[Weekly Update] The Last of My Vacation Memories

Welcome to the second half of the year! Montreal is currently experiencing smog thanks to nearby forest fire. So that was... a start to July.

CHANNEL UPDATE

Hope you enjoyed our last video on... capitalism, I guess? It's not really about Fast X. Although if you want to hear me talk about it, there is a bonus video about that, too. It is a bit of a different video, since it's mostly social commentary with minimal film study.

For our next video, we'll be talking about Ong-Bak and how it changed action cinema around the world. Everything from Ip Man to John Wick would not be possible without Tony Jaa.

After god knows how long, I've finally finished designing new channel art. We'll be moving away from our current bold "red white and black" design to a more calm and minimalist "off white + black" design. I'm taking feedbacks on Discord, so come by and share your thoughts!

A new Chinese movie has been making waves recently: Lost in the Stars. Adapted from a Soviet movie and also inspired by a real case in China, this movie is... supposedly making all my female friends regret marrying their husband. That sure caught my attention. Let's see if it'll give me enough thoughts to make a video.

Finally, Jackie Chan's Ride On has an amazing premise: A movie based on Jackie's own experience as a stunt performer. However, the cringe humor made it nearly unwatchable for me, and I stopped about an hour in. I'll see if I can finish it some time later. We may or may not have a video on that, no promises.

MEDIA TALK

I still have some small factoids about cinema in China that I haven't shared. So, one last update!

It's hard to imagine just how popular cinema is in China. I don't know if it's like this in Nigeria or India, but movie theatres are everywhere in China. They are like freaking gas stations, with two or three of them opening right next to each other, within 5 minute walk. Because of this, unless you are in absolute downtown of the city, it's almost impossible to find any room in any theater that's more than 50% filled. 

I'm honestly surprised that these theatres can even stay afloat. I guess the relative cost of labor and rent is a lot lower in China?

A movie ticket average to 45 Yuan, it seems. Or a little above 8 Canadian dollars. That's a lot cheaper than the 12 dollar here in Montreal. However, while 12 dollars is still affordable to someone with average income like me. 45 Yuan is close to 1% of my friends' average monthly income.

Combined with the fact that China has so many free or low cost streaming platforms and torrent sites, it's a miracle that so many movie theatres still open. It really goes to show how much people actually want to see movies in a proper cinema. I said this before and I'll say it again: Streaming is no replacement for the cinema experience. Wether people can put it into words, it seems everyone at least know it.

In other words, people only stop going to the theatres because they can't afford it, either because of limited money or limited time.

Oh no, we are talking about capitalism again.

Anyway, here's another thing that's wholly unrelated to the previous rant: popcorn in China is just as awful as the ones in Canada. I thought it'd be better, since people in Asia are much more demanding in terms of food quality. But nope, popcorn is consistently bad.

The theater I went to also offers a cylindrical hollow potato chip. It tastes like cardboard, and it's also super loud when you are eating it...

Anyway, I guess that's the last of my observations in China. I didn't went to a theater in Hong Kong, because I don't have friends in Hong Kong. Pretty sure the popcorns will not be better, either.

Is popcorn the same where you are from? Let me know! If I work fast, I'll see you in our next video. Otherwise, see you in our next update!