Posted a few minutes ago on Facebook…

In yesterday’s pan of the revolting and deplorable John Wick: Chapter Four, I should have mentioned my grudging respect for an extended, uncut overhead shot of Keanu
Reeves going from room to room and blasting bad guys at every turn with the camera constantly maintaining its God’s-eye viewpoint.

In a 3.25 interview with TheWrap‘s Scott Mendelson, dp Dan Laustsen (totally unpronouncable) explains that the scene utilized a set built on one of the Studio Babelsberg sound stages.

Laustsen: “It’s one crane shot and one spider cam shot where we are starting on the stairs and flying around. We did in eight or ten takes. The light must be outside the set. We see the whole set. That’s the challenge when your shots are wide and the entire set is in view.”

John Wick 4’s god’s-eye gunfight has been called the “Hotline Miami” scene but I was surprised to see Chad name an even more obscure indie game as inspiration

HONG KONG MASSACRE is Hotline Miami x John Woo, and JW4 beautifully adopts its top-down look & gargantuan muzzle flashes pic.twitter.com/hGU3A47icE

— ChristianV (@GenreFilmAddict) March 26, 2023

Until last night I somehow didn’t realize that there’s a real possibility that TikTok might be forced to sell, at least as far as this country or North America is concerned. I thought it was just political sturm und drang. I didn’t think anything would actually happen.

Jonathan Majors (aka Kang the Conqueror) has stepped into a pile of domestic dogshit, and it doesn’t look good. The 33 year-old actor was popped this morning in Manhattan on charges of assault, strangulation, and harassment after a reported altercation with a woman.

NYC police statement given to IndieWire: “On Saturday, March 25, 2023, at approximately 11:14 hours, police responded to 911 call inside of an apartment located in the vicinity of West 22nd Street and 8th Avenue, within the confines of the 10th Precinct. A preliminary investigation determined that a 33-year-old male was involved in a domestic dispute with a 30 year-old female. The victim informed police she was assaulted. Officers placed the 33-year-old male into custody without incident. The victim sustained minor injuries to her head and neck and was removed to an area hospital in stable condition.”

An industry rep told IndieWire that Majors “has done nothing wrong…we look forward to clearing his name and clearing this up.”

I was going to avoid the nausea and the spiritual depletion of sitting through the nearly three-hour John Wick: Chapter 4. I can sense what’s waiting for me, and I hate the mere idea of submitting to this shite. I “know” (i.e., am strongly suspecting) that my reaction will more or less align with David Poland’s 3.24 review.

But too many fools and knaves are kowtowing, and so I’ve accepted the unfortunate burden of having to sit through the damn thing (allegedly a Gray Man-ish pummeling) sometime this afternoon. Talk about a ghastly prospect…

Poland excerpt:

Nobody remembers that one version of the Tootsie ad copy (seen with my very own eyes a week or two before the 12.17.82 opening) described Dustin Hoffman’s “Michael Dorsey” as a “desperate, out-of-work, hopelessly straight actor.” Columbia marketers didn’t want anyone getting the wrong idea.