FMC Preshow Episode 102

Full Episode Transcript
In this episode, Reginald Titus Jr. provides an update on co-host Casey G. Smith's health, discusses recent film industry news including Scarlett Johansson's lawsuit against Disney and box office performances, and shares personal reviews of movies and series he's watched, including a detailed critique of *The Suicide Squad*, before wrapping up with community engagement information.

Opening Discussion and Casey's Health Update
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yes, yes. You know how we start a pre-show. Welcome to Filmmaker Commentary. I'm Reginald Titus Jr. and this is the pre-show for episode 102, *RoboCop*. And today, as you can tell, Casey G. Smith isn't with us for the podcast today. He's not joining me today. I just want to let our listeners know that last Sunday, Casey, he suffered a mild stroke and was rushed to the hospital, but he wanted me to let everybody know that he is out of the ICU and he is now in the rehab facility and he is doing well, doing better and is in good spirits. You can, me and some close friends of Casey have started a GoFundMe campaign for Casey. You can go to GoFundMe and type in Casey Smith. His profile will pop up, you'll see him smiling, created by Jason Young. And you, you know, put some money on for his rehab period. He's going to be taking some time off. So, you're going to be stuck with my voice for a little while, but we do, you know, we cannot wait to get Casey back on the microphone. So, all our prayers go out to you, Casey Smith. I just want to report to you, let you know what's going on here at Filmmaker Commentary. I've already visited him last Monday. Plan on visiting him again tomorrow. So, yeah, we're, we're rocking with you, Casey.

Film Industry News and Box Office Analysis
Reginald Titus Jr.: But moving forward with, with the news, just a couple things with the news. I don't know if you know this or not, but Scarlett Johansson is suing Disney. And I believe it's like for $50 million. She already got, I believe her salary was already at 20 million, but she's suing because according to her contract, according to what she's saying is that, you know, Disney was supposed to release the film in a certain way and not necessarily on the platform. It was supposed to have this like exclusive theatrical window release according to the contracts. They didn't do that. They released it at the same time. As you know, it's, and Casey and I, we talked about it, how it's available on Disney, you know, at a, it's on Disney but you have to pay like a premium price for it to, you know, it's like transactional, but you can still see it at home and then or you can watch it at the theater. But as COVID has been ravishing and, you know, kind of killing any potential returns that some of these big blockbuster films hope to pull in, it's not necessarily happening. I know we've seen that with like King Kong when that like it was one of the first films that came or *King Kong versus Godzilla*, it was like one of the first films that came out when theaters opened and it was just an international success. But, in the case of *Black Widow*, I believe that budget was around 200 million and currently it's at 359 million. So, and I'm pretty sure they expect it to get a billion dollars from this particular franchise. That may or may not happen, more than likely it won't happen. And some people are looking at this film as it's a flop. Some are saying it's not a flop. You know me, if you make your, if you're making your budget back, you make your money back, that's good because you're evergreen after that. You know, you can keep licensing and just make money from that film forever. But, you know, the studios look at it very differently. So, yeah, so she's suing, so apparently she was supposed to get that 50 mil, like that 50 million dollars like on the back end based on performance at the theater. And since that was a breach of contract from the studio, she's suing Disney, not Marvel. Even though Disney does own Marvel, those are still separate entities. It's still not good for business, but we shall see. You're seeing people like Dave Bautista, I hope I'm saying his name right, backing her up in this situation or, you know, just or saying comments, she's starting to get other people kind of chiming in about this whole situation. And the interesting thing is, you know, a lot of times we don't know what the salaries of these people are, some of these entertainers. We don't know what the back end is. And so it's kind of by her doing this, it's kind of exposing the industry a little bit like, oh, man, what's going on behind the scenes because you when you compare that with other entertainment, like say for example, athletes. Athletes, their salaries are negotiated publicly, you know, right before your eyes, it's printed publicly. Everybody knows what so and so makes. It's kind of ridiculous. But we at least know what's going on there, which is not the case a lot of times with actors and entertaining. We don't know what's going on there. But yeah, also in the news, *Space Jam*, *Space Jam* was made for, I think the budget was 150 million. It's currently performing at the box office at 135 million. And it did well the first weekend. Like people were like, oh man, this is doing great, but it's just kind of falling off after every week after that.

