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A Grieving Family, A Cryogenically Frozen Toddler and a Death, Postponed— ‘Hope Frozen’, dir. Pailin Wedel, 2018
When a father’s attempts to stop his young daughter’s terminal cancer fail, he persuades the family to look into cryonics so that the girl could have another chance at life in the remote future
FROM THAILAND and UNITED STATES
WHAT IT’S ABOUT: When Matheryn Naovaratpong, a Thai toddler nicknamed Einz, was pronounced legally dead just before her third birthday after a prolonged battle with ependymoblastoma, her father refused to yield. A laser scientist obsessed with technological and scientific breakthroughs, Sahatorn Naovaratpong had been on a mission to find a cure for the cancer while his daughter’s body was still vital. Now his choice, firmly supported by his wife Nareerat, also a scientist, and whiz kid son Matrix, is to preserve Einz’s body using cryogenics. Once the technology has advanced enough to get rid of Einz’s illness, her body will be revived and cured, and she will be able to finally live a life. But in Thailand’s Buddhist society, the Naovaratpong’s choices are not universally welcomed by all, and the family has to grapple with their religion, scientific faith, and various ethical concerns that come with the decision to make Einz the youngest ever person to be cryogenically preserved.
WHO MADE IT: Pailin Wedel is a Bangkok-based self-described visual storyteller. Of Thai and American ancestry, she has been making reportage documentaries for numerous outlets, including Al Jazeera and Nat Geo, as well as worked as a producer for Associated Press. “Hope Frozen†is Wedel’s first foray into feature-length filmmaking.
The film features the whole Naovaratpong clan, including extended family and the three junior children born after Einz’s passing.
Alcor Life Extension Foundation, which is responsible for the preservation of Einz’s body, is an American NGO specializing in cryonics. As of late 2019, they had 172 corpses preserved in their facility in Arizona, including that of Einz and baseball star Ted Williams.
Robert McIntyre, an award-winning scientist who had been able to preserve and then successfully unfreeze a rabbit’s brain, is also featured in the film. His current company Nectome is working on preserving memories when the brain is resuscitated after a dry-freeze.
WHY DO WE CARE: While there seems to be a universal agreement on the value of all human life, as we can see in the film, the avenues of exploration left to those recovering from loss vary massively by economic background. Although the physical manifestations are quite similar—rites of passage and memorial rituals, whether they’re conducted by the empty cradle or by a nitrogen-filled tank preserving the body—the mere promise of the person’s reboot is limited to those who can pay a hefty fee. And that could be assessed as a payment for the luxury of comfort; however, it’s not exactly clear how much hope and comfort the situation offers.
Scientifically, it is impossible to know whether any of the efforts made by cryonics will ever pay off. And the film goes into some of these considerations when towards the end of the film, Matrix gets to talk to Robert McIntyre and learns that while the physical arousal of the freeze-dried brain is possible, the preservation of memories is altogether different, as of yet unresolved issue. Although Einz passed away at a young age, before being able to accumulate much knowledge or even cognizance of her family, the idea of her being resuscitated in the future without the remnants of her identity and self adds nuance to Matrix’s perspective, as he worriedly tells his family.
The film doesn’t go into these considerations deep enough, probably not wanting to burden the family with challenges to their position. After all, they had already borne the brunt of the Thai press sensationalizing the story as well as the Buddhist community claiming the girl’s soul was being trapped. However, in the viewer’s mind, such questions arise, and they are plentiful. Will Einz, once resurrected, be alone, or reunited with the family? Is everyone getting cryo? What are the chances of Einz being a completely different human than she could have been if her memory is wiped? And if everything goes according to plan, will a teenager who grows up in the era of technological advancements be able to find common ground with her elderly parents from a couple of centuries ago while also not feeling excluded from her reality? These are all interesting questions to consider, but, perhaps, better left explored in sci-fi work, torn away from the complicated situation of an existing family, which already has enough on their plate to grapple with.
