Post by klep on Sept 7, 2020 9:20:41 GMT -6
MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 9/7: High Flying Bird
LABOR WEEK!
When we look at NBA players, we see the fine clothes and accessories, the millions of dollars, and the legions of adoring fans. But that's what we see when the cameras are on; outside the arenas things are different. The dirty little secret of professional sports is that for many players, that wealth is a lot more tenuous than it appears. Almost every single player enters the league with no idea how to manage millions of dollars - what you can spend, how you can invest, and who you can trust. It's easy to get into trouble and should the worst - a lockout, a career-ending injury - happen, there's no one who's going to bail you out. If you can't find a good financial advisor, you can quickly find yourself dependent on the league no matter how committed it is to you.
In Steven Soderbergh's High Flying Bird he examines this game outside the game - managing the money flows and the way that players are exploited even as they're getting a payday. The league is six months into a lockout. The players and owners can't come to an agreement, but the owners are wealthy beyond imagining - they can afford to wait things out. Indeed, we learn they staged the lockout in order to negotiate more favorable terms with the networks. High-powered agent Ray Burke (André Holland) and his newest client, #1 draft pick Erick Scott (Melvin Gregg) are really feeling the pinch. Ray's agency is freezing corporate cards and salaries, and Erick's promised millions have yet to manifest - leaving him deep in a hole.
But Ray is determined and extremely good at his job, and over the course of 90 minutes we watch as he expertly pulls the levers in the game outside the game - the tug of war between the players' fame and popularity and the owners' money. He taps into the excitement and love people have for the game of basketball and its stars, tempting them with exclusive glimpses of private show-downs. And as the dollar signs manifest themselves around a potential "lockout league," it forces the owners to end things and come to the bargaining table in earnest.
Soderbergh's goal is quite clearly to enlighten the audience to the power balance at play in professional sports - or, rather, the power imbalance between the ownership and the players. He brings in actual #1 NBA draft picks - Reggie Jackson, Karl Anthony Towns, and Donovan Mitchell - to discuss the minefield they had to navigate as new players. Throughout the film the characters repeatedly bump up against slavery metaphors and allusions and while they stop short of making the direct comparison, the two things are clearly a little too close for comfort.
It remains to be seen exactly how prescient Soderbergh was with this film. While the recent wildcat strike over social justice and cops murdering black people gave us an idea of the players' strength, that wasn't a cause directly impacting the owners' pocketbooks. The real-life network renegotiations are coming up in a couple more years, and this time are likely to include negotiations over streaming. There's going to be ridiculous sums of money at stake, and everyone is going to want their cut. This year we've jokingly called Soderbergh a prophet for having made Contagion in 2010, but the true test of his divination may be High Flying Bird.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 9/14: Monty Python and the Holy Grail
MEDIEVAL TIMES WEEK!
This week was inspired by the release of Crusader Kings 3 and so it's perhaps fitting that we're watching one of the few films set in a medieval period that can capture the often madcap energy of that series, with Monty Python's legendary and beloved film about the quest for the Grail. Join us next week for our discussion of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, available on Netflix, for rent on Amazon, or playing on repeat in your head because you've seen it so many times you know it by heart.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 9/8: Being John Malkovich
This week the podcast starts a pairing on Charlie Kaufman with this cult favorite film about a doorway that lets you be John Malkovich. Come join our discussion on Wednesday of this film, available on Netflix and for rent in the usual places.
LABOR WEEK!
When we look at NBA players, we see the fine clothes and accessories, the millions of dollars, and the legions of adoring fans. But that's what we see when the cameras are on; outside the arenas things are different. The dirty little secret of professional sports is that for many players, that wealth is a lot more tenuous than it appears. Almost every single player enters the league with no idea how to manage millions of dollars - what you can spend, how you can invest, and who you can trust. It's easy to get into trouble and should the worst - a lockout, a career-ending injury - happen, there's no one who's going to bail you out. If you can't find a good financial advisor, you can quickly find yourself dependent on the league no matter how committed it is to you.
In Steven Soderbergh's High Flying Bird he examines this game outside the game - managing the money flows and the way that players are exploited even as they're getting a payday. The league is six months into a lockout. The players and owners can't come to an agreement, but the owners are wealthy beyond imagining - they can afford to wait things out. Indeed, we learn they staged the lockout in order to negotiate more favorable terms with the networks. High-powered agent Ray Burke (André Holland) and his newest client, #1 draft pick Erick Scott (Melvin Gregg) are really feeling the pinch. Ray's agency is freezing corporate cards and salaries, and Erick's promised millions have yet to manifest - leaving him deep in a hole.
But Ray is determined and extremely good at his job, and over the course of 90 minutes we watch as he expertly pulls the levers in the game outside the game - the tug of war between the players' fame and popularity and the owners' money. He taps into the excitement and love people have for the game of basketball and its stars, tempting them with exclusive glimpses of private show-downs. And as the dollar signs manifest themselves around a potential "lockout league," it forces the owners to end things and come to the bargaining table in earnest.
Soderbergh's goal is quite clearly to enlighten the audience to the power balance at play in professional sports - or, rather, the power imbalance between the ownership and the players. He brings in actual #1 NBA draft picks - Reggie Jackson, Karl Anthony Towns, and Donovan Mitchell - to discuss the minefield they had to navigate as new players. Throughout the film the characters repeatedly bump up against slavery metaphors and allusions and while they stop short of making the direct comparison, the two things are clearly a little too close for comfort.
It remains to be seen exactly how prescient Soderbergh was with this film. While the recent wildcat strike over social justice and cops murdering black people gave us an idea of the players' strength, that wasn't a cause directly impacting the owners' pocketbooks. The real-life network renegotiations are coming up in a couple more years, and this time are likely to include negotiations over streaming. There's going to be ridiculous sums of money at stake, and everyone is going to want their cut. This year we've jokingly called Soderbergh a prophet for having made Contagion in 2010, but the true test of his divination may be High Flying Bird.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 9/14: Monty Python and the Holy Grail
MEDIEVAL TIMES WEEK!
This week was inspired by the release of Crusader Kings 3 and so it's perhaps fitting that we're watching one of the few films set in a medieval period that can capture the often madcap energy of that series, with Monty Python's legendary and beloved film about the quest for the Grail. Join us next week for our discussion of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, available on Netflix, for rent on Amazon, or playing on repeat in your head because you've seen it so many times you know it by heart.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 9/8: Being John Malkovich
This week the podcast starts a pairing on Charlie Kaufman with this cult favorite film about a doorway that lets you be John Malkovich. Come join our discussion on Wednesday of this film, available on Netflix and for rent in the usual places.