Arno@arnoio
So yesterday I was asked for my opinion on cinema nowadays. Having been both a viewer and an “actor” in the industry (VFX), I obviously have quite a few thoughts on the subject.
When I was working on the first Deadpool, I was “confronted” with a VFX bid. That bid was for a vanity fix on Angelina Jolie. I had in front of me footage that very few will ever see, Jolie’s face with and without digital touch-ups… And let me tell you… lol. The technology and the amount hours spent just for a facial touch-up were back then honestly outrageous, did nothing for the story, only for the actress (and maybe our VFX artist salaries lol). But that’s when I really realized the scale of these vanity fixes across the film industry in general.
Back then, actors would have small touch-ups here and there you know, nothing that looked like a total construction site... Everyone had their little physical flaws and we enjoyed that (like Samuel L. Jackson’s iconic tooth gap). Today, “all Hollywood” goes under the knife and the most famous ones still get their vanity fix done.
We’re now facing this “iPhone Face” kinda trend where everything is perfect. The same perfect teeth, same eyes, same super smooth skins with no wrinkles at all… Actresses mostly, but actors too, look completely different with botox injections: N. Kidman, C. Cox, even Millie BB's face in Stranger Things S05 became the realest stranger thing… and there’s barely any real facial emotion left like we had with Jim Carrey / Cameron Diaz like in The Mask (ok that's extreme lol, but you get my point). They struggle to convey any facial emotion like Mickey Rourke, Zac Efron, Demi Moore and so on… Just focus on their eyebrows when they're angry, surprised or crying and you’ll see what I mean, lol. I mean, all emotion comes through the face right? Why freeze it with botox?! To “stay alive in this business”?! Sad.
These same ones in movies set in the past fill them with anachronisms that make no sense and immediately pull me out of the story.
European cinema is still surviving this somewhat, though you can feel the American influence. Korean and Japanese cinema I feel like too (though the storytelling can often be quite particular for us lol - but a bit of change isn’t a bad thing). French cinema… Meh, for another day, lol (but good sometimes don't get me wrong here). Some top-tier actors still have life in their faces, like Emilia Clarke’s wrinkled emotional lovely smile or Kate Winslet, Halle Berry… and even then, I’m not sure who to name anymore as it’s affecting everyone globally. But that’s what we love, that’s what I love about cinema. I really miss 90s cinema, original scripts, genuine emotional performances, shooting on film, etc.
Do I still go to the cinema nowadays? No. It’s become way too expensive for what it is and the candy is overpriced too (lol!). It’s basically the same soup being served with a few rare exceptions like Nolan, Matt Reeves, the master Spielberg or Denis Villeneuve who stand out. Yet, lesser-known directors, actresses and actors have the opportunity to make a name for themselves through A24 films and it gives me hope (despite the fact that more and more top-tier people are being cast in their films...)!
Production houses seem to think VFX automatically add value and make a good film while neglecting the script (Marvel *cough cough*). Sorry, but Jurassic Park (1993) is STILL a f*cking banger in 2026 and it literally has only about 5-6m of VFX (+ around 15m of animatronics). I can still cry watching it today thanks in part to John Williams’ score! But as a VFX comp' myself, I can spot most VFX, which unfortunately pulls me out of the story at some point which doesn't help (except for Planet of the Apes, mostly those from Reeves, 2014 and 2017, because everything was so well done!).
The films I tend to enjoy usually have no VFX or invisible VFX like in Parasite (yes, there are A LOT of invisible VFX in that film, lol). They often have a “mature” storytelling with people able to show real emotions on their faces, with “flaws”, and it works well. When the photography is also beautifully crafted with people like Sir Roger Deakins (whom I had the HONOR of meeting), Chivo, van Hoytema, etc. and plenty of lesser-known DPs doing amazing work too, that’s when it truly shines for me.
Flaws are perfect and we should keep it that way.
