Posts Tagged ‘vs’

Movie Review: What We Do in the Shadows

Well this one snuck up on me.

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Starring:
Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi, Jonathan Brugh
Director:
Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi (Boy, Eagle vs Shark)
Rating: M
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If you enjoyed the two seasons of TV show Flight of the Conchords for more than just its songs, then you’re well on your way to enjoying new vampire mockumentary comedy What We Do in the ShadowsIf you enjoyed the awkward, slightly sad humour of Eagle vs Shark, you owe it to yourself to drop what you’re doing and go see this new film, as it features much of the same talent and a similar spirit. However, What We Do in the Shadows goes further than appeal to regular fans of New Zealand-made comedies, as its supernatural subject matter and unrelenting approach to throwing out punchlines makes it worthy of a much wider recommendation. It may be based on a well-worn theme, but the latest from gifted director Taiki Waititi is fresh and funny.

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Gargantuan Trios

I realise this kind of article probably has a pretty narrow audience, but on the plus side there probably aren’t too many like it on the interwebs.

Entertainment media is big business these days. Like, BIG business. Big business breeds big companies who survive because they happen to be the best at what they do. Each of these companies may emphasise its own supposed competitive advantages, but when push comes to shove the entertainment media juggernauts are still around because deep down they are really similar, whether they sell movies, TV shows, videogames or music. This hit home for me recently when I happened to notice that the apparently different worlds of console gaming and Korean pop music shared the phenomenon of a dominant “Big 3” who control market share. And public (read: internet) perception of these companies within their own contexts is kind of unnervingly similar.

So for the hell of it, I paired them up and tried to find as many similarities between the most obviously corresponding members of each trio as I could. Of course they tout many differences as well, but the amount of similarities I did end up finding is perhaps a little scary. For the sake of uniformity I’ve referred to videogame franchises and Korean idols/groups alike as “brands” here, cause that’s what they are, really.

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