Bart Chat while contemplating Apple’s influence on our lives for half a century, what’s real and what’s not, and the weekend box office
Hi all,
Apple Computers is now officially 50 years old. I am 72, so that means Apple has had a profound influence on my life since I was 22, over half my life. The computers Apple produced allowed non-geeks to use them easily, with no command-line interface needed. There have been many battles over competing formats (VHS vs. Betamax), but the Mac vs. PC fight was significant in how both the interfaces and the machines themselves helped everyday people use computers to expand what they were doing. You didn’t need an expert to set up your computer. Apple changed who could own a computer and what you could do with it. In 1987, when we started the festival, we decided to try this new thing called desktop publishing. Like many other innovations that year, it was a challenge, but it gave us more control over what we were doing.
The Macintosh computer was a game-changer, which arrived with a groundbreaking commercial that aired during the Super Bowl. The Mac was small, somewhat portable, and intuitive. Apple pioneered portable computers. The Mac Portable was not really portable, but it paved the way for what became the laptop. In 1993 Apple came out with the Newton, which was neither useful or successful, but laid the groundwork for computing in the palm of your hand. The iMacs, too, were all-in-one computers, like the original Macintosh, and added color and a lower price point to make them more accessible. In 1991, they came out with the iPod, as a way to listen to music.
In 1999, Apple released Final Cut Pro, an editing software package. This software enabled you to send digital footage from a FireWire camera to a FireWire Mac and edit it completely on your Mac. This was revolutionary and enabled many filmmakers around the world to edit their own projects at a fraction of the cost. This enabled filmmakers to send their films to our festival for you to see them.
Then iPod grew into the iPhone. At first it was a phone, then a camera, then a video camera. Now, the iPhone is a central part of our lives; we pay for mass transit with it, read and send emails, secure our computers, and yes, sometimes actually make phone calls. Sure, there are downsides to the phone, but much of that is from looking at too much social media on your phone.
Then there was the iPad, iPods, the Watch, etc. Apple has also changed the way products are packaged.
So, Happy Birthday, Apple Computers, thanks for the many ways you have helped our lives.
The Angelika Theater is in the midst of a Kubrick series on Wednesday evenings. This week it is “The Shining.” The next Wednesdays will bring “A Clockwork Orange,” “Full Metal Jacket,” and “Barry Lyndon.”
If you have not seen “Project Hail Mary,” you should see it in a theater now!
On Saturday, April 11 at 2pm, at the Texas Theatre, The Frontera and the Southwest Review present a free screening of the 1990 film “Pump Up the Volume,” with the director, producer and author there for a live Q&A.
The North Texas Universities film Fest was really great!
The last item for you is another innovative program at Spacy, Dallas’ micro cinema. On Sunday evening, April 12, from 5-8pm they are showing a series of local films by filmmakers who take the DART.
These films are meant to reflect the insights that these filmmakers have gained, by utilizing DART as not only a mode of transit, but also as a vessel for thought. Our city should not be defined only by its economic growth, but also by its contribution to the societal norms that we practice throughout the nation.
-Bart
What’s real and what’s not?
In times of the unchecked rise of Artificial Intelligence, we’d better watch out, we’d better check thrice. Unfortunately, the social media swirl is devolving into one continuous game of gotcha.
Easter Sunday rose to this occasion in ways that had nothing to do with any Resurrection.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott was among the many who shared and celebrated a “Missy in So Cal” post. It supposedly showed a picture of a beaming Air Force colonel (with an American flag draped on his lap) sitting amid his jubilant rescuers after being extricated from Iran after his plane was shot down. “This is so awesome,” said the duped governor. Nope. It was a phony. Way to go, guv.
Unfortunately, President Trump’s ultra-profane Easter Sunday Truth Social post was all too real. He became the first sitting U.S. President to drop a fully-formed f-bomb (on Iran no less) while also calling the country’s leaders “crazy bastards” who will be “living in hell” if they don’t open the Strait of Hormuz. He closed with “Praise be to Allah.”
