Adam Riff™ Clip of the Week

on

2. Skate or Die (Echo, S01E03)

Stray Observations

  • "Remember, it's like we always used to say: We're so good on paper. Paper covers rock." (The Curse, S01E09)
  • ♫: Village People – "Y.M.C.A." (Fargo, S05E09)
  • "Now, honestly, what's the point of being a billionaire if I can't have somebody killed?" (Fargo, S05E09)
  • </Echo, S01>
  • </Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, S01>

1:1:1 Chipotle to Chick-fil-A to Crumbl ratio

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What?

Once banned in China, Stephen King's The Shawshank Redemption had its much-anticipated debut as a stage play in the country's tech capital Shenzhen on Jan. 4

Adding to its unusual status, the play is performed in Chinese by a cast of Western actors who are based in the Middle Kingdom.

We are not talking enough about the Chinese stage adaptation of The Shawshank Redemption starring expats in China.

The picture has had a bumpy history in China. While the original was made at a time when China had few modern cinemas and was importing minimal numbers of Hollywood films, it was later given prominence and played as the closing title of the 2005 edition of the Shanghai International Film Festival.

But, following the real-world escape from house arrest by blind lawyer Chen Guangcheng and the U.S.-China diplomatic incident that followed, online searches for "Shawshank" were blocked on the Chinese internet and social media in 2012. The film's anti-authoritarian leanings may also have fed into the temporary ban.

We did not talk enough about China banning online searches for "Shawshank" after a blind lawyer escaped from house arrest.

The new stage adaptation aims to move beyond that and portray a message of hope and endurance.

Zhang says he has translated the story's western narrative into a unique cultural context for China.

"While play is still set in Maine, the characters all speak fluent Chinese and there is a blend of Chinese cultural ideas and phrases throughout to localize it for the Chinese audience."

We are not talking enough about the adaptation of The Shawshank Redemption in which everyone in Maine speaks fluent, colloquial Chinese.

A Serious Breakfast

on

Idea: Film Awards Season Survivor Pool.

Instead of teams, you select category winners.

You cannot repeat a category or its equivalent, so if you select an "Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture" for the Screen Actors Guild Awards, you cannot later select a "Best Picture" for the Oscars.

The gauntlet, in order:

Gotham Awards
New York Film Critics Circle winners
National Board of Review winners
Los Angeles Film Critics Association winners
National Society of Film Critics winners
Golden Globe Awards
Critics Choice Awards
Directors Guild of America Awards
British Academy of Film and Television Arts Film Awards
Screen Actors Guild Awards
Film Independent Spirit Awards
Producers Guild of America Awards
American Society of Cinematographer Awards
American Cinema Editors Eddie Awards
Writers Guild of America Awards
Oscars

If you survive until the Oscars, you should know what will likely win, but will any lay-ups still be available to select?

The guild awards force you to be strategic.

The Top 10 Fight Scenes of 2023

on

Previously on Adam Riff™:

10. Cuff It (No Hard Feelings)

9. Plastic Off the Sofa (Hidden Blade)

8. Thique (The Killer)

7. Alien Superstar (Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3)

6. I'm That Girl (Kill Boksoon)

5. Virgo's Groove (Leo)

4. Heated (Moving)

3. Move (Bad City)

2. Energy (Sakra)

1. America Has a Problem (John Wick: Chapter 4)

Adam Riff™ Clips of the Year

on

Previously on Adam Riff™:
1. This Place Rules
2. Paul T. Goldman
3. Paul T. Goldman
4. Paul T. Goldman
5. Extraordinary
6. Saturday Night Live
7. Dick Tracy Special: Tracy Zooms In
8. Wu-Tang Clan: An American Saga
9. Shrinking
10. The Mandalorian
11. History of the World: Part II
12. Swarm
13. Party Down
14. Saturday Night Live
15. Beef
16. The Mandalorian
17. 9-1-1: Lone Star
18. Dave
19. Dave
20. Succession
21. Succession
22. Dave
23. I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson
24. The Eric Andre Show
25. Black Mirror
26. I'm a Virgo
27. The Idol
28. The Eric Andre Show
29. What We Do in the Shadows
30. The Righteous Gemstones
31. What We Do in the Shadows
32. The Righteous Gemstones
33. Warrior
34. How To with John Wilson
35. Telemarketers
36. How To with John Wilson
37. WWE NXT
38. Dreaming Whilst Black
39. Moving
40. Gen V
41. The Continental
42. American Horror Story
43. Scavengers Reign
44. Chucky
45. First Things First
46. Scavengers Reign
47. The Curse
48. The Stephen A. Smith Show
49. The Curse
50. Saturday Night Live
51. The Curse

52. OnlyRands (South Park: Not Suitable for Children, 20 Dec 23)

Stray Observations

  • "Um, she's funny, and we text a little, but, um, she's a little ugly for me." (The Curse, S01E06)
  • "Nudity always makes theater serious and good." (Rick and Morty, S07E10)
  • </Rick and Morty, S07>
  • "Ray can mimic Ernest Hemingway writing Harry Potter because it's read everything those writers ever wrote or said. I mean, shit, everything everyone's ever wrote or said. From Winnie the Pooh to Hitler speeches, to fucked up tweets from celebrities, manifestos from school shooters. If Ray's coming up with this lesson for Zoomer, its curriculum comes from us. That's why so much AI is racist, sexist, homophobic, because Ray isn't an oracle – Ray is a mirror." (A Murder at the End of the World, S01E07)
  • "This is what Ray really is, what the internet really is – just a bunch of machines howling in the dark." (A Murder at the End of the World, S01E07)
  • "Bill always said that the serial killer didn't matter. The killer was boring, predictable. What matters is the terrifying culture that keeps producing them. The invisible sickness between the lines – a sickness now animated in algorithms that animate…all of us." (A Murder at the End of the World, S01E07)
  • </A Murder at the End of the World, S01>
  • "When a man digs a grave, he has to fill it. Otherwise, it's just a hole." (Fargo S05E06)
  • Pornographic images of miners (South Park: Not Suitable for Children, 20 Dec 23)
  • "Scrabble? Christ, I did her a favor by knocking her out." (Slow Horses, S03E05)
  • "What's the point of winning if you ain't doing it with your people?" (Rap Sh!t, S02E08)
  • </Rap Sh!t, S02>