hollyweirdot

[hollyweirdot]

Weekly Release Radar: Week of August 12th, 2022

1.) Emily the Criminal 

Genre: Crime Drama Thriller 

Theatrical Release: Limited 

Run time: 1hr 33min

Director: John Patton Ford 

Stars: Aubrey Plaza, Theo Rossi, Gina Gershon

Synopsis: Emily is a broke AF college student looking to score just a little extra cash on the side. What starts off as small petty credit card scams quickly becomes more daring jobs with high rewards and even higher risks. Will Emily the criminal free herself of her crippling student debt? 

My Take: I am particularly interested in this one because I am curious to see how Aubrey Plaza can fare in a roll like this. I also do enjoy seeing her as a leading lady on the big screen and I support my boy Theo Rossi as well! It’s great to see him in a big role as well. He’s definitely got something going for him if Hollywood would just stop typecasting him in lame roles. But even when he is playing a cliche stereotype he never fails to add his own flair that makes it memorable every time. 

It’s the directorial debut of John Patton Ford as well. I personally always find it fascinating to be able to see the beginning of someone's career. For me this also adds onto why I would like to watch this film above the rest. 

2.) FALL

Genre: Thriller 

Theatrical Release: Limited 

Run time:  1hr 47min

Director: Scott Mann

Starring: Grace Caroline Currey, Virginia Gardner, Jeffery Dean Morgan 

Synopsis: Best friends Becky and Hunter find themselves stuck at the top of a 2,000-foot radio tower. 

My take: I mean, there’s not much to say here to be honest. The plot looks pretty straightforward. The only thing that interests me is how do they keep the tension going the whole movie? Is it really THAT sustainable? I more than likely won’t be catching it but if you do please let me know what you think! I’d love to hear about it. 

3.) Mack and Rita 

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Theatrical Release: WIDE 

Run Time:  1hr 35mins 

Director: Katie Asleton 

Starring:  Diane Keaton, Taylour Paige, Elizabeth Lail

Synopsis: A 30-year-old writer who’s never fully lived her truth, spends a wild weekend in Palm Springs and wakes up to find she has magically transformed into her 70-year-old self. 

My take: Think of 13 going on 30 but it’s 30 going on 70. It seems like a fine movie with probably some good laughs and lessons to be learned at any age. Lessons like: you’re never too old to change your life around and live it as authentically as you can. And it looks like Diane Keaton is having a blast of a time with it though. Definitely not my cup of tea for sure.

[hollyweirdot]

California's Gavin Newsom's Plead to Hollywood Producers to Come Back Home

On July 28th, 2022, a little over a month after the overturn of Roe V. Wade that sent ripples of anguish and relief throughout this nation, Variety reported on a letter composed of a collective 400ish TV creators and show-runners directed at top level executives at Netflix, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Amazon, NBC Universal and others. The letter that demanded for specific protocols to protect employees in states that outlaw abortion was signed by big names such as Shonda Rhymes, Issa Rae, Natasha Lyonne, and many more.

Now on August 3rd, Governor Gavin Newsom's campaign publishes a letter asking Hollywood producers to share the love and to come back to sunny ol' California to share the love of their production company profits. He specifically targets states such as Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, and Georgia (Georgia being the reigning king of giving TV & Film tax incentives). In his letter exactly what you would expect from a politician's campaign.

To me it feels like his points are on 2 fronts: The first being the more logical side of things, providing $330 million in tax credit for productions in the state of California that will be good through 2030.

The second, is a little personal and goes for those production company's values! A politician is going to politic, what are you gonna do! But check this out: Newsom clearly states his intention with his message and doesn't mince words:

“As other states roll back people’s rights, California will continue to protect fundamental freedoms for all and welcome businesses that stand up for their employees.”

That first jab is definitely a jab at those other states! And guess what, those other states definitely felt it. And since Georgia is the leading state with production tax incentives he felt targeted.

Georgia's Governor Brian Kemp reported making $4.4 billion for 2022 fiscal year off of film and television production alone! So there's a lot of money on the table for the states involved. And how exactly did this happen? How did California the home of Hollyweird, is being out done by Georgia? Well it definitely has to do with how expensive California is that's a no brainer. But also remember (although I know many don't want to) the lost year of 2020? Yep. Remember how Gavin Newsom's California under Covid policies? YEP. Hollywood was shut down, California was shut down, my favorite local theater was shut down. It was hard for productions to get going in the golden state during that time. Meanwhile according to Georgia's Gov. Brian Kemp, Georgia was able to swoop in and pull the rug from under the golden state.

"When the pandemic struck, we worked hard in Georgia to communicate with our partners in the Georgia film, TV, and streaming industries. Together, we forged a safe and appropriate path to allow the film industry to return to operations and deliver Georgia Made productions to eager consumers all around the world — even when some states continued to stay shut down and stifle the industry's return to normalcy."

Boom. There it is. California stayed closed, HARD. I can imagine this left some deep wounds and deeper empty pockets for some Hollywood Producers and left a permanent lack of taste for California's tv and film tax incentives. All of a sudden, Georgia's looking pretty good, they opened up productions quicker and offer more tax incentives that would make any producer start salivating.

So why is Gavin Newsom trying to make a play at getting those productions back? Full disclosure I don't know but I can drum up a few reasons.

1.) Gavin is lookin to make a play at running for president. And with $4.4 billion for the taking through productions.

2.) It makes him look good of course. He's bringing (kind of a petty point) of pointing out that those states don't support Abortions and that this doesn't align with Hollywood's values (if Hollywood even has any values). "Why would Hollywood get in bed with states that don't support abortion???" Is like the vibe I'm getting here. Which, idk, is a good question to ask but also it's not the industries fault?

I think Hollywood Executives will have to think long and hard about implementing those protocols mentioned at the top of this article. That's going to help determine if the executives have been swayed to come back to the Golden State or to keep business going as usual post 2020.

My overall thoughts:

I'll try not to be too scatterbrained here. I think overall what Newsom is doing is bringing up something to really consider. Should Hollywood Executives pull productions from those states that don't support abortions just like California? Personally I don't think so. I mean it's business. I feel like if those gigantic corporate entities can provide and offer their production staff the support they need when they are working in those troublesome states, that should mitigate some of the issues. But who knows! We'll have to wait and see! I just find it all interesting! I hope you enjoyed it!

References:

https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/tv-writers-demand-safety-protocols-abortion-bans-1235327815/ 

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/3587777-newsom-calls-on-film-producers-to-shoot-in-california-in-wake-of-roe-ruling/

https://www.gov.ca.gov/2022/08/03/governor-newsom-supports-1-65-billion-film-tv-tax-credit-extension-calls-on-the-industry-to-stand-up-for-employees/

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/california-gov-newsom-asks-hollywood-stop-filming-conservative-georgia-oklahoma-abortion-ruling

[hollyweirdot]

HollyweirdoT

A quick note from the writer of this blog: I am in no ways a professional writer, I like to write and I figured I'd try my hand a writing things I enjoy to learn about. That involved a lot of Hollywood film and television news along with the occasional review.

Please be gentle.

From

-AB