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As many of you know, Sasha Stone’s episode of Voir, “Summer of the Shark,” is now streaming on Netflix, along with five other film essays.
“The Ethics of Revenge,” by Tony Zhou and Taylor Ramos, serves as a meditation on why violence off-screen can be more haunting than violence on screen. Why it is we are so forgiving of violence when it’s driven by a revenge fantasy? How are we able to disconnect from the morality of it when we believe people “deserve” their fate? What the price that has to be paid to enjoy the satisfaction of watching bad people pay?
“But I Don’t Like Him” dives into Lawrence of Arabia and the value of films that center on complex or even dark characters with Drew McWeeney. This is especially true of the films of the 1970s and directors like Martin Scorsese. Demanding our film characters be likable or palatable often robs us of the opportunity to examine in the “darkness of the theater” our “own dark hearts.” With dazzling film clips this is a tribute to those artists who challenge and provoke.
“The Duality of Appeal” comes from Taylor Ramos who takes us through character design by looking at how the human eye processes shapes – what is pleasing and balanced? She then tries to deconstruct why it is we default to the same familiar face for females in animation. It’s wonderful to watch the development of a single character through line, color, and expectations. We also look at why marketing and merch has become so key to designing characters for profitability.
“Film vs. Television” examines the differences between the small screen and the big screen, especially the difference between how these two mediums are shot. Cable and streaming have mostly changed everything, where television can now be cinematic and film can be easily watched on the small screen. We ask is there even a difference now?
“Profane and Profound” is Walter Chaw’s very personal examination of the Walter Hill film 48 Hours and how it connected with him growing up in the mostly white Colorado. He explores Hill’s daring approach in giving the Eddie Murphy character so much agency at a time when that really wasn’t done quite to the same degree — a life-changing revelation to Chaw. Chaw takes us through the film, how the main characters are transformed by the action, and how, in the end, they have to go back to their respective corners.
Here is a podcast review with Sasha Stone about her episode, “Summer of the Shark.” Below are some pictures from the set.
This was awful. I cringed so hard with Sasha’s self absorbed narration. Who the hell cares about Sasha’s life or childhood, she even got represented, come on! This should be about movies! I used to love this site since it was Oscarwatch, but right now I even think Sasha is one of the worst things about Oscar season. The narcissism incarnated on a confused egothistical being. 2/10
With all due respect, if you don’t like the site anymore, why are you here? You are obviously entitled to your own opinion, but you don’t have to be so hateful and mean. We all have the privilege of catering our social media and our experiences online, but you don’t have to be a jerk.
I am here because it is a good source of what is going on with the festival circuit. I used to check it all year long, now I do it only when award season begins and avoid reading the articles, just the info. I dont have to be hateful and mean but in Sasha’s case I choose to be because she is a cancer to the film industry, very small and contained luckily but she started judging movies by measuring how politically correct it was instead of the artistic merit and now we have a cancel culture manipulating society through fear. Sasha did not started it but she sure contributed her ignorant and egothistical pseudoperiodism hurting the art I very much love. I do not consider a jerk but if the alternative is being just oblivious, or worse, permissive to a blog contributes to a current climate of hatred, then I choos being a jerk.
Sorry, to me this essay – which I loved, by the way – is about the power of cinema to actually define our own lives. I feel somewhat jealous that Sasha and the rest are given the chance to do that, I’d love to make an essay on why “John Carpenter’s The Thing” became my favorite film of all time, but also mirrored my life through the 80s and after. Sometimes a film just clicks with you, and it becomes too personal of a relationship betwen art and life, to just ignore it, and to hell with anyone thinking it is narcissism. Film loving is something subjective and we never approach the same film, in the same way, but in how it relates to us.
I just finished all of these and I thought Sasha’s was clearly the best. It was the most personal, thus the most interesting. But because it was so personal, it ended up being the most informative about why blockbusters, particularly those early ones by Lucas and Spielberg, are so popular and endearing, even decades later. The dramatization scenes are great at capturing a moment in time. In made me miss a time when everybody watched and talked movies, whereas today an entire generation has more or less replaced movies with shows and video games.
The 48 Hours one was probably the 2nd best. The others were well made/produced, (I love movie montages) but honestly because they were less personal they were just informative, thus if you’re a film buff none of the info they offered was new. I’ve certainly seen a number of YouTube videos that already covered all the stuff covered in the “Film VS Television” or the “Character Appeal” episodes.
Sasha’s was the worst. I love visual film essays and it was really disappointing how inane and pointless hers was.
Love it when people sign up for fake profiles just to post hate. Immature and pathetic.
It would not be necessary to do so if Sasha’s fanbase (and Sasha herself) wasnt so toxic. At one point Sashas fans even searched for my facebook profile to attack me in a more personal level, she even encouraged it. So, screw putting out my real identity out here, and I did not write this A A Ron post, I am just explaining why on this particular website it is necessary to post anonimously.