T.V. Digest #20 is Mostly about Film Revision. Mostly.
November 2024 Posts + Kraven The Hunter opening + bullet points
This is the 20th issue of what is typically an ongoing monthly-ish series that I like to call Mikhail’s Textual Variations Digest, aka MTVD, for short. It includes links to my recent posts, as well as some additional related thoughts and notes.
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The Digest
November 12
I’d been working for a while to figure out how to fix the FTNC page and make it work without the mention feature. At the same time, I was trying to write a proper essay.
As the Revised FTNC page was finished first, I decided to write this status update post in turn to announce it. I’m still working through a backlog of newsletters to add to the page. An update regarding the ones I’ve added so far is forthcoming.
November 19
The aforementioned proper essay post became this article on the 2021 blockbuster Venom: Let There Be Carnage. I had written about half of it almost a year ago, but for one reason or another never finished it. After seeing the third Venom movie, I felt inspired to try again, though to be honest, this turned out to be a much tougher nut to crack than I’d anticipated. The big problem was that there really aren’t any posts out there about the general effects of Covid on post-production budgets and costs.
So in order to get a better grasp of my subject, I started to delve deeply into the VFX industry, but I ended up over-researching it and spent a lot of time going into details that I ultimately didn’t need to make my case. What I will say though is that I’ve come away with the realization that VFX studios have been mistreated and exploited for almost 20 years now. Articles about impossible deadlines and super-rushed post-production schedules date back to the mid-2000s.
Some point to Spielberg’s War of the Worlds (2005) as a turning point, in that it convinced studios to demand a huge number of FX to be completed in record time.
This has to change if the American film industry is to survive.
November 26
This was a post that came to me on the spot while I was browsing Amazon Prime Video. One thing I’ve learned over time is to not trust the runtimes listed by streaming services and check the cut itself for verification. So, once I recognized that Freevee was indeed showing the theatrical cuts, it made sense to discuss them. It also gave me an opportunity to bring in my original review of the first Halloween from 2007.
December 1
I definitely wanted to write something about the VHS release of Alien: Romulus ahead of the Tuesday, December 3 release date. The very idea of creating a low-resolution, 4:3 retro-VHS version of a big budget studio film in the age of 4k digital remasters and widescreen high-definition television screens is, in and of itself, fascinating. I appreciated the effort to support the format and its aesthetic, even if I didn’t like the movie or the price tag. (Imo, the VHS should’ve been no more than $30 per copy.)
My original plan was to: a) talk about how this edition came about thanks to director Fede Alvarez and the release of one of the film’s trailers via VHS tape; b) share my impressions of both Romulus and the superior Alien Resurrection. But when I discovered that the VHS edition was being exploited by scalpers, I knew I had to focus on this instead, and so removed all the supplemental material (pun intended).
As I state in the article, I expected more issues to crop up with the release. Well, lo and behold, it turned out that, contrary to the early announcements, this version of the movie is NOT 4:3 full-frame after all but is presented in cropped widescreen. That's good if you don't like pan and scan but not good if you're looking for the authentic VHS aesthetic. Also, there are reports that the sound quality is pretty bad.
BONUS FEATURESThe Kraven Opening Sequence
Sony has put the first 8 minutes of Kraven The Hunter online. I like it.
Putting aside Aaron Taylor Johnson's gibberish Russian, this is a really good opening sequence. Why?
The narrative action is fluid, well edited, easy to follow.
It immediately introduces the main character. There's no unnecessary prologue or teaser sequence that only serves to prematurely give away key info to audiences.
It perfectly sets the tone, showing that this is a bloody, R-rated action movie with some black comedy elements. There’s confidence onscreen.
If the whole movie is like this, Kraven could end up being the best Sony Venom-Verse movie. Anybody else planning to see this one? I am of the opinion all the “MCU-adjacent“ movies has made thus far are actually underrated, even Madame Web.
But what do you think?Bullet Points
Read a really nice critique by
of the tendency to reduce cinema to single frames or shots in this essay here. A quote:
I find it amazing how often Zack Snyder's maligned take on Superman gets refe-renced and/or ripped off by other more 'fan-friendly' Superman media. The just-aired Superman and Lois finale had a slow-mo dodge a la Justice League.
Even if you don’t play it (I haven’t), read this fascinating essay on the videogame Slitterhead and its relation to the Walled City of Kowloon.
Finally: a shout-out to
for sharing and promoting my post on Romulus and my newsletter directory, the FTNC! Thank you so much!
Okay, that’s all for now, folks. Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving!
I’m planning to do a really big post in the second half of December and hope to keep a good pace of posts, though I’m probably shifting to a Thursday schedule for a bit.
Gonna try doing more simple stuff like bullet points, collected thoughts, etc., to boost my productivity. We’ll see how it goes.
This was a nice surprise - thanks for the shoutout, Mikhail!