End Credits Show Notes for Thursday July 27, 2017

Disasters is kind of theme this week on End Credits. The movie of the week is about a military disaster, snatching victory out of the jaws of total and complete military annihilation, and to kick things off we look at another movie that turned out to be a disaster and the new movie being made about that. In between, we’ll ask some serious questions about the nature of Comic Con and the nature of the future of movies.

This Thursday, July 27, at 10 am, Adam A. Donaldson, with Vince Masson, and guest host Ian Rodgers will discuss:

1) Tommy, Go Figure. Last week, the first trailer for The Disaster Artist was released. James Franco stars and directs this movie based on the memoir of what’s been called the “Citizen Kane of bad movies,” Tommy Wiseau’s The Room (which has nothing to do with the film that won Brie Larson the Academy Award). We talk about our own impressions of The Room, Wiseau, and whether or not The Disaster Artist will be a loving tribute to the spirit of creation no matter how misguided, or a silly comedy made only to make fun.

2) Con Job? San Diego Comic Con took place last weekend, and it had the usual assortment of new trailers, and special announcements for anything even remotely nerdy or geeky. So what’s the problem? Some people are wondering if Comic Con has gotten away from the essence of what made it what was to begin with way back in the early 70s, is Comic Con a fan experience, or is it a Hollywood trade show? We discuss that very philosophical matter, and whether or not the fans might be starting to take it back.

3) Not-So-Steller. While promoting his new movie, Christopher Nolan made it clear that under no circumstance would he be caught dead making a movie for Netflix. The streaming site is making a play for the first run movie market, from smaller releases like Bong Joon-ho’s Okja to Martin Scorsese’s next film The Irishman, but Nolan’s not having any of it because theatrical films should be a theatrical experience. Is Nolan right being one of the last ones to stay committed to film as a medium in a darkened room on a big screen, or is he acting like a relic clinging tightly on to the past?

REVIEW: Dunkirk (2017). In the darkest moment of World War II, 400,000 British and Allied soldiers wait on a beach in northern France to escape back to Britain and regroup for the next wave of Nazi blitzkrieg. Christopher Nolan boldly tells this decidedly different war story in three parts: by land, by sea, and by air. As infantry waits helplessly on the beach plagued by German bombers, a group of civilian vessels try to make their way across the Channel as a dedicated trio of fighter jocks protect them from above. Nolan delivers more of a ticking clock thriller than a traditional war movie as survival becomes victory, and hope becomes a weapon.