announced for Netflix until Tuesday, Snyder continued work on the “Rebel Moon” universe for several years. In an interview with “The Hollywood Reporter,” he explained how much time he spent fleshing out the universe of “Rebel Moon”, and that it was a passion project for him.

“This is me growing up as an Akira Kurosawa fan, a Star Wars fan. It’s my love of sci-fi and a giant adventure,” Snyder told reporters. “I’ve spent the last two or three years building out this universe. Every corner has to be painted in. I’ve been doing designs, constantly drawing and really cultivating its fertile ground to make this world fully realized.”

Joining Snyder to bring his idea to life are colleagues Shay Hatten (who Snyder wrote “300” with) and Kurt Johnstad (co-screenwriter of “Army of the Dead”, which was also Snyder’s directorial debut). On board as producers are Snyder’s wife Deborah, in addition to production partner Wesley Coller. Production is set to begin in early 2022.

by Emily Nagle

The long Independence Day weekend was the first box office weekend of the month, and has seen the releases of three new films, two of which ended up dominating ticket sales.

Top 5 Highest Grossing Films for July 2nd – 5th, 2021
5. The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard ($3.9 million)
4. A Quiet Place Part II ($5 million)
3. The Forever Purge ($15.6 million)
2. The Boss Baby: Family Business ($20 million)
1. F9: The Fast Saga ($30.1 million)

A follow-up to the 2017 DreamWorks film “The Boss Baby”, “The Boss Baby: Family Business” crawled into theaters and became available on Peacock on Friday. Having grossed $20 million in theaters over the three-day weekend, this animated flick shows that moviegoing is slowly making a return.

Also rolling out to the big screen this weekend was “The Forever Purge”. The final installment in Universal’s “The Purge” horror series, it follows a rancher family as they fight against the Purge, a masked killer group.

by Emily Nagle

With streaming services and networks pruning their show selections in preparation for the 2021-2022 television season – just last week, NBC cancelled “Good Girls”, finalizing their scripted lineup for this fall – Netflix has followed suit. The long-standing king of the streaming war has cancelled several of its shows at once.

Announced on Friday, the terminated Netflix Originals are “The Crew”, “Mr. Iglesias”, “Bonding”, and “Country Comfort”. Although his show has come to an end after two seasons, Gabriel Iglesias, who has previously filmed two comedy specials for Netflix, still has more content coming out on the platform. Iglesias announced in May that he would be filming his newest comedy special at the Tobin Center in San Antonio, TX on July 17.

In a similar fashion, Netflix made a deal with “The Crew” star Kevin James to produce and star in a single-camera comedy series. The streamer also made a deal with the creator and director of “Bonding”, Rightor Doyle. Even though the series won’t be continuing on Netflix, their talent will be returning to bring more content to screens around the world.

This news was first reported by Variety: ‘The Crew,’ ‘Mr. Iglesias,’ ‘Bonding,’ ‘Country Comfort’ Canceled at Netflix

by Emily Nagle

Allen Media Group announced Wednesday that they will launch a new streaming service later this year.

The platform, which will be named Weather Channel Plus, plans to offer over 50 news and entertainment channels for only $4.99/month. It will be available on a wide variety of devices, from smart TVs and smart phones to game consoles and computers.

“The Weather Channel has been voted the most-trusted news brand in America for eleven consecutive years, and the fifth most-trusted brand in America overall,” Allen Media’s founder Byron Allen announced in a statement, “which makes it the perfect brand for a direct-to-consumer streaming platform. We’ve aggregated some of the best news and entertainment content while keeping it affordable and accessible at the same time. We are highly confident that consumers will enjoy The Weather Channel Plus streaming service for decades to come.”

Following a $3 million deal, The Weather Channel was acquired by Allen Media Group in 2018. Weather Channel Plus is expected to attain 30 million subscribers in its first five years on the market. News of the upcoming streamer comes at the same time other media companies are unveiling their own streaming outlets – Univision recently announced plans to launch a Spanish-language platform, while Fox plans to launch a streaming weather service called Fox Weather in the next few months.

by Emily Nagle

As the streaming wars intensify, Comcast is dipping its toes into the world of streaming as chief executive Brian Roberts explores a deal with ViacomCBS or Roku.

However, unlike its competitors, Comcast isn’t jumping right into mergers or acquisitions – first, they will try their hand at building their streaming empire from the ground up.

Confirmed in a Wall Street Journal report Wednesday, the company aims to compete against Roku and Amazon in bringing streaming services to consumers. Currently in talks with Walmart and Chinese manufacturer Hisense, Comcast plans to create smart TVs that would run their own software, as well as heavily promote Peacock, NBCUniversal’s streaming service.