“Is you is, or is you ain’t my constituency?”
What’s up, Cinemaniacs?! Ealan here with another Hidden Movie Club newsletter!
Just a heads up! If you would like to join our live stream of this week’s HMC: Double Take, we’re doing it an hour earlier than last time due to some scheduling conflicts. That means it will be happening today (March 17th) at 11 AM PDT, instead of the usual noon. But even then, we’re still in the testing phase of this content offering, so the day and time may change in the future once again. Gotta keep you on your toes, eh? 😆
And we are excited to bring you another Coen Brothers classic O Brother, Where Art Thou? We landed on this one since a) we had just discussed Fargo during last week’s HMC: After the Credits live stream b) Derek loves it, and c) I haven’t even seen it at all!
It is currently streaming on Hulu if you want to watch it before checking out our discussion afterwards on-demand (or unless you sneak it in real quick between reading this email and our live stream 😁).
So please join us if you can, watch it on-demand on YouTube, or download the audio-only version on your preferred podcast platform later. But only if you’re bonafide! 😉
“Yeah…a little too Raph…”
And another heads up that the next HMC: After the Credits live stream, we’ll be discussing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze…on a new day!
That’s right! Join us next week on Monday, March 23rd at the usual 4PM PDT time slot for our breakdown of this 90s classic. I will also be sending out the next newsletter on Monday ahead of the stream. 👍
Your local theater might still be playing it, but there’s a pretty good chance you might’ve missed that opportunity, since I know the theater in my small town only screened it over the weekend.
It’s also unfortunately not streaming anywhere, according to the JustWatch app, so you have between now and March 23th to rent it digitally, go to your local library and see if they have a physical copy, borrow from a friend who has the disc, or barge in on your friend who is known to, uh, “procure certain movie titles from the Internet from time to time.” *wink 😂
Lastly, I’m not going to have a long, drawn-out discussion on what I thought about the Academy Awards last night, but I will say this: streaming has ruined broadcast television!
We got rid of our Disney+/Hulu/ESPN bundle awhile back for various personal reasons. But in so doing, we essentially lost our ability to at least stream it on-demand afterwards on Hulu. But forget about watching the Oscars live! Either I need to go buy a cheap OTA antenna and connect it to our TV (which can be glitchy and unreliable as it is), or we have to pony up some serious coin in addition to our Disney/Hulu/ESPN bundle in order to get Hulu + Live TV, or subscribe to YouTube TV, or pay for various packages on Sling TV. 🤦♂️
Gone are the days of just being able to turn on our TV, go to ABC, CBS, NBC, or Fox and tune into nationwide events like The Super Bowl and other sports matchups, and all the many awards shows throughout Awards Season.
Everything has to be licensed and monetized now, and it’s a crying shame, I tell ya. That’s why I didn’t watch The Oscars. I had to consume it in bite-sized pieces on social media instead. It is just saddening and maddening that everything is behind a paywall with every executive wanting to monetize all forms of entertainment to keep their shareholders happy.
But I will say this: Protect Conan O’Brien at all costs. He is a national treasure. Protect Ryan Coogler at all costs. What an extreme talent. And finally – in this wild west era of AI that we’re in – protect artists at all costs. AI slop isn’t going away anytime soon, but it sure as hell can’t compete with what was on display last night at The Oscars. That takes true artistry. Something only a collective of living, breathing humans could ever achieve.
And with that, don’t just watch TV and movies, experience them. Preferably with family or friends. Go see Project Hail Mary this weekend in a theater! Do it! 😎