Vin Crosbie's Personal Blog

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Impressions of Sagrada Familia

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I’d only 45 minutes to visit la Basilica de Sagrada Familia after speaking at conference in Barcelona on the afternoon of September 14, 2018. It had been 20 years since I’d seen the world’s most audacious church, which back then hadn’t yet a roof. My wife was with me, there were hundreds of tourists there, and I’d carried with me a single camera (a Sony a77 mirrorless DSLR) and two lenses (a Sony-Zeiss 24-70mm and a Sigma 8-16mm).   Yet the warm, angular light was nearly a late summer sunset, and those two lenses are nearly perfect for photographing architecture of such scale. I knew that I’d have just enough time to do justice to the colors of this wondrous building still under construction. What do you think? (Click here to see the individual photos.)

Comic Book Films [2010s] Versus Class Action Films [1950’s]: Part Three

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[Viewing this on a smartphone? If you don’t see the video referenced, here is its hyperlink: https://youtu.be/jGc-K7giqKM ]

Finally, here’s a third video comparing the comic book superhero action movies of today against action movies of the past. Again, I’m using Akira Kurosaw films the 1950s to contrast with current movies.

Comic Book Films [2010s] Versus Class Action Films [1950’s]: Part Two

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[Viewing this on a smartphone? If you don’t see the video referenced, here is its hyperlink: https://youtu.be/jZSRxp-dJ-Q ]

Here’s a second video comparing the comic book superhero action movies of today against action movies of the past. Again, I’m using Japanese films from the 1950s. In this case, films from director Akira Kurosawa. Hear how the narrator of this video, a different narrator and writer than from my last example , contrasts action films of today versus then.

Comic Book Films (2010’s) versus Classic Action Films (1950’s). The Winner Is …

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[Viewing this on a smartphone? If you don’t see the video referenced, here is its hyperlink: https://youtu.be/jZSRxp-dJ-Q ]

No, sorry!  My young friends, the films about Marvel or DC comic book superheroes or the past five ‘Star Wars’ films aren’t — unlike what some of my under age-30 (or even some under age-40) friends tell —  me “the greatest action movies ever made!” I’ve given up watching those films, with their leaden plots, chaotic actions sequences, and think characterizations. And because approximately eight out of the ten top box office hits last year were sequels of those films, this means I no longer go to the cinema as much as I had for decades. You want great actions films, go online and look to the past.

Here is the first of three blog posts I’m posting that compare today’s comic book superhero or ‘Star Wars’ films with better actions films of the past. Because the ‘Star Wars’ films themselves are based upon 1950’s Japanese samurai films (known as Jidaigeki films in Japanese, a term borrowed in ‘Star Wars’ as “Jedi”), let’s start there. Compare how the master director Akira Kurosawa directed action in Seven Samurai (1954), considered by most serious critics as the best action film ever made. The narrator of the YouTube video above is himself a little dull, but his points aren’t when comparing the direction of today’s comic book superhero or ‘Star Wars’ films with that of this Japanese classic action film.

My Guilty Pleasure of Zatoichi

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This post is for the benefit of my local friend Rob the Screenwriter whose knowledge of contemporary (say, after 1990) films is broad, but who hasn’t yet discovered most films from the 80 years earlier. Film Comment, the magazine of the Film Society of Lincoln Center, has long had a feature called ‘Guilty Pleasures’ in which famous people from the film industry list favorite films that they’re embarrassed or shy to admit that they like (such as Martin Scorsese love of ‘The Ten Commandments’).

Although I’m not inside the film industry, merely work for a media school, my ‘guilty pleasure’ is Japan’s 26-film ‘Zatoichi’ series produced from 1962 to 1989. I’m sucker for extreme ‘high-concept’ films, movies predicated on so simple a concept that explaining it isn’t an ‘elevator pitch’ (i.e., something that can be said in no more than 30-seconds), but what I call a ‘stepladder pitch’. For example, when I heard that the concept of the film ‘John Wick’ was simply that a retired hitman wants revenges after thieves steal his car and kill his dog, I knew I wanted to see that film! Likewise, the ‘Zatoichi’ series, which is based upon the ‘high concept’ idea that the best swordsman in medieval Japan happened to be a blind masseuse. Yeah, you got that right! Except that concept is embellished a bit more than just the dozen words I mentioned. The ‘high concept’ is that the best swordsman in medieval Japan happened to be an itinerant blind masseuse who liked to drink and gamble and was always failing at love.  Got it now?  Zatoichi is an ‘easy come, easy go’, affable sort who just likes a good meal, good drink, good dice game, and good conversation, but woe be those who exceed his patience (as this video shows) by double-dealing or oppressing people!

