Morning.
Here’s what caught my eye this week…
Space space space space….
With the Oscars last weekend, films have been a huge talking point amidst today’s rapidly evolving landscape.
Last year we covered the F1 Movie, which stood out for it’s painstaking dedication to portraying the art of racing in a refreshingly authentic and analog way.
This week, Project Hail Mary is making noise. Not only for it’s glowing reviews and commitment to the source material, but because it’s a space movie with an astonishing lack of “special effects” that we’ve come to expect from Hollywood.
This post highlights all the details including:
No green or blue screens
Handmade puppets as aliens
Real life, to-scale sets for spacecraft and cockpits
Special effects and visual tricks have contributed to the hyper-saturated sensationalism of Hollywood, and AI will only make that trend easier and cheaper, but I anticipate we’re going to see more of this analog, old-school approach to production. In turn, it will shine even brighter against the mass digital landscape.
My biggest prediction?
Ultimately, I think there will be specific niche categories for films WITHOUT AI usage at the Oscars, Golden Globes, and more as the tech permeates throughout the industry.
Excited to catch Gosling in space.
Human-Proof Scarcity
Last week we discussed AI clones for Colin Cowherd and Andy Cohen.
This week, WNBA star Kelsey Plum is launching an AI “digital twin”.
We’re going to see more and more of this. Who knows where it leads, but I stand steadfast in my belief that it actually drives the value of her personal engagement up significantly.
If her AI twin is everywhere, than it matters even more where she (as her authentic self) is and shows up.
The scarcity of human individuals is of higher leverage than ever before.
The Beauty of Sport
It’s a great time to be a sports fan. 2 things that caught my eye:
First - March Madness is the greatest tournament in the world.
Completely unscripted and full of drama.
It is one of the purest expressions of the human condition, acted out before us in a scale of authenticity rarely matched.
Statistically, VCU had a 0.9% chance to beat blue blood UNC with 6 minutes left, but they pulled off an all-time 19-point upset anyway:
Second - as an unapologetic Laker lover, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point this out…
Last night, with 14.8 seconds left in the game, Luka Doncic hit a free throw to score 60 points. His first time doing so as a Laker, and the first time any Laker has done it since Kobe’s final game.
The best part? Kobe’s 60th point was also a free throw with 14.8 seconds left…
You can’t make this up.
The Trial of the Decade
Couldn’t help but share this Afroman story.
The rapper is loved for his goofy tracks, but now occupies rare internet lore in light of his recent legal battle…
Cops raid Afromans house claiming drug possesion.
They steal money, break his door, destroy his house up.
No criminality found whatsoever, no charges at all pressed on Afroman.
Afroman spends the next 3 years making songs that make fun of all the officers involved by name, even using footage of the raid from his own CCTV cameras.
During the raid one officer looked like he was about to eat some lemon pound cake sitting on Afromans counter, Afroman made a whole album calling the officer fat.
The cops get mad and file a lawsuit for defamation.
Afroman turns up to court in a whole American flag suit.
Officers performatively mald and cry while listening to the songs really trying to oversell how badly the songs upset them.
One officer was suing because Afroman made a whole song about him saying he slept with the officers wife. When the officer was asked if Afroman was really sleeping with his wife, he said "I don't know". Nuking his own case and establishing that there is a non-zero chance that Afroman might actually be.
As his only witness for the trial, Afroman brought a deputies EX WIFE.
The jury ruled completely in favour of Afroman.
As you can imagine, the internet is absolutely loving this.
Legend
Honorary Song of the Week
RP WEEKLY!!!!!
