Twitter, Larry mortuus est

And soon we shall bid adieu to the Twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds
Elon Musk

There has been much reflection on the disappearance of the Twitter bird, ‘Larry T Bird’*, towards which Elon Musk has always expressed ill-concealed distrust. It is the beginning of a new era, the era of the ‘X’.
What actually is to be underlined here, however, is that no one has yet recognized the bird, albeit virtual, a worthy epicedium, in the same way as the one Catullus dedicated to the sparrow of Lesbia in Carme III:

(altro…)

Artificial intelligence, pros and cons. In the film industry and beyond…

Artificial intelligence is a very actual one, among the issues and troubles related to the word of entertainment.
According to a recent Reuters piece of information, Tom Cruise and Keanu Reeves have been the subject of widely viewed unauthorized videos created by AI algorithms. Reeves called the technology scary
The technology is already used to to correct expression defects or to erase age marks, to slow down speech or alter mouth movements to sync with words when programming is dubbed in various languages. The upcoming ‘Indiana Jones‘ movie features scenes in which 80-year-old star Harrison Ford appears 40 years younger.
But now, taking everything to the extreme, to keep costs down, it could be possible to recreate scenes and new contents using images and videos, even archive footage, without anyone actually being on the set. Actors and writers envision various scenarios in which studios could try to cut costs and boost revenue using generative AI, which can be fed existing material and pump out new content.
Artificial intelligence allowed people with no real actors and far smaller resources than major Hollywood studios to generate the fake movie trailers, feeding debate on the issue that will be on the bargaining table when the SAG-AFTRA actors union begins labor talks with studios on June 7. A search for Wes Anderson on YouTube turns up trailers that the famed director with a distinctive style appears to have made for adaptations of ‘Star Wars‘, ‘Harry Potter‘ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’ featuring Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson and other stars.
A studio could even take footage from a popular 1980s TV show, and make a new season with AI!
The need for regulation for the new technology, already finished among the issues that agitate the screenwriters, who have been on strike for several weeks, could now carve out a leading role even in the negotiations that the actors will enter into in the coming weeks with the studios for the renewal of the contracts.  Some actors have signed off on specific uses of AI. AI already has divided studios and striking film and television writers, who want assurances that the emerging technology will not be used to generate scripts.
SAG-AFTRA wants to ensure its members can control use of their “digital doubles” and ensure studios pay the actual actors appropriately, said Duncan Crabtree – Ireland, the union’s chief negotiator.
As for Italy, (altro…)

Cannes ’23, Martin Scorsese, some other demons…

  • WordPress is 20 years old. Happy birthday, and many thanks for making us to express our world!
  • Best greetings to Martin Scorsese, who will be in Italy next weeks, and going to make a film on Jesus! (Of course, I will watch ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ as soon as possible…)

  • The 76th Cannes Film Festival finished yesterday; hereafter the official press release with the entire list of winners:

(altro…)

Cleopatras in comparison

As anyone remember, the diatribe on the Netflix series dedicated to Queen Cleopatra, written by Peres Owino and NneNne Iwuji, produced by Jada Pinkett as part of a project on African Queens, on air since tomorrow, May 10, in four episodes of 45 minutes each, dates back to a few weeks ago.
The reason for the controversy is the colour of the actress Adele James’ skin (black) whereas, according to many scholars, Cleopatra VII was of Macedonian blood. In Italy Alberto Angela also remembered it, in one of his shows.
Well, another TV Cleopatra is going to arrive! The Egyptian documentary channel “al-Wathaeqya”, of the Documentary Production Sector at the United Media Services Company, announced it has begun producing a documentary about the true story of Queen Cleopatra, one that aims to tell a historically accurate depiction of her life.
The documentary channel said in a statement: (altro…)

sometimes Smurfs come back. And Rihanna with them…

Can you remember the Smurfs, those nice little blue ones, targeted in my university thesis, exonerated from the accusation of being an apologetic tool of communism, and quite well-known by the children of any age, throughout the world?
Well, in 2023 it happens the 65th anniversary since their first appearance in comics, and we are delighted to learn that a new film based on their adventures is going to be released! (To be precise, on February 14, 2025 but -you know- two years can pass away very rapidly…)
The film will be ‘The Smurfs Musical’, will be directed by Chris Miller, and will be born as a a joint venture between Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies as part of their partnership inked last year. At CinemaCon 2023, Paramount revealed that Rihanna will play as Smurfette (as a voice actress, of course), and create and perform her own music for the film. (I could be Papa Smurf, who knows?)
The film will be released twelve years after ‘The Smurfs 2’, directed by Raja Gosnell, and produced by Sony Pictures Animation and Columbia Pictures. The blue brand of the Smurfs is now within the Paramount fold, and ‘The Smurfs Musical’ will be the beginning of a massive slate of new projects involving the Smurfs as Paramount seeks to capitalize on the brand’s massive reach.

