Film-lovers have a treat in store in 2022. The greatest movie ever made is getting a 50th anniversary re-release, and if you've never seen The Godfather on the big screen, then make a note of Friday, February 25. It's a cinematic offer you can't refuse.
Of course, there are plenty of other contenders for the title of greatest movie ever made. My friend Avril thinks it's Mamma Mia!. More discerning judges, dare I say, choose the Orson Welles classic Citizen Kane, Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, or David Lean's Lawrence Of Arabia.
But those of us who think it's The Godfather, know it's The Godfather. And one of the most remarkable things about Francis Ford Coppola's masterpiece about a Mob family in 1940s New York, and their battle for supremacy with the Mob's other leading families, is that it was every bit as eventful off screen as on.
"It has taken 50 years for each viewer to decide on what that "more" is all about. We know that it's there in the film's DNA but can't easily decide how to define it. To cinema buffs, it's art: the intentions behind choices in texture, lighting and performance. To some viewers, it's a shared community: the feeling of belonging that comes when strangers can bond over enjoying the same memorable line from a movie."
Here’s a longer perspective on some of the drama that went into the making of the first episode
One in a series of Best of 2021 posts, this one about movies from The New York Times
“This year, it felt to me as if every good movie was also an argument for why movies matter. There is a lot of anxiety, pandemic-related and otherwise, about what the future of the art form might look like. Will everything be streaming except a handful of I.P.-driven spectacles? Will streaming platforms (and their subscribers) be receptive to daring, difficult, obnoxious or esoteric work? Anyone who claims to know the answers is a fool. What I can tell you for sure is that these 10 movies, and the 11 that almost made the list, do what they can to resist the dishonesty, complacency and meanness currently rampant around the world. They reward your attention, engage your feelings and respect your intelligence. Every little bit helps.”
Benedict Cumberbatch in “The Power of the Dog,” left, Kristen Stewart in “Spencer” and Ariana DeBose in “West Side Story.”
Along with its effect on the car community, the original Fast & Furious film had massive repercussions for the aftermarket industry. "I went back to the companies that provided us parts for the movie," Lieberman recalls, "companies like Sparco, GReddy, and Nitrous Oxide Systems, and they all reported their sales went up. Not hundreds of percentage points, but 1,000-plus percent."
Craig Lieberman, whose YouTube channel is a treasure-trove of behind-the-scenes information, served as a technical consultant for the first two films. "A lot of people became car fans because of the movies' influence," he says today. "I hear it every day on social media: 'This movie got me into cars. '"
2020 turned most industries upside down. I posted earlier about conversations in four industries here and another four here
Here's another dozen.
Jason Blessing, President and CEO of Model N, describes the intensity when 24 out of 25 of his largest customers like Stryker and Gilead have worked on some life-saving COVID-19 related products or services. The longer interview is here
At 2.52 is Mark Galloway, Chief Commercial Officer at GrandPad which offers a simple and secure tablet computer that digitally connects a senior to their family and friends. Mark describes the speed at which they rolled out the device to nursing homes and elderly care facilities. The average user is 82 years old and technology which most readers of this blog use on a daily basis is a big challenge for these seniors. The longer interview is here
At 5.54 Phiroz Darukhanavala, who goes as "Daru" is the ex-CTO of BP and points out the oil and gas industry has faced other "shocks" before, usually on the supply side. The sector in the past has bounced back and has been more efficient each time. The longer interview where he discusses industry changes is here
At 9.48 is Bill Berutti, CEO of Plex talks about the auto industry. He and CTO Jerry Foster cover global manufacturing trends and the effect of COVID lockdowns in the longer interview here.
At 12.99 is M.R. Rangaswami of Sand Hill Group. He talks about sustainability efforts at the members in the Corporate Eco Forum he runs. He also points how the definition has extended beyond renewables and climate issues to also cover diversity and inclusion. The longer interview including coverage of other communities he runs is here
At 16.00 is Associate Dean Bill Moncrief at the Neeley School of Business at TCU. He describes the complexities of moving from campus to on-line education in under 2 weeks and the challenges of teaching in hybrid mode - some students in-class and some on-line. I am on the school's advisory board and the longer presentation to the board is here
At 19:33 is Bob Ferrari of Supply Chain Matters. He describes how supply chains - PPE, global, food etc - came under a lot of pressure but responded amazingly. In the longer interview here, he talks about adjustments most industries are making to their supply chains.