WHY YOU NEED TO WATCH: “Hope Frozen†is a thought-provoking exploration of technology-obsessed people redefining the concepts of human life and family. For some, it might seem like a unique look at a loss within one family determined to find solace and a primer of some of the world’s scientific frontiers. For others, it may be easily written off as a manifestation of individualism akin to the worship of singularity or a pursuit that eschews the communitarian needs of the society that require that some people die. Either way, it is impossible to look at the film without marveling how medicine, science, and the afterlife have become entwined with capital. While affordable healthcare varies on a country-by-country basis, dying and getting interred seems to be a costly affair virtually everywhere. Yet, innovative alternatives are introduced, even more uncertain and expensive, making the business of death a formidable financial contender and drawing parallels to the lucrative underside of organized religion.
The emphasis on what can come after the lights go out leads to a weird ethical split. Are we abstaining from putting much emphasis on the current events of human life, with systems of grave negligence widespread and dangerous, because we’re piling all the hopes on the afterlife, whether it’s a religious concept or something to be solved by the scientific community? And will relinquishing responsibility in the hopes for a do-over become a sort of contemporary indulgence?
And yet, the family at the center of “Hope Frozen†is sympathetic, and their preoccupation with science and its effects on life—and death—seems genuine, and secondary to authentic human connection, unlike what you see in the examples of Elon Musk. The way they unite together, whether it’s to prepare for Einz’s departure or to visit her body in the industrial constraints of the cryogenics facility, is tender and heartwrenching.
And even if the Naovaratpong’s quest against the current state of knowledge and technology might not seem a journey worth taking to the viewer, their reasoning, rooted in the inability to accept the loss, is human, flawed, and very relatable. A documentary that offers insight into a fascinating issue while also staying very respectful to its subjects, “Hope Frozen†is an honest portrait of a 21st-century family: incredibly smart parents, an adorable teenager who oozes promise, younger siblings who were born after the tragedy, and the middle daughter concealed in a cryo tank. And while numerous articles on the Naovaratpongs and their decision have been written, it’s Wedel’s warm, affecting film that will be of interest in posterity. Will someone watch it, centuries onwards? And what will the outtake be?
Hope Frozen, 2018
Director: Pailin Wedel
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Continue A Grieving Family, A Cryogenically Frozen Toddler and a Death, Postponed— ‘Hope Frozen’, dir. Pailin Wedel, 2018 on Supamodu
source https://supamodu.com/2020/asia/hope-frozen-pailin-wedel/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=hope-frozen-pailin-wedel
Regal Theaters Announces That They’ll Reopen In July
2020 hasn’t been a good year for anyone, and although it seems like each month adds some new devastating event, one pervasive constant has remained – the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. It’s now infected nearly 8 million people worldwide and claimed the lives of 435,000. As it continues its global spread, millions of folks around the world have been stuck inside during the lengthy shutdown that’s also seen businesses being forced to close their doors and lose out on tons of money.
Despite the pandemic showing no signs of slowing down though, the economy is now beginning to reopen in some countries. The US – which remains the epicenter of the virus with 2.2 million cases and 120,000 deaths – is one such country that’s seeing a number of major business begin opening their doors to the public once again. And among those many businesses is Regal Theaters, who took to Twitter today to announce the date they intend to reopen.
Regal announces the reopening of theatres beginning July 10. Learn more: https://t.co/upOD4GckYn pic.twitter.com/iLItWmxNrS
— Regal (@RegalMovies) June 16, 2020
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The popular theater chain will resume business on July 10th but will be doing so with substantial safety guidelines in place to help ensure visitors remain virus-free. Some of the ways they’re keeping things clean and safe is by monitoring employees via regular health screening and temperature checks. In addition, they’ll be reducing register access, making use of contactless payment methods, requiring masks for both employees and visitors, and maxing out at 50% theater capacity so that no one sits too close to one another. In fact, they’ll be enforcing the latter by only selling tickets that are at least two seats apart.
Meanwhile, AMC Theatres has recently reopened a few overseas locations but hasn’t announced a firm date on when their US spots will resume business, though the company has confirmed that they intend to reopen all of their theaters in July.
source https://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/regal-theaters-reopen-july/
What movie made you like movies?
