Hacker Cinema
Licorice Pizza
2021 · Film · 133 min
Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
The story of Gary Valentine and Alana Kane growing up, running around and going through the treacherous navigation of first love in the San Fernando Valley, 1973.
2 positive1 neutralfrom 3 commenters
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3 comments on Hacker News
> But it's all just perception.
Agree, but "perception" is A LOT. Taking digital media and making it look like film in an artistically skillful way is hard. Shooting in film and making it look good is hard too, in a different way, requiring different skills.
Two films come to mind. Both of them beautifully shot.
Tangerine (https://youtu.be/ALSwWTb88ZU) Was shot with an iPhone 5s-- and yes, there was a lot of work involved in post-production, but it was a deliberate decision. The directory, Sean Baker, later went on to shoot Red Rocket (https://youtu.be/Wfndmy-6e28) this time in 16mm film. Both films are amazing in terms of cinematography and visuals.
Licorice Pizza (https://www.kodak.com/en/motion/blog-post/licorice-pizza/). The director, Paul Thomas Anderson, exclusively works in film. This was a big-budget production with some A-list actors, he could have shot with whatever digital equipment he wanted but he chose 35mm. Whatever the case, the outcome was stunning.
At the end of the day, it comes down to choices the creators make for their workflow and which tools and techniques they've mastered. Is it "possible" for a fully digital A/V workstation to give the operator a level of control that blows away analog media? Of course. But what does that level of control actually mean? Endless mouse-clicks, sliders, drop-down menus, and application "plug-ins" and licenses? Unfortunately, yes. Not everyone is willing to do that.
> China is also destroying the movie industry as well.
China may be changing the "Summer Blockbuster" segment of the industry but it's quite the stretch to say they are destroying the whole thing. Plenty of great movies still come out every year.
There's plenty of argument that the Academy Awards aren't necessarily the best movies but even if you look at the movies represented this year, there were a lot of good ones and I don't think any of them were influenced by China. Obviously you can't prove it unless the filmmakers confirm it, but certainly there are a lot of movies with themes that would be unacceptable to Chinese censors.
Maybe the plot of "Transformers 7" isn't as good as it could have been without Chinese influence but as long as movies like "The Power of the Dog" (or "Licorice Pizza" or "Belfast" or "Flee" if animation is more up your alley or ... take your pick) are coming out, I'd say the industry is doing ok.
It's not really the idea of it being dramatic, but how the story was developed and written.
I found The Master and Inherent Vice truly disappointing. I actually liked Phantom Thread, but it's not a movie I will ever watch again.
I feel his writing has gotten worse over the years, probably because he is considered a genius and left to do whatever he wishes. This is all my subjective opinion of course and I still haven't seen Licorice Pizza.