This week on The Deep Dive: When limitations allow creativity to thrive, there aren’t enough movies about food, how to imagine a new art world for today’s art school graduates, cycles of harm and the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, and Stranger Things has lost the plot that should have ended a long time ago.

ART

When a simple decision changed animation forever by Lancelloti (11:12)

In case you’ve ever wondered how much things can change over just a few decades, there was a time when people genuinely didn’t know if computer animation could make sense outside the context of a movie that takes place in a video game. Not too long after, computer animation was used to tell stories about bugs, toys, spirits, undersea life, and a widowed old man whose character arc can warm even the coldest of hearts. In this video, Lancelloti analyzes what makes Pixar movies feel so personal, a characteristic that stemmed from necessity in an environment where computer animation was given very little budget and faced a lot of skepticism. In other words, Pixar couldn’t shoot for the moon, so they shot for bedroom ceilings instead – and it worked. 

FILM

The Greatest Movie about Food by Alex Boucher (14:29)

About two years ago, I watched a screening of an old movie that made me really, really hungry. After the credits ran across the screen, I only had one thought: I need a bowl of ramen in front of me. Right now. That movie was Tampopo, and in this video, Alex Boucher explores films about food, a surprisingly uncommon cinematic theme considering how big of a role food plays in our everyday lives. One Japanese director, Juzo Itami, built a career out of movies about mundane universal experiences that we all take part in, with an American flair inspired by rom-coms, boxing films, westerns, and pretty much any other type of classic you can imagine. If you think a Rocky-esque training montage centered around creating the perfect broth or running a grocery store couldn’t possibly be exciting to watch, you’re so wrong.