BFG Podcast #121: 'The Creator,' Fantastic Fest, and the end of the WGA Strike

Much to celebrate this week, even as we say goodbye to our beloved friend and contributor Daniel Cohen. The WGA Strike is over! Rob Kutner, BFG strike captain, stops by the virtual studios to talk to host Neal Pollack about the deal the Guild secured. The studios were "fighting the last war," as Rob put it, and the WGA got just about every concession for which it asked. Neal is most impressed about the strong stand the Guild took against AI in scriptwriting, forestalling the rise of the writing machines at least until the next contract negotiation. Rob warns that there will be some contraction, but thinks that the industry will bounce back strong in 2024. Great job, WGA! You are our heroes, as much as writers can ever be heroes.Neal and Pablo Gallaga both attended Fantastic Fest, the genre film festival, in Austin last week. Neal had not much good to say about The Toxic Avenger, the opening night film, but mostly enjoyed Totally Killer, the closing night film. Pablo agrees with his opinions and also saw 26 other movies at the festival, so he knows what he's talking about. Tune in for what he liked and what he didn't, and for a discussion of the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar redesign to appear even more like The Overlook Hotel in The Shining.Stephen Garrett had the great misfortune of writing up 'The Creator' for us, a movie that some people like but that he and Neal definitely did not. Both of them thought the robots were cool, but were put off by the movie's weird focus on Southeast Asia and by its inconsistent worldbuilding, strange, inconsistent script, and oddly bad acting. The Creator is an ambitious, original turkey, but it is a turkey nonetheless. At least it led to an amusing podcast conversation.Enjoy the show!