‘The Smurfs Musical’ also features a prominent writer in Pam Brady (‘South Park’, ‘Team America: World Police’), and seems going to be born under the best auspices as for the direction as well, given that the Oscar-nominated Chris Miller has been already involved in very interesting animated projects, such as ‘The Penguins of Madagascar’ and ‘Shrek the Third’. Latifa Ouaou, the executive vice president of movies and global franchises for Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation, is overseeing the development of the new film alongside Emily Nordwind.
As everyone remembers,
(altro…)

#85yearsofSuperman and #theMarvels, the trailer

Although Kal-El’s birthday actually takes place on February 29, allowing for the celebrations in only one out of every four years, the Superman character in ‘Action Comics’ was actually first introduced on April 18, 1938.
Based on the first appearance to mere mortals, therefore, 2023 brings with it the 85th birthday of the most iconic, and perhaps most powerful superhero in history.
What kind of super cake is to be prepared? What kind of super candles will be to be blown out? And what about Krypto, the Super Dog? Will he tongue his master within a special attention?
Listing all the initiatives prepared for Superman is practically impossible*, so let’s hope that our most sincere wishes will suffice!
Moving from the DC to the Marvel Universe, the trailer for ‘The Marvels’, due out next November, seems worthy of attention:

(altro…)

to Guy Ritchie with love

Update on January 18, 2024: according to Daniel RPK, and some other sources, live-action Hercules will be not directed by Guy Ritchie, whose agenda is actually too full to deal with such an ambitious project.
Dear Guy Ritchie,
almost nothing is known as for your ‘Hercules’ in live action, going to be directed by you and produced by the Russo brothers.
The cast is actually rumoured, of course, and a lot of notable actors and actresses are caught up in people’s speculation.
My humble request is:
(altro…)

Oscars 2023, nominees and winners

95th Academy Awards (Oscars) were assigned yesterday, March the 12, 2023, at the Dolby Theatre, in Ovation Hollywood, Los Angeles. The ceremony was held by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honoring films released in 2022. The event was televised in the U.S. by ABC, and was produced by Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss. Weiss was also the director. Comedian and late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel hosted the show for the third time, after the 89th and 90th editions of the ceremony in 2017 and 2018.
Hereafter the complete list of nominees and winners:

(altro…)

Steven Spielberg at Berlinale: the hearth of a Child

Steven Spielberg was awarded with the Berlin Film Festival’s Honorary Golden Bear for Lifetime Achievement, and was presented by Bono Vox, U2 historical frontman. The festival has also been screening a selection of Spielberg’s previous films including the 1972 first feature Duel, Jaws (1975), Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981), E.T. (1982), Schindler’s List (1993), Munich (2005), Berlin-set Cold War thriller Bridge Of Spies, which he shot in the city’s Studio Babelsberg in 2014.
Hereafter some nice quotations by Steven, at Berlinale’23: (altro…)

Marcel the Shell. And other demons…

I watched ‘Marcel the Shell’ (‘Marcel the Shell with Shoes On’) last Sunday, and I feel allowed to suppose that deciding the Oscar 2023 for the Best Animated Feature is going to be a little difficult.
If ‘Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is extremely courageous with regard to the esoteric approach, Dean Fleischer Camp’s ‘Marcel the Shell’ is astonishing as for the ability to get the maximum from the minimum, in a quite innovative manner. Of course, it is not Dean Fleischer Camp the one who invented the stop-motion techniques. But he has been able to use it to create an original and touching, as nice as simple story.
Nor it is to (altro…)

Astérix et Obélix et l’Empire du Milieu

On a vu ‘Astérix et Obélix et l’Empire du Milieu’ vendredi dernier, pour notre anniversaire, évidemment dans un cinéma italien, et on a envie d’en parler. ‘Astérix et Obélix et l’Empire du Milieu’, réalisé par Guillaume Canet, écrit par ce dernier sous l’inspiration des histoires comiques de René Goscinny et Albert Uderzo, a été interpreté par Guillaume Canet, Gilles Lellouche, Vincent Cassel, Jonathan Cohen, Marion Cotillard, Julie Chen, Leanna Chea, Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Très attendu, il a été présenté comme le film qui devait relancer la cinématographie française, en effet un peu en demi-teinte depuis l’époque de la Nouvelle Vague, de Godard, de Leos Carax, Olivier Assayas, Patrice Leconte, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Matthieu Kassovitz, François Ozon, Xavier Giannoli, Michel Gondry, Bertand Tavernier.
A notre humble avis,
We saw ‘Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom’ last Friday, for our anniversary, obviously in an Italian theatre, and we want to talk about it. ‘Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom’, directed by Guillaume Canet, written by him under the inspiration of the comic stories of René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo, has been starred by Guillaume Canet, Gilles Lellouche, Vincent Cassel, Jonathan Cohen, Marion Cotillard, Julie Chen, Leanna Chea, Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Highly awaited, it was presented as the film that was to relaunch French cinematography, indeed a little lackluster since the days of the Nouvelle Vague, of Godard, of Leos Carax, Olivier Assayas, Patrice Leconte, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Matthieu Kassovitz, François Ozon, Xavier Giannoli, Michel Gondry, Bertand Tavernier.
In our humble opinion,

(altro…)

DarkLight