"The wildly popular dystopian drama pits the heavily indebted against each other … for an unimaginably large cash prize. But (the) desperate situation is real – (there's) a large and growing number of ordinary South Koreans who find themselves choked by debt." - The Guardian
"How is it that a quintessentially democratic cultural activity — buying a ticket and some popcorn and finding a seat in the dark — has been reclassified as a snobbish, specialized fetish?" A.O. Scott has an answer to that question. - The New York Times
It’s not that social-media platforms aren’t newsworthy—Facebook consistently dominates headlines. But TikTok is all too often regarded as an unserious thing to write or read about. That’s a mistake, and it’s one that Congress is making as well. - The Atlantic
“For better or for worse, film is an incentivized industry. Around 38 states have programs to incentivize film production. We are always at the bottom of that list.” - Seattle Times
It helps if you're also the writer-director of the documentary, or the sister or parents of said writer-director. But the intense focus is far from easy. - Los Angeles Times
The Harder They Fall is "righteous and rowdy" - and has a Black British musician director who says that his music and films come from the same place: "When I’m writing and these words are coming out, so are melodies and song and score." - The Guardian (UK)
That seems wild, since this year's version was recent - and grim. "The Oscars’ class of 2020 included plenty of good films ... seen only on small screens, unleashed upon an isolated and atomized populace, in the middle of a brutal pandemic winter." - Vulture
Fiona Lamptey's vision: "I really want to bring back our stars, like people that have to leave their home to go make a film that feels aspirational, or ambitious, and that they can get paid for ... those projects that kind of feel big for the U.K." - Variety
Whether episodes are released week by week (Only Murders in the Building) or all at once to binge (Squid Game), well, experts haven't yet seen "any data proving one strategy is definitely and consistently better than the other." But: Viewers like choice. - Vulture
These are some of the stories IATSE members have been sharing: "Eighteen-hour workdays with no lunch breaks. Car accidents caused by sleep deprivation. A crew member who returned to set the day after a miscarriage." - The Atlantic
"(The Netflix series's success) might be somewhat ironic given that Squid Game is all about socioeconomic divides, the exploitation of the poor by the rich, and the desperation of Korea's financially destitute class of laid-off workers." - Vox
The Academy has created spaces that, as it declared last year, would “prioritize the experience of traditionally underrepresented or marginalized people.” Unfortunately, this embrace of an ideology of diversity, even in this grand, often entertaining space, too often diminishes what it seeks to enlarge. - The Wall Street Journal
“Part of why I work so hard doing this is that I believe people should have access to more than what’s just currently in print. They should have access to the history of cinema, in as broad a scope as possible.” - San Francisco Examiner
"A global survey of working conditions has found long working hours are now the norm across the film and television industries worldwide, with 50- to 60-hour workweeks common among production crewmembers in the 20 countries surveyed." - The Hollywood Reporter
