Assemblog: December 6, 2013

Spring

New this week on Popshifter: I review the bizarre time capsule that is Saâda Bonaire and have some constructive criticism for Sebastian Grainger after his latest solo release, Yours To Discover; Paul discusses where R&B is now and where it’s heading with Toronto musician Jhyve and explains why Purple Snow: Forecasting the Minneapolis Sound is a labor of love; Brad reviews an underrated classic (Body Bags) and a new could-be classic (Bounty Killer); and Jeff waxes nostalgic and gloomy with Depeche Mode’s “Black Celebration.”

The Assemblog is back! There are many things to talk about, so let’s get right to it.

This news came out a few months ago, but in light of other recent developments with Netflix, it bears repeating. The streaming service has “signed a new agreement with The Weinstein Company to have exclusive pay television rights to all of their content starting in 2016” in order to, as Harvey Weinstein claims, “reinvent the pay TV experience.” As Nathan Adams of Film School Rejects notes, “once all of TWC and Disney’s content starts being available only on Netflix in 2016” it could have a huge impact on competitors like Redbox, Amazon Prime, etc.

Netflix also plans to start creating their own original movie content at some point in the near future. Although this may not be enough to get people to subscribe on its own, it does create another interesting dynamic between Netflix and other streaming services (Indiewire).

Indiewire also comments on a Variety article regarding something called “The Consumer Choice in Online Video Act,” which:

. . . would bar cable, satellite and large media companies from engaging in “anti-competitive” practices against online video distributors. It would do so in part by putting “reasonable limits” on contractual provisions in carriage contracts that limit online providers’ access to programming.

Senator Jay Rockefeller introduced the bill, saying he hopes to “give consumers the ability to watch the programming they want to watch, when they want to watch it, how they want to watch it, and pay for only what they actually watch.” Naturally, The National Cable and Telecommunications Association feels that such “cherry-picking” will favor some companies over others, which is interesting since cable has had a stronghold on the marketplace for several decades now. Not to be outdone, The National Association.of Broadcasters brought up copyright infringement and the potential to “legitimize” services such as Aereo.

In other legal news, next year the Second Court of Appeals will rule on the Fox/Black Swan internship issue as well as the similar Hearst Corporation one, ordering that the two cases be tried “in tandem,” despite the defendants’ objections (Hollywood Reporter).

If you saw and enjoyed Open Your Eyes and The Others, there is good news. Director Alejandro Amenábar’s newest film Regression, starring Ethan Hawke comes out on August 28, 2015, as “a man charged with sexually abusing his daughter. With no memory of the incident, he may be part of a conspiracy” (Fangoria).

Although I didn’t see the film Gut, I have heard that it is great in an exceptionally disturbing way (and the trailer bears this out). Camera director Rory Abel will direct his first feature, Alone, about an agoraphobic man who may or may not be haunted by an evil presence. Fangoria has a poster (which is fantastic) and a teaser trailer (which reminds me a lot of the excellent Absentia).

If you, like me, considered Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s Resolution to be one of the top five best films of 2012, you will be thrilled to hear that they’ve started shooting their next movie, Spring. Twitch describes it as the “Before Sunrise of genre films” and I’m already excited. Follow the film’s Facebook page for updates.

One of my Top 20 TIFF 2013 picks was Cannibal, though I did not get the opportunity to see it. It now has a North American release date! Here’s the trailer (Twitch).

This video has been making the rounds on the Intarwebz but if you haven’t seen it, you should. And if you have, you’ll love the excuse to watch it again. Giallo torchbearers Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani have edited together a four-minute clip of Dario Argento film tropes for French channel Arte. It’s probably the best supercut I’ve ever seen.

—Less Lee Moore, Managing Editor