For me, it was when I watched Cool Hand Luke with my dad as a kid. He showed me it when I was young and ever since then I can’t stop watching movies. I love going to movie theaters even though they are really expensive and I hope they don’t die off as streaming becomes more and more popular. What movie is the movie that got you interested in them?
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source https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/haftg8/what_movie_made_you_like_movies/
Why Pinhead Dies So Early In Hellraiser 2
Horror icon and acupuncture enthusiast Pinhead is the most recognizable face in the Hellraiser movie franchise. Bringing up the series conjures images of the pale, terrifying visage in even the most casual fan. The problem is, he isn’t the most important character in the first two films. Pinhead shows up for a little while in the first movie before meeting his end in the second one. He dies at the hands of the pic’s true antagonist, newly minted Cenobite Dr. Chennard.
Still, it’s a testament to the writing in the Hellraiser series that Pinhead manages an arc between two short appearances. In the first film, his initial objective is Frank Cotton, a dead man trying to scheme his way back into the realm of the living. Pinhead initially stands alongside heroine Kirsty in capturing Cotton and returning him to the Cenobites’ “care.” He turns on her in the last act though, intending to drag her back, too. Her escape leads directly into Hellraiser 2, where Pinhead actually shows up in Kirsty’s defense against the aforementioned Chennard. He subsequently dies in the attempt.
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That death manages to elevate a character that could have been a simplistic villain into someone with more dimension. It helps with the world-building inside Hellraiser’s lore, too. Pinhead illustrates what happens when and if Cenobites – created when humans give themselves over to Leviathan, the creatures’ deity and patron – regain their humanity. There’s even some of Pinhead’s origin story as WWI veteran Elliot Spencer woven into the beginning of Hellraiser 2. Pinhead’s death gets rid of an easy out, too: the humans are left on their own to fight the antagonist.
Of course, Hellraiser 3 brings the character back and more into the spotlight, giving us more of his origin story. But for those first two movies, Pinhead manages the trick of remaining mysterious and threatening while still showing an arc, and his death plays into that.
source https://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/pinhead-die-hellraiser-2/
Ewan McGregor To Voice Jiminy Cricket In Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
In an interview with ACE Universe, actor Ewan McGregor revealed that he’ll be voicing Jiminy Cricket in Guillermo del Toro’s upcoming adaptation of Pinocchio.
Based on a collection of Italian bedtime stories about a wooden marionette wanting to become a real child, the Pinocchio character was first made famous by Disney, who produced an animated feature on the subject in the 1940s. Apparently, del Toro has been wanting to tackle the intellectual property himself for quite some time.
At first glance, you may wonder why the director of thrillers likePan’s Labyrinthand the Academy Award-winning adult drama The Shape of Water wants to adapt such childish source material. However, the story of Pinocchio is actually surprisingly dark. From escaping child slavery to battling a monstrous, carnivorous whale, the character has traversed more dangers than some of Disney’s most seasoned knights.
Then there’s McGregor himself who, as fans of films like Christopher Robin and Trainspotting know already, has quite a graveling and mature voice. Compared to Cliff Edwards, who lent his soothing vocal cords to the character of Jiminy in Disney’s initial adaptation, this casting decision seems to imply that Pinocchio’s consciousness is going to act a lot more mature this time around.
According to McGregor, Guillermo’s film – which will be made using stop-motion as opposed to traditional animation – is well underway. Telling ACE reporters he had already recorded some of his lines, it’s safe to say that production on the project is long past development. A script exists, actors have been cast and now, all we need is our first look at what will be – knowing the director – a visually captivating movie.
Do you think McGregor makes a good fit for Jiminy Cricket in this Pinocchio adaptation, though? Let us know in the comments below.
source https://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/ewan-mcgregor-voice-jiminy-cricket-guillermo-del-toros-pinocchio/
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Vikrant Massey talks about how fatherhood has changed him: “Sector 36 now has a different impact because of my son Vardaan; my wife asked me, ‘Do you think there are certain things that you’ll not do now?’”
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