T.V. News: Pledges, Hiatus, Wong Kar Wai Revisions
Plus: More FTNC and Invincible Fight Girl
Hello, folks. It’s that time again.
Sadly, despite my best efforts, I am going to have to take a publication break to catch up with other things that take precedence.
I’m not entirely sure just how the schedule will ultimately pan out. Right now, for instance, I’m mulling over whether or not to do a belated digest post next week, or later in the month. Or maybe to turn the MTVD into an email-only feature.
One approach I might take is just to focus on the most important posts I need to get out there and just upload them when they’re ready. I’ve had to delay some big articles I’ve wanted to get out there a few times already and I feel that I don’t want to hold them over anymore.
In any case, the schedule will have some gaps this Spring.
Sorry about that. That’s just how the Spring period is for me. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get things back into a consistent weekly schedule by May.
Also, I have enabled pledges.
This should help me get a sense of how many subscribers might support this newslet-ter financially when I turn on the payment option later this year. So, if you like this site and wish to help it keep going, please consider pledging your support!*
*Really, some of the articles I write require a lot of research and work to complete, so having paying subscribers will help me keep making them.
Now, with that out of the way, let’s get to some bits of news I want to share.
Revisio-News: Nosferatu/In The Mood for Love
Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu, which has, to my surprise, already come out on digital home video platforms like Itunes, now has an extended cut, which was teased by Eggers at the beginning of January. Presumably, it includes a shot of the vampire in silhouette, which was seen in the trailer but not in the theatrical cut:
From an interview with Esquire UK, cited in Fangoria:
“The first shot is a funny one because it's one of those annoying things for film dorks because it's not in the movie. It's a really cool shot, we really like the shot but where it was intended it was actually ruining some tension to know that Bill was around when we needed to keep him more mysterious. But if you wish to purchase the Blu-ray, it is in the extended version of the film.”
The released extended cut is only 4 minutes longer than the theatrical, meaning it now runs 2 hours 16 minutes.
More interesting, in my opinion, is the news that the Wong Kar Wai classic In the Mood for Love (2000) is being reissued in China this Valentine’s Day in a longer anniversary cut, with an additional 9 minutes of previously unseen footage.
You can watch the trailer below:
To me, this is unsurprising. Wong tends to overshoot his movies and tinker with them extensively in the editing room, sometimes long after the theatrical release. (I believe the joke was that his semi-sequel 2046 would need until 2046 to be finished.)
Several of his films now have multiple cuts, some made for different markets and others due to his desire to revisit and revise his vision.
I am thus quite curious, as to what changes exactly he will make to Love, and whether or not any of the footage will actually prove to be genuinely new.* With the amount of material he has, he could arguably cut together a different movie entirely.
*As I recall, the film had a very good DVD special edition back in the 2000s, which featured a selection of deleted scenes and an alternate ending.
I also wonder how it will look. Back in late 2020, Wong released controversial restorations of his films that included several (mostly technical) revisions.
In the Mood for Love was one of them, with the new version featuring a revised color grade, as tends to happen with older titles when they get transferred to HD and thus digitally modernized. Given the backlash, I wouldn’t be surprised if the “special anniversary edition” dials back on the more cyan-like palette.
Also, did you know Wong released a 30-episode TV series called Blossoms Shanghai?*
It’s apparently been out in China since late 2023, but there’s still no info about a US release. Part of that might be attributable to the series reportedly getting a new color grade for international distribution, as Wong was apparently not quite happy with the look of the first run in China.
*Per some reports he only directed 19 of the 30 episodes, but that’s still a huge amount of work.
I hope the show will make its way over here eventually. Interestingly, an AVClub article from 2022 states that the series was to be shown on WeTV and the Tencent Video apps in the US. But, to date, this still has not happened.
A theatrical film re-cut of the series was also reported a while ago but I have found no information about whether or not it will actually be made.
It’s also interesting to ponder what the future of Wong Kar Wai films will be here in general, given the current state of US-China relations.
FTNC Updates
I have more or less made it through my backlog, but as usual, I'm continuously adding newsletters to the Film and Television Newsletter directory.
Here are the most recent additions:
FOCUS! A Reader In Animation History, Theory, and Practice // David Perlmutter
The Janitor Diaries // Brandon Streussnig
PalCinema, Television, & Music // Dan Pal
What I’m Reading/Responding to: Invincible Fight Girl
Spencer Irwin has a pretty nice series of articles on the Top movies, TV shows, and Comics of 2024 over at his newsletter, and I was particularly thrilled when he listed the new Max series Invincible Fight Girl, a show I kept meaning to bring up here at some point but could never find the proper space or opportunity for.
I love Invincible Fight Girl. This the type of show where you can see the potential for greatness from the very beginning and every episode makes it clear that this a bold and confident work that makes you want it to succeed more and more.
It is also perhaps the only example of what I’d call a “true American Shonen anime.”
See, there are lots of good-to-great animated series that have come out in the States in the past 20 years or so that are anime-inspired or anime-influenced. The Boondocks, OK KO, Steven Universe and Avatar The Last Airbender are but some examples.
But none of these shows have felt as authentically anime and true to the conventions of action-heavy shonen works especially (eg. Dragonball Z) like Invincible Fight Girl.
It is willing to go to some dark places, to do stuff that would be way too much for a traditional US animated series, while fully embracing the subgenre’s sheer weirdness and madcap narrative ambition. It has, after all, an absurdist, over-top-world, where somehow professional wrestling (MMA really) is like the most important thing ever, and an expanded cast roster that includes a family of butchers called the Beefpunchas, who, if you haven’t guessed it, are defined by their propensity for punching beef.*
*Seriously, Akira Toriyama would’ve been proud.
I hope it becomes a big enough hit for Cartoon Network to get a few more seasons. It had a long road to the screen, and was reportedly almost canceled several times due to the behind-the-scenes regime changes at Warner.
Anyway, both the show and the article linked above are recommended.
But What about you?Anyone here excited for the new version of In The Mood for Love or have thoughts about Wong Kar Wai’s propensity for revisionism? Any cool recent animated series, anime or otherwise, you’ve seen and want to gush about? Any tips on how to publish consistently for a year in a row? Please,
Very curious about the new In the Mood for Love as well, and the TV show. Surprised that his career has gone that direction.
Thanks for the shout out! :D