No, this isn't a return of an early meme. This is an action film, by the brothers who made Marvel zillions of dollars with the Avengers, that is Netflix's attempt to start an action franchise. - The New York Times
"When we think about the virtual plane of existence where the impossible is possible, it's likely that many of us are going to want to use that to enrich our connection to the stories and characters we love most." - MSN (Los Angeles Times)
YouTube isn't protecting its smaller artists (or any artists) from false claims. Says one producer, "A lot of the legal practices are going towards stifling artists, which is interesting when the main idea of is to be protecting them." - NPR
Only Maggie Gyllenhaal has worked well with her in the past few years, in Lost Daughter. Dare we even address the travesty of the new Persuasion? - Washington Post
Those ads will come from a partnership with Microsoft. "It’s very early days and we have much to work through, ... but our long-term goal is clear." - The Guardian (UK)
Rather jaw-dropping, really. "The BBC has declared a record income of £5.33 billion ($6.4 billion) for the 2021/2022 period, up from £5.06 billion last year, and a surplus of £206 billion." - Variety
Perhaps, as some in Japan say, because America has such a black-and-white, good-versus-evil mindset. Perhaps because Hollywood thinks animation is for kids and therefore must be simple. It could be an epic snafu with the English script. Or it could be, as Neil Gaiman says, "Harvey Weinstein being petty." - BBC
"Google nearly decided to call the internet TV service 'YouTube Air,' because an early version used an over-the-air TV antenna," and then internally it was YouTube "Unplugged." The service has a million more subscribers than its fellow "Live" at Hulu. - Variety
Starting in the 1990s, traditional documentaries started to be replaced by personality-driven nonfiction films whose directors (e.g., Michael Moore, Werner Herzog) were more than clear about points of view. Now more and more documentaries have given up narration entirely, using only the voices of subjects. - The Guardian
Perhaps that's not such a surprise, well into our third year of a global pandemic, but the drama nominees show "it is easy to feel trapped by forces beyond our control. Easy to feel like pawns in a game or part of an experiment." - Los Angeles Times
When the president of Pathé approached filmmaker Jean-Jacques Annaud (Quest for Fire, The Name of the Rose) about making a documentary about the catastrophic blaze, he decided to make a thriller instead. "We have an international star, very beautiful and very famous. And an exceptional villain: fire." - The Guardian
"Hitchcock's fear and loathing of women is accompanied by a lucid understanding of – and even sympathy for – women's problems in patriarchy. ... His female characters were never underwritten, and in the case of Frenzy they are certainly the warmest and most sympathetic parts." - BBC
"The country's small film industry has made 20 horrors in the past six years, with another two (this) autumn. ..." Says one filmmaker, "Irish folklore is particularly dark and lends itself to horror. Not a lot of happy endings – a lot of people being dragged to their doom." - The Guardian
"Award-wining director Mohammad Rasoulof and colleague Mostafa Al-Ahmad were taken into custody for posting a statement on social media urging members of the Iranian security forces to lay down their weapons." When Panahi went to prosecutors' offices out of concern for the other two, he was also arrested. - The Guardian
