Filmmakers are problem-solvers

Brilliant piece of self-examination by David Sandberg, the director of Shazam!. Every movie is the result of thousands of decisions by dozens of people. Attributing intentionality to any single minor aspect is a fool’s errand.

Spider-Man: Far From Home spoiler video review

I was really grateful to Ben Pearson for joining me to discuss Spider-Man: Far From Home. We delve into what this movie does to Peter Parker’s arc, the reliance of these movies on the legacy of Tony Stark, and the possibilities of future MCU films.

Also: I ran into some difficulty with my video in this one. My Sony A7III ran out of battery while I was shooting the first half of my video. Despite the camera’s promises to recover the file after I booted it back up, it didn’t work and I lost the entire first half of my side of the video. Making things even worse: I was monitoring the battery life the entire time and it plummeted suddenly from about 18% to 0%. This genuinely shook my faith in the camera system. How can I record interviews with this thing if the camera might die and take my video with it?

In any case, I’m grateful to Daanish Syed for stepping up and helping me out with some photoshopped images that I used to fill in the video above. Check them out. I hope you enjoy them.

Netflix’s “Always Be My Maybe” from an Asian-American Perspective: Details You Might Have Missed

I was thrilled to see that Netflix recently released a new romantic comedy featuring two Asian-American leads (Randall Park and Ali Wong). There were so many things that the film nailed that I made the above video with my wife to talk about them. We discuss what the film gets right about the Asian-American experience, and dive into details you might have missed. Check it out.

One Second for Every Day of My Life (2018-2019)

For the past seven years, I’ve recorded one second of video for every day of my life, then combined them all to create a 5-6 minute video that summarizes that year. Here is this year’s video.

Highlights from this year:

I saw David Byrne live in concert at the very last Sasquatch Music Festival
I attended XOXO fest in Portland
I climbed to the top of Kokohead Crater in Oahu
I joined a new team at Amazon (at Prime Video!)
I ate lots and lots of food and saw lots of movies and shows

Thanks for taking a look at my life through this unique lens.

The disturbing questions of the ‘Avengers: Endgame’ universe

Here’s a video in which I ponder the really odd questions left by the ending of Avengers: Endgame. To make this video, I decided to subscribe to a popular stock footage company. I think you will agree that the result was not worth it.

The case against watching movie trailers

This week: Jeff Cannata and I tackle the question of why it is we don’t watch movie trailers, and practical steps you can take if you want to do the same.

Check out Jeff’s new show at Caffeine.tv on Wednesday nights at 6PM Pacific on Caffeine.

Shazam! Spoiler-filled discussion and review (feat. Matt Singer from Screencrush)

I had a fun time chatting with Matt Singer about Shazam! recently. We discuss how it ranks in the DCEU, what it means to be a “chosen one”, and whether Zachary Levi really does look and sound like Asher Angel.

The Buffy: The Vampire Slayer HD remaster is a disaster

Passion of the Nerd has a video breaking down all the problems with the Buffy HD remaster. As a home video nerd, I’m fascinated by analyses like this. It’s a great look into how a show makes the jump from the 4:3 television era into the modern digital age.