Personal Film Reviews and Throwbacks
Reginald Titus Jr.: We saw it, my oldest son and then my second oldest son, we went to the theater, saw it to watch it and they loved it. And then also too, we watched it at home a couple times, you know, HBO Max, so, uh, they enjoyed the experience. I think it's a, it's a positive film that, you know, you don't get to see an image too many times of African American man successful, you know, supporting his kids and also, you know, saying, hey, I love you, son. When do you see that image? Um, so I think it's just positive in that way. But from a more artistic and kind of creative way, I know a lot of people bash it. The way I look at it, it's a kid film. It's not for me, but it's for my kids. And so if they like it, I like it. Um, but that's primarily it for the news. Movies watched, the only movies, of course, I watched *Space Jam*. I watched, um, I recently went to Best Buy to get a Blu-ray of a film called *Explorers*. Now this is very niche. Uh, this is an 80s film. This is an 80s film. It was on Blu-ray. It's on Blu-ray right now. It's an 80s film and it is literally Ethan Hawke's first film as an actor. Um, you also have River Phoenix in there. It's a, you know, I was a kid in the 80s, but grew up in the 90s. This film we would watch it over and over and over again. But after watching it this time around as an adult, I'm like, uh, it didn't age too well. And then too, um, I had no idea that it was a box office flop because, you know, keep in mind in those times, you just get a VHS, you purchase your VHS. A lot of a lot of times if a movie was a flop, uh, it'll find another audience on VHS. This what this movie was like a kind of like a disaster and it found its audience on VHS. At the time, I loved the film. Like, I, you know, I had good memories of the film. It was adventurous. It was kind of like *The Goonies* in a way. But on watching it again, I'm like, uh, okay, you know, kind of drags a little bit, but, uh, it's got it, it's got its fun points, though. Uh, watched *Explorers*.

Series Binges and The Suicide Squad Critique
Reginald Titus Jr.: Uh, my wife and I, we are consistently watching the, the episodes of *Manifest*, which is on Netflix. The first two seasons are on Netflix and if you follow throughout those seasons, then you'll know that Hulu has season three. So, we have been having fun watching that and getting a kick out of that. And yesterday, I watched *Suicide Squad*. Now, uh, *Suicide Squad*. Man, where can I start? I like the director. Let's be optimistic a little bit. Let's be positive. Uh, I, you know, I dig James Gunn's work as a director with *Galaxy*, *Guardians of the Galaxy* and all that stuff. Even in *Suicide Squad*, um, the, the style is there. There is definitely a style. And sometimes it might remind you a little bit of Zack Snyder in *Watchmen*, just like how stylistic some of the shots can be. But I would say, uh, I watched it last night. I fell asleep for about 20 minutes of the film. I just passed out. It's, man, maybe I should watch it again and give another opinion. But my first opinion is that it's very, very graphic for violence. It's graphic. Um, it could be a bit silly. Yeah. Silly. Yeah, but it's still, it's still entertaining, but I really wouldn't, I wouldn't really recommend it. I wouldn't go out my way to recommend this to anybody. Yeah, that's how I feel about it. However, I will probably watch it again. So, I like the style of it. I'll watch the part to where I fell asleep at. Yeah, so from a craftsmanship, from a craft standpoint, it, it did, you know, the director, they they did what they were supposed to do, but it wasn't fulfilling. I don't know. I I don't even know where to start. But, um, yeah, *Suicide Squad*. So if you're waiting to hear from somebody to see if you're going to watch the film, yeah, I, I wouldn't be my first choice. This would be my fourth or fifth choice or it could be a movie you watch to say, hey, I watched it. Because it's one of those films everybody's kind of been anticipating. But I don't know about this franchise of *Suicide Squad*. Like, I watched the first one, they had problems there. And then after watching this one, I perceive that people are going to, uh, kick it in the butt as well. That that's what I'm anticipating. I'll know after this week, you know, when we start reading in the, in the tabloids and everything what's happening. But I anticipate people are going to talk badly about it. I'll give it a meh. But it's interesting, it's bloody, it's bloody. So if you like a bloody mess, check it out.

Wrap-up and Community Engagement
Reginald Titus Jr.: But that's primarily it for today's pre-show. I wanted to quickly give you some news, let you know what's going on with Casey, um, to support Casey again, go to GoFundMe, type in Casey Smith, Casey G. Smith. Um, his profile will pop up. It's him smiling. And, uh, you will see in the blurb everything that Jason wrote out, uh, kind of explaining in detail everything that's going down. Um, he's doing okay. He's at a rehab facility and as you know, it's going to take some time to rehab from a stroke. Uh, but he's he's talking, he's communicating well. So, until he's finished rehab, though, you're going to be, you're going to be listening to a lot of me. But we do still have about 10 to 15 shows, uh, prerecorded, you know, previously recorded that's in the queue. So, be prepared for those, so you'll still get to hear his voice from our previous recordings. Um, so yeah, I appreciate it, guys. Um, you can catch us at on Instagram at Filmmaker Commentary. Uh, you can also catch me, uh, Reginald Titus Jr. on Instagram, you can catch Casey at Casey G. Smith. Um, also if you're on Facebook, Filmmaker Commentary. Just reach out to us also, like if you're on LinkedIn or anything like that, we do have professional profiles. Um, you can reach out, uh, to Casey, reach out to me. And, um, if you need a link or anything to to help support, um, Casey while he's going through rehab, uh, just let me know, I'll send you the link and we can just take it from there, right? Uh, but until next time, peace out.