The sports world had never seen this much disruption since WWII. Yet, it bravely kept us entertained with its bubbles, empty stadiums and shortened seasons, At 22.06, you get a glimpse at the maneuvering from Max Mueller, CEO and Christian Nilson, COO of Daimani, a unique marketplace for VIP experiences in sports, rock concerts and other events. The full interview is here
At 25.52 Vittorio Viarengo of VMware shares how he brought to life COO Sanjay Poonen's desire to record a rendition of "This little light of mine" using a group of musically talented employees around the world. These are amateurs and the result is amazing - you can see how Taylor Swift and others in the music world managed to do even more with their virtual productions. The longer session with Vittorio is here
At 31.21 is Rod Johnson, President of Infor. He points out how the TV and entertainment industry has an opportunity to help refine tech and other events in a virtual format. The longer conversation is here.
Apple, in reverse, promises to reshape physical events and the TV and movie industries with its iPhone 12. At 32.56 is an excerpt of the stunning imagery recorded from the back of a truck and from a drone. The longer coverage of the launch of that device is here.
Sector after sector saw massive changes. Yes, Toto we are not in Kansas anymore.
Wedged each year among the smorgasbord of critical darlings, art house films and prestige dramas that fill the various Oscar categories sits what is quietly the most relevant one to casual moviegoers: best visual effects.
The below-the-line, insider category is generally the one place on awards night where box-office successes and nominees match up, as the films competing for the trophy are the few blockbuster movies that people actually pay to go see.
Just look at the numbers: The nine movies nominated for best picture this year collectively made roughly $2 billion worldwide. The five up for best visual effects made $5.7 billion. While the best picture category has long been where Hollywood presents the best version of itself, visual effects is where we see what Hollywood really is — and increasingly, what it might become in the near future.
Indiewire describes some of the tech in The Rise of Skywalker
Industrial Light & Magic (under the supervision of Roger Guyett) was innovative in its use of both digital and practical creature effects for the Skywalker finale, including Babu Frik, the tiny droidsmith puppet that’s become an instant fan favorite. And the Battle of Exegol required enormous animation and simulation work, with more than 1,000 Star Destroyers and 16,000 Galaxy ships locked in combat.
An extract from a lengthy article in the WSJ on Bob Iger, the phenomenal CEO of Disney
"In an effort to find new ways to deliver content, Iger acquired a little-known company called BAMTech, a platform that helped Major League Baseball stream content to consumers. Disney would harness BAMTech’s technology to build Disney+, a streaming service with the scale to take on Netflix, Amazon and other potential competitors (including forthcoming streaming services from Apple, NBCUniversal and WarnerMedia). Where once Disney would license its vast library of films and TV shows to Netflix, now Disney+ would offer subscribers exclusive access to the whole kingdom."
Have you heard of Stickman? It’s a 7-foot-tall swinging robot performer who weighs just around 40 pounds, can execute backflips, and then decide on his own when to untuck and land flat on its back.
First revealed in May, Stickman was an early version of a fearless robotic performer, while the newest artificial acrobatic figure that Disney has shown off is in a category they call “Stuntronics.” They’re building flying machines like these for a couple reasons. First, these robots can achieve feats that would be too difficult or dangerous for a human to do.
FastCompany interview with Canadian filmmaker Katerina Cizek whose latest project on High Rises is inspired by digitizing pop-up storybooks
“With the invention of cinema, the first film was a documentary. With the first introduction of sound, who was there? Documentarians. The same with handheld cameras. I think it’s no surprise that some of the most important innovation in new storytelling comes from documentaries. We need as documentarians not only to tell stories about how technology changes our lives, but to use that technology to tell the story, too. It’s not a digital revolution anymore--the digital revolution is over, and we’re in a digital age, and we need to understand how that’s rewiring us.”
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