Thinking it must be Ai-generated, I scoured the Internet for conclusive proof he had actually said this. Yes, he had. It remained and remains in place on his Truth Social platform, with CNN’s Jake Tapper not only showing the post in full but also fully verbalizing it during his Sunday morning program.
Numerous members of Trump’s mega MAGA “base” were quick to crow on X about how embarrassed Tapper and his “Fake News” network would be after learning they were duped by AI. They of course were mute after learning that, in this case, AI had nothing to do with it.
Such are the times we live in. The truth is still out there, but AI fakery increasingly is accepted as gospel. Even on Easter Sunday.
-Ed
Howdy,
I always imagined this little section of the newsletter to be focused on the big blockbuster movies that Bart might not cover in his “Chat” section at the top. Unfortunately the box office took a huge slump and studios have stopped releasing nearly as many films as they used to. Luckily, this weekend must stand as the kickoff to the summer movie season.
It’s been the best weekend for the box office all year, lifted up by some big hits from every studio. Disney’s animated movie “Hoppers” is still doing well despite other Pixar films being sent off to die on Disney+ for the past few years. Amazon/MGM has their first ever box office hit with “Project Hail Mary” a big-budget space action movie from the directors of “The Lego Movie.” It’s made over $400 million worldwide, and will probably be their top streaming film ever once it hits Prime Video in a few weeks. (The audiobook version is exclusive to the Amazon-owned Audible, so presumably they had the data to know this would be a hit.)
This past weekend was great for Universal, Nintendo and plumbers everywhere with “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” hitting $190 million in the US already, just under what the first movie made. It’s pretty light fare but you can’t expect much from a movie based on a game with minimal plot. I saw it in 3D of course and the minute a little yellow Minion got hit in the head with a Donkey Kong hammer before shouting “Illumination” the kids in the audience were hooked.
Coming in 3rd this weekend was the A24 movie “The Drama” about the trials an engaged couple face after the bride reveals a dark secret the week before their wedding. It’s very, very funny while dealing with a very, very dark subject. It stars Zendaya and Robert Pattinson as the couple, along with a great supporting cast. Zendaya once again proving how much of a movie star she is between this and 2024’s “Challengers.” Later this year she will also be in Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” Marvel’s “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” the third “Dune” movie and this month in the final season of “Euphoria.” She’s our biggest young star.
The movie was written and directed by Kristoffer Borgli, who also made the incredible dark comedy “Sick of Myself.” Both films handle phones and technology in some of the most accurate ways I’ve ever seen. There’s a scene in this new movie where an actor portraying a younger version of Zendaya’s character is making a video recording on a webcam that I can’t stop thinking about.
At the Fort Worth Modern this weekend, we are showing a new movie version of “Hamlet” after Chloe Zhao’s Oscar-nominated “Hamnet” and the UK’s National Theatre Live’s filmed version that we showed last weekend. I suppose it’s not that surprising that there’s so many different versions, but without a clever title this new version will be forever referred to as Hamlet (2025) its UK release date.
Last year there was an anime adaptation called “Scarlet.” David Eggers’ 2022 Viking epic “The Northman” was based on the original story that inspired Hamlet. Of course, Disney’s “The Lion King” is inspired by the play. The version we are showing stars Oscar winner Riz Ahmed in the titular role. It’s set in modern London and the reviews have praised his performance.
Ahmed is also starring in a TV show he made for Prime Video called “Bait” inspired by the idea of a British/Pakistani man very much like himself (although the character is called Shah Latif) being cast as James Bond. There’s some level of metaness with the show being made by Amazon, who owns the rights to the character. Also maybe an acknowledgment that they are absolutely casting a white man as Bond. I’ve embedded both of the trailers, as I’m sure they will make a great pairing.
-Elijah