(The History of) The Summer Blockbuster

It's the big bang of both our 10th episode and the origins of the summer blockbuster, although this episode is not quite like the high-end production of your usual Hollywood films! With Hugo at Venice film festival, Kiriko & Tom attempt to determine the definition of a (summer) blockbuster, is it more than just a "box-office hit"? In conjunction with the upcoming Suspicious Minds program, a retrospective of Denis Villeneuve's work, we also explore what is a so-called "intelligent blockbuster", skeptical of Christopher Nolan and his apparent pioneering of this heightened term.  By exploring the history of the summer blockbuster, we attempt to resolve what the future of this historic marketing strategy has in an industry now dominated by streaming platforms. Make sure to leave us your review of Arrival (Denis Villeneuve, 2016) at [email protected] and expect to hear Tom read it out in one of his many film impersonations next episode!