April 2020 - Cinematic Insights

(2.5 / 4)

Wendy is a radical reimagining of the Peter Pan story from the creative mind of Benh Zeitlin, the writer and director of the 2012 Academy Award nominated Beasts of the Southern Wild. Unlike many iterations of the fable, this story centers on Wendy Darling (Devin France) as she and her brothers (Gage Naquin, Gavin Naquin) embark on a journey to escape the responsibilities of adulthood by jumping on a train, literally and figuratively shaking up the world they knew before.

While Beast of the Southern Wild presented harsh realities through the imaginative eyes of a child, Wendy instead transplants its child protagonists from a working class Southern setting to a fantasy filled volcanic island. A tropical take on the fabled Neverland in which the island’s power to preserve its inhabitants’ youth forever is contingent on their refusal to succumb to the negative emotions tied to growing up.

Continue reading “WENDY: The Call to Adventure”

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By now the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic can be felt in practically every area of modern society. With the question now shifting from ‘How long until things return to normal?’ to ‘Is it possible for businesses to operate the same as before?’ the future has never been less certain.

The movie business, just like virtually every industry, was hit hard by the pandemic, resulting in a number of releases being shelved for future dates and studios adjusting their strategies to implement digital releases for several major titles. Most notably, Universal controversially decided to digitally release Trolls World Tour and reportedly set records as the highest grossing VOD title in terms of revenue for the studio. This willingness of studios to forgo theatrical releases coupled with the enduring social discourse around streaming eventually overtaking the theatrical business model raises the question of whether these actions are a precursor to a new norm in which movie theaters are phased out from existence.

Continue reading “Why the In-Theater Experience Must Survive COVID-19”