Based upon a character created by novelist Kan Shimozawa (born Umetani Matsutaro in 1892) who was inspired by an actual blind yakuza swordsman from centuries ago, and played for 27 years by the wonderful actor tor Shintaro Katsu (born Toshio Okumura in 1931), Zatoichi (‘low-ranking, blind person number one”) wanders medieval Japan, getting entrapped in intrigue arising from his good nature and love of sake and dice games, requiring him to right wrongs, save kids or kimono-clad damsels in distress, and fight samurai and assassins in the pay of corrupt aristocrats or corrupt bureaucrats. He never gets the girl, the cash, or the thanks that he deserves. But he’s a good masseuse and, unknown by anyone except those who know him on sight, the most lethal man with a katana sword in the world. The Wikipedia page about ‘Zatoichi’ will give you more details.  The ‘James Bond’ film series recently exceeded the number of ‘Zatoichi’ films. However, besides the 26 films, there are also an even 100 later TV episodes of ‘Zatoichi’ starring Katsu. Imagine if the same actor had played Bond in every film plus 100 episodes. That’s longevity! And Katsu would later go onto also star in the three ‘Hanzo the Razor’ film series.

Several of the ‘Zatoichi’ films can be viewed for free on YouTube. However, the entire 26-film series is now part of the famed Criterion Collection of great films (a ha! ‘Zatoichi’ is no longer a ‘guilty’ pleasure), which sells the series in DVD format, and the series is available online with a subscription to FilmStruck.

 

18 Alumni Instructing 18 Students

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This week I’m in New York City sitting-in on a 39-hour (nearly non-stop for five-business days) course in which 18 alumni of my New Media Management master’s degree program at Syracuse University will teach 18 of my current students in the program. The 18 instructors this year from among the program’s more than 200 alumni:

Edward Alcide, graduated in ’13, Media Manager, 605;
Dylan Beyer, ’12, Brand Manager, Whiskey Division, Proximo Spirits;
Robert Bierman, ’16, SVP, CBInsights, Founder Tiny World Media
Brittany Campbell, ’10, Global Business Development Partnerships, Google;
Ashley Christiano, ’11, Senior Marketing Manager, Reuters TV;
Nick Cicero, ’10, CEO, Delmondo;
Bethany Devendorf, ’12, Sales Engineer, GeoEdge;
Lisa Dodd, ’15, Strategic Marketing and Development Manager ARK Investment Management;
Andrea Jacob, Syracuse ‘10, Manager Business Operations, Viacom;
Rania Kouadjia, ’16, Digital Account Manager, Complex Networks;
Jennifer Krist, ’15, SEO Analyst, 2U;
Nathan McAlone, ’15, Entertainment Editor, Business Insider;
Edward W. McLaughlin, ’12 Manager, Integrated Planning, UM Worldwide;
Lisa Scheinman, ’12, Product Manager, SIMMONS Research;
Tom Staudt, ’13, President, ARK ETF Trust / Chief Operating Officer ARK Investments (a +$4 billion fund);
Meghavaty Suresh, ’15, Director, Consumer Strategy, Guardian News & Media;
Xiaowei Wang, ’15, Manager, Automated Solution, PadSquad;
Sydney Yarnell, ’14, Digital Marketing Analyst, Stony Brook University;
Shuai (Suya) Wang, ’14, Principal & Co-Founder, WestOeast (Toronto);

If you’re one of my many Facebook friends in the media business whose company seeks talented holders of postgraduate degrees in New Media Management (a fully-accredited dual New Media/Business master’s degree from a major university), you won’t find that talent from schools. Contact Steve Masiclat or me.